Issue 18-02, January 14, 2018
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- UPDATES FOR NASA OUTER PLANETS ASSESSMENT GROUP (OPAG)
- SMALL BODIES ASSESSMENT GROUP (SBAG) 18 MEETING FINAL AGENDA
- MEPAG MEETING FORECASTING REMINDER AND TENTATIVE MEETING STRUCTURE
- UPCOMING MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
- JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES
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UPDATES FOR NASA OUTER PLANETS ASSESSMENT GROUP (OPAG)
PLEASE NOTE CORRECTED DATES BELOW
Next meeting: February 21-23 in Hampton VA; registration and hotel
reservations are now open: http://www.cvent.com/d/mtqcd8
The main OPAG meeting will be Feb 21-22, and February 23 will be
technology forum to identify (and ultimately agree on) technologies that
support near-, mid- and far-term outer planetary system missions.
The agenda will be posted soon at https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/. A
major topic of discussion will be revision of the OPAG goals document;
a draft will be posted in advance of the meeting.
Early Career Participant Support available for OPAG Meeting
NASA’s Outer Planets Assessment Group will provide travel grants for
a limited number of interested Early Career participants to attend the OPAG
meeting February 21-23 in Hampton, VA. OPAG plays a key role in
sculpting the planetary science community’s input into NASA activities
for outer planets science and exploration. Thus it is critical for Early Career
scientists to attend these meetings both to learn how NASA and Planetary
Science programs operate and to represent the community that will work
on OPAG-relevant projects in the coming decade. Selected individuals
will present a poster at the meeting on a topic of their choosing. Interested
graduate students, postdocs, and other Early Career scientists (within 5
years of PhD/MS/BS) should submit a one page letter of interest and a CV
to [email protected] by January 16, 2018. Recipients will be
notified by ~January 20. For more information, email Britney Schmidt at
the address above.
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SMALL BODIES ASSESSMENT GROUP (SBAG) 18 MEETING FINAL AGENDA
The final agenda of the 18th SBAG meeting, to be held at NASA Ames Research
Center this Wednesday and Thursday, January 17 and 18, can be found at
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/
Remote connection information can be found at
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MEPAG MEETING FORECASTING REMINDER AND TENTATIVE MEETING STRUCTURE
Mars community members,
Plans are coming together for the next MEPAG face-to-face meeting
(April 3-5, 2018, in Crystal City, Washington DC), and we expect to
send out the First Circular in a few weeks. Until then, here is a
reminder about the upcoming and important January 15 deadline for
forecasting, along with a preliminary overview of expected topics to
assist with forecasting.
https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/meetings.cfm?expand=m36
A focus of this MEPAG meeting is preparation for the next Decadal
Survey. MEPAG seeks to enable opportunities for identifying concepts in
all mission classes that could make significant progress on compelling
Mars science questions during 2023-2032. Concepts submitted by
community members would be presented (poster or short oral
presentation) and discussed at the meeting.
By January 15 (yes, it’s a US holiday):
– NASA/US Government employees and contractors who may attend the
meeting in-person should forecast for the 2018 Spring MEPAG meeting
(NCTS# 32452-18)
– To help us help us gauge interest and scope, and to aid in planning
the forum portion of the MEPAG meeting, please submit an expression of
interest at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd7nJskPVmtSxggbowL1wrZYvw1jmfA29W6cT87IBBOhMpg1Q/viewform
Thank you,
Serina Diniega
Spring 2018 MEPAG meeting coordinator
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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
A) ASIA OCEANIA GEOSCIENCES CONFERENCE (AOGS)
3-8 JUNE 2018
HONOLULU, HAWAII
ABSTRACTS DUE 19 JANUARY 2018
Conference website: http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2018/public.asp?page=home.htm
AOGS2018 SESSION PS02: Volcanism and Tectonism Across the Solar System
The surfaces of the terrestrial planets and their satellites have been largely
shaped through volcanic and tectonic processes. Extreme conditions on outer
solar system bodies, such as the Jovian and Saturnian satellites, result in different
types of volcanism and tectonism. Fracturing and faulting processes mainly affect
minor bodies such as asteroids and small moons, where volcanism and tectonism
have not played an important role. We invite contributions that cover a wide range
of topics including geomorphology and composition of volcanic deposits, edifices,
and plumes, volcano-induced deformation and edifice growth and collapse to tectonic
structures, faulting and fracturing processes, crustal stress and strain analysis,
cryovolcanism, and any study related to planetary endogenic processes. Furthermore,
studies that relay interactions between planetary interiors, surfaces, and atmospheres
are welcomed. Comparative studies of volcanic or tectonic systems on Earth with
a strong remote sensing component are encouraged.
