SPACE SETTLEMENT 2009 National Space Society -· Mars 3009 (First Prize, Orbital Category) by Joe Vinton. England, United Kingdom. Medium: Digital. 2009 Colonies on Mars have now grown into cities to rival those on Earth. I never believed them when they said how Mars had grown. Has it really only been nine hundred years since the first settlement? We’ve come so far, so fast. I wonder where we’ll go next, if only we can convince the Mars counsel to fund us then we could send mining missions to Phobos and then beyond… Wow, the sun reflecting off the Silvan towers is unbelievably beautiful this time of day… I can’t wait to use SatSend and tell Molly; she’s going to love it here. January Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Events of the Month 28 29 30 31 123 December 2008 February 2009 Start of International Year S M T W T F S S M T W T F S New Year’s Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 of Astronomy (IYA2009) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Italian astronomer Giuseppe 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Piazzi discovered 1 Ceres, 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 The vision of IYA2009 is to help the citizens of first and largest asteroid in 28 29 30 31 Solar System, ≈ 915 km in the world rediscover their place in the universe diameter (1801). through the day and night time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery. IYA2009 will be a global celebration of 45678910 American Astronomical Society 213th Meeting (Long Beach, California) astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, highlighted by the 400th anniversary of Sir Isaac Newton born (1643) Mars Exploration Rover Spirit landed on Mars’ the first use of an astronomical telescope by First space probe to fly past Gusev crater on Mars Galileo Galilei. For more information, please see Moon (Luna 1, 1959) (2004) Galileo Galilei discovered 3 www.astronomy2009.org Quadrantid meteor shower First quarter Moon largest moons of Jupiter (Io, peaks (11:56 UTC) Europa and Callisto, 1610) Moon at Perigee 5th Anniversary of Landing of 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Mars Exploration Rovers (January 4 and 25) Five years ago this month, the intrepid “robotic First cosmic dust sample geologists” Spirit and Opportunity landed on the Galileo Galilei discovered return probe landed on Jupiter’s largest moon First probe landing on Titan Earth (Stardust, comet Wild planet Mars. Since then, they have traveled over Full Moon (03:27 UTC) Ganymede (1610) (Cassini-Huygens, 2005) 2, 2006) 20 kilometers, climbed hills, explored craters, filmed Martian dust devils, survived sand storms, Martin Luther 18King Jr.’s Birthday 19 20 21 22 23 24 and returned a treasure trove of photographs and Observed (USA) new scientific knowledge, including evidence of past standing bodies of water on Mars. For more information, see http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/home/ Last quarter Moon Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz First Uranus Fly-By (02:46 UTC) Aldrin born (1930) (Voyager 2) Chinese New Year 25Year of the Ox 26 27 28 29 30 31 Discovery of first quasar Explorer I, first American Annular Solar Eclipse published (1967) satellite in space (1958) (South Africa, Sumatra, Boreno) Apollo 1 (Grissom, White, Space Shuttle Challenger Van Allen radiation belts Chaffee) lost on the pad (STS-51-L) explodes during discovered by James Van New Moon (07:55 UTC) during an “all up” test (1967) launch (1986) Allen (1958) Lover’s Lookout by Phil Batchelor. California, USA. Medium: Digital/Photography. 2009 Hi Suzie! I’m just writing to let you know how much I miss you. And… guess what?! Today, I had lunch with that guy I told you about (you know, the one I met on the voyage out to Ganymede). Do you remember me saying that he got that job as a trainee Mirror Technician? Well… for Valentine’s Day, even though he couldn’t get the day off, he got permission to show me around his workplace. Poor guy, he kept trying to show me what he does; but, I didn’t pay too much attention to what he was showing me on the computer, because I was distracted by the view out the window! See you soon -Samantha February Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Events of the Month 123 4567 Space Exploration Alliance Space Blitz (early February) Soon after the U.S. President releases the Federal Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) broke apart budget request for FY 2010, members of NSS and during re-entry (2003) its SEA partners will visit Capitol Hill to meet with and educate members of Congress and their aides about the benefits and near-term needs of 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 space exploration, development, and tourism. The event includes training and all required materials, as well as after-hours social activities. For more details, including information on past events, see www.nss.org/legislative Kepler Space Telescope 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Launch (mid-February) As early as February 14, NASA will launch the Kepler space telescope into Earth’s solar orbit on an exciting 3½-year mission to search for Earth- sized planets around the nearest 100,000 stars! 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1234567 Kepler is expected to find around 50 Earth-sized planets and as many as 1000 planets of all sizes. For more information, see kepler.nasa.gov Luna by Raymond Cassel. England, United Kingdom. Medium: Digital. 2009 Mayor’s Log, March 10: This month our mining complex on the moon’s surface will have 3,000 members between the prospectors and their families. We are at just the right latitude to have Earth on the horizon, and the families from the U.S. are getting a good view of home. We had a little trouble with Red #2 yesterday; but third shift fixed the crawler overnight and it looks like operations are back to normal. The moon dust is still causing problems with our equipment, but Pradesh’s degaussing and sealing upgrades have done wonders for keeping the machines running. Best hire I’ve made yet. March Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Events of the Month 1234567 ProSpace March Storm (Washington, DC, March 8-11) Every March, a remarkable group of American citizens with a deep and abiding interest in our national space enterprise, gather in Washington, DC to visit Capitol Hill to meet with and educate members of Congress and their aides. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ProSpace members present to elected leaders the “Citizen’s Space Agenda,” a document that each year lays out a clear and concise blueprint for opening the space frontier to the possibilities that await us there. For details — especially any changes to the dates — see www.prospace.org 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Impact of LCROSS Probe on Moon Surface (mid-March) 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 The goal of the NASA Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission is to confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon’s South Pole. LCROSS will use the Lunar 29 30 31 12 3 4 Reconnaissance Orbiter’s (LRO) upper stage to propel it into a shadowed area at the lunar pole. For more details, see http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov Art Exhibition on Mars by Richard Bizley. England, United Kingdom. Medium: Acrylic. 2009 Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to the 400th anniversary of the “Man on Mars” celebration. I hope you enjoyed the ride down from Space Lift #1. To your lower right you can see other Earther tourists who are visiting our art exhibits. Wonderful advancements have been made in Martian art, and we are proud to house some of the greatest works to come from the Red Planet. Also, outside you can see the great strides we are making in terraforming; these food-producing plants were engineered not only for their beauty, but to create great quantities of oxygen. At our next stop we’ll give you a taste of some delicious fruit that only comes from Mars. April Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Events of the Month 29 30 31 12 3 4 Yuri’s Night (April 12) Yuri Gagarin was the first human to go into space on April 12, 1961. 20 years later on this day the U.S. Space Shuttle launched. Yuri’s Night is like the St. 567891011 Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo for space. It is one day when all the world can come together and celebrate the power and beauty of space and what it means for each of us. So help us rock the planet in 2009 by either 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 organizing your own Yuri’s Night event or Yuri’s Night supporting a local one. It’s not hard – get a group of friends together and call it a party! For more information, see www.yurisnight.net Ares I-X Launch (mid-April) Scheduled for mid-April, NASA 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 will conduct the first test flight Lyrid Meteor Shower for the Ares I crew launch vehicle, marking the first major milestone of the Constellation program. The Ares I-X test vehicle will use mostly existing hardware, and will test key aspects of vehicle first-stage aerodynamics, stage separation 26 27 28 29 30 12 dynamics, plus guidance and control.