Events of Interest: Weeks of November 18-December 1, 2012

The following events may of interest in the coming two weeks.  This is a combined edition because it’s Thanksgiving week and things are rather quiet in the near-term. Congress is in recess for the holiday.  Activity resumes its usual pace next week, though.

During the Week

Two important events will happen this week, however.   First, three International Space Station (ISS) crew members return to Earth tonight (Sunday) at 8:53 pm Eastern Standard Time aboard their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft.  NASA TV will cover the undocking and landing live.   The three returning crew members are NASA’s Suni Williams, Japan’s Aki Hoshide, and Russia’s Yuri Malenchenko.

Second, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Ministerial Council will meet in Italy to decide the near-term future of Europe’s space program.   MInisterial Council meetings take place every 3-4 years, bringing together the relevant government ministers from each of ESA’s member countries.   Twenty countries now belong to ESA — Poland just joined.  Even with so many countries participating, finding money is a challenge and this meeting will determine the fate of a number of ESA’s programs.

Sunday, November 18 (Eastern Standard Time)/Monday, November 19 (local time in Kazakhstan)

• Soyuz TMA-05M landing, 8:53 pm EST November 18/7:53 am local time, steppes of Kazakhstan

Tuesday-Wednesday, November 20-21

• ESA Ministerial Meeting, Naples, Italy

Monday, November 26

• NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Commercial Space Committee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, 1:00-4:00 pm ET
• NAC Audit, Finance and Analysis Committee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC. 9:00 am – 5:15 pm ET

Tuesday, November 27

• NAC Education and Public Outreach Committee, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville, AL, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm CT (9:30 am – 6:00 pm ET)
• NAC Information Technology Infrastructure Committee, NASA/MSFC, Huntsville AL, 1:00 – 5:00 pm CT (2:00-6:00 pm ET)

Wednesday, November 28

• House SS&T Subcommittee hearing on NRC’s Decadal Survey on Solar and Space Physics, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 am ET

Wednesday-Thursday, November 28-29

• NAC Earth Science Subcommittee, NASA HQ, Washington, DC

Wednesday-Friday, November 28-30

• NASA Advisory Council, NASA/MSFC, Huntsville, AL

Friday, November 30

• Space Transportation Association Breakfast Meeting Featuring German Aerospace Center (DLR) Chairman Johann-Dietrich Woerner, 253 Russell Senate Office Building, 7:30 am (speech begins at 7:50 am); RSVP by November 20

Friday-Saturday, November 30 – December 1

• Interagency Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC), NSF HQ, Arlington, VA