PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 3, Number 35 (July 26, 2009) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Mark V. Sykes Co-Editor: Nic Richmond Email: pen_editor at psi.edu o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. Solo Impact on Jupiter 2. NRC Decadal Survey Discipline Panel Membership Named 3. Community White Papers on Small Bodies for the Planetary Decadal Survey 4. White-Paper Proposal Site for Planetary Science Decadal Survey 5. Second Planetary Decadal Survey Newsletter Available 6. Fall AGU Special Session: Decadal Survey - Call for Abstracts 7. Fall AGU Special Session: The Galilean Satellites' 400th Anniversary 8. Fall AGU Special Session: Enceladus - The Plot Thickens 9. Fall AGU Special Session: Physics of Anelasticity and Dissipation in Earth and Planetary Bodies 10. [NASA PDS] Mars Odyssey Data Release 28 11. 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 SOLO IMPACT ON JUPITER On 2009 July 19 at approximately 13:30 UTC, Anthony Wesley was observing Jupiter from his home observatory just outside Murrumbateman, New South Wales, Australia. He noted a black mark in Jupiter's South Polar Region (SPR). This might be due to the impact of either an asteroid or comet - similar to the impacts of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994, and exactly 15 years later. Antonio Cidadao of Portugal identified the spot in weak methane-band images, supporting an impact interpretation. Dr. Glenn Orton (JPL) was at the NASA IRTF and has tentatively confirmed the singleton impact with methane-band and continuum IR imaging. The University of Central Florida in Orlando is collecting images and other information about this event on the following web page: http://planets.ucf.edu/resources/jupiter-impact We invite anyone with relevant news to contact us. In particular, we seek pre-impact images to constrain the time of impact, images of the developing impact site, deep circumjovian imaging that might identify the impactor, and lists of teams submitting DDT proposals, to coordinate efforts. Joseph Harrington UCF Planetary Sciences Group jharring@physics.ucf.edu 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 NRC DECADAL SURVEY DISCIPLINE PANEL MEMBERSHIP NAMED Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my pleasure to announce that the NRC's Executive Office has approved the nominations of the individuals listed below to serve on the Inner Planets, Mars, Primitive Bodies and Satellites panels of the Planetary Sciences Decadal Survey. Membership of the Giant Planets Panel will be announced later. The individuals concerned will receive appointment paperwork and logistical information concerning their respective panel meetings in August and September in the near future. A complete list of scheduled meeting dates is given below. Best wishes, David H. Smith EDITORS NOTE: A list of panel members is given at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal_panels.html and the panel meeting schedule is given at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal2011.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 COMMUNITY WHITE PAPERS ON SMALL BODIES FOR THE PLANETARY DECADAL SURVEY The NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group wants to thank the many members of our community who have signed up to participate in the following white papers to identify top-level science issues and mission priorities for the next decade. Near-Earth Objects Asteroids Comets Dwarf Planets Centaurs and Small Irregular TNOs Interplanetary Dust Small Irregular Satellites If you are interested in these areas, the doors remain open for you to contribute. Your voice is important! Go to http://www.psi.edu/decadal and register. The greater the participation in this process, the better the result. These white papers will be submitted to the Primitive Bodies panel for their deliberations near the beginning of September. It will be followed by a community discussion for ranking top science issues and mission priorities across the above topics online and at the upcoming DPS conference (schedule TBD, go to http://dps09.naic.edu/). Details and results of that discussion will be transmitted to the Primitive Bodies panel for their deliberations in October. Thank you, Mark V. Sykes, Chair Small Bodies Assessment Group 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 WHITE-PAPER PROPOSAL SITE FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE DECADAL SURVEY Members of the planetary science and astrobiology communities are strongly encouraged to draft white papers and submit them via the decadal survey's website. See http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal_whitepapers.html for instructions. To assist the decadal survey plan for the handling, distribution and best use of the white papers submitted, authors are strongly encouraged to make use of the white-paper proposal site established by the Lunar and Planetary Institute: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/decadal/. Use of the LPI site tells the decadal survey what it can expect to receive and it allows you to accrete coauthors. Remember that broad community participation is one of the hallmarks of a decadal survey and that consensus is compelling. More information about the planetary science decadal survey can be found at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal2011.html. 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 SECOND PLANETARY DECADAL SURVEY NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE Steven Squyres, chair of the National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey, has posted the second of his planned series of community newsletters on the survey's website. The newsletter is available at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal2011_Squyres2.pdf Additional information about survey's goals, organization, activities and meeting dates is available at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal2011.html. 