Subject: [DPS Members] DPS Mailing #09-13: DPS election, DPS 2010, Decadal Survey... Issue 09-13, July 27th 2009 +-----------------------------CONTENTS--------------------------------+ 1) DPS Election: Polls Close Tomorrow 2) DPS Meeting 2010 3) Decadal Survey General Updates 4) Decadal Survey White Paper Updates 5) Solo Impact on Jupiter 6) Upcoming Meetings +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1 DPS ELECTION: POLLS CLOSE TOMORROW Tomorrow, July 28th, is the last day to vote in the 2009 DPS elections for Vice-Chair and committee members. Polls close at midnight EST. Go to http://aas.org/vote/ for information on the candidates, and a link to the voting page. Only just over 200 members have voted so far, which is well below last year's total, so please cast your vote and help democracy thrive at the DPS! 2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2 DPS MEETING 2010 The 2010 DPS meeting will be held in Pasadena, CA, on October 18-22nd. 3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3 DECADAL SURVEY GENERAL UPDATES 1) Second Planetary Decadal Survey Newsletter Available Steven Squyres, chair of the National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey, has posted the second of his planned series of community newsletters on the survey's website. The newsletter is available at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal2011_Squyres2.pdf. 2) Planetary Decadal Survey Panel Appointed The National Research Council has appointed Ellen Stofan (Proxemy Research), Philip Christensen (Arizona State University), Joseph Veverka (Cornell University), Heidi Hammel (Planetary Science Institute) and John Spencer (Southwest Research Institute) as, respectively, the chairs of the Inner Planets, Mars, Primitive Bodies, Giant Planets and Satellites panels of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey. Additional details about the panels and their memberships can be found at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal_panels.html. 3) Call for Abstracts for Decadal Survey Session at Fall AGU Meeting The Planetary Science Decadal Survey is organizing a scientific session at the Fall AGU meeting entitled “Recent Results in Planetary Science and Their Impact on Future Science and Mission Priorities” (see www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/program/scientific_session_search.php?show=detail&sessid=558 for details). Members of the geosciences, planetary sciences and astrobiology communities are encouraged to submit abstracts focusing on recent discoveries from solar system exploration missions and associated ground based activities that will likely inform decisions concerning spacecraft missions to be undertaken during the period 2013-2022. The session conveners are specifically looking for abstracts that: 1. Focus on results announced since 2002; 2. Explain why these results are significant relative to current solar system goals/priorities; and 3. Outline how these results should influence the next generation of solar system exploration missions. Abstracts will be accepted from 30 July until 3 September (see http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/program/index.php for details). Additional information about survey's goals, organization, activities and meeting dates is available at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal2011.html. 4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4 DECADAL SURVEY: WHITE PAPER UPDATES Members of the planetary science and astrobiology communities are strongly encouraged to draft white papers and submit them via the decadal survey’s website. See http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal_whitepapers.html for instructions. 1) Site for announcement of planned white papers To assist the decadal survey plan for the handling, distribution and best use of the white papers submitted, authors are strongly encouraged to make use of the white-paper proposal site established by the Lunar and Planetary Institute: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/decadal/. Use of the LPI site tells the decadal survey what it can expect to receive and it allows you to accrete coauthors. Remember that broad community participation is one of the hallmarks of a decadal survey and that consensus is compelling. More information about the planetary science decadal survey can be found at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal2011.html. Members of the planetary science and astrobiology communities are strongly encouraged to draft white papers and submit them via the decadal survey’s website. See http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/SSEdecadal_whitepapers.html for instructions. 2) Primitive Bodies White Papers Sought for Decadal Survey On behalf of the NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group, anyone interested in the future study of near-Earth objects, asteroids, comets, dwarf planets, centaurs and irregular TNOs, interplanetary dust and irregular satellites are invited to go to http://www.psi.edu/decadal and register to participate in community white papers covering these topics. Subdiscipline white papers must be completed by September 4 to accommodate the meeting schedule of the primitive bodies discipline panel of the decadal survey. This will be followed, over the following month, by an open discussion of priorities across these subdisciplines online and at special forums, including one at the DPS (schedule TBD). A non-anonymous poll open to all registrants and a report summarizing those results will conclude the primitive bodies community input to the survey. The report, polling data and discussion records will be