Media Reminder: European Planetary Science Congress 2012, 23-28 September, Madrid

EUROPLANET PRESS NOTICE

Date: 21 September 2012 Ref. PN: EPSC12/02
Issued by:
Anita Heward
Europlanet Press Officer
Phone: +44 (0) 7756 034243
E-mail: anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org
EPSC Press office (24-28 September only)
Tel: +34 91 722 3020 (English enquiries)
Tel: +34 91 722 3021 (Spanish enquiries)
Fax: +34 91 722 3022

EUROPEAN PLANETARY SCIENCE CONGRESS 2012, 23-28 SEPTEMBER, MADRID
More than 600 of the world’s leading planetary scientists are gathering for the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2012 at the IFEMA-Feria de Madrid, Spain. They will present the latest research on planets, moons, comets and asteroids in our own Solar System, exoplanets orbiting other stars, astrobiology and astrochemistry, as well as updates on current and planned space missions. This is the first time that EPSC has been hosted in Spain.

EPSC 2012 is taking place from Sunday 23 September to Friday 28 September 2012. Details of the Congress and a full schedule of EPSC 2012 scientific sessions and events can be found at the official website: http://www.epsc2012.eu/

Presentations at EPSC 2012 will include results from the weather sensors carried by NASA’s Mars rover, Curiosity. The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) was built by Centro de Astrobiología of Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (CAB-INTA), the host institution for this year’s EPSC.

Other highlights include results from field campaigns to Mars analogues in Antarctica and Spain, scientific observations of the recent Transit of Venus and results from the Dawn spacecraft’s encounter with the giant asteroid, Vesta.

Dr Felipe Gómez Gómez, chair of the Local Organising Committee for EPSC 2012, said, ‘It is a great pleasure for us to welcome this huge planetary science community to Madrid. During the week, we will have the opportunity to see more than 900 scientific presentations focused on different fields of planetary sciences. It will be an outstanding event for our city and will be a great opportunity to meet the key planetary scientists in the world here in Madrid.’

EPSC 2012 is organised by Europlanet, a Research Infrastructure funded under the European Commission’s Framework 7 Programme, in association with the European Geosciences Union, with the support of (CAB-INTA).

PUBLIC EVENTS

Activities for the general public are being organised at the Planetario de Madrid on Wednesday 26th September. CAB’s mobile laboratory will be stationed on the esplanade outside the planetarium with activities relating to CAB’s work on astrobiology: “Searching for Live in the Universe”. From 17:00 to 20:00, there will be hands-on interactives and experiments illustrating chromatography, cryomagnetism and meteorite impacts.

Activities will be followed at 20:00 by a talk by the ESA astronaut Dr. Jean-François Clervoy about living and working in space (in English with consecutive translation). For details, see: http://www.planetmad.es/PDFs/JORNADA%20CIENCIAS%20PLANETARIAS.pdf

For more a biography and images of Dr. Clervoy, see: http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESA1BUZUMOC_astronauts_1.html

MEDIA REGISTRATION

Media representatives are cordially invited to attend. Press room facilities will be available for the duration of the conference – from 9 am on Monday 24 September through to 3 pm on Friday 28 September. Media registration is free. Any bona fide media delegates can pre-register by e-mailing anita.heward@europlanet-eu.org. (Advance registration is not essential but encouraged).

PRESS CONFERENCES

Two press conferences will be held during the week. The press conferences will be webcast. Journalists will be able to submit questions via an online chatroom. Links will be posted on: http://www.epsc2012.eu/press_and_media/general_information.html

13:15pm Monday 24 September – Field campaigns to Planetary Analogue Sites

13:15pm Thursday 27 September – Updates from Mars Science Laboratory and the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS)

FURTHER INFORMATION

EUROPLANET

The Europlanet Research Infrastructure is a major (€6 million) programme co-funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission.

The Europlanet Research Infrastructure brings together the European planetary science community through a range of Networking Activities, aimed at fostering a culture of cooperation in the field of planetary sciences, Transnational Access Activities, providing European researchers with access to a range of laboratory and field site facilities tailored to the needs of planetary research, as well as on-line access to the available planetary science data, information and software tools, through the Integrated and Distributed Information Service. These programmes are underpinned by Joint Research Activities, which are developing and improving the facilities, models, software tools and services offered by Europlanet RI.

Europlanet Project website: www.europlanet-ri.eu Europlanet Outreach website: www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach Follow #epsc2012 @europlanetmedia on Twitter