11/29/19: Updates on papers and theses

• The space race writeup: it did not appear last Monday but maybe it will appear next Monday. No communication received from the editor since he acknowledged receiving it a few days before last Monday.
• VB defense (held on Wednesday). Passed! Congratulations. He has just sent us an update to the thesis that is responsive to the points raised at his defense. VK indicated that he is fine with DB making sure VB makes the required changes to the thesis.
• We discussed a paper based on the thesis using curve fitting and statistical bounds. RS would need the raw data, but first, we need to strategize on the message of the paper. The plan is to get the message settled and know what data we need from VB and get the data from him before he leaves on Dec. 26 since he won't be back until late January. RS will initiate an email thread on the paper and its message soon to get the process started. He would like to target WMSCI for the paper.
• MH thesis status. He sent a draft for comments. We decided that the published papers therein would best be contained as appendices, and references to them should give both the standard citation and a note that they are also in the appendices, as in (Authorlastname 2019, reprinted in Appendix C herein). It is not necessary to send the slides ahead of the defense per official rules but the committee would like him to do it anyway. 
• We did not read an discuss any of the paper we have been going through.