Summary Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) Meeting #8 Thursday— September 2, 2010 Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Some 50 members of the Venus community met on Thursday—September 2, 2010 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison, Wisconsin. The goals of this meeting were to provide updates on the current and future Venus missions, on plans for completing the Next Decadal Survey, and on NASA plans for completing the current New Frontiers and Discovery Phase-A studies and proposals. Earlier in the week, VEXAG sponsored a very successful International Workshop on “Venus Our Closest Earth-like Planet: From Surface to Thermosphere - How does it work?” with significant international participation.
Presentations at VEXAG Meeting #8 included:
• A welcome and well-received report by Jim Green of NASA Headquarters on the status of NASA’s Planetary Science Program • A welcome and well-received report by Tibor Kremik of NASA Glenn Research Center on the status of NASA’s new Planetary Science Technology Panel • A welcome and well-received report by Ellen Stofan, Chair of the Inner Planets Panel on the current status of the Planetary Sciences Decadal Survey • Reports on the current status the European Venus Express, the Japanese Venus Climate Orbiter (Akatsuki), and Russian Venera missions • A report on VORTEX, the Venus In Situ Explorer Project, a student study by University of Alabama at Huntsville and College of Charleston • A report on NASA Goddard’s Venus Test Chamber
There were eight open-microphone presentations covering diverse topics such as application of Stirling engines to Venus exploration, a prototype Venus seismometer, comparisons of Earth and Venus climate models, the possibility of measuring Venus rotation to improve both atmospheres and interior, use of Doppler lidar measurements to remotely sense Venus winds, the utility of magnetometers on Venus missions, observations from balloons, and a coordinated campaign for ground and spacecraft observations of Venus.
A key item for this meeting was to kick off a campaign to generate a Venus Top-Ten Discoveries list, similar to the Mars Top-Ten Discoveries list that Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) has in place. Also, attendees were asked to provide feedback on the current version of the VEXAG Pathways for Venus Exploration document.
The next VEXAG meeting will likely be summer 2011, coupled with another VEXAG- sponsored Venus science conference. (Dates and location are to be announced.)
Summary - Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) Meeting #8, September 2, 2010 1
Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) Meeting #8 Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison, Wisconsin Thursday – September 2, 2010
8:30 AM – Sign-In / Pick-up Handouts / Coffee and Pastries
9:00 AM – VEXAG Meeting #8 Overview – Sanjay Limaye, Sue Smrekar - Venus Top Ten Discoveries - Plans for updating VEXAG’s Venus Pathways Document
9:20 AM – Status of Next Decadal Survey – Ellen Stofan
9:40 AM – Venus Express Status Report – Hakan Svendem
10:00 AM – JAXA’s Venus Climate Orbiter – Akatsuki – Takeshi Imamura
10:20 -10:40 AM – Coffee Break
10:40 AM – VORTEX – Venus In Situ Explorer Project – Student study by University of Alabama at Huntsville and College of Charleston – Jordan Adams and Amanda Ball
11:00 AM – Venus Test Chamber – Natasha Johnson
11:20 AM - Open Mike Presentations (1-2 slides, 5 to 10 minutes) - Provide your presentation to the projectionist during the coffee break
12:00 Noon - 1:20 PM - Lunch
1:30 PM – NASA Headquarters Update and Perspective on Venus Exploration – Jim Green
2:00 PM – Update on the Planetary Science Technology Panel – Tibor Kremic
2:20 – 2:40 PM – Open Mike Presentations #2
2:40 PM – Venus Education and Public Outreach – Rosalyn Pertzborn
3:00 PM – Disccussion of Venus Data Availability in Archives – Sanjay Limaye
3:20 PM - Wrap-up – Next Meeting - Recommendations – Action Items – Sanjay Limaye. Sue Smrekar
3:40 PM – ADJOURN
Summary - Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) Meeting #8, September 2, 2010 2
VEXAG Meeting #8 (2 September 2010) Attendees
Name Affiliation
Jordan Adams College of Charleston
Minjin Baek University of Maryland
Kevin Baines University of Wisconsin/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Tibor Balint Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Amanda Ball University of Alabama Huntsville
Joanna Barstow University of Oxford, United Kingdom
D. Belyaev Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS)/ Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
P. J. Benfield University of Alabama Huntsville
Amanda Brecht University of Michigan/Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Science
Curt Covey Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Anna Fedorova IKI (Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences)
Marie‐Ève Gagné University of Toronto, Canada
Jim Green NASA Headquarters
Vicki Hansen University of Minnesota Duluth
Tobias Höink Rice University
Naoya Hoshino Tohoku University
Gary W. Hunter NASA Glenn Research Center
Takeshi Imamura Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Kandi Jessup Southwest Research Institute
Natasha Johnson NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Vladimir Krasnopolsky Catholic University of America
Tibor Kremic NASA Glenn Research Center
S. S. Limaye University of Wisconsin Madison
Ralph Lorenz Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Summary - Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) Meeting #8, September 2, 2010 3
Name Affiliation
Wojciech Markiewicz Max Planck Institute
Kevin McGouldrick University of Colorado/ Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Karan Molaverdikhani University of Colorado/ Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Lena Noack German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Kazunori Ogohara Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Christopher Orth Washington University in St. Louis
Helen Parish University of California, Los Angeles
Steve Saunders Lunar and Planetary Institute
Gerald Schubert University of California Los Angeles
Upendra Singh Langley Research Center
Sue Smrekar Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Lauriane Soret Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)–Université de Liège (ULg)/Belgique
Ellen Stofan Proxemy Research
H. Svedhem European Space Agency/European Space Research and Technology Centre
Masahiro Takagi University of Tokyo
Fred Taylor Oxford University
Tommy Thompson Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Allan Treiman Lunar and Planetary Institute
Constantine Tsang Southwest Research Institute
Hari Om Vats Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad
Thomas Widemann Paris Observatory
Eliot Young Southwest Research Institute
Summary - Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) Meeting #8, September 2, 2010 4