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THE PLANETARY REPORT MARCH ICY ANALOGUE EQUINOX 2017 COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY ON ANTARCTICA VOLUME 37, NUMBER 1 planetary.org

EARTH-LIKE C ’ FADING FORTUNES C PLANETARY DEFENSE UPDATE VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT KATE HOWELLS is ’s Global Community Outreach Manager.

Curiosity Unites Us All

IN 1986, The Planetary Society established organizations like the Lahore Astronomi- a volunteer program and invited members cal Society and the Khwarizmi Science who wanted to be more involved to set up Society to grow and strengthen their local displays in local libraries and shopping space community. centers. The Society’s goal was to support In every report from our volunteers in a wider-ranging program of volunteer-led Pakistan, we hear the same positive results. lectures on space topics. They go out into their cities to share their Now, more than 30 years later, The knowledge of the cosmos, and there they Planetary Society’s volunteer program has find eager learners. Volunteer Muhammad grown far beyond those initial dreams. We Imran regularly organizes telescope observ- currently support a worldwide network of ing nights for kids in his area, and reports passionate volunteers who create and drive back every time with the perceptive and

ABOVE Outreach innovative educational outreach programs creative questions they have about the solar Coordinator Roshaan tailored to diverse communities. Wherever system. And volunteer Zara Shafique, after Bukhari and fellow they are, Planetary Society volunteers bring visiting her former school to present a lesson Planetary Society the wonders of space exploration down to on the OSIRIS-REx mission, was moved by the volunteers in Pakistan organize space Earth, growing and nurturing a global com- students’ , calling it “an inspiration exploration events and munity of space advocates. in itself.”

telescope viewing for a A fantastic example of today’s Global Vol- Regardless of where we are, how we live, or Photos courtesy of Roshaan Bukhari, Muhammad Imran, and Zara Shafique wide variety of audiences. unteer Network is the work being done by what we look like, human beings have curious our volunteers in Pakistan, led by outreach minds. People from all walks of life share CENTER Muhammad Imran shares views of coordinator Roshaan Bukhari. an innate desire to understand the universe the cosmos with children Roshaan and his volunteers organize we live in. And through the incredible work in poverty-stricken presentations on space science and explora- of our volunteers, The Planetary Society is neighborhoods. tion for audiences large and small, reaching able to reach more people and inspire more people of all ages and demographics. They curiosity, bringing the passion, beauty, and RIGHT Zara Shafique take telescopes into poverty-stricken neigh- joy of exploration to the citizens of our world. (in yellow) is moved and inspired by the borhoods, giving kids the chance to glimpse To learn more about The Planetary Soci- curiosity of students the planets of our solar system. They work ety’s Global Volunteer Network, check out from her former school. with schools across the country to inspire planetary.org/about/volunteers. If you’d students to learn science and expand their like to become a volunteer yourself, go to horizons. And they collaborate with local planetary.org/volunteer. CONTENTS MARCH EQUINOX 2017

Wonderfully Habitable Worlds? Franck Marchis expounds on what we know—and don’t 6 know—about the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system.

COVER STORY Antarctica 9 Michael Carroll and Rosaly Lopes describe the challenges of working and doing science at the bottom of our world.

The Fading Fortunes of Mars 15 Casey Dreier observes the rise and potential fall of NASA’s .

DEVELOPMENTS IN SPACE SCIENCE A Planetary Defense Update 20 Bruce Betts reports on the work of our Shoemaker Grant winners, and an upcoming planetary defense conference.

ADVOCATING FOR SPACE Welcome to the New Uncertainty 23 Casey Dreier wonders about NASA’s future under a new administration.

DEPARTMENTS 2 Volunteer Spotlight Curiosity unites us all.

4 Your Place in Space on a very busy spring. Photos courtesy of Roshaan Bukhari, Muhammad Imran, and Zara Shafique 22 What’s Up? Planets in the morning and evening skies.

24 Snapshots from Space Emily Lakdawalla shows off a tiny moonlet inside Saturn’s rings.

ON THE COVER: Starkly beautiful, Antarctica is the coldest, driest, windiest continent on Earth. Thanks to the Antarctic Treaty, it is also a protected ecozone that supports ongoing scientific research by more than 4,000 scientists from around the world. Here, otherworldly towers of ice appear (about 9 meters, or 30 feet, high) to march up the slopes of Mount Erebus, Antarctica’s only active volcano. Some scientists speculate that geologically active, watery moons such as Europa and Enceladus might also sport features like these. Photo: Michael Carroll

CONTACT US The Planetary Report (ISSN 0736-3680) is published quarterly at the Editor DONNA E. STEVENS The Planetary Society editorial offices of The Planetary Society, 60 South Los Robles Avenue, Art Director LOREN A. ROBERTS for HEARKEN CREATIVE 60 South Los Robles Avenue Pasadena, CA 91101-2016, 626-793-5100. It is available to members Copy Editors AXN ASSOCIATES & KARL STULL Pasadena, CA 91101-2016 of The Planetary Society. Annual dues are $50 (U.S. dollars) for Technical Editor JAMES D. BURKE General Calls: 626-793-5100 members in the United States, as well as in Canada and other countries. Science Editor BRUCE BETTS E-mail: [email protected] Printed in USA. Third-class postage at Pasadena, California, and at an Chief Operating Officer JENNIFER VAUGHN Internet: planetary.org additional mailing office. Canada Post Agreement Number 87424. Director of Communications ERIN GREESON

Viewpoints expressed in articles and editorials are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent positions of The Planetary Society, its officers, or its advisers. © 2017 by The Planetary Society. All Rights Reserved. The Planetary Society and The Planetary Report: Registered Trademarks ® The Planetary Society. Planetfest™ The Planetary Society. YOUR PLACE IN SPACE

COFOUNDERS BILL NYE is chief executive 1934–1996 officer of The Planetary Society. BRUCE MURRAY 1931–2013

LOUIS D. FRIEDMAN Executive Director Emeritus

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman of the Board DANIEL T. GERACI Founder & co-CEO Arithmos Financial Innovations

President JAMES BELL Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, A Very Busy Spring Arizona State University Vice President Advocating for Space Policy and Science Literacy HEIDI HAMMEL Executive Vice President, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Chief Executive Officer BILL NYE Science Educator Secretary LIKE MANY OF YOU, I want to see can watch the video at planet.ly/TrumpLetter. C. WALLACE HOOSER Associate Professor of Radiology, make it to Mars while I’m still breathing Earth More people are watching us, learning about University of Texas Southwestern Medical School air. Through strong leadership and good space us, and supporting us than ever. There’s a Treasurer LON LEVIN policy, we can realize this dream. new movement for space, and you—we—are President and CEO GEOshare LLC As you’ll recall, in 2015 we convened a playing a leading role. Thank you all. By pro- G. SCOTT HUBBARD Professor, Department of workshop of experts to examine the practical- moting planetary science, we help citizens Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University ity of such an audacious endeavor. The result- everywhere know and appreciate the cosmos ALEXIS LIVANOS ing analysis showed that we could get humans and our place within it. In fact, science is how Research Professor, Faculty Associate Engineering & Applied Science, in orbit at Mars by 2030 if we just apply the we know anything at all about the universe California Institute of Technology resources we have now in a focused fashion. we live in. JOHN LOGSDON Professor Emeritus, Space Policy Institute, Our experts showed an executable and afford- In addition to this movement for space, The George Washington University ROBERT PICARDO able sequence of missions that would take there’s an overarching movement for science Actor people out to Mars and back. But to be able to happening. A group of scientists has organized BRITNEY SCHMIDT Assistant Professor continue to do what it does best, NASA needs the March for Science, which will take place School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology support from the U.S. president and his admin- on April 22, or Earth Day. I am serving as an BIJAL “BEE” THAKORE Regional Coordinator for Asia Pacific, istration. honorary cochair for the march, and The Plan- Space Generation Advisory Council FILLMORE WOOD In this issue, Casey Dreier, our director of etary Society is an official partner. I will march Vice President and Regional Counsel, BP, retired space policy, lays out the historical trajectory at the main event in Washington, D.C., but INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL of Mars exploration—and its future decline, there will be upward of 400 sister marches ROGER-MAURICE BONNET Executive Director, unless funding is confirmed. And, because we around the world. We will assemble with International Space Science Institute Group photo: Andrew Pauly, The Planetary Society; LightSail display photo: London Science Museum YASUNORI MATOGAWA are nothing if not optimistic, our feature article people everywhere, whether they are formal Associate Executive Director, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency balances the tone of this issue. “Antarctica: scientists or thoughtful citizens from other MAMORU MOHRI Director, National Museum An Alien Ice World on Earth,” describes the walks of life, to march in support of science. of Emerging Science and Innovation extreme conditions scientists must adapt to We will march to advocate for space, and we RISTO PELLINEN Director of Science in Space Research, in order to do planetary science in this harsh will march for unity. When we explore the Finnish Meteorological Institute

