PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 6, Number 14 (April 1, 2012) 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. Special: Impact of Delays in Selection and Funding of Research and Data Analysis Program Awards 2. NASA Planetary Science Summer School - Application Deadline Extended to April 3, 2012 3. NASA Postdoctoral Fellowships 4. NASA NEO Human Space Flight Accessible Targets Study (NHATS) Website Tool 5. ISS and Mars Conference in Strasbourg, France 6. Concepts Sought for Planetary Science from a Balloon-Based Observatory 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 SPECIAL: IMPACT OF DELAYS IN SELECTION AND FUNDING OF RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM AWARDS Last week, I requested information from our community about the impact of delays in R&A selections and awards. Your responses, minus personal information, have been posted at: http://planetarypolicy.org Consequences include: The personal assumption of research expenses by scientists, the potential loss of students, funding instability or inadequacy for postdocs, undermining funded research, general loss of efficiency in programs and research, a sense of overall lack of support for these foundational programs that underpin our solar system exploration efforts, and the potential loss of scientists from planetary science. These are not problems caused by Congress. They are not the necessary outcome of Continuing Resolutions. They could be obviated by NASA's adoption of a policy that would require timely allocation of resources to these programs and the timely processing of proposals and subsequent funding of awards. Mark Sykes sykes@psi.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 NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL - APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO APRIL 3, 2012 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 April 3, 2012. Partial financial support is available for a limited number of individuals. Further information is available at: http://pscischool.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 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, exploration systems, lunar science, astrobiology, or astrophysics. 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. Stipends start at $50,000 per year, with supplements for high cost-of-living areas and for certain academic specialties. Financial assistance is available for relocation and health insurance, and $8,000 per year is provided for professional travel. 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 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 NEO HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT ACCESSIBLE TARGETS STUDY (NHATS) WEBSITE TOOL http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/nhats/ Observers, mission planners, and other interested users are invited to use a new website tool to view a list of near-Earth asteroids among the most accessible for future robotic or human space flight round-trip rendezvous missions. Users can customize the table of accessible NEAs by specifying limits on total delta-V, mission duration, stay time at the asteroid, launch date interval, asteroid absolute magnitude, and orbit condition code. Clicking on each object's designation takes the user to an object-specific page, which provides additional details, including a plot showing total mission delta-V for each combination of mission duration and launch date (2015 - 2040). Another click on the object's designation opens a new window that provides orbital and physical data for the object. The Near-Earth Object Human Space Flight Accessible Targets Study (NHATS) began in September 2010 under the auspices of NASA Headquarters Planetary Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate in cooperation with the Advanced Exploration Systems Division of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. Its purpose was to identify any known Near-Earth Objects, particularly Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) that might be accessible by future human spaceflight missions. 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 ISS AND MARS CONFERENCE IN STRASBOURG, FRANCE On April 12-13, 2012, Explore Mars and International Space University are presenting the International Space Station and Mars Conference in Strasbourg, France. Explore Mars is happy to offer members of the PEN list a special discount on registration by visiting the registration page at: http://www.issmars-europe.eventbrite.com To get the special discount, enter the discount code: issmarspen The ISS and Mars Conference will advance the the discussion started in 2011 of how ISS can help advance the goal sending humans beyond LEO and on to Mars. The conference will feature some of the top names of space exploration in Europe and around the world. Confirmed and tentative speakers include, Reinhold Ewald (ESA; astronaut), Bruno Gardini (ESA), Diego Urbina (Mars500), Ulrich Kuebler (Astrium), Kirk Shireman (NASA), Michael Raftery (Boeing), Sam Scimemi (NASA), and many others. Attendees to the conference will also be able to attend the ISU 25th Anniversary/Yuri's Night Reception on April 12th at ISU. This will be an exciting and inspiring party on the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight. 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 CONCEPTS SOUGHT FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE FROM A BALLOON-BASED OBSERVATORY NASA's Planetary Science Division is seeking community input on the potential planetary science that could be achieved from a stratospheric balloon observatory. A workshop to discuss platform capabilities, recent balloon missions for other NASA SMD divisions, and potential planetary science applications was held at NASA GRC in late January, 2012. Efforts to date have resulted in over 40 concepts for planetary science this platform may perform. The next phase of this effort is to solicit review and comments from the broader planetary community. Your participation is crucial to ensure that the ideas put forward are the best they can be and are reflective of the needs and desires of the broad planetary community. Please go to: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/balloon_science/ Review the information relevant to your science interests and provide comments, suggestions, and new ideas by COB April, 30th. Thank you in advance for you participation! 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 May 8-11, 2012 Revealing Evolution of Protoplanetary Disks in the ALMA Era http://www.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kyoto_disk/ Kyoto, Japan October 8-11, 2012 Rocks n Stars: The Solar System Within Geo- and Astrophysics http://rocksnstars.de/ Gottingen, Germany [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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