NASA To Host Annual Planetary Sciences Meeting

John Bluck/Kathleen Burton
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650/604-5026, 650/604-1731 or -9000
E-mail:
August 28, 2003

RELEASE: 03-66AR

NOTE TO EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS: News media representatives are
invited to attend the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting
in Monterey, Calif., Sept. 2-6. There is no charge for news media
members. The meeting will be held at the Doubletree Hotel and
Monterey Conference Center in Monterey. To pre-register, media
representatives should contact Dr. Ellis Miner, DPS press officer,
.

NASA TO HOST ANNUAL PLANETARY SCIENCES MEETING

The origin of planets, the role of impacts on Mars' weather,
Jupiter's atmosphere and recent results from the Mars Odyssey mission
will be some of the topics that will be discussed at this year's
American Astronomical Society/Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS)
meeting, hosted by NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

More than 500 planetary scientists will discuss the latest
information technology, astrobiology and space science research
results. The meeting will be held at the Doubletree Hotel and
Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, Calif. General topics will
include new findings about Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter's
moon Europa, asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt objects and extra-solar
planets. Kuiper Belt objects are icy remnants left over from the
formation of planets in our solar system.

"NASA Ames Research Center's Space Sciences Division is pleased to
host this year's 35th annual DPS meeting," said Dr. Ted Roush, DPS
local organizing chairman and a planetary scientist at Ames.

On Tuesday, Sept. 2, NASA Ames Director G. Scott Hubbard will deliver
opening remarks at 8:30 a.m. PDT. As the plenary session continues,
guest speakers Dr. David Des Marais and Dr. Chris McKay, both of
Ames, will speak about the climate and atmosphere of early Mars and
early Earth.

On Wednesday, Sept. 3, at the 8:30 a.m. PDT plenary session, Dr. Phil
Christensen of Arizona State University and Dr. William Boynton of
the University of Arizona will discuss life science experiment
results of the Mars Odyssey mission. At noon, Dr. Tony Colaprete of
Ames will take part in a news conference discussing the modeling of
torrential rains and floods following martian meteor impacts, some 4
billion years ago.

On Thursday, Sept. 5, at the plenary session at 8:30 a.m. PDT,
scientists from the California Institute of Technology and the
Southwest Research Institute will discuss the Kuiper Belt.

On Saturday, Sept. 6, at the 8:30 a.m. PDT plenary session,
researchers from Ames and the University of California, Santa Cruz
will explore the formation and evolution of extra-solar planets.

Each day's plenary sessions will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
PDT. News conferences will be held from noon to 1 p.m. PDT,
Wednesday through Saturday. For details of news conference and
plenary topics or a meeting agenda and schedule, please visit:

http://dps03.arc.nasa.gov/

Hard copy news releases will be available at the meeting. News
releases are embargoed for publication until they are presented at
the meeting.

The Doubletree Hotel is located at 2 Portola Plaza, Monterey, Calif.
Telephone: 831/649-4511. For further information and directions,
please visit:

http://www.doubletreemonterey.com

In addition to the daytime sessions, on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.
PDT, The Planetary Society will sponsor a free public lecture in the
Steinbeck Forum of the Monterey Conference Center. Featured speakers
will be Dr. Marcia McNutt, director, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute, and Dr. David Stevenson, a professor of planetary sciences
at the California Institute of Technology. They will discuss "Oceans
Here And Abroad." Please note: there are 300 free tickets available
to the public on a first come, first served basis, starting on
Friday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. PDT. For information, contact The
Planetary Society at 626/793-5100 or visit:

http://www.planetary.org/

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