PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER Volume 8, Number 20 (May 4, 2014) 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. In Memoriam: Barney Conrath 2. Budget Advocacy Letter to Professional Planetary Science Colleagues 3. Upcoming Planetary Science Short Courses 4. JWST Now in HORIZONS 5. Request for Information: Europa Mission Concepts Costing Less Than $1 Billion 6. Post-doctoral Position in Geophysics, University of Tennessee 7. NASA Postdoctoral Fellowships 8. European Planetary Sciences Conference 2014 9. NASA SBAG-OPAG Joint Statement on the Scientific Priority of Identifying a KBO for the New Horizons Mission 10. [NASA] Clarifications of NASA Discovery Program Draft Announcement of Opportunity 11. Mars 2020 Landing Site Workshop 12. May 2014 MEPAG Newsletter Available 13. 48th ESLAB Symposium: New Insights into Volcanism Across the Solar System 14. Icarus Special Issue on Lunar Volatiles: Deadline Extended to June 1, 2014 15. Mars Magnetic Fields and Upper Atmosphere Postdoctoral Researchers (NASA-GSFC/CRESST/University of Maryland) 16. 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 IN MEMORIAM: BARNEY CONRATH (1935-2014) Our colleague Barney Conrath passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 23 after a bout with cancer. Barney was an astrophysicist, working at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and Cornell University. His studies of planetary atmospheres included experiments on the Voyager 1 and 2 missions, Mars Global Surveyor, and most recently on the NASA/European Space Agency Cassini mission. He has won several awards, including the Kuiper Prize, 1996, from the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. Barney's obituary is available at: http://www.hillandwood.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2493443&fh _id=10702 [Text borrowed from Michael Flasar's e-mail and Barney's obituary.] 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 BUDGET ADVOCACY LETTER TO PROFESSIONAL PLANETARY SCIENCE COLLEAGUES As President of the Board of Directors of The Planetary Society (TPS), a fellow member of professional societies engaged in planetary research (AAS/DPS, AGU, and GSA), and a colleague deeply concerned about funding for planetary science research and missions, I wanted to send a note to highlight important recent developments. TPS, along with leaders of the relevant sections of the DPS, AGU, and GSA, and many of you, have been working hard over the past few years to jointly advocate for NASA budget levels that will enable our community to meet the objectives of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey. Together, we have all had some influence in the process, as evidenced by Congressional increases in recent actual enacted Planetary Science Division budgets over the levels proposed by the Administration, and actions like the intention to release the AO for the 13th Discovery mission this fiscal year. However, we are not yet where we need to be to achieve the Decadal goals, and so your continued action and support is needed as the FY15 budget is being formulated *right now*. See the following for the entire letter: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2014/0501-an-open-letter- to-planetary-scientists-from-jim-bell.html Planetary Society President Jim Bell [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 UPCOMING PLANETARY SCIENCE SHORT COURSES Dear colleagues, students, and professionals, The Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (http://cpsx.uwo.ca) and the NSERC CREATE program "Technologies and Techniques for Earth and Space Exploration" (http://create.uwo.ca) are pleased to announce two upcoming short courses: Remote Sensing and GIS for Earth and Planetary Science: This course will run June 14-20 2014. The main objective of this course is to provide a strong technical and conceptual grounding in remote sensing data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis with both terrestrial and planetary applications. Course website: http://cpsx.uwo.ca/study/study-1/graduate-courses/2014-remote- sensing-and-gis-short-course Planetary Science Short Course: The next annual Planetary Science Short Course will run September 1-7, 2014. Topics to be covered include origin of the solar system and planet formation; planetary interiors; planetary surfaces; astromaterials, planetary atmospheres; astrobiology, and exoplanets. Course website: http://cpsx.uwo.ca/study/study-1/graduate-courses/2014-ps-short- course Both these courses will run at the University of Western Ontario, London, ON, and are suitable for graduate students, advanced undergraduate students and professionals from industry and government. Students from Ontario and some Canadian provinces can take theses course for credit and details as to how to do this are provided on respective websites. Questions? Please contact cpsx@uwo.ca 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 JWST NOW IN HORIZONS The James Webb Space Telescope’s planning trajectory has been added to JPL's Horizons ephemeris system. It is now possible to generate ephemerides of all cataloged solar system bodies with respect to JWST by setting the observing site/center to @jwst. This trajectory will be updated to the actual orbit after launch. As a reminder, the JWST Solar System Working Group has been considering science cases from the solar system observing community for future observations with NASA's next great observatory. A white paper summarizing the instrumentation and observatory capabilities, as well as key science cases is now available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1403.6845 More details regarding solar system observations with JWST can be found here: http://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science/solar-system 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 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: