Sponsored By
Lunar and Planetary Institute
National Aeronautics and
   Space Administration

Conveners
David A. Kring,
   Lunar and Planetary Institute
William F. Bottke,
   Southwest Research Institute

Scientific Organizing Committee
Donald D. Bogard,
    NASA Johnson Space Center
Barbara A. Cohen,
   NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Michelle R. Kirchoff,
   Lunar and Planetary Institute
Christian Koeberl,
   University of Vienna
Stephen J. Mojzsis,
   University of Colorado

With special assistance from Gary Lofgren and the Lunar Curatorial Office at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

MEETING LOCATION AND DATE

KEY POINTS:
  When:  September 15–17, 2008
  Where:  Houston, Texas

One of the legacies of the Apollo program is the concept of late heavy bombardment or a lunar cataclysm that may have resurfaced the Moon and thermally metamorphosed its crust. Several recent studies have continued to test that concept and explore the implications any bombardment may have for our understanding of lunar evolution. It has also been posited to be a factor in the origin and early evolution of life on Earth.

The source of the debris is variously described as being from the asteroid or Kuiper belts, which implies any bombardment may have affected planetary surfaces throughout the solar system, producing a complementary record that may constrain the dynamical processes behind the flux of impacting debris. There are hints in existing data that the bombardment may be linked to a dramatic reorganization of planetary orbits.

Recognizing the community’s interest in the topic, the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA are organizing a workshop to explore this theme. The workshop will provide an opportunity to integrate several diverse components of the above topic, including an assessment of the geologic record of impact cratering throughout the solar system, cosmochemical constraints on any early bombardment, and dynamic models that might explain the flux of debris and potential changes in the flux of debris.

The workshop will be dominated by contributed oral and poster presentations, although four invited presentations are being planned to help describe the general situation with (1) crater counting, (2) sample chronology, (3) dynamics, and (4) implications for planetary surface conditions during any early bombardment.  These will be designed to set the stage for the workshop and identify broad issues.  Contributed talks and posters that then follow will add detail and hopefully new information that helps resolve the broad issues.

Because the meeting topic has its roots in the Apollo program and is being organized in response to the NRC recommendation to collect new lunar samples that will test models of bombardment, a special session will be set aside so that participants can examine macroscopic samples and thin sections of lunar impact breccias from the Apollo collection.

Deadline for abstract submission will be July 2, 2008. The call for abstracts will be included in teh second announcement. The final announcement and workshop program will be posted by August 6, 2008.

Further details regarding the workshop with guidelines for abstract submission will be included in the second announcement, available on this website May 21, 2008.

To subscribe to a mailing list to receive electronic reminders and special announcements relating to the meeting via e-mail, please submit an Indication of Intent form by May 21, 2008.

For further information regarding the format and scientific objectives of the meeting, contact

David Kring
Lunar and Planetary Institute
phone: 281-486-2119
e-mail: kring@lpi.usra.edu

For further information regarding meeting logistics, please contact

Kimberly Taylor
Lunar and Planetary Institute
phone:  281-486-2151
e-mail:  taylor@lpi.usra.edu