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The Marshall Institute and the Space Enterprise Council of TechAmerica will hold the fourth and final seminar in their series "A Day Without Space" on Thursday, October 1, from 8:30-10:00 am in B-338 Rayburn House Office Building. The agenda is available here. RSVP to info@marshall.org or call 202-296-9655.

The report of the 64th session of the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) is now available from the U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs. The meeting was held June 3-12, 2009 in Vienna, Austria. The report is available in all the official languages of the United Nations.

The following presentations were made to the second meeting of the Satellites panel of the National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey. The meeting was held on September 21-23, 2009 in Irvine, CA. Titles of the presentations are from the agenda for the meeting (note that ESA's Michel Blanc substituted for ESA's Michele Dougherty). Adobe 8.0 or higher is needed to open most of these files. Some are quite large and may take a few moments to load; please be patient.

• NRC Study on Radioisotope Power Systems, Ralph McNutt, APL
• Planetary Protection for the Icy Satellites, Cassie Conley, NASA
• Enceladus Sample-Return Missions, Peter Tsou, JPL
• Mission Architecture Options for Enceladus Exploration, Nathan Strange, JPL
• Enceladus Flagship Study, John Spencer, Southwest Research Institute
• Reducing the Challenges Posed by Titan Missions, Kim Reh et al., JPL
• The DSN: Current and Future Capabilities, Barry Geldzahler, NASA HQ
• Uranian Satellite Science, Elizabeth Turtle, Planetary Science Institute
• Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter, Michel Blanc, European Space Agency
• Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter, Jean-Pierre Lebreton, European Space Agency/ESTEC
• CNES's Titan Montgolfiere Studies (Part 1 and Part 2), Andre Vargas, CNES (French space agency)
• Reducing the Challenges Posed by a Europa Mission, Karla Clark, JPL

The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) science team has decided that the spacecraft should impact a different crater on the Moon. Initially the Cabeus-A crater was selected, but now LCROSS will aim at Cabeus (proper). Additional analysis using data from four past and present lunar probes (LRO, Lunar Prospector, India's Chandrayaan-1, Japan's Kaguya) concluded that the new site has, with the greatest level of certainty, the highest hydrogen concentrations at the Moon's South Pole. Impact is still set for October 9, 2009. For more on LRO and LCROSS, see our 1-pager Fact Sheet.

National Public Radio ran a story this morning about NASA's need for plutonium-238 for its robotic deep space and some lunar surface missions. As reported earlier on SpacePolicyOnline.com, the Obama Administration requested $30 million in the Department of Energy's (DOE's) FY2010 budget to restart production of this fuel.

The Senate zeroed the request and the House cut it by $20 million. House and Senate negotiators are scheduled to meet tomorrow (September 29) at 6:15 pm to negotiate a conference agreement on the legislation (H.R. 3183). The National Research Council issued a report on the plutonium-238 situation earlier this year calling for "immediate action" to restart plutonium production.

Leonard David reports in Space News that cubesats are adding to the problem of space debris. He quotes John Lyver of NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance as saying that cubesats are neat, cheap and do great stuff, but "they are increasing orbital debris...and it's uncontrolled orbital debris." Meanwhile, through a request for information (RFI), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking innovative ideas for how to remove debris from orbit. Responses are due October 30, 2009.

The presentations that were made to the first meetings of each of the five panels of the National Research Council's (NRC's) Planetary Science Decadal Survey are now available on SpacePolicyOnline.com. Visit our NRC page on the left menu to find those presentations and other links to NRC studies.

Three of the five panels met in August: Giant Planets, Satellites, and Inner Planets. The other two met in early September: Primitive Bodies and Mars. The presentations provide an overview of ongoing planetary science missions and briefings on the missions that scientists are proposing to begin in the next decade. The task of the Decadal Survey is to recommend to NASA which missions have the highest priority.