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Hope to see you there!
The Conveners:
Dr. Anezina Solomonidou (European Space Agency, ESAC, Spain)
Dr. Rosaly Lopes (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, United States)
Dr. Florian M. Schwandner (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, United States)
B) COSPAR 2018 42nd Assembly – 60th Anniversary
Pasadena, California, 14-22 July 2018
ABSTRACTS DUE 9 February 2018
COSPAR 2018: OCEAN WORLDS: EUROPA, ENCELADUS, TITAN,
AND BEYOND
Solar system exploration stands on the edge of profound discovery, offering
the opportunity to search for habitable environments and possible signs of
life in one or more of the ocean worlds of the outer solar system in the coming
decades. This event welcomes papers describing one or more of the confirmed
or potential ocean worlds that harbor subsurface oceans of liquid water and/or,
for Saturn’s moon Titan, surface reservoirs of liquid hydrocarbon and solid
organics. These bodies represent attractive targets for future stand-alone and
cooperative missions by the major space agencies in the quest to understand
the potential for life in the solar system.
Submissions that describe new observations of ocean properties, stimulate or
describe future observations, or review our current state of knowledge are
encouraged. We also welcome laboratory investigations and future misisons
plans that could extend our understanding of the habitability of the outer solar
system. Presentations will include a mix of solicited and contributed papers.
Abstracts for contributed presentations at Session B5.3 are due on February
9, 2018, and must be submitted on the COSPAR website. Full details for
abstract submission, as well as the detailed description of the content of the
session are available at:
https://www.cospar-assembly.org
Session organizers: Alex Hayes (Cornell, USA) and Robert Pappalardo (JPL, USA)
Scientific Organizing Committee: Kevin Hand (JPL, USA), Morgan Cable (JPL,
USA), Ellen Stofan (JHU/APL, USA), Chris Glein (SWRI, USA), Michel Blanc
(IRAP, France), Olivier Witasse (ESA, France), Athena Coustenis (CNRS,
France), Yasuhito Seikin (University of Tokyo, Japan), Jun Kimura (Osaka
University, Japan), Olga Prieto-Balesteros (Cero do Astrobiologic-INTA-CSIC,
Spain), Paolo Tortora (University of Bologna, Italy)
COSPAR 2018: CASSINI HIGHLIGHTS AT SATURN
The Cassini mission’s findings have revolutionized our understanding of Saturn,
its complex rings, the amazing assortment of moons and the planet’s dynamic
magnetic environment. The robotic spacecraft arrived in 2004 after a 7-year
flight from Earth, dropped a parachuted probe to study the atmosphere and
surface of Saturn’s big moon Titan, and commenced making astonishing
discoveries until the spacecraft’s blazing plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere
ended the mission in September 2017.
The Organizing Committee welcomes papers relevant to the Cassini mission
that address observations, modeling, and theoretical interpretation. Papers are
also welcome on supporting laboratory investigations, Earth and HST
observations, and plans for future spacecraft missions and experiments. Papers
highlighting a comparison of Cassini at Saturn and Juno at Jupiter results are
welcome also.
Conveners: Linda Spilker (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, U.S.A), Athena Coustenis
(Paris Observatory, France), Scott Edgington (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, U.S.A),
Francois Raulin (Université Paris Est Créteil, France), Kevin Baines (Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, U.S.A), Norbert Krupp (Max-Planck-Institute, Germany), Darrell
Strobel (Johns Hopkins University, U.S.A), Jonathan Lunine (Cornell University,
U.S.A)
COSPAR SESSION B03: OBSERVATIONS OF PLANETARY OBJECTS
WITH NON-PLANETARY SPACECRAFT
Missions not primarily designed for planetary observations are nevertheless
valuable sources of observational data on major, dwarf, and minor planets, as
well as comets. Example missions are the NASA/ESA SOHO and NASA
STEREO solar and heliospheric missions, that have returned observations of
numerous comets, the NASA Kepler exoplanet mission which has observed
planets and various small bodies, and ESA’s Gaia mapping mission. In this
session, we address such observations carried out by past and current missions
as well as projects that are in development and proposed. Contributions are
invited to provide an overview of results from such observations, and those
planned for the future. Contributions that provide insights into the securing
of serendipitous planetary observations to help advise future efforts are
particularly encouraged.
