Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin No. 161 (July 2020)

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THE DEEP SPACE NETWORK: NASA’s Link to the Solar System

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LUNAR AND PLANETARY INFORMATION BULLETIN July 2020 Issue 161 FEATURED STORY

THE DEEP SPACE NETWORK: NASA’s Link to the Solar System

Note from the Editors: This issue’s lead article is the tenth in a series of reports describing the history and current activities of the planetary research facilities funded by NASA and located nationwide. This issue features the Deep Space Network, a worldwide network of spacecraft communication facilities that supports NASA’s interplanetary spacecraft missions. — Paul Schenk and Renée Dotson

From Mercury to Pluto (and beyond) we tary robotic space missions. Other space system and ultimately, our place within it. have marveled at the stunning vistas agencies, such as Europe’s ESA and found throughout our solar system. Japan’s JAXA also use the DSN by coop- The forerunner of the DSN was estab- From the erupting volcanos on Io to the erative agreements. The DSN consists of lished in January, 1958, when the Jet glorious rings of Saturn, it is easy to three major facilities spaced equidistant Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL‚ then forget that we would never have an about from each other‚ approximately 120 under contract to the U.S. Army‚ degrees apart in longitude‚ around the deployed portable radio tracking stations but for one key global NASA facility, none world. These sites are at Goldstone, near in Nigeria, Singapore, and California. of this would be possible. The Deep Space Barstow, California; near Madrid, Spain; That month, when the Army success- Network - or DSN - is NASA’s interna- and near Canberra, Australia. The fully launched Explorer 1, the first tional array of giant radio antennas that strategic placement of these sites permits successful U.S. satellite, these stations supports interplanetary spacecraft mis- constant communication with spacecraft received telemetry and helped mission sions. It’s the largest and most sensitive as our planet rotates‚ before a distant controllers plot the spacecraft’s orbit. scientific telecommunications system in spacecraft sinks below the horizon at NASA was officially established in the world and is responsible for communi- one DSN site, another site can pick up October of that year to consolidate the cating with and receiving terrabits of data the signal and carry on communicating. separately developing space-exploration from the armada of spacecraft touring programs of the Army, Navy and Air the Solar System. The DSN also provides The antennas of the Deep Space Network Force into one civilian organization. radar and radio astronomy observations are the indispensable link to explorers that improve our understanding of the venturing beyond Earth. They provide On December 3, 1958, JPL was trans- solar system and the larger universe. the crucial connection for command- ferred from the Army to NASA and ing our spacecraft and receiving their given responsibility for the design and The DSN is operated by NASA’s Jet never before seen images and scientific execution of lunar and planetary explo- Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which also information on Earth, propelling our ration programs using robotic spacecraft. operates many of the agency’s interplane- understanding of the universe, our solar Shortly afterward, NASA established the concept of the Deep Space Network as a separately managed and operated communications facility that would accommodate all deep space missions. This model would remove the need for each flight project to acquire and operate its own specialized space communications network. The Deep Space Network was given responsibility for its own research, development and operations in support of its users. Under this model, it has become a world leader in the development of deep Panoramic view of the 34-meter (111-foot) antenna complex at Goldstone Station. The dish is in a vertical stowed position. Note people for scale. Credit: P. Schenk. space communications and navigation.

space agencies. Managed consist of at least four antenna stations, by JPL, the DSN will play each equipped with large, parabolic dish a central role in NASA’s antennas and ultra-sensitive receiving Artemis lunar explorations systems capable of detecting incredibly and the agency’s plans for faint radio signals from distant space- astronauts to one day go craft. The DSN’s large antennas are beyond the Moon to Mars. focusing mechanisms that concentrate power when receiving data and when The DSN has three main transmitting commands. The antennas sites. The Australian must point very accurately towards the complex is located 40 spacecraft, because an antenna can “see” kilometers (25 miles) south- only a tiny portion of the sky‚ not unlike west of Canberra near the looking at the sky through a soda straw. Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. The Spanish complex is To detect the spacecraft’s faint signal, the located 60 kilometers antennas are equipped with amplifiers, This April 1962 photo of Deep Space Station 12 (DSS-12) (37 miles) west of Madrid but there are two problems. First, the in Goldstone, California, was featured in Space Programs Summary 37-15, Volume 3: The Deep Space Instrumentation at Robledo de Chavela. signal becomes degraded by background Facility. The 26-meter (85-foot) Echo antenna can be seen The Goldstone complex radio noise, or static, emitted naturally by through the window of the control room, and three unidenti- is located on the U.S. nearly all objects in the universe, includ- fied men are at the controls. The Echo site was named for its Army’s Fort Irwin Military ing the sun and earth. The background support of Project Echo, an experiment that transmitted voice communications coast to coast by bouncing signals off the Reservation, approximately noise gets amplified along with the signal. surface of a passive balloon-type satellite. The antenna was 72 kilometers (45 miles) Second, the powerful electronic equip- moved six miles in June 1962 to the Venus site (DSS-13) and northeast of the desert ment amplifying the signal adds noise of in 1979 it was extended to 34 meters (111 feet) in diameter. city of Barstow, California. its own. The DSN uses highly sophisti- Credit: NASA. Each complex is situated cated technology, including cooling the NASA’S human spaceflight program, in semi-mountainous, amplifiers to a few degrees above absolute based at what is now Johnson Space bowl-shaped terrains to shield against zero, and special techniques to encode Center in Houston, originated at Langley external radio frequency interference. signals so the receiving system can distin- Research Center in Virginia via an orga- guish the signal from the unwanted noise. nization called the Space Task Group. It Each of the three Deep Space Network, was set up before Apollo for the Mercury or DSN, sites has multiple large antennas Antenna stations are remotely operated program in the early 1960’s. The Mercury and is designed to enable continuous from a signal processing center at each and Gemini programs used a ground- radio communication between several complex. The centers house electronic based tracking and communication spacecraft and Earth. All three complexes systems that point and control the anten- system called the Manned Space Flight Network and run by Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. “The Dish” starring Sam Neill tells the story (embel- lished a bit) of the use of the Parkes Observatory radio telescope in Australian near the present Canberra station as part of this network for tracking Apollo 11.

The Apollo program needed full-time communications support, and JPL had its own missions, so DSN engineers helped design and operate a “parallel network.” After the Apollo program ended, the DSN inherited the equipment. The Gemini- era network could not be adapted for spacecraft outside Earth orbit, so, Conway said, “They decided to make a clone of [JPL’s] Deep Space Network,” an array of giant radio antennas. Since then, the DSN has kept the legacy alive by provid- The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex is a satellite ground station located in Robledo de ing communications for a very long roll Chavela, Spain, and operated by the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial. Credit: Velomartinez. call of missions - for NASA and other

the interior of Jupiter. Examples include learned there to send astronauts to Mars. probing the rings of Saturn, revealing the interior structure of planets and moons, Using massive antenna dishes, the agency and testing the theory of relativity. talks to more than 30 deep space missions on any given day, including many inter- In addition its vital role as the commu- national missions. As more missions have nications hub for deep space exploration, launched and with more in the works, the DSN is also used as an advanced NASA is looking to strengthen the net- instrument for scientific research, work. When completed in 2¬Ω years, the including radio astronomy and radar new dish will be christened Deep Space The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex is a satellite ground station located in Robledo de mapping of passing asteroids. A similar Station-23 (DSS-23), bringing the DSN’s Chavela, Spain, and operated by the Instituto Nacio- role is played by the Arecibo Observatory number of operational antennas to 13. nal de Técnica Aeroespacial. Credit: Velomartinez. radio telescope in Puerto Rico, and other radio antennae across the globe. “Since the 1960s, when the world first nas, receive and process data, transmit watched live pictures of humans in space commands and generate spacecraft navi- The DSN must continually adapt to the and on the Moon, to revealing imagery gation data. Once the data is processed at expanding needs of NASA’s exploration and scientific data from the surface of the complexes, it is transmitted to NASA’s community and upgrade its equipment Mars and vast, distant galaxies, the Deep Jet Propulsion Laboratory for further pro- to keep pace with engineering improve- Space Network has connected humankind cessing and distribution to science teams ments. Surrounded by California desert, with our solar system and beyond,” said over a ground communications network. NASA officials broke ground this past Badri Younes, NASA’s deputy associate winter on a new antenna for communi- administrator for Space Communications The DSN is much more than a collection cating with the agency’s farthest-flung and Navigation, or SCaN, which oversees of big antennas. It is a powerful system robotic spacecraft. Part of the Deep NASA’s networks. “This new antenna, the for commanding, tracking and monitor- Space Network (DSN), the 112-foot-wide fifth of six currently planned, is another ing the health and safety of spacecraft at (34-meter-wide) antenna dish being example of NASA’s determination to many distant planetary locales. The DSN built represents a future in which more enable science and space exploration also enables powerful science investiga- missions will require advanced technol- through the use of the latest technology.” tions that probe the nature of asteroids ogy, such as lasers capable of transmitting and the interiors of planets and moons. vast amounts of data from astronauts Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion on the lunar or Martian surface. As Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the Telemetry data is made up of crucial part of its Artemis program NASA may world’s largest and busiest deep space science and engineering information send the first woman and next man to network is clustered in three locations - transmitted to Earth via radio signals the Moon by 2024, applying lessons Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and from spacecraft as they explore the far reaches of our solar system. The Deep Space Network, or DSN acquires, processes, decodes and distributes this data. Space mission operations teams use the DSN Command System to control the activities of their spacecraft. Commands are sent to robotic probes as coded computer files that the craft execute as a series of actions. The DSN Tracking System provides two-way communication between Earth-based equipment and a spacecraft, making measurements that allow flight controllers to determine the position and velocity of spacecraft with great precision. DSN antennas are used by some space missions to perform science experiments using the radio signals sent between a spacecraft and Earth. Changes in radio signals between their transmission and receipt can provide lots of useful information about far off places in the solar system, a Underground cables connect the Goldstone antenna with their control center and with the Jet Pro- technique being used by Juno to probe pulsion Laboratory. Credit: P. Schenk.

of this year, NASA’s Voyager 2 (which requires ~16 hours for its radio signal to reach Earth) will quietly coast through interstellar space without receiving commands from Earth. That’s because the Voyager’s primary means of communication, the Deep Space Network’s 70-meter-wide (230-feet-wide) radio antenna in Canberra, Australia, will be undergoing critical upgrades for about 11 months. During this time, the Voyager team will still be able to receive science data from Voyager 2 on its mission to explore the outermost edge of the Sun’s domain and beyond. In fact, Voyager 2 proved to be among the DSN’s bigger challenges, when the communications teams had to predict exactly which frequencies the spacecraft’s antenna was receiving on after its capacitors failed mid-way to Jupiter.

Underground cables connect the Goldstone antenna with their control center and with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Credit: P. Schenk. About the size of a 20-story office building, the dish has been in service Canberra, Australia - that are positioned and a Mars base, with its life support for 48 years. Some parts of the 70-meter approximately 120 degrees apart around systems and equipment, would buzz antenna, including the transmitters that the globe to enable continual contact with data that needs to be monitored. send commands to various spacecraft, with spacecraft as the Earth rotates. are 40 years old and increasingly unre- (This live tool lets viewers see which “Lasers can increase your data rate from liable. The Deep Space Network (DSN) DSN dishes are sending up commands Mars by about 10 times what you get from upgrades are planned to start now that or receiving data at any given time.) radio,” said Suzanne Dodd, director of Voyager 2 has returned to normal opera- the Interplanetary Network, the orga- tions, after accidentally overdrawing its The first addition to Goldstone since nization that manages the DSN. “Our power supply and automatically turning 2003, the new dish is being built at hope is that providing a platform for off its science instruments in January. the complex’s Apollo site, so named optical communications will encourage because its DSS-16 antenna supported other space explorers to experiment The network operates 24 hours a day, NASA’s human missions to the Moon. with lasers on future missions.” 365 days a year. Its’ three sites around Similar antennas have been built in the world, in California, Spain and recent years in Canberra, while two While clouds can disrupt lasers, Australia, allows navigators to com- are under construction in Madrid. Goldstone’s clear desert skies make it an municate with spacecraft at the Moon ideal location to serve as a laser receiver and beyond at all times during Earth’s “The DSN is Earth’s one phone line to about 60% of the time. A demonstration rotation. Voyager 2, which launched in our two Voyager spacecraft - both in of DSS-23’s capabilities is around the 1977, is currently more than 11 billion interstellar space - all our Mars mis- corner: When NASA launches an orbiter miles (17 billion kilometers) from Earth. sions and the New Horizons spacecraft called Psyche to a metallic asteroid in a It is flying in a downward direction that is now far past Pluto,” said JPL few years, it will carry an experimental relative to Earth’s orbital plane, where Deputy Director Larry James. “The laser communications terminal devel- it can be seen only from the southern more we explore, the more antennas oped by JPL. Called the Deep Space hemisphere and thus can communi- we need to talk to all our missions.” Optical Communications project, this cate only with the Australian site. equipment will send data and images to While DSS-23 will function as a radio an observatory at Southern California’s Moreover, a special S-band transmitter is antenna, it will also be equipped with Palomar Mountain. But Psyche will required to send commands to Voyager mirrors and a special receiver for lasers also be able to communicate with the 2 - one both powerful enough to reach beamed from distant spacecraft. This new Goldstone antenna, paving the way interstellar space and on a frequency that technology is critical for sending astro- for higher data rates in deep space. can communicate with Voyager’s 1970’s nauts to places like Mars. Humans there technology. The Canberra 70-meter will need to communicate with Earth The DSN is working at the edge of our antenna (called “DSS43”) is the only such more than NASA’s robotic explorers do, Solar System. Starting in the spring antenna in the southern hemisphere. As

chief engineer. “But the advantage is that when we come back, the Canberra antenna will be much more reliable.”

The repairs will benefit far more than Voyager 2, including future missions like the Mars 2020 rover and Moon to Mars exploration efforts. The network A view of the Canberra Deep Space Communication will play a critical role in ensuring Center from the hill to the west. Credit: Ryan Parkes, communication and navigation sup- Canberra. port for both the precursor Moon and In the meantime, anyone can monitor Mars missions and the crewed Artemis what is happening at the three main missions. “The maintenance is needed DSN sites via the “DSN Now” website. to support the missions that NASA is This site lists in graphical mode which developing and launching in the future, antenna are listing or transmitting to as well as supporting the missions that which spacecraft. So if you are waiting are operating right now,” said Suzanne to find out when the next packet of Dodd, Voyager project manager and JPL images from Mars or the Kuiper Belt are Director for the Interplanetary Network. being sent back you can watch it all live: https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html The three Canberra 34-meter (111-foot) antennas can be configured to listen to For more information on the first 40 years Voyager 2’s signal; they just won’t be able of the DSN please go to history.nasa.gov/ to transmit commands. In the meantime, SP-4227/Uplink-Downlink.pdf. said Dodd, the Voyager team will put the spacecraft into a quiescent state, which will still allow it to send back science data during the 11-month downtime.

