Paul H. Warren (Chair)
Gero Kurat (Ex Officio)
Gregory W. Kallemeyn
Frank T. Kyte
Kevin D. McKeegan
Alan E. Rubin
John T. Wasson
Edward D. Young


You are cordially invited to attend the 65th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, to be held July 21–26, 2002, at the new DeNeve Plaza conference/accommodation facility on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

UCLA is located on the attractive west side of Los Angeles, amidst the affluent communities of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, and Westwood. The Getty Center Museum, atop its spur of the Santa Monica Mountains, is 3 kilometers northwest of UCLA, the Pacific Ocean is 8 kilometers southwest, and Wilshire Boulevard's Museum Row, including the La Brea Tar Pits, is 8 kilometers east. The Los Angeles entertainment industry is concentrated in the nearby communities of Century City, Hollywood, Burbank, etc. Farther afield, but still within 1–2 hours driving distance, are Disneyland, the scenic Malibu to Santa Barbara coast, and portions of the 3000-meter San Gabriel Mountains. The southernmost Sierra Nevada, including groves of giant redwood trees, can be reached in about 4 hours of highway driving.

UCLA is a convenient 18 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). A taxi from LAX to UCLA costs about $30, an airport shuttle van about $12.

Despite the proximity of downtown Los Angeles (20 kilometers), the UCLA region enjoys good air quality, thanks to prevailing westerly breezes. Temperatures are also moderated by the Pacific Ocean. For July 21–26, UCLA daytime highs average 24.7°C (77°F), 5°C cooler than downtown Los Angeles; the highest temperature on record since 1955 is 33°C (91°F). Diurnal temperature variation is great:  The average early-morning low for July 21–26 is 16.3°C (61°F). July is practically rain-free.

Additional travel information, accommodation information, local information, and information for joining the Society may be accessed through the Meteoritical Society Web site and on the MetSoc2002 meeting Web site.


Except for purposes of check-in and final departure from an on-campus accommodation, parking on campus (at structures within about 150 meters of DeNeve Plaza) will require a permit. The cost of these permits is $6.00 per day if reserved prior to June 10, or $7.00 per day without advance reservation. A space on the registration form is provided for participants to reserve parking permits in advance. Advance-reservation permits can be paid for and picked up upon arrival at the lobby of DeNeve Plaza; single-day permits (for those who did not make reservations in advance) will have to be purchased for $7.00 per day at kiosks found at most campus entrances.


The preliminary program and abstracts are now available.

On-site registration (see below) will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 21, and will be followed by a reception to be held at an outdoor site adjacent to the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden on the campus of UCLA. The banquet will be held on the evening of Thursday, July 26, outdoors at Royce Quad, in the scenic high-central area of the campus.

Oral Presentations
Oral presentations will be held at DeNeve Plaza from Monday morning through Friday afternoon, except for Wednesday afternoon. Technical sessions will cover a wide range of topics in meteoritics and planetary science. Special sessions entitled "Mars: Meteorites and Missions," "Chondrule and CAI Origins," and "Mechanisms of Asteroidal Heating" are scheduled. The Barringer Lecture will be given by renowned photogeologist Michael C. Malin.

Poster Presentations
Poster presentations will be held at DeNeve Plaza on Monday evening. Posters will be displayed in the lobby and halls immediately adjacent to the two oral session rooms, and can remain up for the entire week.


For complete information on choices for accommodation, visit the Accommodations page on the MetSoc2002/UCLA Web site.

We strongly advise attendees to stay in DeNeve Plaza or some other on-campus facility. DeNeve has all of the comforts of a hotel, in a great location.

On-Campus Accommodations
Five DeNeve Plaza residential buildings offer a total of 600 air-conditioned rooms, all with daily maid service and hotel-style amenities: private bathroom, cable TV, 24-hour front desk, etc. Rates including full breakfast, lunch, and applicable taxes are $108/night for single occupancy and $134/night for double occupancy. Meals will be served at a spiffy new dining facility downstairs in the central DeNeve building, offering a diverse fare from numerous open-view stations around a central courtyard.

Thriftier participants may choose to stay in a regular dorm (no private bath, no air conditioning; but at UCLA, temperature and humidity seldom rise to levels where air conditioning is sorely missed). Rates, including breakfast and lunch at the same DeNeve dining facility, plus applicable taxes, are $76/night single occupancy and $91/night for double occupancy. Those bringing families might prefer a "suite" located a pleasant 500-meter walk from DeNeve. The suites, which lack air conditioning, contain in each of two bedrooms as many as three beds (up to six beds total). Rates for the suites, including breakfast and lunch at the DeNeve dining facility, and applicable taxes, range from $215/night for quadruple occupancy to $267/night for sextuple occupancy.

