03.05.

07

William Jeffs
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

Karin Hilser
Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston
281-244-2014

RELEASE: JO07-005

LATEST STUDIES OF MARS, SATURN, MOON HIGHLIGHT CONFERENCE

Initial science data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, detailed

images of Saturn's icy moons and results from a deliberate crash on
the moon highlight the 38th annual Lunar and Planetary Science
Conference March 12-16 in Houston.

The conference will include presentations on the latest findings from

these missions, as well as an update on findings from NASA's Stardust
spacecraft that returned to Earth in 2006 with particles from comet
Wild 2. Leading scientists from around the world will attend to
discuss these and other topics at the South Shore Harbour Resort and
Conference Center.

Media may register to attend. For registration information and a

complete list of conference events, visit:

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2007/lpsc2007.3rd.shtml

Data from recent missions continues to offer space scientists

worldwide new information and imagery to study. The Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter, the latest mission to arrive at Mars, began
returning data last November, providing higher-resolution imagery
than has been previously obtained from orbit. Cassini's tour of
Saturn has revealed a wealth of detail about Titan and unique
insights into the planet's icy satellites, showing them to be more
geologically active than hinted at by Voyager. And Europe's first
lunar mission, SMART-1, ended with a bang last September when the
probe was directed to crash into the moon.

"This continues to be an exciting era for planetary scientists.

Information from the diversity of missions returning new data every
day complements the continuing discoveries in the planetary science
research disciplines," said Eileen Stansbery, deputy director of
the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate at
NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “This year’s conference provides much
insight into the way the scientific community pulls diverse research
disciplines and missions together to provide a framework for
understanding our solar system and the bodies of which it is
made."

The conference schedule includes:

A special session on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled for

8:30 a.m. CDT March 13. The session will highlight initial science
results from the mission.

An overview of the newest results from the European Space Agency's

SMART-1 mission will be presented at 8:30 a.m. March 13. SMART-1 is
the first in the program of ESA's Small Missions for Advanced
Research and Technology. It has performed science on the moon.

The latest views on the formation of Saturn's icy moons derived from
Cassini's tour of the Saturn system will be presented during a
special session, "Volcanism and Tectonics on Saturnian
Satellites," scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 13.

Two sessions will provide details on scientific analyses of the comet

Wild 2 samples returned to Earth in January 2006 aboard NASA's
Stardust spacecraft. "Stardust: Wild 2 Revealed" will be
held at 8:30 a.m. March 14. "Stardust: Mainly Mineralogy"
is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. March 15.

The conference is put on by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI),

in partnership with the Johnson Space Center, as part of a
cooperative agreement with NASA.

LPI is managed by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA),

a national, nonprofit consortium of 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
most of the disciplines engaged in space-related science and
engineering. Institutional membership in USRA now stands at 100
leading research universities. More information about USRA can be
found at www.usra.edu. More information about LPI can be found at
www.lpi.usra.edu.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
www.nasa.gov

-end-