Issue 17-50, December 19, 2017
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- REMINDER: RENEW YOUR AAS/DPS MEMBERSHIP TODAY
- NEW PLANETARY REU PROGRAM GUIDE
- NASA DISCOVERY PROGRAM LONG-RANGE PLANNING INFORMATION
- LPSC SPECIAL SESSION: CELEBRATING CASSINI!
- EXPLORATION SCIENCE SUMMER INTERN PROGRAM
- SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE CYCLE-14 CALL FOR PROPOSALS
- IRTF FUTURE DIRECTIONS WORKSHOP REGISTRATION OPEN
- 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:
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
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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
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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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Anne Verbiscer, DPS Secretary ([email protected])
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