PLANETARY MEMBERS —
David Beaty,
   Mars Program Office, NASA JPL
Jean-Pierre Bibring,
   Institut d'Astrophysique
   Spatiale, Orsay
William Boynton,
   University of Arizona
Mike Carr,
   U.S. Geological Survey,
   Menlo Park
Francois Costard,
   Université Paris-Sud
Peter Doran,
   University of Illinois
   at Chicago
William Durham,
   Lawrence Livermore
   National Laboratory
Francois Forget,
   Université Paris 6
Robert Haberle,
   NASA Ames Research Center
Ken Herkenhoff,
   U.S. Geological Survey,
   Flagstaff
Ralf Jaumann,
   Deutches Zentrum für Luft-
   und Raumfahrt (DLR)
Oleg Korablev,
   Russian Space Institute (IKI)
Gian-Gabrielle Ori,
   International Research
   School of Planetary
   Sciences, Universita'
   d'Annunzio
Jeffrey Plaut,
   NASA Jet Propulsion
   Laboratory
James Rice Jr.,
   Arizona State University
Patrick Russell,
   University of Bern
David Smith,
   NASA Goddard Space
   Flight Center
Peter Smith,
   University of Arizona
Leslie Tamppari,
   NASA Jet Propulsion
   Laboratory
Ken Tanaka,
   U.S. Geological Survey,
   Flagstaff
Peter Thomas,
   Cornell University
Maria Zuber,
   Massachusetts Institute
   of Technology

In light of the above, we are placing a much greater emphasis on the poster sessions scheduled for Monday and Tuesday nights, combining them with evening socials that should greatly enhance the opportunities for interaction among the conference participants. In addition, all posters will remain on display throughout the duration of the meeting (additional details regarding poster preparation and these sessions are described later in this announcement).

If you are planning to attend the meeting, we ask that you register and reserve your room as soon as possible. Conference attendance and hotel rooms are limited and will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration will also ensure that you will receive any reminders and late-breaking announcements related to the meeting via e-mail.

The purpose of the conference is to assess the current state of Mars polar and climate research; discuss what might be learned from investigations of terrestrial analogs and the data returned from current and future missions; and identify the potential science objectives, platform options, and instrument suites for robotic missions to the martian poles within the next decade. This meeting is also intended to advance such missions and to serve as an important resource for those scientists wishing to develop instruments, propose spacecraft, or participate as a member of a science team in response to any future Announcement of Opportunity.

To take full advantage of the opportunities the Davos area provides, the conference technical sessions will be held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with optional field trips to local sites of geologic and glacial interest on Wednesday. The meeting will be held in the Aspen Room, which is located in Wing C, Promenade Level of the Congress Center.

Poster Sessions and Evening Socials:
*   Session I (Monday evening, first author last names A-O)
*   Session II (Tuesday evening, first author last names P-Z)

Mid-Conference Field Trip to Flüelapass (Wednesday)

Conference Dinner (Thursday evening)

Panel Discussions:
*   Key Issues in Mars Polar Science and Exploration (Thursday afternoon)
*   New Perspectives on Mars Polar Science and Exploration (Friday morning)

All speakers with electronic presentations must upload their presentations onto the conference laptop before the beginning of the session -- USE OF PERSONAL LAPTOPS FOR PRESENTATIONS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED. To ensure sufficient time for uploading your presentation, morning presenters are urged to contact the projectionist and upload their files the day before. For those who have presentations scheduled for Monday morning, the conference laptop will be available for uploads Sunday evening at the registration desk from 6:00–8:30 p.m. in front of the Aspen Room at the Congress Center.

Poster presentations will be on display throughout the entire week of the conference. Posters may be installed beginning on Monday morning, October 2, at 7:30 a.m. and may remain up through Friday noon. Poster display space available to authors is 119 cm (width) × 84 cm (height) or ~48.85" × 33". Posters will be on display in Foyer C2.

