Code S Weekly Highlights

January 25, 2018Code SS

Significant Announcements Highlights- N/A

Upcoming Program Milestones - Several team members including Alfonso Davila (SSX), MaryBeth Wilhelm (SST), Carol Stoker (SST), and Richard Quinn (SSX)

will be participating in NASA field analog drilling tests and field science investigations in the Atacama Desert of Chile (near

Yungay), with Mars-prototype rover, 1m drill and robot arm for sample transfer.  Travel will occur 2/18/18 – 3/7/18. On-going

research and development under the PSTAR Program award, ARADS: Atacama Rover Astrobiology Drilling Studies.

- Geert Barentsen, Christina Hedges and Jessie Dotson taped an episode of the local cable tv show Future Talk.

(http://www.futuretalk.net/) The topics discussed included how we operate the spacecraft with only two reaction wheels, Kepler and

K2 results, what K2 is looking at now and how NASA’s other telescopes are being used to learn more about the planets found with the

Kepler spacecraft. The show will be aired next month on local cable channel 30 (and is sometimes picked up by cable stations across

the country).

- K2 (jointly with Boston University) planned and hosted a workshop: “Dwarf stars and Clusters with K2” in Boston on January 16 –

18, 2018. There were 63 registrants and 32 talks. The discussed topics included stellar rotation, stellar activity, eclipsing binaries,

young stellar objects, synergies with other missions and transiting planets. Several K2 staff members (Geert Barentsen, Michael

Gully-Santiago, Ann Marie Cody, and Christina Hedges) gave talks.

Key Meetings/ Event and Attendees- Jeffery Hollingsworth, Chief, Planetary Systems Branch (Code SS/SST) attended NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) hosts the 18th

Small Bodies Assessment Group (“SBAG”) within the Ames Conference Center (Building 152), 17–18 Jan 2018. The SBAG was

established by NASA to identify scientific priorities and opportunities for the exploration of asteroids, comets, interplanetary dust,

small satellites, and Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs). The SBAG also provides scientific input on the utility of asteroids and

comets in support of human space activities. The group has an open membership and a steering committee. Input from the scientific

community is actively sought. The SBAG provides findings to NASA Headquarters, but does not make recommendations.

-

-

New Publications- N/A

Collaborations- K2 hosted a visiting scientist, Dr. Meg Schwamb (Gemini Observatory) on January 23, 2018.

High Level Visits - N/A

Upcoming SS Seminars and Major Events

Date Speaker Affiliation POC Location

02/01/18 Tanguy Bertrand NPP NASA AMES (SST) Mojgan M.H-Harati N245/215

02/09/18 Ann Marie Cody NASA Ames/BAERI Mojgan M.H-Harati N245/215

02/15/18 SS Division Open House N/A Mojgan M.H-Harati N245/204

03/01/18 Myriam Telus Asst. Prof. Earth & Planetary sceience

UCSC

Mojgan M.H-Harati N245/215

03/06/18 Steve Howell SS Division Chief’s update Mojgan M.H-Harati N245/215

04/04/18 SS Division Staff SS Division Jamboree Mojgan M.H-Harati Build 3

Upcoming Key Meetings- First-Ever Women in Planetary Science Conference to be held in Toronto. 2018.

- Deep Space Gateway Science Workshop (#deepspace2018) February 27-March 1, 2018 Denver, Colorado

- Tori Hoehler (SSX) is invited to give a Key Note Lecture at the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) Geobiology entitled, The

Microbial Planet from Deep Time to Today, Jan 21-26, 2018 in Galveston, TX.