THE PLANETARY REPORT JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 VOLUME 34, NUMBER 2 Planetary.Org

THE PLANETARY REPORT JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 VOLUME 34, NUMBER 2 planetary.org

ORIGINS ON ICE STUDYING THE SOLAR SYSTEM’S FROZEN FINGERPRINTS

LIGHTSAIL TO LAUNCH! C PUSHING THE BUDGET BOULDER C VITAL VOLUNTEERS SNAPSHOTS FROM SPACE EMILY STEWART LAKDAWALLA blogs at planetary.org/blog.

Farewell, Neptune NEPTUNE WAS THE VOYAGER mission’s final planetary encounter. On September 3, 1989—about nine days after its closest approach—Voyager 2 captured the images that I composed into this color composite of Neptune and Triton. As the planet rotated between shots, clouds moved and smeared into rainbow

spots on Neptune’s crescent. Many of Voyager 2’s departing photos of Neptune were blurred due to Image: NASA/JPL/Emily Lakdawalla spacecraft jitter during the long exposures required to image anything at all at Neptune’s vast distance from the Sun. This view is composed of three of the sharpest images. —Emily Stewart Lakdawalla

SEE MORE AMATEUR-PROCESSED SPACE IMAGES PLANETARY.ORG/AMATEUR SEE MORE EVERY DAY! PLANETARY.ORG/BLOGS

2 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 CONTENTS JUNE SOLSTICE 2014

Science Festival Mania 7 Kate Howells reports on volunteers who shared The Planetary Society with about 300,000 festivalgoers in April.

COVER STORY Ice in the Solar System 8 Julie Castillo-Rogez takes a look at the many types of ice in our solar system… and what they might mean for us.

Preparing to Sail 14 Doug Stetson shares exciting news about our spacecraft. DEVELOPMENTS IN SPACE SCIENCE Planets at Alpha Centauri? 20 Bruce Betts brings us the latest report from Debra Fischer.

ADVOCACY 22 Breaking Sisyphus’ Curse Casey Dreier describes pushing NASA’s budget up Capitol Hill.

DEPARTMENTS 2 Snapshots from Space Saying farewell to Neptune.

4 Your Place in Space Bill Nye is excited about our progress.

6 Happening on Planetary Radio Online radio brings exciting guests!

6 On Planetary.org Check out our site!

19 What’s Up? A meteor shower and a total lunar eclipse. Image: NASA/JPL/Emily Lakdawalla ON THE COVER: From the shadowed craters of Mercury, to the outer edges of the Oort cloud, ice is ubiquitous across our planetary neighborhood. Variations in chemistry, temperature, and pressure have produced the roughly two-dozen types of ice we’ve observed, or expect to see, in our solar system. By reading the stories trapped in their ices, scientists gain valuable insights into the interior evolution and climate regulation of planetary bodies. The graceful contours of this deep crevasse are the result of melting in an Antarctic iceberg. Photo: Mint Images–Art Wolfe/Science Photo Library

CONTACT US The Planetary Report (ISSN 0736-3680) is published quarterly at the editorial Editor JENNIFER VAUGHN The Planetary Society offices of The Planetary Society, 85 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105-1602, Senior Editor DONNA ESCANDON STEVENS 85 South Grand Avenue 626-793-5100. It is available to members of The Planetary Society. Annual dues in Art Director LOREN A. ROBERTS for HEARKEN CREATIVE Pasadena, CA 91105-1602 the United States are $37 (U.S. dollars); in Canada, $40 (Canadian dollars). Dues Copy Editor AXN ASSOCIATES General Calls: 626-793-5100 in other countries are $57 (U.S. dollars). Printed in USA. Third-class postage at Technical Editor JAMES D. BURKE E-mail: [email protected] Pasadena, California, and at an additional mailing office. Canada Post Agreement Science Editor BRUCE BETTS Internet: planetary.org Number 87424.

Viewpoints expressed in columns and editorials are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent positions of The Planetary Society, its officers, or its advisers. © 2014 by The Planetary Society. All Rights Reserved. The Planetary Society and The Planetary Report: Registered Trademarks ® The Planetary Society. Planetary Radio and Planetfest ™ The Planetary Society. YOUR PLACE IN SPACE COFOUNDERS BILL NYE CARL SAGAN is chief executive 1934–1996 officer of The Planetary Society.

BRUCE MURRAY 1931–2013

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman of the Board DANIEL T. GERACI Founder & co-CEO E.F. Hutton Holdings Canada Inc. Investing in the Future President JAMES BELL Professor, School of Earth That’s What We Do at The Planetary Society and Space Exploration, Arizona State University

Vice President HEIDI HAMMEL Executive Vice President, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy WE’RE GETTING READY to fly ourLightSail ® give us a special view of our spacecraft flying Chief Executive Officer BILL NYE in 2016! free in space. Science Educator Things are humming along in the lab for Thanks to all of you for making these Light- LOUIS D. FRIEDMAN Cofounder our LightSail spacecraft and it is nearly ready Sail missions possible. Secretary for flight. I’m excited to announce that we C. WALLACE HOOSER Associate Professor of Radiology, have secured a rocket launch for our LightSail! AT WORK IN WASHINGTON, D.C. University of Texas Southwestern Medical School This launch will take place, by the way, on Recently, several members of the staff and G. SCOTT HUBBARD Professor, Department of an American-made rocket: SpaceX’s Falcon I traveled to Washington, D.C. to represent Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University Heavy. Getting our small but mighty LightSail The Planetary Society in force at the third Treasurer spacecraft built and ready to go has taken us USA Science and Engineering Festival. This LON LEVIN SkySevenVentures several years, but we’re closer to finishing it. year, there were about a third of a million ALEXIS LIVANOS We’re getting ready to do the day-in-the- attendees. Emily Lakdawalla gave some great Research Professor, Viterbi School of Engineering, life testing essential to any successful mission. presentations about the planets and nearby University of Southern California

JOHN LOGSDON We’re using our test spacecraft to change worlds using the spectacular pictures she has Professor Emeritus, Space Policy Institute, The George Washington University operating modes while its systems are all access to. Mat Kaplan conducted several fas- BIJAL “BEE” THAKORE running, a vital task. We’ll check that it can cinating interviews. Regional Coordinator for Asia Pacific, Space Generation Advisory Council receive and transmit commands and telem- It was a highlight as well to broadcast NEIL deGRASSE TYSON Astrophysicist and Director, etry. We’ll deploy the sails on a surprisingly Planetary Radio Live right from the floor of Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History large, x-shaped test fixture. We’ll make sure the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

FILLMORE WOOD the solar panels are providing power and We had great guests: Lockheed Martin Vice President and Regional Counsel, BP, retired that the cameras take pictures and process Chief Technology Officer Ray Johnson, Mike INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL them properly. Using an elegant simulator, Rowe, from Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs, ROGER-MAURICE BONNET Executive Director, we’ll give the navigation and attitude control and Emily. They talked about all the skilled International Space Science Institute

YASUNORI MATOGAWA systems a check ride. If we find any problems, workers—the welders, technicians, electri- Associate Executive Director, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency we’ll have time to fix them. Then, we can cians, and you-name-it—that the United