ADVISORY COUNCIL environment. Antarctica has a lot to teach cosmos, we come together and accomplish BUZZ ALDRIN RICHARD BERENDZEN future Mars astronauts. extraordinary things. Space brings out the best JACQUES BLAMONT ROBERT. D. BRAUN The Planetary Society has delivered a list in us. Science connects us. DAVID BRIN JAMES CANTRELL of five recommendations to the current U.S. This movement for science, science literacy, FRANKLIN CHANG-DIAZ FRANK DRAKE OWEN GARRIOTT administration on how NASA should proceed and space exploration is very important to GARRY E. HUNT BRUCE JAKOSKY to keep the pace of Mars and planetary explora- me. Outside of my job as your CEO, I have THOMAS D. JONES CHARLES E. KOHLHASE JR. tion going ever forward. In addition to a white been busy with new projects that will deliver LAURIE LESHIN JON LOMBERG paper, we released an open letter to President science education to millions. My new Netflix ROSALY LOPES HANS MARK Trump summarizing these recommendations. show, called Bill Nye Saves the World, pre- BOB MCDONALD JOHN MINOGUE The video “went viral” and became our - mieres on Netflix April 21. Two of the thirteen JOHN RHYS-DAVIES KIM STANLEY ROBINSON DONNA L. SHIRLEY watched ever, generating news coverage in episodes are about space exploration and the PETE SLOSBERG KEVIN STUBE dozens of major global news outlets and more search for life. Each show is about a half hour, LORNE TROTTIER NEIL deGRASSE TYSON than one million views within a week. You so instead of the traditional “See you next

4 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 LEFT Bill poses for a giant selfie with member reception attendees at South by Southwest.

BELOW Our LightSail on display at the London Science Museum.

week” at the end of each episode, I encour- founder Carl Sagan discussing solar sailing on age the audience (you) to “Watch another one!” The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson to the THIS IS YOUR It’s the modern model of television viewing, successful launch of our LightSail® 1 spacecraft ORGANIZATION, and it’s exciting. I hope you watch and enjoy and LightSail 2’s successful day in the life test. AND WE WANT TO these shows. The crew and I really are trying At the festival, we held a special reception for HEAR FROM YOU. to change the world. members from the Austin area. It was very What do you think about The Also this spring, my first book for middle- satisfying to see and spend some time with Planetary Society’s mission school kids, Jack and the Geniuses at the Bottom so many young people who are passionate Group photo: Andrew Pauly, The Planetary Society; LightSail display photo: London Science Museum and vision? What is your of the World, will be released. In this book, about science. opinion of our programs regular kid Jack and his exceptional, brilliant Finally, I made it to England to visit our and strategies? How do you foster brother and sister are fictional, but very LightSail engineering model, which has been feel about being a member? scientific. They travel to Antarctica and have on display at the London Museum of Science, E-mail your thoughts to quite an adventure. It’s the first in a series that the world’s second most-visited science [email protected] I, along with Greg Mone, my cowriter on the museum. The staff gave me a great tour of this or write to Members’ project, have been working on for a few years. marvelous public space. It is a great achieve- Dialogue, The Planetary I’m hoping to inspire a few young minds. ment to land our spacecraft in one of the Society, 60 S. Los Robles It’s been a busy spring. As I write, I just got world’s most renowned science museums as Avenue, Pasadena, CA, 91101. back from South by Southwest, the music and anticipation builds for LightSail 2. Thanks! film festival held every year in Austin, Texas. At The Planetary Society, we undertake and There, a new independent film documentary support these projects to advance space explo- called Bill Nye: Science Guy screened before ration. By knowing more about the cosmos, we a crowd of industry people and film enthusi- will know more about ourselves. Thank you for asts. As you may infer, it’s about me, and my your strong support! quest to promote science literacy. And I’m proud to say that The Planetary Society is well represented throughout the film, from our co-

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 5 Wonderfully Habitable Worlds? Scientists Find Seven Earth-like Planets Around a Nearby Star

IN MAY 2016, Michaël Gillon of Belgium’s Spitzer telescope is one of the instruments University of Liège and his team announced they selected for an ambitious program that the discovery of three Earth-sized exoplan- called for monitoring the TRAPPIST-1 system ets around TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool M-dwarf almost continuously for twenty days. Spitzer ABOVE Scientists using star, using the small TRAPPIST telescope at and ground-based telescopes allowed the NASA’s Spitzer Space European Southern Observatory (ESO)-La team to detect 34 transits, more than they Telescope have confirmed Silla, Chile. It was an exciting discovery, yet on had anticipated, suggesting the existence of four more planets in that day no one could possibly have imagined additional exoplanets in the system. orbit around dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, bringing that less than a year later they would make After careful analysis, the data revealed the known total of rocky, another significant discovery involving the the presence of seven Earth-sized exoplan- Earth-size planets in same system. But here we are: on February ets (named TRAPPIST-1 b, c, d, e, f, g, and the TRAPPIST family to 22, 2017, they announced in Nature the discov- h) in orbit around this M-type star. Because seven. This view from the ery of seven potentially habitable Earth-like their orbital periods are short (fewer than second planet in the system, worlds in the TRAPPIST-1 system. twelve days for planets b through g), several TRAPPIST-1b, shows the evening sky as it might look TRAPPIST-1 is a fairly inconspicuous star transits were detected during the campaign. from the side of the planet in our Milky Way. Small (8 percent the mass Accurate measurements of those tiny events facing away from its sun. of the Sun) and cold (half the temperature of (which show 0.6 percent dimming of the the Sun), it is a member of an ultracool dwarf star) provide a wealth of information about population that represents 15 percent of the the planets’ orbits, sizes, and even masses, star population of our galaxy. In early 2016, by measuring precisely the timings of the Gillon and his team detected the transits (i.e., transits that are perturbed by the gravity of the shadow of a planet passing between its the other planets. host star and Earth) of three exoplanets at the SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT inner edge of the habitable zone of their star. Illustration: Ron Miller Energized and excited by this discovery, THE TRAPPIST-1 SYSTEM? the team requested and received additional It’s very tight. The most distant planet (h) is telescope time to follow up on this system at 0.06 astronomical unit (AU) from its star. during the second half of 2016. NASA’s The closest one is at 0.01 AU. For comparison,