All campus residential guests will enjoy complimentary access, via a short walk, to UCLA's Olympic-quality recreational facilities (swimming pools, tennis courts, etc.)

To avoid a 15% late fee, on-campus accommodations must be reserved and prepaid by Monday, June 10. Reservation and prepayment is most easily accomplished via the electronic accommodation reservation form. If you prefer to pay by check or mail in your reservation, you may use the downloadable accommodation reservation form.

As with meeting registration, no-cost cancellations will be allowed through Friday, June 21. From June 22 through Monday, July 8, cancellations will be permitted, minus a 15% fee. After July 8, no refunds will be given for cancellations. At all times, applications for cancellation refunds must be addressed to the Local (UCLA) Organizing Committee, not to the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Early reservations are encouraged. Rooms in the central building of DeNeve Plaza, and in the nearest regular dorm, will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

Nearby Hotels
For participants who insist upon staying in a "real" hotel, we have arranged group discounts at several local hotels. As a sampling of the discounted rates (including taxes, for comparison vs. DeNeve), the Westwood Doubletree Hotel will cost $170/night (double rate same as single); and the Hilgard House, $130 single, $141 double.

Commuter attendees will be able to purchase meal tickets at DeNeve Plaza (anticipated cost is $8 for breakfast and $10 for lunch).


Reservations for child-care services can be made with a local bonded and insured organization called Family Care Agency, Inc., phone:  310-550-8936; fax:  818-342-9409; e-mail:  [email protected]. For typical circumstances, the cost is $10 per hour (four-hour minimum), plus a $25 flat fee. Several other child-care options are also available.


Registration will begin at DeNeve Plaza at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 21. The DeNeve registration desk will close at 5:00 p.m., and registration will resume from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the reception site, across the campus at the Coral Tree Walk on the northern margin of the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden, where the reception will commence at 6:00 p.m.

The Monday evening poster session will be accompanied by beverages and a light buffet.

On Tuesday evening, we plan a group visit to the Page (La Brea Tar Pits) Museum. Bus transportation will be provided. Classical music lovers may choose to instead spend Tuesday evening at the Hollywood Bowl, where the L.A. Philharmonic will play an all Mozart program. If you wish to attend this concert, a $25 fee will be charged to offset the higher cost (for bus transportation, a light picnic dinner, and "Super Seat" tickets).

The Annual Banquet will be held on the evening of Thursday, July 26, outdoors at the scenic heart of the campus, Royce Quad.


Midweek guest excursions to studios, museums, and other attractions will be arranged; additional costs will apply. Look for detailed plans at the MetSoc2002 meeting Web site, starting around June 1. In addition, UCLA operates (7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.) frequent shuttle service between the central campus and Westwood Village. Local restaurants authentically represent diverse world cuisines, especially from Asia and the Middle East. The UCLA area offers easy access to Pacific Ocean beaches, film and television studios, great museums, and swanky shopping.

Wednesday Afternoon Activities
On Wednesday afternoon, instead of technical sessions, excursions will be arranged to a selection of local sites. For all meeting attendees and guests who pay full-week registration fees, there will be no additional cost for these Wednesday afternoon activities. The choice of destinations will include Beverly Hills (including the Museum of Television and Radio), the Getty Museum, the Mercedes-Benz Cup Tennis Tournament (Agassi, Hass, Hewitt, Kuerten, Roddick, et al.), and Venice Beach. We apologize for the cancellation of the Warner Bros. Studios V.I.P. Tour. The studio repeatedly told us they would begin taking reservations around June 1st, but actually they had fully booked the date of July 24 to a better-connected group, already back in January. Please indicate on the preregistration form whether you and your guests (if any) wish to go on one of these proposed Wednesday afternoon trips. Since only limited numbers of people can be accommodated for some of these activities, it is recommended that you register early to ensure availability. Look for detailed plans at the MetSoc2002 meeting Web site.

