ODAA7
The NASA Science Explorer (SciX) expands on the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) to provide a unified platform for disseminating research across all disciplines of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, adhering to the FAIR principles—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable as a cornerstone of NASA's Transform to Open Science (TOPS) initiative. SciX leverages artificial intelligence technologies, such as Named Entity Recognition (NER) optimized by astroBERT and SciXBrain, to enhance data linkage and citation accuracy in planetary science. By improving interoperability with the Planetary Data System (PDS) and other archives, SciX facilitates seamless access to data products and software, boosting scientific collaboration and enhancing NASA missions' scientific return. The integration of tools like the IAU/USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature into SciX allows researchers to directly connect scholarly publications with named planetary features, simplifying the exploration of planetary science data. SciX aims to deepen community engagement through tailored outreach strategies including the SciX Ambassadors program. The SciX Ambassadors program has selected 12 Lead Ambassadors from diverse scientific backgrounds to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and enhance the platform's utility and visibility within the global scientific community, including planetary science. The growth of our diverse network of ambassadors will enable continuous, tailored refinement of the platform’s features while fostering an environment that advances planetary science, interdisciplinary connections, and NASA’s broader goals in open science.
How to cite: Jarmak, S. and the The NASA Astrophysics Data System and Science Explorer Team: Enhancing Planetary Science Discovery through the NASA Science Explorer, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-62, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-62, 2024.
The spectacular progress of space exploration during the last 30 years has allowed the development
of Planetary Geosciences, an intrinsically interdisciplinary field of sciences joining together geologists,
geophysicists, geochemists, etc. Master degree courses in astrophysics and planetary geosciences are
attracting more and more graduates with a great diversity of backgrounds covering physics, earth
sciences, engineering, mathematics. It is, therefore, important to promote these courses,
highlighting not only their core curricula but also the new opportunities they offer for careers in
space research and space industry.
The GeoPlaNet project has brought together the partner institutions of the GeoPlaNet consortium:
researchers in Space Sciences, representatives of technological enterprises operating in this sector,
high school graduates and higher education students. During 2020-2023, the GeoPlanet Erasmus +
Strategic Partnership project has implemented several actions to respond to these new needs.
Coordinated by Nantes (France) and further including Coimbra and Porto (Portugal), Padova and
Chieti/Pescara (Italy), and VR2Planets, a start-up (France) specializing in virtual reality, the
GeoPlaNet-SP project has joined together universities with complementary expertise in astrophysics
and astronomy, geology and planetary geosciences. The project outputs comprised intellectual
productions, training activities and dissemination events, all grouped into four work packages:
"Employability", "Habitability", "Innovative training practices" and "Geological mapping and
planetary analogues”.
All the results of this project are available on the website: https://geoplanet-sp.eu, including online
courses of the worshop and thematic course and an online platform https://geoplanet.space that
gathers information on the different GeoPlaNet activities along with requirements, contents and
professional opportunities (research careers in industry and academia) of master's courses in
astrophysics and planetary sciences at partner universities of the strategic project Erasmus+
GeoPlaNet-SP (KA203)
The main achievements of GeoPlaNet - SP Project were :- to strengthen cooperation between
partners and develop new collaboration with private companies. In this sense, there was an effort to
transfer the research collaborations, expertise and cutting-edge disruptive technologies used in
research field into an increasing knowledge about employers needs in the space exploration sector ;-
to allow the realisation of synergies and exchange of good practices inside a network of excellence,
with joint activities and intellectual outputs, sustainable for future training courses. There was an
effort to adapt training offers and fostering innovation through testing and implementing innovative
practices in the field of education such as VR and new interdisciplinary modules in planetary
geosciences to enrich existing international degrees;- to allow participants to develop a multicultural
European approach that could be very valuable for their careers in an intrinsically international
sector.
The GeoPlaNet Strategic partnership has received the exemplarity label of the European Commission
for the high quality of its results and implementation. These efforts are pursued today through an
Erasmus mundus program EMJM-GeoPlaNet (https://geoplanet-impg.eu/), started in 2023/2024,
and that creates unique opportunities for students to develop interesting projects in the framework
of their academic training, but also within complementary activities adding a value to their
experience during the program. We expect the GeoPlaNet EMJM in Planetary Geosciences to
contribute to training the best engineers and researchers in tomorrow's space mission teams,
preparing them to design, analyse and interpret the missions’ data, and to address the many
challenges of the oncoming Earth and Planetary exploration programmes.
