2^nd Information Circular
31st MEPAG Meeting
March 2-3, 2016
Silver Spring, MD

Letter of Invitation

Members of the Mars community,

I cordially invite you to attend the 2016 face-to-face meeting of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), scheduled for 1.5 days, March 2-3, 2016, in Silver Spring, MD.

There have been many developments in Mars exploration since the 2015 MEPAG meeting:  Discoveries by Curiosity and other operating Mars missions, hydrated salts in RSL, a second landing site selection workshop for Mars 2020, and the first landing site workshop for human missions to Mars, as well as a Human Science Objectives SAG (HSO-SAG), an HEOMD ISRU & Civil Engineering (ICE) Working Group, and a Next Orbiter SAG (NEX-SAG).

This meeting will report on the implications of these events as well as the overall status of Mars exploration, and we will also handle some organizational matters for MEPAG (e.g., Chair and Executive Committee succession).

Thus, key discussion topics will include:

• Overview of latest science results (Curiosity, MAVEN, etc.)
• Status of Mars exploration by NASA and other space agencies
• Interaction with the Human program (HEOMD)
  • Status of Humans to Mars (the Evolvable Mars Campaign) within NASA
  • First Landing Site/Exploration Zone Workshop for Humans Missions to the Surface of Mars
• HSO-SAG, NEX-SAG and ICE-WG reports
• NASA and ESA landing site selection activities
• Preview of upcoming missions (ExoMars-TGO, InSIGHT)

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 Washington!

Sincerely,

Professor. Lisa Pratt
MEPAG Chair

Basic Logistics

• Date:    Wednesday, March 2^nd – 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM.
  Thursday, March 3^rd – 8:00 AM until 12:30 PM.
• Location:          DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Washington DC – Silver Spring
  8727 Colesville Road
  Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910
  Phone: 1-301-589-5200

• Hotel Reservation Information: A block of rooms reserved at the rate of $226.00 per night plus tax are available on a first-come, first-served basis for rooms reserved by February 20^th (after this date, the room block hold will be released). To make a reservation, please call the DoubleTree at 1-301-589-5200 and refer to the group “MARS EXPLORATION PROGRAM ANALYSIS GROUP” or book directly through this link: http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/D/DCASSDT-MEP-20160301/index.jhtml
• Adobe Connect Directions for the MEPAG Meeting

Date: March 2-3, 2016

Time: March 2 – 8:00 AM, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (New York, GMT-05:00)

March 3 – 7:45 AM, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (New York, GMT-05:00)

1. Go to: https://ac.arc.nasa.gov/mepag
2. Log in

• If you are a NASA employee, you can use your NDC credentials to login (just like NASA webmail).
• If you are not a NASA employee:
• Select the radio box next to “Enter as Guest”
• Please provide your full name and affiliation for our records.
• Click “Enter Room”

3. IMPORTANT NOTICE: This Adobe Connect service includes a feature that allows the audio streaming automatically through your speakers. Please type any questions in the chat.

NOTE: The meeting begins at 8:30 AM EST on March 2 and 8:00 AM EST on March 3.

For additional assistance contact Erin Ward: [email protected] (818-274-6820)

• 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 10^th, 2016 to Meredith Cosby ([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.
• Agenda: The agenda is currently being finalized, but will be posted on the MEPAG website as soon as it is available.

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].