PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 13, Number 32 (August 4, 2019) PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Elisabeth Adams Co-Editors: Georgiana Kramer, Mark V. Sykes Email: pen_editor@psi.edu Twitter: @pen2tweets o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o 1. Tenure Track Astrobiology Position at IPM 2. Survey on Major Mercury and Planetary Science Questions for the Upcoming Decadal Survey 3. OPAG Meeting Update 4. 3rd International Planetary Caves Conference 5. Towards Other Earth III: From Solar System to Exoplanets 6. Assistant Staff Scientist Position, Malin Space Science Systems 7. Getting Ready for LSST Workshop at EPSC-DPS 2019 8. [NASA] PDS: Mars Science Laboratory Release 21 9. Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month 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 TENURE TRACK ASTROBIOLOGY POSITION AT IPM Applications are invited for a tenure-track assistant professor position in the Division for Astrobiology, Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University. We seek a candidate who will be able to develop a novel and independent research program in one of the research areas in astrobiology, such as analytical or experimental studies of prebiotic chemistry, mineral-water-organic interactions related to the origin of life, the search for signatures of primitive life on the early Earth or in the Solar System, and also work within a collaborative environment with other staff to pursue joint researches on Earth and planetary materials. For further information, please contact: Professor Xianyu Xue Chair of the Selection Committee for the Faculty in the Division for Astrobiology, Institute for Planetary Materials Okayama University 827 Yamada, Misasa, Tottori, 682-0193, Japan Phone: +81-858-43-1215 E-mail: xianyu@okayama-u.ac.jp http://www.misasa.okayama-u.ac.jp/eng/announcement/?eid=01724 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 SURVEY ON MAJOR MERCURY AND PLANETARY SCIENCE QUESTIONS FOR THE UPCOMING DECADAL SURVEY Dear Mercury Community, In preparation for the upcoming Planetary Science Decadal Survey, NASA has asked the planetary science Analysis Groups to engage their communities for help in framing the big science questions that might drive planetary science over the next decadal cycle. In the current absence of an AG for Mercury, NASA HQ is looking for a coordinated, Mercury-focused community response. Starting with published sources, the recent Mercury lander white paper, and the call for establishing a Mercury Analysis Group that arose from the Mercury 2018 meeting, we have collated a basic set of questions that could be used as the basis for the Mercury-focused responses to NASA. At this point, we need your ideas, additional input, and feedback on these potential questions and/or your own candidates, to encompasses the full breadth of the work that needs to be done at Mercury and in planetary science in general. Please participate in this process by completing the following survey by August 6, 2019. https://forms.gle/dNSkk6fqsWccmHjU6 Thank you for your participation and input! Steve Hauck David Blewett Paul Byrne Nancy Chabot Carolyn Ernst Catherine Johnson Erwan Mazarico Jim Raines Kathleen Vander Kaaden Ron Vervack 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 OPAG MEETING UPDATE The next OPAG Meeting will be held August 20-21, 2019 Boulder, CO. The day prior, August 19th will be the Ocean World Access Working Group Workshop. The meeting will be held at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), Space Science Building, Room W120 (SPSC) on East Campus, 3665 Discovery Drive, Boulder, Colorado, 80303. Directions to SPSC can be found at http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/about/address-directions/spsc/ Full agenda and logistics are posted here: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/ Registration link: http://www.cvent.com/d/tyqscj We will host a poster session for student awardees, technology (with a focus on ICEE-2 and similar Icy World in situ instruments and sampling systems), and mission concepts. If you wish to present a poster at OPAG, please send the title and author(s) to Morgan Cable: Morgan.L.Cable@jpl.nasa.gov [Edited 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 3RD INTERNATIONAL PLANETARY CAVES CONFERENCE February 18-21, 2020 Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas To be added to the mailing list to receive pertinent information about this conference and to indicate your interest in participating, please submit an Indication of Interest: https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/3rdcaves2020/ 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 TOWARDS OTHER EARTH III: FROM SOLAR SYSTEM TO EXOPLANETS June 1-5, 2020 Lamego, Douro Valley, Portugal Venue: Theater Ribeiro Conceicao, Lamego, Portugal Atmosphere, Interior, formation and evolution of planets and planetary systems. The Solar System Planets and Exoplanets communities aim at answering similar questions, but seldom interact due to the different datasets they have access to. We aim to discuss how the detailed and in situ datasets from Solar System planets can inform the often under constrained exoplanetary models. We will try to uncover how the diversity and large sample offered by exoplanets can put in context and inform our understanding of Solar System planets, focusing on each of these categories: 1. Super-Earths, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth 2. Ice giants, Uranus and Neptune 3. Gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn 4. Planetary System architecture http://www.iastro.pt/toe3/ Scientific Organization Commitee: David Ehrenreich, Jonathan Fortney, Victoria Meadows, Antonio Garcia Munoz, Caroline Dorn, Tristan Guillot. Heike Rauer, Li Zeng, Christophe Mordasini, Alessandro Morbidelli, Rebecca Dawson, Gabriella Gilli, Sergio Sousa, Nuno Santos, Olivier Demangeon. 