PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 1, Number 14 (August 12, 2007) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Nic Richmond Co-Editors: Mark V. Sykes, Matt Balme Email: pen_editor at psi.edu o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. [NASA] Administrator Announces Senior Leadership Appointments 2. [NASA] Office of Education Undergraduate Student Research Program 3. 11th Biennial International Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments 4. Second Magellan Science Symposium (2nd Announcement) 5. Laboratory Investigations Related to Analysis of Mars Data 6. A New Spin on Saturn? Recent Results of the Atmosphere and Interior from Cassini and Eearth-Based Observations 7. Planetary Meeting Calendar Additions o---------------------------------------------------------------------o 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 [NASA] ADMINISTRATOR ANNOUNCES SENIOR LEADERSHIP APPOINTMENTS WASHINGTON - On Friday, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin named Richard J. Gilbrech as associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, the NASA division designing the next generation of spacecraft to return astronauts to the moon and eventually journey to Mars. Gilbrech currently serves as the director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Griffin also named Robert D. Cabana, deputy director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, to replace Gilbrech as center director at Stennis. [Editor Note: Full details about this announcement can be found here: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_07175_Gilbrech_Cabana.html] 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 [NASA] OFFICE OF EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH PROGRAM NASA's Office of Education, in cooperation with the NASA Johnson Space Center is requesting proposals for a NASA Cooperative Agreement Notice, Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP). It has been released and is available through the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and then linking through the menu listings "Solicitations" to "Open Solicitations." Organizations eligible to respond to this CAN are limited to higher education institutions and non-profit organizations serving higher education students. Partnerships among these institutions and/or organizations are encouraged to apply. The NASA USRP is one of NASA's workforce development projects for undergraduate students. It will incorporate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities of each of NASA's field centers and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Undergraduate students selected for this program will undertake research internships at NASA field centers under the tutelage of NASA scientists and engineers. 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 11TH BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENGINEERING, SCIENCE, CONSTRUCTION, AND OPERATIONS IN CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS American Society of Civil Engineers' Aerospace Division presents the Earth & Space Conference 2008, 11th Biennial International Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments, March 3-5. 2008, Long Beach, California. Abstract due date: Sept. 03, 2007. The symposia/workshops include: -Advanced Materials, Structures and Mechanics-New Advances in the 21st Century -Intelligent Sensors and Actuators -Exploration and Utilization of Extraterrestrial Bodies -Ballistic Impact and Crashworthiness Response of Aerospace Structures -3rd NASA/ARO/ASCE Granular Materials in Lunar and Martian Exploration Workshop Conference website: http://content.asce.org/conferences/earth2008/welcome.html 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 SECOND MAGELLAN SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM (2ND ANNOUNCEMENT) The Second Magellan Science Symposium will be held at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) on 29-30 October 2007 at the CfA. Deadlines are approaching and we urge you to register and submit your abstract. This is an open meeting, so any interested parties are welcome to attend, however admission will be restricted to individuals who pay the registration fee, which covers coffee breaks and spectacular lunches. Please go to: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/events/2007/smss/ for details. We have blocked rooms at the Sheraton Commander and the Tria Hotel, however these will only be blocked until approximately the last week in September. We urge attendees, at their earliest convenience, to register for the symposium & banquet, submit an abstract and make a room reservation. Space is limited. The rack rate for a hotel room in the Boston area in October can be very high and choices will be extremely limited. If you would like to explore some alternatives, we list a number of B&B's and hotels on the Symposium accommodations page. We expect this to be an exciting meeting and look forward to seeing you in Cambridge in October. Andrea Dupree, SOC Chair Andrew Szentgyorgyi, LOC Chair [Editor Note: The program includes talks on Exoplanets (transits and spectroscopy of host stars) and Neptune Trojan Asteroids.] 