DPS Mailing #01-48: Latest news

SAD NEWS – MAYO GREENBERG

Mayo Greenberg passed away peacefully on 29th November. He had been
suffereing from pancreatic cancer for several months.

COMPLEX MARS REPORT AVAILABLE

A prepublication version (i.e., NRC approved but not yet copy edited)
of the new COMPLEX report, Assessment of Mars Science and Mission
Priorities,has been posted on the web at
http://www.nationalacademies.org/ssb/bib1.html#2001

This report, commissioned by NASA’s Office of Space Science late last
year, will form a basis of the Mars-related material to appear in the
report of the ongoing Solar System Exploration (Decadal) Survey.
Copies of the final, edited text of the COMPLEX report will be
available in the first quarter of 2002. The report of the SSE Survey
will be available next Summer.

David H. Smith, Study Director COMPLEX/SSE Survey
dhsmith@nas.edu

PLANETARY DECADAL STUDY NEWS – FINAL PRIORITIES

The final phase of the decadal study is upon us. More than 350
planetary scientists have submitted more than 20 white papers
detailing issues and priorities within the various subdisciplines
comprising solar system exploration. The NRC Steering Group must
ultimately provide an overarching list of prioritized issues and
recommendations for the next decade.

Your input on this final prioritization is needed.

At the recent DPS conference, an open forum was held during NASA Night
to begin receiving your input. On the panel was Mike Belton (Chair of
the NRC Steering Committee), Carle’ Pieters (Chair, NRC Inner Planets
DP), Reta Beebe (Chair, NRC Giant Planets DP), Robert Pappalardo
(COMPLEX, and Vice-Chair NRC Large Satellites DP), and Michael A’Hearn
(Vice-Chair, NRC Primitive Bodies DP). Joining them was Colleen Hartman
(Director of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Division), and Wes
Huntress (DPS Chair, who also sits on the NRC Steering Group). Over the
course of the forum, 22 DPS members (of about 200 present) volunteered
their opinions, addressing two questions:

(1) What are the three most significant discoveries of the past
decade?

(2) What are the three most important investigations for the coming
decade?

The Planetary Community Decadal Website has now been modified to accept
your input on these issues. Go to

http://www.aas.org/~dps/decadal/

The planetary community has been recently criticized for being
fractious by the White House Office of Management and Budget. Whether
this telegraphs an intention by OMB to go after portions of the NASA
planetary exploration budget in FY2003 is a matter for some concern.
Our decadal activity is a direct challenge to such criticism. It is
important that as many of you as possible continue to participate in
this process. By doing so, you are shaping the consensus that will
define and help protect solar system exploration for the next decade.

Mark V. Sykes,

DPS Past Chair
sykes@as.arizona.edu

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT – CALL FOR PAPERS

Jupiter after Galileo and Cassini

17 – 21 June, 2002

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract Deadline March 1, 2002

Early Registration Deadline April 17, 2002

Please find all details on http://www.oal.ul.pt/~eurojove

Melissa McGrath, DPS Secretary-Treasurer submissions to: mcgrath@stsci.edu