The Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), held March 19–23, 2012 in Woodlands, Texas, was a memorable one. In the face of disheartening news of a proposed 20% cut to NASA’s planetary science budget, it was very encouraging to see a huge turnout from UCLA at this year’s LPSC. Highlights included new results from DAWN at Vesta and Messenger at Mercury, as well as new isotopic studies of extraterrestrial samples and theoretical work concerning Enceladus’ plumes. Not only did we have more than 20-25 people (counting recent graduates) presenting work on topics ranging from Vesta, the Moon, Mars, Earth impacts to the early solar system, but UCLA was also a dominant force in starting the “Young Scientists for Planetary Exploration” movement, which was set up as a means of lobbying congress to restore planetary funding.
