Newsletter 17-50

Issue 17-50, December 19, 2017

 

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  1. REMINDER: RENEW YOUR AAS/DPS MEMBERSHIP TODAY
  2. NEW PLANETARY REU PROGRAM GUIDE
  3. NASA DISCOVERY PROGRAM LONG-RANGE PLANNING INFORMATION
  4. LPSC SPECIAL SESSION: CELEBRATING CASSINI!
  5. EXPLORATION SCIENCE SUMMER INTERN PROGRAM
  6. SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE CYCLE-14 CALL FOR PROPOSALS
  7. IRTF FUTURE DIRECTIONS WORKSHOP REGISTRATION OPEN
  8. JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES

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REMINDER: RENEW YOUR AAS/DPS MEMBERSHIP TODAY

 

AAS emailed members in early September announcing the start of membership

renewal season, and many took notice. Online renewals are arriving at a steady

pace. If you have already paid your dues, thanks for your continued support.

 

As many of you saw during the Members meeting in Provo, the AAS regularly

purges the DPS membership list early in the year and we lose 200-300 members.

Please renew your membership today so this does not happen to you!

 

To help reduce costs and the Society’s carbon footprint, we encourage you to

renew online today for fast, easy self-service. Simply log in to pay your dues,

to confirm or update your journal subscriptions and Division memberships,

and to lock in savings for 2018 by renewing for two years at the current rate.

(Note: That last option isn’t available to junior members, who instead get two

years for the price of one — currently $84 —when first joining the Society,

then renew annually thereafter.)

 

Renew before 31 December to maintain your benefits and receive additional

savings: the AAS will extend a one-time 15% discount off your portion of the

author charges for one paper published in the Astronomical Journal, the

Astrophysical Journal, ApJ Letters, or ApJ Supplement. Eligible members

can double their savings: if you renew by 31 December for two years, you will

receive the 15% author discount on one paper each in 2018 and 2019.

The Society has much planned for 2018 — including the 231st meeting of the

AAS in National Harbor in January — so you won’t want to miss out on the latest

science, member communications, and career and networking opportunities.

Supporting the AAS is supporting your discipline. Renew today!

 

If you have any questions about your dues or benefits, or need assistance

when logging in, please contact the membership team by email at

[email protected] or by phone at 202-328-2010. Thank you!

 

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NEW PLANETARY REU PROGRAM GUIDE

 

Do you advise undergraduates interested in a planetary science research

experience? Do you have trouble remembering all the programs and keeping

up to date? Do you want to get the word out on your own REU program? The

DPS Education & Public Outreach Subcommittee has assembled a listing of

institutions offering Research Experiences for Undergraduates with a focus

on planetary science:

education/reu-programs

Please send this link to students you mentor and mailing lists of majors. We

especially want the list to be up-to-date and accurate, so please also send it to

your own REU program leader for updates and corrections. Application

deadlines are imminent, so please help get the word out!

Dave Klassen & Sanlyn Buxner
Education & Public Outreach, Division for Planetary Sciences, American

Astronomical Society
[email protected]

 

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NASA DISCOVERY PROGRAM LONG-RANGE PLANNING INFORMATION

 

NASA intends to release an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for

Discovery Program missions by February 2019. The Discovery Program

conducts Principal Investigator (PI)-led space science investigations

in SMD’s planetary programs under a not-to-exceed cost cap. It is

anticipated that no more than three Discovery investigations will be

selected for 9-month, $3M (RY) Phase A concept studies through this AO. 

 

The intended time frame for this solicitation is:

 

Release of Draft AO:        September 2018

Release of final AO:        February 2019

Pre-proposal conference:    ~3 weeks after final AO release

Proposals due:              90 days after AO release

Selection for Phase A:      December 2019

Concept study reports due:  November 2020

Down-selection:             June 2021

Launch readiness date:      NLT December 31, 2026

 

The Discovery AO will be based on the Standard PI-led Mission AO

Template available at

 

http://soma.larc.nasa.gov/standardao/sao_templates.html

 

Proposers should read the Discovery AO carefully when it is released.

