Status Report

DPS Mailing #02-21: Press release and more

By SpaceRef Editor
July 19, 2002
Filed under ,

Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 14:57:09 -0400
Subject: DPS Mailing #02-21: Press release and more

Greetings with the latest news from DPS –

+——————CONTENTS:——————————+
|1) DPS PRESS RELEASE |
|2) SPACE SCIENCE SERIES NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT |
|3) SIRTF OBSERVATION PLANNING WORKSHOPS |
|4) LIGHT THE NIGHT WALK IN MEMORY OF RANDY TUFTS |
+———————————————————+

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DPS PRESS RELEASE
DPS SUPPORTS THE PLANETARY DECADAL SURVEY

The DPS fully supports the plan for Solar System exploration just
released by the National Research Council “New Frontiers in the Solar
System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy”. The DPS was actively
involved in the Survey, providing ad-hoc reports written by its members
as input to the NRC Survey Panels. The Survey provides a science
community consensus on priorities for planetary missions and
ground-based research for the next decade.

The key overall recommendations for non-Mars planetary missions are

1) maintenance of the Discovery program of low-cost (total mission
cost less than $325M) missions at a flight rate of one every 18 months,

2) start of a New Frontiers line of medium-cost (less than $650M)
competitively procured missions to be implemented as in the Discovery
program, but selected from a prioritized list provided by the Survey,
with a flight rate of about one every 3 years, and

3) one large-cost mission (greater than $650M) per decade.

The recommended large-cost mission is the Europa Geophysical Explorer,
a version of the JPL Europa Orbiter concept. The recommended
medium-cost New Frontiers missions are in priority order 1) KBO/Pluto
Explorer, 2) Lunar South Polar Aitken Basin Sample Return, 3) Jupiter
Polar Orbiter with Probes, 4) Venus In-Situ Explorer, and 5) Comet
Surface Sample Return. The prioritized list of New Frontiers missions
includes more than three missions to provide flexibility for technology
and budgetary developments over the next ten years. In addition to the
Discovery program of low-cost missions, the Survey recommends extension
of the Cassini mission beyond its prime mission termination in 2007.

The Survey contains a separate set of prioritized recommendations for
the Mars Exploration Program. After the launch of the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2005, there are two recommendations for the
low-cost category of missions 1) a Mars Scout program of competitively
procured missions implemented in the same manner as Discovery, with a
flight rate of one Scout launch at every other Mars opportunity (one
every 52 months) beginning in 2007, and 2) a Mars upper atmosphere
orbiter. In the medium class category, the recommendations are for a
Mars Smart Lander launch in 2009 and a Mars Long-lived Lander Network
that could be implemented by international cooperation. The Survey
recommends that these missions be implemented in a manner to build
towards a Mars Sample Return mission early in the next decade. The
Lunar South Polar Aitken Basin Sample Return mission should also be
implemented in a manner to provide appropriate technological
development for a Mars Sample Return.

There are also recommendations on fundamental research and analysis
including a gradual increase in grant programs, recommendations on
mission data analysis, the Deep Space Network, and technology
development with an endorsement of the nuclear power and propulsion
technologies initiative, and recommendations on ground-based support
programs including a recommendation to share development and operations
of a Large Synoptic Survey Telescope with the NSF. Implementation of
the recommendations in this Survey would provide for a broad,
integrated program of scientific exploration throughout the Solar
System and enable new scientific discoveries addressing some of the
most compelling scientific questions in planetary science.

The Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical
Society endorses this report and looks forward to seeing its
provisions implemented.

The full report is posted at http://www.nap.edu and has been posted at
the community decadal website: http://www.aas.org/dps/decadal/

The DPS is the world’s largest professional organization dedicated to
the exploration of the Solar System.

Contact:

Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr.
DPS Chair
huntress@gl.ciw.edu
202-478-8910

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SPACE SCIENCE SERIES NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

Announcing plans for a new volume in the Space Science Series…

METEORITES AND THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM II

Edited by
Dante Lauretta, Laurie Leshin, Hap McSween
(publication date 2005)

The process of forming the Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC)
for METEORITES AND THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM II is now underway.
Persons interested in devoting substantial effort as a member of
the SOC are invited to contact the lead editor:
lauretta@lpl.arizona.edu

A specific call for chapters will be made at a later date.

Richard P. Binzel, General Editor
Space Science Series

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SIRTF OBSERVATION PLANNING WORKSHOPS

November 22-23 and December 6-7, 2002
SIRTF SCIENCE CENTER
Pasadena, CA

The purpose of these workshops is to provide detailed information on
the SIRTF observatory, the various modes of observation and how to
prepare technically sound proposals that will take advantage of the
extraordinary capabilities of SIRTF instruments. The workshops will be
used to train a cadre of SIRTF GO science liaisons within a range of
astronomical departments. The goal is to reach a broad audience, thus
we expect to have only 1-2 people from a single institution. Graduate
students will be required to have a letter of recommendation to attend
from the head of their department. Registration details can be found on
the workshop webpage.

Deadline for travel assistance requests: 30 August 2002, 5pm PDT

Final deadline for registration: 15 October 2002.

Contact: obsplan@ipac.caltech.edu.

Workshop webpage: http://sirtf.caltech.edu/SSC/ost/WORKSHOP/

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LIGHT THE NIGHT WALK IN MEMORY OF RANDY TUFTS

The Light the Night Walk is The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s annual
nationwide event to celebrate and commemorate lives touched by cancer.
Last year, Randy Tufts served as the Patient Ambassador at the Light
the Night Walk in Tucson. This September, the event will be dedicated
to Randy to honor his life. For information about supporting this
event, please contact either:

Leslie Tamppari
975 N. Chester Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91104
leslietamppari@yahoo.com

OR

Alice Mercer,
Light the Night Walk Committee Member,
5140 N. Apache Hills Trail
Tucson, AZ 85750
amercer7399@comcast.net

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

SpaceRef staff editor.