Saturn after Cassini-Huygens
http://www.saturnaftercassini.org/
The Saturn Book Symposium entitled "Saturn After Cassini-Huygens" will be held at Imperial College London, UK, 28 July - 1 August 2008. The conference is sponsored by the Cassini-Huygens Project and includes support from ESA, STFC, NASA and Imperial College London. The primary purpose of the conference is to exchange ideas that will culminate in the publication of a Springer-Verlag book on the Saturn system.

The format will include invited talks on the various proposed chapters and poster sessions with summary plenary reporting for introducing new ideas and material that would be incorporated into the final text. The meeting will also conclude with presentations and discussions regarding the status of future plans by ESA and NASA to return to the Saturn system for further exploration.

NASA Planetary Science Summer School
http://pscischool.jpl.nasa.gov/
When:
Session I: July 21 - 25, 2008
Session II: August 4 - 8, 2008

Where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

Application Deadline: May 1, 2008

Notification of Selection: By June 2, 2008

WHO: This program seeks people who have completed their graduate work and beyond in science and engineering fields, and who have a keen interest in a career in planetary exploration. Preference is given to post-docs, recent PhD's and current doctoral students; applications from graduate-level students or faculty members will be considered on a space-available basis. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or resident aliens (green card holders) and living within the U.S. at the time of the application. A Letter of Recommendation from your research advisor is required by May 1, 2008.

WHAT: An intensive one-week team exercise learning the process of developing a robotic mission concept into reality through concurrent engineering. Limited funds are available to provide partial support for travel and lodging.

The trainees will participate in a team activity to develop an early mission concept study, working with JPL's Advanced Projects Design Team ("Team X") and other concurrent engineering teams. Using JPL's Project Design Center, trainees will assume roles including principal investigator, project manager, and mission and system designers. They will be mentored and assisted by Team X members. The student teams will carry out the equivalent of a mission concept study responsive to a typical NASA Science Mission Directorate Announcement of Opportunity, prepare a presentation for a proposal authorization review, present it to a review board, and receive feedback. The mission concept topic will be selected in advance by the course sponsors. Pre-session readings and telecons will help trainees develop a good understanding of top-level science requirements and instrument priorities in advance.

WHEN:

Session 1: July 21 - 25, 2008 (18 participants)
Session 2: August 4 - 8, 2008 (18 participants)
WHERE: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

WHY: To prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers to participate in future missions of solar system exploration.

"Students should get a crash course in what has taken me a career to learn about missions."
--Prof. Jim Head, Planetary Scientist, Brown University, Providence, RI

At the end of the week, students will have a clearer understanding of the mission design relationships among instruments, cost, and schedule, and the trade-offs necessary to stay within cost and schedule while preserving the opportunity to acquire high-quality science. They will also understand the lifecycle of a robotic space mission.

HOW: Applications are to be submitted electronically by May 1, 2008.

Successful applicants will be post-docs, recent PhDs, or graduate-level scientists or engineers with a strong interest in a career in planetary exploration. Faculty members or undergraduate students may be considered on a space-available basis.
Must be U.S. citizen or resident alien (green card holder)
Must be living within the U.S. at the time of the application.
Provide a short (one to two paragraphs) statement of
how the summer school relates to your education, research, and career plans,
how you will benefit from attending the session
Faculty advisor or current supervisor must provide a signed letter of recommendation on letterhead.
All applicants will be notified by June 2, 2008.

Before you come, participation in several group telecons will be required to help you identify and understand the science objectives for your mission and to develop the instrument concept.

Logistics: Detailed logistical information will be provided to successful applicants.

There is no registration fee. Partial financial support is available to a limited number of individuals to help defray the expense of travel and lodging only. To qualify for financial support you must

(a) Be selected to participate in the summer school,
(b) Live within the United States at the time you file your application, and
(c) Request financial support in your application.

Civil servants, JPL employees, Caltech students and employees, and individuals living outside the United States are not eligible for financial support.

Participants must initially incur all expenses and will be reimbursed after completion of the school. A travel report form must be completed after the participant returns to their point of origin, and must include the original hotel and transportation receipts. Copies of receipts are not acceptable. Rental car expenses will be approved on a case-by-case basis. When processed by JPL's travel auditing department, checks will be issued to reimburse the individual for 80% of expenses up to a maximum of $1000 per person. It is JPL policy to mail reimbursement checks to home addresses only and not to institutions. Allow 6 to 8 weeks after the travel reports are received at JPL to receive reimbursement checks.

