PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 5, Number 8 (February 6, 2011) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Mark V. Sykes Co-Editors: Melissa Lane, Susan Benecchi Email: pen_editor at psi.edu o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. The Moon: The First Billion Years of Crustal Evolution 2. Mars Exploration Science Monthly Newsletter - February 2011 3. Call for Symposium Papers: Chemistry as a Tool for Space Exploration and Discovery at Mars 4. [NASA] Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program 2011/2012 Academic Year Proposal Submission Deadline is Extended to February 8 5. Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month 6. Venus Lunch-Time Town-Hall Meeting at LPSC, Thursday, March 10, 2011 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 THE MOON: THE FIRST BILLION YEARS OF CRUSTAL EVOLUTION The Woodlands Waterway Marriot, The Woodlands, Texas March 5-6, 2011 Sponsored by: Brown University, The Vernadsky Institute, Brown/MIT NLSI. The goal of Microsymposium 52 is to present a summary of new discoveries, and to bring together representatives of the lunar geology, mineralogy, petrology, spectroscopy, geochemistry and geophysics communities to ponder the implications of these new findings for the next generation of significant scientific problems. A critical aspect of this discussion will be to assess the implications of this new perspective for future modes and destinations for robotic exploration of the Moon. Go to: http://www.planetary.brown.edu/html_pages/micro52.htm [Editor: Reduced 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 MARS EXPLORATION SCIENCE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 2011 On behalf of Dave Des Marais, the MEPAG Chair, Dave Beaty, Rich Zurek, and Charles Budney of the Mars Program Science Office, the February 2011 edition of the Mars Exploration Science Monthly Newsletter can be found on the web at: http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov 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 CALL FOR SYMPOSIUM PAPERS: CHEMISTRY AS A TOOL FOR SPACE EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY AT MARS August 28-September 1, 2011 Denver, Colorado At the Fall 2011 American Chemical Society National Meeting Mars is the most accessible location outside of the Earth to investigate for evidence of past and present habitable zones and for extinct or extant extraterrestrial life. Chemistry-based approaches provide the central tool in these exploration efforts. This search involves the interplay of physical, organic, inorganic, analytical, biological, and geochemistry along with inputs from atmospheric physics and remote imaging. NASA and ESA missions, some joint, will launch over the next 10 years and carry chemistry-based instrumentation to examine whether evidence of past/present habitability and habitation exists and where on Mars future exploration should be directed. Submit abstracts by March 21 to: http://abstracts.acs.org You need to register for an ACS user name and password, log in, select 242nd National Meeting, create new abstract (if first time), then "Chemistry as a Tool for Space Exploration and Discovery at Mars" under "CASW". Contributed papers may be in the form of oral talks or posters. Symposium is co-sponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Institute. Mark Allen (Mark.Allen@jpl.nasa.gov) Jeff Bada (jbada@ucsd.edu) Ronald Cohen (rccohen@berkeley.edu) [Editor: Reduced for length] 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] EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE FELLOWSHIP (NESSF) PROGRAM 2011/2012 ACADEMIC YEAR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 8 Due to the severe winter weather conditions experienced in large parts of the country and the resultant power outages and other hardship conditions, the proposal submission deadline for the subject program is being extended to February 8, 2011. This change will allow additional proposal preparation time for proposers who may have been impacted by these conditions, so that all proposers may prepare high-quality, responsive proposals. For further information about the NESSF Program contact: Program Administrator for NESSF Earth Science Research - Ming-Ying Wei at (202) 358-0771 or by E-mail at mwei@nasa.gov. Program Administrator for NESSF Heliophysics Research, Planetary Science Research, and Astrophysics Research - Dolores Holland at (202) 358-0734 or by E-mail at hq-nessf-Space@nasa.gov. 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 PLANETARY GEOMORPHOLOGY IMAGE OF THE MONTH The February 'image of the month' is now available at the IAG's Planetary Geomorphology web page: http://www.psi.edu/pgwg/images/Feb11Image.html This Month's topic is on "Dry lake beds on Mars". Images and caption contributed by M. R. El Maarry, Max-Planck Institut fuer Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany. 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 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 VENUS LUNCH-TIME TOWN-HALL MEETING AT LPSC, THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011 You're invited to participate in a Venus Town-Hall Meeting at LPSC on Thursday, March 10, 2011 between Noon and 1:00 p.m. in the Montgomery Ballroom, Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, Woodlands, Texas. This will provide for an update on Venus related inputs to the Planetary Sciences Decadal Survey, status of the current Venus missions and upcoming events. Discussion topics will be Increasing Student Participation in Venus Explorations as well the Exploration of Venus in theNext Decade. The next VEXAG sponsored Science Conference and VEXAG Meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday through Thursday, August 29 - September 1, 2011 on the East Coast. Details will be available soon on the VEXAG website at: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/ 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 April 17-21, 2011 2011 RAS National Astronomy Meeting http://www.ras.org.uk/nam-2011 Llandudno, United Kingdom June 14-18, 2011 Ringberg Workshop on Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Flow: Baroclinic Instability and Protoplanetary Accretion Disks http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/Baroclinic2011 Ringberg Castle, Germany June 21-24, 2011 Discover the Cosmos and Change The World! http://www.starmus.com/pages/en/conferences.php Tenerife, Spain July 17, 2011 AI in Space: Intelligence Beyond Planet Earth http://www.congrex.nl/11M10/ Barcelona, Spain [Editor Note: If there is a planetary-related meeting, conference or workshop of which your colleagues should be aware, 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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