NASA TO HOST 31ST LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE IN HOUSTON
March 8, 2000
Ann Hutchison
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)
Release: J00-14
NASA to Host 31st Lunar and Planetary
Science Conference in Houston
New evidence that an ocean may once have existed on Mars will be among
this year’s topics of interest at the 31st annual Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), March 13-17, 2000. The
conference, which is chaired by Dr. Carl B. Agee of NASA and Dr.
David C. Black of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, will be held at
the NASA Johnson Space Center and the University of
Houston—Clear Lake (UHCL).
One highlight of this year’s conference will be early results
from the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft, which went
into orbit around the asteroid Eros on February 14. As the first
spacecraft to orbit an asteroid, the NEAR mission promises to answer
fundamental questions about the nature and origin of asteroids in the
vicinity of Earth's orbit. These objects are of interest as the
primary source of large bodies that collide with Earth, greatly
influencing the evolution of the atmosphere and life on our planet.
Early information, images and data analysis from this mission will be
presented by NEAR team members during a special session of invited
talks March 14.
Other presentations will focus on
 results from the Galileo spacecraft’s close fly-bys
of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io  new theories about
the presence of water on early Mars  latest results from
the Mars Global Surveyor’s 2-year mapping mission 
new views of the moon  the martian surface as seen by
Mars Pathfinder and Viking  meteorites from the
asteroids, the moon and Mars  astrobiology and the
origin(s) of life in the universe  impact craters
throughout the solar system
Oral presentations are scheduled all day Monday through Thursday, as
well as Friday morning in JSC’s Gilruth Center. Dr. John Wood,
meteorite researcher from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics, will give the Harold Masursky Lecture at a special
session Monday afternoon. His topic will be “Chondrites:
Tight-Lipped Witnesses to the Beginning.” Poster presentations
are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7 p.m. to 9:30
p.m. at UHCL’s Bayou Building.
Additional information about conference events, including registration
and text of abstracts, can be found at the Lunar and Planetary
Institute website: http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov. Click on “meetings
and conferences.”
News media should contact Pam Thompson by phone at 281/486-2175 with
questions or to schedule interviews with participants, or by e-mail
(thompson@lpi.jsc.nasa.gov).
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