Today’s Tidbits: October 8, 2017
Here are our tidbits for today, October 8, 2017: send in your abstracts for COSPAR 2018; Scott Kelly’s compelling new book; and a gorgeous photo of Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa. Be sure to check our website for feature stories and follow us on Twitter (@SpcPlcyOnline) for more news and live tweeting of events.
COSPAR 2018 Abstract Submission Period Open
The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) will holds its 42nd Scientific Assembly in Pasadena, CA from July 14-22, 2018. Abstracts may be submitted through February 9, 2018 at 23:59 Central European Time (CET).
Details: [https://www.cospar-assembly.org/]
COSPAR holds its scientific assemblies every two years, although the last one had to be cancelled at the last moment because of political unrest in Turkey. It was to take place in Istanbul.
Scott Kelly’s Riveting Account of Being in Space For a Year – And Returning Home
Scott Kelly spent 340 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), setting a record for the longest continuous time in space for an American astronaut.
His book about the experience, including the readjustment to Earth’s gravity upon his return, will be published later this month. An excerpt was posted on [http://www.theage.com.au/good-weekend/astronaut-scott-kelly-on-the-devastating-effects-of-a-year-in-space-20170922-gyn9iw.html] with a fascinating and frank account of those first days back in the gravity well. Not pleasant. The title of Kelly’s book is: Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery.
It really does make one wonder about sending people on lengthy missions anywhere if they plan to come back, unless, of course, NASA wants to reconsider developing artificial gravity systems. [Editor’s note: I admit to being biased since our National Commission on Space report, Pioneering the Space Frontier, published in 1986, recommended that very thing.]
Citizen Scientist Produces Gorgeous Image from Juno’s Camera
To begin the week on an uplifting note, here is a spectacular photo of Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa. This color-enhanced image was taken on September 1 by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on its eighth orbit of the planet when it was 17,098 miles above Jupiter. NASA credits citizen scientist Roman Tkachenko for processing the image from the JunoCam camera on the spacecraft. JunoCam’s raw images are available to the public at [www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam ].
Also published on SpacePolicyOnline.com This Week
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