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Planetary Science Advisory Committee

This is an updated montage of planetary images taken by spacecraft managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Included are from top to bottom images of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The Planetary Science Advisory Committee (PAC) supports the advisory needs of the Planetary Science Division (PSD), the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and other mission directorates as required, and the NASA Administrator. The PAC is an Advisory committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

The scope of the PAC includes all aspects of planetary science, scientific exploration of the Moon and Mars, the robotic exploration of the solar system, astrobiology, exoplanet research, space- and ground-based research, technology development, planning, and training required to support these science areas.

In addition to scientific research, the scope encompasses considerations of the development of near-term enabling technologies, systems, and computing and information management capabilities, as well as developments with the potential to provide long-term improvements in future operational systems.

Responsibility for biological planetary protection is outside the purview of the PAC.

The Planetary Science Advisory Committee is a new FACA committee of NASA, replacing the NAC SC Planetary Science Subcommittee

PAC Members

  • Chair: Shannon Curry, University of California, Berkeley
  • Executive Secretary: Katharine Robinson, NASA Headquarters
  • Brent Barbee, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • Kandi Jessup, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder
  • John Grant, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
  • David Murrow, Retired (Lockheed Martin)
  • Deborah Woods, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
  • Ryan Ogliore, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Laura Barge, JPL
  • Jamey Szalay, Princeton University
  • Maitrayee Bose, Arizona State University

Bands of white, tan, and orange clouds shroud Venus in this view from a spacecraft.

PAC 101: Welcome to the PAC

PAC Charter

Three moons appear is small dots orbiting Saturn in this full view of the giant planet and its vast rings.

PAC-Designated Federal Officer and Appointments

A full disk view of the planet Neptune, with the Great Dark Spot and some wispy white clouds, is visible.

Analysis Groups

The Analysis/Assessment Groups are community-organized, non-FACA-authorized groups that provide feedback to PSD, but not formal recommendations.

Mercury in several different colors

Materials from the Predecessor Subcommittee

PAC Meeting Documents

Please direct questions regarding the Planetary Science Advisory Committee to Katharine Robinson, Executive Secretary.

November 12-13, 2024

July 9-11, 2024

March 4-5, 2024

November 13-14, 2023

June 21-23, 2023

February 28-March 1, 2023

December 5-6, 2022

June 21-23, 2022

February 15, 2022

November 15-16, 2021

June 14, 2021

March 1-2, 2021

Nov. 30, 2020 (Virtual Meeting)

Aug. 17-18, 2020 (Virtual Meeting)

March 9-11, 2020

Dec. 6, 2019

Sept. 23-24, 2019

Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials (CAPTEM) Update - Kevin D. McKeegan

Sept. 26, 2018

July 2, 2018

Feb. 21-23, 2018

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