1st Information Circular
30th MEPAG Meeting
February 24-25, 2015
Monrovia, CA
Letter of Invitation
Members of the Mars community,
I cordially invite you to attend the 2015 face-to-face meeting of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), scheduled for 1.5 days, February 24-25, 2015, at the Double-Tree Hotel in Monrovia, CA.
There have been many developments in Mars exploration since the May 2014 MEPAG meeting:
Discoveries by Curiosity and other operating Mars missions, an inspiring Eighth International Conference on Mars, the selection of instruments for the 2020 Mars Rover, the insertions into Mars orbit of NASA’s MAVEN and the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) MOM missions, and the observations related to the close passage of Comet Siding Spring. Economics and politics pose new challenges to the budget process for this year and for the future.
This meeting will report on the implications of these events as well as the overall status of Mars
exploration. A special topic for discussion at this meeting is a revision of the MEPAG Goals Document based on recent progress, including that reported at the 8th Mars Conference.
Thus, key discussion topics will include:
• Status of Mars exploration by NASA and other space agencies
• Interaction with the Human program (HEOMD)
• NASA and ESA landing site selection activities
• Proposed revision of the MEPAG Goals document.
The meeting is open to all members of the Mars science community and I welcome our international colleagues. We will also broadcast the meeting via Adobe Connect for those who cannot attend in person.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Monrovia!
Sincerely,
Professor. Lisa Pratt
MEPAG Chair
Directions for participating remotely will be provided in a later announcement.
Basic Logistics
• Date: Tuesday, February 24th – 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM.
Wednesday, February 25th – 8:00 AM until 12:00 PM.
• Location: DoubleTree Hotel Monrovia-Pasadena
924 West Huntington Drive
Monrovia, California, 91016
Phone: 1-626-357-1900
• Hotel Reservation Information: A reserved block of rooms is being negotiated, more information will be sent out once that is finalized.
• Meeting RSVP: So that we can plan the meeting logistics (e.g., seating, morning and afternoon refreshments, name badges, handouts, etc.), we request that all participants planning to attend in-person to RSVP by February 2nd, 2015 to Carla de la Paz ([email protected]). Please note that an RSVP is not required to attend the meeting, but is strongly encouraged as it will assist us in our planning.
If you need additional information, please contact Lindsay Hays, MEPAG meeting coordinator
([email protected], phone 818-354-6180). If you have updates to the master MEPAG e-mail list
(correction of faulty email addresses, addition of Mars science colleagues who have been inadvertently omitted, or deleted) please contact [email protected].