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The Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) at JPL announces a "SPICE" Training class will be held at the Sheraton Pasadena Hotel in the "Old Town" section of Pasadena, California on January 12-14, 2010. SPICE is an ancillary information system that provides scientists access to spacecraft orbit, attitude and similar information needed to determine observation geometry used in planning and analyzing space science observations. Check http://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/ for further information about SPICE. The class will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 12 and will conclude at approximately 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 14. See the preliminary agenda (PDF) for the class. (Ending times are approximate.) This class is intended primarily for those who will write software that will make use of SPICE data. People not intending to do programming using SPICE software are not likely to find this class useful. The class is not well suited for those whose principal job is to produce SPICE kernels, unless the student is rather new to SPICE. (In the future NAIF may try to hold a class focused on kernel producers and perhaps another class covering advanced topics.) The class will interleave presentations of SPICE tutorials and "hands-on" programming lessons undertaken by the students using their own laptop computers. The programming lessons are broken into chunks of increasing complexity, and come complete with needed data, tips, references, correct answers, and NAIF's own solutions. The NAIF instructors will answer questions and offer assistance as students work through these exercises. The class is open to all domestic and foreign persons who are now participating, or may participate in the future, in any space exploration endeavor where SPICE capabilities could be useful, including education, public outreach and commercial ventures. Important rules regarding use of SPICE are published under the "Rules" section of the NAIF webpages. Potential attendees should read and understand these rules before signing up for the class. Note that while this class is open to all, the NAIF group is NOT able to provide follow-up support or consultation except to those specific projects and research scientists covered by official funding agreements. A table listing those currently eligible for various levels of support from NAIF may be accessed from the SUPPORT web page at the NAIF website: http://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/SPICE_Users.pdf. The class is offered without cost, but attendees will be responsible for their own travel, lodging, per diem and related expenses. Some familiarity with writing programs in one of the offered languages, and in building and running executables on the laptop brought by the student, is needed to make this class useful. It will also be helpful if the student has some prior experience in dealing with "space mission observation geometry." It is sometimes helpful if two or three colleagues share a computer and work each programming lesson together. Each student or student group must bring a laptop computer having an OS and compiler supported by NAIF. Check ftp://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/toolkit for the NAIF-supported environments and to download the NAIF Toolkit for any of them. Students must use the current version of the Toolkit: Version N0063. Before coming to the class students will be responsible for having installed a SPICE N63 Toolkit, an appropriate compiler or IDL or MATLAB package, and a suitable program development environment or editor. For IDL and MATLAB users: WiFi Internet connection will be available in the classroom. Whether or not it will work with your institutional IDL or MATLAB license server--presumably through a VPN connection--cannot be determined by NAIF. It might be best for you to arrange for a temporary loaner license for your laptop to avoid this potential problem. Before coming to the class each student or student group must download the programming lessons and the SPICE kernel files to be used in the lessons. Students wishing to have the tutorials available on their own laptop should also download these before coming to the class. You could also print and bring a copy if you wish to have a paper version on which to jot down notes, but be aware that the size of the tutorial set is quite large... in excess of 500 pages. Directions for downloading and installing packages containing the tutorials, lessons and associated data will be provided later to confirmed registrants. Registration Registration is required in order to ensure availability of sufficient class space. Attendance may be limited to fit available space. Please indicate your interest in this class by filling out and returning the form at the end of this note. (Cut and paste the form into an email.) Further announcements will be sent only to those who have registered. Please use a separate form for each potential applicant. Firm commitments about attending will be required by December 10. JPL/NAIF reserves the right to cancel the class for any reason, including lack of sufficient number of registrations, and reserves the right to cut off registrations if needed to keep the class to a manageable size. Registrations will be accepted according to the order in which they are received. Hotel Information Out of town students must make their own hotel reservations. Some hotels may offer a U.S. Government per diem rate ($135, plus applicable taxes) if you ask for this when making your reservation. This includes the Pasadena Sheraton, where the class will be held, but the number of rooms offered at this rate is limited, so you are encouraged to book your room early. Information about the hotel where the class will be held may be found at: This hotel is quite near the Old Town area of Pasadena. Other area hotel information can be found at: Please forward this announcement to any of your colleagues who might be interested in this class. Should you have questions contact Charles Acton: charles.acton@jpl.nasa.gov. Please cut and paste into an email just the portion beginning with your name. Mail it back after having filled in the appropriate fields and placing "X"s in the boxes [ ] that apply. SPICE 2010 Training Class Registration Return this form to Charles.Acton@jpl.nasa.gov (Please use a separate form for each registrant) Name: E-mail: Institution: Flight project affiliation(s) (if any): Instrument affiliation(s) (if any): [ ] I will definitely attend the SPICE Class on Jan 12-14 in Pasadena. I understand acceptance is limited to space available. or [ ] I may attend the SPICE Class on Jan 12-14 in Pasadena. I will let you know by December 10 at the very latest. I understand acceptance is limited to space available.
Please fill in as much of the following as you can now. If you don't yet know answers to some questions we'll ask you for them later.
- The programming language I plan to use is: [ ] Matlab [ ] IDL [ ] C [ ] Fortran 77 - The name and version of the computer operating system I'll use is: _________ - The name and version of the C or Fortran compiler I'll use (if applicable) is: __________ - The version of Matlab I'll be using (if applicable) is: ________ and I will have tested it to ensure it works with the N63 "Mice" Toolkit - The version of IDL I'll be using (if applicable) is: ________ and I will have tested it to ensure it works with the N63 "Icy" Toolkit I realize my laptop must have its own licensed copy of IDL or MATLAB installed, or that I'm responsible for ensuring I can connect to my home institution's license server through the hotel WiFi connection. Optional comments: |