Second Announcement
October 1996

Sponsors
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Lunar and Planetary Institute
NASA Johnson Space Center

Chairs
David C. Black
Lunar and Planetary Institute		     Douglas P. Blanchard
NASA Johnson Space Center

Where and When Online Program and Abstracts Meeting Format
Special Event Schedule Registration
Hotel Reservations Conference Shuttle Services Forms and Information

Where and When

The 28th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference will be held in Houston, Texas, on March 17-21, 1997. Sessions will be held at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). This announcement contains meeting information, forms, and instructions for the preparation of conference abstracts. Also included are plans for special sessions, invited lectures, and special events.

Online Program and Abstracts

The LPSC program committee has established the conference program on the basis of submitted abstracts. LPSC abstracts are available on line in their entirety this year. They are in PDF format, viewable with the Adobe Acrobat reader, which you can download free of charge. Click here for the preliminary program and abstracts.

Abstract volumes in both printed and CD-ROM format will be available at the time of registration.

Conference Format

The four-and-a-half day conference has been organized by topical symposia and problem-oriented sessions. Participants were asked to indicate a preferences for oral, poster, or title-only presentation when submitting an abstract to the conference.

Presentations
Oral presentations have been scheduled during the conference to allow eight minutes for speaking and seven minutes for discussion and speaker transition. Poster presentations have been scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the LPI. Authors of papers scheduled for poster presentations are asked to be available to display and discuss their results in the poster area during the assigned time period. Additionally, posters may be viewed at LPI each day of the conference. Shuttle transportation between the Gilruth Center and LPI will be available. Each poster will have a space 44" × 44" for display. Requests for tables, computers, video equipment, etc., cannot be honored due to the limited space available for poster displays.

Special Sessions
Galileo:  Summary of Mission
There will be a special plenary session on Galileo featuring an invited talk by Torrence Johnson entitled “Galileo:  Year One at Jupiter,” from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Monday. Immediately following the plenary there will be a special parallel session on Galileo and a second special parallel session on Tuesday morning.

Masursky Lecture
The Harold Masursky Lecture Series will continue again this year with a plenary session, to be held from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, entitled “Meteorites on Ice,” noting the twentieth anniversary of the first U.S. expedition to recover Antarctic meteorites, and the two decades of research that followed. A special session, entitled “New Resuults on the Possibility of Life in Martian Meteorites,” will be held in plenary immediately following the Masursky Lectures. This session will consist of invited talks and a panel discussion.

Poster and Display Sessions on Education
Two special poster/display sessions on education will be held at LPI on Tuesday and Thursday evenings during the regular technical poster sessions. The format provides much more interaction, which is lacking in an oral session; it allows participants to demonstrate some of the projects hands-on rather than simply describing them orally. The education special sessions will be located in and around the LPI library. Participants will be expected to provide their own computer equipment.

Special Event

The chili cookoff and barbecue dinner will be held on Wednesday, March 19, from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. at the Landolt Pavilion. A form for chili cookoff team entry is included. Out-of-town teams are encouraged to enter. Because the conference staff can no longer provide cooking equipment, the “preparation on site” rule common to most cookoffs will be waived to encourage more team participation. The goal of this event is fun, not serious cooking competition. We need more teams to take part in the cookoff, and will cancel the cookoff portion of the event if we do not receive sufficient entries by the February 24 deadline. Join the fun by entering your favorite concoction and compete against other secret recipes. There will be awards for best presentation as well as first-, second-, and third-place awards for the best chili.

Registration

Preregistration
A fee of $50 ($30 for students) will be assessed each participant to cover conference services. You must preregister and prepay by February 24, 1997, to avoid the $20 late fee. Foreign participants who state on the registration form that they have a currency exchange problem may pay in cash at the meeting and avoid the $20 late fee if they return the form by February 24, 1997. Requests for cancellation and a refunded fee will be accepted through March 7, 1997. You can register by completing and submitting either the electronic registration form or the downloadable registration form.

Note:  Those who fail to attend and do not notify the LPI Publications and Program Services Department prior to the March 7 deadline will forfeit their full fee.

Sunday Night Registration and Reception
The Sunday night registration and reception will take place at LPI from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The location is shown on the enclosed map. Shuttle buses will operate from selected hotels to LPI on Sunday night.

Hotel Reservations

Click here for a list of local hotels. Although making reservations is the responsibility of each participant, we have negotiated reduced rates at some locations. When you call a hotel, you must tell them you are attending the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference and ask for the conference rate. Refer to the area map for the locations of JSC, LPI, and local hotels.

Conference Shuttle Services

Conference shuttle buses will provide service between most hotels on the list (see hotel list for exceptions), the JSC Gilruth Center, and LPI. There will be rotational runs in the morning, during lunch, at the close of sessions, and during special events. Computer displays, exhibits, poster sessions, and other conference-related events will be located at LPI; shuttle buses will make hourly stops there throughout conference week. Your conference badge will serve as your bus ticket. A detailed shuttle schedule will be provided to all registered participants.

Forms and Information

For further information, call the LPI Publications and Program Services Department (for information on conference logistics, call 281-486-2158; for information on abstract submission, call 281-486-2161).

Attention !!!
Effective November 2, 1996, the telephone area code
for Clear Lake (LPI, JSC, etc.) is 281.

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