The 2011 CSS Space Summit in Calgary. Credit: SpaceRef.

Annual Canadian Space Summit to be held in London Ontario in November

The 2012 Canadian Space Summit will be held in London Ontario November 14-16 2012. This is the annual meeting of the Canadian Space Society. This year, the sponsor is the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX) at the University of Western Ontario.

The theme of the 2012 Canadian Space Summit is Bridging Communities: Unifying the Canadian Space Sector. The Summit will comprise a mix of plenary sessions, invited talks, poster sessions, and panel discussions. The goal of this conference is to provide a venue for interdisciplinary networking and promote further connections between the various communities within the Canadian space sector.

The Keynote speaker is Dr. Peter Smith. He was the Principal Investigator for the 2008 Phoenix Mission to the Martian Arctic that confirmed the presence of subsurface ice and discovered falling snow on present-day Mars. He is a Professor of Planetary Science and the Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair of Integrated Science at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

Sessions will focus on the core disciplines of the Canadian Space Society, but will be interdisciplinary in nature. These core disciplines include astronomy, Earth observation, lunar and planetary exploration, law and policy, life sciences, space commerce, and space awareness and learning. Proposed conference session topics include, but are not limited to:

New Discoveries
Results and new observations from current research in, or enabled by, space including planetary science, astrobiology, astronomy, space life sciences, microgravity research, planetary atmospheres. Keynote speaker: Dr. Jack Mustard, Brown University

Technologies and Techniques for Space Activities

Topics covering technology development, instrumentation and techniques to enable space activities including robotics, instrument design, mission architecture, propulsion and control systems, launch systems, scientific methodologies and exploration strategies. Keynote Speaker: Dr. David Beaty, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Organization and Enabling Activities

Topics covering the organizational and societal structures required to enable space activities including space policy, space law, commercial development, international cooperation and research collaboration. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Pascale Ehrenfreund, The Elliott School of International Affairs

Service to Society
Topics concerning applications, services, and utilities of space activities (e.g., telecommunications, navigation and surveillance) for terrestrial users including technology transfer and new capabilities enabled by space. Keynote speaker: Perry Edmundson, COM DEV

Space Learning and Awareness

Topics concerning education and public outreach, student projects, and the building of human capacity to enable the advancement of space progress.
Keynote speaker: Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, Let’s Talk Science

Micro-Exploration: Space Exploration on a Shoestring Budget

Topics concerning education and public outreach, student projects, and the building of human capacity to enable the advancement of space progress.
Keynote speaker: Grant Bonin, Microsatellite Science and Technology Centre

Oral Presentations

Conference sessions will be organized into approximately two-hour blocks with a keynote and four contributed talks of 20 minutes (15 minute talk with 5 minute Q&A) per session. All sessions will include discussion periods and ample time for questions.

Poster Presentations
Contributed posters will be displayed at the back of the conference hall for the duration of the conference. A dedicated poster session is planned for the evening of Wednesday November 14; however, participants will be encouraged to view posters during coffee breaks and over lunch.

Each poster will have a 48 36 space on a free-standing panel for display. Two presenters will share one side of one panel, so it is important that displays are confined to the specified limit. Posters must be designed to be attached to the panel with pushpins or Velcro dots.

The deadline for abstracts and workshop proposals is Friday, September 14.
For more information on the 2012 Canadian Space Summit, visit the CPSX Summit website.
Note: SpaceRef is the media sponsor of the event and will be there to cover it. We look forward to seeing you there.

About Randy Attwood

Amateur astronomer, astrophotographer, space exploration historian. Executive Director, The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada / Publisher - SkyNews magazine.

Leave a Reply