5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5 LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS RELATED TO ANALYSES OF MARS DATA The Fall 2007 AGU Meeting will be held in San Francisco, CA from December 10-14. Pre-planned sessions were recently announced, and co-conveners Timothy Glotch (Stony Brook University) and Joel Hurowitz (JPL) would like to encourage submissions to their proposed session. The session is described below and is also available at http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm07/?content=search. Due-dates for abstract submission are Sept. 6. Laboratory investigations are key to correctly interpreting data returned from space missions. This session will focus on results from laboratory studies designed to aid in analysis of remotely sensed or in situ data acquired by past, currently active, and upcoming Mars missions. Examples include laboratory spectroscopic investigations that aid in interpretation of data from TES, THEMIS, OMEGA, CRISM, and other orbital spectrometers, or Mini-TES and Pancam data acquired by the MER Rover missions. Other examples include laboratory geochemical studies that will aid in the interpretation of MER APXS and Mossbauer data or future Mars Science Laboratory APXS, CheMin, ChemCam, and SAM data. Cross-disciplinary studies that make use of multiple measurement techniques and data sets are especially encouraged. 6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6 A NEW SPIN ON SATURN? RECENT RESULTS OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND INTERIOR FROM CASSINI AND EARTH-BASED OBSERVATIONS Abstract submissions are invited for this session of the AGU meeting in San Francisco, December 10-14, 2007. This session highlights new discoveries and developments in our understanding of the interior, atmosphere, and ionosphere of Saturn. Deadline: September 6. Go to http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm07/ Description: New advances in understanding the enigmatic rotation rate of Saturn and the nature of Saturn's circulation, dynamics, aurorae, and chemistry have been made during this third year of Cassini Orbiter investigations. This session focuses on new observations and results dealing with Saturn's interior and atmosphere utilizing the comprehensive suite of instruments onboard the Cassini orbiter. Both invited and contributed presentations on these topics will be highlighted. Recently obtained Cassini observations will be emphasized, but observations from Earth and HST, and theoretical models are also welcome. Looking forward to a great Saturn Session, Conveners: Kevin H. Baines (blueskies4321@yahoo.com) and Christopher T. Russell (ctrussell@igpp.ucla.edu) 7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7 PLANETARY MEETING CALENDAR ADDITIONS Posted at http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html Sep 19-21, 2007 5th Planet Formation Workshop Braunschweig, Germany http://www.igep.tu-bs.de/forschung/planetenentstehung/projekte/ planets2007/index_en.html Sep 24-27, 2007 Astrophysics in the Next Decade: JWST and Concurrent Facilities Tucson, AZ http://www.stsci.edu/institute/conference/jwst2007 Sep 24-27, 2007 4th Alfven conference: The Importance of Plasma Processes in Planetary Physics and Astrophysics Arcachon, France http://alfven2007.cesr.fr/ Oct 14-17, 2007 New Horizons in Astronomy: Frank N. Bash Symposium 2007 Austin, TX http://www.as.utexas.edu/new_horizons/ Oct 19-20, 2007 Planets-Geophysical and Astrophysical Perspectives on Their Structure and Formation Saratoga Springs, NY http://cms.skidmore.edu/planets/ Oct 22-27, 2007 Exoplanets: Detection, Formation and Dynamics Suzhou, China http://iaus249.nju.edu.cn/ Oct 29-30, 2007 Second Magellan Science Symposium Cambridge, MA http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/events/2007/smss/ Nov 13-15, 2007 Astrophysics 2020: Large Space Missions Beyond the Next Decade Baltimore, MD http://www.stsci.edu/institute/conference/astro2020 April 14-19, 2008 Exploring the Solar System and the Universe Bucharest, Romania http://www.astro.ro/~centenar/ May 19-23, 2008 Transiting Planets Boston, MA Contact: didier.queloz@obs.unige.ch Sep 8-12, 2008 Cosmic Dust - Near & Far Heidelberg, Germany http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/DNF08/ Nov 3-7, 2008 Cosmic Magnetic Fields: from Planets, to Stars and Galaxies Puerto Santiago, Tenerife http://www.aip.de/IAUS259/ *********************************************************************** * * The Planetary Exploration Newsletter is issued approximately weekly. * Current and back issues are available at * * http://planetarynews.org * * To subscribe, go to http://planetarynews.org/pen_subscribe.html * * To unsubscribe, go to http://planetarynews.org/pen_unsubscribe.html * * Please send all replies and submissions to pen_editor at psi.edu. * Announcements and other messages should be brief with links to URLs * for extended information, including detailed descriptions for job * announcements. 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