6 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 Mercury orbits at 0.39 AU from our Sun. This No, we have not yet discovered a cousin planetary system is not equivalent to our solar of Earth, much less seven of them. The mea- system, but more a minuscule version of it, surements provide interesting information comparable in size and mass ratio to about these exoplanets; however, their loca- and its . tions in the habitable zone of their star do not Similar to our solar system, these exoplan- ets travel circular orbits, all of which go in the same direction. They probably formed together with their star more than 500 million years ago. The depth of the transits (how much star- light gets blocked by the planets) provides a measurement of the radius of the planets, which are similar to Earth (b, c, e, f, g) or Mars (d, h), so they range from 75 to 110 percent the size of Earth. The data are accurate enough to detect mutual gravitational effects, so we can infer the mass of the first six planets and, hence, their density. These are probably rocky worlds that range in density from 60 to 117 percent that of Earth. Considering the amount of energy they receive from their star, planets e, f, and g might have temperatures suitable for the presence of It all started with beer. liquid water on their surfaces, if their atmo- TRAPPIST-1, the star and its seven planets, was discovered with two spheres are similar to Earth’s. telescopes—one in Morocco and one in Chile—also named TRAPPIST WHAT CAN’T WE SAY ABOUT (Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescopes). The tele- THE TRAPPIST-1 SYSTEM? scopes were built by the University of Liège and Geneva Observatory. Michaël Gillon and Emmanuël Jehin have nicknamed the new planets This is not the first discovery of a system with after their favorite beers, which are brewed by Trappist monks at Orval this many exoplanets. Kepler-90 is another Abbey, a monastery in southern Belgium. system with seven exoplanets discovered by transit measurements. Several of those exo- Now, based on the success of their first project, the team is building planets are larger than Earth and are probably a new observatory called SPECULOOS (Search for habitable Planets ice and gas giants. HR8832 and HD10180 have Eclipsing Ultra-cOOl Stars) comprised of four telescopes. SPECULOOS seven planets that were discovered by radial is also the name of a famous Belgian cookie. velocity (a shift, or “wobble,” in the parent star’s light spectrum). In both cases, the exo- planets are massive, at least ten times the mass of Earth. The host stars also have a mass similar imply that they are habitable. For instance, to our Sun. What is crucial here is that, for the Mars and Venus are in the habitable zone

Illustration: Ron Miller first time, we have discovered seven temper- of our Sun but are not habitable anymore. ate exoplanets, six of which we could say are In other words, it is too early to say if there rocky, in orbit around an M-dwarf star. There are oceans on their surfaces. TRAPPIST-1 is are many such stars in our galaxy, so there are located about 40 light-years from us, so we probably a lot of worlds like these out there! will probably need the large aperture of the

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 7 WONDERFULLY HABITABLE WORLDS?

Mars h

d Mercury Venus e

g c

b

Earth f

HABITABLE ZONE

James Webb Space Telescope or a dedicated reveal the existence of seven temperate ones space telescope like European Space Agency’s around a small star that could live forever. The Atmospheric Remote-sensing field of exoplanet research is booming. Large-survey (ARIEL) to detect the presence A team led by Emmanuël Jehin (coauthor of an atmosphere and derive its composition. of the Nature paper) is currently building Using the , the team SPECULOOS (a TRAPPIST-style telescope on ABOVE Top view of our has tried to detect an exosphere on one of the steroids), made of four 1-meter robotic tele- inner solar system and planets, but without success so far. scopes installed at Chile’s Cerro Paranal. With the TRAPPIST-1 planetary No, we have not detected life on those exo- this telescope, the team will survey 10 times system showing the circular worlds. In my opinion, life is the result of a more red dwarfs than TRAPPIST did. Soon we orbits of the seven Earth- complex cascade of random events, and we could expect the discovery of a dozen systems Illustration: Loren A. Roberts based on information from F. Marchis, H. Marchis, and NASA/JPL-CALTECH like exoplanets. The suns, planets, and orbits are not to don’t really know if those exoplanets, located similar to this one. We will have the opportu- scale; the entire TRAPPIST near an ultracool star, are suitable for life. nity to explore the diversity of atmospheres set of planets could fit inside They are very close to TRAPPIST-1 and may be and climates, and potentially life, on Earth-like Mercury’s orbit. The blue tidally locked, showing the same hemisphere worlds out there. area corresponds to the to their star at all times. The existence of life The discovery of these strange new worlds habitable zone of the star on worlds with temperatures that vary from where life could flourish is the beginning of an where liquid water could exist on the surface of those worlds. one hemisphere to the other is difficult to exciting time for astronomers and biologists—a imagine. It will take years of observations time when we are beginning to see the unimag- and modeling to understand whether life can inable, a time when life as we don’t know it exist on such worlds. can be imaged and studied. We will probably Last year, astronomers announced the need to build complex and expensive instru- discovery of a potentially ments to understand those worlds. But what around Proxima Centauri, located only 4.2 an astonishing, awe-inspiring, life-changing light-years away from us. Now these scientists prize to win, don’t you think?

FRANCK MARCHIS is senior planetary astronomer and chairman of the SETI Institute’s Exoplanet Group. This article originally appeared on his Cosmic Diary blog at planet.ly/TRAPPISTworlds and is adapted and reprinted here with his permission.

8 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 A SPECIAL REPORT BY MICHAEL CARROLL WITH ROSALY LOPES Antarctica An Alien Ice World on Earth

WHEN ERNEST SHACKLETON searched southernmost active volcano, Mount for explorers to accompany him on a Erebus. In the 2016–2017 season, only South Polar expedition in December 32 people stayed on the mountain for 1913, his ad is said to have read, “Safe longer than a day. NASA/Jet Propulsion return doubtful.” Today, Antarctic ex- Laboratory volcanologist Rosaly Lopes ploration still holds elements of danger and I were among those privileged few. (a well-loved researcher lost his life recently in a snowmobile crash), but the ONE MUST HAVE a very good reason for National Science Foundation and other going to Antarctica, and an even better organizations have set in place ways reason for going to the Mt. Erebus to make the Harsh Continent a safer volcano. We traveled to the southern place. Through their efforts, hundreds continent as guests of the National of people are able to carry out research Science Foundation’s Antarctica Writers annually in the most remote corners and Artists Program. According to NSF’s of Antarctica’s frozen wilderness, from Peter West, the agency sends just three glacial meteorite fields to the Mars-like or four artists to Antarctica each summer Dry Valleys. season to “help communicate the signifi- There are still regions on Antarc- cance of the science done there—and the tica that provide daunting challenges challenges of working and doing science to access. One of these is the world’s successfully in that hostile environment— Illustration: Loren A. Roberts based on information from F. Marchis, H. Marchis, and NASA/JPL-CALTECH

A series of ice towers builds along volcanic vents on the flanks of Antarctica’s Photo: Rosaly Lopes Mt. Erebus.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 9 TOP Erebus is Earth’s southernmost non-dormant volcano; it has been active for 1.3 million years. With a summit elevation of about 3,800 meters (12,500 feet), Erebus is the second- highest volcano on the Antarctic continent.