“We put the spacecraft back into a state where it will be just fine, assuming that everything goes normally with it during the time that the antenna is Image of the primary space flight operations down,” said Dodd. “If things don’t go room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in normally - which is always a possibility, Pasadena, California. The Deep Space Network is especially with an aging spacecraft - then maintained and operated by JPL. Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech. the onboard fault protection that’s there can handle the situation.” Berner the equipment in the antenna ages, the says the work on the 70-meter antenna risk of unplanned outages will increase, is like bringing an old car into the which adds more risk to the Voyager shop: There’s never a good time to do mission. The planned upgrades will not it, but it will make the car much more only reduce that risk, but will also add dependable if you do. The work on the state-of-the art technology upgrades Canberra DSN station is expected to be that will benefit future missions. completed by January 2021. The DSN is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion “Obviously, the 11 months of repairs puts Laboratory for the agency’s Human more constraints on the other DSN sites,” Exploration and Operations’ Space said Jeff Berner, Deep Space Network’s Communication and Navigation program. THE DEEP SPACE NETWORK

COMMUNITY CARES Lori S. Glaze Director, NASA’s Planetary Science Division, July 2020

When I provided an article for the the Decadal Survey Chairs, with deadlines April issue of the Lunar and Planetary now being staggered across the summer. Information Bulletin (see https://www.lpi. In addition, although the White Papers usra.edu/publications/newsletters/lpib/ will be crucially important to the success new/we-can-persevere/), the conversation of the Decadal Survey, I want to remind around COVID-19 was still relatively fresh you that their primary purpose is to pres- and raw. Four months later, it is obvious ent specific ideas, in a clear manner, to that the detriments of the virus have the the Decadal Survey panel(s). All the White (SMD), including the Planetary Science potential to be severe, wide reaching, and Papers will be read by the panel members Division (PSD), are working on several long lasting. Although COVID-19 contin- and all will be considered — no matter the initiatives to help the members of the ues to dominate much of our attention, number of signatories. The papers should planetary science community who may work at NASA and in planetary science not be viewed in a competitive framework, be at highest risk during these uncer- is continuing. And despite the tumult of nor do they need to be “polished” docu- tain times, including graduate students, this generation-defining global pandemic, ments. The important thing is to submit postdocs, and early-career, soft-money sci- we are continuing with preparations for your ideas so they can be part of the entists. I outline a few of those plans here. the 2023–2032 Planetary Science and discussion! First, you will hopefully have seen the Astrobiology Decadal Survey, which will recently announced SMD-wide “COVID- help to shape the future of our commu- The short-term concerns over ensuring 19-relief” initiative for early-career nity and the activities of current and next diverse and representative input to the researchers. This will be a three-pronged generations of scientists. Decadal Survey process are also mirrored approach to try and mitigate some of in the worries I have over how the COVID- the worst effects of COVID-19 and any Given the challenges being faced during 19 fallout will affect the longer-term state associated economic downturn. It will be these times, it is understandable that of our community. Like so many of you, possible to submit requests for augmen- many of our colleagues are struggling to I fear that we will lose a large fraction of tations and funded extension requests find the time and resources to contrib- new planetary scientists because of the to existing SMD-funded grants. Such ute to the Decadal Survey White Paper economic impacts of the pandemic. This requests will be prioritized to first help process, or are only able to participate at fear is particularly pointed as it is set in graduate students and postdocs, and a diminished level. With these valid con- the context of the recently renewed inspec- then soft-money, early-career research- cerns voiced in the community, I was glad tion of our commitments to diversity and ers, before any other requests. Please to see some additional slack in the White inclusion. For that reason, I’m pleased refer to the new NASA Science Mission Paper submission schedule provided by that NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Directorate Policy Document (SPD-36)

Augmentations and Funded Extension goal of this activity will be a set of recom- Telescope Science Institute for the Requests in Response to the COVID-19 mended — practical and effective — actions review of Hubble proposals, the rollout Pandemic for full details of this scheme. that can help SMD increase diversity, of DAPR is being carefully planned with We are also currently investigating the inclusion, equity, and accessibility in the overall goal of reducing implicit bias expansion of the NASA Postdoctoral the leadership of proposals submitted to in the evaluation of science proposals. By Program (NPP), to provide both some our competed mission programs, and to making structural changes in the way we new positions as well as extensions likewise help proposers overcome barriers review proposals, we want to help “level of existing appointments. There may to diversity and inclusion. It is imperative the playing field” for everyone and ensure also be the potential to fund additional that we do better in ensuring that our the focus of review discussions is always short-term (two- to six-year) positions at mission leadership teams more suitably on the proposed science rather than the NASA Centers. I note, however, that the reflect the diversity of the community, and proposers. funding source for any of these mitigation the population, we serve. The continued strategies will be the same as for new SMD success of our mission programs depends We are poised at a moment of many (including PSD) awards. As a result, we on the participation of the most innova- great changes, but I’m hopeful that the are working hard to balance the resources tive and capable members of our science initiatives I’ve outlined — and many others we devote to these COVID-19-relief community, thus guaranteeing that the — will help us to continually improve our activities while ensuring we still offer new proposal teams themselves capture a wide planetary science community, as well as research opportunities. diversity of people to foster varied and planetary science itself. I’m grateful for novel ideas. the committed community I serve and to Second, SMD has recently submitted a which I belong. I look forward to the day Statement of Task to the Space Studies Last, we will soon be implementing the when I can get back to working in person Board of the National Academies of first trials of dual-anonymous peer review at the newly named Mary W. Jackson Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (DAPR) of proposals within SMD. Within NASA Headquarters, promoting a safe and Division on Engineering and Physical PSD, the pilot will be conducted initially welcoming environment for everyone. Sciences to address the topic of increasing within our Habitable Worlds program. diversity and inclusion in the leadership With the help of external consultants, of competed space missions. The ultimate especially the experiences of the Space

MARS EXTANT LIFE: WHAT’S NEXT?

The conference “Mars Extant Life: the Mars Program Office JPL/Caltech, the The conference group did not attempt to What’s Next” was convened November NASA Astrobiology Institute, the National reach a consensus prioritization of these 5–8, 2019, in Carlsbad, New Mexico. This Cave and Karst Research Institute, the candidate environments, and instead felt three-and-a-half-day conference focused Lunar and Planetary Institute, and the that a defensible prioritization would on understanding and discussing strat- Universities Space Research Association. require a future competitive process. egies for seeking possible extant life on Within the context of these candidate Mars. Inspired by the prior conference, The purpose of the conference was to environments, we identified a variety of “Biosignature Preservation and Detection review and discuss constraints on the geological search strategies that could in Mars Analog Environments” (May possibility of extant life on Mars as well as narrow the search space. Additionally, we 16–18, 2016, in Lake Tahoe, California), possibilities for advancing this sector of summarized a number of measurement which addressed the search for ancient life, science. A specific goal was to answer two techniques that could be used to detect this conference promoted broad commu- questions of practical relevance to NASA’s evidence of extant life (if present). We nity discussion of numerous extant life Mars Exploration Program: (1) Where, specifically note that the number and hypotheses that have evolved in response on Mars, should we advocate looking for sensitivity of detection methods that to discoveries by ongoing Mars orbiter and evidence of extant life (and how strong could be implemented if samples were surface missions. are the relevant technical arguments)? (2) returned to Earth greatly exceeds the What detection methodologies would be methodologies that could be used at Mars. The venue of Carlsbad was chosen most effective? Finally, important lessons to guide extant because it offers the opportunity for field life search processes can be derived both observations at two important terrestrial A significant subset of conference attend- from experiments carried out in terrestrial analog environments (caves and salt depos- ees concluded that there is a realistic laboratories, in analog field sites, and from its), and in Mars planning it is imperative possibility that Mars hosts indigenous theoretical modeling. to remember that first and foremost, microbial life. A powerful theme that Mars is a field location. The conference permeated the conference is that the key A full report of the conference findings will be had 82 abstract contributions and 71 to the search for martian extant life lies in published in an upcoming issue of Astrobiology. For participants in attendance (from the U.S., identifying and exploring refugia (“oases”), more information about the conference, including Mexico, Germany, and France), including where conditions are either permanently links to the program and abstracts, visit many graduate students and early career or episodically significantly more hospi- www.hou.usra.edu/meetings.lifeonmars2019. scientists. Student travel grants were table than average. Based on our existing provided by the Mars Program Office knowledge of Mars, conference partici- — Text provided by Brandi Carrier and Dave Beatty at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory pants highlighted four potential martian (JPL). Institutional support was provided refugium (not listed in priority order): by the NASA Mars Exploration Program, caves, deep subsurface, ices, and salts.

EXOPLANETS IN OUR BACKYARD: SOLAR SYSTEM AND EXOPLANET SYNERGIES ON PLANETARY FORMATION, EVOLUTION, AND HABITABILITY

the standard meeting structure. The evening of the meeting’s first day featured a lively public talk by Emily Lakdawalla, given in front of a massive IMAX screen at Space Center Houston to an audience of scientists, community members, and teachers from a concurrent co-located conference. The afternoon of the second day of the meeting featured a participant-led Exoplanets in Our Backyard: Solar System programmatic discussion, partnerships, “Unconference” session. Unconference and Exoplanet Synergies on Planetary and research going forward. discussion topics were suggested and voted Formation, Evolution, and Habitability on by meeting attendees, and the selected was born out of a recognition of the The meeting opened with three overview topics were exomoons, the importance value and potential of interdisciplinary, talks on inner solar system planets, outer of exoplanet ages, ethics/policy/diversity, cross-divisional exoplanet and solar system solar system planets, and exoplanets. The and the question of how exoplanets can research, and to encourage and grow the first morning of the meeting also featured help us better understand solar system community of researchers working at this a NASA Town Hall with representative planets (and vice versa). The second day intersection. This first-ever inter-Anal- NASA leadership (Drs. Lori Glaze and concluded with a fruitful poster session ysis-Group (AG) meeting — organized Douglas Hudgins) discussing future preceded by minute-long flash talks. The by members of the Venus Exploration NASA directions and fielding questions. last day of the meeting wrapped up with a Analysis Group (VEXAG), Outer Planets To promote discourse on the interplay of final discussion/findings working lunch. Analysis Group (OPAG), and Exoplanet planetary processes and phenomena rather Exploration Program Analysis Group than on singular planetary bodies, the Findings from the meeting have been (ExoPAG) — successfully brought together bulk of the meeting was structured into submitted to NASA, and a white paper solar system and exoplanetary scientists six major scientific sessions on selected discussing the meeting will be submitted from different backgrounds and NASA processes and themes rather than individ- to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology divisions, fostered communication ual targets: Formation and Evolution of Decadal Survey. In summary, the findings between scientists whose paths had Planets, Interior and Surface Processes, included: never crossed at a conference before, and Planetary Atmospheres Thick and Thin, spurred new collaborations. The meet- Star-Planet Interactions, Habitability and Cross-divisional and cross-AG cooperation ing was held at the Lunar and Planetary Astrobiology Near and Far, and Missions. was vital to the meeting’s success and will Institute in Houston, Texas, on February Each session featured four talks, and be for future interdisciplinary meetings. 5–7, 2020, immediately following the at the end of the series of talks, all four Enhanced communication between the OPAG meeting hosted at the same location. speakers came to the stage for a mini- planetary and exoplanetary communities Including online participants, the meeting panel during which questions were taken is essential to continued scientific prog- was attended by approximately 120 scien- and discussion was had. This novel format, ress in both disciplines. tists. A post-meeting survey indicated that compared to the traditional session format, The community supports the develop- 100% of respondents were interested in had the advantage of promoting extended ment of opportunities for participation of attending a follow-on conference. We hope dialog between panelists and the audi- exoplanet scientists in heliophysics, Earth, the success of this meeting will be capi- ence and was reviewed favorably in the and solar system exploration missions, and talized upon and its momentum carried post-meeting survey, with approximately the corresponding participation of solar forward to promote fruitful scientific and 70% of respondents rating it better than system, Earth, and heliophysics scientists

in exoplanet-relevant missions. fied related to laboratory work, modeling success, particularly the generous funding Students and early-career researchers were efforts, and better understanding plane- from both NASA’s Planetary Science essential to the success of the meeting, tary host stars. Division and the Astrophysics Division’s representing 40% of submitted abstracts, In conclusion, Exoplanets in our Backyard Exoplanets Exploration Office, which and the development of the interdisci- was a successful meeting of scientists allowed us to fund travel grants for 26 plinary student/early career community from across NASA divisions. The orga- students and early career scientists. should continue to be fostered. nizing committee thanks all attendees Specific avenues for research were identi- and organizations that contributed to its — Text provided by Giada Arney and Noam Izenberg

THIRD INTERNATIONAL PLANETARY CAVES CONFERENCE Caves on Earth are formed due to a variety of processes ranging from volcanism to fluid erosion. Most of these processes operate on terrestrial planets and moons within our solar system. More than a thousand possible cave entrances have been identified on Mars and hundreds on the Moon thanks to the use of high-spatial resolution-instruments such as the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Lunar Reconnaissance in situ mapping, combined with autono- cave) to crawlers that can climb and/or Orbiter Camera (LROC). Some rocky and mous navigation, would be a necessity for descend on the surface of near vertical icy planetary bodies in the solar system any robotic mission. slopes (much like rock climbers do), were are expected to have caves as well — includ- discussed. Robotic capabilities are being ing possible cryovolcanic vents on Pluto Participants agreed that Mars’ caves are enhanced by advances in artificial intel- and icy fissures on Enceladus, Titan, and excellent sites to search for the signs of ligence, which will aid in subterranean Europa. either extant or extinct life. Attendees navigation, sample selection, and sample highlighted how methods such as pattern analysis. Participants agreed that a practi- The 3rd International Planetary Caves recognition algorithms and ultraviolet cal approach to planetary cave exploration Conference focused on the science and fluorescence imaging technology may would include continued development of exploration of planetary caves and brought facilitate the search for life elsewhere. One new technologies on Earth, demonstration together 55 terrestrial and planetary presentation discussed the continuum of these technologies by exploring lunar scientists and engineers (including 16 stu- of biotic/abiotic deposits, suggesting the caves, and ultimately deploying those dents) to discuss scientific advances and cave deposits are not necessarily a binary technologies to Mars. engineering capabilities for planetary cave option. exploration and research. Participants Finally, presentations highlighted how considered cave formation mechanisms, Attendees considered the overlap of the terrestrial cave environments can provide preserved geological records, cave locations of possible in situ near-sur- training opportunities for astronaut teams. microclimates, astrobiological potentials, face resources with known locations of Caves restrict mobility and communica- engineering challenges of subsurface potential cave entrances. For example, the tion, like the actual conditions on a space exploration, and potential robotic missions presence of near-surface ice preserved station. Teamwork and coordination to explore the subsurface of other worlds. in caves may provide a resource for both are vitally important for accomplishing indigenous life (primarily Mars) and the tasks in an unfamiliar environment. This As part of the conference, participants sustainment of future human missions approach adds another dimension to how visited two caves: a commercial cave and (Mars and the Moon). cave exploration enhances overall explora- an undeveloped, natural cave. These two tion of the solar system. caves highlight both the spectacular geo- Multiple robotic architectures to enable logical beauty of caves and the challenges planetary cave missions, ranging from For more information about the meeting, including of robotic exploration. The natural cave lowering instrument packages into a cave links to the program and abstracts, visit www.hou. was a practical labyrinth — where real-time, via tether (much like rappelling into a usra.edu/meetings/3rdcaves2020/.

