Newsletter Newsletter Published on Division for Planetary Sciences ( Issue 12-20, August 20, 2012

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1 Issue 12-20, August 20, CONTENTS ) CHAIR UPDATE 2) DPS 44TH MEETING IN RENO PROGRAMME IS ON LINE 3) DUE DATE DELAYED FOR OUTER PLANETS RESEARCH (OPR) PROGRAM 4) PROPOSALS SOLICITED FOR USE OF KECK TELESCOPES 5) MATURATION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION (MATISSE) PROGRAM 6) 2013 ONLINE RENEWALS BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER 7) JOB/POSITION OPPORTUNITIES 8) UPCOMING MEETINGS CHAIRS UPDATE Although it is the Dog Days of Summer several notable events have enlivened August. First is the highly successful landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars. Any planetary exploration is fraught with risk; but the cost, technical challenges, and potential science return of the Mars Science Laboratory made this a nail-biter. And it worked great! Curiosity is returning awesome images of an alien world and the mission is off to a great start. Congratulations are due from all of us at DPS to the MSL team including the science teams, JPL, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, and the NASA Headquarters Mars Program! The other major event of August was the DPS elections. I want to congratulate Heidi Hammel (DPS vice-chair elect), Paul Withers and Ross Beyer (DPS committee members elect). The quality and impact of DPS depends on the quality and drive of our members who donate their time organization. We are fortunate to have such outstanding people willing to devote their time to the DPS and our joint efforts to make a real difference in the course of planetary exploration. Congratulations and welcome! The DPS committee and officers names can be found at : [1] Dan Britt, DPS Chair DPS 44TH MEETING IN RENO PROGRAMME IS ON LINE The 44th annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society will take place from Sunday October 14 to Friday October 19, 2012 in Reno, NV See: [2] The science program is now on line at : [3]{C752C15A-58ED-4FA6-9B4A } Among other special events, please join us for Tuesday's special events: - The DPS Members Meeting on Tuesday, Oct 16, 2012, 10:30 AM -12:00 PM in the Tahoe Room And American Astronomical Society. Page 1 of 7

2 - The Agency Night on Tuesday, Oct 16, 2012, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM in the Reno Ballroom DUE DATE DELAYED FOR OUTER PLANETS RESEARCH (OPR) PROGRAM ROSES Amendment 13 delays the due date for proposals to the Outer Planets Research Program to November 2, 2012, so as not to overlap with the 44th Annual Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. Notices of intent to propose are still requested by August 24, This Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement NNH12ZDA001N will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at: [4] (select "Solicitations" then "Open Solicitations" then "NNH12ZDA001N"). RSS feed at: [5] roses-2012 Questions concerning OPR may be addressed to: Terry Hurford at (202) or terry.a.hurford@nasa.gov [6] [From the PEN] PROPOSALS SOLICITED FOR USE OF KECK TELESCOPES NASA is soliciting proposals to use the Keck Telescopes for the 2013A observing semester (February July 2013). Use of the Keck telescopes will be highly strategic in support of ongoing space missions and/or high priority, long term science goals. NASA Keck time is open to a wide range of disciplines including exoplanets and solar system topics, galactic, and extragalactic topics, cosmology and high energy astrophysics. There is limited time for observations based on public Kepler data or data obtained through the Kepler Guest Observer programs. Proposals are also sought in: (1) investigations in support of EXOPLANET EXPLORATION science goals and missions; (2) investigations of our own SOLAR SYSTEM; (3) investigations in support of COSMIC ORIGINS science goals and missions; (4) investigations in support of PHYSICS OF THE COSMOS science goals and missions; and (5) direct MISSION SUPPORT. The proposal process is being handled by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) at Caltech and all proposals are due on 13 September 2012 at 4 pm PDT. For further information and proposal submission, please see: [7] Page 2 of 7

3 Questions not answered on the web pages can be directed to [8] [Edited for length] MATURATION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION (MATISSE) PROGRAM The MatISSE Program supports the advanced development of spacecraft-based instruments that show promise for use in future planetary missions. The goal of the program is to develop and demonstrate planetary and astrobiology science instruments to the point where they may be proposed in response to future announcements of flight opportunity without additional extensive technology development (approximately TRL 6). The proposed instrument must address specific scientific objectives of likely future planetary science missions. The name of this program was formerly Astrobiology Science and Technology for Instrument Development (ASTID). Notices of intent are requested by August 31, 2012, and proposals are due by October 31, Go to: [4] On a related note, we regret to inform potential proposers that Planetary Instrument Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations (PICASSO) and Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) will not be solicited this year. However, we anticipate that they will be solicited in ROSES 2013 and draft text for PICASSO is presented in ROSES Questions concerning either PICASSO or MatISSE, may be addressed to: Janice L. Buckner janice.l.buckner@nasa.gov [9] [From the PEN] ONLINE RENEWALS BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER You can renew your membership and pay your 2013 DPS dues online beginning the first week of September, Please help the AAS save substantial costs by renewing online at aas.org. Paper renewals will be mailed in late October so please take a moment and log in to your member record and opt out of receiving your renewal notice by US mail. You will need your member login ID and password. If you have not used this before, give the membership department a call and they will provide you with that information or, you can reset your password online. Any address changes can be made directly on that page. If you need assistance, please contact membership at aas.org, or call x101. Page 3 of 7

