Summary 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 -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 Program • A welcome and well-received report by Tibor Kremik of NASA 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 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

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