Text provided by C. M. Phillips-Lander (Southwest Research Institute), T. N. Titus (U.S. Geological Survey), P. J. Boston (NASA Ames Research Center), J. J. Wynne (Northern Arizona University), and L. Kerber (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

planetary bodies, starting with the Mars Helicopter and the Titan Dragonfly spacecraft. The participants agreed that the use of drones is potentially a game-changing technology for understanding surface-atmospheric interactions as recorded by aeolian bedforms and erosional landscapes. Drones have the potential to provide in situ analysis at larger ranges than traditional rovers. Drones could also sample The 6th International Planetary Dunes attendees divided into three small group the interior of dune fields without the Workshop (#planetarydunes2020) was discussions, with each group focusing on trafficability issues (e.g., getting stuck in held virtually on May 12–13, 2020. The one of the mini-session topics. At the end the sand). workshop provided a forum to discuss of day 2, key messages from these small the current state of planetary aeolian group discussions were shared with the For Mars, a greater understanding of the science and the needs for the next decade. full group. Each group was specifically dust cycle is needed as current models Contributions were on such topics as asked to address three questions: (1) What are unable to accurately predict when remote sensing, analog studies, laboratory are the strategic knowledge gaps? (2) What global dust events will occur. Dust lofting experiments, and computer modeling are the strategic technology/capability and how that dust affects surface and results. gaps? (3) What are the mission/spacecraft atmospheric dynamics are also poorly gaps? understood. An improved understanding The workshop was originally planned of these processes would improve models, to be a physical workshop to be held in A workshop highlight was the discussion which currently are often empirically Alamosa, Colorado, on May 12–15, 2020. of analog sites and the expansion of what parameterized and carefully “tuned” to Due to travel restrictions and the need is considered a planetary analog site. For match observations of a particular year. for social distancing resulting from the example, terrestrial subaqueous processes Without improved theoretical knowledge COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers and bedforms are thought to be possible and a more rigorous grounding of the decided to postpone the physical meeting analogs for planetary bodies with thick, model, it is difficult to properly “tune” the by one year. However, one objective of the dense atmospheres (e.g., Venus, Titan), model for forecasts for spacecraft safety meeting, which was to support and facil- and the processes and bedforms within or to predict what changes would occur itate planetary aeolian community input Mars’ low-density atmosphere may serve under different Mars obliquities. into the forthcoming Planetary Science as better analogs for features on some and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, could planetary bodies (e.g., on small bodies or Finally, several attendees agreed that a not be delayed. With this consideration icy worlds) than terrestrial examples. Planetary Aeolian Processes Goals docu- in mind, the organizers decided to move ment was needed. Such a document could forward with a shorter virtual version of Additionally, it seems feasible for in situ be modeled after the NASA Analysis and the workshop. The focus of the first day studies on Mars to be sufficiently compre- Assessment Groups’ goals documents. was the current state of planetary aeolian hensive to serve as “natural laboratory” science and the second day’s focus was studies for understanding the fundamen- For more information about the 6th identifying knowledge and capability gaps. tal physics of aeolian processes throughout International Planetary Dunes Workshop, Both days were limited to 4.5 hours of the solar system by providing controlled including links to the program and presentations interspersed with several non-terrestrial conditions. A crucial com- abstracts, visit the meeting website at www. discussion periods and breaks. plement to such studies are experiments hou.usra.edu/meetings/dunes2020/. run within planetary aeolian facilities, The first day was broken up into three which provide validation for planetary — Text provided by T. Titus (USGS) and S. Diniega mini-sessions: (1) Dynamics, (2) Bedforms, aeolian models and constrain input param- (JPL/Caltech) and (3) Geological Record. The second day eters. The need for continued support and was also broken up into three mini-ses- possible expansion of existing planetary sions: (1) Analog and In Situ Studies, (2) aeolian facilities was deeply discussed. Mission, Models, and Technology, and (3) Facilities and Data Archival. Following The spacecraft mission presentations the presentations on day 2, workshop focused on the use of drones on other

NEWLY DISCOVERED PLANET ZIPS AROUND BABY STAR IN A WEEK

An artist’s impression of the newly discovered planet AU Mic b. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Understanding how planets form is one from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey planet orbiting AU Mic, essentially of the main challenges scientists face Satellite (TESS) and now-retired Spitzer caught in the act of forming, is extremely when placing our own and other plan- Space Telescope report the discovery of rare,” said co-author Stephen Kane, an etary systems in context. Planets are a planet about as large as Neptune that associate professor in the Department thought to form from the disk-shaped circles the young star in just over a week. of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the clouds of gas and dust that surround University of California, Riverside. “What newborn stars, but this process has never The new planet, AU Mic b, is located makes this especially rare is that it also been observed. Astronomers normally 31.9 light-years away in the south- transits its star, so we can measure the only observe planets after they have ern constellation Microscopium radius as well as the mass, leading to already formed and have to deduce the and described in a paper published an estimate of the bulk density of the pathways that that led to their final states. in Nature. The system, commonly planet and its likely composition. referred to as AU Mic, provides a one- For more than a decade, astronomers of-a-kind laboratory for studying how “This discovery will form the foundation have searched for planets orbiting AU planets and their atmospheres form, for many years of observational and Microscopii, a nearby star still sur- evolve, and interact with their stars. theoretical studies into the very earliest rounded by a disk of debris left over from stages for planet formation,” added its formation. Now scientists using data “Finding a ‘missing link,’ such as the Kane, who helped develop the instru-

ment that measured the planet mass almost hugs its star, completing an orbit and was part of the TESS team that every eight-and-a-half days. It weighs less discovered the transit of the planet. than 58 times Earth’s mass, placing it in the category of Neptune-like worlds. AU Mic is a cool red dwarf star with an age estimated at 20 million to 30 Read the whole story at million years, making it a stellar infant news.ucr.edu/articles/2020/06/24/ compared to our Sun, which is at least newly-discovered-planet-zips-around-baby-star-week. 150 times older. The planet AU Mic b

NASA’S OSIRIS-REX DISCOVERS SUNLIGHT CAN CRACK ROCKS ON ASTEROID BENNU

Asteroids don’t just sit there doing this occurs relative to other nothing as they orbit the Sun. They weathering processes tells get bombarded by meteoroids, us how and how quickly blasted by space radiation, and the surface has changed.” now, for the first time, scientists are seeing evidence that even a little Rocks expand when sunshine can wear them down. sunlight heats them during the day and contract as Rocks on asteroid Bennu appear to they cool down at night, be cracking as sunlight heats them up causing stress that forms during the day and they cool down at cracks that grow slowly Bennu, composed of 12 PolyCam images collected by OSIRIS- night, according to images from NASA’s over time. Scientists REx. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona. OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. “This is the first have thought for a while time evidence for this process, called that thermal fracturing than 1 centimeter (0.4 inches). It found thermal fracturing, has been defini- could be an important weathering evidence of exfoliation, where thermal tively observed on an object without an process on airless objects like asteroids fracturing likely caused small, thin layers atmosphere,” said University of Arizona because many experience extreme — between 1 and 10 centimeters (0.4 and 4 alumna Jamie Molaro of the Planetary temperature differences between day inches) — to flake off of boulder surfaces. Science Institute and lead author of a and night, compounding the stress. The spacecraft also produced images paper in Nature Communications. “It is For example, daytime highs on Bennu of cracks running through boulders one piece of a puzzle that tells us what can reach almost 127°C (~260°F), and in a north-south direction, along the the surface used to be like, and what it nighttime lows plummet to about –73°C line of stress that would be produced will be like millions of years from now.” (nearly –100°F). However, many of the by thermal fracturing on Bennu. telltale features of thermal fracturing “Like any weathering process, thermal are small, and before OSIRIS-REx got Other weathering processes can produce fracturing causes the evolution of boul- close to Bennu, the high-resolution similar features, but the team’s analysis ders and planetary surfaces over time imagery required to confirm thermal ruled them out. For example, rain and — from changing the shape and size of fracturing on asteroids didn’t exist. chemical activity can produce exfolia- individual boulders, to producing pebbles tion, but Bennu has no atmosphere to or fine-grained regolith, to breaking The mission team found features consis- produce rain. Rocks squeezed by tectonic down crater walls,” said OSIRIS-REx tent with thermal fracturing using the activity can also exfoliate, but Bennu is principal investigator Dante Lauretta of spacecraft’s OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite, too small for such activity. Meteoroid the University of Arizona. “How quickly which can see features on Bennu smaller impacts do occur on Bennu and can

certainly crack rocks, but they would properties of the samples returned by structure, and strength of their rocks. not cause the even erosion of layers the spacecraft in 2023 will help us learn On bodies where thermal fracturing is from boulder surfaces that were seen. more about how this process works.” efficient, it may cause crater walls to Also, there’s no sign of impact craters break down and erode faster. This would where the exfoliation is occurring. Another area of research is how thermal make the surface look older according fracturing affects our ability to estimate to the cratering record, when in fact it is Additional studies of Bennu could help the age of surfaces. In general, the more actually younger. Or the opposite could determine how rapidly thermal fracturing weathered a surface is, the older it is. For occur. More research on thermal frac- is wearing down the asteroid, and how it example, a region with a lot of craters is turing on different bodies is needed to compares to other weathering processes. likely to be older than an area with few start to get a handle on this, Molaro said. craters, assuming impacts happen at a “We don’t have good constraints yet on relatively constant rate across an object. For more information, visit breakdown rates from thermal fracturing, However, additional weathering from www.asteroidmission.org/. but we can get them now that we can thermal fracturing could complicate an actually observe it for the first time in age estimate, because thermal fracturing situ,” said OSIRIS-REx project scientist is going to happen at a different rate on Jason Dworkin of NASA’s Goddard Space different bodies, depending on things Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. like their distance from the Sun, the “Laboratory measurements on the length of their day, and the composition,

EVIDENCE FOR VOLCANIC CRATERS ON SATURN’S MOON TITAN

craters, according to “Morphologic Evidence for Volcanic Craters near Titan’s North Polar Region” (doi. org/10.1029/2019JE006036) that appears in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. A few similar depressions occur near the south pole of Titan.

“The close association of the proposed volcanic craters with polar lakes is consistent with a volcanic origin through explosive eruptions followed by collapse, as either maars or calderas,” Wood said. “The apparent freshness of some craters may mean that volcanism has been relatively recently active on Titan or even continues today.” This image compares nested, multi-collapse craters on Titan (upper left), Mars (upper right), and two on Earth (below). Credit: Brigham Young University. The Cassini mission revealed many landforms on Saturn’s moon Titan that Volcano-like features seen in polar regions Radebaugh of Brigham Young University. are like those found on Earth. Sand of Saturn’s moon Titan by NASA’s Cassini dunes, river valleys, and lakes are all a spacecraft could be evidence of explo- Morphological features such as nested result of actions by the atmosphere on sive eruptions that may continue today, collapses, elevated ramparts, halos, and the surface, driven by solar heating. according to a new paper by Planetary islands indicate that some of the abun- Science Institute Senior Scientist dant small depressions in the north polar “We demonstrate that there is also Charles A. Wood and coauthor Jani region of Titan are volcanic collapse evidence for internal heat, manifest

at the surface as cryovolcanoes, made consistent with the shapes of other volca- indicate methane, nitrogen, or some other from melting the water ice crust into nic landforms on Earth and Mars formed volatile may power them. The features liquid water that erupts onto Titan’s by explosion, excavation, and collapse. appear relatively fresh, meaning they surface,” Wood said. “These features are could still be forming today,” Wood said. roughly round, with raised rims, and they “That these features are at the polar sometimes overlap each other. They are regions, near the lakes of methane, may

INTERSTELLAR COMET SHED WATER AS IT VISITED SOLAR SYSTEM

Did you know a comet could shed up to 30 liters (8 gallons) of water per second? That’s exactly what the interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov did, according to a recent NASA article highlighting the research of Dennis Bodewits, Auburn University associate professor in the Department of Physics, and Zexi Xing, a graduate student at the University of Hong Kong and Auburn, whose collaboration measured the water production of Comet 2I/Borisov as it approached the Sun.

At peak activity, Borisov shed 30 liters (8 gallons) of water per second, enough to fill a bathtub in about 10 seconds. During its trip through the solar system, the comet lost nearly 230 million liters (61 million gallons) of water — enough to fill more than 92 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Bodewits used both the Hubble Hubble Space Telescope image of the interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov. Hubble photographed the Space Telescope (HST) and the Neil comet at a distance of approximately 418 million kilomters (260 million miles) from Earth. Credit: NASA/ESA/D. Jewitt (UCLA). Gehrels Swift Observatory space telescope to research interstellar Journal Letters and promoted by the tems with much colder temperatures than Comet 2I/Borisov. The comet was American Astronomical Society. ours. Such environments can be found discovered traveling through our solar around M-type stars, red dwarfs that are system in late 2019, and is only the Bodewits uses laboratory astrophysics the most common stars in our galaxy. second comet observed that origi- to understand more about the water in nated from outside our solar system. comets. His research provides insight Nature Astronomy published about the origins of the universe research from Bodewits titled “2I/ Xing, who studied at the University and tells us more about planetary Borisov is a carbon monoxide-rich of Hong Kong and is from mainland objects from millions of years ago. comet from another star.” China, recorded the activity of the comet using ultraviolet light. She led As was highly publicized, the comet Portions of this article were pro- the work on the Neil Gehrels Swift contained very large amounts of carbon vided by Auburn University. Observatory space telescope that monoxide gas, and Bodewits used it trace will be published in Astrophysical the origins of the object to planetary sys-

precise simulation of the orbits of these asteroids that “went back in time” to find their past positions.

