First Announcement — March 2013
Meeting Location and Date
Golden Spike Human Lunar Expeditions: Opportunities for Intensive Lunar Scientific Exploration will be held October 3–4, 2013, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), located in the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) building, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston TX 77058.
Purpose and Scope
Commercial spaceflight is rapidly beginning to impact capabilities for scientific research in numerous ways, including commercial suborbital spaceflight, commercial robotic lunar missions, and commercial near-Earth asteroid (NEA) exploration.
In late 2012, the Golden Spike Company, consisting of space professionals and numerous veteran NASA engineers and executives, announced plans to mount a series of commercial human lunar expeditions in the 2020s, primarily for space and science agencies in countries around the world. More information about Golden Spike can be found at goldenspikecompany.com.
Each Golden Spike expedition will place an exploration crew of two individuals at a customer-selected site on the lunar nearside for a period of 1.5–2 days, like early Apollo “H” missions. Each expedition will also be able to deliver scientific exploration equipment and experiments to the lunar surface, and to return many kilograms of samples to Earth.
The goals of this workshop are to provide a detailed overview of Golden Spike expedition capabilities to the worldwide lunar science community, and to seek feedback and input on science and exploration priorities and associated landing sites, surface experiment packages, and sample return requirements.
The meeting will also explore desired future capabilities for more advanced Golden Spike missions, and the synergistic roles of Golden Spike human expeditions and robotic exploration missions.
Meeting Format
The workshop will consist of plenary sessions and a poster session over a period of 1.7 days (all day October 3 and most of October 4). There will be morning and afternoon oral sessions organized around topical themes, several invited presentations, and several discussion panels. A small number of contributed talk slots will be available in addition to contributed poster presentations. Ample time will be reserved for questions and discussion. An evening poster session will be held on October 3.
Indication of Interest
To subscribe to a mailing list to receive electronic reminders and special announcements relating to the meeting via e-mail, please submit an electronic Indication of Interest form by July 11, 2013.
Contacts
For further information regarding the scientific content of the meeting:
Dr. Alan Stern
Golden Spike Company
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Steve Mackwell
Lunar and Planetary Institute
E-mail: [email protected]
Clive R. Neal
University of Notre Dame
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Bill McKinnon
Washington University
E-mail: [email protected]
For further information regarding meeting coordination or announcements:
Kira Honnoll
Meeting and Publication Services
Universities Space Research Association (USRA)/
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Phone: 281-244-2011
E-mail: [email protected]
For further information regarding abstract submission or registration:
Linda Tanner
Meeting and Publication Services
Universities Space Research Association (USRA)/
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Phone: 281-486-2142
E-mail: [email protected]
Schedule
| Second announcement, including call for abstracts and registration, posted on this website |
June 5, 2013 |
| Abstract deadline |
July 18, 2013 |
| Deadline for submitting indication of interest |
July 11, 2013 |
| Final announcement with program and abstracts posted on this website |
August 19, 2013 |
| Workshop on Golden Spike Human Lunar Expeditions: Opportunities for Intensive Lunar Scientific Exploration |
October 3–4, 2013 |
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