LOWER LEFT The remote, forlorn-looking Fang Glacier tent camp. A stay in these unheated Scott tents prepares explorers heading to the general public. Many scientists are good ices lock them into place. for the summit of Erebus. communicators, but art reaches people in a Many such analogs exist in Antarctica. Its different way than data or graphs.” dry valleys are famous for their Mars-like con- LOWER RIGHT A typical Seasoned researcher Lopes was a must-go ditions. Sheltered from the Antarctic Ice Sheet freezer-style door candidate for the trip as she is one of the by the Transantarctic Mountains, these arid, handle in Antarctica. foremost volcanologists at the Jet Propulsion chilled hollows host subsurface ice, frozen Laboratory, and an expert on volcanoes of the lakes, and rocky gravel, making them the outer solar system. My appeal to the NSF lay closest Martian analog on the planet, and a in the fact that I have often depicted volcanic prime target for astrobiologists searching for landscapes on other worlds (and written hints about life in the cosmos. about them as well). Our backgrounds helped Antarctica also offers analogs to locales convince the Foundation that our expedition farther afield: fractures and pressure ridges to McMurdo Station and, ultimately, to the sculpt the sea ice in ways reminiscent of Jupi- slopes of Mt. Erebus was a good investment. ter’s oceanic moon Europa. Mt. Erebus, prime Specifically, we journeyed to Antarctica in target for our little team, builds eerie ice towers search of planetary analogs. The concept is one around vents on its flanks, perhaps presag- of the most important in the study of distant ing volcanic forms that future explorers will worlds: Earth exhibits terrain and geology that find at the geysers of Enceladus or Triton. In bear strong resemblance to features we see on addition, Erebus is one of only six volcanoes on

other planets and moons. For example, the Earth with active lava lakes, making it a close Crater photo: Carsten Peter layered terrain of the Martian poles, put down cousin to Jupiter’s violent, volcanic moon Io. by periodic dust storms and seasonal winds, While these analogs are valuable to planetary looks a lot like the layered terrains in the Icelan- scientists, they also serve as a critical tool for dic glacier Vatnajokull, where periodic volcanic astronomical artists, who depict alien vistas at eruptions drape the ice with ash before winter resolutions not yet available from spacecraft.

10 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 ANTARCTICA

The study of planetary analogs carries far derness, cooperation is a matter of survival. more urgency than just the quenching of our Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest, intellectual thirst. Lessons learned help us to deadliest place in the world. An ice sheet up to better understand our own world, and serve as three miles deep covers the continent, which cautionary tales for our care of Earth’s biome. has a landmass larger than the continental We’ve learned about terrestrial weather by United States. This ice constitutes roughly studying the storm systems of Jupiter. The 90 percent of the world’s fresh water. While polar caps and geology of Mars have given us marine life along the coastlines is varied and insights into climate change, and the Venusian abundant, the continent itself is nearly sterile. atmosphere has provided us with critical in- Science stations from countries as diverse formation about chemicals like chlorofluoro- as Japan, Finland, Argentina, Russia, Brazil, carbons. In many important ways, our study and Norway lie across the frigid terrain. Its of other planets and moons has been a study location at the South Pole makes the continent of Earth. ideal for research in fields such as astronomy, atmospheric and magnetospheric sciences, TO EREBUS, BY WAY OF MARS paleontology, marine and microbiology, and BELOW Mt. Erebus is part of Clearly, Erebus is an important site to study. even meteorite studies. Ross Island, which, at 2,460 But to get to Mt. Erebus, prospective explorers While Antarctica provides a perfect model square kilometers (950 square miles), is too small require training, and that training takes place for terrestrial cooperation, it’s also a model to be seen on this map. in one of the world’s most remote outposts: for what may need to take place at Martian McMurdo Station. McMurdo is the largest settlements. And therein lies perhaps the most base in Antarctica. From a winter popula- dramatic planetary analog of all. tion of less than 200, the town’s ranks swell to nearly 1,000 at the peak of the austral summer. A MARS SETTLEMENT ON EARTH Perched upon the McMurdo Sound on Ross Anyone who has studied architectures for Island, the community faces roughly in the Martian colonies will recognize common direction of New Zealand, one of the nearest elements at McMurdo. Doors are all arranged inhabited spots of land (only Argentina is like airlocks, with outer and inner accesses. closer, on the opposite side of the landmass). Inner doors do not open until the outer ones As is true of all outposts on the southern con- are closed. Door handles are the horizon- tinent, McMurdo does not sit on United States tal type used on real estate. No one owns any part of Antarc- freezer doors, tica. International treaty declares all territory because winds to Africa south of 60 degrees latitude as a “zone of can reach hurri- to South America peaceful conduct and research.” Nuclear waste, cane force, and military action, and mining are all prohib- entries must seal ited. McMurdo began as an American naval air completely. The facility, and now it is operated by the National difference with Photos by Michael Carroll unless otherwise noted Science Foundation’s United States Antarctic these freezer doors, Program. of course, is that the Antarctica is a model of international co- cold is being kept out, MT. EREBUS

Crater photo: Carsten Peter operation. At McMurdo itself, roughly 30 not in. percent of the power is wind-generated, but Communications McMURDO BASE

this power is split with nearby Scott Base, the are of utmost impor- ROSS ICE to Australia New Zealand station. New Zealand also shares tance. If anyone plans SHELF McMURDO the heliport at McMurdo, and coordinates to leave McMurdo on DRY research and logistics. In the southern wil- foot or in a vehicle, they VALLEYS

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 11 must file a report, along with a prearranged carbon footprint. As with almost every op- check-back time. Vehicles must drive over eration at the pole, the SPoTs must first go ABOUT THE AUTHORS metal grates before entering the vast ice through McMurdo. plains of the Ross Ice Shelf, where aircraft come and go, so that no dirt from inhab- ANTARCTICA WILL TRY TO KILL YOU ited areas is tracked into the pristine envi- Within this Mars-on-Earth settlement, ronment. Flags parade in long lines, each Rosaly Lopes and I trained to prepare for our about ten meters apart, to serve as markers work on Mt. Erebus. As one instructor put it, for the way back home if a whiteout occurs. “Antarctica is going to try to kill you in lots of Medical facilities are impressive considering ways, and I’m going to help you avoid that.” the remoteness of McMurdo, but germs are Our orientation included helicopter and snow- of extreme concern. As a Martian settlement mobile travel, high altitude emergency first aid, Astronomical artist and would be, McMurdo is a closed environment. arctic camping and survival, environmental science writer MICHAEL Signs constantly remind people of the need preservation, and crevasse escape. CARROLL has 27 books for cleanliness and correct disposal or recy- After nearly a week of focused training, we in print, including two cling of refuse. A hand-washing station greets dutifully swallowed our high-altitude medica- mystery novels set on moons all visitors on their way to the galley. tion and helicoptered to Fang Glacier with in the outer solar system. Mars settlements will serve as staging areas our capable mountaineer, Evan Miller. At His next book, Antarctica: for extended exploration of the Martian wil- 2.75 kilometers (9,000 feet), the glacier is a Finding Alien Landscapes derness. From a central, safe location, Mars required two-night stop for acclimatization Within Earth’s Own Ice explorers will depart for the poles, the great before heading to the summit of Erebus. Trav- World, will be published by canyons, and the soaring volcanoes of the Red elers stay in Scott tents (polar pyramid tents) Springer at the end of 2017. Planet. McMurdo, too, is the home base for an with no heat, few comforts, and an incred- assortment of field camps and distant outposts. ible view. 9,000 feet below, the ocean plays From the glacial valleys of the Transantarctic along pristine white shores. Volcanic rock rises Mountains to the ice plateau surrounding the through the ice in craggy piles of deep brown, South Pole, remote camps and science stations contrasting with the shimmering frozen plain. dot the continent’s landscape. Supply caches After our acclimatization process, we and fuel depots stand in strategic locations, hitched a ride, courtesy of the United States lifelines between the outposts and the relative Antarctic Program, aboard a helicopter to civilization of McMurdo and Scott bases. the relative comfort of the Lower Erebus Hut. McMurdo base illustration: Michael Carroll for Four Frontiers Corporation, used by permission Perhaps the most dramatic of these lifelines Sitting at 3.5 kilometers (11,500 feet), the LEH ROSALY M. C. LOPES is is the South Pole Overland Traverse, affection- is a small, heated wooden structure. No one a senior research scientist ately known as “SPoT.” It’s a 2,575-kilometer sleeps inside; the Hut is reserved for meal at the Jet Propulsion (1,600-mile) round trip from McMurdo to time and warming up after working in the Laboratory-California the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Fuel field. Researchers stay in mountain tents at Institute of Technology. She used to be flown there aboard Hercules LC-130 the high-altitude outpost. The air is thin at the has spent most of her career cargo planes. But the weather often precluded poles, so Erebus’ 3.8 kilometer (12,500-foot) at JPL, working on the Galileo full recharging of Antarctica’s hungry infra- summit has the pressure of the Rocky Moun- and Cassini science teams structure, as flights on the southern continent tains at 4.4 kilometers (14,500 feet). and pursuing research on are regularly canceled. Now, SPoT’s massive Once settled in, it was time to explore. The planetary and terrestrial tractor-trailers, riding on overgrown tank primary target of our trip was a series of ice geology, in particular treads, transport bladders containing 100,000 pillars sprouting from the flanks of the peak. the study of volcanoes on gallons of fuel. The LC-130s required dozens Building around the moist air flowing from Earth and other worlds. of flights to deliver the same amount of fuel, volcanic vents, the towers take on bizarre, used more fuel than the Caterpillar tractors sometimes whimsical forms. Some are as tall involved in the SPoTs, and left a much larger as a five-story building. The towers sit atop sub-