Abstracts for contributed presentations at Session B0.3 are due on February
9, 2018, and must be submitted on the COSPAR website—full details for
abstract submission, as well as the detailed description of the content of
the session are available at https://www.cospar-assembly.org
Organizers – Geraint Jones (MSSL, University College London, UK) &
Matthew Knight (University of Maryland, USA)
Please submit your work and we look forward to seeing you in Pasadena!
C) IAU GENERAL ASSEMBLY MINI-CONFERENCE: RECENT
ADVANCES IN PLANETARY ASTRONOMY
We would like to announce a two-day mini-conference on recent advances
on planetary astronomy. The conference is organized by the IAU Division F
(Planetary Systems & Astrobiology) in conjunction with the 30th General
Assembly of the International Astronomical Union that will be held in August
2018 in Vienna. The purpose of this program is to bring together researchers
from all fields of planetary astronomy (Solar system and extrasolar planets)
to present their new findings in form of oral and poster presentations, and
discuss the current state of research in our field. The website of the conference
can be found at:
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/planetsdays2018/
The mini-conference is held on August 24 & 27, 2018 during the IAU General
Assembly and in the same venue.
Registration is now open and abstracts are accepted from all fields of planetary
astronomy for oral and poster presentations. The deadline for early registration
discount is January 31. Participants in this workshop will receive admission to
all scientific activities of the IAU General Assembly including the Focus
Meeting 1 on asteroid families, IAU Symposium 345 on the origin of life and
planetary systems, and a training school in Astrobiology held on August 17-18,
2018 by the University of Vienna.
We look forward to seeing you in Vienna.
Nader Haghighipour
President of the IAU Division F
D) FINAL CASSINI SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM SAVE THE DATE:
AUG. 12-17, 2018
Dear colleagues,
The Cassini Project will host a five-day Cassini Science Symposium
August 12-17, including a reception Sunday evening before the sessions.
The sessions will be held at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Invited and contributed talks will include the latest Cassini findings
on the Saturn system, including the interpretation and synthesis of
results. Sessions will cover the following disciplines: Rings, Titan,
Icy Satellites, Magnetospheres and Saturn. This Symposium can serve as
a springboard for future studies and space missions. Future mission
posters are possible.
The symposium website can be found at:
http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/2018-cassini-science-symposium/
Details, including key dates, registration and hotel information, and
abstract instructions be added to the website as known and will be
sent in future announcements. Abstracts will be due 16 April, 2018. But
for now, please save the dates.
If this announcement was forwarded to you and you would like us to add
your email address to the contact list for future information, please
contact Laura Bloom (see below).
We hope to see you there.
Larry W. Esposito
Chair, Symposium Organizing Committee
E) IEEE INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON METROLOGY FOR AEROSPACE 2018
Dear colleagues,
we would like to invite you to present a paper at the session “Future techniques
for extra-solar planets exploration »
to be hosted at the IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for AeroSpace 2018
in Rome, Italy, June 20, 2018 – June 22, 2018.
http://www.metroaerospace.org/
January 26, 2018 is the Abstract Submission Deadline
Please see : “Special Track on Metrology for Future Space Exploration:
Instruments, Technology and Techniques”
Organized by: Marcello Coradini, Enrico Flamini,and Stefano Debei
http://www.metroaerospace.org/special-track-1
and consider submitting an abstract in Special Session #3.
For author instructions see: http://www.metroaerospace.org/author-instructions
We hope you to see you in Rome !
The conveners: A. Coustenis and G. Tinetti
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JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES
A) POSTDOC POSITIONS
The Group of Orbital Dynamics and Planetology invites applications for
post-doc positions. There are 5 positions that will be funded by FAPESP
(Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo). The candidates
must have experience on Planetary Dynamics and/or Spacecraft Dynamics.
The projects to be developed are the following:
- Orbits of satellites and planetary rings derived from space mission data;
- Attitude and orbit analysis for a mission to a triple asteroid system;
- Spin-orbit coupling in Solar System dynamics;
- Dynamics involving small bodies under gravitational close approaches;
- Planetary Formation.
The projects will be developed in one of the following institutions:
- São Paulo State University – UNESP in Guaratinguetá
- National Institute for Space Research – INPE in São José dos Campos
Applicants should send a statement of research interest and a curriculum vitae
with a list of publications to:
Prof Silvia Giuliatti Winter ([email protected])
Deadline of applications: March, 3, 2018
Best Regards
Prof Silvia Giuliani Winter
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Send submissions to:
Anne Verbiscer, DPS Secretary ([email protected])
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