Outer Planets Assessment Group

OPAG Town Hall Meeting at LPSC 2023 

• OPAG hosted a community town hall discussion, including Q&A with NASA HQ's Stephen Rinehart.
  
  Tuesday, March 14, 2023
  Indian Springs room (at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center)
  11:35 a.m.–12:35 p.m. CDT

OPAG Town Hall at EPSC 2022 

• Meeting Website
  Europlanet Science Congress 2022
  Palacio de Congresos de Granada, Spain
  
  Friday, September 23, 2022, 13:45–15:15 Central European Summer Time (CEST)
  Splinter Meetings and Workshops (SMW) 6
  Convener: Jeffrey Moore (OPAG Co-Chair)
  
  The purpose of the OPAG Town Hall is to update the community on OPAG activities and get community input for upcoming activities, especially in light of the new Decadal Survey recommendations and possible opportunities for international cooperation.

OPAG Hybrid Town Hall at AGU Fall Meeting 2021 

• Date: Thursday, December 16, 2021
  Time: 11:15–12:15 p.m. CST
  Location: Online and at the New Orleans Convention Center, Room 388-390 (must be registered for the AGU meeting)
  
  For more information, see the online program: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Session/141047
  
  The purpose of the OPAG Town Hall was to update the community on recent OPAG activities and get community input for upcoming activities including a focus on possible OPAG responses to the Planetary Decadal Survey, which is to be released in March.

Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) Town Hall 

• EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019
  September 20, 1:30–3:00
  Moon (Room 15) ( SMW1.12)
  Centre International de Conférences de Genève (CICG), Geneva, Switzerland
  
  The purpose of the Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) Town Hall is to update the community on OPAG activities and get community input for upcoming activities, especially as they pertain to the run up for the next Decadal Survey.

August 19, 2019 OPAG Subsurface Needs for Ocean Worlds Meeting #1 

• University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
  Boulder, CO
  Agenda
  
  Accessing into and through the ice shells of ocean worlds will both enable compelling science, including the search for evidence of past and present life, and require dedicated technology programs to realize. OPAG invites members of the astrobiology, planetary science, ocean science and technology communities to join together in a community-based forum aimed at defining the path to the ocean(s).
  
  The first Subsurface Needs for Ocean Worlds meeting will be held 9am-5pm August 20, 2019, immediately prior to the fall OPAG meeting in Boulder, CO. This 1-day workshop is designed to be an open forum to discuss technology needs, common science drivers, and mission architectures for Ocean Worlds exploration. The agenda will include a mixture of short presentations, break out groups, and lighting talks on technology and science.
  
  SNOW meeting #1 will seek to develop plans for Decadal Survey white paper(s) and define action items and agenda for the next meeting (prior to the winter/spring OPAG meeting).
  
  Early career scientists are encouraged to participate. For those who receive support for the OPAG meeting, costs to extend the trip to attend SNOW can also be supported.
  
  The SNOW group is now working to gather information for writing a letter for the planetary decadal to support tech development for accessing Ocean Worlds. We welcome those interested to contribute to check out the information on the google drive here: and provide contact information here or directly to Kate Craft ([email protected]).”
  
  For any questions, please email Britney Schmidt ([email protected]) and/or Kate Craft ([email protected])
  
  Agenda
  

Europa Lander Instrument PEA Special Finding 

• Special OPAG Steering Committee Finding, May 26, 2017
  NASA released "Community Announcement Regarding Europa Lander Instrument Investigation Program Element Appendix” on May 17, 2017 (see http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/announcements/). This announcement included a surprising statement regarding participation by JPL: "…the following organizations will be prohibited from submitting proposals in response to the PEA: the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Cornell Technical Services (CTS), and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. These organizations will provide substantial support to the development and execution of the PEA. In particular, JPL personnel will support the development of the AO and documents in the Program Library, assess the accommodation of proposed instrument investigations, provide technical support to teams during Step 2, and participate in site visits during the Step-2 evaluation.” The OPAG steering committee is concerned about the potential exclusion of JPL scientists and instrument technology experts who have spent decades preparing for a life-detection mission such as Europa Lander. We urge NASA to proceed in a way that does not increase risk to Europa Lander science by excluding key capabilities. We note that NASA has funded much highly relevant work at JPL via R&A programs and the Astrobiology Institute, and instrument technology development via MatISSE, PICASSO, COLDtech, and other programs. Excluding the knowledge gained from such efforts would be counterproductive.
  
  Finding
  The OPAG Steering Committee urges NASA to proceed with Europa Lander instrument and science team selections in a way that results in the best possible science return.