Europlanet

Neocolonial scientific practices occur when researchers, commonly affiliated with high-income foreign institutions, conduct research using the field sites, samples, data, or environmental knowledge of another country or region, while local scientists or communities remain marginally or not involved at all. Although such practices have been recently highlighted and quantified in the life and Earth sciences community, what about planetary science and astrobiology ? This seminar analyzes patterns of local institutional participation in research conducted in the Atacama Desert and the Puna in South America. These regions are of exceptional interest because of their Mars-analogue environments, extreme ecological conditions, and meteorite concentrations. Using bibliometric indicators of institutional affiliation, collaboration, and research leadership across peer-reviewed publications, we quantify the extent of parachute sciences and the involvement of local scientists in research based on these territories. We analyze what these patterns reveal about the development of planetary science in South America and how research institutions, funders, journals, and international teams could support more equitable forms of scientific collaboration.

00:15 part 1 by Adrien Tavenier

The Martian Moon Exploration mission (MMx) is a JAXA-led mission that also involves ESA, NASA, CNES and DLR. It will visit Phobos, the largest martian moon, to collect samples and return them to Earth and will also perform flybys of Deimos, the second and smaller martian moon. Those samples will be the first samples returned from the martian environment. A rover called IDEFIX developed by CNES and DLR will also be deployed on Phobos for in-situ investigation. The launch is planned for the second half of October of 2026. In this talk we will get a preview of what is to come with two with two researchers, Pascal Rosenblatt, ESA Participating Scientist on MMX, and Patrick Michel, IDEFIX rover co-Principal Investigator.

00:15 Models of formation: open issues by Pascal Rosenblatt

In November 2026, ESA’s Hera mission will arrive at the Didymos binary asteroid system to make a detailed survey of the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, which was impacted by NASA’s DART mission in September 2022.

After an eight-year journey, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission will arrive at Mercury this autumn. Separation of the European and Japanese orbiters from the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will take place on 3 September, followed by orbit insertion on 21 November, and the separation of the ESA Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA Mio spacecraft on 9–10 December. From that moment on, BepiColombo will be officially the first two-spacecraft mission at Mercury. The science phase of the mission will begin in April 2027.

Speakers:

02:00 Neutron Scattering for planetary sciences

Neutrons can be used as a powerful probe and vital tool for a wide range of scientific and industrial fields. Neutron scattering is used to obtain a direct and detailed insight into the structure and dynamics of condensed matter - matching dimensions in space from single atoms to macromolecules and in time from atomic vibrations to diffusion of large molecular units - depending on the instrument and facility used. Compared to other scattering probes, neutrons are non-interacting and scatter off the nucleus – allowing for much deeper penetration. This unique mechanism gives them the ability to ‘see’ hydrogen with high sensitivity, which is present in most molecules relevant to planetary and interstellar environments, and allows them to differentiate between isotopes.

By exploiting isotopic differentiation, such as using selective H/D substitution, we can also highlight interatomic correlations of interest. Another important advantage is that complex sample environments can be used, such as in situ vacuum chambers, pressure, and flow cells.

In this webinar, Zachary Amato presents each of the main techniques (diffraction, small-angle, dynamics, spectroscopy, and imaging) and go through examples of studies relevant to planetary sciences.

Presentation by Michael Macey and Velislava Ilieva from the Open University on 18 February 2026.

The study of hypersaline environments allows us to characterise the boundaries of life on Earth and the identification of metabolic processes that fuel biogeochemical cycling under conditions analogous to early Mars. The La Mancha region contains small, seasonal lagoons that are hypersaline, alkaline and sulfate rich, akin the Hesperian-era Mars. Through geochemical, mineralogical, microbiological and isotopic data from these lagoons from 2022 and 2025 we can discern the metabolisms that can support growth, their influence on the environment, and their physicochemical evolution. This will generate a fundamental insight into the extent to which desiccation is progressing in these sites and their status as potential temporal analogues

In recent months, Europlanet has participated in several major bids for funding from the European Commission. In this webinar, the community is invited to join the conversation; we will explore the timelines of these funding programmes along with key opportunities and strategic objectives should Europlanet receive funding.

References:

00:37 Juice mission update by Claire Vallat (ESA)

03:14 Astronomers for Planet Earth by Leonard Burtscher

Collected links:

The lively chat:

Collected links:

00:41:14 Jan-Peter Muller: What about green hydrogen as a replacement for kerosene?

00:55:07 Jan-Peter Muller: ESA have a green hydrogen programme which is predicated on the use of green hydrogen to power heavy transportation and aircraft. I am involved in one of the projects to stop solar power wastage due to issues with the power grid being based on coal+nuclear. It would be interesting to have you involved in a future debate on this topic.

01:31:10 Leonard Burtscher: @Jan-Peter Muller (and everyone!) Happy to continue the discussion! Contact me via [email protected]

00:41:56 Güray Hatipoğlu: We actually did a lot of VR in pandemic times, as we of course I am talking about regular people in general, it was interesting but a sad experience. Though virtual poster presentation as a 2D MMORPG like game was awesome.

00:43:05 Nimisha Verma: Isnt moving to VR worldwide just a different way of produce waste? With the way technology is moving, wouldn't it just create a different way of producing pollution rather than reducing it?

00:51:39 Leonard Burtscher: Reacted to "We actually did a lot of VR in pandemic times" with 👍🏻

01:06:01 Leonard Burtscher:I presume these folks haven’t read this Nature article… https://spacenews.com/it-is-time-to-take-astronomy-off-earth/

01:20:33 Güray Hatipoğlu: Would not Dark satellites still pass over the line of sight of many objects though? Are they fast enough to only cause minimal change in the lightcurve?

01:23:36 Leonard Burtscher: @Olivier Hainaut – are you in touch with the ESO Supernova to visualise this loss of night sky? I am sure lots of planetaria worldwide would be „happy“ to show this!

01:25:28 Nadia Poddighe: What's the purpose of having the night sky so bright? As far as I understand, darkness is an "extra perk", meaning it costs more to producers to produce dark satellites. Though some companies made it clear that night sky brightness was one of their main goals and I fail to understand why?

01:33:43 Leonard Burtscher: In case you want to know more about state-of-the art VR science conferences, please check out this group: https://thefutureofmeetings.wordpress.com

01:42:54 francisco diego: Properly enforced regulations are essential. Programs must be approved and regulated by qualified international panels. Programs will come from many countries and enterprises and need to be coordinated. All aspects of the programs must be considered. Is the program really needed? What are the impacts? Benefits vs disavantages. What is the life time? What are the plans for the end of life? An updated version of the UN Outer Space Treaty. If the whole adventure is to be driven by commercial interests, operating with absolute impunity, the world is doomed.

00:15 Presentation by Stijn Calders (BIRA, Brussels, Belgium)

Scientific conferences play a central role in networking, collaboration and career development in planetary science. However, participation is not equally accessible to everyone. Researchers with disabilities, chronic health conditions or caring responsibilities, as well as colleagues facing travel constraints or challenges with remote participation, may encounter barriers that are often unintended and largely invisible to others.

Accessibility is shaped not only by conference infrastructure, but also by how presentations are prepared, how sessions are organised, and how scientific discussions take place during meetings. Relatively small adjustments in these practices can make participation easier for a much broader part of the community and improve the overall effectiveness of scientific exchange.

This webinar will present practical and realistic steps that participants, speakers, session conveners and conference organisers can apply to make planetary science meetings more accessible and productive. The session will include time for discussion and questions, and participants are encouraged to share their own experiences and perspectives.