Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin

June 2017 • Issue 142

Contents

Feature StoryVoyage to Europa: Exploring Icy Moon Habitability

From the Desk of Jim Green

Meeting HighlightsWorkshop on Chondrules and the Protoplanetary Disk

Spotlight on Education

In Memoriam

Milestones

New and Noteworthy Science Books

Calendar

News from SpaceNASA Receives Science Report on Europa Lander

Close Views Show Saturn’s Rings in Unprecedented Detail

Feature Story

Feature Story

Voyage to Europa: Exploring Icy Moon HabitabilityEuropa may be the best place in the solar system to look for currently existing life beyond Earth.Locked beneath a shell of ice, Europa harbors a liquid water ocean with an estimated volumetwice that of all of Earth’s oceans.

Europa – credit: John Doe

From the Desk of Jim GreenIn this issue, we’re introducing a new section of the LPIB, “From the Desk of Jim Green.” In this section,Green, the Director of the Planetary Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, will sharewith the community current topics of interest related to NASA’s planetary science division from theperspective of NASA Headquarters. — Paul Schenk and Renée Dotson

Europa: NASA’s Voyage to a Water World

The quest to understand our origins is universal. How did we get here? Are we alone? What doesthe future hold? Modern science, and especially space science, provides extraordinaryopportunities to pursue these questions.

The scientific foundation of this enterprise is described in the National Academy of Science’s(NAS) two previous decadal surveys, Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science (NAS, 2011) and NewFrontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy. (NAS, 2003). Indeed, it is inanswering the findings of these decadal surveys that the Planetary Science Division’s missionshave revolutionized our understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system.

Meeting Highlights

Workshop on Chondrules and the Protoplanetary Disk

February 27–28, 2017London, United KingdomChondrules are silicate rich rounded inclusions common in most chondrite groups. They wereclearly once molten or partly molten droplets, produced in the earliest times of solar systemformation. However, despite extensive study, their origin has remained enigmatic.

The Workshop on Chondrules and the Protoplanetary Disk was held on February 27–28, 2017, atthe Natural History Museum in London, United Kingdom, and was organized by Sara Russell,Harold Connolly, and Sasha Krot. Ninety-two students and professionals attended the workshop,which was split into four sessions: Chondrule Precursors and Relationship to Matrix; Chronology;Thermal History and Environment of Formation; and Chondrule-Forming Mechanisms. Inaddition, a poster session was held on the first evening of the workshop on topics covering allaspects of the theme. The detailed program and abstracts are available on the workshop websiteat https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/chondrules2017/.

The first three sessions had the aim of identifying the critical constraints on chondrule formation,and the final session was a synthesis of the various formation mechanisms that have beendescribed in the literature. The mechanisms discussed included formation by nebular shocks, byplanetesimal collisions, by lightning, and flybys of planetesimals with magma oceans.

The workshop provided the opportunity for plenty of discussion, and while there was noconsensus on how these objects formed, the workshop identified important new avenues forresearch that will help solve this intransient issue. A book based on the proceedings of theworkshop will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2018 as part of their PlanetaryScience Series.

https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/chondrules2017/

Spotlight on Education

In Memoriam

Milestones

New and Noteworthy Science BooksPlanetesimals: Early Differentiation and Consequences for Planets.Edited by Linda T. Elkins-Tanton and Benjamin P. Weiss. CambridgeUniversity Press. 2017, 448 pp., Hardcover, $140.00.www.cambridge.org

Processes governing the evolution of planetesimals are critical tounderstanding how rocky planets are formed, how water is deliveredto them, the origin of planetary atmospheres, how cores and magneticdynamos develop, and ultimately, which planets have the potential tobe habitable. Theoretical advances and new data from asteroid andmeteorite observations, coupled with spacecraft missions such asRosetta and Dawn, have led to major advances in this field over the

last decade. This transdisciplinary volume presents an authoritative overview of the latest in ourunderstanding of the processes of planet formation. Combining meteorite, asteroid, and icy bodyobservations with theory and modelling of accretion and orbital dynamics, this text also providesinsights into the exoplanetary system and the search for habitable worlds. This is an essentialreference for those interested in planetary formation, solar system dynamics, exoplanets, andplanetary habitability.