How to cite: Carpy, S., Olivier Verhoven, O., Jousse, M.-P., Pais, A., Fernandes, J., Pondrelli, M., Gabriele Ori, G., Massironi, M., Breda, A., Silva, M., Seixas, T., and Civet, F.: GeoPlaNet project: a transnational collaboration for planetarygeosciences, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-1325, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-1325, 2024.
On 6th December 2020, a capsule parachuted down into the Australian desert. Inside the sealed chamber were grains collected from asteroid Ryugu: a type of carbonaceous asteroid whose minerals might offer clues as to how the Earth became habitable.
The sample had been collected by the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission during a six year round-trip to the asteroid, breaking a series of world records in both science and engineering. The spacecraft’s journey had been followed from around the world as Hayabusa2’s cameras picked out the asteroid surface for the first time, followed by deployment of rovers and the European-developed MASCOT lander to the asteroid surface, and then two challenging touchdowns to collect material from the boulder-strewn landscape. A continual stream of news and images had been shared via the mission website and social media feeds, with the sample collections and final Earth return broadcast in live events. But now, there was a problem.
To avoid contamination from the Earth environment, the Japanese team had moved rapidly to locate the sample capsule and bring this to the extraterrestrial sample curation facility at the JAXA Sagamihara Campus within 60 hours. The capsule was opened in vacuum conditions, before being transferred to analysis chambers filled with unreactive pure nitrogen gas. Over the next six months, the sample was carefully catalogued so that scientists could propose experiments that would reveal more about the recovered grains. The asteroid grains would therefore travel around the world. But they would always be handled inside scientific clean facilities where few people would ever set foot. To almost everyone in the world, the mission that had filled the news for the last six years would disappear.
Preparing the asteroid grains for transport (JAXA).
This was both an outreach and scientific concern. After opening the sample capsule, 60% of the asteroid grains had been put aside from the grains that would be distributed for scientific study. This part of the sample is being saved for future analysis, stored for the next generation of scientists who would have new questions to ask with newly developed scientific instruments and techniques. But if the current sample analysis is performed only behind closed doors, with results emerging purely in technical journal papers, how do you inspire new scientists to join the investigation?
For this reason, the curation team extracted a small number of asteroid grains from the main sample. These would not be used for scientific analysis, but be sent to museums for public display. While little could be discerned by eye from these tiny grains, they represented the result of the Hayabusa2 mission, and the beginning of a new scientific story of what we could learn about the start of our own planet.
It is a scientific story that applies to all humans that inhabit this amazing habitable world. The asteroid grains should therefore be displayed not only in Japan, but reach an international audience.
Then the JAXA team were approached by the Science Museum in London, and shortly afterwards, by Cité de l’espace in Toulouse. Both were major museums that drew large crowds every year from all over the world. The museum teams were also experienced in curation and had displayed lunar samples from the Apollo missions, guaranteeing that the fragile asteroid grains would be properly handled.
At JAXA, we worked with both museums to develop displays that were eye catching, but could showcase such a tiny object. The first question was how the asteroid grains should be stored while on display. One choice was to seal the grain in a small disc of resin. This allows the grain to be displayed sideways, which was easier to view inside a display case. However, the resin did add an extra barrier between your eye and the grain. The second choice was to place the asteroid grain inside a facility-to-facility transfer container (FFTC) that was used when transporting the sample between laboratories. The FFTC was quite an interesting object to display, but it did have to be kept almost horizontal, or the asteroid grain would slide to the edge of the container and might fragment. In the end, both museums selected the FFTC, with Cité de l’espace requesting a second grain that could be displayed in resin.
Left: the exhibit at the Science museum (Science Museum Group). Right: the exhibit at Cité de l'espace (Cité de l'espace).
The second challenge was visibility. The Science Museum opted to place the asteroid grain inside the FFTC near the floor of a tall display case, with a mirror to reflect the inside of the FFTC to higher heights. This allowed good visibility for children and wheelchair users, as well as standing adults. Cité de l’espace projected an image of the grain through a microscope onto a screen to create an easily examined picture. We also created 3D printed models of the displayed grains that were enlarged so that the shape of the grain could be easily seen.
