Subject: [DPS Members] DPS Mailing #09-01: Prize nominations, Glo Helin, Keck, IYA... Issue 09-01, February 18th 2009 +-----------------------------CONTENTS--------------------------------+ 1) Call for DPS Prize Nominations - Deadline 17 April 2) Final Reminder: DPS membership renewal 3) Reminder: 2009 Icarus subscriptions are only $99 for DPS members 4) Eleanor "Glo" Helin 5) NASA-Keck Telescope Proposals due March 6th 6) International Year of Astronomy 7) NRC study on The Role and Scope of Mission-Enabling Activities 8) Google Earth Now Includes Mars 9) Planetary Exploration Newsletter Invitation 10) Job Announcements 11) Upcoming Meetings +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1 CALL FOR DPS PRIZE NOMINATIONS - DEADLINE 17 APRIL All DPS members are reminded and strongly encouraged to engage actively in submitting nominations for DPS Prizes. The deadline for 2009 nominations is Friday April 17. Note there is a new prize established this year, the Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award. The Eberhart award has slightly different nomination procedures from the other prizes. See http://dps.aas.org/prizes/ 2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2 FINAL REMINDER: DPS MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL A reminder that if you have not yet renewed you DPS membership for 2009, you will be removed from the active member list very soon, and will no longer receive these mailings. Please return the renewal form that you should have received in the mail in late 2008, or renew online via http://aas.org/node/337 3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3 REMINDER: 2009 ICARUS SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE ONLY $99 FOR DPS MEMBERS A reminder that you can receive a personal subscription to Icarus for 2009 for only $99. Unlike institutional subscriptions, the personal subscription provides electronic access to all volumes back to Volume 1. See http://dps.aas.org/publications/ and print out and submit the form http://dps.aas.org/publications/2009_Icarus_Form.pdf 4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4 ELEANOR "GLO" HELIN Eleanor "Glo" Helin passed away in late January. She was one of the pioneers of the search for Near Earth objects (NEOs) and established and led the NEAT Project at JPL. The NEAT Program discovered hundreds of NEOs, many comets, and 64 Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). Glo is survived by her son. If you would like to send him a note or card, his address is: Bruce Helin, 210 E. Elm St., Flagstaff, AZ 86001. 5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5 NASA-KECK TELESCOPE PROPOSALS DUE MARCH 6TH See http://nexsci.caltech.edu/missions/KeckSolicitation/index.shtml Note that the science that can be addressed using NASA Keck time has been broadened. To quote from the call for proposals: This 2009B call includes proposals for CoRoT Key Science as well as proposals in the following discipline areas: 1) Investigations in support of Exoplanet Exploration science goals and missions; 2) Investigations in support of Cosmic Origins science goals and missions; 3) Investigations of our own solar system; and 4) Direct mission support. 6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, created to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first telescopic observations and to foster public interest in astronomy. The DPS encourages its members to get involved in promoting astronomy in their local communities as part of IYA. See the U.S. IYA web pages at http://astronomy2009.us/, and in particular the page of resources for those wishing to participate, at http://astronomy2009.us/getinvolved/ 7---------7---------7---------7---------7---------7---------7---------7 NRC STUDY ON THE ROLE AND SCOPE OF MISSION-ENABLING ACTIVITIES IN NASA'S SPACE AND EARTH SCIENCE MISSIONS In response to a request from Congress, the Space Studies Board has organized a committee to conduct a study of mission-enabling activities in NASA's space and Earth sciences program. (Mission-enabling activities--which traditionally encompass much of NASA's research and analysis (R&A) programs--include support for theory, modeling, and data analysis; sub-orbital flights and complementary ground-based programs; and advanced mission and instrumentation concept studies.) The study will identify the appropriate roles for mission-enabling activities and metrics for assessing their effectiveness. It also will evaluate how, from a strategic perspective, decisions should be made about balance between mission-related and mission-enabling elements of the overall program as well as balance between various elements within the mission-enabling component. It is important to note that while the study will consider portfolio allocation principles and metrics from a strategic perspective, it will NOT address or propose specific funding levels. More information about the study committee and its charge is available at http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=48965 . 