PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 6, Number 4 (January 22, 2011) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Susan Benecchi Co-Editors: Mark V. Sykes, Melissa Lane Email: pen_editor at psi.edu o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. Call for Abstracts: Planetary and Exo-Planetary Atmospheres, Surface Interactions and Astrobiology 2. [NASA] SMD Graduate Student Fellowships 3. 2012 NASA Planetary Science Summer School 4. NASA Postdoctoral Fellowships 5. Upcoming MEPAG Meeting / Mars Future Landing Site Workshop 6. [NASA] 1st Annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference 7. Microsymposium 53 - Early History of the Terrestrial Planets: New Insights from the Moon and Mercury 8. AOGS-AGU (WPGM), Session PS20: Polarimetry of Planetary Systems 9. ESLAB Symposium on Formation and Evolution of Moons, ESTEC 10. 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 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: PLANETARY AND EXO-PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES, SURFACE INTERACTIONS AND ASTROBIOLOGY This year's joint Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS) / American Meteorological Society (AMS) Congress to be held in Montreal from May 29 to June 1, 2012 will feature a session entitled Planetary and Exo-Planetary Atmospheres, Surface Interactions and Astrobiology. This new session, held for the first time this year, seeks to bring together research in atmospheres beyond our own and the processes which affect their composition and dynamics from researchers across Canada and the World. For more information, please consult the links below or contact John Moores at john.e.moores@gmail.com . Abstracts may be submitted no later than February 17, 2012 at the website of the Montreal Congress: http://www.cmos.ca/congress2012/en/abstractsubmission/index.shtml A more complete description of the session can be found here: http://people.sca.uqam.ca/~gauthier/CMOS2012/ProgramCMOSMontreal2012_ web.htm#_Planetary_and_Exo-Planetary 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] SMD GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS Proposals for SMD's graduate fellowships are due February 1, 2012. The NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program - 2012/ 2013 Academic Year, solicits applications from accredited U.S. Universities on behalf of individuals pursuing Masters or Doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in Earth and space sciences, or related disciplines, at respective institutions. The purpose of NESSF is to ensure continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines needed to achieve NASA's scientific goals outlined above. Awards resulting from the competitive selection will be made in the form of training grants to the respective universities with the advisor serving as the principal investigator. The deadline for proposals is February 1, 2012. For more information see: http://tinyurl.com/7586wwq 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 2012 NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL NASA is accepting applications from science and engineering post-docs, recent PhDs, and doctoral students for its 24th Annual Planetary Science Summer School, which will hold two separate sessions this summer (18-22 June and 16-20 July) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. During the program and pre-session webinars, 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. By the end of the session, students will have a clearer understanding of the life cycle of a 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 March 28, 2012. 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 NASA POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) offers scientists and engineers unique opportunities to conduct research at NASA Centers. Each NPP fellowship opportunity is designed to advance NASA research in a specific project related to space science, earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, lunar science, or astrobiology. Applicants must have a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in hand before beginning the fellowship, but may apply while completing the degree requirements. U. S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, and foreign nationals eligible for J-1 status as a Research Scholar may apply. An H-1B Visa status is not acceptable because the NPP is not an employment program. Stipends for Postdoctoral Fellows start at $50,000 per year, with moderate supplements for high cost-of-living areas and for certain academic specialties. Funds are available for relocation expenses, up to a specified limit, and health insurance is available through the program. Fellows also receive $8,000 per appointment year to support travel to conferences, meetings, and other activities that directly support their research. Applications are accepted three times each year: March 1, July 1, and November 1. For further information and to apply, visit: http://nasa.orau.org/postdoc/description/index.htm Questions may be submitted by e-mail to nasapostdoc@orau.org 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 UPCOMING MEPAG MEETING / MARS FUTURE LANDING SITE WORKSHOP Dear Colleagues, Just a reminder that if you have not already done so and are planning to attend the MEPAG meeting at the Hilton Dulles International Airport in Herndon, Virginia (Washington, DC area), on February 27-28, 2012, we would appreciate your RSVP so that we can plan for you. A Mars Future Landing Site Workshop will be held at the same venue following the MEPAG meeting, February 29 thru March 2, 2012. There is a block of hotel rooms set aside at the Hilton Dulles I nternational Airport for both of these events. The deadline for the room block is Monday, February 6, 2012. Regards, Joyce N. Pulliam 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 [NASA] 1ST ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE Dates: June 26-28, 2012 Abstract deadline: January 30, 2012 Location: The Denver Marriott City Center Conference organized by the AAS in partnership with NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space Inc. (CASIS). The program outline is posted at: http://www.astronautical.org/node/96 Manuscripts are solicited on topics related to science and technology activities (past, present, planned and proposed) on the ISS. This conference will focus on ISS research and development-research results and future opportunities in physical sciences, life sciences, Earth and space sciences, and spacecraft technology development. Plenary sessions will highlight major results and pathways to future opportunities. Organizations managing and funding research on ISS, including NASA programs and the ISS National Laboratory will provide overviews of upcoming opportunities. Parallel technical sessions will provide tracks for scientists to be updated on significant accomplishments to date within their disciplines. The meeting also includes a workshop designed to help new users take this information and develop their own ideas for experiments using this unique laboratory. Potential ISS users who attend will learn: "What can I do on the ISS? How can I do it? What are sources for funding?" 