PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 7, Number 4 (January 27, 2013) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Melissa Lane Co-Editors: Susan Benecchi, Mark V. Sykes Email: pen_editor at psi.edu o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. Stephen Eugene Dwornik (1926-2012) 2. Solar Wind Interaction with Planetary Environments Session (PS-01) at AOGS, Brisbane, Australia 3. Postdoctoral Researcher in Planetary Science 4. NASA Postdoctoral Fellowships 5. New Planetary Sciences Editor at Geophysical Research Letters 6. [NASA] Education Project Proposals Solicited 7. Science Verification of SAM: Call for Proposals 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 STEPHEN EUGENE DWORNIK (1926-2012) Stephen E. Dwornik passed away peacefully on December 17, 2012. Dwornik was born July 3, 1926, in Buffalo, New York. He attended Buffalo's Technical High School then enlisted in the Army. Dwornik participated in the Battle of the Bulge and received the Army's Bronze Star. He entered SUNY Buffalo where he received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Geology. He did field work in Alaska along the Brooks Range in the late 1940s and later moved to Springfield, Virginia, to work with mine detection at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Laboratories; he then worked in planetary geology space research at NASA. While at NASA, Dwornik acted as a Project Manager for the lunar Surveyor Program. Dwornik co-authored several books, including Atlas of Mercury. One of his fondest memories was providing the first substantial NASA funding to the young astronomer Carl Sagan. After retirement from NASA, Dwornik enjoyed a second career with Ball Aerospace, and volunteered to help create a planetary Braille map and speak for ElderHostel courses. He endowed the Stephen E. Dwornik Paper Award for Planetary Geology to support future generations of scientists. [Editor note: Excerpted from The Washington Post on December 22, 2012]: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/WashingtonPost/obituary.aspx?n= STEPHEN-E-DWORNIK&pid=161882753#fbLoggedOut 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 SOLAR WIND INTERACTION WITH PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS SESSION (PS-01) AT AOGS, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA We invite all members of the planetary space physics and aeronomy community to submit an abstract (deadline January 29) to the "Solar wind interaction with planetary environments" (PS-01) session at the Asia-Oceania Geosciences Society conference in Brisbane, Australia June 24-28, 2013. The aim of the proposed session is to gather works based on both in-situ and global measurements and/or numerical simulations in diverse astrophysical contexts to progress toward a global picture of the dynamics of planetary plasma environments. This session has a long history at AOGS and is generally very well attended. Invited speakers for this year are listed below: M. Nishino: Kaguya's view of solar wind interaction with the moon T. Zurbuchen: Mercury's plasma environment D. Schriver: modeling plasma transport at Mercury M. Fraenz: solar wind interaction with Mars and Venus C. Paranicas: Jupiter magnetosphere and the JUNO mission E. Kronberg: reconnection at Earth and Jupiter K. Khurana: Saturn's magnetospheric dynamics H. Lammer: stellar wind influence on evolution of planetary atmospheres S. Hess: the magnetosphere of exoplanets Session details here: http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2013/mars2/confSessionView.asp?sID=114 Abstract deadline: Tuesday, January 29 [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 POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN PLANETARY SCIENCE The Astrophysics group at the University of Bristol seeks applicants for an interdisciplinary project to study changes in the bulk composition of the Earth during accretion. The Research Assistant/Associate will be responsible for (1) conducting numerical simulations of the formation of planetary embryos in the terrestrial region using an N-body code and (2) analyzing these results to determine the compositional differences between embryos and the original planetesimals that could arise because of incomplete accretion. The main focus of this project is to determine if the collisional growth and evolution of the Earth could result in a non- chondritic bulk composition. The Research Assistant/Associate will be supervised by Dr. Zoe Leinhardt and also collaborate with Prof. Tim Elliott and Prof. Mike Walter at the University of Bristol and Prof. Sarah T. Stewart at Harvard University. Applicants with interests in computational astrophysics/geophysics and planetary chemistry are strongly encouraged to apply. A Ph.D. in Astrophysics, Geophysics or related field is required. The appointment is for 30 months. Apply online at: http://www.bris.ac.uk/jobs (ref:ACAD100184) by 3rd March. Interviews will begin 11th March and continue until the position is filled. For inquiries please email Dr. Leinhardt at Zoe.Leinhardt@bristol.ac.uk 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, 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 $53,500 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 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 NEW PLANETARY SCIENCES EDITOR AT GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Geophysical Research Letters seeks to expand its role as a top journal in the Planetary Sciences. To that end, GRL has hired an additional editor to handle papers submitted in that field. GRL publishes short letters of broad interest that have an immediate impact on the research of others. GRL is the fastest publishing, high impact journal in earth and space sciences. Consider submitting your best work to GRL: http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/ IF = 3.792, mean time from submission to publication = 12 weeks. E. Calais, GRL Editor in Chief A. Dombard, GRL Editor for Planetary Sciences 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] EDUCATION PROJECT PROPOSALS SOLICITED The NASA Office of Education, in cooperation with NASA Headquarters' Offices of Communications and Chief Technologist and Mission Directorates (i.e., Aeronautics Research, Human Exploration and Operations, and Science), seeks education project proposals through solicitation NNH13ZHA001N: Competitive Program for Science Museums, Planetariums and NASA Visitor Centers Plus Other Opportunities. Proposals must focus on NASA-inspired science, technology, engineering, or mathematics education or STEM, which may include but are not limited to, human space exploration, commercial crew and cargo, exhibits, and partnerships with K-12 educators, schools or districts. Successful proposals typically will be funded as grants or cooperative agreements. Only non-profit entities that are legally recognized by a federal, state or local authority, including all types of NASA Visitor Centers (e.g., private, state or federal entities) located in the United States or its Territories are eligible to compete for funds. An eligible institution does not need to have the words museum, visitor center, science, or planetarium in its legal name. Click on the following link to see the full text of the announcement for this funding opportunity: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?method= init&solId={37764C2A-F415-01DF-1B30-F1971BE7F8BE}&path=open [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 SCIENCE VERIFICATION OF SAM: CALL FOR PROPOSALS Deadline for proposals: March 15, 2013 The SOAR Adaptive Module (SAM) is a laser guide star adaptive optics system that improves natural seeing at the 4.1-m SOAR telescope. The instrument is equipped with a CCD imager (pixel scale 0.045 arcsec, field of view 3 arcmin). SAM commissioning is almost complete, and we are ready to begin Science Verification (SV) testing as a final step prior to offering SAM on a shared risk basis in Semester 2013B. Through this call for proposals (CfP), we solicit proposals for short (<0.5 night) science projects which could be executed as part of this SV testing process. This solicitation is open to investigators from all SOAR partners including the US, Brazilian and Chilean open access communities. Full information is available at: http://www.ctio.noao.edu/new/Telescopes/SOAR/Instruments/SAM/ science/sv.ht 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 9-10, 2013 3rd International Workshop on Lunar Superconductor Applications http://www.lsa2013.com Cocoa Beach, FL July 22 - August 9, 2013 The University of California International Summer School on AstroComputing 2013: Star and Planet Formation http://hipacc.ucsc.edu/ISSAC2013.html Santa Cruz, CA [Editor Note: If there is a planetary-related meeting, conference or workshop of which you think 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.php, 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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