DPS Mailing #01-23: Decadal Study Announcements

PLANETARY DECADAL STUDY NEWS – NEW COMMUNITY FORUMS AND AD HOC PANELS

Two new forums have been added to the Online Discussions on the
planetary community decadal study website
(http://www.aas.org/~dps/decadal):

Planetary Atmospheres

Education and Public Outreach

In addition there are now two ad hoc community panels being organized:

Mars (organizer: Jeff Moore, NASA Ames)
The Future of Io Exploration (organizer: John Spencer, Lowell Obs.)

These panels are still open to interested members of the community.
New community panels and discussion forums will be announced on a
regular basis.

The meeting schedule for the NRC decadal panels (see below) has also
been posted.

Mark V. Sykes,
DPS Chair, dpschair@aas.org

NRC ANNOUNCEMENT – SSE SURVEY VICE-CHAIR APPOINTED

On 6 June, the NRC’s Executive Office approved the appointment of
Carolyn Porco (Southwest Research Institute) as vice-chair of the
Steering Group for the SSE Survey.

The vice-chair will closely with the chair, Michael Belton, on all
aspects of the Survey and will undertake special tasks at the request
of the chair as they occur. This is an essential element given the
rapidity with which the Survey must be completed and the prior
commitments that essentially all members of the Survey, including
the chair, must balance with Survey business.

In addition, the vice-chair will:

1. Assist the chair in monitoring and consolidating the activities
of the Survey’s panels;

2. Leading the cross-panel groups within the Survey to ensure
adequate input on issues not directly handled by any one panel;

3. Assist the chair in managing and leading the priority-setting
phase of the Steering Group’s deliberations; and

4. Ensure that adequate background information and community input
exists for any viable initiatives that are considered.

More details about the SSE Survey, its membership, and activities
can be found on the Survey’s public-access homepage–
www4.nationalacademies.org/deps/sse.nsf. This web site is set up to accept
community input.

David H. Smith, Study Director, SSe Survey, 7 June, 2001

(Received 20 June, 2001)

NRC ANNOUNCEMENT – SSE SURVEY PRELIMINARY MEETING SCHEDULE

The Steering Group and Panels comprising the SSE Survey have made
considerable progress in scheduling their meetings. To date, the
following meetings have been tentatively arranged:

Steering Group

1. 18-20 July, NRC, Washington, D.C.

2. 19-21 September, location TBD

3. 14-16 November, location TBD

4. 27 February-1 March, location TBD

Inner Planets Panel

1. 12-14 July, NRC, Washington, D.C.

2. 1-3 October, Chicago, Illinois.

3. 17-19 December, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

Giant Planets Panel

1. 15-17 August, Caltech, Pasadena, California

2. 15-17 October, Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona

3. 17-19 December, Beckman Center, Irvine, California

Large Satellites Panel

1. 17-19 September, location TBD

2. 5-7 November, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

3. 17-19 December, Beckman Center, Irvine, California

Primitive Bodies Panel

1. 8-10 August, Jonsson Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

2. 24-26 October, location TBD

3. 12-14 December, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California

Please note that this is a preliminary schedule and, though every
effort will be taken to avoid changes, some may be unavoidable. The
latest news about meeting dates and locations, together with other
information such as agendas, will be posted on the SSE Survey’s web
site www4.nationalacademies.org/deps/sse.nsf.

Details about community outreach events at major conferences and
symposia will be announced in a subsequent message.

David H. Smith, Study Director, SSe Survey, 9 June, 2001

(Received 20 June, 2001)

NRC ANNOUNCEMENT – SSE SURVEY OUTREACH AT JUPITER CONFERENCE

The Solar System Exploration Survey, the NRC study to devise a decadal
strategy for the planetary sciences, will hold a variety of
community-outreach activities at the Jupiter Conference to be held in
Boulder, Colorado, on 25-30 June, 2001.

In cooperation with the conference organizers, the SSE Survey will
hold a Town Meeting in the Grand Ballroom of the Millennium Hotel from
6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 26 June. Michael Belton, chair of the
SSE Survey, together with members of the Steering Group and a NASA
representative, will be on hand to describe the project and answer
questions.

On Wednesday 27 June, the SSE Survey’s Giant Planets and Large
Satellites panels will hold informal “drop-in” sessions during which
conference participants can discuss specific science and mission
priorities relating to the jovian planets and their major satellites,
respectively. Reta Beebe, chair of the Giant Planets panel, and
colleagues will be available in the Millennium’s Flatiron conference
room from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. Whereas, Alfred McEwen, chair of the Large
Satellites panel, and colleagues will be available in the same room
from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. All members of the community are invited to
participate.

More details about the Jupiter conference may be found at
http://lasp.colorado.edu/jupiter/.

Details of the SSE Survey, its membership, and meeting schedule are
available at http://www.nationalacademies.org/ssb/ssefrontpage.html.

David H. Smith, Study Director, SSE Survey

Nick Schneider, on behalf of the DPS Committee
(submissions to Al Harris: awharris@lithos.jpl.nasa.gov)