MAMORU MOHRI start testing our flight spacecraft. States needs for space exploration. We had a Director, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation great time. (If you haven’t yet heard the show, RISTO PELLINEN PICTURES FROM EARTH AND SPACE you can find it at planetary.org/radio.) Director of Science in Space Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute LightSail pictures alone are going to be worth There is an old saying about Washington, ADVISORY COUNCIL BUZZ ALDRIN the trip. And by pictures, I mean the ones D.C., that it’s a small town based on relation- RICHARD BERENDZEN JACQUES BLAMONT taken by the onboard cameras, as well as ships. We are establishing excellent ties with ROBERT. D. BRAUN DAVID BRIN the ones that people like you will take from members of the U.S. Congress and the admin- JAMES CANTRELL FRANKLIN CHANG-DIAZ the ground. This solar sail is big enough and istration, especially the all-important Office

FRANK DRAKE Photo: Loren A. Roberts/Hearken Creative OWEN GARRIOTT shiny enough to be naked-eye visible from of Management and Budget (the OMB). As GARRY E. HUNT BRUCE JAKOSKY the ground. It’s exciting. I often remark, even if you don’t live in the THOMAS D. JONES CHARLES E. KOHLHASE JR. In Spring of 2016, we’ll send LightSail to United States, what goes on at NASA affects LAURIE LESHIN JON LOMBERG an orbit where we can control and operate you, because it is by far the single largest ROSALY LOPES HANS MARK our spacecraft over many months. On that space agency in the world. JOHN MINOGUE ROBERT PICARDO mission, we’ll be flying close to another space- Three of us made the rounds recently, going JOHN RHYS-DAVIES KIM STANLEY ROBINSON craft, Prox-1, which will be able to take images from one congressional member’s office to DONNA L. SHIRLEY KEVIN STUBE of the sail from a distance. These pictures will another. Our team included our director of

4 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 YOUR PLACE IN SPACE

advocacy Casey Dreier, our lobbyist in Wash- ington Bill Adkins, and me. People know who we are now in a way that they didn’t before. More importantly, they know our message. We want NASA and U.S. space policy to support and follow the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey. We want $1.5 billion for planetary science. And we very much want a mission to Europa, INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE ABOVE Mike Rowe the Jovian moon, which last year was found Perhaps the most significant thing for me as (second from right), to be spewing water into space. The geysers your chief executive is that I’m very proud host of Discovery Channel’s hit show on Europa are, first of all, amazing. Secondly, to report that we have reinvigorated the Dirty Jobs, and Ray they present us with an extraordinary oppor- Carl Sagan Fund for the Future. My goal is Johnson (center), tunity to sample an ocean on another world to one day have the interest produced by the Lockheed Martin’s without the enormous expense of designing fund provide for all of the Society’s operat- Chief Technology a lander and getting it onto the surface. As ing costs—all the salaries, the building lease, Officer, joined Emily, Bill, and Mat onstage I so often point out, if we were to discover the utility bills, etc. I anticipate this may take at the USA Science and evidence of life on another world, just think the better part of a decade, but we are off to Engineering Festival what it would mean to humankind. a great start. When you receive our mailing to talk about careers Each time we visited the office of a con- about the Carl Sagan Fund, please think of in space. Here, Mike gressperson or administration official, I it as a real investment in the future of space describes the need for made the pitch about the value of planetary science and exploration. skilled tradespersons, such as welders and exploration writ large. We are the first gener- To advance space science and exploration, electricians. ation of humans that can send instruments I have taken an apartment in New York City. out to these other worlds—Mars, Mercury, It’s only been a couple of months, but already Venus, Pluto and, I hope soon, Europa—to my trips to Washington, D.C. have been short look for signs of something that replicates day trips. I’ve also been able to meet with itself; to look for signs of water and life. several of our Members who live along the On this same recent trip, Casey, Bill Eastern Seaboard. I stay in close touch with Adkins, and I met with NASA Administrator the Society’s staff and board. So far, so good. Charles Bolden, the man himself, along with Meanwhile, back at the office in Pasadena, his chief scientist Ellen Stofan. We talked Jennifer Vaughn continues to do an outstand- plainly about our desire to rebalance the ing job as our chief operating officer. I believe Photo: Loren A. Roberts/Hearken Creative NASA budget to accommodate a little more we are offering better service to our Members for planetary science. We reminded him and being more effective than ever in all that of what a good value it is and how it might we do. Thank you for your support. change the world. He’s got a lot on his plate, Let’s change the world. and a great many people to appease. But our case is pretty compelling. Watch this space; I have a very good feeling about the mission to Europa.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 5 QUICK SCANS

HAPPENING ON

PLANETARYplanetary.org/radio RADIO

ROCKETING INTO THE AURORA Listen as Neal Brown and his staff launch sounding rockets into the heart of the Aurora Borealis from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. bit.ly/1goY3St

LIVE AT THE USA SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FESTIVAL Join us at the world’s biggest public science event in Washington, D.C., where we talk about dirty jobs in space with television’s terrific Mike Rowe.bit.ly/1mWZsWy

NEIL DeGRASSE TYSON The host of COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey returns to our show with a behind-the-scenes look at the spectacular television series. bit.ly/1iUEHvi

SPACEFEST VI WITH APOLLO ASTRONAUT GENE CERNAN We eavesdrop on Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan and his lifelong fan, Griffith Observatory Curator Laura Danly. bit.ly/RxmSX7

WAS A NATURAL FUEL CELL KEY TO THE ORIGIN OF LIFE ON EARTH? Researcher Laurie Barge simulates the natural formation of a fuel cell that may have taken place in Earth’s primordial oceans. bit.ly/TMW6LZ

Find these shows and our entire archive of Planetary Radio at planetary.org/radio! ON PLANETARY.ORG INVESTIGATION SCIENCE PHOTOGRAPHY DARK FLIGHT THE 5-MILLISECOND FROM SPACE DEBUNKED Did you see COSMIC RADIO Emily Lakdawalla is amazed the skydiver video with the BURST Katherine Mack at the photos from the meteorite in the background? explains some of the research High Definition Earth Philip Metzger explains. going into explaining this Viewing (HDEV) experiment. Green Bank Telescope: NRAO/AUI/NSF; Moon image: NASA/GSFC/ASU bit.ly/1eVnscm “fast radio burst” from space. bit.ly/1j6ad41 bit.ly/1qDpByz SCIENCE UPDATE

LUNAR Photos: Mike Colella [top], Loren A. Roberts [insets] RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER continues to MEDIA do amazing science on our own Moon, including finding UNIVERSE MODELING EDUCATION NEWS evidence for evolved, silicic Illustris is an internationally ONLINE ASTRONOMY GREEN BANK TELE- volcanism and an incredible developed software model COURSE Bruce Betts’ most SCOPE takes up slack when complexity of the lunar that watches the virtual recent astronomy course is Arecibo has a “warming impact cratering process. interaction of galaxies … now online and completely event.” bit.ly/1tVjwfV bit.ly/1kPdIko amazing! bit.ly/1l37bla free at bit.ly/1o02pbN

6 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT KATE HOWELLS is The Planetary Society’s Volunteer Network Manager.

Science Festival Mania Thousands of People Excited About Planetary Exploration!