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 ASSISTANT STAFF SCIENTIST POSITION, MALIN SPACE SCIENCE SYSTEMS http://www.msss.com/ Entry-level, full time Assistant Staff Scientist for targeting the MRO CTX camera. Degree in Geosciences + experience in geology/geography of Mars required. Details: https://theapplicantmanager.com/jobs?pos=ms210 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 GETTING READY FOR LSST WORKSHOP AT EPSC-DPS 2019 Thursday September 19, 2019 1:30-3:15pm Geneva, Switzerland Open to all EPSC-DPS attendees The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST; http://lsst.org) is an 8-meter, wide-field, ground-based survey program that will survey half the sky every few nights in six optical bands. The LSST telescope is currently being constructed at Cerro Pachon, Chile, with first light expected in 2020 and start of survey operations in 2022. The LSST is slated to make a significant contribution to the study of the Solar System, delivering over a billion highly precise observations of millions of Solar System objects (5mmag photometry and 10mas astrometry, per observation, at the bright end). Current estimates show yields ranging from ~100,000 new discoveries of nearby NEOs, to 5.5 million for the main belt, and ~40,000 for KBO populations. The majority of these objects will receive hundreds of observations in multiple bandpasses.This dataset presents tremendous opportunities for Solar System science. This town hall/workshop will overview the science possibilities, report on project status and expected data products, and discuss how to get involved in preparations for science with LSST. Workshop Contact: Mario Juric (mjuric@astro.washington.edu) 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 [NASA] PDS: Mars Science Laboratory Release 21 The NASA Planetary Data System announces the 21st release of data from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, covering data acquired from Sol 2225 through Sol 2358 (November 8, 2018, to March 26, 2019). This release consists of raw and derived data sets from the following instruments: APXS ChemCam CheMin DAN Hazcam MAHLI MARDI Mastcam Navcam PLACES RAD REMS SAM SPICE To access the above data, please visit the following link: https://pds.nasa.gov/datasearch/subscription-service/SS-20190801.shtml Links to all MSL data sets may be found on the PDS Geosciences Node web site http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/msl/ The data may also be reached from the main PDS home page https://pds.nasa.gov/ MSL data are archived at the PDS Atmospheres, Planetary Plasma Interactions (PPI), Geosciences, Imaging, and Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) Nodes. PDS offers two services for searching the MSL archives: The Planetary Image Atlas at the Imaging Node allows selection of MSL image data by specific search criteria. http://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/search/ The MSL Analyst's Notebook at the Geosciences Node allows searching and downloading of all MSL data in the context of mission events. http://an.rsl.wustl.edu/msl 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 PLANETARY GEOMORPHOLOGY IMAGE OF THE MONTH The August image of the month is now available at the IAG's Planetary Geomorphology web page: http://planetarygeomorphology.wordpress.com This month's topic is "The Moon's Rolling Stones". Contributed by Valentin Bickel, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, CH & Department Planets and Comets, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, GER. You can follow IAG Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PlanetaryGeomorphology or Twitter: @PlanetGeomorpho Tjalling de Haas (Chair, IAG Planetary Geomorphology working group) 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 Posted at http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html August 20-21, 2019 NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group Meeting https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/ Boulder, CO June 1-5, 2020 Towards Other Earths III: From Solar System to Exoplanets http://www.iastro.pt/toe3/ Lamego, Portugal [Editor Note: If there is a planetary-related meeting, conference or workshop that you think your colleagues should be aware of, please send the date, title, URL and location to pen_editor@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@psi.edu * * To unsubscribe, send an email to pen_editor@psi.edu * * Please send all replies and submissions to pen_editor@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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