THE PLANETARY REPORT DECEMBER SOLSTICE 2016 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 4 Planetary.Org
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THE PLANETARY REPORT DECEMBER SOLSTICE 2016 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 4 planetary.org A PEAK YEAR 2016 YEAR IN PICTURES PRESERVING OUR PAST C ROCKET ROAD TRIP C CALLING CHARTER MEMBERS Calling All Charter Members Envisioning a New Outreach Program A PLANETARY SOCIETY charter member is a I contacted Robin Young, the Society’s person whose membership began in 1980 or donor relations coordinator, and we began TOP LEFT A special evening reception and 1981 and who remains active today. We charter an e-mail dialog that led to a conference call fundraiser opened The members have a long-term perspective about between Robin, Society Chief Development Planetary Society’s The Planetary Society and the importance of Officer Richard Chute, and myself. We brain- 35th Anniversary its ongoing goals and plans, and we can be stormed on potential ways in which charter celebrations on October a power base of talent, ability, and ideas for members, working together under the direc- 23, 2015. At Pasadena’s the Society. However, there has not been a tion and guidance of a Planetary Society staff famed Huntington Library, cofounder format for us to organize and work together member, could make a wide variety of impor- Louis D. Friedman on projects for The Planetary Society. tant contributions. told stories about The At the Society’s 35th Anniversary celebra- The concept is nebulous at this point, but Planetary Society’s tions in Pasadena last year, several of us charter we would like to know whether the general inception and early members got acquainted and our conversa- idea of a task force of charter members days to our charter members, friends, tions almost always led to our remembrances working together on a project appeals to you. and associates. from the early days. Even then, we sensed If so, please e-mail [email protected] that we were part of something that was going or [email protected] with your TOP RIGHT Naïla to be important. Most of us still have our ideas and suggestions. We’ll see what kind of Erwin enjoyed charter Member certificates, our certificate of response we get and keep you informed. the festivities and appreciation, early volumes of The Planetary —Naïla Erwin, Charter Member 882 connected with other members, sharing Report, and programs, photos, and patches ideas for joining ranks from early events such as the 20th Anniver- Are you a charter member who would like to be to help further the sary of Interplanetary Flight Commemora- more involved? We encourage you to consider Society’s mission. tion in December 1982. We wondered if some Naïla’s invitation to explore possible ways to of these personal items could be donated to increase engagement with our most loyal sup- BOTTOM For the perusal of reception The Planetary Society’s archives. We talked porters and to expand ways of achieving our attendees, the about ideas for helping with special fund- mission of empowering the world’s citizens to Huntington Library and membership-raising events, going out to advance space science and exploration! assembled a sampling schools to talk about The Planetary Society, —Richard Chute, Chief Development Officer of letters, photos, and and about topics such as LightSail, the Search memorabilia from The for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and To read more about the archives project made Planetary Society’s beginnings in glass exoplanets. We were full of ideas, but unsure possible by the generosity of our charter museum cases. of how to proceed. members, see page 16. CONTENTS DECEMBER SOLSTICE 2016 Calling All Charter Members 2 Envisioning a new outreach program. COVER STORY The Year In Pictures 5 Emily Lakdawalla highlights some of her favorite images from the past year. Rocket Road Trip 14 Jason Davis takes us on a tour of NASA’s field centers. Making Space for Our Past 16 Amir Alexander recounts how The Planetary Society’s history project began. DEVELOPMENTS IN SPACE SCIENCE The Home Stretch 20 Bruce Betts describes LightSail 2’s final testing. ADVOCATING FOR SPACE Laying the Groundwork 22 Jason Callahan shares our hopes for space exploration in the next four years. DEPARTMENTS 4 Your Place in Space Bill Nye on wins, losses, and forging ahead. 13 Volunteer Spotlight Planetary Ambassadors. 21 What’s Up? Venus, Jupiter, and a solar eclipse. ON THE COVER: Jupiter’s north and south poles bookend this issue of The Planetary Report, courtesy of Juno. Storm systems and weather unlike anything encountered in the solar system are visible in this color-enhanced view of the gas giant’s north pole. Much like Earthly hurricanes, some of these storms have a pinwheel shape. Juno’s tracking of these features over many orbits will enhance our understanding of Jupiter’s atmospheric dynamics. Image: NASA/JPL/SwRI/MSSS 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 CARL SAGAN 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 A Steady Pace and Space Exploration, Arizona State University Wins, Losses, and Forging Ahead Vice President HEIDI HAMMEL Executive Vice President, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Chief Executive Officer BILL NYE WITH A NEW U.S. PRESIDENT Science Educator and administra- Secretary tion, we can expect some big changes in United Alan Stern accepts The Cosmos Award C. WALLACE HOOSER for the New Horizons team. Associate Professor of Radiology, States space policy. I am happy to report that University of Texas Southwestern Medical School your Planetary Society is in a good position to Treasurer LON LEVIN help maintain a steady pace of exploration. For President and CEO GEOshare LLC the last few years, we’ve increased our focus G. SCOTT HUBBARD Professor, Department of on political advocacy, and we’ve done so with Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University the importance of trust and relationships in ALEXIS LIVANOS mind. We will continue to fight for funding of Research Professor, Faculty Associate Engineering & Applied Science, planetary mission teams and spacecraft. California Institute of Technology In October, the Society celebrated a fight JOHN LOGSDON Professor Emeritus, Space Policy Institute, hard-fought and won when we presented Alan The George Washington University ROBERT PICARDO Stern and the New Horizons mission team with Actor The Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Pre- BRITNEY SCHMIDT Assistant Professor sentation of Science. Alan and his team brought School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology Pluto down to Earth. They engaged the public BIJAL “BEE” THAKORE Regional Coordinator for Asia Pacific, through social media on a scale never before and crashed on Mars. On November 23, ESA Space Generation Advisory Council FILLMORE WOOD seen. The New Horizons spacecraft continues issued an update on their investigation, identi- Vice President and Regional Counsel, BP, retired to amaze, transmitting images and scientific fying a faulty reading from the lander’s Inertial INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL data of this intriguing and extraordinarily Measurement Unit (gyroscope) as the cause of ROGER-MAURICE BONNET Executive Director, International Space Science Institute far-off world. I know many of you, as Plan- the crash. Landing had proceeded normally YASUNORI MATOGAWA etary Society members, have been support- through parachute deployment and heat shield Associate Executive Director, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ing this mission for more than two decades. release, but the problem with the gyroscope MAMORU MOHRI Director, National Museum As we tell you often, we appreciate it. And I made Schiaparelli think it had already landed. of Emerging Science and Innovation want you to know that Alan really appreciates These software troubles remind us all, yet RISTO PELLINEN Director of Science in Space Research, it. As he delivered his acceptance speech, he again, that planetary exploration is hard. Finnish Meteorological Institute ADVISORY COUNCIL thanked The Planetary Society for our long On the upside, Schiaparelli’s parent space- BUZZ ALDRIN RICHARD BERENDZEN history of public outreach and for our Pluto craft, the ExoMars Orbiter, is doing fine. We are JACQUES BLAMONT ROBERT. D. BRAUN mission support and advocacy in Washington, getting new, three-dimensionally constructed DAVID BRIN JAMES CANTRELL D.C. He was clearly moved, and his descrip- pictures of regions on Mars that have never FRANKLIN CHANG-DIAZ FRANK DRAKE tions of the team’s hard work and the mission’s been seen in this much detail. If you’re like OWEN GARRIOTT Society Planetary Pauly/The Andrew Photo: GARRY E.