The asteroid grains were carried by hand from Japan to Europe last summer. Customs forms had to be carefully prepared to indicate that the asteroid grain was a loan, and did not represent the exportation of soil. In September, the first international public exhibits of the asteroid Ryugu grains opened in London and Toulouse! Events held at both museums welcomed JAXA and scientists who had worked on the mission to public talks and panel discussions. The exhibit in London is open until January 2025, after which the asteroid grain will move to a new display location also in the UK. The Cité de l’espace exhibit will be open for at least one more year. Ryugu, we’re so excited to see you in Europe!
How to cite: Tasker, E., Fujimoto, M., Kitagawa, K., and Usui, T.: A glimpse of the start of the Earth: international exhibits of the asteroid Ryugu grains collected by the Hayabusa2 mission , Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-886, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-886, 2024.
The ExoClock project - www.exoclock.space – aims to monitor regularly transiting exoplanets for the Ariel space mission, using small- and medium-scale telescopes. The project launched in EPSC 2019 and in EPSC 2024 we celebrate five years of continuous operation. ExoClock is part of the ephemerides working group of ESA's Ariel space mission and its main scope is to maximise the mission’s efficiency. In this effort, our team has been actively collaborating with both professional and amateur astronomers coming from various countries around the world. Participants contribute with observations of exoplanets by using a wide range of telescopes, from backyard ones to large facilities own by organisations and universities. Apart from he science goal, our efforts include public engagement with science. In order to increase participation and enable/ facilitate research, we have created educational and user friendly tools while we have initiated / developed also dedicated projects for completely inexperienced people such as citizen scientists and school students.
This presentation will describe how collaborative and open science can be used to advance exoplanet research though projects such as ExoClock. More specifically, I will talk about the organisation of the ExoClock project and the main tools that are used to achieve an effective pro-am collaboration. I will also present the status of the project and the results of the publications we have produced so far. The ExoClock network currently consists of more than 1400 participants, including professionals, amateur astronomers (75%), university students but also some citizen scientists. The talk will end with lessons learned from 5 years of operation and future plans.
How to cite: Kokori, A.: The ExoClock project for the Ariel space mission- 5 years of continuous operation, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-480, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-480, 2024.
ExoClock Unlocked, an initiative of the ExoClock project team, aims to democratize the field of exoplanet research by enabling public participation in support of ESA’s Ariel space mission. The project has been running for two years and participants get the opportunity to observe exoplanet transits by using remote observing facilities. ExoClock Unlocked invites all exoplanet enthusiasts, regardless of their previous experience, that don’t have access to equipment to participate in a real space mission. During the project seminars, all members engage as citizen scientists. They learn how to perform remote observations, with support from the ExoClock team, which includes scientists and public engagement specialists, and analyze the gathered data utilizing user-friendly tools. This presentation will outline the key procedures and strategies that have led to successful project outcomes. We will discuss the challenges encountered and the solutions implemented by our team, and highlight the tangible benefits realized through this inclusive scientific initiative.
How to cite: Pantelidou, G. and Kokori, A.: ExoClock Unlocked: Fostering Public Engagement in Exoplanet Research, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-142, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-142, 2024.
Exoplanet science in the classroom – a practical project
The ExoClock project has established a highly successful system for amateur astronomers to submit valuable exoplanet transit timing observations in support of the future ESA Ariel space mission. As well as supporting the amateur community, the ExoClock platform and transit analysis tools provide an excellent vehicle for school students to learn about exoplanet science in an engaging way and have fun in the process. Students can get hands-on experience using modern tools to analyse real astronomical data and make valuable contributions to a ‘live’ science project.
This talk is about the experience of planning and running a project for a group of 10 young women studying physics at a local high school. During the project, the students learned about how we use transits to study exoplanets and how to analyse observation data using HOPS software. Working in teams, they analysed two real transits and successfully submitted two light-curves to the ExoClock database.
How to cite: Jones, A.: Exoplanet science in the classroom - a practical project, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-211, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-211, 2024.
Orbyts is a movement founded at UCL in 2015 and organised by STEM researchers and
teachers that creates inspirational partnerships between scientists and schools. By providing
school students with relatable science role models and supporting our students in leading
their own original science research projects, Orbyts helps them to defy the systemic biases
that are too often found in STEM and dispels the harmful stereotypes that have historically
prevented science from being more inclusive.
UK science education faces significant inclusivity, education and skills challenges. STEM
subjects, and particularly physics, suffer from a systemic lack of diversity created by long-
standing barriers to inclusion. Girls, Black students and students from low-income
backgrounds are highly under-represented at all levels of physics from GCSE onwards [1,2].