12 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 ANTARCTICA

ABOVE LEFT The caves that lie below similarities with ice towers along McMurdo base illustration: Michael Carroll for Four Frontiers Corporation, used by permission steaming entrance Erebus’ ice towers. Antarctica’s its water vapor- to Helo Cave at McMurdo Station. spewing vents? the base of an LOWER LEFT Michael Carroll Erebus ice tower. However long it LOWER RIGHT used an Antarctic ice takes to become a Could Saturn’s tower as a ABOVE RIGHT The reality, a human hydrothermally- model for this authors pose inside base on Mars will active moon portrait of an icy one of the blue ice share many Enceladus also sport Enceladean analog.

surface chambers, crystalline caves of lobate to the so-called “dirty” caves that had already icicles and glowing blue ceilings. Some of these been explored by unprotected humans some caves were accessible to us, but others contain years ago. Mountaineer Miller made sure that unique biomes not found anywhere else in we did not stray into areas that might collapse the world. To enter these caves, which are into the subterranean chambers. protected by international treaty, one must The ice towers provide a possible window have special permits and wear what amounts into formations we may find in the outer to a sealed Hazmat suit. We limited ourselves solar system. Geyser activity is well known

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 13 ANTARCTICA

ABOVE Steam obscures on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, where foun- YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY the caldera at the summit tains of water spew some 400 kilometers The summit of Mt. Erebus was first visited of mighty Mount Erebus. (250 miles) into space. Recent data suggest by members of Ernest Shackleton’s 1908 ex- No vegetation grows that Jupiter’s moon Europa may periodi- pedition. Exploration of the mountain, and here; the greenish rocks are stained by sulfur. cally experience such activity as well, and of Antarctica at large, is different today. The cryovolcanism on Neptune’s moon Triton National Science Foundation’s United States was revealed by the flyby in 1989. Antarctica Program invests a great deal of re- Even Titan, with its dense atmosphere sources toward making scientific research and and methane seas, may exhibit cryovolca- travel more secure than it was in Shackleton’s nism, perhaps recharging the atmospheric time. A network of experts is in place, with a methane with its eruptions. Is it possible that range of expertise including communications, in this bizarre environment, Erebus visitors engineering, mechanics, medicine, power might find similar territory? generation, waste management, mountaineer- Our last official stop, on Christmas Day ing, and environmental safety and protection. 2016, was the caldera rim at Erebus’ summit. Overseers carefully plan travel into the hostile Craggy, ice-slicked rock ringed the deep crater. environment, coordinating flights and surface Steam billowing up from inside betrayed the trips. Science teams work with those who un- lava lake sloshing at the crater’s center. The derstand logistics and the hardware necessary lava lake itself was obscured by steam, but to carry out work in the field. Future explor- the structure of the caldera’s steep walls and ers will need to rely on such people as they dramatic lip echoed landscapes on ancient establish base camps and remote outposts on Mars, volcanic Io, and eruptive sites on Venus Mars and, eventually, the moons of the outer and Mercury. The site also represented a solar system. The people who support, train,

personal marker for Lopes: Antarctica was and encourage Antarctic researchers will have Image: NASA/JPL the last remaining continent on which she their counterparts at the beachheads of Syrtis had to explore active volcanoes. Her global Major, Elysium, Valles Marineris, and beyond. list was now complete. We will need them.

14 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 CASEY DREIER is director of space policy for The Planetary Society.

The Fading Fortunes of Mars NASA is building a new rover that will prep samples of Mars to return to Earth. Will they ever come back?

IN THE TWILIGHT OF Bill Clinton’s presidency, journal articles, providing unprecedented NASA announced that a fleet of spacecraft scientific into Mars’ ancient past. would explore Mars over the next decade. It But nearly 17 years after the original was the birth of the , announcement, and once again in the midst of an unprecedented effort to systematically a presidential transition, the people who work ABOVE captured this explore Earth’s enigmatic neighbor. The intent in NASA’s Mars Exploration Program can only view of the Sun sinking below was to develop the critical expertise needed dream of another bold commitment. Instead of the rim of Gusev crater on the evening of May 19, 2005. to design, build, and land spacecraft on Mars a decade of new missions on the books, there Hopefully, we have with shared workforce and management. is only one: a set to launch in 2020. many more Martian The Mars Exploration Program has been Jim Watzin, the current director of NASA’s sunsets yet to enjoy. immensely successful. Of the seven missions Mars Exploration Program, has not minced sent so far, every one has not only met its words about this situation. “It’s important primary science goals, but exceeded them to recognize that the future is not going to beyond expectation. Missions designed to be the same as the past,” he said at a recent operate for months have lasted more than meeting of Mars scientists. “The era that we all

Image: NASA/JPL a decade. Rovers meant to drive a few kilo- know and love and embrace is really coming meters have completed marathons. The rich to an end.” dataset provided by these missions has led That statement casts uncertainty on the to more than two thousand peer-reviewed most important goal of the Mars science com-

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 15 Mars Exploration Program Missions

Future Mars 2001-2015 2016 2018 2020 missions

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Odyssey (ESA)

MAVEN (ESA)