Worlds Fantastic, Worlds Familiar: A Guided Tour of the Solar System. ByBonnie J. Buratti. Cambridge University Press, 2017, 250 pp., Hardcover,$29.99. www.cambridge.org

Join Buratti, a leading planetary astronomer, on this personal tour ofNASA’s latest discoveries. Moving through the solar system from Mercury,Venus, Mars, past comets and asteroids and the moons of the giantplanets, to Pluto, and on to exoplanets, she gives vivid descriptions oflandforms that are similar to those found on Earth but that are morefantastic. Sulfur-rich volcanos and lakes on Io, active gullies on Mars, hugeice plumes and tar-like deposits on the moons of Saturn, hydrocarbon

rivers and lakes on Titan, and nitrogen glaciers on Pluto are just some of the marvels that awaitreaders. Discover what it is like to be involved in a major scientific enterprise, with all its pitfallsand excitement, from the perspective of a female scientist. This engaging account of modernspace exploration is written for non-specialist readers, from students in high school toenthusiasts of all ages.

Apollo: The Panoramas. By Mike Constantine.Moonpans.com Ltd., 2015, 130 pp., Hardcover, $65.00.www.moonpans.com

Having spent the last 15 years assembling high-resolution,seamless panoramas from the Apollo missions, the authorhas compiled more than 50 stunning panoramas into onebook, Apollo: The Panoramas. Each panorama spans a full28 × 10.25-inch double-page spread, and the bookincludes almost every panorama captured on the lunar

surface, as well as panoramic images captured from the lunar module windows and the stand-upextravehicular activity (EVA) on Apollo 15. Each panorama has a detailed description by theauthor, and most also have exclusive comments from the Apollo moonwalkers who were actuallythere, including Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke, and Harrison Schmitt.

Calendar

2017 Upcoming Events

December51st Eslab Symposium “Extreme Habitable Worlds” December 4-8 Noordwijk, The Netherlands http://esaconferencebureau.com/2017-events/eslab2017

Beyond the Eclipse (ASP 2017) December 5-8 St. Louis, Missouri http://www.astrosociety.org/education/asp-annual-meeting/

2017 AGU Fall Meeting December 11-15 New Orleans, Louisiana http://fallmeeting.agu.org

Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference December 18-20 Broomfield, Colorado http://nsrc.swri.org

OctoberFourth International Conference on Early Mars: Geologic, Hydrologic, andClimatic Evolution and the Implications for Life (#earlymars2017) October 2-6 Flagstaff, Arizona https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/earlymars2017/

http://esaconferencebureau.com/2017-events/eslab2017http://www.astrosociety.org/education/asp-annual-meeting/http://fallmeeting.agu.orghttp://nsrc.swri.orghttps://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/earlymars2017/

The Eighth Moscow Solar System Symposium October 9-13 Moscow, Russia http://ms2017.cosmos.ru

Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (#leag2017) October 10-12 Columbia, Maryland https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/leag2017/

Back to the Moon Workshop (#moon2017) October 12-13 Columbia, Maryland https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/moon2017/

49th Annual DPS Meeting October 15-20 Provo, Utah https://dps.aas.org/

Fifth Workshop on Robotic Autonomous Observatories October 16-20 Mazagon, Spain http://astrorob.iaa.es

The Cosmic Wheel and the Legacy of the AKARI Archive: From Galaxiesand Stars to Planets and Life October 17-20 Tokyo, Japan http://www.ir.isas.jaxa.jp/AKARI/akari2017/

2017 GSA Annual Meeting October 22-25 Seattle, Washington https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/Events/Annual_Meeting/GSA/Events/gsa2017.aspx

November

http://ms2017.cosmos.ruhttps://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/leag2017/https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/moon2017/https://dps.aas.org/http://astrorob.iaa.eshttp://www.ir.isas.jaxa.jp/AKARI/akari2017/https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/Events/Annual_Meeting/GSA/Events/gsa2017.aspx

9th International Conference on Geomorphology November 6-11 New Delhi, India http://www.icg2017.com/

SPICE Training Class November 7-9 Pasadena, California https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/

The Workshop on Modern Analytical Methods Applied to Earth,Planetary, and Material Sciences II (#methodsII) November 11-12 Budapest, Hungary https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/methods2017/

1st IAA Conference on Space Situational Awareness November 13-15 Orlando, Florida http://www.icssa2017.com

Habitable Worlds 2017: A System Science Workshop (#habworlds2017) November 13-17 Laramie, Wyoming http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/habitableworlds2017/

15th Annual Meeting of the Venus Exploration Analysis Group(#vexag2017) November 14-16 Laurel, Maryland http://www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/meetings/vexag-15/

IAU Astrobiology 2017 Conference November 26-1 Coyhaique, Chile http://astrobiology2017.org/

http://www.icg2017.com/https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/methods2017/http://www.icssa2017.comhttp://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/habitableworlds2017/http://www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/meetings/vexag-15/http://astrobiology2017.org/