Post-Meeting Field Trips
"Meteor Crater and the Grand Canyon" will be a post-meeting weekend field trip to northern Arizona, to visit Meteor Crater, the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and the Sunset Crater Volcanic National Monument. This trip will be led by David Kring (University of Arizona). Individual field trip participants will be responsible for reserving and purchasing flights to and from Phoenix (see below). We will rendezvous at the Phoenix airport on Friday evening, have dinner in Phoenix, and proceed in rented vans to a mid-price hotel in Flagstaff. Phoenix can be remarkably hot in July, but Flagstaff and our other northern Arizona destinations are at high elevation and therefore cooler. The average daily high for Flagstaff in July is 27°C (81°F), the average low is 10°C (50°F). From our base in Flagstaff, on Saturday morning we will visit Meteor Crater, and in the afternoon the nearby Sunset Crater Volcanic National Monument. We will then enjoy a sunset barbeque dinner on the rim of Meteor Crater, hosted by the Barringer Crater Company. We will return to the same Flagstaff hotel for Saturday night. Starting very early on Sunday morning, we will visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for several hours, before heading back to the Phoenix airport. Participants will be responsible for purchasing their own roundtrip transportation between LAX and PHX, plus all breakfasts, and dinner on Friday and Sunday evenings. Since only limited numbers of people may be accommodated on suitable flights, we urge participants to reserve (and if necessary purchase) their air travel as soon as possible. Currently, Southwest Airlines has LAX-PHX-LAX fares for less than $100, and the fare on America West Airlines is only a few dollars more. Whatever fare you book, you must be prepared to leave the PHX airport no later than 7:00 p.m. on July 26 (please do NOT choose any flight scheduled to arrive after 6:45 p.m.), and your return flight must not leave from the PHX airport earlier than 7:00 p.m. on July 28. The fee for enrollment, assuming single occupancy at the Flagstaff hotel, is $350; assuming double occupancy, $220 (the main expense is for two nights at the hotel, which charges on a per-room basis). A portion of the cost of this trip is being defrayed by the generosity of the Barringer Crater Company.

Another post-meeting weekend field trip, "Coastal Wine Tour," will wind through the beautiful wine-growing hills of Santa Barbara and San Louis Obispo counties, northwest of Los Angeles. It will include visits to 4–6 wineries, 2–3 historic missions, and a geological site or two. Participants will receive ground transportation to and from the area, admissions, tastings, and one hotel night including breakfast, but otherwise will be responsible for purchasing their own meals. We will leave the UCLA campus about 8:30 a.m. on July 27 and return about 9:00 p.m. on July 28. The fee for enrollment, assuming single occupancy at the hotel, is $330; assuming double occupancy, $300.00.

"Mountain Scenery of Southern California" will be a one-day trip on Saturday, July 26, to visit the Devil's Punchbowl, the San Andreas Fault, and Mt. Wilson Observatory. The Devil's Punchbowl is a great spot for easy and geologically scenic hiking. At only 1300 meters elevation, this area can get hot, so we will aim to finish our walk before noon. After a quick stop along the nearby San Andreas Fault, we will head into the San Gabriel Mountains for a visit to the Hooker telescope, which Edwin Hubble used to discover the expansion of the universe. The fee for enrollment is $40.

If you are interested in participating in any of the above trips, please submit either the downloadable field trip registration form or the electronic field trip registration form by June 10, 2002. Also, planning information may be extended or updated at the MetSoc2002 meeting Web site. The enrollment deadline for these trips is Monday, June 10, 2002. In the event of an individual canceling her or his field trip participation, the enrollment fee will be partially refunded, to an extent depending upon monies paid or committed on the participant's behalf at the time of cancellation.


We encourage all participants to register electronically via the electronic registration form. If you prefer to pay by check and/or mail in your registration, you may use the downloadable registration form.

All scientists attending sessions must pay registration fees. The deadline for preregistration at the reduced fee is Monday, June 10, 2002. The following fees will apply:

As with accommodation fees, no-cost cancellations will be allowed through Friday, June 21. From June 22 through Monday, July 8, cancellations will be permitted, minus a 15% fee. After July 8, no refunds will be given for cancellations.


For information about the meeting program and logistics, contact
      Paul H. Warren
      Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
      UCLA, Los Angeles CA 90095-1567, USA
      Phone:  310-825-3202
      Fax:  310-206-3051
      E-mail:  [email protected]

For information about registration, contact
      Kimberly Taylor
      Education and Program Services Department
      Lunar and Planetary Institute
      3600 Bay Area Boulevard
      Houston TX 77058-1113, USA
      Phone:  281-486-2151
      Fax:  281-486-2160
      E-mail:  taylor@lpi.usra.edu



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