Issue 14-4, March 4, 2014
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1) REMINDER : CALL FOR DPS 2014 PRIZE NOMINATIONS
2) MARS CRITICAL DATA PRODUCTS PROGRAM (ROUND IX) – INITIAL LANDING SITE CHARACTERIZATION FOR THE MARS 2020 ROVER MISSION
3) 4TH “PAOLO FARINELLA" PRIZE, 2014
4) SPECIAL ISSUES
5) CFHT CALL FOR PROPOSALS – 2014B SEMESTER
6) JOBS/POSITIONS OPPORTUNITIES
7) UPCOMING MEETINGS
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REMINDER : CALL FOR DPS 2014 PRIZE NOMINATIONS
DEADLINE APRIL 1, 2014
Every year the DPS recognizes exceptional achievement in our field. It is time to consider nominating a respected colleague for one of the annual DPS prizes. Please note the earlier deadline than last year’s.
· The Gerard P. Kuiper Prize honors outstanding contributions to the field of planetary science.
· The Harold C. Urey Prize recognizes outstanding achievement in planetary research by a young scientist.
· The Harold Masursky Award acknowledges outstanding service to planetary science and exploration.
· The Carl Sagan Medal recognizes and honors outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public.
· The Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award recognizes and stimulates distinguished popular writing on planetary sciences.
Detailed descriptions of each of the prizes and the criteria for nominees for each can be found at http://dps.aas.org/prizes. The nomination form and instructions can also be retrieved from this website. The completed nomination form and supporting material should be emailed to dpsprize@aas.org.
Anyone may submit a nomination. A completed nomination will be retained and considered by the Prize Subcommittee for three years, or as long as the nominee is eligible, whichever is less. Past nominees may be re-nominated after the expiration of a prior nomination. A posthumous nomination is allowed for a limited time after the nominee’s death, except for the Sagan Medal. For specific details, see the URL noted above.
The deadline for nominations this year is April 1.
Consider for example the Carl Sagan Medal, which recognizes excellence in public communication in planetary science. Do you have a colleague that excels in reaching out to the public, who has a particularly effective way of communicating new findings in our field? We want to recognize those efforts that are so important to the health of our field!
The Masursky Award recognizes meritorious service to planetary science. Do you have a colleague whose efforts made a significant difference in the success of an endeavor you've been involved in through engineering, managerial, programmatic or public service activities? Consider nominating that individual!
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MARS CRITICAL DATA PRODUCTS PROGRAM (ROUND IX) – INITIAL LANDING SITE CHARACTERIZATION FOR THE MARS 2020 ROVER MISSION
The Mars Exploration Program has issued, in January 2014, a Request for Proposal for round IX of the Mars Critical Data Products program. This RFP provides support for initial landing site surface, atmosphere, and gravity characterization for the Mars 2020 rover mission. The intent is to convert mission data and numerical simulations into products focused on specific landing site targets (to be provided by the program) that will be useful for reducing the risk to the Mars 2020 rover mission. Proposals are due on Wednesday, March 5, 2014.
Details of the RFPs are posted at: https://acquisition.jpl.nasa.gov/rfp/WH-2691-120313/default.htm orhttps://acquisition.jpl.nasa.gov/bizops/.
Serina Diniega
Systems Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
serina.diniega@jpl.nasa.gov<mailto:serina.diniega@jpl.nasa.gov>
Tel: (818) 393-1487
Cell: (626) 720-7293
MS 301-250D, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109
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4TH “PAOLO FARINELLA" PRIZE, 2014
To honor the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000), an extraordinary scientist and person, a prize has been established in recognition of significant contributions given in the fields of interest of Paolo, which span from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science popularization, security in space, weapons control and disarmament.
The prize has been proposed during the "International Workshop on Paolo Farinella the scientist and the man", held in Pisa in 2010, and is supported by the University of Pisa and by IAPS-INAF (Rome).
The fourth Paolo Farinella Prize is devoted to planetary sciences and specifically to studies on the non gravitational forces in the Solar System, both in their application to small natural Solar System bodies (e.g. the Yarkovsky effect) and to artificial objects (e.g., the effect of solar radiation pressure on the LAGEOS satellite and on space debris), which were among the major research interests in Paolo’s career. The award ceremony will be hosted by the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) meeting in Cascais, Portugal (7th to 12th of September 2014).
