Contact:

Dr Sanjay S. Limaye (DPS Press Officer),
Phone: +01 608 262 9541 Fax: +01 608 262 5974
E-mail: SanjayL@ssec.wisc.edu

40th ANNUAL MEETING OF THE DIVISION FOR PLANETARY SCIENCES, Ithaca, New York, 10-15 October 2008

Media representatives are cordially invited to the 40th Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society being held in Ithaca, New York, from Saturday, Oct. 10, 2008 through Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008. The meeting is being held on the Cornell University campus. Approximately 800 planetary scientists from the US and Europe and worldwide will be attending this meeting. The meeting also has a Green Conferencing initiative.

Papers presented at the meeting and the press briefings will include:

– Results from the Phoenix mission which landed on Mars on May 25 and is currently sampling the Martian soil;

– Results from the MESSENGER spacecraft’s first fly-by of Mercury in January 2008;

– New results from ESA’s Venus Express mission operating since April 2006;

– Latest information about Saturn and Titan from Cassini; and

– Results from other missions and ground based observations on solar system objects.

Associated events and activities include a public concert featuring a performance of Holst’s “The Planets” by the combined Cornell University-Ithaca College Orchestra, which includes the world premier of a new Cassini-inspired Saturn movement by composer Roberto Sierra; a Sagan Planet Walk tour with planetary scientists accompanying school children from Ithaca area; and a Cassini image Exhibition at Cornell’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art; and Cornell graduate Bill Nye, The Science Guy, will introduce the 2008 Sagan Award winner, Dr. Jeff Taylor.

Information about the meeting, including the full scientific program, is available at the meeting web site (http://dps08.astro.cornell.edu/). Media briefings will likely be held between Noon and 1:30 p.m., from Oct. 11 through Oct. 14. Times are subject to change.

Registration is free for bona fide media, but you must register with the DPS Press Officer, Sanjay Limaye (SanjayL@ssec.wisc.edu) and receive confirmation of your intent to cover the meeting and attend media briefings by Thursday, Oct. 3, 2008. A badge will be provided to you at the conference registration desk. The badge provides access to the meeting, the media room and the briefing room.

Media registration is limited to the following:

– Working press employed by recognized news media or an introduction letter by the Editor of any relevant publication.

– Freelance science writers must be members of a professional writers group and show evidence of recent publications, or an introduction letter from any media appointing you to cover the meeting.

– Public information officers of scientific societies, educational institutions, and government agencies must present a business card.

Note: Representatives of publishing houses, for-profit corporations, scientists who are acting as reporters and are also presenting their results at this meeting (oral or poster session) may receive News Media credentials if they qualify (see above), but are also requested to register for the meeting as presenters and pay the meeting registration fee.

Please make your lodging arrangements early. For more information, please visit the meeting web site.

Inquiries about the local arrangements may be sent to:

Blaine Friedlander
Assistant Director, Cornell Press Office
234 Day Hall, Ithaca NY 14853
bpf2@cornell.edu
Voice: 607-254-8093
Mobile: 607-351-2610

For media related questions regarding the DPS meeting, please contact the DPS Press Officer.