EUROPA MISSION CONCEPTS COSTING LESS THAN $1 BILLION NASA is seeking information regarding complete, low cost mission concepts for Europa exploration that meet the majority of science priorities from the Decadal Survey. The focus of this Request For Information (RFI) is Europa mission concepts costing less than $1 billion (FY 2015 dollars), excluding the launch vehicle. The information gathered through this RFI will be used by NASA to inform its efforts to scope a mission to Europa. All responses submitted in response to this RFI must be submitted in electronic form via NSPIRES, the NASA online announcement data management system, located at: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ 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 POST-DOCTORAL POSITION IN GEOPHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (http://web.eps.utk. edu) invites applications for a Post-doctoral Teaching Associate position in Geophysics starting August 1, 2014. The position is a 9- month appointment (paid over a 12-month period) and includes benefits. Successful candidates will be expected to teach physical geology at the 100-level and specialized geophysical courses at the upper division undergraduate or graduate level. Candidates will also be encouraged to participate in departmental research projects and/or work on their own research. UT–Knoxville is the state's flagship research institution, located in East Tennessee close to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences comprises an energetic group of tenure-track and research faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and ~150 graduate and undergraduate students. Applicants should e-mail résumé, description of teaching and research interests, and contact information for 3 references in PDF format to: Prof. Larry McKay, Dept. Head Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996- 1410 865-974-5498 lmckay@utk.edu Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. 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 NASA POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) provides opportunities for scientists and engineers to conduct research largely of their own choosing, yet compatible with the research opportunities posted on the NPP Web site. Selected by a competitive peer-review process, NPP Fellows complete one- to three-year Fellowship appointments that advance NASA’s missions in earth science, heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics, space bioscience, aeronautics and engineering, human exploration and space operations, and astrobiology. An example of one of the research opportunities in planetary science is: https://www3.orau.gov/NPDoc/Catalog/17808 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. The latest NPP Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1fuCwZG For further information and to apply, visit: http://nasa.orau.org/postdoc/description/index.htm Questions: nasapostdoc@orau.org 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 EUROPEAN PLANETARY SCIENCES CONFERENCE 2014 The European Planetary Sciences Conference 2014 will be held in Estoril, Portugal, on 7-12 September this year. The abstract deadline is 6 May. Conference website is: http://epsc2014.eu We would like to draw your attention in particular to the Venus session (TP3). Rather than have a combined "Terrestrial Planet atmospheres session", this year we are having a dedicated Venus session to enable a broad view of surface, atmosphere and evolution of this planet in support of a forthcoming "Venus 3" book project. We invite abstracts on all aspects of Venus science, from modelling to observation, from interior to surface to atmosphere to exosphere. Best regards, Colin Wilson Bruno Bézard Chris Russell Sue Smrekar Takehiko Satoh Convenors of EPSC session TP3 ("Venus") 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 NASA SBAG-OPAG JOINT STATEMENT ON THE SCIENTIFIC PRIORITY OF IDENTIFYING A KBO FOR THE NEW HORIZONS MISSION The full statement can be found at: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/documents/NewHorizons0430.pdf Despite an extensive and continuing ground-based search making use of the world's best deep, wide-field imaging facilities, and discovering over 50 new KBOs, a target has not yet been found that can be reached with the fuel available to New Horizons after the Pluto encounter in July 2015. The ground-based search effort will continue in 2014. But even under optimistic assumptions for weather and seeing, a ground- based search has less than 50% chance of finding at least one viable target during the 2014 apparition, based on current best estimates. In contrast, a dedicated search (<200 orbits during the 2014 apparition) using the Hubble Space Telescope is very likely to find one or more reachable KBOs. The probability of a successful search substantially declines if postponed to 2015. Therefore, joint statement of the NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group and Outer Planets Assessment Group strongly supports the New Horizons KBO search team's proposal to bring the unique capabilities of HST to bear on this problem as soon as possible. 10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10 [NASA] CLARIFICATIONS OF NASA DISCOVERY PROGRAM DRAFT ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY Community Announcement NNH14ZDA004J On February 19, 2014, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) released a Community Announcement containing information about its intention to release a Draft Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for Discovery Program missions by May 2014. SMD is now issuing further information clarifying its intentions. The document is available under Future Solicitations on NSPIRES at: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?method= init&solId={0CA4625F-7B23-C1F5-9FC5-E695B3F0A50D}&path=future As it becomes available, further information will be posted on the Discovery Program Acquisition Page at: http://discovery.larc.nasa.gov/ Questions may be addressed to: Dr. Michael New (202)358-1766 michael.h.new@nasa.gov 11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11 MARS 2020 LANDING SITE WORKSHOP This is the final announcement of the first landing site workshop for the 2020 Mars Rover, to be held May 14-16, 2014, at the Crystal City Marriott in Arlington, VA (Washington DC area, immediately following the MEPAG Meeting at the same venue). The final program for the workshop can be viewed at: http://marsnext.