SeptemberExoplanetary Systems in the PLATO Era September 5-7 Coventry, United Kingdom http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/research/plato_mission_conference2017/

Meteorites China – Gifts from the Universe September 15-17 Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China http://people.duke.edu/~ng46/Meteorites-China/

European Planetary Science Congress 2017 September 17-22 Riga, Latvia http://www.epsc2017.eu

4th Global Applied Microbiology Summit September 18-20 Dallas, Texas http://appliedmicrobiology.cmesociety.com/

The Many Scales of the Universe: Galaxies, Their Suns, and Their Planets September 18-22 Goettingen, Germany http:/ag2017.uni-goettingen.de

The 3rd Beijing International Forum on Lunar and Deep SpaceExploration September 19-22 Beijing, China http://ldse2017.csp.escience.cn

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/research/plato_mission_conference2017/http://people.duke.edu/~ng46/Meteorites-China/http://www.epsc2017.euhttp://appliedmicrobiology.cmesociety.com/http:/ag2017.uni-goettingen.dehttp://ldse2017.csp.escience.cn

Planet Formation and Evolution 2017 September 25-27 Jena, Germany http://www.astro.uni-jena.de/~pfe2017

68th Annual International Astronautical Congress September 25-29 Adelaide, Australia http://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2017/

EGU Galileo Conference “Geosciences for Understanding Habitability inthe Universe” September 25-29 Furnas, Azores, Portugal http://www.egu-galileo.eu/gc2-habitability/

Geosciences for Understanding Habitability in the Universe September 25-29 Furnas, Azores http://www.egu-galileo.eu/gc2-habitability/

August14th Annual Meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) August 6-11 Singapore http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2017

The Early History of Planetary Systems and Habitable Planets August 8-10 Tartu, Estonia https://sisu.ut.ee/eac/home-0

8th Planetary Crater Consortium Meeting August 9-11 Flagstaff, Arizona http://www.planetarycraterconsortium.nau.edu/

http://www.astro.uni-jena.de/~pfe2017http://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2017/http://www.egu-galileo.eu/gc2-habitability/http://www.egu-galileo.eu/gc2-habitability/http://www.asiaoceania.org/aogs2017https://sisu.ut.ee/eac/home-0http://www.planetarycraterconsortium.nau.edu/

2017 International Symposium on Planetary Remote Sensing andMapping August 13-16 Hong Kong http://event.lsgi.polyu.edu.hk/prsm2017/

The Third Workshop on Extremely Precise Radial Velocities (EPRV III) August 14-17 University Park, Pennsylvania http://exoplanets.psu.edu/

International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’sInterior (IAVCEI) 2017 Scientific Assembly August 14-18 Portland, Oregon http://iavcei2017.org

LSST 2017: Project and Community Workshop August 14-18 Tucson, Arizona https://project.lsst.org/meetings/lsst2017/

12th Low-Cost Planetary Missions Conference August 15-17 Pasadena, California http://lcpm12.org

Accretion: Building New Worlds Conference (#1st1e9) August 15-18 Houston, Texas http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/accretion2017/

Exoclipse 2017: Exploring New Worlds in the Shade August 20-24 Boise, Idaho https://physics.boisestate.edu/exoclipse/

http://event.lsgi.polyu.edu.hk/prsm2017/http://exoplanets.psu.edu/http://iavcei2017.orghttps://project.lsst.org/meetings/lsst2017/http://lcpm12.orghttp://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/accretion2017/https://physics.boisestate.edu/exoclipse/

NBIA Summer School on Astrophysical Plasmas — From Planets toGalaxies August 28-1 Copenhagen, Denmark https://indico.nbi.ku.dk/conferenceDisplay.py?confld=933

2017 Past Events

May9th Workshop on Catastrophic Disruption in the Solar System (CD9) May 14-17 Kobe, Japan http://www.impact-res.org/CD2018/Catastrophic_Disruption_2018/Welcome.html

MIAPP 2018 Workshop — Near Earth Objects: Properties, Detection,Resources, Impacts and Defending Earth May 14-8 Munich, Germany http://www.munich-iapp.de/programmes-topical-workshops/2018/near-earth-objects-properties-detection-resources-impacts-and-defending-earth/

Mercury: Current and Future Science of the Innermost Planet(#mercury2018) May 1-3 Columbia, Maryland https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/mercury2018/

Differentiation: Building the Internal Architecture of Planets (#1st1e9) May 7-11 San Gabriel Valley, California https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/differentiation2018/