ExoMars Rover (ESA) Mars Exploration Rovers 2020 Mars Rover Mission

munity: to return a carefully curated set of Fortunes began to improve by the late 1980s, samples from Mars. Such a project requires which saw the launches of , Galileo, multiple landers and orbiters to collect, launch, and, finally, the start of a new Mars mission. and return the samples, and to ensure high- The $813 million launched in speed data communication with Earth. The 1992, but was lost due to a design defect just ABOVE The spacecraft of rover is being designed to take days before entering Mars orbit. The failure of NASA’s Mars Exploration the first step in this effort by collecting and this expensive mission was a blow to the fledg- Program. In addition to its preparing samples. But NASA has not officially ling Mars science community and to NASA’s own missions, NASA operates scientific instruments on committed to returning them. image, and it helped push the agency toward European Space Agency’s This new reality represents a marked change a “faster, better, cheaper” approach to mission (ESA) Mars Express orbiter in fortune for the Mars science community, design. With a steady stream of small missions, and upcoming ExoMars which has enjoyed frequent Mars missions the loss of any one mission would not cause a rover, and maintains since 1992. How did we get to this point? scientific and public relations disaster, or so a communications went the thought. system on the Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft. BEFORE THE MARS In the early 1990s, NASA started Discovery, EXPLORATION PROGRAM a small-class planetary mission program. Path- NASA’s first explorations of Mars occurred finder, a Mars lander and micro-rover mission, in the halcyon days of Apollo. This was the was one if its first successes. In the mid-’90s, of planetary exploration, when NASA’s NASA began its Mars with attempted six missions to the goal of launching two small missions the Red Planet between 1964 and 1973 (four to Mars at each launch , which succeeded). The Mariners were followed up occurs every 26 months. Pathfinderand Mars by the Viking missions, which arrived at were initial success stories of in 1976 and operated for years. this “faster, better, cheaper approach.” But Chart basedChart on a graphic provided by Fuk Li/NASA/JPL By the late 1970s, NASA’s focus had shifted. in 1999 NASA suffered back-to-back failures Cost overruns in the program of the and Mars Polar and a shift toward space-based telescopes Lander. Despite the fact that both missions consumed NASA’s shrinking budget. This led were “cheap” compared to a multibillion into the “lost decade” of planetary science— dollar flagship mission, NASA was publicly the 1980s—where no new missions launched embarrassed by the double loss. It was time

for 11 years. Building the Galileo mission to to step back and reevaluate how the space Image: NASA/JPL Jupiter kept the planetary science program agency managed its Mars program. on life support, as did the operations of the In early 2000, NASA released the aptly Voyager spacecraft. named Mars Program Independent Assess-

16 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 THE FADING FORTUNES OF MARS

Mars Exploration Program Budget Fiscal Year/millions of dollars, % of NASA Budget Budget (constant 2015 dollars) Projected ment Team Report. It concluded that NASA’s % of NASA Budget Mars program lacked clear management re- $750 15% sponsibility and programmatic direction, and was subject to breakdowns in communication among its headquarters, field centers, and $500 10% contractors. Moving forward, the report said, NASA should create a single program with centralized authority to execute a coherent

Mars strategy. This program should have a $250 5% director located at the agency’s headquar- ters and management located at a single field center. It should pursue a coherent, strategic set of goals that gradually build capability and 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 technical expertise. Later that year, then-NASA Administra- tor Dan Goldin stood before reporters and design life, and all but one continue to operate announced his intention to send a fleet of to this day. spacecraft to Mars in the coming decade. Not In any given year in the first decade of the long after, Stanford University professor Scott twenty-first century, NASA simultaneously had Hubbard was appointed the first director of a set of Mars spacecraft being designed, being the newly minted Mars Exploration Program built, and being operated on the Red Planet. (he now serves on The Planetary Society’s The program received remarkably steady board of directors). funding during this period, averaging $700 million per year—about four percent of NASA’s THE MARS EXPLORATION total budget. This reliable funding enabled a PROGRAM’S FIRST DECADE new mission to launch at every single launch The Mars Exploration Program (MEP) opportunity from 2001 until 2009. launched five missions to Mars in its first But when the Mars Science Laboratory decade—all of them operating under a single Curiosity mission missed its planned launch organizing principle: to follow the water. First in 2009, fortunes began to change. went the Odyssey orbiter; then the first fully mobile Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity; THE SECOND DECADE OF THE ABOVE In July 1997, people these were followed by a new orbiter with a MARS EXPLORATION PROGRAM around the world were spy-grade camera, the Mars Reconnaissance The National Academies’ Decadal Survey thrilled when Mars Orbiter (MRO); and finally the first competi- report represents the official scientific consen- Pathfinder’s rover tively selected Mars Scout mission, . sus for which science missions NASA should put the first wheel tracks on Mars. Pathfinderwas the These missions confirmed the existence pursue. The current Decadal Survey recom- Chart basedChart on a graphic provided by Fuk Li/NASA/JPL first success of NASA’s “faster, of ancient lakes, hot springs, and rivers on mends that NASA should commit to a flagship- better, cheaper” approach. Mars. They discovered meteorites littering class mission to begin Mars sample return. Here, Sojourner examines the surface and water ice hiding just below The committee authoring the report the rock called Yogi. it. They silently witnessed dust devils, dust declared that sample return “will provide the storms, and rockslides. And they persisted. highest scientific return on investment for Every single mission outlasted its intended understanding Mars in the context of solar Image: NASA/JPL As director of space policy, CASEY DREIER leads the strategic planning and implementation of The Planetary Society’s policy and advocacy efforts. He works to educate and engage the public about space policy, and to empower individuals to advocate for space.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 17 THE FADING FORTUNES OF MARS

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Odyssey Spirit Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Phoenix Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) Development MAVEN Primary Mission Ongoing Mission

system evolution and addressing the question to miss its launch date in 2009, which drove its of whether Mars has ever been an abode of cost to $2.5 billion. That same year, the MEP life.” The report recommended that NASA budget dropped by nearly 50 percent. partner with European Space Agency (ESA) Although MSL launched in 2011 and arguably to pursue this goal. became NASA’s biggest success story of 2012, BELOW Jezero crater, one of But the Mars Exploration Program had run the budget for the Mars Exploration Program the three possible landing into trouble with its largest and most ambitious never returned to its old levels. ExoMars, the sites for the Mars 2020 rover, mission: the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), joint ESA–NASA mission to begin a sample contains preserved river initially known as the Mars Smart Lander, a return campaign, was abruptly cancelled in deltas and carbonate rocks, midsized mission designed to test new landing 2011, leaving ESA to scramble for a new partner which can give insights into Mars’ ancient atmosphere. and mobility technology on the surface. But (ultimately, Russia stepped in). NASA would have to retrieve after the success of Spirit and Opportunity, In a surprise move, NASA announced the samples collected by the a sense of overconfidence ran through the Mars 2020 rover in late 2012, despite propos- Mars 2020 with a follow-up program, and the “smart lander” grew in scope ing significant new budget cuts for the program mission and then launch them to become a “science laboratory” with a far in the following year. NASA struggled to pay into orbit. A third mission would then rendezvous more ambitious set of science instruments and for the operations of its existing Mars missions with the orbiting samples technology. Costs grew from less than $1 billion and ensure that development for Mars 2020 and return them to Earth. to $1.8 billion. Technical problems caused MSL stayed on track. After the launch of its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission in 2014, Mars 2020 became the Mars Exploration Program’s only mission in devel- opment (InSight, which will land on Mars in 2018, is funded by NASA’s Discovery program and is otherwise unrelated to the Mars Ex- ploration Program). Despite clear scientific consensus on the value of Mars sample return, gone was the era in which NASA committed to long-term plans for Mars.

THE FUTURE We find ourselves now with a single, albeit very large, mission in development. No new Mars

missions have been approved for development Image: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS/JHU-APL since 2012, which is the longest drought of new mission approvals in over 25 years. Meanwhile, NASA’s existing Mars fleet is

aging, with no new missions in the pipeline Illustration: NASA/JPL to replenish it. NASA desperately needs a new Mars orbiter which, in addition to providing important science and imaging capabilities, will serve as a data relay for ground missions.