Each of the panels is scheduled to hold three meetings during the course of the study. The Satellites panel already held its second meeting and the presentations from that meeting will be posted soon. Check our calendar on the right for when other panels, and the Survey Committee itself, plan to meet, or visit the Decadal Survey's website.

The following presentations were made to the first meeting of the Satellites panel of the National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey. The meeting was held on August 24-26, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Titles of the presentations are from the agenda for the meeting. Some of these were joint sessions with other Decadal Survey panels. Adobe 8.0 or higher is needed to open most of these files. Some are quite large and may take a few moments to load; please be patient.

• Lessons Learned from the 2003 Decadal Survey, Alfred McEwen, University of Arizona
• Decadal Survey Overview, Steve Squyres, Cornell
• Charge to the Decadal Survey, James Green et al, NASA
• NSF's Support for the Planetary Sciences, Nigel Sharp, NSF
• OPAG's Goals and Priorities, William McKinnon, Washington University
• How the Jupiter-Europa Orbiter Addresses Satellite Science, Robert Pappalardo, JPL
• Io Volcanic Observer Mission, Alfred McEwen, University of Arizona
• How a Uranus Mission Concept Addresses Satellite Science, Mark Hofstadter, JPL
• Cassini Equinox/Solstice Missions and Satellite Science, Linda Spilker, JPL
• Titan-Saturn System Mission, Jonathan Lunine, University of Arizona
• Titan Mare Explorer Mission, Ellen Stofan, Proxemy Research
• TMC Review of Outer Planet Flagship Missions, Curt Niebur and Brad Perry, JPL and NASA/Langley
• How a Neptune Mission Concept Addresses Satellite Science, Candice Hansen, JPL

The following presentations were made to the first meeting of the Mars panelof the National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey. The meeting was held on September 9-11, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Titles of the presentations are from the agenda for the meeting. Adobe 8.0 or higher is needed to open most of these files. Some are quite large and may take a few moments to load; please be patient.

• Charge to the Decadal Survey, Doug McCuistion, et al, NASA
• Decadal Survey Overview, Larry Soderblom, USGS
• Mars Science Laboratory Status Report, Fuk K. Li, JPL
• Mars Science Goals, Jeffrey R. Johnson, USGS
• Lessons Learned from the 2003 Decadal Survey, Jack Mustard, Brown University
• Overview of Mars Science Status, Jack Mustard, Brown University
• MEPAG's Trace Gas Orbiter SAG, Michael D. Smith, NASA Goddard
• MEPAG's Mid-Range Rover SAG Scott, Scott McLennan, SUNY Stony Brook
• Past Accomplishments/Future Architecture Studies, Richard Zurek, JPL
• The Importance of Samples, Meenakshi Wadhwa, Arizona State University
• ExoMars Status Report, Jorge Vago, European Space Agency

The following presentations were made to the first meeting of the Giant Planets panel of the National Research Council's Planetary Science Decadal Survey. The meeting was held on August 24-26, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Titles of the presentations are from the agenda for the meeting. Some of these were joint sessions with another Decadal Survey panel. Adobe 8.0 or higher is needed to open most of these files. Some are quite large and may take a few moments to load; please be patient.

• Lessons Learned from the 2003 Decadal Survey, Andrew Ingersoll, CalTech
• Decadal Survey Overview, Steve Squyres, Cornell
• Charge to the Decadal Survey, James Green et al, NASA
• NSF's Support for the Planetary Sciences, Nigel Sharp, NSF
• OPAG's Goals and Priorities, William McKinnon, Washington University
• Uranus Mission Concept, Mark Hofstadter, JPL
• Cassini Equinox/Solstice Missions and Saturn Science, Linda Spilker, JPL
• How the TSSM Mission Addresses Saturn Science Goals, Jonathan Lunine, University of Arizona
• Science Goals Addressed Via Entry Probes, Thomas Spilker, JPL
• Neptune Mission Concept, Candice Hansen, JPL
• Jupiter-Europa Orbiter and Jupiter Science, Robert Pappalardo, JPL