The objects in our system already orbited the Sun 4.5 billion years ago in the same plane as the dust and gas disk in which they were formed. However, the 19 Centaurs were not part of this disk. The simulations show not only that these Centaurs orbit the Sun on a plane perpendicular to planetary motion at that time, but also that they were located far from the disk that gave rise to solar system asteroids. Hubble Space Telescope image of the interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov. Hubble photographed the comet at a distance of approximately 418 million kilomters (260 million miles) from Earth. Credit: NASA/ESA/D. Jewitt (UCLA). These 19 asteroids were not part of the solar system when it was Ka`epaoka`awela asteroid surprised the system at its birth, 4.5 billion years ago. born. Stellar proximity in the world in 2018: It was the first object in Sun’s birth cluster gave rise to strong the solar system that was demonstrated They are all part of the Centaur family, gravitational interactions that allowed to be of extrasolar origin. But now those asteroids located between the gas giants stellar systems to capture asteroids from who discovered it have announced that that sometimes behave like comets, and one another. The scientists now plan it is not alone. Published in the Monthly whose orbits computer models cannot to continue this work by looking for Notices of the Royal Astronomical explain or predict. Fathi Namouni and specific events when common capture Society in April, work by Fathi Namouni, Helena Morais chose to develop a very of several extrasolar bodies occurred. a CNRS researcher in the Laboratoire Lagrange (CNRS/Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur/Université Côte d’Azur), and Helena Morais, researcher at their current orbits and UNESP in Brazil, proves that at least “ 19 other asteroids orbited another star before joining our system. characteristics can only Although some interstellar bodies only pass through, others remain and orbit be explained if these the Sun. This is the case for 19 asteroids that gravitate between Jupiter and Neptune. According to the two scientists’ objects were not in our calculations, their current orbits and characteristics can only be explained if these objects were not in our solar solar system at its birth”

17 Issue 161 July 2020 © Copyright 2020 Lunar and Planetary Institute NEWS FROM SPACE ASTRONOMERS DETECT REGULAR RHYTHM OF RADIO WAVES, WITH ORIGINS UNKNOWN A team of astronomers, including researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has picked up on a curious, repeating rhythm of fast radio bursts emanating from an unknown source outside our galaxy, 500 million light-years away.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are short, intense flashes of radio waves that are thought to be the product of small, distant, extremely dense objects, although exactly what those objects might be is a longstanding mystery in astrophysics. FRBs typically last a few milliseconds, during which time they can outshine entire galaxies.

Since the first FRB was observed in 2007, astronomers have catalogued over 100 Artist’s depiction of a magnetar, one possible source of the recently detected fast radio bursts. fast radio bursts from distant sources Credit: ESO/L. Calçada. scattered across the universe, outside astronomers observed that this 16-day Collaboration has published the details of our own galaxy. For the most part, these pattern of FRBs reoccurred consis- the new observation in the journal Nature. detections were one-offs, flashing briefly tently over 500 days of observations. before disappearing entirely. In a handful “This FRB we’re reporting now is like In 2017, CHIME was erected at of instances, astronomers observed FRBs clockwork,” says Kiyoshi Masui, assis- the Dominion Radio Astrophysical multiple times from the same source, tant professor of physics in MIT’s Kavli Observatory in British Columbia, where although with no discernible pattern. Institute for Astrophysics and Space it quickly began detecting FRBs from gal- Research. “It’s the most definitive pattern axies across the universe, billions of light This new FRB source, which the team we’ve seen from one of these sources. years from Earth. CHIME consists of four has catalogued as FRB 180916.J0158+65, And it’s a big clue that we can use to large antennas, each about the size and is the first to produce a periodic, or start hunting down the physics of what’s shape of a snowboarding half-pipe, and is causing these bright designed with no moving parts. Rather flashes, which nobody than swiveling to focus on different parts “ Maybe the source is always really understands.” of the sky, CHIME stares fixedly at the entire sky, using digital signal processing giving off these bursts, Masui is a member of to pinpoint the region of space where the CHIME/FRB collab- incoming radio waves are originating. but we only see them oration, a group of more than 50 scientists led by From September 2018 to February 2020, when it’s going through the University of British CHIME picked out 38 FRBs from a Columbia, McGill single source, FRB 180916.J0158+65, these clouds, because University, University which the astronomers traced to a of Toronto, and the star-churning region on the outskirts the clouds act as a lens” National Research of a massive spiral galaxy, 500 million Council of Canada that light-years from Earth. The source is operates and analyzes the most active FRB source that CHIME cyclical, pattern of fast radio bursts. The the data from the Canadian Hydrogen has yet detected, and until recently it pattern begins with a noisy, four-day Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), was the closest FRB source to Earth. window, during which the source emits a radio telescope in British Columbia that random bursts of radio waves, followed was the first to pick up signals of the new As the researchers plotted each of the by a 12-day period of radio silence. The periodic FRB source. The CHIME/FRB 38 bursts over time, a pattern began

to emerge: One or two bursts would another neutron star or black hole. If the still a bit of a mystery, but astronomers occur over 4 days, followed by a 12-day first neutron star emits radio waves, and have observed that they do occasionally period without any bursts, after which is on an eccentric orbit that briefly brings release massive amounts of radiation the pattern would repeat. This 16-day it close to the second object, the tides across the electromagnetic spectrum, cycle occurred again and again over the between the two objects could be strong including energy in the radio band. 500 days that they observed the source. enough to cause the first neutron star to deform and burst briefly before it swings “People have been working on how “These periodic bursts are something that away. This pattern would repeat when the to make these magnetars emit fast we’ve never seen before, and it’s a new neutron star swings back along its orbit. radio bursts, and this periodicity phenomenon in astrophysics,” Masui says. we’ve observed has since been worked The researchers considered a third sce- into these models to figure out how Exactly what phenomenon is behind nario, involving a radio-emitting source this all fits together,” Masui says. this new extragalactic rhythm is a big that circles a central star. If the star emits unknown, although the team explores a wind, or cloud of gas, then every time Very recently, the same group made a some ideas in their new paper. One the source passes through the cloud, the new observation that supports the idea possibility is that the periodic bursts gas from the cloud could periodically that magnetars may in fact be a viable may be coming from a single compact magnify the source’s radio emissions. source for fast radio bursts. In late April, object, such as a neutron star, that is both CHIME picked up a signal that looked spinning and wobbling — an astrophys- “Maybe the source is always giving off like a fast radio burst, coming from a ical phenomenon known as precession. these bursts, but we only see them when flaring magnetar, some 30,000 light-years Assuming that the radio waves are it’s going through these clouds, because from Earth. If the signal is confirmed, emanating from a fixed location on the the clouds act as a lens,” Masui says. this would be the first FRB detected object, if the object is spinning along within our own galaxy, as well as the most an axis and that axis is only pointed Perhaps the most exciting possibility is compelling evidence of magnetars as a toward the direction of Earth every 4 the idea that this new FRB, and even source of these mysterious cosmic sparks. out of 16 days, then we would observe those that are not periodic or even the radio waves as periodic bursts. repeating, may originate from magnetars Portions of this article were provided by — a type of neutron star that is thought Jennifer Chu and the MIT News Office. Another possibility involves a binary to have an extremely powerful magnetic system, such as a neutron star orbiting field. The particulars of magnetars are

THE NEARSIDE OF THE MOON MAY STILL BE TECTONICALLY ACTIVE

Lunar wrinkle ridges, as photographed by the loaded in response to impact processes. Apollo 15 mission. Credit: NASA. Most of these features were expected tectonic activity that is not connected to have formed in the distant past. to any known sources of deformation. These “active nearside tectonic sys- The lunar surface is constantly bom- tems,” while young, may actually be barded by micrometeorites. These tiny the reactivation of one of the Moon’s impacts will slowly erode and round off most ancient and influential events. the shape of any new, angular features. The appearance of blocky, angular The results, published in Geology, boulders near tectonic features is thus focused on a classical example of lunar a common way to indicate their youth. geology: wrinkle ridges, formed as the The authors used high-resolution Lunar basaltic crust of a lunar maria is forced Reconnaissance Orbiter images to together due to contraction. These identify numerous areas where these ridges are a common occurrence in the angular boulders were found on top of the While the Moon is often considered to maria, which were formed by multiple wrinkle ridges themselves, showing that have been tectonically dead for billions thin flows of basalt. In particular, they they formed in the recent geologic past. of years, new results from researchers have been observed to form in response at the University of Bern and Brown to the formation of “mascons,” areas Four major explanations have been University have found evidence for recent where the lunar crust has been heavily advanced for recent tectonic deformation

of the Moon: loading on mascons, despin- Pole-Aitken basin. This impact, which these faults expose relatively fresh bed- ning, global cooling and contraction, and occurred 4.3 billion years ago, caused rock, the authors argue that they should daily tides. The authors were able to rule such immense transient stress as to frac- be a key target for future lunar explora- out all these forces as likely contributors ture the crust on the opposite (antipodal) tion to understand its geologic history. to these new wrinkle ridges. Instead, it side that it formed. The expected stresses is more likely to be a reactivation of line up well with the distribution of these To read the article, visit doi.org/10.1130/G47202.1. faults left by the formation of the South active nearside tectonic systems. Because ASTEROIDS RYUGU AND BENNU WERE FORMED BY THE DESTRUCTION OF A LARGE ASTEROID are ejected and then reaccumulate forming aggregates, some of which have a spinning-top shape. The simulations also show that Bennu and Ryugu may have formed from the disruption of the same parent asteroid even though their levels of hydration are different. The scientists conclude that the overall properties of Sequence of images showing the formation of an aggregate by the reaccumulation of fragments these asteroids could directly result from produced during the disruption of an asteroid. Its final shape, five hours after the beginning of the process, is similar to that of Bennu and Ryugu. Credit: Michel et al./Nature Communications. the disruption of their parent body. The analysis of return samples from Ryugu What is the origin of the asteroids Bennu Louis Ballouz from the University of and Bennu by the Hayabusa2 (JAXA) and Ryugu, and of their spinning-top Arizona, proposes an answer to this and OSIRIS-REx (NASA) spacecraft shape? An international research team question in an article published in Nature will allow us to verify this by measur- led by Patrick Michel, a French National Communications on May 27. Numerical ing precisely their composition and Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) simulations of large asteroid disruptions, by determining their formation age. researcher at the Laboratoire Lagrange such as those that take place in the (CNRS/Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur/ asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Portions of this article were provided by the Université Côte d’Azur) and Ronald- show that during such events, fragments French National Centre for Scientific Research.

EARTH-SIZED, HABITABLE ZONE PLANET FOUND HIDDEN IN EARLY NASA KEPLER DATA Sequence of images showing the formation misidentified it, researchers reviewing of an aggregate by the reaccumulation of Kepler data took a second look at the fragments produced during the disruption of signature and recognized it as a planet. an asteroid. Its final shape, five hours after the Out of all the exoplanets found by Kepler, beginning of the process, is similar to that of Bennu and Ryugu. Credit: Michel et al./Nature this distant world — located 300 light- Communications. years from Earth — is most similar to Earth in size and estimated temperature. the area around a star where a rocky planet could support liquid water. This newly revealed world is only 1.06 times larger than our own planet. Also, A team of transatlantic scientists, Scientists discovered this planet, called the amount of starlight it receives from using reanalyzed data from NASA’s Kepler-1649c, when looking through its host star is 75% of the amount of light Kepler space telescope, has dis- old observations from Kepler, which the Earth receives from our Sun — meaning covered an Earth-sized exoplanet agency retired in 2018. While previous the exoplanet’s temperature may be orbiting in its star’s habitable zone, searches with a computer algorithm similar to our planet’s as well. But unlike

Earth, it orbits a red dwarf. Although The system has another rocky planet Kepler-1649c not only is one of the none have been observed in this system, of about the same size, but it orbits the best matches to Earth in terms of size this type of star is known for stellar flare- star at about half the distance of Kepler- and energy received from its star, but it ups that may make a planet’s environment 1649c, similar to how Venus orbits our provides an entirely new look at its home challenging for any potential life. Sun at about half the distance that Earth system. For every nine times the outer does. Red dwarf stars are among the planet in the system orbits the host star, “This intriguing, distant world gives us most common in the galaxy, meaning the inner planet orbits almost exactly even greater hope that a second Earth planets like this one could be more four times. The fact that their orbits lies among the stars, waiting to be common than we previously thought. match up in such a stable ratio indicates found,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, asso- the system itself is extremely stable, ciate administrator of NASA’s Science Previously, scientists on the Kepler and likely to survive for a long time. Mission Directorate in Washington. “The mission developed an algorithm called data gathered by missions like Kepler Robovetter to help sort through the Nearly perfect period ratios are often and our Transiting Exoplanet Survey massive amounts of data produced caused by a phenomenon called orbital Satellite (TESS) will continue to yield by the Kepler spacecraft. Kepler resonance, but a nine to four ratio (9:4) amazing discoveries as the science searched for planets using the tran- is relatively unique among planetary community refines its abilities to look sit method, staring at stars, and systems. Usually resonances take the form for promising planets year after year.” looking for dips in brightness as planets of ratios such as 2:1 or 3:2. Although passed in front of their host stars. unconfirmed, the rarity of this ratio There is still much that is unknown about could hint at the presence of a middle Kepler-1649c, including its atmosphere, Most of the time, those dips come from planet with which both the inner and which could affect the planet’s tempera- phenomena other than planets — ranging outer planets revolve in synchronicity, ture. Current calculations of the planet’s from natural changes in a star’s bright- creating a pair of 3:2 resonances. size have significant margins of error, as ness to other cosmic objects passing do all values in astronomy when studying by — making it look like a planet is there The team looked for evidence of such objects so far away. But based on what when it’s not. Robovetter’s job was to a mystery third planet, with no results. is known, Kepler-1649c is especially distinguish the 12% of dips that were However, that could be because the intriguing for scientists looking for worlds real planets. Those signatures Robovetter planet is too small to see or at an with potentially habitable conditions. determined to be from other sources were orbital tilt that makes it impossible to labeled “false positives,” the term for a find using Kepler’s transit method. There are other exoplanets estimated test result mistakenly classified as positive. to be closer to Earth in size, such as Either way, this system provides yet TRAPPIST-1f and, by some calcula- With an enormous number of tricky another example of an Earth-sized planet tions, Teegarden c. Others may be signals, astronomers knew the algorithm in the habitable zone of a red dwarf closer to Earth in temperature, such would make mistakes and would need star. These small and dim stars require as TRAPPIST-1d and TOI 700d. But to be double-checked — a perfect job planets to orbit extremely close to be there is no other exoplanet that is for the Kepler False Positive Working within that zone — not too warm and considered to be closer to Earth in Group. That team reviews Robovetter’s not too cold — for life as we know it to both of these values that also lies in work, going through all false positives potentially exist. Although this single the habitable zone of its system. to ensure they are truly errors and not example is only one among many, there exoplanets, ensuring fewer potential is increasing evidence that such plan- “Out of all the mislabeled planets discoveries are overlooked. As it turns out, ets are common around red dwarfs. we’ve recovered, this one’s particularly Robovetter had mislabeled Kepler-1649c. exciting — not just because it’s in the “The more data we get, the more signs we habitable zone and Earth-size, but Even as scientists work to further see pointing to the notion that potentially because of how it might interact with automate analysis processes to get the habitable and Earth-size exoplanets are this neighboring planet,” said Andrew most science as possible out of any given common around these kinds of stars,” Vanderburg, a researcher at the dataset, this discovery shows the value said Vanderburg. “With red dwarfs University of Texas at Austin and first of double-checking automated work. almost everywhere around our galaxy, author on the paper released in The Even six years after Kepler stopped and these small, potentially habitable Astrophysical Journal Letters. “If we collecting data from the original Kepler and rocky planets around them, the hadn’t looked over the algorithm’s work field — a patch of sky it stared at from chance one of them isn’t too different by hand, we would have missed it.” 2009 to 2013, before going on to study than our Earth looks art bit brighter.” many more regions — this rigorous Kepler-1649c orbits its small red dwarf analysis uncovered one of the most For more information about Kepler and its star so closely that a year on Kepler-1649c unique Earth analogs yet discovered. discoveries, visit www.nasa.gov/kepler. is equivalent to only 19.5 Earth days.