4 JOB/POSITION OPPORTUNITIES A) PERMANENT FACULTY POSITION IN ASTRONOMY/ASTROPHYSICS The Department of Physics and Space Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology invites applications for a permanent faculty position that will begin in January 2013 (preferred) or August This position may be at any rank, assistant through full professor. Preference will be given to candidates with observational or theoretical expertise in stellar, exoplanet and/or planetary astronomy/astrophysics. The successful candidate will have guaranteed access to the Ortega telescope in Florida and the SARA facilities at Kitt Peak in Arizona and Cerro Tololo in Chile. Candidates with experience in astronomical instrumentation are particularly encouraged. Florida Tech is located on the eastern coast of central Florida, just south of the Kennedy Space Center. Information about the Department and current research activity in astronomy/astrophysics can be found at [10] and [11], respectively. To apply, please send a cover letter, CV, statement of research and teaching experience and interests, and the names of at least three references to searchpss@fit.edu [12] or via regular mail to Faculty Search Committee, Dept. of Physics and Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne FL 32901, USA. The review of applications will begin on August 1st, however applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Florida Tech is an equal opportunity employer B) TWO POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS: The OSSOS Survey. The Outer Solar Systems Origins Survey (OSSOS) is an approved Large Program for four years on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (see [13]), to detect a large sample of outer Solar System moving objects. Two postdoctoral fellows are sought to begin in 2013 to be involved in discovery/tracking observations, detected object exploitation, and scientific analysis/modelling of the survey's results. Previous work in the field of outer Solar System small-body science is needed. Depending on the postdoctoral fellow's interests and the eligibility for various funding sources, the work might be undertaken at either the University of British Columbia (Vancouver), the National Research Council of Canada (Victoria), or the Universite de Franche-Compte (Besancon, France). Enquiries should be made via , with a statement of interests and CV enclosed, to B. Gladman (gladman@astro.ubc.ca [14]) by September 14, C) POST-DOC ON EXOPLANETS IN PALERMO INAF- Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo is offering a post-doc fellowship in "Stellar Activity effects on the study of exoplanetary atmospheres" Application details in [15]. Deadline : 7 September 2012 Any questions can be addressed to giusi@astropa.inaf.it [16] D) VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR POSITION IN PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES A two-year visiting assistant professor position is available in the research group of planetary atmospheres in the department of physics at the University of Houston. It is expected that a successful candidate will join in the laboratory of comparative planetary atmospheres at the University of Houston. The applicant should have a Ph.D degree in planetary sciences, atmospheric sciences, or a related field. The position involves analysis of remote-sensing data sets of planetary objects in our solar system (e.g., Giant planets, Titan, Venus, Mars, and Earth). In addition, research will include the use and development of numerical models to investigate the large-scale atmospheric phenomena on different planetary objects. Applications will be considered starting on September 1, and the search will remain open until filled. Interested applicants should send a statement summarizing their research interests, a curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information of three references to Dr. Liming Li (lli7@mail.uh.edu [17]). The University of Houston is an Equal Opportunity Employer and invites applications from women Page 4 of 7

5 and under-represented minorities. E) NASA CONTRACTOR SEEKS SCIENTIST FOR ROSES PROGRAM MANAGEMENT/TECHNICAL SUPPORT SDSE, the contractor to NASA s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) that supports peer review, is seeking a (preferably PhD) Scientist to conduct the day-to-day management of PSD ROSES programs. Subjects include Planetary Atmospheres, Chemistry, Geology and Spectroscopy, especially but not limited to the Saturnian System, as well as laboratory, observational and theoretical studies of the formation of our Solar System and other planetary systems. For more information see: [18] and [19] F) UWINGU TO LAUNCH NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPACE RESEARCHERS AND EDUCATORS As described recently by the AAAS, Uwingu (which means sky in Swahili) is a small start-up company consisting of astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program executives, and educators. You can learn more about Uwingu on Facebook and can follow on Twitter, or by Googling recent articles and blogs about it. We plan to create new ways for space research and education to be funded in addition to existing sources from NASA and other government agencies is the US and abroad. Our target is to generate millions to tens of millions of dollars per year for this purpose, and to then create grants programs to disburse these funds. We are at present raising funds for our first product rollout. For more information and an opportunity to participate, go to: [20] Alan Stern, Mark Sykes, Henry Throop Founders, Uwingu LLC G) POST-DOCS IN ASTROBIOLOGY There are several astrobiology postdoc funding opportunities now open, with due dates in November. See the Sagan Fellowship announcement [21] and the NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship announcement [22] [Forwarded by Mark Allen] UPCOMING MEETINGS a) 2nd Exobiology Workshop November 11-14, 2013 Frejus, France [23] b) Lessons Learned in Decadal Planning in Space Science: A Workshop November 12-13, 2012 Irvine, CA [24] Page 5 of 7

6 c) 10th Meeting of the Venus Exploration and Analysis Group (VEXAG) November 13-15, 2012 Washington, DC [25] d) NASA Advisory Council Meeting November 28-30, 2012 Huntsville, AL [26] e) Magnetic Fields in the Universe IV: From Laboratory and Stars to the Primordial Structures February 4-8, 2013 Playa del Carmen, Mexico [27] f) Transformational Science with ALMA: From Dust to Rocks to Planets Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems April 8-12, 2013 Waikoloa, HI [28] g) International Young Astronomer School on Exploiting the Herschel and Planck data (2013) April 15-19, 2013 Meudon, France [29] h) UK Astrobiology Conference April 17-19, 2013 Edinburgh, Scotland [30] i) 2nd International Congress of Astrobiology September 24-28, 2013 Medellin, Columbia [31] Footer Reports Photos History Bylaws Source URL: Page 6 of 7

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