IN APRIL The Planetary Society went to powerful and pointed toward a great future. ABOVE LEFT In April, more Washington, D.C. for the 2014 USA Science It was also fantastic to meet and work with than 300,000 enthusiastic and Engineering Festival. our D.C.-area volunteers. They were the face people packed the USA Science and Engineering Staff and local volunteers manned a of The Planetary Society to the thousands of Festival in Washington, D.C. booth in the immense Wash- people who came to our booth, and ington Convention Center, they did us proud. In conversa- TOP RIGHT Planetary armed with stacks of mag- tions throughout the week- Society volunteers are azines, petitions, book- end they shared their pas- an essential part of our marks, stickers, and sion for space exploration efforts to engage the public in space exploration. anything else we could and showed people that get into the hands of they could have a real BOTTOM RIGHT The work the 300,000 people place in space. It was in- of volunteers at our well- Green Bank Telescope: NRAO/AUI/NSF; Moon image: NASA/GSFC/ASU who attended over the spiring to see the impact stocked booth paid off in course of the weekend. these conversations had plenty of new Planetary Society Members. We talked with thousands on people, especially kids,

Photos: Mike Colella [top], Loren A. Roberts [insets] of people about the Society who left our booth eager to and about space exploration, learn more about the universe met countless space enthusiasts, around them. and converted more people into new space Volunteers like these are instrumental to enthusiasts. our mission, and they represent one of the Our time at the festival was exciting and best ways in which we can empower the encouraging. It was incredible to see so many world’s citizens to advance space explora- people come from all across the country to tion. I urge you to join us as a volunteer in learn more about science, engineering, and whatever capacity you can. Explore ways to technology. The energy in the festival was pitch in at planetary.org/get-involved/volunteer.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 7 JULIE CASTILLO-ROGEZ is a geophysicist and investigator at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Ice Physics Lab.

Ice In the Solar System Deciphering Clues to Planetary Origins and Habitability

ICE PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE in the interior floor, where it traps methane. You could light evolution of planetary bodies and in climate a match next to it and see “burning ice”! regulation. On Earth, the amount of ice is an important marker of climate change. On WHY DO WE STUDY ICE? ABOVE AND BELOW RIGHT other planetary bodies, depending on their Ice represents a thermometer of the early Ice across our solar system distance from the Sun and hence their surface solar system. When the solar system formed, takes on a variety of forms temperature, other types of ice are found, the Sun was embedded in a thick cloud of depending on chemistry, including carbon dioxide ice, mixtures of hot gas. Together, these elements formed the temperature, and pressure. When water molecules freeze methane and nitrogen ices in the far outer solar nebula. When the gas started cooling around gas molecules they solar system or, in Io’s case, sulfur dioxide down, it condensed into minerals, similar to form cage-like structures ice! In fact, ice has been observed on all large snow condensing from clouds when the right called clathrate hydrates. solid bodies, including the shadowed craters conditions of temperature and pressure are Here water molecules of the Moon and Mercury, and it is a major met. Close to the Sun, material condensed (red and white) surround component of bodies beyond Jupiter’s orbit. mostly water-free. Farther away from the a molecule of methane (black and white). Methane More recently, the discovery of a plume of Sun, water and a variety of volatiles were hydrates can be ignited water vapor at Ceres confirms the long-held able to become stable and comprise more to create “burning ice.” hypothesis that this dwarf planet has an icy than 50 percent of the content of planetary shell. Even Venus, despite its inferno-like bodies. A few million years later, the stage climate, exhibits possible evidence of the for ice formation was set. Water ice as well as presence of ice. ices from minor volatile compounds, such as About two dozen types of ice have been ammonia, were formed starting from about observed or are suspected to exist inside the middle of the main asteroid belt in a solar system bodies, from the ultra cold to the ultra compact, pure compounds or mixtures with other ices. Most ices exhibit a crystalline structure, except when an ice is “amorphous” because it froze so quickly that the molecules did not have enough time to get organized. Under pressures found in the deep interiors of icy satellites like Titan or Ganymede, crys- OPPOSITE PAGE Mars’ Image: ESA/Gerhard Neukum/Bill Dunford southern polar cap consists talline ice becomes more and more compact mostly of water ice overlaid and shows a variety of structures. Under with a permanent 8-meter- pressure, ice molecules can also organize Graphic: Science Photo Library thick layer of frozen carbon themselves around molecules of gas in a dioxide, or dry ice. European structure called “clathrate hydrate.” There’s Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter captured this portrait no need to travel to the outskirts of the solar of Mars’ south pole in infrared, system to search for this material; clathrate green, and blue light. hydrate is found in abundance on Earth’s sea

8 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 frontier called the “snow line.” However, this situation did not stay quiet for long because the giant planets wandered in their orbital motions. Models of these planetary motions indicate that dynamic interac- tions between Jupiter and Saturn resulted in a reshuffling of the large belts of planetesimals— such as comets and asteroids—associated with giant planets. This theory of early solar system evolution is called the “Nice” model, and was introduced about ten years ago. As part of this process, a significant number of planetesimals migrated toward the inner solar system, deliv- ering water to it. New reservoirs of ice, such as the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud, formed or reorganized beyond Neptune’s orbit. To look back in time, scientists work as detectives who use the composition of planetary bodies as clues to the nature of the early system. Via their elemental composition and mineralogy, the ices have preserved fingerprints of the environment in which they formed. Sampling ices across the solar system for compositional analysis provides a means to decipher the history of the early solar system and to understand how it developed into its present architecture.

WHERE THERE IS ICE, THERE MAY BE LIFE When ice-rich bodies are several hundreds Image: ESA/Gerhard Neukum/Bill Dunford of kilometers across, models of their thermal evolution show that their interior tempera- Graphic: Science Photo Library tures could become warm enough for part of the ice to melt. Space missions have detected subsurface water oceans in many objects, such as Jupiter’s satellites Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, as well as Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus. Scientists believe that other

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 9 position of liquid water from the features displayed on their icy surfaces. Geophysical techniques, such as gravity and magnetic field measurements, can also probe the deep interior. The presence of deep oceans in Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto were all inferred from the signature of salty water measured by Galileo’s magnetometer. Recent interior models inspired by comparisons of TOP Spacecraft observations Europa’s surface with features found in Ant- have detected water ice and arctica suggest that pockets of water may be subsurface oceans on Callisto, present within Europa’s ice shell. Ganymede, and Europa. Even Io has ice, in the form THE TIME OF ICY BODIES of frozen sulfur dioxide. The next couple of years will be good ones ABOVE As the solar nebula for the exploration of icy bodies. The Cassini condensed, water and other orbiter will continue its tour of the Satur- volatiles located far from nian system with 24 flybys of Titan and three the young Sun were able close flybys of Enceladus. In addition, the fol- to remain stable. Millions lowing three missions will unveil the secrets of years later, ices began to form, and comets and objects held a deep ocean for some of their of planetary bodies never before explored: planetesimals delivered this history but were too cold for liquid to persist The Rosetta mission will begin mapping water to the inner reaches over extended periods of time, such as in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in Galilean moons image: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk; Cloud illustration: Oort Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library of the infant solar system. the case of Saturn’s moon Tethys or 100-ki- August 2014. In November 2014, Rosetta lometer-sized objects in the Kuiper belt. The will deploy a lander, called Philae, which RIGHT At the same time, presence of volatile impurities acts as an an- will study the comet’s surface for at least beyond Neptune’s orbit, huge reservoirs of ice formed into tifreeze and plays a key role in the long-term three months while the main Rosetta space- a vast disk of cometary nuclei preservation of deep bodies of liquid inside craft studies its outgassing activity as it ap- known as the Kuiper belt these objects, in the same way that salts help proaches perihelion. (center). They also formed the long-term preservation of buried lakes in After its spectacular survey of Vesta, the the Oort cloud, an immense, Antarctica, such as Lake Vostok. Dawn spacecraft will reach its second target, spherical shell of icy bodies that surrounds the entire Evidence of deep liquid water comes Ceres, in the spring of 2015, to perform exten- solar system (bottom). from studying the surface composition and sive mapping of the surface for geologic and geologic history of icy bodies. Scientists can compositional characterization. Dawn will reconstruct the history of icy bodies and deploy an instrument capable of measuring infer limits on the presence, depth, and com- elements ejected from Ceres’ surface as a con-

JULIE CASTILLO-ROGEZ is a planetary geophysicist specializing in icy satellites and small bodies. She is a cofounder of JPL’s Ice Physics Laboratory. She has been involved in the science planning of the Cassini-Huygens and Dawn missions and was part of the science definition team for the Titan and Saturn System Mission Study.