VIRTUAL EDUCATION AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Organizations across the country are curtailing education and public engagement programs. Some are conducting online programs. Contact the resources below to determine how you can participate. · Local museums and planetariums (Museum Alliance) · Libraries (NASA @ My Library) · Solar System Ambassadors · Amateur astronomy clubs (Night Sky Network) · A variety of education and public engagement resources are 30-minute online session includes a scientist presentation, a available for use with audiences. demonstration related to the topic, and some time for questions and discussion with the scientist.

NASA at Home The NASA at Home website has e-Books, videos, virtual tours, LPI’s Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series Archive and more. An archive of past presentations in this series on the LPI YouTube channel.

NASA SMD Resources for Learners has a variety of SMD resources. More information is available at NASA Science LPI’s Explore! Resources Resources. Use Explore! activities to engage children and pre-teens in the wonders of lunar exploration, the planets (Earth, Jupiter, and LPI’s Virtual Exploration Experiences with Mars), rockets, staying healthy in space, and more! Planetary Scientists (VEEPS) The LPI’s new VEEPS program provides an opportunity for Watch our Explore! how-to videos. families to connect with planetary scientists from home. Each

RESOURCES FOR PLANETARY SCIENTISTS INVOLVED IN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

The LPI’s education and public engagement team is pleased to assist planetary scientists in their communication and public engagement activities. The LPI conducts scientist workshops to provide insight on meeting audience needs and has placed a variety of rec- ommendations online. For more information, visit: Scientist Engagement Sessions. EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT ON SPOTLIGHT

SUBMIT AN EDUCATION ABSTRACT FOR THE 2020 FALL AGU MEETING

Share your education and outreach experiences with the AGU science abstract. The 2020 Fall AGU abstract submission dead- community. Submitting an education abstract won’t count line is July 29, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. For more information, against your first author science abstract submissions! At AGU, visit: AGU Fall Meeting – Education Program. one first author education abstract is allowable in addition to a

SEEKING COMMUNITY COMMENTS FOR DRAFT TEXT OF CITIZEN SCIENCE SEED FUNDING PROGRAM

ROSES 2020, Amendment 39 releases for community comment Amendment to ROSES 2020 (NNH20ZDA001N) is posted on draft text for the E.9 Citizen Science Seed Funding Program. the NASA research opportunity homepage at http://solicitation. The Citizen Science Seed Funding Program (CSSFP) element nasaprs.com/ROSES2020. Comments on the draft text are due of ROSES aims to support scientists and other experts to no later than July 30, 2020 via email to [email protected] develop citizen science projects relevant to NASA’s Astrophysics, (with subject “CSSFP comments”). Heliophysics, and Planetary Science Research Programs. This

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: NASA Office of STEM Engagement

NASA Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal diverse set of students, with specific focus on underserved Institutions, Remote Opportunity Rapid Response (TEAM and/or underrepresented students in STEM and helping II RORR) is a one-time opportunity with a shortened to minimize the inequities faced by communities without response period. Proposals must be submitted electron- ready access to information and communication technol- ically via the NASA proposal data system NSPIRES or ogy. Full proposals are due August 13, 2020. For more Grants.gov. The proposal deliverable will be an innovative information, visit: Solicitation: NNH20ZDA001N-CSSFP. program, opportunity, or product capable of reaching a

NASA POSTDOCTORAL PROGRAM FELLOWSHIPS

The NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) supports NASA’s opportunities to conduct research in fields of science goal to expand scientific understanding of the Earth and relevant to NASA. Interested applicants may apply by the universe in which we live. Selected by a competitive, one of three annual application deadlines: March 1, July peer-review process, NPP fellows complete one- to three- 1, and November 1. For more information, visit: NASA year fellowships that offer scientists and engineers unique Postdoctoral Program.

“Spotlight on Education” highlights events and programs that provide opportunities for planetary scientists to become involved in education and public engagement. If you know of space science educational programs or events that should be included, please contact the Lunar and Planetary Institute’s Education Department at [email protected].

JAMES M. BEGGS 1926–2020

James Beggs, who served as NASA 1960s. His legacy guided the shuttle he had been with Westinghouse Electric Administrator from 1981 to 1985, passed program toward its three decades of Corp., in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and away on April 23. achievements and set the stage for a Baltimore, Maryland, for 13 years. diverse and flexible astronaut corps from Following his tenure at NASA, Beggs In a statement about Beggs’ passing, cur- which we continue to benefit. We salute worked as a consultant from his offices in rent NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine his service and will continue to honor his Bethesda, Maryland. said, “NASA sends its condolences to contributions to our great agency.” the family of James Beggs. Mr. Beggs led A 1947 graduate of the U.S. Naval the agency during the earliest days of Prior to his appointment as NASA Academy, he served with the Navy until the Space Shuttle Program and helped Administrator Beggs had been Executive 1954. In 1955, he received a master’s us open a whole new era of exploration. Vice President and a director of General degree from the Harvard Graduate School We continue to build on his legacy today Dynamics Corp., St. Louis, Missouri. He of Business Administration. He was also a as we take advantage of our long-term had previously served with NASA from member of the Board of Governors of the presence in low-Earth orbit to make the 1968 to 1969 as Associate Administrator, National Space Club and the American advances to travel farther, and seed an Office of Advanced Research and Astronautical Society; his other profes- entirely new segment of the economy Technology. From 1969 to 1973, he sional affiliations included the National through the innovations of commercial was Under Secretary of Transportation. Academy of Public Administration, the partners. Mr. Beggs also served his He went to Summa Corp., Los Angeles, American Institute of Aeronautics and country in the U.S. Navy and supported California, as Managing Director, Astronautics, the American Society of NASA’s achievements during the Apollo Operations and joined General Dynamics Naval Engineers, and Sigma Tau. era during an agency tenure in the late in January 1974. Before joining NASA,

RICHARD “DICK” PUGH 1940–2020

Credit: Christine Floss

Our colleague, friend, and long-time Pugh examined thousands to him by the From 2003 to 2015, Pugh drove tens of member of The Meteoritical Society, public. Most were “meteor-wrongs,” but a thousands of miles (this is not an exagger- Richard (Dick) Pugh passed away few were bona fide meteorites, and Pugh ation; he kept detailed records) to speak peacefully in his home on June 15 from contacted and worked with various mete- to thousands of people as part of three complications associated with liver failure. orite scientists to get these analyzed and consecutive NASA Education/Public published, including the Salem chondrite Outreach Grants. After the grants ended, Pugh was a long-time meteorite enthu- and the Study Butte chondrite. Pugh continued to drive around the siast and educator and the heart of the Pacific Northwest doing public outreach Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory (CML) at Pugh rediscovered the location in West funded using donations to CML. Portland State University. Pugh received Linn where the Willamette meteorite both his B.S. and his M.S.T. in physical had been found, and realized that it was Pugh received the Service Award of the science from Portland State University. on the “strand line” from the ice age Meteoritical Society at the 2011 MetSoc While a student, he worked with Erwin floods. He published a paper with PSU meeting in Greenwich, England. This F. Lange on meteorites and meteorite edu- geologist John Eliot Allen suggesting that award “honors members who have cation. From 1968 to 1999, Pugh taught the Willamette had fallen in Canada and advanced the goals of the Society to science classes at Cleveland High School been rafted to Oregon by one of the ice promote research and education in mete- in Portland, where he was widely known age floods. Pugh also published numer- oritics and planetary science in ways other by students as an excellent and challeng- ous reports of fireballs over the Pacific than by conducting scientific research. ing teacher who inspired a love of science Northwest. In 2011, Pugh also received the Duane and meteorites. Marshall Special Service to Education Between 2003 and 2020, Pugh served as Award from the Oregon Science Teachers During the years that Pugh taught at an integral part of CML. He started the E. Association and was recognized as a Cleveland High School, he followed in F. Lange Endowment in 2005, which sup- Sigma Xi Distinguished Member. the footsteps of his mentor, Lange. Pugh ports the activities of CML, in honor of spent decades giving lectures, talks, his former advisor. Pugh purchased and His enthusiasm for meteorites was and demonstrations about meteorites, donated hundreds of meteorite samples to infectious, his world both that of the astronomy, and geology to children and the CML collection. He also helped pre- researcher and teachable layperson. He adults in grade schools, high schools, pare meteorite samples for classification, will be missed, but memories of him will colleges, universities, and clubs in Oregon, including two from Oregon (the Morrow live on and inspire. Washington, Nevada, California, and County chondrite and the Fitzwater Pass Montana. iron meteorite).

— Text courtesy of Alex Ruzicka/Portland State University

of scattering and absorption by plines of radiative transfer and directional complex dispersions of randomly radiometry are now legitimate branches of and preferentially oriented atmo- physical optics. spheric particulates. T-matrix techniques are based on direct While Mishchenko was a consummate solutions of the Maxwell equa- theoretician he also managed the NASA/ tions. The resulting computer GEWEX Global Aerosol Climatology programs work for morphologi- Project, developing an innovative algo- cally complex particles with large rithm to infer aerosol properties from size parameters, with bench- multi-channel ISCCP radiance data and mark accuracy over their range compiling the first global satellite climatol- of applicability. Mishchenko’s ogy of aerosol optical thickness and size T-matrix computer programs have for the full period of satellite observations. been publicly available online Building on this work, his seminal sen- since 1997, and have been used sitivity analysis of passive algorithms for in more than 1450 peer-reviewed the retrieval of aerosol properties from publications. Mishchenko space using radiance and polarization MICHAEL I. himself used T-matrix methods data was instrumental in the development in pioneering studies of the of the NASA Glory Space Mission, for MISHCHENKO effects of morphological particle which he served as Project Scientist. complexities on the radiative, 1959–2020 polarization, and depolarization Mishchenko published 7 monographs, 23 properties of mineral aerosols, peer-reviewed book chapters, and some It is with great sadness that we fractal-soot and soot-containing aerosols, 300 journal papers. He was Editor-in- announce the passing of our colleague soot-contaminated cloud droplets, contrail Chief of the Journal of Quantitative Michael I. Mishchenko on July 21, particles, and polar stratospheric and Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer and 2020. Mishchenko was a graduate of noctilucent clouds. of Physics Open. He previously served as the Moscow Institute of Physics and Topical Editor on scattering and meteoro- Technology and received his Ph.D. (with Beyond scattering by single particles logical optics for Applied Optics and was honors) and Habilitation Doctoral degrees Mishchenko derived the general theory an editorial board member for several in physics from the National Academy of of radiative transfer in particulate media other scholarly journals. Sciences of Ukraine (NASU). He worked directly from the Maxwell equations, at the Main Astronomical Observatory an accomplishment that had eluded An elected Fellow of AGU, OSA, AMS, in Kiev (1987–1992) and then joined scientists for over a century. This IoP (UK), and the Electromagnetics the research staff of the NASA Goddard microphysical derivation established the Academy, Mishchenko was the recipi- Institute for Space Studies in New York. existence of a fundamental link between ent of numerous professional awards Mishchenko’s research interests included electromagnetics, radiative transfer, and including the AMS Henry G. Houghton electromagnetic scattering by morpho- coherent backscattering, defined the Award, the Hendrik C. van de Hulst logically complex particles and particle formal conditions of applicability of the Award from Elsevier, and two NASA groups, polarimetry, aerosol and cloud radiative transfer equation, and clarified Exceptional Scientific Achievement remote sensing, and ocean optics. the physical nature of measurements Medals. The International Astronomical taken with directional radiometers. It also Union honored Mishchenko by giving One of Mishchenko’s principal accom- identified and dispelled misconceptions asteroid 22686 (1998 QL53) the name plishments was his development of inherent in conventional phenomeno- “Mishchenko.” efficient T-matrix methods to enable logical radiometry and radiative transfer numerically exact computer calculations theory. As a result of his work, the disci-

— Text courtesy of Glenn Orton and Kevin Baines, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology

launch of Demo-2 from the Kennedy and Reaction Control Systems Depot Space Center in Florida on May 30. manager. She later moved to the International Space Station Program “Kathy gives us the extraordinary expe- and served as transportation integration rience and passion we need to continue manager, where she led commercial cargo to move forward with Artemis and our resupply services to the space station. goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024,” said She also was responsible for NASA Bridenstine. “She has a deep interest oversight of international partner in developing commercial markets in spacecraft visiting the space station, space, dating back to her initial work including the European Space Agency’s on the space shuttle program. From Automated Transfer Vehicle, the Japan Commercial Cargo and now Commercial Aerospace Exploration Agency’s H-II Crew, she has safely and successfully Transfer Vehicle, and the Russian space helped push to expand our nation’s agency Roscosmos’ Soyuz and Progress industrial base. Kathy’s the right spacecraft. She went to Kennedy as person to extend the space economy acting Commercial Crew Program to the lunar vicinity and achieve the Manager in 2013 and was selected ambitious goals we’ve been given.” as the head of the office in 2014.

Kathy Lueders Credit: NASA The appointment takes effect immedi- Lueders has a Bachelor of Business NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine ately. Steve Stich is named Commercial Administration in Finance from Friday selected Commercial Crew Crew Program Manager, and Ken the University of New Mexico and a Program Manager Kathy Lueders to be Bowersox returns to his role as HEO Bachelor of Science and Master of the agency’s next associate administrator deputy associate administrator. Science in Industrial Engineering of the Human Exploration and Operations from New Mexico State University. (HEO) Mission Directorate. Since 2014, Lueders began her NASA career in Lueders has directed NASA’s efforts to 1992 at the White Sands Test Facility For additional information in NASA’s human send astronauts to space on private space- in New Mexico where she was the spaceflight program, visit: www.nasa.gov/. craft, which culminated in the successful Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System

NEW DIRECTOR TAKES HELM AT NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Following in the footsteps of many great scientific challenges — most obviously a that we can recognize the brightest science and engineering leaders before pandemic.” Panchanathan said. “But in ideas and nurture them into tomorrow’s him, Sethuraman Panchanathan has addition to providing creative solutions world-class technological innovations.” been officially appointed as the National to address current problems, our eyes are Science Foundation’s 15th director, on the future, leveraging partnerships Panchanathan identified three pillars of sharing his vision for his six-year term at every level and encouraging diver- his vision for NSF: advancing research and promising a continued push for sity that breeds new ideas for a robust into the future, ensuring inclusivity inclusiveness in science and engineering. pipeline of young scientists. It is only and continuing global leadership in through that expansive perspective on science and engineering. He has a long “Right now, the world faces significant the scientific and engineering enterprise history of doing exactly those things.