February

https://indico.nbi.ku.dk/conferenceDisplay.py?confld=933http://www.impact-res.org/CD2018/Catastrophic_Disruption_2018/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.munich-iapp.de/programmes-topical-workshops/2018/near-earth-objects-properties-detection-resources-impacts-and-defending-earth/https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/mercury2018/https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/differentiation2018/

Magnetic Fields or Turbulence: Which is the Critical Factor for theFormation of Stars and Planetary Disks? February 6-9 Hsinchu, Taiwan http://events.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/workshop/20180206/index.php

The 2nd Rencontres du Vietnam on Exoplanetary Science February 25-2 Quy Nhon, Vietnam http://rencontresduvietnam.org/conferences/2018/exoplanetary_science/

March49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (#lpsc2018) March 19-23 The Woodlands, Texas https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2018/

AprilPlanetary Science Informatics and Data Analytics Conference April 24-26 St. Louis, Missouri https://psida.rsl.wustl.edu/

JulyFormation of Complex Molecules in Space and On Planets – FromInterstellar Clouds to Life July 17-22 Tartu, Estonia http://www.nordicastrobiology.net/Tartu2017

http://events.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/workshop/20180206/index.phphttp://rencontresduvietnam.org/conferences/2018/exoplanetary_science/https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2018/https://psida.rsl.wustl.edu/http://www.nordicastrobiology.net/Tartu2017

8th Annual Lunar and Small Bodies Graduate Conference (LunGradCon2017) July 17 Mountain View, California http://impact.colorado.edu/lungradcon/2017/

NASA Exploration Science Forum July 18-20 Moffett Field, California https://nesf2017.arc.nasa.gov/

80th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society July 23-28 Santa Fe, New Mexico http://metsoc2017-santafe.com/

Celebrating 25 Years of the OGLE Project July 24-28 Warsaw, Poland https://ogle25.astrouw.edu.pl/

CHEOPS Science Workshop July 24-28 Schloss Seggau, Austria http://geco.oeaw.ac.at/links_CHEOPSsw17.html

Summer School in Software Systems for Astronomy July 24-4 Hilo, Hawaii http://astro.uhh.hawaii.edu/Summer/Summer-2017/summer2017.php

Summer School “Impacts and Their Role in the Evolution of Life” July 25-3 Saaremaa, Estonia http://www.nordicastrobiology.net/Impacts2017

http://impact.colorado.edu/lungradcon/2017/https://nesf2017.arc.nasa.gov/http://metsoc2017-santafe.com/https://ogle25.astrouw.edu.pl/http://geco.oeaw.ac.at/links_CHEOPSsw17.htmlhttp://astro.uhh.hawaii.edu/Summer/Summer-2017/summer2017.phphttp://www.nordicastrobiology.net/Impacts2017

1st IUGG Symposium on Planetary Science July 3-5 Berlin, Germany http://www.dlr.de/iugg-ps2017

13th Asian-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting (APRIM 2017) July 3-7 Taipei, Taiwan http://www.aprim2017.tw/

International Symposium on Education in Astronomy and Astrobiology(ISE2A) July 3-8 Utrecht, The Netherlands http://ise2a.uu.nl

34th MEPAG Meeting July 10 Virtual Meeting https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/meeting/2017-07/MEPAG%202017%20July%2010%20circ.pdf

Enabling Transiting Exoplanet Observations with JWST July 10-12 Balitmore, Maryland http://www.cvent.com/d/n5q7nc

Ultraviolet Sky Surveys July 10-14 Tel Aviv, Israel http://www.astro.tau.ac.il/events/uss/

XVIIIth International Conference on the Origin of Life (#issol2017) July 16-21 San Diego, California http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/issol2017/

June

http://www.dlr.de/iugg-ps2017http://www.aprim2017.tw/http://ise2a.uu.nlhttps://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/meeting/2017-07/MEPAG 2017 July 10 circ.pdfhttp://www.cvent.com/d/n5q7nchttp://www.astro.tau.ac.il/events/uss/http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/issol2017/

Workshop on Shock Metamorphism in Terrestrial and Extra-TerrestrialRocks June 24-2 Perth, Australia http://www.sserviaustralia.org/event/shock-metamorphism-in-terrestrial-and-extra-terrestrial-rocks/

http://www.sserviaustralia.org/event/shock-metamorphism-in-terrestrial-and-extra-terrestrial-rocks/

News from Space

NASA Receives Science Report on Europa Lander

Close Views Show Saturn’s Rings in Unprecedented Detail

© 2017

Lunar and Planetary Information BulletinJune 2017 • Issue 142ContentsFeature StoryVoyage to Europa: Exploring Icy Moon Habitability