 

Further information will be posted on the Discovery Program Acquisition

Page as it becomes available at: 

 

http://discovery.larc.nasa.gov/

 

Questions may be addressed to: Dr. Michael New, Discovery Program Lead

Scientist, Science Mission Directorate, NASA, Washington, DC  20546;

Tel.: (202) 358-1766; Email: [email protected].

 

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LPSC SPECIAL SESSION: CELEBRATING CASSINI!

 

We are pleased to announce a special session at the 2018 LPSC meeting,

Celebrating Cassini! The Cassini spacecraft’s thirteen-year mission in the

Saturn system, covering nearly half of a Saturn year, has come to an end.

LPSC is at a perfect time and is a wonderful venue to celebrate the remarkable

legacy of Cassini with invited and contributed talks and posters covering

science from the many disciplines of this mission. This session will highlight

the rings, Titan and the icy moons. The session will focus on new results

covering the final year of the mission, as well as seasonal changes, and

inter-instrument and inter-body comparisons. And, as we now look to the

future, papers utilizing Cassini discoveries to contemplate the next steps in

the Saturn system will be welcome. Abstracts are due Jan 9.

 

Linda Spilker, Amanda Hendrix, Scott Edgington

 

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EXPLORATION SCIENCE SUMMER INTERN PROGRAM

 

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is hosting a special summer intern

program to involve students in activities that support missions to the Moon

that utilize the Orion crew vehicle, the Deep Space Gateway, and robotic

assets on the lunar surface. It is a unique opportunity to integrate scientific

input with exploration activities in a way that mission architects and spacecraft

engineers can use.  Activities may involve assessments of landing sites and

traverse plans for multiple destinations that are responsive to NASA objectives.

The LPI invites applications from graduate students in geology, planetary

science, and related programs.

 

The Exploration Science Summer Intern Program builds on the success of the

Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program that was designed to evaluate

possible landing sites on the Moon for robotic and human exploration missions.

Over a five year period (2008–2012), teams of students worked with LPI science

staff and their collaborators to produce A Global Lunar Landing Site Study to

Provide the Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon. The program for

2018 is designed to have the same impact on future exploration activities. This

will be a unique team activity that should foster extensive discussions among

students and senior science team members.

 

The 10-week program runs from May 29, 2018, through August 3, 2018.

Selected interns will receive a $5,883 stipend, and up to a $1,000 travel expense

reimbursement for U.S. citizens, or $1,500 for foreign nationals.

 

Please pass this information on to any students who might be interested.

 

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  January 19, 2018  

Applications are only accepted using the online application form found at

the LPI’s Exploration Science Summer Intern website:

 

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/exploration_intern/

 

For more information, contact:

Brittany McNeal

Exploration Science Summer Intern Program

[email protected]

 

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SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE CYCLE-14 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

 

Proposal Deadline: 16 March 2018, 2:00 PM PDT.

 

On behalf of NASA and the Spitzer Space Telescope Project, the Spitzer

Science Center (SSC) at Caltech is pleased to announce the release of the

Cycle-14 Call for Proposals (CP).

 

This is the FINAL SPITZER CALL FOR PROPOSALS.

 

The Beyond phase of the Spitzer mission is funded by NASA through March

2019. While Cycle-13 was planned as the last comprehensive proposal call for

Spitzer time, sufficient hours are available to warrant a full Cycle-14 call for

proposals. Since the start of the Beyond mission we have had two structured

Directors Discretionary Time (DDT) proposal reviews. Cycle-14 takes the

place of what was planned as the final structured DDT review. Time critical

DDT proposals with high science impact may be submitted through February

2019. 

 

SSC staff will be at the IPAC booth at the January AAS meeting and can

answer any questions you have about proposing for Cycle-14 or DDT. 

