CONVENERS
Hugh Kieffer — Viking Mission
Matthew Golombek — Mars Pathfinder Mission
Arden Albee — Mars Global Surveyor Mission
Jeffrey Plaut — Odyssey Mission
Joy Crisp — MER Mission
Richard Zurek — MRO Mission
Daniel McCleese — Mars Program
James Garvin — Mars Program

CONTACTS
Scientific Meeting Organizer

Arden Albee
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
Mail Stop 150-21, California Institute of Technology
Pasadena CA 91125
Phone: 626-395-6367   Fax: 626-585-1917
E-mail: [email protected]

LPI Meeting Coordinator
Mary Cloud
Publications and Program Services Department
Lunar and Planetary Institute
3600 Bay Area Boulevard
Houston TX 77058-1113
Phone: 281-486-2143
Fax: 281-486-2125
E-mail: cloud@lpi.usra.edu


PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The Sixth International Conference on Mars will be held at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), July 20–25, 2003. At that time a flotilla of new missions either will be sending new data back from Mars or will be on their way to Mars. The first such conference was held in 1973 as data were being returned from Mariner 9. Conferences were convened in 1979 and 1981 as data were returned from the Viking missions. The fourth conference, in 1989, reviewed ten years of analysis of the Viking data and resulted in the publication of the classic 1498-page volume entitled Mars. The fifth conference was held in 1999 as Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor data became widely available.

MEETING FORMAT
This conference will provide an opportunity to review and debate some of the key questions and controversies that have matured during the flood of MGS and Odyssey data. The program committee has placed the submitted abstracts into 12 oral sessions and three formal poster sessions. There are no parallel sessions. Speakers can assume that all attendees are quite familiar with the published data and ideas on Mars. Oral sessions will be held in Beckman Auditorium on the Caltech campus (not the Ramo Auditorium, as previously announced). Poster sessions will be held in Dabney Garden, adjacent to Ramo Auditorium. Coffee breaks and box lunches will be available in the same area as the posters.

The preliminary program and abstracts are now available for viewing. Authors will need to check the program to see where their abstract has been scheduled, as author notification letters will not be sent out. An author index is provided to help authors easily locate their listing in the program.

SPECIAL EVENTS
An oral session on Tuesday afternoon entitled "Future Missions" will continue into a poster session of the same name, which will be followed by a barbecue social event.

On Wednesday evening there will be a public lecture at Beckman Auditorium entitled "A Mars Picture Gallery — Every Picture Tells a Story." The lecture will feature M. Malin using MOC images and P. Christensen using THEMIS images.

A formal banquet will be held on Thursday evening at the Caltech Athenaeum. The cost will be $45 for an excellent dinner. It promises to be an exciting event featuring Gentry Lee as the after-dinner speaker.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Oral papers have been allotted 20 or 30 minutes, including five minutes for discussion. The preferred mode is for speakers to submit illustrations as a PowerPoint 2000 file on a CD the evening before their talk. Dual electronic presentation is not available. Dual 35-mm carousel projectors will be available for those speakers who require it.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Two-hour poster sessions are scheduled for Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, and Thursday morning to be held in Dabney Garden. Authors must be present to discuss their poster in their scheduled session. Posters will remain up only during the day on which they are scheduled. Poster display space is 3 feet × 7 feet wide. Posters must be designed to be attached to the panel with push pins or velcro pads. Limited space is still available for the Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning poster sessions. Contact Arden Albee if you wish to use some of this space.

REGISTRATION
On-site registration and a reception will take place in the patio of the Caltech Athenaeum on Sunday, July 20, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. A fee will be assessed to cover conference services, including a printed program, abstract volume on CD-ROM, box lunches, coffee breaks, and barbecue dinner. Participants may register on line at www.hypatia.caltech.edu/6thmarsconf/ .

Because of the need for an accurate estimate of the number of attendees, a premium is being placed on early registration:

On line, by June 16 $200 for professionals
  $50 for students
On line, by July 16 $250 for professionals
  $75 for students
On-site registration $300 for professionals
  $100 for students

STUDENT TRAVEL FUNDS
Some funds will be available for student travel, but they will not be dispersed until after the conference. Applicants should e-mail a detailed request to A. Albee at [email protected].

MAPS AND ACCOMMODATIONS
Detailed information on visiting the Caltech Campus can be found on www.caltech.edu under "About Caltech." This site includes local and campus maps and a list of nearby accommodations. For special questions, contact Arden Albee.


SCHEDULE
June 16, 2003Preregistration deadline
July 20, 2003Registration and reception
at Caltech Athenaeum
July 20–25, 2003Sixth International Conference on Mars


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