This is the year of the icy world. NASAs Dawn mission is on its way for its March arrival at the beguiling icy world Ceres, a dwarf planet. The agencys New Horizon mission will fly by the icy world Pluto this summer. In October, its Cassini mission is scheduled to soar so close to Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn, that it will fly through geysers of water that could reveal secrets of a subsurface ocean. And NASAs future icy world explorer, a mission to probe the ice-encrusted Jovian moon Europa, is taking shape in the minds of scientists and the drawing boards of engineers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
Members of the media, along with pre-selected social media representatives, are invited to attend the Icy Worlds Media Day at JPL on Monday, February 2. Media are requested to be at JPL no later than 8:30 a.m. PST. The event should conclude by 12:15 p.m.
Journalists who would like to attend the event must arrange access in advance by contacting Gina Fontes in JPL Media Relations at 818-354-5011 by 3 p.m. PST, Friday January 30. Valid media credentials and ID are required.
Attendees will hear from scientists and engineers working on these icy worlds projects, which underscore the agencys commitment to exploring the solar system and beyond. The program will also include, via satellite, the live NASA TV broadcast of NASA Administrator Charles Boldens state of NASA address from the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida, followed by an opportunity to hear from JPLs deputy director.
The planned program includes the following topics, and will feature show-and-tell with spacecraft models and hardware, and a visit to the Dawn missions control center — the Mission Support Area.
– Europa: Scientists Kevin Hand and Bob Pappalardo, and engineer Sara Susca will outline the current mission concept to explore Europa, with its probable subsurface ocean, and will discuss what NASA hopes to learn from the intriguing moon.
– Dawn: The missions project manager, Bob Mase, and chief engineer Marc Rayman, will chronicle the Dawn spacecrafts approach to dwarf planet Ceres using its revolutionary ion propulsion system. Deputy Principal Investigator Carol Raymond will detail why Ceres is such a tempting destination to expand our knowledge of the solar system.
– Cassini: Project Scientist Linda Spilker will detail the missions final close flybys planned this year of Saturns moons Dione and Enceladus. The encounters include a plunge through the Enceladus plume at a height of just 30 miles above the moons surface.
– New Horizons: New Horizons science team member Bonnie Buratti of JPL will preview the fast- approaching encounter with Pluto.
JPL is located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, Calif., off the Berkshire/Oak Grove off-ramp of the 210 Freeway.