For the 4th "Paolo Farinella" Prize the terms and rules are as follows:
1. A competition is announced to award the "Paolo Farinella" Prize for the year
2014. The prize consists of a plate, a certificate and the sum of 1500 euro. The
winner is expected to give a Prize lecture at the EPSC awards special session.
2. The winner will be selected on the basis of his/her overall research results
in the field of "non gravitational forces in the Solar System".
3. Nominations must be sent by email not later than April 30, 2014, at the
following addresses: a.rossi@ifac.cnr.it, giovanni@iaps.inaf.it
4. The nominations for the "Paolo Farinella" Prize can be made by any
researcher that works in the field of planetary sciences following the
indications in the attached form. Self nominations are acceptable. The
candidates should have international and interdisciplinary collaborations and
should be not older than 47 years, the age of Paolo when he passed away, at the
date of April 30, 2014.
5. The winner of the prize will be selected before June 30, 2014 by the "Paolo
Farinella" Prize Committee composed of outstanding scientists in planetary
sciences, with specific experience in the field.
6. The selection committee will consider all the nominations, but will be
entitled to consider autonomously other candidates.
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Alessandro Rossi Phone: +39 055 5226314
IFAC-CNR Fax: +39 055 5226201
Area della Ricerca di Firenze
Via Madonna del Piano 10
50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), ITALY
e-mail: A.Rossi@ifac.cnr.it
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SPECIAL ISSUES
A) PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCE ON SOLAR WIND INTERACTION WITH THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
Dear colleague,
We would like to propose you to participate to a special issue in the
Planetary and Space Science journal, entitled "Solar wind interaction
with the terrestrial planets". The covered topics will include all
aspects of planetary plasma physics and interactions in the inner Solar
System, e.g. :
(a) magnetospheres, ionospheres, auroras
(b) the solar wind interaction with planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth,
Mars) and their moons, or with asteroids / comets
(c) plasma interactions with exospheres, dust and surfaces
(d) intercomparisons of planetary environments
Contributions are welcome which address previous, present, forthcoming
and planned observations from space, as well as ground-based
observations, theoretical modelling or simulations. Laboratory studies
on planetary analogues aiming to simulate the surface-plasma interaction
will be considered as well.
The deadline for submission is the 1st of July 2014, leading to a
publication in end of 2014. Regular papers are expected, and the usual
refereeing process will be applied for publication in PSS. Please inform
us if a shifted deadline would be more convenient for you.
Could you please indicate your interest in contributing to the special
issue, together with a preliminary title of the intended paper, within
17th March ? An approximate abstract, if available, would also be
appreciated.
Best regards,
P. Garnier, A. Milillo, A. Radioti
B) ICARUS SPECIAL ISSUE: 2013 SATURN AURORAL CAMPAIGN
In April and May 2013 the Cassini spacecraft, the Hubble Space
Telescope, and a number of ground-based telescopes undertook an
unprecedented observing campaign to study the aurora of Saturn,
forming the most comprehensive set of remote and in-situ observations
of this spectacular interaction between the planet's atmosphere,
magnetosphere, and solar wind. Auroral emissions were recorded in the
ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio, and a host of in-situ
Cassini instruments measured the magnetic field and plasma environment
inside the magnetosphere of Saturn, enabling unique synergistic studies
of every region of the magnetosphere and planetary atmosphere that form
part of this process. We'd like to publish the results of this campaign
in a special issue of Icarus.
Topics of interest include:
+ Characterizing the mechanisms that drive auroral processes at Saturn.
+ Comparing simultaneous auroral emission from the northern and
southern polar regions.
+ Comparisons between ultraviolet, visible, and infrared auroral
emissions, enabling direct comparisons between ionospheric and
magnetospheric emissions.
+ Monitoring long term trends in auroral intensity in both hemispheres
to isolate seasonal and intrinsic (magnetic field) dependences.