His current position, which he has held Panchanathan began his career at for the past nine years at Arizona State Arizona State and founded the Center for University, has allowed him to lead Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC), the Knowledge Enterprise, which has a group that designed technologies and advanced research, innovation, strategic devices to assist people with disabilities. partnerships, entrepreneurship and He also founded and led the School of global and economic development. Computing and Informatics and the Department of Biomedical Informatics “World-class science requires talented and was subsequently appointed as scientists and engineers drawn from Arizona State’s Chief of Research and every corner of our nation — from remote Innovation in 2009. During his tenure, rural areas to the largest urban centers. ASU was named the Most Innovative The best science is shaped by a wide University by the U.S. News and World range of perspectives,” Panchanathan Report five years in a row, and its research said. “I want people to get excited by volume quintupled. He has also been serv- science and have the opportunity to be ing as a member of the NSB since 2014. part of the scientific enterprise. It is our NSB establishes NSF policy and advises responsibility to inspire talent and find both the agency and the U.S. president. Sethuraman Panchanathan has been officially ways to catalyze innovation across our appointed as NSF’s 15th director. Image country. NSF has a proven record in this Panchanathan is a fellow of the National credit: Arizona State University. area; the INCLUDES program and its Academy of Inventors, and a fellow of the emphasis on broadening participation is Canadian Academy of Engineering. He is engineering has to do with the peo- an example of NSF’s forward thinking.” also a fellow of the Institute of Electrical ple who work there,” Droegemeier and Electronics Engineers and the Society said. “Dr. Panchanathan has the cre- Panchanathan noted that it is NSF’s of Optical Engineering. He served as a ativity, tenacity, and commitment to mission of funding basic research that has chair in the Council on Research within lead this agency successfully and con- yielded groundbreaking discoveries over the Association of Public and Land-Grant tinue moving the scientific enterprise the years. “Seeding basic research across Universities. Panchanathan was the forward on the endless frontier. I’m all fields of science and engineering is editor-in-chief of the IEEE Multimedia excited to see him make his mark and NSF’s core mission. NSF seeds discov- Magazine and also served as an editor or take the agency to the next level.” ery. NSF seeds the economy. NSF seeds associate editor for many other journals. the future,” he said. “Advancing basic President Trump announced research is our fundamental purpose and Since NSF’s previous director Panchanathan’s nomination to serve looking to cutting-edge areas such as arti- France Córdova finished her term, as NSF’s 15th director on December ficial intelligence, quantum computing, Kelvin Droegemeier has doubled 18, 2019. The Senate confirmed and big data will accelerate our science as President Trump’s science Panchanathan on June 18, 2020. and technology progress in the com- adviser and acting NSF director. Droegemeier swore him in at a virtual ing years. I am excited by the National ceremony that took place on July 2, 2020. Science Board’s (NSB) Vision 2030 strate- “A big part of why the National Science gic plan which is an excellent framework Foundation has such a rich history for advancing science and technology.” of leading the way in science and

ALABAMA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT NAMES NASA’S MARS HELICOPTER

Destined to become the first aircraft “Name the Rover” essay contest. things, and it allows us to expand our to attempt powered flight on another horizons to the edges of the universe.” planet, NASA’s Mars Helicopter officially “The ingenuity and brilliance of people has received a new name: Ingenuity. working hard to overcome the challenges Rupani’s was among 28,000 essays of interplanetary travel are what allow submitted to NASA by K-12 students Vaneeza Rupani, a junior at Tuscaloosa us all to experience the wonders of from every U.S. state and territory rec- County High School in Northport, space exploration,” Rupani wrote in her ommending names for the the next Mars Alabama, came up with the name and contest submission. “Ingenuity is what rover. In March, the agency announced the motivation behind it during NASA’s allows people to accomplish amazing that seventh-grader Alexander Mather’s

Vaneeza Rupani, the 11th grader who named for everyone when it takes off next year the Mars Helicopter (Ingenuity), at home in Northport, Alabama. Credits: Courtesy Rupani as the first aircraft on another planet’s Family. surface,” said Bridenstine. “It took a lot of hard and ingenious work to get the essay earned him the honor of naming helicopter ready and then placed on the the rover Perseverance. But with so many rover, and there’s a lot more going to be good essays, it seemed fitting to also required. I was happy we had another choose a name for the helicopter that great name from the naming contest will accompany the rover to Mars. So finalists from which I was able to select NASA officials went back to the submitted something so representative of this essays to choose a name for the helicopter. exciting part of our next mission to Mars.” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, For more information about Ingenuity, go made the choice for the rover’s name, and to: mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine chose the name for the helicopter.

“Ingenuity encapsulates the values that our helicopter tech demo will showcase

NASA TELESCOPE NAMED FOR “MOTHER OF HUBBLE” NANCY GRACE ROMAN

universe from space. She left behind a tremendous legacy in the scientific community when she died in 2018.

“It is because of Nancy Grace Roman’s leadership and vision that NASA became a pioneer in astrophysics and launched Hubble, the world’s most powerful and productive space telescope,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I can think of no better name for WFIRST, which will be the successor to NASA’s Hubble and Webb Telescopes.”

Who Was Nancy Grace Roman?

NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is now named the Nancy Grace Nancy Grace Roman with a model Roman Space Telescope, after NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy. Credits: NASA. of an orbiting solar observatory in 1962. Credit: NASA. NASA is naming its next-generation space in the mid-2020s. It will investigate telescope currently under development, long-standing astronomical mysteries, Born on May 16, 1925, in Nashville, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope such as the force behind the universe’s Tennessee, Roman consistently persevered (WFIRST), in honor of Nancy Grace expansion, and search for distant in the face of challenges that plagued Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, planets beyond our solar system. many women of her generation interested who paved the way for space telescopes in science. By seventh grade, she knew focused on the broader universe. Considered the “mother” of NASA’s she wanted to be an astronomer. Despite Hubble Space Telescope, which being discouraged about going into sci- The newly named Nancy Grace Roman launched 30 years ago, Roman tirelessly ence – the head of Swarthmore College’s Space Telescope – or Roman Space advocated for new tools that would physics department told her he usually Telescope, for short – is set to launch allow scientists to study the broader dissuaded girls from majoring in physics,

would mean that I could no cessful, they demonstrated the value of longer do research, but the space-based astrophysics and represented challenge of formulating the precursors to Hubble. She also a program from scratch championed the International Ultraviolet that I believed would Explorer, which was built in the 1970s influence astronomy for as a joint project between NASA, ESA decades to come was too (European Space Agency) and the great to resist,” she said United Kingdom, as well as the Cosmic in a NASA interview. Background Explorer, which measured the leftover radiation from the big bang This was a difficult era and led to two of its leading scientists for women who wanted receiving the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics. to advance in scientific research. While Roman Above all, Roman is credited with making said that men generally the Hubble Space Telescope a reality. In NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is now named the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, treated her equally at the mid-1960s, she set up a committee after NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy. Credits: NASA. NASA, she also revealed of astronomers and engineers to envi- in one interview that sion a telescope that could accomplish but that she “might make it” – Roman she had to use the prefix “Dr.” with important scientific goals. She convinced earned a bachelor’s degree in astronomy her name because “otherwise, I NASA and Congress that it was a prior- from Swarthmore in 1946 and a doctorate could not get past the secretaries.” ity to launch the most powerful space from the University of Chicago in 1949. telescope the world had ever seen. But she persisted in her vision to estab- She remained at Chicago for six years lish new ways to probe the secrets of the Hubble turned out to be the most sci- and made discoveries about the compo- universe. When she arrived at NASA, entifically revolutionary space telescope sitions of stars that had implications for astronomers could obtain data from of all time. Ed Weiler, Hubble’s chief the evolution of our Milky Way galaxy. balloons, sounding rockets and airplanes, scientist until 1998, called Roman “the Knowing that her chances of achieving but they could not measure all the mother of the Hubble Space Telescope.” tenure at a university as a woman were wavelengths of light. Earth’s atmosphere slim at that time, she took a position blocks out much of the radiation that “Nancy Grace Roman was a leader and at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory comes from the distant universe. What’s advocate whose dedication contributed and made strides in researching cos- more, only a telescope in space has the to NASA seriously pursuing the field of mic questions through radio waves. luxury of perpetual nighttime and doesn’t astrophysics and taking it to new heights,” have to shut down during the day. Roman said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s Roman came to NASA in 1959, just knew that to see the universe through associate administrator for science. “Her six months after the agency had been more powerful, unblinking eyes, NASA name deserves a place in the heavens established. At that time, she served as would have to send telescopes to space. she studied and opened for so many.” the chief of astronomy and relativity in the Office of Space Science, managing Through Roman’s leadership, NASA For more information about the Roman Space astronomy-related programs and grants. launched four Orbiting Astronomical Telescope, go to: www.nasa.gov/roman. Observatories between 1966 and 1972. “I knew that taking on this responsibility While only two of the four were suc-

NASA NAMES HEADQUARTERS AFTER “HIDDEN FIGURE” MARY W. JACKSON

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine the segregated West Area Computing 2019, she was posthumously awarded announced Wednesday the agency’s Unit of the agency’s Langley Research the Congressional Gold Medal. headquarters building in Washington, Center in Hampton, Virginia. Jackson, a D.C., will be named after Mary W. mathematician and aerospace engineer, “Mary W. Jackson was part of a group Jackson, the first African American went on to lead programs influencing of very important women who helped female engineer at NASA. the hiring and promotion of women NASA succeed in getting American in NASA’s science, technology, engi- astronauts into space. Mary never Jackson started her NASA career in neering, and mathematics careers. In accepted the status quo, she helped

break barriers and open opportunities keeper, marry Levi Jackson for African Americans and women in and start a family, and work the field of engineering and technology,” a job as a U.S. Army secre- said Bridenstine. “Today, we proudly tary before her aerospace announce the Mary W. Jackson NASA career would take off. Headquarters building. It appropriately sits on ‘Hidden Figures Way,’ a reminder In 1951, Jackson was that Mary is one of many incredible and recruited by the National talented professionals in NASA’s history Advisory Committee for who contributed to this agency’s success. Aeronautics, which in 1958 Hidden no more, we will continue to was succeeded by NASA. recognize the contributions of women, She started as a research African Americans, and people of all mathematician who became backgrounds who have helped construct known as one of the human NASA’s successful history to explore.” computers at Langley. She worked under fellow “Hidden The work of the West Area Computing Figure” Dorothy Vaughan Unit caught widespread national atten- in the segregated West tion in the 2016 Margot Lee Shetterly Area Computing Unit. book “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black After two years in the com- Women Mathematicians Who Helped puting pool, Jackson received Win the Space Race.” The book was an offer to work in the Mary Winston Jackson (1921–2005) successfully made into a popular movie that same 4-foot by 4-foot Supersonic overcame the barriers of segregation and gender year and Jackson’s character was played Pressure Tunnel, a 60,000 bias to become a professional aerospace engineer by award-winning actress Janelle Monáe. horsepower wind tunnel and leader in ensuring equal opportunities capable of blasting models for future generations. Credit: NASA. “We are honored that NASA continues to with winds approaching celebrate the legacy of our mother and twice the speed of sound. There, she engineering career, she authored or grandmother Mary W. Jackson,” said, received hands-on experience conducting co-authored research numerous reports, Carolyn Lewis, Mary’s daughter. “She was experiments. Her supervisor eventually most focused on the behavior of the a scientist, humanitarian, wife, mother, suggested she enter a training pro- boundary layer of air around airplanes. and trailblazer who paved the way for gram that would allow Jackson to earn In 1979, she joined Langley’s Federal thousands of others to succeed, not only a promotion from mathematician to Women’s Program, where she worked at NASA, but throughout this nation.” engineer. Because the classes were held hard to address the hiring and promo- at then-segregated Hampton High School, tion of the next generation of female Jackson was born and raised in Hampton, Jackson needed special permission to mathematicians, engineers and scientists. Virginia. After graduating high school, join her white peers in the classroom. Mary retired from Langley in 1985. she graduated from Hampton Institute in 1942 with a dual degree in math and Jackson completed the courses, earned For additional information on Mary W. Jackson, physical sciences, and initially accepted a the promotion, and in 1958 became the “Hidden Figures,” and today’s Modern job as a math teacher in Calvert County, NASA’s first Black female engineer. Figures, visit: www.nasa.gov/modernfigures. Maryland. She would work as a book- For nearly two decades during her

BARRINGER AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

The LPI is pleased to announce the Siddharth Rajpriye Stamatios Xydous grant awardees of the Barringer Family Indian Institute of Technology Agricultural University of Athens, Greece Fund for Meteorite Impact Research: Roorkee, India The Barringer Crater Company Morgan Cox Catherine Ross established this special fund in 2002 Curtin University, Australia University of Texas – Austin, USA that provides competitive grants to eligible students to support their Raiza R. Quintero Tiolo Aurélien Temenou field research at known or sus- Curtin University, Australia University of Yaounde, Cameroon pected impact sites worldwide.

The Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite education. The Fund also reflects the For more information, visit: The Barringer Impact Research was established as a family’s long-standing commitment to Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research. memorial to recognize the contribu- responsible stewardship of the Barringer tions of the Barringer family to the Meteorite Crater and the family’s resolve field of meteoritics and their strong to maintain the crater as a unique interest in and support of research and scientific research and education site.

SSERVI ANNOUNCES 2020 AWARD WINNERS

Recognizing that science and explo- make the face of heaven so fine, that all ration go hand in hand, NASA the world will be in love with night.” created SSERVI in 2013, expanding the scope of the former NASA Lunar Dr. Bradley L. Jolliff is Professor of Earth Science Institute to include basic and Planetary Sciences and Director and applied scientific research on the of the McDonnell Center for Space Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and the Sciences at Washington University. He Martian moons Phobos and Deimos. received his Ph.D. from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and The Eugene Shoemaker Distinguished his research is focused on the study of Science Award is given to Mark Robinson. Scientist medal, Michael J. Wargo minerals and rocks of the Earth, Moon, Award, Susan Mahan Niebur Award, Mars, and meteorites, and what they Dr. Robinson is a Professor of Geological and Angioletta Coradini Award rec- reveal about conditions of formation and Sciences in ASU’s School of Earth and ognize outstanding achievement in planetary processes over the past 4.5 Space Exploration, a member of the exploration science. The winners are billion years. As a member of the Lunar NASA Advisory Council, and serves as nominated by their academic peers Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera science the Principal Investigator for the imaging and are selected by a committee team, he investigates the surface of the system on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance based at SSERVI’s central office. Moon, relating what can be seen from Orbiter. LRO has collected a treasure orbit to what is known about the Moon trove of data, making an invaluable contri- through the study of lunar meteorites and bution to our knowledge about the Moon, Apollo samples. He has made significant and Dr. Robinson’s stewardship has scientific contributions in sample analysis, enabled numerous groundbreaking dis- surface science, and remote sensing, as coveries that have created a new picture of well as laboratory studies. Professor Jolliff the Moon as a dynamic and complex body. also leads the Washington University team that is part of NASA’s Apollo Next Throughout his career, Dr. Robinson’s Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) pro- investigations have used a variety of gram. SSERVI is very pleased to present remote sensing techniques and datasets Professor Jolliff with the 2020 Eugene from a dozen NASA missions. He worked Shoemaker Distinguished Scientist Medal. on the Clementine mission–the first U.S. spacecraft launched to the Moon MICHAEL J. WARGO in over 20 years– which provided our EUGENE SHOEMAKER EXPLORATION SCIENCE AWARD first complete look at the lunar surface, DISTINGUISHED The Michael J. Wargo Exploration Science including the poles, and found evidence SCIENTIST MEDAL Award is an annual award given to a of ice in the bottom of a permanently The 2020 Eugene Shoemaker scientist or engineer who has significantly shadowed crater at the Moon’s south Distinguished Scientist Medal, named contributed to the integration of explo- pole. His collaborative research on old after American geologist and one of the ration and planetary science throughout data resurrected from the Mariner 10 founders of planetary science, Eugene their career. Dr. Michael Wargo (1951- mission to Mercury (1973-1975) extracted Shoemaker (1928-1997), is awarded 2013) was Chief Exploration Scientist compositional information about the to Bradley L. Jolliff for his significant for NASA’s Human Exploration and surface rocks that had lain hidden in scientific contributions throughout Operations Mission Directorate and was the old data for roughly 20 years. the course of his career. The award a strong advocate for the integration of includes a certificate and medal with science, engineering and technology. Much of his current research efforts the Shakespearian quote “And he will The 2020 Michael J. Wargo Exploration focus on expanding on our knowledge

