After several years in the making, the graduate degree programs organized by the space center have been approved by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and added to the catalog of offerings of the University of Arkansas.  It is now possible for graduate students to register for the M.S. and Ph.D. in space and planetary sciences, or for them to take the Ph.D. in physics and biology, the M.A. in gepgraphy and the M.S. in geology, with a concentration in space and planetary science.  The official code for the programs is SPAC.

Space and Planetary Science is the latest in a series of programs to be created at the university that stress the interdisciplinary nature of learning.  The others are cell and molecular biology, public policy, environmental dynamics, and microelectronics and photonics.  Five departments are collaborating to offer the SPAC program, chemistry and biochemistry, physics, biological sciences, geosciences, and mechanical engineering.

There are about 20 graduate programs in space and planetary science in the country, at universities like MIT, Cornell, Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan, but none attempt to bring the expertise of so many academic departments to the program.  The cooperation, advice and support of the five departments has been essential for the creation of the programs, and for its approval by the state in a relatively short time.

The program is divided into five areas of study, planetary astronomy, planetary geology, planetary atmospheres, astrobiology and astronautics, with general courses, like a laboratory course, seminars and workshops, that tie it all together.

Students with a bachelor's degree in any science or engineering discipline will be considered for the program.  All students will take survey courses in the five areas, but electives will be chosen to consolidate the student's expertise in their own area, so a biologist would take electives in the astrobiology area, while a physicist might take electives in the planetary astronomy area.  All students conduct a research project with member of the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences.

This will bring them into contact with the nation's space program and the international network of scientists and engineers working on problems in space and planetary science.

Whether we ponder the origin and history of the Earth, preserving the fragile environment, protecting the Earth from the swarm of rocky fragments that sometimes hit the Earth, or even the origin of life on the planet, we reach out to space for knowledge, insight, and understanding.  These new graduate programs in space and planetary science will enable faculty and students at the University of Arkansas to fully participate in the new frontier and it will create a new generation of urgently needed space and planetary scientists for the civil, military and government space initiatives in Arkansas, the nation, and the world."

Mars and asteroids were the subject of two public lectures recently hosted by the space center on the University of Arkansas campus.

Space-faring nations of Earth are engaged in an assault on the mysteries of the planet Mars.  Five robotic spacecraft, two rovers and 3 orbiters, are now exploring the atmosphere, surface and interior of Mars.  The Spirit and Opportunity rovers are returning fantastic images, as well as the signatures of minerals all of which point to a past very different from the Mars we see today.  Ancient Mars is now thought to have had liquid water, possibly oceans, on its surface over 3 billion years ago.  If true, one of the greatest mysteries of Mars will have been solved.  With the knowledge that the planet was once wet, together with even more sophisticated missions of exploration, scientists can hope to answer the question that has enchanted humans for over 100 years:  Was Mars once an abode of life?

On Monday, October 25th. Dr. Dan McCleese, Chief Scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at JPL in Pasadena, presented a talk that focused on our emerging understanding of Mars and the plans for future robotic exploration by NASA and other national and international space agencies.  Dr. McCleese has worked with NASA and the science community to establish the current strategy for exploring Mars.  His own scientific interests focus on the climates of the terrestrial planets.  His research included the first climatology of cloud heights for Earth, studies of the upper atmospheric cloud and thermal structure of Venus, and the modern climate of Mars.  He is currently the Principal Investigator for the Mars Climate Sounder instrument which is scheduled to be launched onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 2005.

Just one week later, Dr. Larry Lebofsky of the University of Arizona"s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory gave a lecture entitled:  "The asteroid/meteorite connection or Hera:  Visit to a small planetoid".  Dr. Lebofsky, an expert in the study of planetary surfaces by instruments on spacecraft, is widely known for the development of techniques for the detection of water on asteroids.  He has been involved in many space missions, such as the Infrared Space Observatory, Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby, and Infrared Astronomical Satellite, and is now a team member of the Hera mission led by the University of Arkansas.  Dr. Lebofsky is the Education Officer for the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society.  Since 1990, he has provided inservice training for over 300 K-12 teachers and has reached over 4500 teachers with hands-on activities.

The annual meeting of the External Advisory Board for the space center was held on November 1st, 2004.  The faculty, students and external advisors participated, the external visitors being Steve Saunders (NASA Headquarters), Walter Huebner (Southwest Research Institute) and Larry Lebofsky (Univertsity of Arizona).  At the request of the external advisors, students made research presentations in the morning and the afternoon was devoted to the center business meeting.

The student presentations were: Jennifer Chaote "Growth of methanogens on carbon monoxide", Shauntae Moore "Water on Mars", Julie Chittenden "Brine on Mars", Sammy Grimes "Search for extrasolar planets", Henry Turner "Caribbean tectonics", Mike Aguirre "Binary stars", Shelly Bursick "Quasar spectra", Melissa Franzen "Surface processes on asteroids" and Jesse Buffington "The Andromeda planetary environmental chamber".  The external advisors were impressed by these presentations.

After lunch, the business meeting discussed the status of the link between the University of Arkansas and Oklahoma State University, the implementation of the new degree programs, the development of a new five year plan, and the various funding initiatives of the center.  Meeting minutes are available from the space center office.