Kathleen Burton

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

Phone: 650/604-1731, 650/604-9000

kburton@mail.arc.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 00-68AR

NOTE TO EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS: News media are invited to attend
a 2-day Mars terraforming conference at NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, CA, Oct. 10 and 11. The conference will be held daily
from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT. Scientific lectures and research
papers will be presented in the second-floor auditorium in Bldg.
N-245. To get to Ames, take the Moffett Field exit off Highway 101.
At the Moffett Federal Airfield main gate, proceed to the Visitor
Badging Office to obtain entry badges and maps to the conference.
Bring press credentials and photo ID to gain admittance. Foreign
media representatives must be escorted. Members of the media may
attend the entire conference.

A renowned cadre of researchers from diverse scientific disciplines
will present the latest findings in terraforming Mars at a 2-day
conference at NASA’s Ames Research Center. The conference, “The
Physics and Biology of Making Mars Habitable,” will focus on
restoring Mars’ environment so it can support life, including
possibly human life.

A Mars terraforming press briefing will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 11
between 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. in Bldg. 245, Room 215. Conference
organizer and Mars researcher Dr. Chris McKay will be available to
answer questions. Margarita Marinova, Julian Hiscox and Penny Boston
also will be available at the briefing.

“Expanding life beyond the Earth is one of the most interesting new
areas of Astrobiology” said McKay. “Re-creating a biosphere on Mars
is the first step in that expansion.”

Conference topics will include: near-term missions to Mars,
engineering approaches to warming Mars, survival of life under
Mars-like conditions, terraforming models and the problem of creating
oxygen levels in a thick carbon-dioxide atmosphere.

More information, a conference agenda and a list of speakers are
available at: http://web.mit.edu/mmm/www/terraforming.html

Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evoution, distribution and
destiny of life in the universe. Located in California’s Silicon
Valley, Ames is NASA’s Center of Excellence for Astrobiology, and
manages the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Media members may pre-register by sending an email to
kburton@mail.arc.nasa.gov. Media should include: crew name(s),
affiliation, nationality and passport number (if non-U.S.) citizens.