PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 7, Number 11 (March 17, 2013) 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. Invitation to Golden Spike Lunch Seminar at LPSC: Monday, March 18 2. Planetary Atmospheres Researcher (GSFC/CRESST/University of Maryland) 3. Destination: Europa 4. 10th IAA Low-Cost Planetary Missions Conference (LCPM-10) 5. Job Opportunity: Image Processing Engineer 6. NASA Postdoctoral Fellowships 7. Faculty Position in Planetary Geoscience 8. Training Opportunity: Stereo Processing of Planetary Imagery using SOCET SET 9. Postdoc at Boston University - Venus and Mars Ionospheres 10. Exomars Mission: Formal Agreement Signed by ESA and ROSCOSMOS 11. 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 INVITATION TO GOLDEN SPIKE LUNCH SEMINAR AT LPSC: MONDAY, MARCH 18 This is an open invitation to attend an LPSC lunch seminar Monday, March 18th at 12 noon in the Woodlands Room, titled "Golden Spike Human Lunar Expeditions: Overview and Science Input Forum." In this seminar Alan Stern will provide an overview of Golden Spike's planned human lunar expedition capabilities and business model. Following the talk, both Stern and Bill McKinnon will answer questions. All LPSC attendees, as well as members of the community, are invited. For more information, please visit: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2013/events/highlighted/ 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 PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES RESEARCHER (GSFC/CRESST/UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND) The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Planetary Environments Laboratory, in conjunction with the Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST), is soliciting applications for a researcher in the field of Planetary Atmospheres to support Mars upper atmosphere investigations with the MAVEN mission. Additional details are available at: http://www.astro.umd.edu/employment/ Candidates should have a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline with a strong and demonstrated interest in and understanding of upper atmospheric physics. IDL skills and experience in acquisition and analysis of data from space flight instruments are highly desirable. The University of Maryland is an equal opportunity employer. All applications received by Monday, April 22, 2013 will receive full consideration. 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 DESTINATION: EUROPA Destination: Europa is a new organization, affiliated with the SETI Institute, whose goals are to promote interest in outer solar system science among the general public and advocate for funding of a new Europa mission. We have just launched a website: europa.seti.org for blog, and social media presence. In the first 24 hours, our Facebook page received over 300 "likes", showing that there is widespread interest and support for this effort! In order to keep up interest in the site, we are currently seeking people to contribute content to the blog. There are several options for contributing, including: - An editorial-style article on the benefits of a Europa mission - A single slide "nugget" presenting an interesting Europa (or related) result - A link to an interesting science article, within the public domain, along with a few words relating it to Europa If you are interested in contributing to this effort, please email Alyssa Rhoden at planetarygal@gmail.com for more information. We are also happy to hear additional ideas for content/distribution and feedback on the website itself. --The Destination: Europa steering committee (Alyssa Rhoden, Britney Schmidt, Cynthia Phillips, and Paul Hayne) 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 10TH IAA LOW-COST PLANETARY MISSIONS CONFERENCE (LCPM-10) Registration and abstracts submission now open. The 10th International Academy of Astronautics Low-Cost Planetary Missions Conference, LCPM-10, will be held on the campus of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, on June 18-20, 2013. Abstract submission is now open until 12 April 2013: http://www.beatricia.caltech.edu/lcpm10/abs-1.html Authors will be notified of the disposition of their submissions on 1 May 2013. Online registration is also open and closes on 3 June 2013: http://www.beatricia.caltech.edu/lcpm10/reg-1.html Please see: http://lcpm10.caltech.edu/ for further information or contact the organizing committee at lcpm@caltech.edu. 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 JOB OPPORTUNITY: IMAGE PROCESSING ENGINEER Title: Image Processing Engineer Location: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Start Date: Flexible Contractor: SGT, Inc. Want to build teraflop processing pipelines that run on NASA's supercomputers? Want to wrangle petabytes of satellite data into planet-scale mosaics? Want to help build ultra high-resolution digital models of the Earth, Moon, and Mars? NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group: http://irg.arc.nasa.gov has an immediate opening for a full-time IMAGE PROCESSING ENGINEER. In this position, you will develop and improve open-source software that supports space exploration through satellite imaging. You will also help develop and extend NASA open-source software, including our high-performance stereo vision tool, the "Ames Stereo Pipeline". Our team is a mixture of individuals with diverse backgrounds in planetary science, computer vision, and software engineering. For more information, visit: http://tinyurl.com/bh97b6a 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 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 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 FACULTY POSITION IN PLANETARY GEOSCIENCE The Department of Earth Sciences and the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX) at the University of Western Ontario invite applications for a faculty position in the area of Planetary Geoscience. The appointment will be made at the rank of Associate or Full Professor. This position builds upon the recent appointments of an NSERC/MDA/CSA Industrial Research Chair in Planetary Geology, a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Planetary Science and two Tier II Canada Research Chairs, one in Planetary Materials and the other on Exoplanets. Full details of the position can be found here: http://www.uwo.ca/earth/news/2013/faculty_position_in_planetary_ geoscience.html Please come and find us at the CPSX booth at LPSC! 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 TRAINING OPPORTUNITY: STEREO PROCESSING OF PLANETARY IMAGERY USING SOCET SET The Planetary Photogrammetry Guest Facility at the Astrogeology Sci. Ctr. of USGS would like to announce a FREE training opportunity on the production of topographic maps from planetary images using BAE's SOCET SET. The training will cover hands-on procedures for surface extraction from Mars HiRISE images, including an overview of ISIS and SOCET SET, data import and export, orientation procedures, multisensor triangulation, manual and automated DTM extraction, and editing. If you are interested in participating, please email us at the address below with your name, title, affiliation, and full contact information. Please include your preferred attendance dates and a statement describing your interest in the training. Seating is limited, please reply ASAP. Note: 1. Training is 3 days, starting Monday or Tuesday. 2. Training will focus on HiRISE, but we can advise participants on the suitability of different sensors for their research projects. 3. If you would like to stay longer to process your own datasets, please let us know so we can schedule additional visits for further production time. Please let us know if you require further information. Dr. Raad Saleh Email: PlanetaryPhotogrammetry@usgs.gov http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/geology/photogrammetry-guest-facility 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 POSTDOC AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY - VENUS AND MARS IONOSPHERES The Center for Space Physics at Boston University invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher position supervised by Professor Paul Withers. The research will involve the analysis of observations from the ionospheres of Venus and Mars, supplemented by numerical simulations. Candidates should possess a PhD degree in a relevant field. Experience conducting research on planetary ionospheres is desirable. The salary offered will be competitive and commensurate with experience. Funding is available for two years with the possibility of extension. The appointment is expected to begin as soon as possible after 1 June 2013. Please contact Paul Withers (withers@bu.edu) for further information. Applications should be sent by email to Paul Withers (withers@bu.edu). The application should be submitted in PDF format and contain a curriculum vitae, statement of research interests, and contact information for three referees. Review of applications will begin on 30 April 2013. Women and underrepresented minorities are particularly encouraged to apply. Boston University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. 10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10 EXOMARS MISSION: FORMAL AGREEMENT SIGNED BY ESA AND ROSCOSMOS More at: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars_ESA_and_ Roscosmos_set_for_Mars_missions 11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11 PLANETARY MEETING CALENDAR ADDITIONS Posted at http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html August 5-9, 2013 The 6th Meeting on Cosmic Dust https://www.cps-jp.org/~dust/Welcome.html Kobe, Japan [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.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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