of the lunar surface, paving the way Prof. Hiesinger has been a strong col- for future human and robotic explora- laborator with SSERVI and its research tion of the Moon. His discoveries and teams; his research into planetary research developments have set up a processes and the geologic evolution scientific framework through which to of terrestrial planets and moons has challenge and improve our understand- advanced our understanding of the lunar ing of processes throughout the solar chronology and helped constrain the system. SSERVI is pleased to present age of the South Pole-Aitken basin and Mark Robinson with the 2020 Michael other potential lunar landing sites. He J. Wargo Exploration Science Award. recently detailed Mission preparations for Commercial In-Situ Resource Utilization from the Florida Institute of Technology ANGIOLETTA CORADINI Demonstration and is engaged in wide in 2010, and her Ph.D. in Earth and MID-CAREER AWARD array of other projects. In addition to Planetary Science from Washington The SSERVI Angioletta Coradini being widely published and credited University in St. Louis in 2015. Before Mid-Career Award is given annually with numerous journal articles, his many joining PSI as a Research Scientist, to a mid-career scientist for broad, contributions and achievements make she served as a Postdoctoral Research lasting accomplishments related to him a highly worthy recipient of the 2020 Associate at Washington University in SSERVI fields of interest. Angioletta Angioletta Coradini Mid-Career Award. St. Louis with Dr. Bradley Jolliff. Coradini (1946-2011) was an Italian planetary scientist who has inspired SUSAN MAHAN NIEBUR Dr. Watkins is actively engaged in service astronomers around the world. The EARLY CAREER AWARD and leadership within the planetary 2019 Angioletta Coradini Mid-Career The 2019 Susan Mahan Niebur Early science community. She serves on Award is given to Dr. Harald Hiesinger, Career Award is an annual award given the Organizing Committee for the Professor of geological planetology at to an early career scientist who has Next Generation Lunar Scientists and the university of Münster in Germany. made significant contributions to the Engineers (NextGen) group, on the science or exploration communities. Executive Committee for the Lunar Professor Hiesinger is a member of both Recipients of the Susan M. Niebur Early Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), on the American and European Geophysical Career Award are researchers who are the Steering Committee for the Equity, no more than ten years from receiving Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Working their Ph.D., who have shown excellence Group, and on Blue Origin’s Science in their field and demonstrated mean- Advisory Board for their Blue Moon ingful contributions to the science and/ lander project. In addition to research and or exploration communities. Susan planetary community service, Dr. Watkins Mahan Niebur (1978-2012) was a former regularly participates in Education and Discovery Program Scientist at NASA Public Outreach in her local community, who initiated the first-ever Early Career and with the Solar System Exploration Fellowship and the annual Early Career Virtual Institute (SSERVI) Toolbox for Workshop to help new planetary scien- Research and Exploration (TREX) team. tists break into the field. This year the SSERVI is very pleased to present the prize is presented to Dr. Ryan Watkins, Susan Niebur award to Dr. Ryan Watkins. a Research Scientist with the Planetary Science Institute (PSI), and Prof. Amy Professor Amy Fagan received her B.S. in Fagan, a former Postdoctoral Fellow Geology with Honors from Washington at the Lunar and Planetary Institute and Lee University in 2006, and her now at Western Carolina University. Ph.D. in Lunar Petrology from University of Notre Dame in 2013. Prof. Fagan’s Dr. Watkins’ research focuses on inte- doctoral research under the guidance grating remote sensing data sets to of Dr. Clive Neal focused on volcanic Unions, and the Geologic Society of characterize the physical and composi- and impact processes on Mars and America. He has been recognized with tional properties of airless bodies, with the Moon. Using Mars Orbiter Laser multiple Achievement Awards from the particular emphasis on the lunar surface. Altimeter (MOLA) data, she examined European Space Agency, and has received She specializes in using photometry to the morphology of impact craters and NASA Group Achievement Awards understand physical and compositional subglacial volcanoes on Mars’ surface, as part of the Dawn Mission Science properties of the lunar surface, and in while the bulk of her research examined Team and the Lunar Reconnaissance integrating planetary data sets to assess the chemical composition of Apollo Orbiter (LRO) Team. In 2014, the landing site safety hazards for future basalts and impact melt products. International Astronomical Union named missions. Dr. Watkins obtained dual B.S. asteroid 26811 Hiesinger after him. degrees in Physics and Space Science In 2009, she was a Lunar Exploration

33 Issue 161 July 2020 © Copyright 2020 Lunar and Planetary Institute she received the Lunar and Planetary Congratulations to Drs. Jolliff, Robinson, Institute Career Development Award. Hiesinger, Watkins, and Fagan for their achievements and contributions! Her service to the professional activities of this community has been exemplary: “Each of these extremely dedicated indi- She has served on several NASA Science viduals has helped advance our scientific Mission Directorate Review Panels; as a understanding of the Moon and other tar- NASA Lunar Exploration Analysis Group get bodies,” said Greg Schmidt, Director (LEAG) member and Operations Chair; a of SSERVI. “Their outstanding research COSPAR Rapid Response Specific Action efforts are vital to the ambitious activi- Team Member; a LPSC Session Co-Chair; ties we hope to achieve in exploring the a NESF Co-Organizer, Session Co-Chair, Solar System with robots and humans.” and Panel Member; was a Co-organizer of the first annual Lunar graduate student SSERVI awards are open to the entire conference (LunGradCon) at NASA Ames research community; recipients need not in 2010, and Co-organizer of the annual reside in the U.S. nor be a U.S. citizen. Next Generation of Lunar Scientists Nominations are welcome at any time and Engineers (NGLSE) workshop. Dr. but must be submitted by March 31 Fagan is now Associate Professor in for consideration in that calendar year. the Geosciences and Natural Resources Winners are formally presented with Student Intern Supervised by Dr. David Department at Western Carolina the awards at the annual Exploration Kring, as part of SSERVI’s Center University, and is currently a NASA Science Forum each summer. for Lunar Science and Exploration Apollo Sample Principal Investigator. (CLSE) Team, quickly rising to the SSERVI is honored to present the Susan More information about these awards and level of graduate student researcher, Niebur award to Professor Amy Fagan. recipients, past awardees, and the nomination and then postdoctoral fellow. In 2012 process can be found at: sservi.nasa.gov/awards.

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES INDUCTEES IN PLANETARY SCIENCE

The National Academy of Sciences Thurnau Professor, and Gerald J. Keeler Roger announced the election of 120 members Distinguished Professor of Earth and Summons, Ph.D., and 26 international members in recogni- Environmental Sciences, Department of Massachusetts tion of their distinguished and continuing Earth and Environmental Sciences, College Institute of achievements in original research. of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Technology Summons, Schlumberger Those elected bring the total number of Marc M. Professor of active members to 2,403 and the total Hirschmann, Geobiology in the MIT Department number of international members to Ph.D., University of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary 501. International members are non-vot- of Minnesota Sciences (EAPS), was elected to the ing members of the Academy with Hirschmann is National Academy of Sciences (NAS). citizenship outside the United States. a Distinguished McKnight Veronica Vaida, Among the newly elected members University Professor in the College of Ph.D., University are the following scientists in the Science and Engineering’s Department of Colorado, Boulder planetary science community: of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Vaida is a professor in the Department Joel D. Blum, Francis Nimmo, of Chemistry Ph.D., University Ph.D., University of and a fellow in of Michigan, California, Santa Cruz the Cooperative Institute for Research Ann Arbor Nimmo is a professor in in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Blum is a John the Earth and Planetary D. MacArthur Sciences Department. For more information, visit: www.nasonline.org/ Professor, Arthur F. news-and-multimedia/news/2020-nas-election.html.

mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations. This is SpaceX’s second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard, which will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

“This is a dream come true for me and everyone at SpaceX,” said Elon Musk, chief engineer at SpaceX. “It is the culmination of an incredible amount of work by the SpaceX team, by NASA and by a number of other partners in the Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls. process of making this happen. You can look at this as the results of a hundred For the first time in history, NASA rockets from American soil on their way thousand people roughly when you add astronauts have launched from American to the International Space Station, our up all the suppliers and everyone working soil in a commercially built and operated national lab orbiting Earth,” said NASA incredibly hard to make this day happen.” American crew spacecraft on its way to Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I thank the International Space Station. The and congratulate Bob Behnken, Doug The program demonstrates NASA’s SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying Hurley, and the SpaceX and NASA commitment to investing in NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and teams for this significant achievement commercial companies through pub- Douglas Hurley lifted off at 3:22 p.m. for the United States. The launch of this lic-private partnerships and builds on EDT on May 30 on the company’s Falcon commercial space system designed for the success of American companies, 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at humans is a phenomenal demonstration including SpaceX, already deliver- NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. of American excellence and is an import- ing cargo to the space station. ant step on our path to expand human “Today a new era in human spaceflight exploration to the Moon and Mars.” Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew begins as we once again launched program at: www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew. American astronauts on American Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, the

NASA SELECTS ASTROBOTIC TO FLY WATER-HUNTING ROVER TO THE MOON

NASA has awarded Astrobotic of missions to the lunar surface begin- Moon are a prime example of how the Pittsburgh $199.5 million to deliver ning in 2024 and will bring NASA a scientific community and U.S. industry NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar step closer to developing a sustainable, are making NASA’s lunar exploration Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the long-term presence on the Moon as vision a reality,” said NASA Administrator Moon’s South Pole in late 2023. part of the agency’s Artemis program. Jim Bridenstine. “Commercial partners are changing the landscape of space The water-seeking mobile VIPER robot “The VIPER rover and the commercial exploration, and VIPER is going to be a will help pave the way for astronaut partnership that will deliver it to the big boost to our efforts to send the first

https://youtu.be/S9Y6n1G5hhc woman and next man to the lunar surface something that’s never been done cadence of two delivery opportuni- in 2024 through the Artemis program.” before – testing the instruments on the ties to the lunar surface each year. Moon as the rover is being developed. VIPER’s flight to the Moon is part of VIPER and the many payloads we will “It is an enormous honor and respon- NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload send to the lunar surface in the next sibility to be chosen by NASA to Services (CLPS) initiative, which lever- few years are going to help us realize deliver this mission of national impor- ages the capabilities of industry partners the Moon’s vast scientific potential.” tance,” said Astrobotic CEO John to quickly deliver scientific instruments Thornton. “Astrobotic’s lunar logistics and technology demonstrations to the VIPER will collect data – including the services were created to open a new Moon. As part of its award, Astrobotic location and concentration of ice – that era on the Moon. Delivering VIPER to is responsible for end-to-end services will be used to inform the first global look for water, and setting the stage for delivery of VIPER, including inte- water resource maps of the Moon. for the first human crew since Apollo, gration with its Griffin lander, launch Scientific data gathered by VIPER also embodies our mission as a company.” from Earth, and landing on the Moon. will inform the selection of future landing sites for astronaut Artemis missions by VIPER is a collaboration between various During its 100-Earth-day mission, the helping to determine locations where NASA entities and agency partners. The approximately 1,000-pound VIPER rover water and other resources can be har- spacecraft, lander and launch vehicle will roam several miles and use its four vested to sustain humans during extended that will deliver VIPER to the surface science instruments to sample various expeditions. Its science investigations of the Moon will be provided through soil environments. Versions of its three will provide insights into the evolution of NASA’s CLPS initiative as a partnership water-hunting instruments are flying the Moon and the Earth-Moon system. with industry for delivering science and to the Moon on earlier CLPS lander technology payloads to and near the deliveries in 2021 and 2022 to help test NASA has previously contracted with lunar surface. CLPS is part of the Lunar their performance on the lunar surface three companies to make CLPS deliv- Discovery and Exploration Program prior to VIPER’s mission. The rover eries to the Moon beginning in 2021. managed by the agency’s Science Mission also will have a drill to bore approxi- Astrobotic is scheduled to make its first Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters mately 3 feet into the lunar surface. delivery of other instruments to the in Washington. The VIPER mission is lunar surface next year. In April, the part of SMDs Planetary Science Division. “CLPS is a totally creative way to agency released a call for potential NASA’s Ames Research Center in advance lunar exploration,” said NASA’s future lunar surface investigations California’s Silicon Valley is managing Associate Administrator for Science and received more than 200 responses. the VIPER mission, as well as leading Thomas Zurbuchen. “We’re doing CLPS is planned to provide a steady the mission’s science, systems engineer-

ing, real-time rover surface operations and commercial partner Honeybee and flight software. The rover hardware Robotics in Altadena, California. is being designed and built by NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and For more information about VIPER, the instruments are provided by Ames, visit: www.nasa.gov/viper. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida

NASA INVESTS $51 MILLION IN INNOVATIVE IDEAS FROM U.S. SMALL BUSINESSES

NASA has selected 409 technology pro- oping next-generation aircraft our small of technologies that aim to benefit human posals for the first phase of funding from business partners play an important role.” exploration, including NASA’s Artemis the agency’s Small Business Innovation program, as well as science, technology, Research (SBIR) and Small Business More than 100 of the selected companies and aeronautics. Many of the innovations Technology Transfer (STTR) program. will be first-time recipients of a NASA also have potential applications on Earth. The contracts will provide approximately SBIR or STTR contract. Additionally, $51 million to 312 small businesses 27% of the small businesses are from To view the NASA SBIR 2020 Phase in 44 states and Washington, D.C. underrepresented groups, including I selections, visit: https://sbir.nasa. minority and women-owned businesses. gov/prg_selection/node/63001. “NASA depends on America’s small businesses for innovative technology Companies will receive up to $125,000 To view the NASA STTR 2020 Phase development that helps us achieve for each of the Phase I selections. SBIR I selections, visit: https://sbir.nasa. our wide variety of missions,” said awards are made to only a small busi- gov/prg_selection/node/63002. Jim Reuter, associate administrator ness, while STTR awards are made to for NASA’s Space Technology Mission a small business in partnership with For more information about NASA’s investment in Directorate in Washington. “Whether a non-profit research institution. space technology, visit: www.nasa.gov/spacetech. we’re landing Artemis astronauts on the Moon, sending rovers to Mars, or devel- The selected proposals represent a range

THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARS: The Greatest Scientific Detective Story of All Time By Elizabeth Howell and Nicholas Booth Arcade Publishing, 2020, 448 pp., Hardcover. $27.99. www.skyhorsepublishing.com

From The War of the Worlds to The Martian and to the amazing photographs sent back by the robotic rovers Curiosity and Opportunity, Mars has excited our imaginations as the most likely other habitat for life in the solar system. Now the Red Planet is coming under scrutiny as never before. As new missions are scheduled to launch this year from the United States and China, and with the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission now scheduled for 2022, this book recounts in full the greatest scientific detective story ever. For the first time in forty years, the missions heading to Mars will look for signs of ancient life on the world next door. It is the latest chapter in an age‑old quest that encompasses myth, false starts, red herrings, and bizarre coincidences—as well as triumphs and heartbreaking failures. This book, by two journalists with deep experience covering space exploration, is the definitive story of how life’s discovery has eluded us to date, and how it will be found somewhere and sometime this century. The Search for Life on Mars is based on more than a hundred interviews with experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere, who share their insights and stories. While it looks back to the early Mars missions such as Viking 1 and 2, the book’s focus is on the experiments and revelations from the most recent ones—including Curiosity, which continues to explore potentially habitable sites where water was once present, and the Mars Insight lander, which has recorded more than 450 marsquakes since its deployment in late 2018—as well as on the Perseverance and ExoMars rover missions ahead. And the book looks forward to the newest, most exciting frontier of all: the day, not too far away, when humans will land, make the Red Planet their home, and look for life directly.