forwarded to the decadal panel before their second meeting in October. You are also encouraged to go to the SBAG website http://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/ and fill out the Indication of Interest Form to keep updated with the latest meetings and opportunities to input to NASA planning in the area of small bodies science. Mark V. Sykes Small Bodies Assessment Group 3) MARS Polar Science White Paper Solicits Coauthors Dear Colleagues, We have prepared a white paper for the consideration of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey promoting the idea of a subsurface drilling mission focused on paleoclimatology to the north polar cap of Mars. Deep drilling is one possible approach, but not the only one. The purpose of the White Paper is to indicate to the panel the strong community support for such a project. The white paper may be viewed at: http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/decadal/Polar_White_Paper_23UL09.pdf If you would like to lend your support to this white paper please reply by email to Michael Hecht ([email protected]) as follows: "I would like to be listed as a co-author on the Decadal Survey white paper entitled "Next Steps in Mars Polar Science."Thanks for your consideration, Michael Hecht and coauthors. 5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5 SOLO IMPACT ON JUPITER On 2009 July 19 at approximately 13:30 UTC, Anthony Wesley was observing Jupiter from his home observatory just outside Murrumbateman, New South Wales, Australia. He noted a black mark in Jupiter's South Polar Region (SPR). This might be due to the impact of either an asteroid or comet - similar to the impacts of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994, and exactly 15 years later. Antonio Cidadao of Portugal identified the spot in weak methane-band images, supporting an impact interpretation. Dr. Glenn Orton (JPL) was at the NASA IRTF and has tentatively confirmed the singleton impact with methane-band and continuum IR imaging. The University of Central Florida in Orlando is collecting images and other information about this event on the following web page: http://planets.ucf.edu/resources/jupiter-impact We invite anyone with relevant news to contact us. In particular, we seek pre-impact images to constrain the time of impact, images of the developing impact site, deep circumjovian imaging that might identify the impactor, and lists of teams submitting DDT proposals, to coordinate efforts. Joseph Harrington UCF Planetary Sciences Group [email protected] 6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6 UPCOMING MEETINGS 1) Fall AGU Meeting, 14–18 December 2009, San Francisco, California See http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm09/ Abstract deadline is September 3rd 2009. The following special sessions of particular planetary interest are planned: P01: MESSENGER's Third Flyby of Mercury P02: Planetary Plasma Interactions and Atmospheric Escape P03: Mineralogy of the Lunar Crust: Results from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper P04: The Atmosphere of Mars: New Findings From Modelling and Observations P05: Planetary Rings: Theory and Observation P06: Saturn's Family of Moons P07: Planetary Cores and Subsurface Oceans Dynamics Driven by Mechanical Forcings P08: Return to the Moon: Latest Science Results P09: Modeling Planetary Dynamics P10: A Detailed Look at Alteration Processes on Mars P11: Titan and Lakes: Geography, Limnology, and Astrobiological Potential P12: Time of Day at Saturn: Bulk Rotation, Atmospheric, and Plasmaspheric Motion P13: Organics in Meteorites and Dust Particles: Composition, Distribution, Formation and Isotopic Anomalies P14: Physics and Chemistry of Ices: from the Laboratory to the Planetary Scale P15: Recent Results in Planetary Science and Their Impact on Future Science and Mission Priorities P16: Mars Radar Investigations: Observations, Supporting Theoretical, Field and Lab Work, and Future Opportunities P17: Planetary Magnetism, Core Dynamics, and Dynamo Mechanisms: Bridging the Gap Between Observations and Models, Revisited P18: Potential Biomarkers on Mars: Detection, Characterization and Earth Analogue Systems P19: The Galilean Satellites: 400 Years of Discovery P22: Exploring Venus P23: Astrobiology and Society: Challenges and Opportunities DI10: Boundary and Transition Layer Coupling Processes in Deep Planetary Interiors ED15: International Year of Astronomy 2009: Impacts in Education and Public Outreach and Plans Beyond ED18: Simulations, Animations, and Interactive Multimedia for Planetary Sciences Teaching and Learning EP06: Young Valley Features on Mars and the Martian Fluvial Record GP11: Planetary Paleomagnetism and Rock Magnetism MR02: Physics of Anelasticity and Dissipation in Earth and Planetary Bodies MR09: Dynamic Induced Phase Transformation Processes in Terrestrial and Planetary Materials MR10: Ices: from Planetary Interiors to Astrobiology NH19: Natural Hazards Linked to Impact by Near-Earth Objects: From Data to Models NH26: Planetary Defense Against Hazardous Asteroids: Science, Technology and Policy to Mitigate the Threats SA07: Meteoroids and Their Atmospheric Effects SM03: Jupiter's Magnetosphere and Satellites SM11: Saturn's Magnetosphere: A Laboratory for Plasma-Gas Interactions V12: Volcano-Tectonics: New Insights From Earth and Other Planet In addition, there will be a special session focused on Enceladus: to submit to this session, submit to "P01: General Contributions" and make a note in the COMMENTS field that your abstract should be included in the session focused on Enceladus. +---------------------------------------------------------------------+