10 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 ICE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM Icy Challenges for Explorers The explorers of today and tomorrow will have many challenges to tackle in order to advance the study of planetary ices. In the area of solar system ices, there are at least five major questions that are important to understanding the origin of the solar system, our place in the universe, and the future of human space exploration.

What is the nature and How many solar system the origin of water is an avenue to state of ice in giant planets bodies host liquid water tracking the origin of organic molecules 1 and large exoplanets? under their ice shells and on Earth. More generally, this question 3 relates to understanding how the solar are potentially habitable? STATE OF THE ART: Scientists have sug- system came to achieve its current gested that highly compressed ices rep- STATE OF THE ART: Using a combination architecture. HOW TO ADDRESS THIS resent a major fraction of the cores of of techniques like gravity and magnetic QUESTION: Ices all over the solar system giant planets and may also be abundant measurements, liquid water has been need to be sampled with techniques that in large, icy exoplanets. WHY THIS detected at five icy satellites so far. allow extraction of the fingerprint that MATTERS: Based on available information Most recently, Cassini has confirmed the makes each ice unique. Several mission on the properties of these high-pressure presence of a sea at Enceladus’ south concepts, including the Europa Clipper, ices, recent models indicate that these pole. It is likely that liquid water is also involve the transport of mass spectrom- objects could host large, deep oceans. present in a variety of large, icy bodies: eters to icy bodies in order to measure However, observing the composition of Neptune’s satellite Triton, Pluto and its their ices’ elemental and isotopic makeup. these ices and their properties under moon Charon, large Kuiper belt objects, The Planetary Science Decadal Survey relevant conditions of pressures and and possibly Ceres. WHY THIS MATTERS: also recommends that cometary ice be temperatures is difficult to achieve in As deep oceans may be in contact with returned to Earth. the laboratory. HOW TO ADDRESS THIS rocky material (as Earth’s ocean is in QUESTION: New testing facilities that can contact with a basaltic floor), conditions How much water is achieve pressures greater than 10 million may be present for life-forming chem- available for human times that of Earth’s atmosphere and istry to develop. This is likely true for exploration of the those bodies whose ice shells are a few 5 temperatures below about -180 degrees solar system? hundred kilometers thick, like Europa, Celsius (-300 degrees Fahrenheit) need Pluto, or Charon. For bigger satellites, STATE OF THE ART: Certain types of to be developed in combination with with shell under a few hundred kilo- asteroids are believed to be dormant new approaches to modeling material meters deep, water pressure becomes comets that could contain a large behavior under extreme conditions. significant enough for high-pressure ice fraction of ices. Others exhibit features to develop at the top of the rocky core. that suggest water is intimately associ- What is the role of impuri- However the presence of salts alters the ated with their rocky material. Mars’ ties in the behavior of ice behavior of water in response to pressure moon Phobos also has similar features associated with its large crater Stickney Galilean moons image: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk; Cloud illustration: Oort Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library 2 and snow, and does this and temperature and one cannot rule out impact climate evolution? that some liquid could persist down to the that suggest it could serve as a base for future Mars exploration. WHY THIS STATE OF THE ART: Aerosols and core. HOW TO ADDRESS THIS QUESTION: MATTERS: Water may be harvested certain gases end up embedded with Explore, explore, explore! for consumption and fuel production, ice in snow packs and marine ice. The What is the decreasing the mass of resources to be concentration of these impurities is launched with a human crew. Water-rich believed to impact the ices’ physical origin of Earth’s asteroids can offer pit stops on the way properties, for example by playing the 4 water? to Mars or other destinations. HOW TO role of antifreeze or making it easier STATE OF THE ART: Multiple possibilities ADDRESS THIS QUESTION: Close observa- for the “dirty” ice to deform at low have been proposed for the origin of tions of these asteroids are necessary temperatures. WHY THIS MATTERS: water on Earth, including various types to confirm the presence and nature of Alteration of ice properties impacts of comets and main belt asteroids. The water and to identify operations needed the stability of ice sheets and temper- most recent results suggest the isotopic to harvest it. Large-scale surveys of ate glaciers, which can in turn impact signatures for water in Earth’s oceans near-Earth asteroids with ground-based regional and global climate patterns. are similar to those found on comets and space telescopes can help assess HOW TO ADDRESS THIS QUESTION: and Enceladus! WHY THIS MATTERS: the amount of resources available out Sampling and laboratory testing of the Depending on its origin, water could there. Water extraction techniques are composition and physical properties have brought organics with it. In fact, being developed in the lab to determine of glaciers and snow can help predict comets display abundant volatiles of all the conditions under which water can their behavior on various time scales. types as well as organics. Hence, tracking be collected.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 11 ICE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

sequence of gamma ray impacting, and will map the distribution and depth of water on the dwarf planet. Finally, in July 2015, the New Horizons mission, launched in January 2006, will reach Pluto’s system. Pluto exhibits an ex- RIGHT This radar satellite quisite variety of ices at its surface and the image reveals an area spacecraft carries instruments capable of of smooth ice covering accurately measuring the composition of Antarctica’s Lake Vostok, which lies buried under these ices. Pluto’s major moon, Charon, is 4 kilometers (about 2.5 miles) about the same size as Ceres, which offers captured by the large reshuffling of the early of ice. Volatile impurities the prospect of interesting comparisons solar system that is part of the Nice model Lake Vostok Image: Canadian Space Agency/RADERSAT/NASA/Science Photo Library; Enceladus image: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Ceres graphic: Julie Castillo-Rogez/Loren A. Roberts/Hubble Space Telescope keep underground seas between these two bodies that are similar mentioned above. The origin of these objects on other worlds in a liquid in many ways but have evolved in very dif- can be inferred by measuring their chemical state, much the way salts ferent environments. These upcoming ob- makeup, using ice as a thermometer. Because act to preserve Lake Vostok. Any confirmation of life in servations will break new ground in our of the Trojan clouds’ scientific importance Vostok could strengthen the understanding of the evolution of dwarf at the frontier between the inner and outer prospect of life in similar planets and their potential for hosting hab- solar system, a mission there has been high- bodies of liquid on icy moons. itable environments. lighted in the National Research Council’s current Planetary Science Decadal Survey, WHAT IS NEXT FOR ICY BODIES? which identifies key questions and priori- In 2016, the Juno mission will go into orbit ties for space exploration from now until the around Jupiter and obtain measurements early 2020s. Another important new mission that can help scientists understand whether recognized by the planetary science com- Jupiter contains a core. In 2017, Cassini will munity is to the Uranian system which, back accomplish a spectacular plunge inside in the time of the Voyager missions, yielded Saturn’s rings and perform the first close ob- a few major mysteries such as the unusual Miranda & Ariel images: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk; Europa illustration: NASA/JPL-Caltech; JUICE illustration: ESA/AOES servations of the rings. geologic features on Miranda and Ariel. But after 2017, the icy body exploration These strange features express the multiple roadmap is empty for a few years. Although forms that icy material takes as a function of many fantastic missions are in development, composition and geological context and, in the exploration of icy bodies will reach a the case of Ariel, possibly cryovolcanism. ABOVE Cassini’s gravity stall. In order to complete the sampling of In 2030 the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer studies of Enceladus suggest that it had an ocean of water ices and icy bodies across the solar system, ( JUICE) mission, in development by (blue) at its south pole. The several destinations require attention. This European Space Agency and planned for water is sandwiched between includes the outer asteroid main belt, which launch in 2022, will follow in the tracks its rocky core and a layer hosts objects such as the main belt comets THIN, DUSTY OUTER CRUST of ice beneath the moon’s and 24 Themis, the first asteroid at which crust. Water vapor escapes water ice and organic molecules have ICY SHELL from fissures in the surface. been detected by astronomical DRY, ROCKY CORE RIGHT Surface observations observations, as well as groups WATER-RICH of hydrated minerals of asteroids located along ROCKY MANTLE and models are coming Jupiter’s orbit in regions together to present Ceres called the “Trojan clouds.” SALTY SEA as a small planet that hosted a deep ocean in These clouds contain an the past, and possibly a estimated one million salt-rich sea at present. bodies believed to be

