Events of Interest: Weeks of August 5-18, 2012-UPDATE
UPDATE: NASA’s industry forum on the commercial crew program on Wednesday, August 8, has been added.
August is a slow month for space policy events — and most other things — so we are grouping two weeks together into this one article. Congress is in recess until September 10 — after the Republican and Democratic conventions.
During the Weeks
The landing of NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover on Mars Sunday night, August 5, at 10:31 pm PDT (Monday morning, August 6, 1:31 am EDT) is certainly the highlight. Everyone will have fingers crossed that it lands successfully, but one way or the other, it seems destined to be the top space news story. SpacePolicyOnline.com will be reporting on the landing — follow us on Twitter @SpcPlcyOnline. The Mars Society and the Planetary Society are having events in Pasadena that coincide with the landing. The Mars Society event actually began yesterday (Friday, August 3) and the Planetary Society’s begins today.
Sunday, August 5
- Continuation of Mars Society Annual Convention (which began August 3), Pasadena, CA
- Continuation of Planetary Society Planetfest (which begins August 4), Pasadena CA
- Landing of NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover on Mars, 10:31 pm PDT (Monday, 1:31 am EDT), Gale Crater, Mars (watch on NASA TV or participate in events planned around the country)
Wednesday, August 8
- NASA/KSC Commercial Crew Program Forum, 1:00-2:00 pm ET, Kennedy Space Center, FL (available by webcast and teleconference)
Monday-Thursday, August 13-16
- Small Satellite Conference, Logan, Utah
Tuesday, August 14
- FAA Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) Systems Working Group, 1:00 pm ET, teleconference (first of what may become monthly telecons to gather information about potential safety regulations for commercial human spaceflight)
Tuesday-Wednesday, August 14-15
Editor’s note: Your SpacePolicyOnline.com editor was looking forward to be at JPL for the landing, but has been sidetracked by the flu. The relevent sentence in this article has been modified accordingly, but please do still follow us on Twitter as we report from Washington instead of Pasadena.
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