Fall
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”
So said Charles Dickens at the start of A Tale of Two Cities. Ours is a tale not of two cities, but of one laboratory in three buildings. But Dickens’ description would fit the fall of 2020 for the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. While editing this newsletter, I was reminded by one of our staff that I started a newsletter intro with the same quote in 2011. But I think I get to use Dickens once each decade, in part because I love the quote, and in part because it is the same combination of euphoria and mourning.
This fall was the best of times because, after more than 15 years of planning, proposing, finally getting accepted (that was part of the Fall 2011 newsletter), building, and flying, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft finally sampled the asteroid Bennu. Not only did OSIRIS-REx get a sample, but the sample was so large that there was material leaking out of the sample cannister before it was sealed. As well as the success of OSIRiS-REx, we had three students who successfully completed their careers (with Ph.D. defenses on Zoom), we had seven new graduate students join us, and we had a successful virtual version of The Art of Planetary Science.
But it was the worst of times, too. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that we spent the semester with virtually all of our interactions being virtual, with the associated stress of the lack of human companionship. Moreover, three valued members of the LPL family passed away: Regents' Professor Emeritus Jay Melosh, longtime Senior Research Scientist Lyle Broadfoot, and PTYS alumna Nadine Barlow.
You can read about all these, and more, in this newsletter. Stay safe until we can all meet again in person.
Timothy D. Swindle, Ph.D.
Department Head and Laboratory Director
We hope you will join us in remembering our friend and colleague Adam Showman with a gift of any size for the Adam P. Showman Distinguished Visiting Lectureship. With your generous support, we plan to establish an endowed fund that will allow LPL to bring guest lecturers to campus in Adam's memory in perpetuity. We can think of no better way to honor him than to bring exceptional planetary scientists with similarly broad interests to engage with and inspire our students, just as Adam did. Donors have already pledged a total of more than $13,000.
Samuel Myers is the recipient of the 2020 Carson Fellowship Award, which provides one academic year of support, including salary, tuition, and a supply stipend. Sam is a first-year graduate student at LPL.
Sam has been interested in space and the idea of alien civilizations since childhood. His parents fueled that interest with books about space and the solar system. Sam loved watching space and space flight documentaries and was fascinated by Space Shuttle launches. He developed an early interest in math and physics, which led him to focus on science and physics in high school. Sam chose to attend the University of Idaho specifically because the would have the opportunity to begin a research program as an undergraduate student. He chose to major in physics and astronomy with LPL alumnus Dr. Jason Barnes as an advisor. Sam's childhood interest in other worlds was reignited as he learned about Professor Barnes' studies of organic molecules in Titan's atmosphere and the habitability of exoplanets. Sam's undergraduate research began with characterizing exoplanet orbits; he had the opportunity to assist with a graduate research project that led to the publication of Sam's own research. Sam's extracurricular interests include music (he plays the piano) and fantasy literature and tabletop games.
The Lt. Col. Kenneth Rondo Carson and Virginia Bryan Carson Graduate Fellowship is an endowment established by the estate of Virginia B. Carson, honoring her husband, a former member of the "Flying Tigers," a former member of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff Strategic Air Command, retired master navigator and enthusiast of space exploration. Colonel Carson greatly admired the professionalism and accomplishments of NASA's space program. The Carson Fellowship is awarded to students pursuing degrees in the Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, selected on the basis of academic achievement and the promise of further scholarly endeavor.
LPL alumna Dr. Ali Bramson (2018) and Dr. Michael Sori (Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have joined the faculty of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at Purdue University as Assistant Professors.
Before joining Purdue, both Ali and Mike were postdoctoral scholars at LPL. As postdocs, Ali worked with Professor Lynn Carter researching lava flows on the Moon with instruments onboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft and Mike collaborated with professors Christopher Hamilton and Shane Byrne in the study of Mars and the Moon while also being involved in several NASA missions.
In the EAPS Department at Purdue, Ali and Mike will be teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in planetary geology while expanding their current research. Mike has stated that his experience at LPL, including working with students in lab groups and supporting their thesis projects, has prepared him for the next step as an Assistant Professor.
Likewise, Ali has shared that while at LPL, she was actively involved in NASA spacecraft missions, which were crucial for her scientific interests, and led to great professional and academic opportunities. Ali is particularly excited about the interdisciplinary EAPS Department where she will collaborate with scientists who use similar techniques, but also engage in other problems that differ from her previous training.
Congratulations, Professor Bramson and Professor Sori!