If you have questions about the summer school, please contact:

Manager:

Anita.M.Sohus@jpl.nasa.gov
Ms. Anita M. Sohus
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
M/S 111-B29
4800 Oak Grove Dr.
Pasadena, CA 91109
(818) 354-6613 voice
(818) 354-7586 fax

Utah State Small Satellite Conference
http://www.smallsat.org

Small Satellites — Big Business
At the onset of the modern microspace era, small satellites were commonly viewed as the folly of a few academics, renegade defense researchers, and disbelievers in the laws of physics. Today, not only have small space systems proven their ability in a broad spectrum of missions, they have carved out a notable portion of the space market and show continuing signs of growth over the coming decade. The world’s largest space companies have initiated nano-satellite research projects to experiment and explore radical spacecraft design elements that they would not have considered a decade ago for more traditional programs. Entire national space agencies have been built on the foundation of small satellites for communications, Earth imaging, and national technology development. In the U.S., the Department of Defense and other agencies have established long term budget plans for systems that are based principally on smaller, more rapidly developed space platforms. The 22nd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites will focus on the expanding business of small satellites.

Register Now http://www.smallsat.org/registration

Conference Program (PDF 1 MB) http://www.smallsat.org/program.pdf

The Great Planet Debate: Science as Process A Scientific Conference and Educator Workshop
http://gpd.jhuapl.edu/
Top scientists and educators will convene in Maryland this summer to explore a basic, but controversial, question: What is a planet?

The Great Planet Debate (GPD) conference includes two days (August 14-15) of scientific sessions to discuss and debate the processes leading to planet formation and the characteristics and criteria used to define and categorize planets. An open-to-the-public debate between Dr. Mark Sykes of the Planetary Science Institute and Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson of the American Museum of Natural History is scheduled on the afternoon of August 14th.

An educator's workshop follows on the third day (August 16th) to provide a forum on how the planet debate can be used to spark scientific inquiry in the classroom.

Highlights
Days 1 and 2: During the first two days of the conference, we will present what we have learned about planetary bodies over more than 40 years of robotic exploration of the Solar System and what we are learning about planets around other stars. The IAU’s dynamical definition of a planet will be presented, as well as an alternative geophysical definition. The utility of each will be debated, along with other potential planet definitions.

A public lecture and panel discussion, featuring scientists who are prominent in the debate on planet definitions, are planned for Thursday afternoon, followed by a banquet. A reception on Friday afternoon concludes the scientific portion of the conference.

Day 3: The third day of the meeting will be an Educator Workshop to discuss how the question of "The Great Planet Debate" should be treated in schools and how that can be used as a springboard to discuss science as a process, as well as other topics in planetary science.


Call for Papers
Scientists and Educators attending this conference are invited to submit contributed abstracts for oral and poster presentations.

All contributed abstracts must be submitted by email to the SOC Chair (Mark Sykes) at sykes@psi.edu by 8:00 pm (EDT) on Friday, June 27, 2008. Abstracts should be limited to one page, including graphics, tables, and references.

Please indicate in your email which type of presentation you prefer (poster vs oral). Please note that most contributed papers will probably be in the form of posters.

Who: Hundreds of Mars Experts and Enthusiasts
What: Eleventh Annual Mars Society Convention
When: August 14-17, 2008
Where: University of Colorado, Boulder
Why: Your chance to hear the latest news and research from Mars, and to join us in advancing the cause of human space exploration!

http://www.marssociety.org/portal/c/Conventions/2008/

LINKS:

Confirmed Speakers List

Register Online Here!

Hotel Information

Sponsorship Information

Convention Flyer - Use For Offline Registration

Abstract Submission Information

Join us for a discussion about the Hubble servicing

mission and the latest astronomical results obtained by

the Hubble Space Telescope.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/events/vcevents.html

Glenn Research Center Ohio Astronaut Reunion

ESMD Exploration at Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival

For more information:

http://www.rockymountainballoonfestival.com/

Extrasolar Planets in Multi-Body Systems: Theory and Observations

http://www.astri.uni.torun.pl/~workshop
An international conference on extra-solar planets in multi-body systems is organized in Torun (Poland), August 25-29, 2008. The meeting is co-organized by the Torun Centre for Astronomy of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, the Paris-Meudon Astronomical Observatory (LUTH) and the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center (Warsaw).

The aim of the conference is to discuss the origin, dynamical and physical evolution of extrasolar planets orbiting stars from multiple stellar systems as well as planets from multiple planetary systems. Our goal is to cover both theory and observation with particular attention to the dynamics of multi-body configurations and diversity of their dynamical environments. The binary and multiple stellar systems are common in the solar neighborhood but by observational selection effects only a fraction of the known extrasolar planets belong to the multi-stellar systems or are members of multi-planet configurations. Nevertheless, their formation and dynamical evolution are the subject of ongoing intensive research. Different detecting tools and techniques which are key to characterization of planetary systems would be discussed. A special attention would be paid to the current state of the theory explaining the genesis of such systems.
http://exoplanets.astri.umk.pl/gfx/poster.jpg