Altheide, T.S., V. Chevrier, C. Nicholson, J. Denson, 2009.  Experimental investigation of the stability and evaporation rate of sulfate and chloride brines on Mars.  Earth Planet Sci. Lett., in press.

Chevrier, V., R. Ulrich, T.S. Altheide, 2009.  Viscosity of ferric sulphate solutions and application to the formation of gullies on Mars.  Journal of Geophysical Research, in press.

Kennefick, D.  Testing relativity from the 1919 eclipse-a question of bias.  Physics Today, 62(3), 37-42.

Tim Kral, a member of the Space Center and a faculty member in the department of Biological Sciences, was named winner of the Charles and Nadine Baum Faculty Teaching Award for 2009.  This is the University of Arkansas’ most prestigious teaching award.  He serves as a mentor in the Fulbright Perspectives program with freshmen, has advised scores of undergraduate and graduate students, and is noted for his willingness to include students as active participants in his research projects.  Kral will be presented with the Charles and Nadine Baum Faculty Teaching Award during the All-University Commencement on May 9.

Claud Lacy, a member of the Space Center and a faculty member in the department of Physics, has been selected for the Fulbright College Master Teacher Award for the 2008/2009 academic year.  This is an important recognition of his commitment to excellence in teaching.

Dixie Androes, a Space Center graduate student,  has had her abstract for the 214th meeting of the American Astronomical Society accepted for presentation.  The title of her abstract is, “Reconstruction of Lunar Orbital Periodicities and their Impact on Tidal Sediments and Early Life.”

Marc Seigar, a member of the Space Center and a faculty member in the department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Arkansas Little Rock, was the keynote speaker at the 93rd meeting of the Arkansas Academy of Science.  The title of his presentation was, “Dark Matter in Spiral Galaxies.”

Rick Ulrich, the deputy director of the Space Center and a faculty member in the department of Chemical Engineering, was recently featured in Astrobiology Magazine’s latest podcast.  Dr. Ulrich was interviewed by host Simon Mitton, a former Barringer lecturer at the Space Center.  Dr. Ulrich discussed how thermal modeling of Mars is being used to create temperature maps of the planet.  He explained that with these maps, astrobiologists and planners of future missions could pick out the places where life may possibly exist in the subsurface.

For the SPAC seminar for the spring 2009 semester, Space Center graduate students were charged with inviting and hosting speakers.  They also arranged for the publicity and for the public and internal presentations.  Speakers were chosen so that they could draw on funds from outside the Center, either from the missions or from their host institutions, with the Center covering local expenses.

In addition to their lectures and seminars, speakers typically toured the Space Center, attended one or more relevant research group meetings, and met with students and faculty whose interests they shared.  Several expressed an interest in maintaining contact and perhaps pursuing possible research collaborations.  Center expenses were covered by the Barringer Crater company and the University of Arkansas Honors College.

The speakers, their affiliation, and the title of their talks are listed below.

Peter Truethardt - University of Arkansas Little Rock - “Dynamical Simulations of Three Resonance Ring Barred Spiral”

Dr. Margaret Trippe - Georgia State University - “A Multi-Wavelength Inves-tigation of the Nature of Type 1.8/1.9 Seyfert Galaxies”

Dr. Allen W. Archer - Kansas State University - “Cyclic Tidal Rhythmites: Paleoastronomical and Paleoenviron-mental Significance”

Dr. Alfonso F. Davila - SETI Institute & NASA Ames Research Center, Planetary Science Division - “Follow the Water, Follow the Salts: Learnings from the Atacama Desert About the Search for Life on Mars”

Dr. Matthew Greenhouse - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Project Scientist for James Webb Space Telescope - “The James Webb Space Telescope Mission Overview”

Dr. Megan Elwood Madden - University of Oklahoma - “What are Gas Hydrates?”

Dr. Amanda Hendrix - Jet Propulsion Laboratory - “Exploring the Enigmatic Worlds of Europa and Enceladus”

Space Center graduate students attended the 17th annual Arkansas Space Grant Consortium Symposium at at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute in Morrilton, Arkansas.  Scott Barrows had an oral presentation, while Kelly Howe, Ahmed El Shafie, and David Blackburn had poster presentations.  The mission of ASGC is to actively promote the involvement of the State of Arkansas in NASA activities.

The Space Center recently hosted a group of 60 seventh graders from Lingle Middle School.  Kelly Howe, a Space Center graduate student, gave two talks to the students that focused on our place in the universe and the size of objects in our solar system and beyond.  She also spoke to them about how to get involved in science activities to help foster their interest in the science and math fields.

Workshop on Modeling Martian Hydrous Environments
June 1-3, 2009
Houston, Texas

72nd Meteoritical Society Meeting
July 13-18, 2009
Nancy, France

International Conference on Space Technology
August 24-26, 2009
Thessaloniki, Greece

International Conference on Asteroid-Comet Hazard 2009
September 21-25, 2009
St. Petersburg, Russia

International Meteor Conference 2009
September 24-27, 2009
Porec, Croatia

41st Annual Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society
October 4-9, 2009
Fajardo, Puerto Rico

Geological Society of America Annual Meeting
October 18-21, 2009
Portland, Oregon