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 FALL AGU SPECIAL SESSION: DECADAL SURVEY - CALL FOR ABSTRACTS The Planetary Science Decadal Survey is organizing a scientific session at the Fall AGU meeting entitled "Recent Results in Planetary Science and Their Impact on Future Science and Mission Priorities" (see http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/program/scientific_session_search.php? show=detail&sessid=558 for details). Members of the geosciences, planetary sciences and astrobiology communities are encouraged to submit abstracts focusing on recent discoveries from solar system exploration missions and associated ground based activities that will likely inform decisions concerning spacecraft missions to be undertaken during the period 2013-2022. The session conveners are specifically looking for abstracts that: 1. Focus on results announced since 2002; 2. Explain why these results are significant relative to current solar system goals/priorities; and 3. Outline how these results should influence the next generation of solar system exploration missions. Abstracts will be accepted from 30 July until 3 September (see http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/program/index.php for details). 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 FALL AGU SPECIAL SESSION: THE GALILEAN SATELLITES' 400TH ANNIVERSARY As we prepare for the Europa Jupiter System Mission to explore Europa, Ganymede, and the Jupiter system, we also celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Galilean satellites. Please consider contributing an abstract to this special session of the AGU fall 2009 meeting in San Francisco, December 14 - 18. Abstracts are due Sept. 3. -Ron Greeley and Bob Pappalardo P19: The Galilean Satellites: 400 Years of Discovery Four hundred years ago, Galileo pointed his spyglass toward the planet Jupiter, revealing the four moons that would collectively bear his name, and forever changing our place in the heavens. In the centuries since, the Galilean satellites have fundamentally altered our understanding of satellite geophysical processes. Today we are preparing for the next decade's outer planets flagship mission, the international Europa Jupiter System Mission, which would explore the jovian system with two companion spacecraft. This session will concentrate on the geology and geophysics of the four Galilean satellites, including: tidal heating, subsurface oceans, interior convection, tectonic processes, volcanic processes, and surface composition. Also welcome are contributions on the history of exploration or future exploration of the satellites. 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 FALL AGU SPECIAL SESSION: ENCELADUS - THE PLOT THICKENS Dear Colleagues, Due to a misunderstanding that cropped up this year, the proposal for the AGU Special Session on Enceladus, that was so popular in years past, did not get submitted to the AGU on schedule, and as a consequence, it unfortunately does not show up on the AGU Scientific Program. However, since this year has been a very exciting one for results on Enceladus, we certainly aim to have a session devoted to Enceladus at the Fall 2009 AGU meeting. See the session description below. To rectify this situation, we've been advised by the AGU Planetary Session Planning Committee to circulate our Enceladus Special Session description widely and inform interested individuals to follow these steps: 1. Submit your Enceladus abstracts to Planetary General Contributions Session: ie, Submit to P01: General Contributions. 2. Be sure to make a note in the COMMENTS field that your abstract should be included in the session focused on Enceladus. Sorry for this departure from the usual, and hope to see you at the AGU. Best, Carolyn Porco Chris McKay EDITORS NOTE: The session description is provided at http://planetarypolicy.org/enceladus 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 FALL AGU SPECIAL SESSION: PHYSICS OF ANELASTICITY AND DISSIPATION IN EARTH AND PLANETARY BODIES Session: MR02 Conveners: Julie Castillo Jet Propulsion Laboratory / CalTech Julie.C.Castillo@jpl.nasa.gov Nikolai Bagdassarov Institut fuer Geowissenschaften, Goethe Universitat nickbagd1@gmx.de Description: This session aims to review our understanding of the mechanisms driving the anelastic and viscoelastic behavior of planetary materials for the frequency range 10^-8 to 0.1 Hz relevant to seismic and tidal stresses. These planetary materials range from Earth's rock to planetary ices, including porous material and partially molten rocks. We are hoping for an interdisciplinary session gathering specialists in Earth and planetary science. Part of the session will address anelasticity as observed in laboratory and in nature (e.g., seismic wave attenuation). Another part of the session will explore the consequences of material anelasticity (e.g., response to tidal stress of terrestrial ice shelves and of outer planet satellites, binary asteroids, etc.) 10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10 [NASA PDS] MARS ODYSSEY DATA RELEASE 28 The Planetary Data System (PDS) is pleased to announce a new delivery of Mars Odyssey data, Release 28, for the following instruments: Accelerometer, first release of Raw, Altitude, Derived and Profile data. THEMIS, including two new data sets: Infrared Geometrically Registered images and Infrared Projected Brightness Temperature images. SPICE GRS data will be released shortly. To access the above data, please visit the following link: http://pds.nasa.gov/subscription_service/SS-20090720.html To access the latest PDS Data Releases, please visit the following link: http://pds.nasa.gov/subscription_service/SS-Release.html All available PDS data may be found at: http://pds.nasa.gov/tools/data-search/ For further information, see the PDS Home Page: http://pds.nasa.gov/ 11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11 PLANETARY MEETING CALENDAR ADDITIONS Posted at http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html January 21-22, 2010 Ground-Based Geophysics on the Moon http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lunargeo2010/ Tempe, AZ May 30 - June 25, 2010 Vatican Observatory Summer School - The Chemistry of the Universe http://www.voss2010.va/ Castel Gandolfo, Vatican City State [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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