18 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022...

Mars 2020

NASA’s existing orbiters are either well past means a higher price and longer development their design lifetimes or occupy inefficient timelines. NASA must begin work on a such a planetary orbits. Without these high-speed mission very soon in order to retrieve these data relays, ground missions will struggle to samples. send back scientific data. So far, NASA has And we haven’t even discussed the third been unable to get approval for a new orbiter mission, which would rendezvous with the mission from the White House’s Office of Man- in-orbit samples and return them to Earth. agement and Budget. The cuts that hit the Mars Exploration This is problematic. The Next Mars Orbiter— Program years ago are only now beginning or NeMO—will likely take four to five years to to manifest themselves. Instead of a healthy design, build, and prepare for launch. But program with multiple missions in various BELOW A computer-aided orbital mechanics wait for no one. If NASA stages of development, NASA has only one design illustration of the Mars 2020 rover. does not formally include a new orbiter in flagship-class Mars mission. There is a very its 2018 budget request, it is unlikely a new real possibility that NASA may find itself with mission would be ready to launch in time for a cache of promising samples on Mars ready the 2022 Mars launch opportunity. A launch to return to Earth, but unable to bring them in 2024 would mean that a new telecommu- here in time. Should that occur, the $2.4 billion nications relay orbiter would arrive at Mars Mars 2020 rover’s major effort will have been over a year after the end of Mars 2020’s prime for naught. mission. By that point, MRO would be 20 years Meanwhile, Mars is receiving unprec- old and Odyssey would likely be gone. edented attention from international space And this is to say nothing of actually re- agencies and private industry. New missions turning the samples collected by Mars 2020. are in the works from ESA, the United Arab NASA is designing the sample containers that Emirates, Japan, and China. SpaceX has will preserve their contents for 10 years on announced its intention to land uncrewed the Martian surface and another 10 years in Dragon spacecraft on Mars at every launch If you want to help space. That means NASA has only four launch opportunity beginning in 2020. And unless NASA keep its Mars opportunities after Mars 2020 to send a re- something changes very soon, NASA will exploration program trieval mission. This mission depends on new slowly watch its current Mars fleet, announced going, add your technology—a Mars Ascent Vehicle—to launch with so much promise at the beginning of the voice to ours at the samples into orbit, and new technology twenty-first century, slowly die of old age. planet.ly/TakeAction Image: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS/JHU-APL Illustration: NASA/JPL

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 19 DEVELOPMENTS IN SPACE SCIENCE BRUCE BETTS is director of science and technology for The Planetary Society.

A Planetary Defense Update We Keep Working to Protect Earth

WE ARE IN THE MIDST of a busy time right now Here is a small sampling of recent updates at The Planetary Society regarding our work in from some of our Shoemaker NEO Grant planetary defense, or protecting Earth from winners: an asteroid impact. Here is an update on our ALBINO CARBOGNANI, 2013 winner, As- Shoemaker Near-Earth Object (NEO) Grant tronomical Observatory of the Autonomous program, including a new call for proposals, Region of the Aosta Valley (OAVdA), Italy. In and the upcoming Planetary Defense Confer- 2015 and 2016, the OAVdA 0.81-meter tele- ence. scope made follow-up observations of 33 NEOs, captured 25 asteroidal light curves (a SHOEMAKER NEO GRANTS measurement of light intensity as a function Now in its 20th year, our Shoemaker NEO of time), and characterized three new Grant program, named after pioneering plan- binary asteroids. etary geologist Gene Shoemaker, supports DANIEL COLEY, 2015 winner, Center for mostly very advanced amateur astronomers— Solar System Studies (CS3), Landers, California. some are very advanced amateurs—around the Since his new camera was put into operation world in their efforts to find, track, and char- in July 2015, Coley’s telescope has operated acterize near-Earth asteroids. We are currently a total of 343 nights, developing light curve raising funds to support a new round of grants models for 43 different asteroids, including (to contribute, go to planetary.org/neo). Over two that had over 100-hour rotation periods. the history of the program, we have made 49 ROBERT HOLMES, five-time winner, As- awards to astronomers from 16 countries on tronomical Research Institute (ARI), Northern ABOVE Three Shoemaker 5 continents. More than $323,000 has been Illinois. In 2016, Holmes’ observatory made NEO winners at their shared facility, the Center for awarded over the history of the program. We more NEO observations than any other facility Solar System Studies, in the will issue a new call for proposals in mid-May on Earth in the span of one year—ever. Out of California desert. Left to right 2017 on our website. 17,113 total measures, 1,093 were of (extremely are: Brian Warner (2007), Shoemaker NEO Grant winners have been faint) 22nd magnitude asteroids, and 177 were Robert Stephens (2013), extremely effective at using their grants, which of 23rd (even fainter) magnitude asteroids. and Dan Coley (2015). are usually awarded for upgrading the systems GARY HUG, two-time winner, Sandlot Ob- they use to study near-Earth asteroids. Even servatory, Kansas. Hug has fulfilled a personal in the current era in which most NEOs are goal of making 10,000 NEO observations from found by professional surveys, Shoemaker his backyard observatory. Grant winners provide crucial follow-up ob- HERMAN MIKUŽ, two-time winner, Črni Photo: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society

servations of the discovered asteroids. These Vrh Observatory, Slovenia. In 2015 and 2016, Photo: Center for Solar System Studies observations are required to define the orbit Mikuž and his colleagues used their 0.6-meter of an asteroid to figure out if it will hit Earth. telescope to make follow-up observations of They also characterize the asteroid by studying 30 near-Earth asteroids and comets, includ- properties like the object’s spin rate, and even ing one asteroid that missed Earth by a mere determining whether what looked like one 100,000 kilometers (62,000 miles). asteroid is actually a binary pair. JULIAN OEY, 2015 winner, Blue Mountains Thanks!Planetary Society members have helped make the Shoemaker NEO Grants—and many other projects—possible! Thank you.

20 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 A Planetary Defense Update We Keep Working to Protect Earth

Observatory, New South Wales, Australia. In Planetary Society is a primary sponsor of the the second half of 2016, Oey obtained 70 indi- Planetary Defense Conference, which will be vidual light curves for different asteroids, most held in Tokyo this coming May. I serve on the of which targeted suspected binary asteroids. organizing committee and will be presenting His observations also collected the rotational two papers at the conference. periods of 30 new binary asteroids. The Planetary Defense Conference is unique ABOVE In April 2015, the DONALD PRAY, three-time winner, Sug- in that it brings together international experts IAA’s Planetary Defense arloaf Mountain Observatory, Massachusetts. from all aspects of the asteroid threat issue. Conference was held at Pray, a three-time grant recipient, purchased There will be experts on finding, tracking, ESRIN (European Space his new CCD camera using his 2015 funding. characterizing, and deflecting asteroids, as Research Institute), a He has since been credited with the discovery well as those involved with asteroid missions. European Space Agency of five binary asteroids Those involved with educating the public facility in Frascati, Italy. This year’s conference ROBERT STEPHENS, 2013 winner, Center and international leaders, like The Planetary will take place in Tokyo. for Solar System Studies (CS3), Landers, Cali- Society, will be there, as well as members of fornia. Stephens reports CS3 was operational the disaster management community. While for about 300 nights in 2016, collectively in Tokyo, The Planetary Society will also be making more than 2,000 observations that hosting a public event about asteroid impact. Photo: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society

