PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 4, Number 11 (March 14, 2010) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Mark V. Sykes Co-Editors: Melissa Lane, Nic Richmond Email: pen_editor at psi.edu o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. EDITORIAL: Congressional Language Threatens to Undermine NASA Research Programs 2. 42nd Annual DPS Conference 3. [NASA] Planetary Science Summer School 4. LPSC NASA Night Briefings Posted 5. Message From MEPAG 6. Cosmic Magnetism 7. Attention Grad Students and Early Postdocs: LunGradCon 2010 8. 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 EDITORIAL: CONGRESSIONAL LANGUAGE THREATENS TO UNDERMINE NASA RESEARCH PROGRAMS Mark V. Sykes CEO and Director Planetary Science Institute White Paper available at: http://planetarypolicy.org/NASA_Congressional_Language_100314.pdf Summary: In the Conference Report language to the recent 2010 Omnibus spending bill which funded NASA this year, language directs NASA to effectively reduce the amount of unspent (not just unobligated) money at the end of the fiscal year. This may have the unintended consequence of damaging NASA research programs and their management. Congress fails to understand that research grants are not spent as soon as they are awarded. NASA is working to avoid direct impact to universities and research institutions, but may not be able to avoid some negative consequences. Jim Green, the NASA Planetary Science Division Director, referred to this matter in his talk at LPSC on March 1. Institutions receiving NASA research funds should communicate with their representatives and tell them that science research programs should be excluded from the application of this language. US scientists should encourage their institutions to do so. 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 42ND ANNUAL DPS CONFERENCE The American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences invites you to attend its 42nd annual meeting in Pasadena, California from October 4-8, 2010. Further information can be found at: http://dps.aas.org/meetings/2010/ 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 [NASA] PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL NASA is accepting applications from science and engineering post-docs, recent PhDs, and doctoral students for its 22nd Annual Planetary Science Summer School, which will hold two separate sessions this summer (19-23 July and 2-6 August) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. During the program, student teams will carry out the equivalent of an early mission concept study, prepare a proposal authorization review presentation, present it to a review board, and receive feedback. At the end of the week, students will have a clearer understanding of the life cycle of a robotic space mission; relationships between mission design, cost, and schedule; and the tradeoffs necessary to stay within cost and schedule while preserving the quality of science. Applications are due 1 May 2010. Partial financial support is available for a limited number of individuals. Further information is available at http://pscischool.jpl.nasa.gov 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 LPSC NASA NIGHT BRIEFINGS POSTED The NASA night briefings by Drs. Laurie Leshin (Deputy Associate Administrator of ESMD) and Jim Green (Director of the Planetary Science Division) at LPSC 2010 can be found at: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2010/ 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 MESSAGE FROM MEPAG To Mars exploration community, In preparation for the MEPAG meeting week (March 17-18; Monrovia, California), we are posting three documents on the MEPAG web site: http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/ 1. The 3rd Information Circular with meeting agenda and WebEx directions 2. A proposed revision to the text of MEPAG's Goal I. I encourage the astrobiology community to review this, and be prepared to discuss it at the meeting next week. If you are not able to attend, it is open for written comment through March 31. 3. A proposed revision to the text of MEPAG's Goal IV (not quite ready yet, but will be posted soon). Those of you interested in the human exploration of Mars are encouraged to review this draft, and be prepared to discuss it at the meeting next week. Again, this draft is open for written comment through March 31. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible next week. Jack Mustard MEPAG chair 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 COSMIC MAGNETISM June 7-11, 2010 Sebel Harbourside Hotel in Kiama, Australia Registration deadline: April 30, 2010 http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/Astro2010/ We are holding a conference entitled "Cosmic magnetism" between June 7 and 11th, 2010. The conference venue will be in Kiama, a seaside resort a short distance South of Sydney, Australia (accessible by train or car from Sydney airport). In contrast to other conferences being held on cosmic magnetism, we intend to bring together experts on many different topics (from the Solar System, stars, pulsars, galaxies and the CMB), but then discuss topics relating to magnetic fields in a scale-independent manner. As the purpose of the conference is to discuss cosmic magnetism using a scale-free approach we are planning conference sessions such as: o Field interfaces (e.g. stellar/ISM, molecular cloud/Galactic, galaxies/clusters) o Coherent emission processes (e.g. planetary, stellar, pulsar ...) o Field generation mechanisms for different scales o Field topologies o Probes of magnetic fields (method oriented - e.g. pulsar rotation measures, extragalactic sources, Zeeman splitting ...) We will cover half of the registration fee for students. Thanks, George Hobbs, Robert Braun and Dominic Schnitzeler [NOTE: Edited for length] 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 ATTENTION GRAD STUDENTS AND EARLY POSTDOCS: LUNGRADCON 2010 The first-ever Lunar Graduate Conference (LunGradCon 2010) will be held on Sunday, July 18, 2010 at the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). In conjunction with the NASA Lunar Science Forum at ARC, LunGradCon will provide an opportunity for grad students and early-career postdocs to present their research on lunar science in a friendly environment among their peers. In addition to oral presentations, opportunities for networking with fellow grad students and postdocs, as well as senior members of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, will be provided. A limited amount of funding will be provided for travel and lodging costs. For more details, please visit: http://lasp.colorado.edu/ccldas/lgc2010 or email any questions to: lungradcon@gmail.com 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 PLANETARY MEETING CALENDAR ADDITIONS Posted at http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html April 7-8, 2010 Exoplanet Roadmap Advisory Team Workshop: A Roadmap for Exoplanets http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=46568 London, United Kingdom June 7-11, 2010 Cosmic Magnetism http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/Astro2010/ Kiama, Australia July 18, 2010 LunGradCon 2010 http://lasp.colorado.edu/ccldas/lgc2010 Mountain View, CA July 21-23, 2010 2010 HST Calibration Workshop http://www.stsci.edu/institute/conference/cal10 Baltimore, MD August 30 - September 4, 2010 Astronomy and Power: How Worlds are Structured http://seac-2010.vhs-gilching.org/index.php Gilching, Germany October 25-29, 2010 In the Spirit of Lyot 2010: Direct Detection of Exoplanets and Circumstellar Disks http://lyot2010.lesia.obspm.fr/ Paris, France [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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