THE BASIC CALCULUS OF PLANETARY ORBITS AND INTERPLANETARY FLIGHT: The Missions of the Voyagers, Cassini, and Juno By Alexander J. Hahn Springer, 2020, 389 pp., Hardcover. $69.99. www.springer.com

This textbook applies basic, one-variable calculus to analyze the motion both of planets in their orbits as well as interplanetary spacecraft in their trajectories. The remarkable spacecraft missions to the inner and outermost reaches of our solar system have been one of the greatest success stories of modern human history. Much of the underlying mathematical story is presented alongside the astonishing images and extensive data that NASA’s Voyager, NEAR-Shoemaker, Cassini, and Juno missions have sent back to us. First- and second-year college students in mathematics, engineering, or science, and those seeking an enriching independent study, will experience the mathematical language and methods of single variable calculus within their application to relevant conceptual and strategic aspects of the navigation of a spacecraft. The reader is expected to have taken one or two semesters of the basic calculus of derivatives, integrals, and the role that limits play. Additional prerequisites include knowledge of coordinate plane geometry, basic trigonometry, functions and graphs, including trig, inverse, exponential, and log functions. The discussions begin with the rich history of humanity’s efforts to understand the universe from the Greeks, to Newton and the Scientific Revolution, to Hubble and galaxies, to NASA and the space missions. The calculus of polar functions that plays a central mathematical role is presented in a self-contained way in complete detail. Each of the six chapters is followed by an extensive problem set that deals with and also expands on the concerns of the chapter.

Note: Product descriptions are taken from publishers’ websites. LPI is not responsible for factual content.

38 Issue 161 July 2020 © Copyright 2020 Lunar and Planetary Institute NEW AND NOTEWORTHY OXFORD DICTIONARY OF GEOLOGY & EARTH SCI- ENCES, FIFTH EDITION By Michael Allaby Oxford University Press, 2020, 720 pp., Paperback. $18.95. global.oup.com

This new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Geology & Earth Sciences includes 10,000 entries which cover all areas of geoscience, including planetary science, oceanography, palaeontology, mineralogy and volcanology. In this edition, 675 new entries have been added and include expanded coverage of planetary geology and earth-observing-satellites. The entries are also complemented by more than 130 diagrams and numerous web links that are listed on a regularly updated dedicated companion website. Appendices supple- ment the A-Z entries and have been extended to include three new tables on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, Avalanche Classes, and the Volcanic Explosivity Index. The list of satellite missions has also been revised and updated to include recent developments. This dictionary is an authoritative, and jargon-free resource for students of geology, geography, geosciences, physical science, and those in related disciplines.

THERMODYNAMICS IN EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES, SECOND EDITION By Jibamitra Ganguly Springer, 2020, 610 pp., Hardcover. $109.99. www.springer.com

This book presents the fundamental principles of Classical thermodynamics, supplemented by an overview of Statistical Thermodynamics, and explores their applications to a wide variety of problems in the Earth and Planetary sciences, spanning the range from the Earth’s core, mantle and crust, aqueous solutions and fluid-rock interactions to solar nebula, terrestrial planets and asteroids. The topics covered include the laws of classical thermodynamics, microscopic foundations of thermodynamic properties, critical phenomena and near-critical processes, equations of state, phase transitions and phase equilibria, the Earth’s interior and adiabatic processes, terrestrial magma ocean, thermodynamics of solutions, element and stable isotope fractionations, electrolyte solutions and electrochemistry, osmotic processes, surface effects, entropy production and kinetic implications, thermodynamics of chemical diffusion, estimation of thermochemical properties, and mathematical methods of classical thermodynamics. There is also a wealth of solved problems relating to both fundamental concepts and applications to natural processes.

FROM CAVE MAN TO CAVE MARTIAN: Living in Caves on the Earth, Moon and Mars By Manfred von Ehrenfried Springer, 2019, 320 pp., Paperback. $34.99. www.springer.com

This book explores the practicality of using the existing subsurface geology on the Moon and Mars for protection against radiation, thermal extremes, micrometeorites and dust storms rather than building surface habitats at great expense at least for those first few missions. It encourages NASA to plan a precursor mission using this concept and employ a “Short Stay” Opposition Class mission to Mars as the first mission rather than the “Long Stay” concept requiring a mission that is too long, too dangerous and too costly for man’s first missions to Mars. Included in these pages is a short history on the uses of caves by early humans over great periods of time. It then describes the ongoing efforts to research caves, pits, tunnels, lava tubes, skylights and the associated technologies that pertain to potential lunar and Mars exploration and habitation. It describes evidence for existing caves and lava tubes on both the Moon and Mars. The work of noted scientists, technologists and roboticists are referenced and described. This ongoing work is more extensive than one would think and is directly applicable to longer term habitation and exploration of the Moon and Mars. Emphasis is also given to the operational aspects of working and living in lunar and Martian caves and lava tubes.

Note: Product descriptions are taken from publishers’ websites. LPI is not responsible for factual content.

SPACEFARERS: How Humans Will Settle the Moon, Mars, and Beyond By Christopher Wanjek Harvard University Press, 2020, 400 pp., Hardcover. $29.95. www.hup.harvard.edu/

More than fifty years after the Apollo 11 Moon landing, why is there so little human presence in space? Will we ever reach Mars? What will it take to become a multiplanet species, colonizing the solar system and traveling to other stars? Spacefarers meets these questions head on. While many books have speculated on the possibility of living beyond the Earth, few have delved into the practical challenges or plausible motives for leaving the safe confines of our home planet. Author Christopher Wanjek argues that there is little doubt we will be returning to the Moon and exploring Mars in the coming decades, given the potential scientific and commercial bonanza. Private industry is already taking a leading role and earning profits from human space activity. This can be, Wanjek suggests, a sustainable venture and a natural extension of earthbound science, business, and leisure. He envisions hotels in low-earth orbit and mining, tourism, and science on the Moon. He also proposes the slow, steady development of science bases on Mars, to be followed by settlements if Martian gravity will permit reproduction and healthy child development. An appetite for wonder will take us far, but if we really want to settle new worlds, we’ll need the earnest plans of engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Wanjek introduces us to those planners, who are striving right now to make life in space a reality.

100 THINGS TO SEE IN THE NIGHT SKY: Your Illustrated Guide to the Planets, Satellites, Constellations, and More, Expanded Edition By Dean Regas Adams Media, 2020, 256 pp., Hardcover. $21.99. www.simonandschuster.com

Discover the amazing wonders of the night sky with this expanded edition to 100 Things to See in the Night Sky, perfect for every amateur stargazer and armchair astronomer. Keep your feet on the ground and experience the night sky to the fullest by exploring planets, satellites, and constellations with this all-inclusive reference guide to space. This book is full of information about the many amazing things you can see with a telescope, or just your naked eye. From shooting stars to constellations and planets to satellites, this book gives you a clear picture of what you can see on any given night. Learn about the celestial bodies that have captured people’s imaginations for centuries, with specific facts alongside traditional myths, beautifully illustrated photographs, and star charts that will help you know where to look for the best view. With this illuminating guide, you’ll enjoy hours of stargazing, whether you’re travelling, camping, sitting in your back yard, or simply flipping through the beautiful images in this book.

THE CHART OF COSMIC EXPLORATION Produced by Pop Chart Lab 36” x 24” poster. $40.00. www.popchart.co

This stellar schematic traces the trajectories of over 100 exploratory instruments to ever slip the surly bonds of lower Earth orbit and successfully complete its mission. The poster is printed on 100- pound archival stock, making it very tough. It measures approximately 36 inches wide by 24 inches tall.

Note: Product descriptions are taken from publishers’ websites. LPI is not responsible for factual content.

ASTRONOMY FLUXX CARD GAME Produced by Looney Labs $16.00. www.looneylabs.com

If you’ve ever dreamt of being an astronaut, Astronomy Fluxx is for you! Fluxx is a game about change that begins very simply, with a couple of core rules, and gradually becomes more complex as cards are played that change the rules. With the perfect blend of luck and strategy, every game is different! This version of Fluxx takes you to outer space, but this time it’s not sci-fi. Featuring stunning NASA photographs of planets and other astronomical objects, you’ll have a blast playing this game while learning about space and humankind’s space flight history. For ages 8 and up.

OUTER SPACE MAGNETIC PLAY SCENE Produced by Petit Collage $24.00. www.petitcollage.com

Decorate a scene in outer space or the inside of a space station! This portable magnetic playset features two backgrounds to choose from and over 50 magnetic play pieces for creative play with an endless combination of scenes. The set comes with a portable easel-style box with an elastic loop for easy storage between play. Made from recycled materials and printed with vegetables inks, this set meets and exceeds all safety standards. For ages 3 and up.

AWESOME SPACE TECH: 40 Amazing Infographics for Kids By Jenn Dlugos and Charlie Hatton Prufrock Press, 2019, 72 pp., Hardcover. $17.95. www.prufrock.com

Space may be the “final frontier”—but how do we learn about it, look deeper into it, and live in it? The infographics in this book will rocket you through a universe of powerful telescopes, distant probes, and high-speed spacecraft. Get ready to buzz by comets, land on alien planets, peer into the universe’s past, and go where no one (except a handful of rovers and space probes) has gone before! We live in a complicated cosmos, but this book breaks down the complex, the confusing, and the downright kooky to reveal the fascinating details and hidden wonders that are out of this world. For ages 9 to 12.

PEANUTS – SNOOPY GOES TO SPACE: Book and Flashlight Set Produced by Phoenix International Publications 2020, 10 pp., Board book and flashlight. $15.99.www.pikidsmedia.com

This boxed set includes a STEM-based story plus a real working flashlight! Everyone’s favorite bea- gle knows space is a cool place! Snoopy, the world famous astronaut, and Woodstock are on their way to Mars! Learn STEM facts as you read along and follow the adventure. Shine the flashlight on the pages to see things shimmer and glow! This set includes an interactive glow board book and a fully functionally five-button flashlight produced in cooperation with NASA that lights up and plays outer space sounds. Hands-on interaction engages young readers, and multisensory reading experiences stimulate the imagination. For ages 18 months and up.

Note: Product descriptions are taken from publishers’ websites. LPI is not responsible for factual content.

August | September | October | November | December

August

11th Planetary Crater Consortium Meeting August 5–7 Online www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/crater2020/

43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly August 15–23 Sydney, Australia www.cospar-assembly.org

Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems and Habitable Planets August 19–26 Torun, Poland eai.faj.org.pl

September

Planetary Science: The Young Solar System September 6–12 Quy Nhon, Vietnam www.icisequynhon.com/conferences/2020/planetary_science

Ocean Worlds 5 September 8–9 Woods Hole, Massachusetts www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/oceanworlds2020/

Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group September 14–16 Online www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/leag2020/

NASA Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) September 14–18 Tokyo, Japan www.abgradcon.org/

Europlanet Science Congress September 21–October 9 Virtual www.epsc2020.eu/

Comet-Like Activity of Small Bodies in the Solar System September 22–25 Tatranska Lomnica, Slovakia www.cometactivity2020.eu

October

Martian Geological Enigmas: From the Late Noachian Epoch to the Present Day October 5–7 Houston, Texas www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/martianenigmas2020/

Thermal Infrared Astronomy — Past, Present and Future October 12–16 Garching, Germany https://www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2020/IR2020.html

71st International Astronautical Congress 2020 October 12–16 Dubai, United Arab Emirates www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2020/

International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Automation in Space October 19–21 Online www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/isairas2020/

GSA Annual Meeting October 25–28 Montreal, Quebec, Canada community.geosociety.org/gsa2020/home

52nd Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society October 25–30 Spokane, Washington dps.aas.org/meetings/current

Ultraviolet Astronomy in the XXI Century October 26–31 Vitoria, Spain www.nuva.eu/workshop2020/

November

Apophis T-9 Years: Knowledge Opportunities for the Science of Planetary Defense November 9–10 Online www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/apophis2020/

Outer Planet Moon-Magnetosphere Interaction Workshop November 5–6 Noordwijk, Netherlands https://indico.esa.int/event/337

Astrobiology 2020 November 9–13 Vredefort Dome, South Africa astrobiology.uj.ac.za/

36th International Geological Congress November 9–14 New Delhi, India www.36igc.org/

Threats from the Surroundings: An E-Workshop on the Importance of Environment for the Evolution of Protoplanetary Discs and Formation of Planets November 10–12 Online www.eso.org/sci/meetings/2020/tfts2020.html

Hera Workshop November 11–13 Nice, France www.cosmos.esa.int/web/hera-community-workshop

18th Meeting of the Venus Exploration Group (VEXAG) November 16–18 Pasadena, California www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/meetings/vexag-18/

Magnetism and Accretion November 16–20 Cape Town, South Africa ma2020.saao.ac.za/

3rd Annual Interstellar Probe Exploration Workshop November 17–19 Silver Spring, Maryland www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/interstellarprobe2020/

5th International Workshop on Instrumentation for Planetary Missions 2020 November 18–20 Tokyo, Japan www2.rikkyo.ac.jp/web/ipm2020/

Modeling, Observing, and Understanding Flows and Magnetic Fields in the Earth’s Core and in the Sun November 30–December 4 Cambridge, United Kingdom www.newton.ac.uk/event/dytw03

December

AGU Fall Meeting December 7–11 San Francisco, California www.agu.org/

2021 Upcoming Events

January | March | April | June

January

24th Meeting of the NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group January 26–27 Online www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/

March

52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference March 15–19 Online www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2021/

16th Spacecraft Charging and Technology Conference April 12–16 Cocoa Beach, Florida www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/sctc2020/

June

Mercury 2021: Current and Future Science of the Innermost Planet June 8–11 Orléans, France mercury2020.ias.u-psud.fr/main_1st.php

Asteroids, Comets, Meteors Conference June 20–25 Flagstaff, Arizona www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/acm2021/