PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 4, Number 27 (June 27, 2010) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Melissa Lane Co-Editors: Mark V. Sykes, Susan Benecchi Email: pen_editor at psi.edu o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. Fourth MSL Landing Site Workshop- Call for Presentations 2. [NASA] Draft AOs for Explorer Missions and Explorer Missions of Opportunity Released for Community Comment 3. [NASA] NSPIRES Contract Change and Interruptions in Service 4. [NASA] Final Announcement for EJSM Instrument Workshop 5. Remiders for the 3rd Annual Lunar Science Forum 6. LEAG Abstracts Due June 30 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 FOURTH MSL LANDING SITE WORKSHOP- CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS You are invited to participate in the fourth landing site workshop for the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover mission. The workshop will be held near Pasadena, California, on September 27-29, 2010. The workshop will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Monrovia, California, and will occur before the MEPAG meeting to be held at the same location. This workshop will focus on the outstanding science questions, surface characteristics, and relative merits of the final MSL landing sites remaining under consideration. Outcomes will include a list of testable hypotheses that can be accomplished at each site using the MSL science payload. A fifth landing site workshop will be held in the early spring of 2011 that will be the final workshop prior to selection of the site by NASA Headquarters. All members of the scientific community are encouraged to participate. Persons wishing to make a presentation at the workshop should provide a title and brief (several-sentence) description of the content to both: John Grant (grantj@si.edu) and Matt Golombek (mgolombek@jpl.nasa.gov) by August 1, 2010. The input from the science community is critical to identification and evaluation of optimal landing sites for the MSL. (Editor note: 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] DRAFT AOS FOR EXPLORER MISSIONS AND EXPLORER MISSIONS OF OPPORTUNITY RELEASED FOR COMMUNITY COMMENT NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) released two draft solicitations for community review and comment: the Draft Explorer 2010 Announcement of Opportunity (AO) and the Draft Explorer 2010 Missions of Opportunity (MO) Program Element Appendix (PEA) for the Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON) AO. The full text of the both draft solicitations will be available at: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ Explorer Investigations must address NASA's goals to advance the understanding of the Sun and its effects on Earth and the Solar System and/or to discover the origin, structure, evolution, and destiny of the universe and search for Earth-like planets. NASA will hold an Explorer Program Workshop (including a Potential Bidders Conference) on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 in the Washington, DC area to provide an overview of the Draft Explorer 2010 AO and the Draft Explorer 2010 MO PEA and to address any questions. Information about the Conference will be made available on the Explorer Program Acquisition website at: http://explorers.larc.nasa.gov/EX/ The comment period for the Draft Explorer 2010 AO and the Draft Explorer 2010 MO PEA ends on July 16, 2010. (Editor note: Edited for length) 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] NSPIRES CONTRACT CHANGE AND INTERRUPTIONS IN SERVICE NASA recently competed contract that handles work associated with peer review, and the new contract is to begin at the start of August. In July, during the transition period, there will be some interruption of services as offices, people, and computers are moved. For example: 1) From 8 am EDT Thursday June 24 to 7 am Monday June 28, 2010, the regular NSPIRES help desk email (nspires-help@nasaprs.com) will not be working. To email the NSPIRES help desk during this period, please use nspires@gst.com. The help desk phone number (202-479-9376) will continue to be available during this period. 2) The NSPIRES computer system, through which proposals and NOIs are submitted, will be moving and thus offline from Thursday July 15 through Sunday July 18. As a result the NOI due date for Appendix A.24 AOURD has been changed to Thursday, July 22 and the due dates for B.8 HDEE and C.20 ASTEP have been changed to Friday, July 23. The amendments making these changes, and also the delay of due date for proposals to Appendix D.5, the GALEX GI program can all be found at: http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/ roses-2010/ 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 FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR EJSM INSTRUMENT WORKSHOP NASA and ESA are organizing the 4th Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) Instrument Workshop on July 26-29, 2010 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, California. See: http://opfm.jpl.nasa.gov/InstrumentWorkshop/ for details registration. A limited number of sleeping rooms remain available until July 7. This workshop will be covering programmatic and technical aspects related to the EJSM mission, including Jovian radiation models, the JEO system reliability model, radiation shielding modeling results, others. Two classes will be offered as part of the workshop: a tutorial on the Jovian environments, and Planetary Protection considerations for instrument development. This workshop will provide relevant programmatic information on the instrument Announcement of Opportunity (AO), which is expected to be released in early 2011. New information will be provided on the selection and review process, AO policies, and other topics. Attendees will have the opportunity to provide feedback to NASA that will be considered when finalizing the AO. Potential instrument providers to EJSM are strongly encouraged to attend this workshop. Participants who are interested in presenting items of interest to the general instrument community may submit an abstract summarizing their capabilities. Dr. Curt Niebur NASA Headquarters (202)358-0390 (Editor note: Edited for length) 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 REMINDERS FOR THE 3RD ANNUAL LUNAR SCIENCE FORUM 1. Registration will close at 5 PM on Monday, July 12. Registration is separate from abstract submission, so please make sure you have registered for the Forum. Registration is free and can be completed at: http://lunarscience2010.arc.nasa.gov/ 2. LSF Planned Evening activities: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 6-7:30 PM Shoemaker Award and Lecture NASA Night with NASA Headquarters leadership Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 6-7:30 PM "The New Moon"- A public lecture by Andrew Chaikin about how recent lunar missions have revolutionized our thinking about our closest neighbor. "Communicating Science through Art"- A musical and visual display by Jose Francisco Salgado, PhD. 3. A limited number of travel grants are available to support undergraduate and graduate student travel to NASA Ames Research Center. Interested students should submit their name, affiliation, and brief personal statement (no more than 250 words) to: Brad.Bailey@nasa.gov explaining why you would like to attend the Forum by June 30, 2010. Travel grant awardees will be notified by July 5, 2010. Travel awards are in the amount of $1000. 4. The Lunar Science Forum agenda is now up on the web. Please visit it at: http://lunarscience2009.arc.nasa.gov/ 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 LEAG ABSTRACTS DUE JUNE 30 Just a reminder that abstracts for the 2010 annual meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group must be submitted electronically to the Lunar and Planetary Institute via the electronic submission form by 5:00 p.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, June 30, 2010. Abstract and meeting information is available at: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/leag2010 The meeting will be held September 14-16, 2010, at the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, SW, Washington DC. The hotel is conveniently located near the L'Enfant Plaza Metro (6th and Maryland Street exits) and within a short walking distance to NASA Headquarters. 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 No new calendar additions [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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