12 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 TOP LEFT AND RIGHT The current Planetary Science Decadal Survey calls for a new mission to the Uranian system, enabling a closer look at the strange, icy features on Miranda [left] and Ariel [right]. Ariel could also have cryovolcanoes, as suggested by its smooth relief.

BELOW LEFT Pockets of liquid water may rise up Lake Vostok Image: Canadian Space Agency/RADERSAT/NASA/Science Photo Library; Enceladus image: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Ceres graphic: Julie Castillo-Rogez/Loren A. Roberts/Hubble Space Telescope out of Europa’s saltwater ocean and seep into its icy crust. Recent Hubble Space Telescope observations have detected water plumes rising from its surface, making Europa the second moon in the solar system (along with Enceladus) known to have water vapor eruptions.

BELOW RIGHT European Space Agency, in collaboration with NASA, is working on the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission which, in 2030, will examine Jupiter, Ganymede Miranda & Ariel images: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk; Europa illustration: NASA/JPL-Caltech; JUICE illustration: ESA/AOES and Europa. One of JUICE’s primary goals is to study the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants.

of Galileo for a close-up look at Jupiter, look back to the early conditions of the solar Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. The system and understand the major dynamic Europa Clipper, which recently received events that shaped our planetary neighbor- THIN, DUSTY OUTER CRUST a go-ahead for preliminary development, hood as we know it today. ICY SHELL could leave Earth in about a decade and Pushing the frontiers of exploration has DRY, ROCKY CORE would perform extensive mapping and hab- also led to the discovery of multiple bodies itability assessment of Europa. that may harbor conditions amenable to the development of life forms. Increased knowl- CONCLUSION edge of our solar system environment, both SALTY SEA The origins of solar system ices and the near and far, will in turn help us identify evolution of icy bodies are major themes of regions in exoplanet systems conducive to planetary exploration. Remote and in-situ the development of that holy grail of space observations of icy bodies can help scientists exploration: life.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 13 DOUG STETSON manages The Planetary Society’s LightSail program.

Preparing to Sail LightSail Has a Launch Date!

WHILE THE FUNDAMENTAL principles behind LightSail was conceived nearly five years solar sailing have been known for a long time, ago by Planetary Society Cofounder Louis dating back to Jules Verne, it is only recently Friedman (now retired) and Tomas Svitek of that spacecraft and materials technology Stellar Exploration as a low-cost method of have advanced far enough to make it practi- demonstrating and validating solar sail tech- cal. Solar sailing is conceptually very simple: nology. The goals of the project are straight- Build a large, lightweight structure (the forward: to successfully deploy and stabilize sail), attach it to a spacecraft, and put it in a solar sail in Earth orbit, demonstrate the space, where it can be propelled by the faint ability to control the spacecraft attitude to ABOVE Solar sail technology pressure of sunlight. If the sail is big enough, sufficient accuracy, and use the solar sail to is innovative, simple, and and high enough that it is free of atmospheric intentionally modify the spacecraft’s orbit. flexible. While it may be the drag, the tiny but constant acceleration of To represent a meaningful step toward future only practical way to achieve solar pressure can be used to generate the missions, the sail must be large enough to interstellar flight, it will very high velocity that every spacecraft needs provide the needed acceleration, but the also work close to home for Earth science and weather to travel through the solar system. overall system must be small and simple in missions. Here, LightSail There is no doubt that the physics of solar order to be affordable. begins its mission, opening its sailing works; the challenge has been in its Fortunately, around the same time, the solar arrays and deploying practical application: to build a sail that is class of spacecraft known as Cubesats was its Mylar sails—a process that large enough and strong enough yet very advancing rapidly and provided an ideal will take about two minutes. lightweight, package it into a spacecraft platform for the LightSail demonstration. The along with a reliable deployment system, LightSail spacecraft is designed as a three-unit and control the orientation (attitude) of the (3U) Cubesat, meaning it consists of three LightSail Illustrations: Josh Spradling vehicle in space so that the sail can be used cubes stacked on top of each other, each cube to send the spacecraft where we want it to go. measuring 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) Until these capabilities are demonstrated and on a side. All of the spacecraft’s functions, tested, no space agency will spend millions including the sail and its deployment system, of dollars on a mission that relies on this are packaged into this small space. Keeping technique, regardless of its many potential the system small and light enough to fit in a benefits. That’s whereLightSail comes in. 3U Cubesat means that a relatively small sail—

14 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 LIGHTSAIL

in this case about 32 square meters—can be to accurately determine its orbit and verify used to provide useful acceleration. It also that all subsystems are working properly. results in a very low-cost yet highly capable About four weeks after launch—the exact time spacecraft and will make an important contri- period is still to be determined—a command bution to solar sail technology. will be given to deploy the solar sail. This will While there have been other solar sail be done when the spacecraft is known to be missions—most notably the Japanese IKAROS in communication with a ground tracking mission, which deployed and demonstrated station so we can monitor the deployment a solar sail in interplanetary space in 2010— in real time. The deployment of the sail LightSail will be the first Cubesat solar sail. With their compact design and standard components, Cubesats are within the reach of many universities and other organizations; WHY SOLAR SAIL? no longer is it the case that only large com- Solar sailing has the potential to panies or government space agencies can revolutionize solar system exploration. afford to build and fly satellites. But because of their small size, Cubesats have no room for the rocket engines or propellant tanks that can allow them to travel independently throughout the solar system, and thus have been limited to Earth orbit. LightSail changes all of that. This marriage of solar sails with the Cubesat paradigm is one of the major No engines, No toxic, Constant low Enables May be contributions of LightSail and The Planetary tanks, heavy acceleration novel “non- the only Society, and truly is a step toward opening up valves, or propellant builds Keplerian” practical the solar system to everyone. plumbing very high orbits for means of required spacecraft specialized interstellar

LightSail Illustrations: Josh Spradling velocity observations travel LIGHTSAIL MISSION PROFILE LightSail will launch in April 2016 as a secondary payload aboard the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle now in development at SpaceX. Once itself proceeds rapidly, and in just about it is in Earth orbit and safely ejected from its two minutes the sail will be fully extended. carrier, LightSail will be tracked for several Onboard systems known as torque rods will weeks (with the sail still safely stowed inside) automatically align LightSail with Earth’s

