The University of New Mexico

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Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu

April 18, 2008

Workshop on ‘Ground Truth from Mars: Science Payoff from a Sample Return Mission’ Sponsored by NASA and UNM

A workshop titled, ‘Ground Truth from Mars: Science Payoff from a Sample Return Mission,’ will be held Monday - Wednesday, April 21–23 at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town in Albuquerque. The focus of the workshop is the payoff of research from a Mars sample return mission, which is again on the horizon. It will include technical, oral and poster presentations presented by some of the top researchers in the field.

A registration reception will be held Sunday, April 20 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Oral sessions will begin on Monday, April 21, and continue through mid-day on Wednesday, April 23. There will be a poster reception Monday, April 21 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Enabled by a sample cache on the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory rover, and endorsed as a logical continuation of the "Follow the Water" strategy of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, this strategy has tied together the search for life and potential habitats for life, evolution of the martian atmosphere, nature of martian surface processes and the thermal-magmatic evolution of the martian mantle and crust.

Orbital and surface missions have revealed that Mars' surface is far more diverse than was imagined only a decade ago, with a plethora of distinct environments — each of which presents different sorts of samples, with different potential scientific returns. Returning samples from these martian environments and analyzing them in the best terrestrial labs available will provide an unparalleled perspective of Mars not yet achieved.

“This is one of those missions scientists here at UNM are working on with NASA,” said Carl Agee, director, Institute of Meteoritics and one of the workshop conveners along with Sr. Research Scientist Charles “Chip” Shearer, UNM and David Beaty, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The goal is to define the science capability and research of the mission. It will all be set down by previously determined policies evolving out of the meeting. We want to know what to expect and how to prepare.”

The IOM has a long history of involvement in studying Mars from the Viking missions in the 1970s, the question of martian life in meteorite ALH84001 to ongoing missions (i.e. Mars Science Lab).

A few of the presentations during the workshop include ‘Enabling Sample Return: Priorities, Missions and Strategies,’ ‘Sample Requirements from the Astrobiology Point of View,’ ‘Sulfates as Recorders of Mars Near Surface Processes and the MER sites as First Sample Return Locations,’ ‘Understanding the Evolution of Mars: Core, Mantle, Crust Surface and Atmosphere,’ and ‘Hydrous Minerals as Recorders of Fluid-Atmospheric Evolution and Secondary Alteration.’

“Part of our mission is to help return samples,” said Shearer, who is also chair of CAPTEM (Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials). “A sample return from Mars will provide a very important glimpse of Mars never seen before from orbiters and rovers.”

The Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA Planetary Science Division, NASA Mars Exploration Program and the UNM Institute of Meteoritics are sponsoring the workshop. For more information visit: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/msr2008/.

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