8---------8---------8---------8---------8---------8---------8---------8 GOOGLE EARTH NOW INCLUDES MARS Google, Inc., recently released Google Earth 5.0, which contains a greatly enhanced Mars mode, developed in collaboration with NASA-Ames. The mode includes global MOLA topography and some HiRISE topography, and many high-resolution images, including some from the MERs. See http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2009/09_10AR.html and http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/02/google-earth-goes-to-mars.html and a short video tour at: http://tinyurl.com/d5mavj 9---------9---------9---------9---------9---------9---------9---------9 PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER INVITATION You are invited to subscribe to and participate in the Planetary Exploration Newsletter (PEN). PEN is a free weekly electronic newsletter, providing a means by which planetary scientists around the world can communicate with each other. PEN contains meeting announcements, job announcements, and your submissions of news regarding or impacting solar system exploration, upcoming mission events, awards, policy issues, as well as editorials and commentary. The PEN Meeting Calendar (http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html) strives to be the most exhaustive listing of planetary-related meetings, conferences and workshops around the world. Send the title, dates, location and URL to pen_editor at psi.edu. Go to http://planetarynews.org to subscribe to future mailings, read current and past mailings, and guidelines for submitting content. There is no charge. Mark Sykes, Matt Balme, Nic Richmond (Planetary Science Institute) 10--------10--------10--------10--------10--------10--------10--------10 JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS 1) Post-doctoral position in Titan climate modelling (based in Paris) The planetary science team of the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique (Institut Pierre Simon Laplace) based on the Jussieu Campus in the heart of Paris, France, is looking for a postdoc, position available for a start in early 2009, for 18 months. The objective is to extend the GCM vertically into the mesosphere. Work will include model development, then study of mesospheric processes. See http://www.lmd.jussieu.fr/recrutements/postdoc Informations: Sebastien Lebonnois ( [email protected] ) 11--------11--------11--------11--------11--------11--------11--------11 UPCOMING MEETINGS 1) Society for Astronomical Sciences Symposium on Telescope Science The annual Symposium on Telescope Science is one of the leading pro-am meetings in the United States. It brings together professionals and some of the more dedicated and qualified amateur observers where they exchange ideas about research and mutually beneficial collaborations. The meeting will be held May 19-21, 2009, at Big Bear Lake, CA, and will be a joint gathering with the American Association of Variable Star Observers. Abstracts for short presentations (20 min. including Q/A) are now being accepted. The deadline is March 13, 2009. Final papers for the proceedings are due May 3. The proceedings will be distributed as a PDF on a CD. Unless requested otherwise, papers are also indexed and made available on-line by the ADS. See http://www.SocAstroSci.org Brian D. Warner Palmer Divide Observatory / Space Science Institute [email protected] [email protected] 2) Spring AGU meeting, Toronto, May 24-27, 2009. The meeting includes several sessions of planetary interest, including: P01: Planetary Sciences General Contributions P02: Physical Attributes of Dwarf Planets in our Solar System and Others P03: Rosetta at Asteroid Steins P04: Great Enceladus Debates: Plumes, Beams, Ocean, Chemistry? P05: Planetary Atmospheres: Dynamics, Chemistry, Climate, and Couplings P06: Comparative Studies of Planetary Magnetospheres CG11: Lunar Secular Evolution DI03: Earth and Planetary Deep Interiors GA22: Polar Processes on Earth and Mars: Comparative Studies GP12: Planetary Magnetism MA03: The Mineralogy of Mars: Missions, Meteorites and Terrestrial Analogues MA09: Manna from Heaven: Insights on Solar System Processes from the Physical and Mineralogical Properties of Meteorites SM03: Saturn Gas and Plasma: Sources, Losses and Transport V17: Experiments, Observations, and Models of Planetary Magmatic Evolution Meeting Details & logistics: Abstract deadline: March 4 at 23:59 UT (18:59 EST; 15:59 PST). See http://www.agu.org/meetings/sm09/index.php/Program/HomePage 3) IAU Symposium 263, Icy Bodies in the Solar System, XXVII General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil, Aug. 03 - 14, 2009 Abstract Deadline: March 1st, 2009 http://www.astronomy2009.com.br/abstract.html An interdisciplinary meeting aimed to discuss the geochemistry, physics, morphology (roundish versus irregular shapes), and internal differentiation of the icy bodies of the solar system (comets, trans-neptunian objects, satellites of the outer planets, Centaurs, Trojans and transition objects in the asteroid belt), their accretion and transport within the different regions of the solar system, from near-Earth to the Oort cloud, and their suitability for sustaining and delivering life forms. For more information visit: http://www.astronomia.edu.uy/congresos/symp263/ +---------------------------------------------------------------------+