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 15 LIGHTSAIL

must exceed atmospheric drag, preferably by a factor of 5 to 10 to allow sufficient op- erational margin. This is partly because the upper atmosphere is variable: it expands or contracts depending on the solar cycle, sunspot activity, and other less predictable factors. An orbit altitude of 800 kilometers (500 miles), is generally considered the optimum for the LightSail configuration. In fact, one of the challenges that has kept Light- RIGHT In April 2016, LightSail will blast off from Sail from being completed in the past was Cape Kennedy as a secondary the inability to find an affordable ride to an payload on board the world’s 800-kilometer orbit—in other words, there newest and most powerful

was no free launch. Photo: PSCAM; Graphic: Georgia Tech/Hearken Creative rocket, SpaceX’s Falcon To break the logjam and get LightSail Heavy launch vehicle. into space, we have compromised on orbit magnetic field and stabilize the spacecraft altitude, and the current mission plan will attitude in preparation for the next phase. place LightSail into an orbit of about 720 ki- After successfully demonstrating sail de- lometers (about 450 miles). Preliminary cal- ployment and stabilization, LightSail will culations show that solar radiation pressure enter the orbit modification phase of the will exceed atmospheric drag by a factor of mission. During this phase, the spacecraft at least 2.5 and possibly 5 during the mission, will be reoriented twice during each orbit which will be sufficient to allow a demonstra- to take maximum advantage of the sunlight tion of solar sailing. We will be modifying the falling on the solar sail. orbit in several different respects—not just By adjusting the spacecraft’s attitude regu- the orbital energy, which forces us to work larly over a large number of orbits while care- directly against atmospheric drag, but also fully monitoring the orbit’s size, shape, and other parameters that are not affected as dra- angle relative to Earth’s equator, we will be matically by drag. Careful orbit planning and able to confirm that the sail is acting as pre- tracking will allow for an effective demonstra- dicted and providing the expected modification of the technology, even at this slightly tion of the orbit. This will fully validate the lower altitude. sail system and attitude control process. The entire mission is planned to last about three LIGHTSAIL’S PARTNER SPACECRAFT months, although if the spacecraft remains As The Planetary Society was searching for healthy there is no reason why the mission a way to complete an affordable LightSail can’t be extended to allow further character- mission, a terrific opportunity was offered to ization of the sail system’s performance. us by the Georgia Institute of Technology, and this has dramatically enhanced the mission. ORBIT ALTITUDE CONSIDERATIONS Georgia Tech students won a competition to One of the constraints on solar sailing in build and fly a mission calledProx-1 , which Earth orbit is that solar radiation pressure will demonstrate new technologies for close-

DOUG STETSON works as a consultant specializing in innovative mission and system concepts, Illustration: SpaceX strategic planning, and program development for the space science community. Before his current position as head of the Space Science and Exploration Consulting Group, Doug spent 25 years as an engineer and manager in the planetary program at JPL.

16 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 proximity operations of two spacecraft in LEFT LightSail carries space. To make a long story short, they needed small cameras mounted a partner spacecraft that could serve as the on the ends of two of its solar arrays. The Aerospace target for their experiment. LightSail needed Corporation, which developed a ride to a high orbit, so it didn’t take long to the cameras for us, calls them conclude that the two are a perfect match. PSCAMs—short for Planetary The new mission plan calls for LightSail Society Cameras. This to be carried and released by Prox-1 after sample PSCAM shot shows LightSail team members reaching orbit. For several weeks prior to Alex Diaz and Barbara sail deployment, Prox-1 will image and track Plante at work in the lab. LightSail from a safe distance while conduct- ing its proximity operations experiments. BELOW A serendipitous When those experiments are complete, Prox-1 includes the sail drive motor, the antenna, partnership was formed when the Georgia Institute

Photo: PSCAM; Graphic: Georgia Tech/Hearken Creative will watch as LightSail deploys its sail and and other components. The solar arrays are of Technology invited the conducts its first attitude maneuvers. The folded down over the sail during launch and Society to fly with their images returned by Prox-1 will be of tremen- checkout and help to hold the sail in place Prox-1 mission. Prox-1 will dous benefit in understanding the dynamics prior to deployment. Before the sails are test new technologies that of sail deployment, since we will actually be deployed, the entire system is just 30 centi- monitor the operations of able to see it happen in addition to receiving meters tall and 10 wide, so it’s about half the two spacecraft in flight. As a bonus, Prox-1 will also the usual radio data. We are working closely size of your toaster oven. After deployment take pictures of LightSail in with Georgia Tech on the combined mission. the sail spreads out to a full 32 square meters. space. This graphic depicts The spacecraft is nearly complete and will be the stages of the Prox-1/ THE LIGHTSAIL SPACECRAFT undergoing full system tests later this year. LightSail mission plan. The LightSail spacecraft is a marvel of innovative design and intelligent packaging. TEST FLIGHT Two of its three Cubesat units are devoted It is well known that the best way to reduce to avionics and sail storage. The third unit risk in any spaceflight program is to fly two is divided between the deployer section, in- spacecraft whenever possible, and LightSail cluding the booms to which the Mylar sail is very fortunate to have that opportunity. is attached, and the payload section, which Thanks to some intelligent planning early TWO SPACECRAFT WORKING TOGETHER Launch Initial Cubesat Rendezvous Proximity Sail vehicle acquisition deployment with operations & deployment & separation & & system & orbit undeployed observation inspection detumble checkout determination LightSail spacecraft Illustration: SpaceX

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 17 LIGHTSAIL

ABOVE LEFT One Mylar sail in the program, two nearly identical copies prepared to undergo full system tests and, if blade is visible folded into of the flight system have been built and are we are satisfied with the results, in October the middle Cubesat unit in simultaneously being brought to flight readi- 2014 it will be packaged and shipped to await the spacecraft’s three-unit ness. We have also been awarded another launch. The first stop afterLightSail leaves body. The sail is attached to one of the retractable booms launch slot, funded by NASA, so we are our hands will be the Naval Postgraduate coiled into the bottom unit. hoping to perform a test flight of the Light- School in Monterey, California, where it will Sail system in May 2015—a full year prior to be mounted (along with other Cubesats) onto ABOVE RIGHT On June 24, the primary mission. This launch is to a lower a deployment structure; after that the entire the LightSail-A spacecraft orbit—too low to allow actual solar sailing— system will be shipped to the launch site at performed a series of boom but it will allow us to verify the performance the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once deployments to verify the resolution of problems of the sail deployment and attitude control the sail is deployed in space the test mission that occurred during systems, as well as other key Cubesat func- will last just a few days, but we’ll certainly previous tests. The full tions, well in advance of our primary launch gain important knowledge about the space- video is at bit.ly/1kbFAf6. opportunity. The test flight system is being craft’s performance that will help ensure success of our primary mission in April 2016. Photos: The Planetary Society; Cosmos 1 illustration: Rick Sternbach for The Planetary Society

YOU HELPED MAKE THIS HAPPEN! THE BEGINNING: COSMOS 1 After years of planning, development, and testing, LightSail now has firm launch dates On June 21, 2005, The Planetary Society launched Cosmos 1, our first solar sail. Built in partnership with Cosmos Studios and assembled by Russia’s Space Research and nearly flight-ready spacecraft. With a Institute (IKI), this groundbreaking spacecraft was to be the first to sail around the possible test flight in May 2015 and a primary world, powered only by the pressure of light. Instead, it ended up at the bottom of launch in April 2016 in partnership with the Barents Sea when its launch vehicle, a Russian Volna rocket, failed to separate. the Georgia Tech Prox-1 mission, LightSail is poised to fully demonstrate Cubesat solar Undaunted, and buoyed by our Members’ calls to try again, we learned from the sailing and make the technology available experience. We took note of what we did wrong—and right—and vowed not to give up. So, nine years later, here we are, getting ready to test our Mylar wings once more. for low-cost missions throughout the solar system. During their flights, both spacecraft We honor Cosmos 1 and are thankful to all who worked on it with us. It was another should be visible to the naked eye, giving the first step for an organization that has taken many first steps in finding creative ways public a clear view of what The Planetary to take humanity into space. Society has been able to accomplish, thanks —Donna Stevens, Senior Editor to the generous support of people like you, our Members and Donors.

