[meteorite-list] Planetary Conference to Feature Ceres, Mars, Pluto Science Results

[Ron Baalke]

March 16, 2016

MEDIA ADVISORY M16-029

Planetary Conference to Feature Ceres, Mars, Pluto Science Results

Researchers from NASA and other institutions will present science results 
from the agency's Mars missions, New Horizons flyby of Pluto, and 
Dawn  mission observations of the dwarf planet Ceres during the 47th Lunar 
and Planetary Science Conference March 21-25 near Houston. 

The conference will take place at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and 
Convention Center at 1601 Lake Robbins Drive in The Woodlands, Texas. 
Briefing times (all CDT) are as follows:

 * Noon, Monday, March 21 -- New Horizons mission media briefing 
 * Noon, Tuesday, March 22 -- Dawn mission media briefing
 * 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 22 -- Alan Stern, principal investigator for the
   New Horizons mission, will deliver a lecture, "The Exploration of
   Pluto." This lecture is free and open to the public.


Media may register to attend. For information including links to the program, 
media advisories and contact information, visit:

http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2016/media/press/

Briefings will be live streamed and/or archived online. The schedule is 
available at:

http://livestream.com/viewnow/LPSC2016

In July 2015, NASA's New Horizons became the first spacecraft to fly past 
Pluto, observing a wide range of surface expressions and geology that raise 
fundamental questions about how small planets can have active processes 
billions of years after they formed.

Results from the first year of Dawn's exploration of Ceres mission will be 
presented, including new insights about the dwarf planet's surface and 
composition. 

The science presentations at the conference will include what researchers 
have learned from recent investigation by NASA's Curiosity rover of an 
active Martian sand dune and diverse findings from other NASA missions to 
Mars.

The conference is presented by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in 
Houston. LPI is managed by the Universities Space Research Association 
(USRA), a national, nonprofit consortium of 105 leading research universities 
chartered in 1969 by the National Academy of Sciences at the request of 
NASA. USRA operates programs and institutes focused on research and 
education in several disciplines engaged in space-related science and 
engineering.

More information about the agenda and other activities is available online 
at:

http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2016/

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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