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm The workshop will be webcast and instructions on how to access the webcast will be posted at: http://marsnext.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm All interested parties are welcome to attend and participate. There is no registration. We look forward to seeing you at the workshop! Regards. John Grant and Matt Golombek Co-Chairs, Mars 2020 Landing Site Steering Committee 12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12 MAY 2014 MEPAG NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE Dear Members of the Mars Community, On behalf of Lisa Pratt (MEPAG Chair), Dave Beaty, Rich Zurek, and Amy Hale of the Mars Program Science Office, the May 2014 edition of the Mars Exploration Science Monthly Newsletter can be found at: http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov 13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13 48TH ESLAB SYMPOSIUM: NEW INSIGHTS INTO VOLCANISM ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM The preliminary program is now published on the website, see: http://congrexprojects.com/2014-events/48-ESLAB/programme The detailed program with individual contributions will follows shortly, and will be announced on the website. Registration is still open, and will be until the start of the meeting. In addition, "Late Abstracts - Poster Only" submission is still possible until May 16th. The poster session will be on Thursday, June 19th. The symposium will focus on volcanism in the Solar System. Of particular interest, but not limited to, will be new insights obtained over the last years from international space missions to planets, Moons and cryo-volcanism. The format will be made up of plenary sessions on topics related to volcanism in the Solar System, with contributed oral and poster presentations. Sebastien Besse, on behalf of the SOC 14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14 ICARUS SPECIAL ISSUE ON LUNAR VOLATILES: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JUNE 1, 2014 In the past five years, the paradigm of lunar volatiles research has shifted from hypothesizing on the existence of volatiles on the Moon to classifying the abundance and distribution of different types of volatiles on the Moon. This special issue reports work advancing the understanding of volatiles in, on, and around the Moon including the primordial inventory, volatile additions and losses throughout the history of the Moon, and the current inventory of volatiles. Manuscripts publishing spacecraft data relevant to mapping and quantifying lunar volatiles are sought. In addition, papers focused on the processes related to the storage, maintenance, migration, delivery, or removal of volatiles are appropriate. The special issue solicits submissions containing new scientific research via laboratory studies, remote sensing, data analysis, modeling, sample analysis, or theoretical investigations. The submitted papers must be written in English and describe original research that is not published nor currently under review by other journals or conferences. Author guidelines for preparation of manuscript can be found at: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/505620/ authorinstructions For more information, please contact the editorial office at Icarus@astro.cornell.edu Guest Editors: Dana Hurley, Oded Aharonson, Matthew Siegler [Edited for length] 15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15 MARS MAGNETIC FIELDS AND UPPER ATMOSPHERE POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS (NASA-GSFC/CRESST/UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND) Applications are now being accepted for two Postdoctoral Research Associates, funded through the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) and the Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST), to work in the Planetary Magnetospheres Laboratory of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in the area of Mars magnetic fields and upper atmosphere investigations using data from the MAVEN mission. Additional details are available at: http://www.astro.umd.edu/employment/ Candidates for either position should have a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline with prior experience conducting scientific research related to the Maven science objectives or the types of instruments included in the MAVEN science payload. 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 May 23, 2014 will receive full consideration. 16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16 PLANETARY MEETING CALENDAR ADDITIONS November 3-5, 2014 Workshop on Volatiles in the Martian Interior http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/volatiles2014/ Houston, TX January 6-8, 2015 12th Meeting of the NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group http://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/ Phoenix, AZ [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. Title plus text is limited to 200 words. Go to * http://planetarynews.org/submission.html for complete submission * directions. * * PEN is a service provided by the Planetary Science Institute * (http://www.psi.edu) using no NASA funds. All editorial work is * volunteer. ***********************************************************************