For more information, please contact the editorial office at
Icarus@astro.cornell.edu
Paper submission Deadline: 14 March 2014
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CFHT CALL FOR PROPOSALS – 2014B SEMESTER
The call is now open for CFHT 2014B.
Information can be found at :
http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/science/Proposals/.
Tutorials and documents for instruments can be found at :
MegaCam : http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/science/QSO/ph1_MC.html
WIRCam : http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/science/QSO/ph1_WC.html
ESPaDOnS : http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/science/QSO/ph1_ESP.html
PUEO : http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/Instruments/Imaging/AOB/
Deadline is 20 March 23:59 UTC.
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JOBS/POSITIONS OPPORTUNITIES
For all Job opportunities, please visit http://dps.aas.org/jobs
and also consider posting a job by filling out the jobs submission form at:
http://dps.aas.org/node/add/job
You can send any comments, questions, or suggestions to the DPS Jobs Czar at: dpsjobs@aas.org
A) PLANETARY SCIENCES EXPLORATION FACULTY POSITION
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
The Department of Physics (physics.cos.ucf.edu) at the University of Central Florida invites applications for up to 2 tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level or higher beginning in August 2014. As part of the recently awarded Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) initiative with the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) we are particularly interested in candidates with experience in exploration-related planetary science including, but not limited to, regolith processes, microgravity dynamics, impact physics, primitive asteroid mineralogy, and in-situ resource utilization.
Applicants must have a Ph.D. at the time of appointment in Planetary Sciences, Physics, or a closely related discipline, and a substantial record of independent, interdisciplinary research. The successful applicant is expected to establish a vigorous, externally funded research program and have a strong commitment to excellence in graduate and undergraduate education. UCF is a leading, fast growing, metropolitan research university with about 60,000 students. The Department of Physics currently has 40 faculty members, offers B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Physics and a Ph.D. track in Planetary Sciences ( www.planets.ucf.edu ), and has recently moved into a state-of-the-art research building. Departmental research programs include condensed matter physics, surface physics, nanoscience, soft condensed matter, planetary science, biological physics, atomic and optical physics, attosecond physics, quantum information processing, and physics education. There are opportunities to benefit from synergy with the UCF-based Florida Space Institute (fsi.ucf.edu), the Nanoscience and Technology Center, the Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center (AMPAC), the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL), and the Biomolecular Sciences Center.
Interested individuals must complete an on-line application by going to: www.jobswithucf.com . The online application should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, summary of research and teaching portfolio, and a list of three references with contact information. Screening of applications will begin February 17, 2014 and will continue until the position is filled.
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UPCOMING MEETINGS
A) LPSC 2014 POSTERS
Attention 45th LPSC Poster Presenters:
We are again giving LPSC poster presenters the option of uploading an electronic file of their poster (e-poster). Our interactive e-poster system provides additional exposure for your poster by giving your fellow attendees, as well as others, the ability to view your poster online.
The deadline for uploading e-posters for LPSC is Tuesday, April 1, 2014. Poster presenters will only be allowed to submit a file ONCE, so make certain that all typos have been corrected before uploading the file.
Uploading an e-poster is as easy as uploading an abstract.
1. Login to the abstract submission page of the Meeting Portal (https://www.hou.usra.edu/meeting_portal/abstract_submission/)
2. Next to the listing for any of your LPSC abstracts that was assigned to a poster session, you’ll see an link in the ACTION column
3. Click on this link to go to the e-poster upload page
a. All e-posters must be submitted in PDF format
b. The maximum file size allowed is 4.0 MB
4. After using the browse button to locate the file containing your e-poster on your machine, and selecting an appropriate copyright statement, click the “Submit” button ONCE and WAIT for the confirmation screen
5. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with a direct link to your e-poster, or you can view any e-posters that have been submitted by:
a. Visiting the “View Program and Abstracts” section of the LPSC website (http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2014/programAbstracts/view/) and clicking on “View E-Posters”
b. Using our abstract search function to find a particular abstract; those with e-posters will have an additional link in the search result that allows you to view the associated e-poster
We strongly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to increase the visibility of the research you have been doing. See you in a couple of weeks!
