Friends, I've been thinking about this for a few years now, but the events this week have made it clear that now is the time. It's time to work to establish a professional planetary science society in the United States. A 🧵 - ThreadSky

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social • 27 days ago

Friends, I've been thinking about this for a few years now, but the events this week have made it clear that now is the time.

It's time to work to establish a professional planetary science society in the United States.

A 🧵

Comments

stevebookman.bsky.social•27 days ago

As long as you pay for it!

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•27 days ago

There is no community/volunteer group specifically constituted today in the U.S. to advocate specifically for NASA planetary priorities *as identified by the community*—i.e., the Decadal Surveys.

Yes, there are lots of people volunteering their time in professional societies and organizations!

But

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•27 days ago

...those organizations are not *only* focused on planetary topics.

For example, there's the American Geophysical Union Planetary Sciences Section (for which I'm the current Past President), but AGU's strategic goals are far greater than only planetary science.

Then there's

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•27 days ago

...the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences, which has a Federal Relations Subcommittee. But a great many people in the planetary sciences community writ large—a community we don't fully understand the size of, because NASA is legally *not allowed* survey it—aren't in DPS.

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•27 days ago

And, anecdotally, a lot of people had never heard of the DPS'S FRS before. Incidentally, a lot of folks who go to the annual DPS meeting don't go to the other big planetary meeting, LPSC. So that's a related, big problem in and of itself.

There are other organizations, most notably

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•27 days ago

The Planetary Society, which has long done fantastic advocacy work for planetary science and space science more broadly.

But folks at The Planetary Society will tell you that only ~2% of their members are professional planetary scientists.

So the TPS has a *vital* role to continue playing, but

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•27 days ago

...it cannot be the only body to advocate for professional planetary scientists.

And today, we learned that NASA is (temporarily? maybe?) suspended most of its community/volunteer-led activities, including its Analysis/Assessment Groups.

The first ever in-person Mercury Analysis Group meeting was

soto97.bsky.social•27 days ago

I feel like I have questions about this idea but that Bluesky is not the best space for that discussion. Any thoughts about taking this idea “on the road” to LPSC, DPS, and maybe a virtual meeting? I would definitely be interested in hearing more and discussing this in one of those environments.

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•27 days ago

See later in the thread.

soto97.bsky.social•27 days ago

Well, apparently I should have refreshed before posting.

Count me in for any discussions at LPSC.

walid06seismo.bsky.social•27 days ago

@theplanetaryguy.bsky.social president

earlofgrey255.bsky.social•27 days ago

Nothing works there. Try Mexico

caseyalmighty.bsky.social•26 days ago

Bill Nye helps run one. Screenshot is from Thier YouTube channel.

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•26 days ago

Didn't read the whole thread, did ya

caseyalmighty.bsky.social•26 days ago

Nope my bad

tubbycat27.bsky.social•27 days ago

Invite people from other countries, please. We all share space.

paullniles.bsky.social•27 days ago

Lots to talk about here. But the underlying weakness in pure unbiased planetary science advocacy is correct I think. How to keep it independent from the $$$?

drswood.bsky.social•26 days ago

Agree 100%. I've long felt that Planetary Science needs to establish its own identity as a field of science distinct from Astronomy and Geoscience and having our own separate professional organization would be a big first step.

drswood.bsky.social•26 days ago

And not just for federal relations and public relations, but also for ourselves. Tired of being a "subdivision" or "section" of some other field. And spent most of my academic career in departments whose name seemed to almost deliberately omit my chosen field ("Earth and Space Sciences")

markpanning.seismology.space•27 days ago

I like the idea. I think it’s a huge lift to make it happen, though.

theplanetaryguy.bsky.social•27 days ago

Well it for sure won't happen if we don't try

markpanning.seismology.space•27 days ago

Agreed. I support it, but I’m really curious about how one goes about building such an organization and getting buy-in from the community to make it work. I’m not concern-trolling here, but genuinely asking out loud what advice people on here have to go about doing it.

markpanning.seismology.space•27 days ago

I’ve seen some great open access journals develop from the bottom up in recent years, and I’m sure there’s some lessons in there about how to do this. Any other analogous efforts out there to learn from?

nickattree.bsky.social•27 days ago

Not quite the same thing, but I guess you might be interested in how @europlanetmedia.bsky.social turned itself into a members association a few years ago

bluewitch15.bsky.social•27 days ago

I agree💯

astropotamus.com•27 days ago

Can us non-professional people who are otherwise gifted with the power of rational thought join or just Astro PhDs?

mrkhagol.bsky.social•27 days ago

yeah but just planetary/phd folks

mrkhagol.bsky.social•27 days ago

I went to DPS meeting once and it was an absolute blast. u can go as amateur astronomer..which is how i went

dieselbug1137.bsky.social•26 days ago

Hey, I have some very specific ideas about Venus. I think it's the best option for people living on another planet. I think what people don't see is the sCo2 ocean of Venus is probably filled with resources. The temperature gradient of Venus could also be used to generate electricity.
#Space

lynncarter.bsky.social•27 days ago

I agree with @planetprof.bsky.social that we need a "gap" analysis and plan for scope given how busy people are. But I'd like to see something run by community and not executives.

lynncarter.bsky.social•27 days ago

I feel like we've lost control of major decisions, and the execs are in DC and somethings majorly out of touch with centers, academia etc. I think the elected president and council should make the decisions.

librate.bsky.social•27 days ago

📌

cstark.bsky.social•27 days ago

Good idea

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