The Mars Society is having it's 6th Annual Convention this year in
Oregon at the Eugene Hilton Hotel in downtown Eugene during August the
14th thru 17th.

There will be a tour a day before the convention to Bend Oregon area
to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument and Lava Tubes there! Even
if you don't plan to attend the convention this might be interesting
for all you interested in Lave Tubes as habitats on Mars or the Moon.
And there is a day after the convention (Monday the 18th) a trip to
Pine Mountain Observatory where they will do some night time of
stargazing. Also the Eugene Astronomical Society will be holding
several Star Parties during the convention with some nice scopes to
view various celestial object including Mars as it approaches the
closest opposition in over 50,000 years!

A few of the noticeable who will be attending are Elon Musk of Space
X, Michael Laine of Liftport, Inc. and Jim Burk of Marsnews.com.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is June 30th and that is
also I believe the deadline for the cheaper convention registration
rates.

For more information check out http://www.MarsSociety.org/

To reserve a room at the Eugene Hilton Hotel
http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/i...tyhocn=EUGEHHF

or call:1-800-774-1500 (the convention code is MAR)

--Chris Vancil