B) TOWN HALL: OBSERVATIONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM WITH HST AND JWST
Thursday, March 20, 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m., Waterway 1
Remote participation and other details can be found here: http://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science/solar-system
This Town Hall meeting is proposed to give the community an opportunity to provide input to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) solar system committee and a chance to hear the current status of the committee’s activities. Additionally, we will present the accomplishments and status of the recommendations provided to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) team last year regarding solar system observations and solicits the community for further input. It is envisaged that there would be a half hour of brief presentations from both projects followed by a science talk by Britney Schmidt (Georgia Tech) and discussion. Our goal is to fully engage the solar system community to provide them with the tools they need to propose for time on HST and begin planning their observations with JWST. A key output of the workshop will be capability objectives for the JWST team to consider for further pre-launch operational studies, so that a broad suite of solar system observations will be enabled.
C) AAS/DDA ANNUAL MEETING
The American Astronomical Society's Division on Dynamical Astronomy (DDA) is pleased to announce that its annual meeting will take place at the College of Physicians in Philadelphia, PA, from April 28th to May 1st 2014. Registration and abstract submission are now open, and can be accessed through the meeting website http://dda.aas.org/meetings/2014/.
The deadline for early online registration and abstract submission is March 21st.
We would also like to encourage graduate students working in all branches of dynamical astronomy to apply for the Ray Duncombe Prize, which includes free registration and $600 in travel funds. The deadline for Duncombe Prize applications is February 28th. For more details, see http://dda.aas.org/students/letters/ddastip14.html.
D) OPEN QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 2014
Open Questions on the Origin of Life 2014 (OQOL2014)
Kyoto-Nara, Japan
July 12-13, 2014
http://www.lifephys.dis.titech.ac.jp/oqol2014/
Call for abstract:
We are pleased to announce the Open Questions on the Origin of Life 2014 (OQOL2014), chaired by Prof. Dr. Pier Luigi Luisi from Universita degli Studi Roma Tre (Italy) and Prof. Dr. Kenichi Yoshikawa from Doshisha University and Kyoto University (Japan).
For the Open Questions on the Origin of Life 2014 (OQOL2014), we invite scholars from all over the world to present their current novel ideas and latest research on scientific question about the origin of life. This would be the fourth of such meetings. The first one took place in Erice, Sicily, in 2006; the second one in San Sebastian, Spain, 2009; the last one in 2012 in Leicester. This year, the fourth meeting will be held in Kyoto-Nara, Japan.
We are looking for experts and scholars who would like to share their knowledge, expertise and the most recent progress by joining this meeting which is, itself, a novel way of exchanging ideas with our community.
In the two days of OQOL 2014 in July, we have the time to discuss only about seven questions chosen by your votes. The selected open questions of OQOL 2014 is listed at
http://www.lifephys.dis.titech.ac.jp/oqol2014/?page_id=182
Please submit your abstract for one of the 7 selected open questions.
The DEAD LINE OF ABSTRACT SUBMISSION is March 31, 2014.
The submission information is below:
http://www.lifephys.dis.titech.ac.jp/oqol2014/?page_id=165
We hope you will be able to join this exciting event and support us in making it a success.
Important Dates
(1) March 31, 2014
Dead line: Submission of abstracts for the 7 open questions selected by your vote.
(2) April 14, 2014
Notification of selected abstracts and presenters of OQOL2014. The notification will appear in this web site.
(3) Early June, 2014
Dead line: Registration.
(4) July 12-13, 2014
OQOL meeting at Kyoto-Nara, Japan.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
oqol2014-submission@lifephys.dis.titech.ac.jp
For the Organizing committee:
Masahiro Takinoue, Ph.D. (Tokyo Tech.)
E) 6TH ALFVÉN CONFERENCE: PLASMA INTERACTIONS WITH SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS: ANTICIPATING ROSETTA, MAVEN AND MARS ORBITER MISSION
Location: University College London (UCL), UK
Conference dates: 7-11 July 2014
Conference website: http://bit.ly/alfven-2014
Second announcement and call for notification of interest
If you plan to attend this meeting, please fill out the notification of interest form: http://bit.ly/alfven-interest
The LOC would appreciate your response as soon as possible.