Photo: Center for Solar System Studies resulted in the determination of 373 asteroid Asteroid impact is the one large-scale rotational periods. natural disaster that we can prevent. There For more about the Shoemaker NEO Grants, is still much to be done to make our world including a blog from Jason Davis with more safe from a devastating impact, and through winner updates, see planetary.org/defense. efforts like the Planetary Defense Conference and Shoemaker NEO Grants, we move ever PLANETARY DEFENSE CONFERENCE closer to this goal. We don’t need to end up I am excited to report that, once again, The like the dinosaurs.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 21 WHAT’S UP? by Bruce Betts SOCIETY TRAVEL

Come on an IN THE SKY Adventure With Us! We invite you to join fellow Planetary Society members as we explore the world! In the 2017/2018 year, you may discover Very bright Jupiter and bright, yellowish Saturn are visible high a Total Solar Eclipse at Sun Valley, a Lunar Eclipse in the evening sky. Look for the Moon near Jupiter on June 3. in the Sea of Cortez, or the fascinating heritage of Cuba! You will delight in these adventures Reddish Mars is low in the West after sunset, gradually sinking with other Planetary Society members! as the weeks pass. Very bright Venus is in the predawn East. Mercury is below and to the left of it for much of May. SUN VALLEY IDAHO TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE INCLUDING THE GRAND TETONS AND YELLOWSTONE AUGUST 15—23, 2017 See the Total Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017 from the top of Bald Mountain at Sun Valley, and discover the World Center for Birds of Prey, Hagerman Fossil Beds, RANDOM the Mammoth discovery of 2014, and more! Travel SPACE FACT from Jackson Hole and Yellowstone to Boise, Idaho! GREAT WHALES IN BAJA CALIFORNIA – DISCOVER A WILDERNESS If Earth were the size of a racquetball, then Uranus (and PARADISE AND LUNAR ECLIPSE! the similarly sized Neptune) would be a little bigger than a JANUARY 27—FEBRUARY 4, 2018 See the whale extravaganza of the Baja California desert basketball (about four times the diameter of Earth). wilderness on board M/V National Geographic Sea Bird. Travel with Dr. Tyler Nordgren and see the Lunar Eclipse on January 31, 2018 in this exciting desert wilderness with perfect 70 degree days and sparkling clear skies. Hike desert islands, snorkel with sea lions, see California TRIVIA CONTEST gray whales in the whale nursery of Magdalena Bay.

Our September Equinox contest winner is Jim DeRivera of Oxnard, California. Congratulations! THE QUESTION WAS: About how Discover the long does it take light to travel from the Sun to the Earth? THE Heritage of Cuba! ANSWER: About 500 seconds or about 8 minutes, 20 seconds. MARCH 30—APRIL 7, 2018 The time varies slightly as Earth goes around its elliptical orbit. Come to Cuba and explore the fascination of the World Heritage Try to win an autographed copy of : cities of old Havana and historic From Mars to the Stars by , and a Trinidad! Travel to the mountain T-shirt by answering this question: station at Topes de Collantes and historic Cienfuegos! Meet Cuban What was the first lunar rover astronomers and naturalists, as (wheeled vehicle on the Moon)? you relish the opportunity to visit this truly fascinating country!

E-mail your answer to [email protected] or mail your answer to The Planetary Report, 60 S. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101. Make sure you include the answer and your name, mailing address, and e-mail address (if you have one). Join fellow Planetary Society members By entering this contest, you are authorizing The Planetary Report to publish your on these thrilling adventures! name and hometown. Submissions must be received by June 1, 2017. The winner will be chosen by a random drawing from among all the correct entries received. To learn more, call Betchart Expeditions at 800-252-4910, For a weekly dose of “What’s Up?” complete with humor, a weekly trivia contest, and a range of significant space and science fiction guests, listen toPlanetary Radio at or visit betchartexpeditions.com. planetary.org/radio.

22 THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 ADVOCATING FOR SPACE CASEY DREIER is director of space policy for The Planetary Society.

Welcome to the Great Uncertainty The New U.S. Administration Begins to Ponder NASA’s Future

“I WOULD WELCOME a smaller came across his desk during NASA’s Marshall Space Flight budget,” a NASA program his time in the U.S. Congress, Center) in the Senate. And officer once told me, “if I will lead the agency that Mulvaney may temper his knew it would be stable over prepares NASA’s budget budget-cutting zeal now that time.” This is a common requests and controls the he works for an administra- lament in a world where flow of money to its major tion that has big ambitions long-term projects are projects. for spending. funded annually by politi- Discretionary spending is This is the essence of cians who can be replaced what Congress approves of uncertainty. The Trump every two to four years. the total annual U.S. budget, administration could very We are in the midst of and it amounts to roughly well propose a good space such a transition now. The $1.2 trillion out of the $4 policy for the country, but if 115th Congress is just gearing trillion total spent every year. NASA succumbs to broader up, and though many of the The Department of Defense fights over spending, no same faces will return to their receives a little more than amount of good words on roles in overseeing NASA, we half of that discretionary paper will replace the actual have a new president and a amount. Pretty much every currency that enables the brand new director for the other part of government exploration of space. Office of Management and that is not a social service The Planetary Society Budget, Mick Mulvaney. program splits the rest. If the intends to fight hard to While the details of overall nondefense discre- maintain NASA’s funding Trump’s agenda are still hazy, tionary pot shrinks—which and to help provide clear the big picture elements are appears likely—NASA will direction for its major there, and the overall math have a hard time maintain- programs—both for human doesn’t look good. We can ing its current budget, much spaceflight and for science. expect proposals for large less growing it. There are so many prom- tax cuts, increases in military Not all is lost for NASA, ising missions ahead of us spending, and an infrastruc- but things are mighty that need certainty and As this issue was ture bill in the hundreds of uncertain. Fortunately, the continued support. You going to press, the billions of dollars. Sequestra- agency enjoys broad bipar- can help. Stay connected at Trump Administration tion, the across-the-board tisan support in Congress planetary.org/spaceadvocate released an outline of cuts to government spending (its Earth Science Division to help fund our work and to its 2018 budget proposal that began in 2013, has been being the unfortunate engage with your representa- for NASA. Read a on pause but will once again exception). Trump men- tives (or, if you live outside detailed analysis at come back into force in 2018. tioned space in his inaugu- the United States, write the planet.ly/BudgetOutline At the same time, Mulvaney, ral address and Jeff Sessions, president). It’s the only way who voted against nearly his new attorney general, we can provide the stability every spending bill that represented Alabama (and we need.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C MARCH EQUINOX 2017 23 THE PLANETARY SOCIETY 60 SOUTH LOS ROBLES AVENUE PASADENA CA 91101-2016 USA

SNAPSHOTS FROM SPACE EMILY STEWART LAKDAWALLA blogs at planetary.org/blog.

CASSINI IS IN the thick of its “F-ring orbits” now, so named because the spacecraft’s orbit takes it just outside Saturn’s F ring (and inside the G and E rings) every time it crosses Saturn’s ring plane. Because its orbit is passing closer to the main rings, it is also passing closer to the moons

embedded in the rings: Pan and Daphnis near the outer edge of the A ring, Prometheus and Image: NASA/JPL/SSI/Ian Regan Pandora on either side of the F ring, and Epimetheus outside the A ring. In this Cassini image taken January 16, 2017, Daphnis, the tiny, 8-kilometer (5-mile) moon that orbits within the Keeler gap, gently tugs on the edges of the gap to create delicate scallops. —Emily Stewart Lakdawalla

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