Date: October 25th, 2012
Title: Report on the 44th Annual Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences
Podcaster: Mat Kaplan
Organization: The Planetary Society
Guest: Dr. Heidi Hammel
Links: Planetary Society: http://planetary.org
AAS Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS): http://dps.aas.org/
Heidi Hammel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Hammel
Planetary Society Save Our Science (SOS) Letter-writing Campaign and DPS Coverage: http://planetary.org/
Planetary Science Decadal Study: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/2013decadal/
Description:
Bio: Mat Kaplan is the longtime producer and host of “Planetary Radio,” the Planetary Society’s weekly radio and podcast series about space exploration. He has been a science and technology journalist for more than thirty years.
Guest: Astronomer Heidi Hammel is Executive Vice President of AURA, The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. She’s also Vice President of the Planetary Society’s Board of Directors. Dr. Hammel received two of DPS’ most distinguished awards, including the Carl Sagan medal for outstanding public communication. Discover Magazine put her on its list of the 50 most important women in science.
Today’s Sponsor: No one. Please consider sponsoring an episode of 365 Days of Astronomy by clicking on the “Donate” button on the lower left.
Transcript:
Hello again, podcast fans. This is Mat Kaplan of the Planetary Society, where I host our weekly series, Planetary Radio. This week’s PlanRad is devoted to what may be the biggest annual event in planetary science. Each fall, the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences gathers nearly all the best and most productive researchers who specialize in the fields covered by planetary science, including geology, hydrology, climatology, a touch of astrobiology and, of course, astronomy. There are hundreds of ten-minute presentations that summarize what may have been years of work. Then there’s row upon row of posters, each accompanied by an eager scientist hoping you’ll stop for a look. Awards are awarded, business is conducted, and town hall meetings consider the broad issues.
One of those town hall evenings used to be called NASA night, though that’s been changed to Agency Night, as representatives of the National Science Foundation and the European Space Agency join NASA on stage. This year’s discussion became heated at times, largely because there is a sense of desperation among many planetary scientists. They know their field is wildly popular with the public and the American Congress. They know their missions, like Cassini, the Curiosity Mars Rover and many others, fire the imaginations of millions. But they also know that NASA’s planetary science budget is headed for a 20% cut. That reduction, which may grow in future years, could mean no more grand missions like Cassini and Curiosity. At least, not from the US.
So the planetary science community is fighting for its survival by lobbying in Washington, supporting campaigns like the Planetary Society’s Save Our Science effort, and rallying around shared goals identified in something called the Decadal Study. The latest of these planning documents, jointly requested by NASA and the NSF, emerged from the National Research Council in 2011. It is titled Visions and Voyages for Planetary Science 2013 to 2022, and it calls for ambitious missions of discovery even as it recognizes an era of tight funding for such missions.
Almost everyone supports the Decadal Study, even including scientists whose dream missions are given low priorities or no priority at all. They recognize the power of a united planetary science community, but that doesn’t discourage them from sharing their passion for a mission, a line of research, or an entire world. Astronomer Heidi Hammel is Executive Vice President of AURA, The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. She’s also Vice President of the Planetary Society’s Board of Directors. Dr. Hammel received two of DPS’ most distinguished awards, including the Carl Sagan medal for outstanding public communication. Discover Magazine put her on its list of the 50 most important women in science. We talked just as attendees were filing out of Agency Night at the close of a very long day at DPS.
HEIDI INTERVIEW
Dr. Heidi Hammel, astronomer, science communicator, and Executive Vice President of AURA, The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. You can read, hear and see much more of the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences on the Planetary Society website, planetary.org. I’ll be back with another contribution to 365 Days of Astronomy on November 29. Clear skies.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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