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 MICROSYMPOSIUM 53 - EARLY HISTORY OF THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS: NEW INSIGHTS FROM THE MOON AND MERCURY March 17-18th, 2012, at The Woodlands Waterway Marriot, just prior to LPSC 43. Exploration of the Moon and Mercury has outlined the basic events, themes and processes in the first half of Solar System history. Recent results are challenging many of these fundamental views on the Moon, and on Mercury, MESSENGER data have revealed crustal compositions quite unlike those anticipated, a cratering record that differs from the Moon in interesting ways, and a global magnetic field with an unusually strong asymmetry about the planetary equator. These findings have clearly challenged an earlier vision of a "Moon-like" Mercury, and have placed into question most earlier paradigms for the origin and evolution of the innermost planet. Although the two bodies are different, it is clear that comparison between the Moon and Mercury may help to resolve outstanding problems in the origin and evolution of each, and shed new light on the fundamental themes and events in the histories of the terrestrial planets. Microsymposium 53 will feature a summary of these new discoveries, and bring together scientists to ponder their implications. For more information and registration, see: http://www.planetary.brown.edu/html_pages/micro53.htm 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 AOGS-AGU (WPGM), SESSION PS20: POLARIMETRY OF PLANETARY SYSTEMS 13-17 August 2012 AOGS-AGU(WPGM) Joint Assembly Resort Worlds Sentosa, Singapore Abstract Submission Opens 15 Jan 2012 Abstract Submission Closes 12 Mar 2012 Website: www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2012 Conveners: Dr. Padma Yanamandra-Fisher (Space Science Institute, United States), padmayf@gmail.com Dr. Herve' Lamy (Belgian Institute for Space Aeronmy, Belgium), herve.lamy@aeronomie.be Dr. Ludmilla Kolokolova (University of Maryland, United States), ludmilla@astro.umd.edu Abstract: Polarimetry as a remote sensing tool to explore our solar system, including planetary atmospheres, satellite surfaces, ring systems, comets, asteroids and exoplanetary atmospheres is a rapidly growing field. This session will include invited and contributed talks on: (i) application of the principles of polarization to remote sensing; and (ii) role of polarization as an independent and complementary remote sensing tool to imaging and spectroscopic techniques. Welcome observers, theorists and experimentalists that use polarimetry to study any component of planetary systems. 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 ESLAB SYMPOSIUM ON FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF MOONS, ESTEC The Netherlands, 25-29 June 2012 Deadline for abstract: 2nd April 2012 Understanding the formation and evolution of the natural satellites of the planets is important, as a piece of the wider puzzle concerning the formation and evolution of the solar system as a whole. Significant progress has been achieved recently on the formation of the Moon and of the regular satellites of the giant planets. However, many questions regarding the different formation mechanisms are still unanswered. The goal of the symposium is to review all possible scientific mechanisms for forming the moons, and for driving their subsequent evolutions, and their consequences on our current understanding of solar system formation and evolution. URL: http://www.sciops.esa.int/index.php?project=CONF2011&page=MOONS 10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10 PLANETARY MEETING CALENDAR ADDITIONS April 28-29, 2012 2nd USA Science and Engineering Festival http://www.usasciencefestival.org/ Washington, DC May 31 - June 1, 2012 The 46th Canadian Meteorological and Oceanograpgic Society Congress http://www.cmos.ca/congress2012 Montreal, Canada June 6-8, 2012 Dust, Atmosphere and Plasma Environment of the Moon and Small Bodies (DAP-2012) http://ldap2012.colorado.edu/ Boulder, CO June 25-29, 2012 ESLAB Symposium on Formation and Evolution of Moons http://www.sciops.esa.int/index.php?project=CONF2011&page=MOONS Noordwijk, The Netherlands June 26-28, 2012 1st Annual International Space Station (ISS) Research and Development and Conference http://www.astronautical.org/node/96 Denver, Colorado July 17-19, 2012 Lunar Science Forum 2012 http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/LSF2012 Moffett Field, CA August 27-31, 2012 Instabilities and Structures in Proto-Planetary Disks http://wiki.oamp.fr/ispp/IsppWorkShop Marseille, France September 3-7, 2012 ESO@50 - The First 50 Years of ESO http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2012/ESOat50.html Garching, Germany October 15-18, 2012 Science from the Next Generation Imaging and Spectroscopic Surveys http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2012/surveys2012.html Garching, Germany February 25 - March 1, 2013 Shaping E-ELT Science and Instrumentation http://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2013/eelt2013.html Garching, Germany Posted at http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html [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, or * send a request to pen_editor at psi.edu * * To unsubscribe, send an email to pen_editor at psi.edu * * 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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