From the Desk of Jim GreenMeeting HighlightsWorkshop on Chondrules and the Protoplanetary Disk

Spotlight on EducationIn MemoriamMilestonesNew and Noteworthy Science BooksCalendarNews from SpaceNASA Receives Science Report on Europa LanderClose Views Show Saturn’s Rings in Unprecedented Detail

Feature StoryVoyage to Europa: Exploring Icy Moon Habitability

From the Desk of Jim GreenMeeting HighlightsWorkshop on Chondrules and the Protoplanetary Disk

February 27–28, 2017 London, United KingdomSpotlight on EducationIn MemoriamMilestonesNew and Noteworthy Science BooksCalendar2017 Upcoming EventsDecember51st Eslab Symposium “Extreme Habitable Worlds”Beyond the Eclipse (ASP 2017)2017 AGU Fall MeetingNext-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference

OctoberFourth International Conference on Early Mars: Geologic, Hydrologic, and Climatic Evolution and the Implications for Life (#earlymars2017)The Eighth Moscow Solar System SymposiumAnnual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (#leag2017)Back to the Moon Workshop (#moon2017)49th Annual DPS MeetingFifth Workshop on Robotic Autonomous ObservatoriesThe Cosmic Wheel and the Legacy of the AKARI Archive: From Galaxies and Stars to Planets and Life2017 GSA Annual Meeting

November9th International Conference on GeomorphologySPICE Training ClassThe Workshop on Modern Analytical Methods Applied to Earth, Planetary, and Material Sciences II (#methodsII)1st IAA Conference on Space Situational AwarenessHabitable Worlds 2017: A System Science Workshop (#habworlds2017)15th Annual Meeting of the Venus Exploration Analysis Group (#vexag2017)IAU Astrobiology 2017 Conference

SeptemberExoplanetary Systems in the PLATO EraMeteorites China – Gifts from the UniverseEuropean Planetary Science Congress 20174th Global Applied Microbiology SummitThe Many Scales of the Universe: Galaxies, Their Suns, and Their PlanetsThe 3rd Beijing International Forum on Lunar and Deep Space ExplorationPlanet Formation and Evolution 201768th Annual International Astronautical CongressEGU Galileo Conference “Geosciences for Understanding Habitability in the Universe”Geosciences for Understanding Habitability in the Universe

August14th Annual Meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS)The Early History of Planetary Systems and Habitable Planets8th Planetary Crater Consortium Meeting2017 International Symposium on Planetary Remote Sensing and MappingThe Third Workshop on Extremely Precise Radial Velocities (EPRV III)International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) 2017 Scientific AssemblyLSST 2017: Project and Community Workshop12th Low-Cost Planetary Missions ConferenceAccretion: Building New Worlds Conference (#1st1e9)Exoclipse 2017: Exploring New Worlds in the ShadeNBIA Summer School on Astrophysical Plasmas — From Planets to Galaxies

2017 Past EventsMay9th Workshop on Catastrophic Disruption in the Solar System (CD9)MIAPP 2018 Workshop — Near Earth Objects: Properties, Detection, Resources, Impacts and Defending EarthMercury: Current and Future Science of the Innermost Planet (#mercury2018)Differentiation: Building the Internal Architecture of Planets (#1st1e9)

FebruaryMagnetic Fields or Turbulence: Which is the Critical Factor for the Formation of Stars and Planetary Disks?The 2nd Rencontres du Vietnam on Exoplanetary Science

March49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (#lpsc2018)

AprilPlanetary Science Informatics and Data Analytics Conference

JulyFormation of Complex Molecules in Space and On Planets – From Interstellar Clouds to Life8th Annual Lunar and Small Bodies Graduate Conference (LunGradCon 2017)NASA Exploration Science Forum80th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical SocietyCelebrating 25 Years of the OGLE ProjectCHEOPS Science WorkshopSummer School in Software Systems for AstronomySummer School “Impacts and Their Role in the Evolution of Life”1st IUGG Symposium on Planetary Science13th Asian-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting (APRIM 2017)International Symposium on Education in Astronomy and Astrobiology (ISE2A)34th MEPAG MeetingEnabling Transiting Exoplanet Observations with JWSTUltraviolet Sky SurveysXVIIIth International Conference on the Origin of Life (#issol2017)

JuneWorkshop on Shock Metamorphism in Terrestrial and Extra-Terrestrial Rocks

News from SpaceNASA Receives Science Report on Europa LanderClose Views Show Saturn’s Rings in Unprecedented Detail