18 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 SOCIETY TRAVEL WHAT’S UP? by Bruce Betts

IN THE SKY

In the pre-dawn east, very bright Venus is getting lower over the Total Lunar weeks and bright Jupiter joins it in August, getting higher. The two are very close on August 18, very low to the horizon. Yellowish Eclipse in Saturn and reddish Mars are in the early evening west, getting lower and growing closer to each other through August. The Perseid Hawaii meteor shower peaks August 12–13, with increased activity several OCTOBER 5–13, 2014 days before and after the peak. The Perseids are typically one of the Join us in Hawaii on October 7 to see the Total Lunar Eclipse and to best showers of the year, with an average of 60 meteors per hour explore Hawaiian natural wonders—from lava flows to massive tree visible from a dark site. A total lunar eclipse is visible October 8 from ferns. We will also show you some of the astronomical observatories most of North America, South America, eastern Asia, and Australia. that generate an enormous amount of information about our solar system, galaxies, black holes …and beyond! Iceland: Total RANDOM Solar Eclipse & SPACE FACT

Aurora Borealis Since going into orbit at Saturn ten years ago, the Cassini spacecraft MARCH 15-23, 2015 has traveled more than 3 billion kilometers (2 billion miles). Travel with The Planetary Society and enjoy two breathtaking astronomical events in one expedition! We will also explore famous Icelandic sites, including the renowned Geysir (after which all of the world’s geysers are named), plus geothermal wonders such as the Blue Lagoon and Myvatn in Iceland’s northeast. TRIVIA CONTEST Alaskan Aurora Our December Solstice contest winner is Bonnie Allen of Borealis Los Angeles, California. Congratulations! THE QUESTION WAS: What is the name (or one of the common names) of the Milky Way

Photos: The Planetary Society; Cosmos 1 illustration: Rick Sternbach for The Planetary Society Expedition Galaxy arm in which we live? THE ANSWER: The Earth lies within the MARCH 26–APRIL 1, 2015 Orion Arm, also known as Local Arm, or the Orion–Cygnus Arm. No need to leave the United States to experience the wonders of the Aurora Borealis! Join us as we enjoy the Northern Lights in the Try to win a free year’s Planetary Society membership and snowy wonderland that is Alaska in winter from three of Alaska’s best a Planetary Radio T-shirt by answering this question: viewing locations. Plus, take a classic train journey from Anchorage What is the name of the set of buttes on Mars to Fairbanks, and attend the annual winter World of Ice Art Festival. that the Curiosity rover will pass by on its way to Mt. Sharp? To get started on your adventure, go to planetary.org/expedition to download more information. E-mail your answer to [email protected] or mail your answer to The Planetary Report, 85 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105. Make sure you You can also contact Taunya at Betchart Expeditions to learn more: include the answer and your name, mailing address, and e-mail address (if you have one). By entering this contest, you are authorizing The Planetary Report to [email protected] publish your name and hometown. Submissions must be received by September 1, 408-252-4910 (International) 2014. The winner will be chosen by a random drawing from among all the correct entries received. 800-252-4910 (USA only) For a weekly dose of “What’s Up?” complete with humor, a weekly trivia contest, and 408-252-1444 (Fax) a range of significant space and science fiction guests, listen toPlanetary Radio at planetary.org/radio. Betchart Expeditions 17050 Montebello Rd., Cupertino, CA 95014 USA [email protected] betchartexpeditions.com

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 19 DEVELOPMENTS IN SPACE SCIENCE BRUCE BETTS is director of science and technology for The Planetary Society.

Planets at Alpha Centauri? An Update on the Search

Thanks in part to the IN 2007, we started planning order to obtain good velocity support of our Members, the search for planets precision. In 2007, the stars Yale University’s around our nearest neigh- were a respectable 10" (10 Debra Fischer and bors. We focused our atten- arc seconds) apart and easy her team were able to tion on the two bright stars, to separate with a decent secure many nights  Cen A and B, where we telescope. of observations of our knew that we could obtain In 2008 we refurbished nearest stellar neighbors— planet-detecting precision in an old spectrograph and the main Alpha Centauri stars—to look for planets using an improved system (see “Upgrades to the Search” in the September 2013 issue of The Planetary Report). They also tried to confirm the discovery announced by another team of an exoplanet around one of the Alpha Centauri stars. Below is a shortened excerpt from Debra’s report on results and status. The full text of her update is at bit.ly/QLrjOu.

our velocity measurements. reached a modest 5-meters- We understood that we were per-second precision at the Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

racing against time: the orbit 1.5-meter telescope at Cerro Photos: courtesy of Debra Fischer of  Cen A and B is oriented Tololo Inter-American Ob- in such a way that the two servatory (CTIO) in Chile. stars appear to be getting In parallel, we began de- closer to each other. This is a signing CHIRON, the CTIO problem because we needed High Resolution spectrom- to clearly resolve the stars in eter. With funding from

Thanks! Planetary Society Members have helped make this project—and many others—possible! Thank you.

20 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 We modified our search strategy to specifically look for the 3.24-day signal by observing  Cen B “all night, every night.” We again had help from The Planetary Society to purchase extra nights that allowed for this intense observing strategy.

the National Science Foun- modified our search strategy dation in 2009, my team to specifically look for the designed, built, and com- 3.24-day signal by observ- missioned the instrument ing  Cen B “all night, every by March 2011. night.” We again had help Because our precision from The Planetary Society was “only” 1 meter-per- to purchase extra nights second, we decided to try that allowed for this intense to further stabilize the observing strategy. We co- instrument. In 2012 we ordinated our observing added a new octagonal runs with the Geneva team; suggest that we should have fiber scrambler, developed Yale graduate student Matt seen this signal in our data— with help from The Plan- Giguere observed from but only at a marginal level. etary Society, and our pre- Cerro Tololo while Xavier  Cen A and B are now at cision improved. The stars Dumusque was observing their closest projected sepa- ABOVE The stars Alpha were getting closer—now with HARPS on a neighbor- ration—less than 4". It is now Centauri A and B glow just a worrisome 6" apart, but ing peak in the foothills of no longer possible to use above the atmospheric the quality of our data was the Chilean Andes. In May either CHIRON or HARPS to limb of Saturn, as seen by excellent and we obtained 2013, the stars were only 5" observe one star without sig- Cassini on May 17, 2008. hundreds of measurements apart. On the clearest nights, nificant contamination from Saturn’s rings cast shadows on its upper atmosphere of  Cen A and B. we were able to obtain good the other star. In 2015, the toward the bottom of the In October 2012, the quality data; on marginal two stars will begin pulling image. Cassini captured Geneva team surprised us nights, we began to see sig- away from each other so that this view from a distance of by announcing the detec- nificant contamination from in a few years, we will be about 534,000 kilometers tion of a 1-earthmass planet the other star. able to search again. (332,000 miles). in a scorching 3.24-day So what did we find? Both the Geneva team and LEFT Debra Fischer at orbit around  Cen B, using We have examined all of my team will use the next few Cerro Tololo Inter-American the HARPS spectrometer our data from 2012 and years to develop innovative Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. (see bit.ly/1tp8GRz). We 2013 and we still do not see instruments with the goal The middle dome houses examined our data from evidence for the planet that of reaching 10-centimeter- the 1.5-meter telescope that Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute 2012 and did not see the was detected by the Geneva per-second precision—a gain Debra and her team have used to hunt for planets

Photos: courtesy of Debra Fischer 3.24-day signal. However, team. I am often asked if this over current precision by a around Alpha Centauri. the weak signal was a chal- null result is consistent with factor of ten. lenging detection. an analysis of the Geneva We are both aiming for the As soon as  Cen A and HARPS data by Hatzes (2013), extreme precision needed to B emerged from behind the which did not find a statisti- robustly detect earthmass Sun in 2013, we set out to cally significant 3.24-day planets orbiting at habitable- confirm the detection. We signal. Our simulations zone distances.