Less than 20% of post-16 physics students are girls [3] and students from the most deprived
backgrounds are 3 times less likely to take A level physics and 6 times less likely to achieve
the top grades than those from the highest income backgrounds [2].
The Orbyts ethos of providing regular engagements, inspirational role models and active
ownership of scientific research is proving to be transformative in tackling the issues
mentioned above and is profoundly shifting perceptions of science and who can be a
scientist. The evidence shows that it is particularly impactful for groups historically excluded
from science. For example, our partner schools report 100% increases in girls’ uptake of A-
level physics, following participation in Orbyts at GCSE. Since 2018, Orbyts has enabled 195+
UK school students to author scientific publications (10s of papers) and most of these
students are designated as being pupil premium (a metric that includes income deprivation).
See Fig. 1 for more relevant statistics regarding the engagement that Orbyts has had so far.
Since its conception, Orbyts has expanded significantly in line with our goals of reaching as
many underrepresented groups as possible. Orbyts hubs are now present outside of London
in Leicester and Northumbria and we have an international hub to support researchers in
other countries in running their own Orbyts projects. One such group that has frequently
been overlooked with respect to outreach opportunities is that of students suffering from
long term medical conditions. The unpredictability of such conditions can prevent these
students from engaging with science at the traditional school level whilst also having other
negative effects such as making it harder to maintain confidence in their intellectual abilities
and relationships with their peer group. This year we have piloted the Orbyts STAR (Students
Advancing Research) project in partnership with the hospital school at Great Ormond Street
Hospital to deliver a bespoke research project to their students. The project surrounds
characterising the variability of exoplanet host stars in preparation for the launch of the Ariel
mission in 2029 and is specifically tailored to allow for additional flexibility needs. In this talk
I will start by giving a general overview of the Orbyts programme and its structure and then
present some of the results from the STAR research project specifically.
References
[1] UK chemistry pipeline loses almost all of its BAME students after undergraduate
studies, Chemistry World, August 2020. https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/uk-
chemistry-pipeline-loses-almost-all-of-its-black-asian-and-other-ethnic-minority-chemists-
after-undergraduate-studies/4012258.article
[2] Limit Less, Support young people to change the world, Institute of Physics Report,
October 2020. https://www.iop.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/IOP-Limit-Less-report-2020-
Nov.pdf
[3] Why not physics? A snapshot of girls’ uptake at A-level, Institute of Physics Report, May
2018. https://www.iop.org/sites/default/files/2018-10/why-not-physics.pdf
How to cite: Thompson, A., Dunn, W., Sandhu, J. K., Mooney, M., Ballard, C., Navarrete-Leon, C., Lao, C., Fuller, M., Bray, A., Osborne, H., Niculescu-Duvaz, M., Devoil, K.-A., Killey, S., Rennie, S., Joseph, M., and Mason, V.: Orbyts and Orbyts STAR: At the Heart of Great Science is Opportunity, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-1311, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-1311, 2024.
In a shift from previous projects, the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure involved an impact evaluation officer, a researcher trained in social sciences and education research, to lead its evaluation efforts. This paper/session presents the findings of the evaluation and, in particular, reflects on the value of including a social sciences perspective. That is, we will highlight not only what the evaluation found in terms of impact in key areas such as scientific and technological impact but will focus on what emerged that might not have been uncovered using our previous evaluation approaches.
The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of the RI for its user community. Although the analyses were been broadly structured around the five impact areas identified by the OECD’s Reference Framework for Assessing the Scientific and Socio-Economic Impact of Research Infrastructures (2019), the evaluation also aimed to draw out what contributed to its impact. While evidence has been found for impact in all five impact areas (Scientific, Technological, Training and Education, Economic, Social and Societal), evidence is particularly strong in the first three.
Across scientific and technological impact, the Transnational Access (TA) visits – which formed the cornerstone of the RI in many ways – made possible impacts, particularly scientific, that simply would not be possible without the support of the RI, due to the access to facilities, both equipment and expertise, that it provided. These impacts were amplified due to the participation of early career researchers in the programme, ensuring impact into the future. Such impact was only enhanced and strengthened by other areas of scientific impact from Virtual Access activities and Networking Activities(e.g. Expert Exchange programme, Telescope Network) activities.
Impact in the area of training and education is also substantial, via a Mentorship programme, Expert Exchange programme, Winter Schools and training workshops. One distinguishing feature of the 2024 RI that the evaluation surfaced was the extensive support for students and early career researchers in particular, and amateur astronomers as well. In addition to the various programmes and workshops, the TA visits made a large contribution to this impact via the participation of early career researchers and students – the visits provided opportunities that are not otherwise available to them, thus accelerating their career development.
