Planetary Decadal Study News 9 Aug 2001

PLANETARY DECADAL STUDY NEWS – UPDATE

New community decadal panels continue to form. You are invited
to participate!

The Kuiper Belt

Planetary Formation

Technology Development

Neptune System Exploration

Planetary Rings (Organizer: Mitch Gordon)

Near-Earth Objects: Discovery, Tracking, and Characterization

(Organizer: Don Yeomans)

Comets (Organizer: Mike Combi)

Education and Public Outreach (Organizer: Jennifer Grier)

Titan (Orgnanizer: Ralph Lorenz)

Go to http://www.aas.org/~dps/decadal
Click on Community Panels. Join!

Recent discussions are have been posted in

Education and Public Outreach

NEOs – Science

Main Belt Asteroids

Kuiper Belt Objects

Go to http://www.aas.org/~dps/decadal
Click on Real-Time Forums

Upcoming NRC panel meetings:

Giant Planets Panel, AUG 15-17, Caltech
(see following message for details)

The notice for these meetings at the above URL is hyperlinked to
their agendas.

PUBLIC FORUM FOR THE GIANT PLANETS PANEL OF THE NRC DECADAL SURVEY

The Giant Planets Panel of the National Research Council Solar System
Exploration Survey (a.k.a. Planetary Decadal Survey) is meeting at
Caltech August 15-17, 2001. This NRC study and the report to follow
were requested by Ed Weiler, who expects to use it to sell the
planetary component of the OSS program to OMB and Congress. Weiler
requested that the report contain the following components:

– A “big picture” of solar system exploration – what it is, how
it fits into other scientific endeavors, and why it is a compelling
goal today;

– A broad survey of the current state of knowledge about our solar
system today;

– An inventory of the top-level scientific questions that should
provide the focus for solar system exploration today; these will
be the key scientific inputs to the roadmapping activity to follow;

– A prioritized list of the most promising avenues for flight
investigations and supporting ground-based activities.

The formal panel sessions from 9:30 Wednesday, August 15, to 2:30
Thursday August 16, are open and will be held in the Buwalda
Room, 151 Arms Laboratory, Caltech Bldg. 25.

From 2:30 to 5:00 Thursday August 16 an open public session will be
held to obtain direct input from regional scientists. This meeting is
scheduled in 155 Arms Laboratory, Caltech Bldg. 25.

It is important to make this report contain the integrated opinion of
the planetary community. We seek your input.

– Reta Beebe, Panel Chair

Further information is available at the web links contained in
message #6 above.