 

All programmatic and technical information for Cycle-14 is available

electronically from the Proposal Kit section of the Spitzer Science Center

website at  http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/warmmission/propkit/ 

 

Updated guidelines for the submission of DDT proposals are also available

in the Proposal Kit. 

 

Investigators worldwide from all types of institutions are eligible to submit

proposals subject to the guidelines provided in the CP. 

 

All proposals must be submitted electronically using Spot, the SSC proposal

planning and submission software. The S19 version of Spot is available from

the SSC website and via the auto-update feature in Spot. Proposers must use

this version of the software to submit their proposals. The required Cycle-14

proposal templates are available at the Proposal Kit website. The proposal

submission system will open 1 February 2018. 

 

Any questions should be addressed to the Spitzer Helpdesk at

[email protected] 

 

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IRTF FUTURE DIRECTIONS WORKSHOP REGISTRATION OPEN

 

Registration for the NASA IRTF Future Directions Workshop is now open:
http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/meetings/irtf_future_2018/

 

The workshop is scheduled for Feb 12-14 at Biosphere 2 (B2) near Tucson.

 

Please visit the website to register, submit an abstract for a contributed

talk, and to book accommodation at B2. Payment for accommodation

and meals is not required until attendance at the workshop.

 

Further details, including the preliminary meeting schedule, and a State of

the IRTF document discussing current and potential future capabilities, can

also be found on the website.

 

If you are unable to attend but would still like to give input please contact

John Rayner ([email protected])

 

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JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES

 

A) DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

     CNRS

     UNIVERSITY OF REIMS

 

A position of Director of Research (senior researcher) is open at the CNRS
(4th section), with the possibility for an external recruitment (e.g. foreigners),
for the  GSMA (Group of Molecular Spectrometry and Atmosphere) at the University
of Reims (http://www.univ-reims.fr/gsma/).

The topic of the section 4 – “Atoms and molecules, optics and lasers,
hot plasma physics” – explicitly includes atomic spectroscopy and
applied to astrophysics. This competition may therefore concern
candidates producing research at the intersection of themes
of Section 4 and GSMA Planetary Sciences research (Planetary
atmospheres and exoplanets).

For information:
* Section 4 website (description):
  http://www.cnrs.fr/comitenational/sections/section.php?sec=04
* CNRS pages for the competition:
  http://gestionoffres.dsi.cnrs.fr/fo/offres/detail-en.php?&offre_id=9
* GSMA website:
  http://www.univ-reims.fr/gsma
* GSMA Planetology Team:
  https://planeto.univ-reims.fr/

Contacts :
GSMA Director / [email protected]
Planetology Group / [email protected]

 

B) MARS 2020 POSTDOCTORAL OPPORTUNITY AT THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

 

Application Deadline: February 1, 2018

 

The Mars 2020 Science Office seeks a postdoctoral research associate to

assist in the implementation of a series of field training exercises

designed to refine and practice science decision-making processes

required to achieve Mars 2020 mission objectives. Primary

responsibilities will include coordination of field logistics,

leadership of a field data acquisition effort using commercial analogs

of Mars 2020 instruments, and archiving and publishing the results of

team training activities. There will also be opportunities to

simultaneously pursue individual research relevant to Mars 2020 and

returned sample science.

 

The successful candidate will have demonstrated strengths in scientific

research and a passion for scientific training, planetary missions, and

communication. Prior experience in real or simulated mission operations

is desired but not required. Candidates who have received their PhD

within the past five years since the date of their application are

eligible.

 

The desired start date is no later than May 1, 2018. Postdoctoral

Scholar positions are awarded for a minimum of one year and may be

renewable for up to three years.

 

For further information and to apply, visit:

 

https://postdocs-jpl.icims.com/jobs/9045/mars-2020-science-team-training/job?mode=view

 

Contact: Katie Stack Morgan ([email protected])

 

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Send submissions to:

Anne Verbiscer, DPS Secretary ([email protected]

 

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