The Social and Societal impact has also been considerable, albeit more challenging to measure. There has been substantial outreach activity undertaken by TA facilities and TA visitors, and there has also been development of educational materials for school use. Both the management of the RI, as well as leaders of multiple TA facilities have engaged with policymakers and policy initiatives. Impact related to social responsibility is also notable. The mentorship programme and support provided for amateur astronomers widened the reach of those who could participate in and benefit from the activity of the RI. Direct support in the form of conference bursaries and workshops to support applications to the TA programme achieved similar goals. Some of these efforts also contributed to impact in the area of education and training and highlighted the multifaceted nature of the RI’s support for the Europlanet community.
The evaluation – particularly more qualitative aspects, such as interviews – reflected that across many of the RI activities, collaboration and networking emerged as key to impact, both as a pathway to impact and an indicator of its attainment. The network element provides support for researchers at all levels and strengthens the community, which in turn contributes to sustainability and improving the science. Put differently, the evaluation identified not only the impact that the RI has achieved but also the way in which it has done so – through its support of the community. In particular, the RI provided access – access to expertise, to equipment (labs, field sites) and to people. This access was supported by a host of interlocking activities that clearly impacts on individuals – from doctoral students to amateur astronomers and beyond – and the science that they engage in, now and in the future. All of this, critically, does not just lead to good science, but the outward facing nature of much of the RI activity means the impacts will be broader than just on the scientists participating directly and their science, but vitally strengthens the planetary science community – and beyond. By having an evaluator trained in social sciences designing and implementing the evaluation – and bringing that perspective to the data, the evaluation of Europlanet 2024 RI robustly evidenced the way in which scientific impacts were achieved and the vital role of support for the community of planetary scientists in this impact.
Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
How to cite: Heward, A. and DeWitt, J.: What’s the point? The value of mixed methods evaluation in evidencing impact of a scientific research infrastructure, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-1162, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-1162, 2024.
The past decade has seen the consolidation of open access practices in scientific publishing, with funding bodies, international agencies and academic institutions requiring free access to not only scientific papers but also other output such as datasets and computer codes. While mostly embraced by the scientific community, the transition to open access practices has led multiple academic publishers to offer Gold Open Access schemes, under which scientific papers are free-to-read. Compared to the traditional publication models, Gold Open Access comes at a much higher cost for the authors, normally of thousands of US Dollars for a single paper. These practices have had a documented negative impact on the scientific publishing landscape, from the rise of predatory journals to the broadening of the economic divide between academic institutions.
Partly in response to the negative impact of Gold Open Access practices, different fields of Earth Sciences have recently seen the rise of several community-led, Diamond Open Access journals (e.g., Volcanica, Tektonika, Seismica). These journals are free-to-publish and free-to-read. The aim is to remove financial barriers to scientific publishing by publishing peer-reviewed articles at no cost to both authors and readers, thus offering a platform for true open science. Diamond Open Access journals are created and maintained by the very same scientific community they aim to serve, thus removing economical and business considerations that drive a large fraction of the modern publishing landscape. Therefore, community-led journals offer a high-quality alternative to classical for-profit scientific journals.
We are pleased to announce a new Diamond Open Access journal initiative called Geodynamica, with the aim of promoting free-to-publish and free-to-read research on the dynamics of the Earth’s and (exo)planets’ interior. Geodynamica was born in 2023 thanks to the effort of six scientists, who form the core committee that coordinate the efforts of the various teams. The target launch date for the journal is autumn 2024. Geodynamica aims at promoting academic discourse and disseminating research pertaining to the quantitative study of Earth and (exo-)planetary internal structure, dynamics, and evolution from observational to modelling perspectives.
Geodynamica enjoys the support of eScholarship (University of California), and hugely benefits from the experience of existing community-led journals within the geosciences community, namely Volcanica, Tektonika and Seismica.
In this contribution, we will provide the vision behind this initiative, report on the structure of this journal, its scope, and the remarkable community effort that will make this new diamond open access journal a reality.
How to cite: Maffei, S., van Zelst, I., Bethkenhagen, M., Duretz, T., Arnould, M., and Gouiza, M.: Geodynamica: slinging Earth and (exo)planets’ structure and dynamics into Diamond Open Access, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-1082, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-1082, 2024.