Planetary Society Members have helped make this project—and many others—possible! Thank you.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 21 ADVOCATING FOR SPACE CASEY DREIER is director of advocacy for The Planetary Society. Breaking Sisyphus’ Curse Pushing NASA’s Budget Up Capitol Hill

I’M HARDLY THE first person tempting cuts again. with senators and represen- to invoke Sisyphus when dis- tatives to push planetary cussing the yearly effort to THE TUMBLE exploration and NASA, par- adequately fund planetary This past March, our boulder ticularly a mission to Europa science and NASA, but it’s tumbled down with the (Bill summarizes this visit hard not to feel a connec- release of President Obama’s at bit.ly/1ujoum9). We were tion with the mythological 2015 NASA budget request. able to point to the tens of Greek king who, under great It proposed cuts to nearly thousands of letters from every science division, in- you, our Members, as proof cluding planetary science, of the great public interest and cut funding to NASA as and support for these scien- a whole. Operating funds for tific endeavors. the Opportunity rover and The House of Represen- the Lunar Reconnaissance tatives responded first and Orbiter were missing, as was responded well. Not only a new mission to explore did they reverse the cuts Europa. Under this budget, to NASA, they actually in- fewer planetary missions creased NASA’s budget to would be in development $17.9 billion, nearly $435 by the end of the decade million more than the than at any point in the last President’s request. A good ABOVE Bill Nye holds strain, was condemned to 25 years. The boulder had portion of this increase was thousands of petitions an eternity of pushing an tumbled far. directed toward NASA’s from Society members immense boulder uphill only science programs, which asking Congress to to watch it tumble down PUSHING UPHILL allowed for a fantastic $1.45 support planetary exploration and NASA. upon reaching the peak. So we began the push again. billion for planetary science— We e-mailed our Members just shy of our long-stated THE PEAK with a call-to-action just days goal of $1.5 billion per year Last year, Congress approved after the president’s budget for the program. On May 30, $127 million more for NASA’s was released. Physical pe- the full House passed this Planetary Science Division titions arrived in the mail increase to NASA. than originally requested shortly after. Within a week Then, in early June, the by the White House. It we generated over 15,000 Senate released details of its

didn’t fully restore the cuts messages to Congress; by the draft NASA budget. The good Graphic: Casey Dreier/Loren A. Roberts first enacted in 2013, but end of April, over 28,000. news was that the Senate

it was the second year in a The Society has made followed the House’s lead in Photo: The Planetary Society row that funding had been four trips to Washington, increasing NASA’s top-line to added to the program, and D.C. since March to meet $17.9 billion. The bad news we hoped that this unambig- with key congressional staff is that planetary science saw uous signal would prevent and to hand-deliver your only a minimal increase. As the White House from at- petitions. Bill Nye and I met of July, the Senate has yet to

22 THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 THE PATH TO A BUDGET

MARCH 4, 2014 President’s budget request APRIL 30, 2014 House CJS Subcommittee markup

✓ MAY 8, 2014 Full committee markup HOUSE ✓ MAY 30, 2014 Full house vote ✓ ✓ SENATE

✓ Conference House vote pass its bill due to unrelated ✓ election-year politics. JUNE 3, 2014 Senate CJS Subcommittee markup THE COMING PEAK JUNE 5, 2014 Full committee markup

Once the Senate passes a Full senate vote budget, they will work out their differences with the

House. The compromise bill Senate vote President signs bill

will then get sent back to CJS Subcommittee: Commerce, Markup: This is the process of Conference: This is where a each chamber of Congress Justice, Science, and Related Agencies amending and re-writing the bill committee must negotiate a Subcommittee of the Appropriations before taking it to the floor for compromise bill that will be voted for one more vote, hopefully Committee. Both the House and a vote. Congressional hearings upon by both chambers of Congress. Senate have this subcommittee, precede the markup, and a full before September 30, the which controls NASA budgeting. floor vote usually means that markup is complete for that bill. last day of the federal fiscal year. We are working hard to ensure that the House’s struggle itself was enough version of planetary funding for Sisyphus. It was only makes it into the compro- during the brief period of DIFFERING PRIORITIES: mise bill, but either way walking down from the THREE BUDGETS FOR NASA in millions of dollars there will be an increase cursed peak to once again over the President’s request. face the boulder that he was 2015 budget 2015 2014 2015 as passed by budget as truly conscious and aware. budget as President’s the House of proposed BREAKING THROUGH passed by budget Representa- by the And in that moment, he Congress request tives Senate This is the third year in a could reflect upon himself. NASA $17,647 $17,461 $17,896 $17,900 row that the White House We, too, can take the brief has tried to cut planetary intervals between budget All Science $5,151 $4,972 $5,193 $5,200 science. It can be frustrating seasons to truly appreciate Planetary $1,345 $1,280 $1,450 $1,301

to retread the same ground, why we work to fund plane- Europa $80 $15 $100 $0 the same arguments, and tary exploration and NASA: Astrophysics $668 $607 $680 $708 the same battles. But what Curiosity capturing a lonely, Stratospheric gives me strength (and I blue Martian sunset; Cassini Observatory hope you as well) is that, revealing the delicate reflec- for Infrared Astronomy for all the solidarity we feel tion of ringlight off the dark (SOFIA) $87 $12 $70 $87

with Sisyphus, we are not side of Saturn; and the pos- Space Technology Directorate $576 $705 $620 $580 Graphic: Casey Dreier/Loren A. Roberts condemned to his fate. Each sibility of soaring through

year the fall has been less the plumes of Europa. Space Launch

Photo: The Planetary Society and the response from the The promise of the future System $1,600 $1,380 $1,600 $1,700

public and Congress has allows us to break through Commercial Crew $696 $848 $785 $805

been stronger. Sisyphus’ curse. Unlike All numbers in millions of dollars. Note: The Senate does not specify Europa funding, but cuts the increased level requested by NASA for Europa studies. The Senate would also impose strict new accounting require- In the meantime we him, we have the power to ments on the Commercial Crew program, which could delay the program by up to a year. Sources: NASA FY 2015 President’s Budget Request Summary, Committee Report on House CJS Bill (HR4460), Committee continue the push. Albert alter that hill so we don’t Report on Senate CJS Bill (S2437). Camus argued that the tumble again.

THE PLANETARY REPORT C JUNE SOLSTICE 2014 23 THE PLANETARY SOCIETY 85 SOUTH GRAND AVENUE PASADENA CA 91105-1602 USA Illustration: Rick Sternbach for The Planetary Society

Thank You! To all of our Members and Donors who’ve supported us as we built LightSail, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation. Thank you for your financial contributions, your patience, and your partnership as we work together to advance the technology of solar sailing.

When LightSail launches in 2016, you’ll be able to look up and see another light sparkling in the night sky. It will be our spacecraft, in orbit around Earth!

You’ll have every reason to be proud. You made it possible.

Sincerely, The Planetary Society