PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 2, Number 57 (November 30, 2008) 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] Delay of Due Date for Small Complete Missions in Astrobiology and Fundamental Space Biology 2. [NASA PDS] New Main Web Site Now Available 3. Human-Tended Suborbital Science Workshop 4. Workshop on Venus Geochemistry: Progress, Prospects, and New Missions 5. The International Conference on Comparative Planetology: Venus- Earth-Mars 6. Job Opportunity: School Postdoctoral Fellowship, Australian National University 7. Small Bodies Assessment Group Meeting in January 8. 8th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and Associated Events 9. 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] DELAY OF DUE DATE FOR SMALL COMPLETE MISSIONS IN ASTROBIOLOGY AND FUNDAMENTAL SPACE BIOLOGY With this amendment, the NASA Announcement of Opportunity NNH08ZDA009O, "Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON)," is amended to delay the proposal due date for proposals submitted in response to Program Element Appendix H3: Small Complete Missions of Opportunity in Astrobiology and Fundamental Space Biology. The proposal due date for Small Complete Missions of Opportunity in Astrobiology and Fundamental Space Biology proposals is delayed until early in 2009. On or about November 24, 2008, Amendment No. 2 to the NASA Announcement of Opportunity "Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON)" (NNH08ZDA009O) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ (select "Solicitations" then "Open Solicitations" then "NNH08ZDA009O"). Technical or scientific questions concerning Small Complete Missions in Astrobiology may be addressed to Dr. Catharine A. Conley, E-mail: Cassie.Conley@nasa.gov. Technical or scientific questions concerning Small Complete Missions in Fundamental Space Biology may be addressed to Dr. Jacob Cohen, E-mail: Jacob.Cohen-1@nasa.gov. [Editor Note: This announcement has been edited for length.] 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 PDS] NEW MAIN WEB SITE NOW AVAILABLE The Planetary Data System main web site has undergone a revision designed to make data and tools easier for researchers to find. Please visit the site at: http://pds.nasa.gov/ If you have any suggestions for further improvement and/or encounter any problems, please send feedback to pds_operator@jpl.nasa.gov, or use the feedback link on the site. 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 HUMAN-TENDED SUBORBITAL SCIENCE WORKSHOP The Personal Spaceflight Federation and NASA Ames Research Center cordially invite you to join Ames Center Director Pete Worden in attending the Human-Tended Suborbital Science Workshop, to take place at the Westin San Francisco Market Street on Monday, December 15, 2008 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The workshop is being held in conjunction with the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting and is sponsored by the Universities Space Research Association. Recently, in an historic first, NASA created a program office at NASA Ames for the use of emerging commercial suborbital vehicles for scientific research, including, but not limited to, flights to space of researchers to allow for human-tended experiments. The purpose of the workshop is to bring interested researchers together with suborbital vehicle operators to discuss the scientific potential of these exciting new capabilities. Companies that will be participating in the workshop include Virgin Galactic, Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Masten Space Systems, and XCOR Aerospace. Researchers from the fields of heliophysics, planetary sciences, earth sciences, and microgravity sciences are expected to attend. To assist with our preparations, please RSVP by contacting Lisa Chu-Thielbar before December 5, 2008 at lisa.chu-thielbar@nasa.gov. We look forward to seeing you at the event. 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 WORKSHOP ON VENUS GEOCHEMISTRY: PROGRESS, PROSPECTS, AND NEW MISSIONS February 26-27, 2009 Gilruth Center at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/venus2009/ Due to the current NASA travel restrictions, the dates and venue for the Venus Geochemistry workshop have been changed. The workshop will be held at the Gilruth Center at NASA Johnson Space Center (the Gilruth Center is located outside the security gates) on February 26-27. The VEXAG meeting will still be held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute on February 25. The abstract deadline has also been extended slightly. The new deadline for abstract submission is Thursday, December 4, 5:00 p.m. CST. 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 THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY: VENUS-EARTH- MARS 11-15 May 2009 at ESA-ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands. Further information on the scientific content, as well as on practical aspects, is available on the conference website: http://www.rssd.esa.int/eslab-2009/ The abstract submission deadline for this ESLAB-09 conference is 02 March 2009. We are looking forward your enthusiastic participation. Best regards, Agustin Chicarro and the Local Organizing Committee 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 JOB OPPORTUNITY: SCHOOL POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Applications are invited for a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Research School of Physics and Engineering at the Australian National University in any of the physics research areas within the School, including planetary atmospheres, atmospheric chemistry, and climate. Most research in these three areas is located within the Atomic and Molecular Physics Laboratories: http://www.rsphysse.anu.edu.au/ampl/ The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 December 2008. Further details are available at: http://jobs.anu.edu.au/PositionDetail.aspx?p=396 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 SMALL BODIES ASSESSMENT GROUP MEETING IN JANUARY The Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG) will hold its delayed inaugural meeting on January 12 - 13, 2009, at the Marriott Inn and Conference Center at University of Maryland, 3501 University Blvd East. Adelphi, Maryland. Participants will receive information on the general status of small bodies programs conducted through NASA Headquarters, and individual presentations on proposed robotic small bodies missions. Detailed information will be available on the SBAG web site: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/ 8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8 8TH SCIENTIFIC ASSEMBLY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SPACE RESEARCH (COSPAR) AND ASSOCIATED EVENTS Date: 18-25 July 2010 Place: Bremen, Germany cospar@cosparhq.cnes.fr http://www.cospar2010.org/ or http://www.cospar-assembly.org Abstract Deadline: Mid-February 2010 Approximately 90 meetings covering the fields of COSPAR Scientific Commissions (SC) and Panels: - SC A: The Earth's Surface, Meteorology and Climate - SC B: The Earth-Moon System, Planets, and Small Bodies of the Solar System - SC C: The Upper Atmospheres of the Earth and Planets Including Reference Atmospheres - SC D: Space Plasmas in the Solar System, Including Planetary Magnetospheres - SC E: Research in Astrophysics from Space - SC F: Life Sciences as Related to Space - SC G: Materials Sciences in Space - SC H: Fundamental Physics in Space - Panel on Satellite Dynamics (PSD) - Panel on Scientific Ballooning (PSB) - Panel on Potentially Environmentally Detrimental Activities in Space (PEDAS) - Panel on Radiation Belt Environment Modelling (PRBEM) - Panel on Space Weather (PSW) - Panel on Planetary Protection (PPP) - Panel on Capacity Building (PCB) - Panel on Education (PE) - Panel on Exploration (PEX) - Special events: Interdisciplinary lectures, space agency round table, etc. Selected papers published in Advances in Space Research 9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9 PLANETARY MEETING CALENDAR ADDITIONS Posted at http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html January 14-15, 2009 The ESA Workshop on GNC for Small Body Missions http://www.congrex.nl/09m01/ Noordwijk, The Netherlands February 16-19 2009 AKARI, a Light to Illuminate the Misty Universe http://akari2009.com Tokyo, Japan February 25, 2009 Sixth Meeting of the Venus Exploration and Analysis Group (VEXAG) http://www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/meetings.shtml Houston, TX July 18-25, 2010 38th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) http://www.cospar-assembly.org/ Bremen, Germany [Editor Note: If there is a planetary-related meeting, conference or workshop that you think your colleagues should be aware of, please send the date, title, URL and location to pen_editor at psi.edu.] *********************************************************************** * * 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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