PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 3, Number 27 (June 14, 2009) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Mark V. Sykes Co-Editors: Nic Richmond, Matt Balme Email: pen_editor at psi.edu o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month 2. [NASA] PDS MRO Data Release 9 3. Postdoctoral Research Assistant within Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Oxford University, UK 4. [NASA] RFI - Feasibility of using Constellation Architecture for Servicing Existing and Future Observatory-Class Scientific Spacecraft 5. ESTEC Position Available: Head of Solar Systems Mission Division 6. Soliciting Abstracts for Planetary Volcanism Session, GSA Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, 18-21 October 2009 (Abstracts Due: August 11) 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 PLANETARY GEOMORPHOLOGY IMAGE OF THE MONTH The June 'Image of the month' is now available at the IAG's Planetary Geomorphology web page: http://www.psi.edu/pgwg/images/jun09image.html This month's topic is 'Alluvial Fans on Mars' Past images and captions are available at http://www.psi.edu/pgwg/images/index.html Mary Bourke Coordinator of the IAG Working Group on Planetary Geomorphology 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 MRO DATA RELEASE 9 The NASA Planetary Data System (PDS) is pleased to announce Release 9 of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) data for the following instruments: CRISM, CTX, HiRISE, MARCI, MCS, RSS, SHARAD and SPICE. In general, MRO Release 9 includes data collected August 9, 2008 through November 8, 2008. The HiRISE Operations Center has released HiRISE image data acquired over the time period spanning January 16, 2009 to April 4, 2009 in the MRO orbit range of 11,600 to 12,599. This release contains 1.7 Terabytes of image products derived from 604 observations made by the HiRISE camera during this period. To access the above data, please visit the following link: http://pds.nasa.gov/subscription_service/SS-20090609.html 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 POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSISTANT WITHIN ATMOSPHERIC, OCEANIC AND PLANETARY PHYSICS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY, UK There is a new job advert posted. Please visit http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/jobs/ to view this. Reference Number: DC09/004 Job Description: Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Assistant position in the Planetary Atmospheres Data Analysis Group within the sub-Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic & Planetary Physics. The successful applicant will assist in the observations of outer planet atmospheres from Cassini/CIRS and ground-based telescopes and interpret these data with sophisticated radiative transfer and retrieval models. The post is available for two years in the first instance. Anyone who thinks they may be interested in the job is encouraged to talk to Dr Pat Irwin (or email: irwin@atm.ox.ac.uk) about it. Additional details can be found on the web at: http://www.atm.ox.ac.uk/main/AOPP/DC09004.html The application deadline is 19/06/2009. 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 [NASA] RFI - FEASIBILITY OF USING CONSTELLATION ARCHITECTURE FOR SERVICING EXISTING AND FUTURE OBSERVATORY-CLASS SCIENTIFIC SPACECRAFT Solicitation Number: NNH09ZDA010L Release Date: June 10, 2009 Response Date: August 10, 2009 Classification Code: A -- Research and Development NASA is soliciting information through this Request for Information (RFI) to improve its understanding of using the capabilities of its Constellation System, adaptations of the Constellation System architectures, and/or robotic technologies to service a wide range of notional science observatory-class spacecraft. The NASA-defined notional missions studied will be consistent with NASA's current portfolio of future space science missions and/or conceptual mission ideas that were presented to the National Research Council's (NRC's) Committee on Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA's Constellation System during the spring of 2008. These notional missions include observatories designed to operate in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), at Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO), and at Earth-Sun Lagrangian points L1 and L2. NASA is broadly seeking information concerning technologies, architectures, and servicing concepts (i.e., what elements of the mission are worth considering for serviceability, how, and why?) relevant to on-orbit servicing of observatory-class spacecraft. [Editor Note: For the full announcement, go to http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/viewrepositorydocument /cmdocumentid=193407/NNH09ZDA010L%20Servicing%20RFI%20061009.pdf] 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 ESTEC POSITION AVAILABLE: HEAD OF SOLAR SYSTEMS MISSION DIVISION Dear colleagues, I'd like to bring to your attention the linked ESA vacancy for the position of Head of the Solar Systems Mission Division at ESTEC in the Netherlands and I'd very much like to encourage interested parties to apply. Please note, however, the imminent deadline of Tuesday June 16, i.e. this week. http://www.esa.int/hr/PDF/ESA-VN-ESTEC-2009-122.pdf best wishes, Mark Prof Mark McCaughrean, European Space Agency Head, Research & Scientific Support Department (SRE/S) ESTEC, Postbus 299, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands PA: Clare Bingham clare.bingham@esa.int +31 71 565 3553 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 SOLICITING ABSTRACTS FOR PLANETARY VOLCANISM SESSION, GSA ANNUAL MEETING, PORTLAND, OREGON, 18-21 OCTOBER 2009 (ABSTRACTS DUE: AUGUST 11) Title: Eruptive deposits as keys to understanding volcanic systems on planetary bodies Description: This session is geared towards understanding how the physical properties of volcanic landforms and deposits (composition, morphology, age, and distribution) can be used to constrain magmatic processes (magma generation, movement, and storage) on all planets. Rationale: Volcanism, a dominant process operating on planets, is one in a series of processes that comprise a volcanic system. These other processes operate inside planets and include melting (magma generation), ascent, and storage. Volcanic systems represent a link between planetary surfaces & interiors and are windows into understanding their interior evolution. On Earth, field studies enhance our understanding of Earth's interior evolution. However, the inability to do this on other planets inhibits complete understanding of extraterrestrial volcanic systems. Instead, we are confined to examining images and limited compositional data of extraterrestrial volcanic deposits. The purpose of this session is to bring together terrestrial and planetary volcanologists to highlight methods of using limited data of extraterrestrial volcanism to understand better these volcanic systems. Terrestrial and planetary volcanologists are encouraged to submit to this session. 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 March 1-5, 2010 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 2010) http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2010/ The Woodlands, TX [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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