Newsletter 12-7 Published on Division for Planetary Sciences (https://dps.aas.org) Newsletter 12-7 Issue 12-7, April 9, 2012 +-----------------------------CONTENTS--------------------------------------------------------+ 1) TIME FOR ACTION TO RESTORE PLANETARY BUDGET CUTS 2) JOBS AND POSITIONS +------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1 TIME FOR ACTION TO RESTORE PLANETARY BUDGET CUTS As I warned in my previous updates, the legislative calendar will drive our calls for action to restore planetary budget cuts. The House and Senate subcommittees will consider the NASA budget and do their markups early this year, by the end of April or early May. If we want our voice heard in Congress, if we want to reverse these devastating budget cuts, now is the time to act. Attached to this call are contact details for the key congressional members on appropriations committees that need to hear our message. Also attached is a set of talking points and a suggested letter form. All of this information and more will also be posted on the DPS federal relations subcommittee website. What matters now are numbers. Congress will not be impressed with a handful of letters and e-mails. What will impress them are hundreds or even thousands of messages from scientists across the country concerned about the future of planetary exploration. What I strongly urge the DPS membership to do is the following: · Pick six members from this list (better yet, the entire list) and send e-mails or FAXs to their science and technology staffers. A suggested letter is attached to this call. Please feel free to customize it for your individual preference. Every list should include Rep. Wolf and Sen. Mikulski, the chairs of the House and Senate subcommittees. I will be sending out the list of the full senate appropriations subcommittee in a subsequent mailing. · Follow up your e-mails with actual written (snail-mail) letters. Because of these troubled times, letters are irradiated prior to delivery to Congress so these can take 4 to 6 weeks before delivery. However, this sort of contact has much more impact than an e-mail and amplifies our presence and our footprint with Congress. If you don’t want to write, call the office and talk to the science and technology staffer. That kind of personal contact has a powerful impact. · If you live in the district of any of these senators or congressmen, visit their district office during April. Every representative has numerous district offices whose sole job is to keep contact with constituents. This web site http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm [1] just requires your zip code to give you the websites of your senators and representative, which will lead you to the addresses and phone numbers of their district offices. Mine turned out to be less than 3 miles from my house. Call for appointment, use the attached talking points, bring a copy of your letter, and impress upon the staffer of the critical nature and dire consequences of the planetary budget cuts. These contacts get reported directly to the representative and carry a huge amount of weight. · If you live in the DC area, visit the congressional offices of the subcommittee members. The FRS website http://dps.aas.org/public_policy/communicating-congress [2] has advice on visiting Congress. Again use the attached talking points, bring a copy of your letter, and talk about the restoration of the planetary budget. The time is now. Visits, letters, calls, and e-mails need to be done in the next two weeks to have an impact on the markup process. At the very minimum we can all afford 20 minutes to generate the e-mails necessary to contact every representative on this list. If the DPS as a group does that, we will have a huge impact on the budget process. If we do not, we will be ignored, the cuts will stand, and this golden age of planetary exploration will end. Let's get busy! House Appropriations COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES Subcommittee The DPS is a Division of the Page 1 of 9 American Astronomical Society. Send questions, comments, updates to [email protected] Send graduate school and REU program updates to [email protected] Newsletter 12-7 Published on Division for Planetary Sciences (https://dps.aas.org) Republicans Frank R. Wolf, Virginia, Chairman 241 Cannon Building Washington, DC 20515 Tel: (202) 225-5136 (202) 225-0437 fax (Science and Technology Staffer) [email protected] [3] John Abney Culberson, Texas 2352 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2571 Fax: (202) 225-4381 (Science and Technology Staffer) [email protected] [4] Robert B. Aderholt, Alabama 2264 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel: 202-225-4876 Fax: 202-225-5587 S&T Staff: [email protected] [5] Jo Bonner, Alabama 2236 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel: 202-225-4931 Fax: 202-225-0562 S&T Staff: [email protected] [6] Steve Austria, Ohio 439 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel: 202-225-4324 Fax: 202-2251984 S&T Staff: [email protected] [7] Tom Graves, Georgia 1113 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel: 202-225-5211 Fax: 202-225-8272 S&T Staff: [email protected] [8] Kevin Yoder, Kansas 214 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel: 202-225-2865 Fax: 202-225-2807 S&T Staff: [email protected] [9] Democrats Chaka Fattah, Pennsylvania The DPS is a Division of the Page 2 of 9 American Astronomical Society. Send questions, comments, updates to [email protected] Send graduate school and REU program updates to [email protected] Newsletter 12-7 Published on Division for Planetary Sciences (https://dps.aas.org) 2301 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel: 202-225-4001 Fax: 202-225-5392 S&T Staff: [email protected] [10] Adam B. Schiff, California 2411 Rayburn HOB Washington D.C. 20515 Phone: (202) 225-4176 Fax: (202) 225-5828 (Science and Technology Staffer) [email protected] [11] Michael M. Honda, California 1713 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel: 202-225-2631 Fax: 202-225-2699 S&T Staff: [email protected] [12] José E. Serrano, New York 2227 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Tel: 202-225-4361 Fax: 202-225-6001 S&T Staff: [email protected] [13] Senate Appropriations Sen. Barbara Mikulski Chair Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee 503 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-4654 Fax: 202-224-8858 (Science and Technology Staffer) [email protected] [14] Sen. Dianne Feinstein Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee 331 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3841 Fax: (202) 228-3954 (Science and Technology Staffer) [email protected] [15] Talking Points: · Planetary science activities provide an excellent value to the taxpayer and provide a strong return on investment · We are in the middle of a major revolution in the understanding of the origin and evolution to the solar system and if there is life beyond Earth. · The planetary science community came together in 2009-2010 to decide on the set of priorities for the 2013-2022 time period, identifying the most important science questions in the discipline and the most effective ways of answering those questions in a realistic way given the resources available. The Planetary Decadal survey lays out a plan for the next decade with solid community support. · The President’s 2013 budget proposal does not allow Decadal Survey priorities to be implemented and greatly delays future exploration. Essentially backs away from American leadership in solar system exploration. The DPS is a Division of the Page 3 of 9 American Astronomical Society. Send questions, comments, updates to [email protected] Send graduate school and REU program updates to [email protected] Newsletter 12-7 Published on Division for Planetary Sciences (https://dps.aas.org) · The President’s proposed 2013 budget gravely damages the US Mars program. Only the US has the technical capability to land on Mars which is critical for all robotic surface explorations and for future human exploration. The proposed 2013 will endanger this unique capability. · We will abrogate the search for past or perhaps even current life on Mars just at the point in human history that we have acquired to ability to search for and find it. · The outer solar system is in grave danger of going “radio dark” in 2017, when the very successful Cassini mission ends. Outer solar system missions require many years of lead time to plan and execute, and no outer solar system missions are currently planned beyond 2017 in the US. · Several moons of the outer solar system including Europa may have water oceans and the “ingredients” required for life. By exploring these worlds, we can address one of the most important questions in all of science: Is there life beyond Earth? · In direct response to the planetary Decadal Survey, less expensive mission options have been defined to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa. Paradigm-changing outer solar system science can accomplished within a cost-constrained planetary program. · Planetary science discoveries are a major motivation for students pursuing the Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM) careers that propels the U.S. forward. · NASA has been working closely with our international partners to develop joint missions that lower the overall cost to US taxpayers.