We are likely to offer a subsidised registration fee for students and a reduced early bird registration by 7 May. Regular and on site registration will be available after 7 May. Abstract deadline will be 7 May (submission details to follow)
Main topics: Comets, Mars, Venus, outer planet moons and Earth's moon -
especially common processes with comets, and reviewing current knowledge
prior to the arrival of the new missions.
Meeting theme -
Within our solar system, the planets, moons, comets and asteroids all have plasma interactions. The interaction depends on the nature of the object, particularly the presence of an atmosphere and a magnetic field.
Even the size of the object matters through the finite gyroradius effect and the scale height of cold ions of exospheric origin. It also depends on the upstream conditions, including position within the solar wind or the presence within a planetary magnetosphere. In the year when ESA's Rosetta will reach comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, NASA's Maven and ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission will reach Mars, and ESA's Venus Express mission is almost complete, this conference will explore our understanding of plasma interactions with comets, Mars, Venus, and inner and outer solar system moons. We will explore the processes which characterise the interactions such as ion pickup and field draping, and their effects such as plasma escape. Data from current and recent space missions, modelling and theory are all encouraged, as we explore our local part of the 'plasma universe'.
Confirmed invited speakers so far include: Rickard Lundin, Christian Mazelle, Matt Taylor, David Andrews, Esa Kallio, Oleg Vaisberg, Xianzhe Jia, Jim Slavin, Yoshifumi Saito, Geraint Jones, Stas Barabash, Olivier Witasse, Chris Paranicas, Wing Ip, Martin Rubin and Tom Cravens.
Regards,
Andrew Coates (convener) and Anne Wellbrock (LOC co-chair),
on behalf of the LOC and SOC
F) WORKSHOP ON THE STUDY OF THE ICE GIANT PLANETS
July 28–30, 2014
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, Maryland
The goal of this 2.5-day workshop is to raise awareness of the
uniqueness/importance of ice giants in our solar system and others and
lay out key science goals and a potential suite of investigations for
New Frontiers-Flagship mission concepts. We will review the current
state of knowledge of all aspects of the ice giant planetary systems
(planets, satellites, rings, etc.), and how it relates to our knowledge
of the gas giants, planetary formation models, and the study of
exoplanets, incorporating outcomes of the 2013 Paris Uranus meeting.
We will initiate a major effort to prioritize the science goals of
future Uranus and Neptune missions and review studied architectures
for these mission concepts. Contributed talks/posters are welcome,
particularly those that focus on the state of knowledge and mission
studies. Abstract submission will open in early May 2014.
To subscribe to a mailing list to receive future announcements and
updates, please complete the indication of interest form:
www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/icegiants2014/
G) SATURN SCIENCE CONFERENCE: SATURN IN THE 21ST CENTURY,
August 4-8, Madison, Wisconsin
In support of the new “Arizona Style” book, “Saturn in the 21st Century”, this conference will be held August 4-7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The conference covers recent results on the planet Saturn and its magnetosphere from Cassini, Hubble, and ground-based observations, as well as new theoretical/analytical treatments of more historical data. Poster Talks are solicited. Abstracts due: June 1, 2014. Program, accommodations, registration and abstract information can be found at:
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/meetings/21st_saturn/
Primary Contact: Kevin Baines, blueskies4321@yahoo.com
H) INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON INSTRUMENTATION FOR PLANETARY MISSIONS
Call for abstracts.
NASA/GSFC will host the International Workshop on Instrumentation
for Planetary Missions November 4-7, 2014, Greenbelt, Maryland
(Washington DC, USA).
The objective of the Workshop is to have a broad canvas of instrumentation and technology available to upcoming 'Decadal Survey' missions and those further out. It is also meant to be a forum of collaboration, exchange and discussions where science questions, and the technology needed to address them, are discussed.
Workshop details and abstract submission instructions can be found here:
http://ssed.gsfc.nasa.gov/IPM/
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Send submissions to:
Athena Coustenis, DPS Secretary (dpssec@aas.org)
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