A second-class, round-trip ticket between Zürich and Davos costs about 100 CHF (approximately $83). You can buy this ticket from a ticket window during regular business hours. You can also buy it from blue automats (ticket machines) using an ATM or credit card that has a pincode. These machines operate in several languages. When asked to choose the type of ticket ("1/2" or "1/1"), select "1/1" since the other option is for individuals with special discount cards. (Sometimes you can buy the ticket on the train, but there is usually an extra fee involved.)

When arriving in Davos, there are several possible stations from which to choose, but the two main stations are Davos Dorf and Davos Platz. You may also want to ask your hotel at the time of booking which train station is closest to the hotel.

Schedules and other information about the trains are available at www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm.

If you are planning to take some extra time for vacationing in Switzerland, either before or after the meeting, it may be a good idea to buy a "Swiss Card" from the ticket window at the Zürich airport train station (or whichever Swiss station from which you start). The "Swiss Card" costs 100 CHF, but allows you to buy all train tickets for half price for up to one month after the card is purchased. Once you have this card, you can select the "1/2" option at the ticket automats.

Because buses and trains will take you almost any place in Switzerland, a rental car is often unnecessary.

While specific instructions can be obtained from your hotel, you can usually take a taxi to any hotel from the main Davos train stations (Davos Dorf and Davos Platz). However, because Davos is a small town, you may have to look for the taxi call phone and order a taxi that way.

It is best to try to arrive in Davos before evening since it is not guaranteed that a taxi will be available at very late hours of the night, and buses in small mountain towns sometimes stop running in the early evenings. Also, many restaurants will stop serving dinner at ~22.00, and groceries, kiosks, etc., will likely be closed by 18.30.

Public transportation is very good in Davos, with most hotels located within a five-minute bus ride from the Congress Centre; some hotels are located within walking distance of the Centre. City maps of Davos, including bus stops, can be found at www.davos.ch/town-maps-001-0307-en.htm.

The highlight of the excursion will be the viewing of an azonal permafrost occurrence at Flüelapass and the management of natural hazards such as avalanches, debris flows, and rock falls. Phenomena such as the distribution of permafrost adjacent to a warm lake, its effect on vegetation distribution, and interesting occurrences of snow algae will be seen.

Field Trip Itinerary:

• Bus trip from Davos to Flüelapass (20 minutes). Azonal permafrost occurrence, monitoring techniques, lake temperatures, rock glacier occurrences, avalanche activity, snow algae occurrence, and vegetation patterns (1.5 hours).
• Hike to Wägerhus (1 hour). Rock glaciers, rock fall, geomorphology of an alpine glacial valley.
• Bus transport to Alpenrösli (10 minutes). Avalanche dynamics, debris flow occurrence.
• Hike (1 hour) or bus transport (10 minutes) back to Davos.

Recommended clothing:  Because the weather can be quite cool at the Flüelapass, field trip participants should be sure to bring a warm sweater or fleece jacket, with a wind- and water-resistant shell. Hiking boots (or other firm footwear) will also be required. Participants might also wish to bring anything else they would like to have with them during these short hikes (e.g., extra snacks, water bottle, hat, and sunscreen).

All registration fees cover attendance at the meeting, the Monday and Tuesday evening poster sessions (which include refreshments), and participation in the Wednesday field trip (which includes a box lunch).

Tickets for the conference dinner, which will be held Thursday evening, are $60.00 (75 CHF) per person.

Please note:  Although the above prices are listed in U.S. dollars, actual payment must be made in Swiss Francs (CHF); some credit card companies may assess a small additional currency exchange fee.

Special note for U.S. students who have applied for NASA travel assistance:
Students who are applying for travel assistance should not pay the registration fee until they either (1) have been notified that they have not received an award or (2) have been notified that they have received an award and have successfully completed NASA's foreign travel approval process. Students receiving support who pay their registration fee before they have completed NASA's foreign travel approval process will NOT be reimbursed.

    STEPHEN CLIFFORD
    Lunar and Planetary Institute
    Phone: 281-486-2146
    E-mail: clifford@lpi.usra.edu

For information regarding meeting logistics and announcements, contact

    KIMBERLY TAYLOR
    Lunar and Planetary Institute
    Phone: 281-486-2151
    E-mail: taylor@lpi.usra.edu