KECK INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES

     


Short Course Presentations

Michael Zolensky
NASA Johnson Space Center
Past Sample Return Missions and Major Achievements
(.pdf)
Francois Tissot
Caltech
Linking the Protosolar Disk with the Inner Solar System
(.pdf)
Karen Meech
University of Hawai'i
Chemical Fingerprints of the early Solar System and its Dynamical Evolution
(.pdf)
Jonathan Lunine
JPL

Ocean Worlds and Habitability
(.pdf)

Mike Brown
Caltech
Ices in the Outer Solar System and their Connection to the Protoplanetary Disk
(.pdf)






Sample Return from all across the Solar System short course poster


Program:

Talk 1 – "Past Sample Return Missions and Major Achievements" – Michael Zolensky, NASA Johnson Space Center

  • Major unanswered science questions from sample return missions
  • Advances in analytical capabilities
  • Lessons learned from sample return missions


Talk 2 – "Linking the Protosolar Disk with the Inner Solar System" – Francois Tissot, Caltech

  • Nucleosynthetic anomalies: robust tracers of early solar system evolution
  • Current views on early solar system architecture
  • Missing building blocks of terrestrial planets (i.e., the biased metoerite record)
  • The need for inner solar system return sample missions (Venus/Mercury)


Talk 3 – "Chemical Fingerprints of the early Solar System and its Dynamical Evolution" – Karen Meech, University of Hawai'i

  • Habitability for terrestrial planets – bringing water to the inner solar system
  • Chemistry and isotopic signatures vary with temperature in the disk
  • Planetesimals formation and scattering by giant planets
  • Unwinding the clock – perils of using one isotope to trace the history
  • Where to look: Clues from meteorites – the NC/CC dichotomy
  • Testing the dynamics with Manx comets
  • Value of sample return to assess volatiles in the asteroid belt


Talk 4 – "Ocean Worlds and Habitability" – Jonathan Lunine, JPL

  • The criteria for habitability, and which ones are particular to ocean worlds
  • The key types of measurements required to establish habitability
  • Results obtained at Enceladus by Cassini
  • Planned Europa Clipper observations directly relevant to the habitability of Europa
  • The value of sample return for assessing the habitability of these objects


Talk 5 – "Ices in the Outer Solar System and their Connection to the Protoplanetary Disk" – Mike Brown, Caltech

  • The JWST view of the icy composition of the outer solar system
  • The incorporation of interstellar ices into the protoplanetary disk
  • Isotopic signatures of the interstellar-protoplanetary-outer solar system connection and planetary processes
  • Samples from the outer solar system and where to find them