First Media Invitation: AAS Division for Planetary Sciences & European Planetary Science Congress meet together in Pasadena, California, 16-21 October 2016
As they do every few years, the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) will hold their annual meetings together in 2016. The joint 48th DPS/11th EPSC meeting takes place at the Pasadena Convention Center, 300 East Green Street, Pasadena, California, from Sunday, 16 October, through Friday, 21 October.
Meeting hashtag: #dpsepsc; you may also wish to follow @DPSMeeting, @europlanetmedia, and @AAS_Press on Twitter.
More than 1,000 astronomers and planetary scientists from the United States, Europe, and around the world are expected to attend, and they’ll give some 1,200 presentations to communicate new results obtained on our solar system as well as on extrasolar planetary systems from both ground- and space-based studies. Highlights from ongoing robotic missions will feature prominently, including Akatsuki at Venus, Curiosity at Mars, Dawn at Ceres, Rosetta at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Juno at Jupiter, and New Horizons at Pluto. The meeting program includes both oral and poster sessions, along with featured talks from DPS prize winners.
The AAS/DPS offers complimentary press registration to journalists and public-information officers (PIOs); see details below.
Main meeting website (including information on travel & lodging):
https://aas.org/meetings/dps48
Science schedule & program:
https://aas.org/meetings/dps48/schedule-and-speakers
AAS/DPS embargo policy:
https://aas.org/media-press/embargo-policy-aas-division-meetings
Complimentary Press Registration
The AAS/DPS offers complimentary press registration to bona fide working journalists and PIOs, as described at https://aas.org/media-press/eligibility-press-credentials-aas-division-meetings
To request complimentary press registration, send an email message to AAS Press Officer Dr. Rick Fienberg at rick.fienberg@aas.org with your name and media affiliation (or “freelance” if applicable). Upon confirming your eligibility, he’ll send you the URL of an online registration form and the required press-registration code. Although press registration will be available on site at the meeting, we strongly advise you register in advance to avoid lines at the registration booth. Please send your email request to rick.fienberg@aas.org as soon as you know you’re coming to the meeting.
Press Facilities
A press office will be set up at the Pasadena Convention Center in room C208 and will be open to journalists during normal conference hours. Among other amenities, it will offer workspace and wireless internet connectivity.
News briefings for the media will be conducted daily Monday-Thursday, 17-20 October, during the midday lunch break in room C211; note that lunch is 12:30 to 2:00 pm PDT (UTC minus 7 hours) on Monday but 12:00 to 1:30 pm PDT Tuesday-Thursday. We’ll announce the press-conference topics and speakers in a subsequent media advisory.
We will also have a quiet/interview room, C205, for use by press registrants. To reserve this room at a particular date and time, please fill out the sign-up sheet that will be posted on the door.
During the meeting you may reach DPS Press Officer Dr. Vishnu Reddy via cell phone at +1 808-342-8932 and EPSC Press Officer Anita Heward at +44 (0)77 5603 4243. Assisting in the press room is AAS Press Officer Dr. Rick Fienberg, +1 857-891-5649.
Remote Access to Press Conferences
Journalists unable to attend the meeting in person may tune in to our Monday-Thursday briefings streamed live on the Web. Since the webcast includes audio, video, and PowerPoint slides, you must have a broadband (high-speed) Internet connection to watch and listen.
The webcast also includes a chat window whereby remote participants may ask questions. We can’t guarantee that all questions received from webcast viewers will be asked aloud — it depends on how much time we have and how many questions we’re getting from onsite reporters. Instructions for connecting to the webcast will appear in a subsequent advisory.
JPL Press Tour, Friday, 21 October
DPS/EPSC press registrants are invited to join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), operated by Caltech for NASA, on Friday morning, 21 October. Likely stops on the tour include the Space Flight Operations Facility (“mission control”) and the Spacecraft Assembly Facility, where the Mars 2020 rover is now under construction. We should be back at the Pasadena Convention Center by 12 noon PDT, in time to attend the Friday-afternoon sessions at the DPS/EPSC meeting. Instructions for how to sign up for the JPL press tour will appear in a subsequent advisory.
Contacts:
Vishnu Reddy
DPS Press Officer
+1 808-342-8932
dpspress@aas.org
Anita Heward
EPSC Press Officer
+44 (0)77 5603 4243
anitaheward@btopenworld.com
Rick Fienberg
AAS Press Officer
+1 857-891-5649
rick.fienberg@aas.org