1st Information Circular MEPAG Meeting November 2-3, 2005

Letter of Invitation

Members of the Mars community,

I cordially invite you to attend the next meeting of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), scheduled for Wednesday-Thursday, November 2-3, 2005 at the Holiday Inn in Monrovia, CA (a hotel close to JPL). Because of the number of important issues we need to discuss, we are tentatively planning for the meeting to extend two full days. This will be the first meeting for me as Chair of MEPAG, and I look forward to working with each of you.

MEPAG last met in February, 2005. Since then there have been a number of significant events that will impact the nature and timing of the Mars Exploration Program, particularly planning for the next decade, 2010 – 2020. In addition, new data and analyses from the orbiters and rovers on Mars are providing new insights about the evolution of Mars, including the role of water over various timescales. The November 2005 MEPAG meeting will focus on discussion of new data sets and analyses, together with presentation and discussion of possible investigation pathways derived with new funding profiles. We will also launch a longer term study focused on emerging views of the evolution of Mars and implications for habitability, followed next year by studies that lead to a revised Goals Document.

Agenda topics will include:

• Major recent scientific results from our current Mars missions, including briefings focused on results from recent scientific meetings and workshops focused on the evolving understanding of Mars and water.
• Presentations from NASA/JPL personnel focused on investigation and mission pathways through 2020 that are consistent with new funding profile, with discussion and feedback from MEPAG attendees.
• Exploring the potential connectivity between the Mars and Moon exploration programs. Our sister organization LEAG will have held a 3-day meeting the week before this meeting, and a report will be timely.
• Work for MEPAG over the next year, focused on making sure new scientific results from current missions are used to help refine the MEPAG Goals document.

This meeting is important, and I hope you can attend. If anybody has a specific request for time on the agenda on matters of general interest, please correspond with either me (arvidson@wunder.wustl.edu) or Dr. David Beaty by about Sept. 15, 2005, when we plan to assemble the meeting agenda.

Sincerely,
Dr. Ray Arvidson
MEPAG Chair

Basic Logistics

• Dates: Nov. 2-3, 2005. Start at 8 AM on Wednesday, Nov. 2, end at 5 PM on Thursday, Nov. 3.
• Location: The Holiday Inn, 924 W. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, CA, 12 miles east of JPL. The hotel is located 22 mi east of the Burbank airport, 38 miles northeast of Los Angeles International Airport, and 31 miles west of the Ontario airport. It was the location for MEPAG’s June 2004 meeting.
• Hotel Reservation Information: The Holiday Inn (626-357-1900) has reserved 70 rooms for MEPAG at a rate of $89/night. Rooms have high-speed Internet service. To secure a reservation, please contact the hotel directly. Mention the reservation code: “PAG”, and the group name, “JPL/MEPAG.” Cut-off date for the block is October 17. If we over-subscribe this hotel, there are others within walking distance.

If you need additional logistical information, please contact Terry Martin, MEPAG meeting coordinator, Terry.Z.Martin@jpl.nasa.gov, phone = 818-354-2178, FAX = 818-393-4619.

If you have updates to the master MEPAG e-mail list (either correction of faulty e-mail addresses, addition of Mars science colleagues who have been inadvertently omitted), or deletions, please contact Debbie Calderón at Debbie.Calderon@jpl.nasa.gov.