First Announcement — June 2014

Meeting Location and Date

The 2014 Annual Meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group will be held October 22–24, 2014, at the John Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland.

For information about the laboratory, directions, and nearby hotels, please visit the APL Visitor’s Guide.

Purpose and Scope

Data from the recent suite of robotic missions to the Moon and analysis of lunar samples has shown that the Moon has an incredibly dynamic volatile system that is just beginning to be understood.

The focus for this year's meeting is the topic of lunar volatiles — which species are present, their abundance on the surface and interior, their sources and formation processes, their mobility and temporary storage on the surface, and their ultimate fate (be it loss from the lunar environment or “permanent” sequestration in surface reservoirs). The presence of volatiles in and on the Moon has important implications for in situ resource utilization applications in support of extended human stays on the lunar surface and feed-forward to sending humans to Mars and beyond.

Another focus area will be the Global Exploration Roadmap (GER). The GER has identified a number of possible targets for human exploration missions — the Moon, Asteroids, cis-lunar space. In part, the objectives include the characterization and utilization of volatiles. An important aspect for the Roadmap, with respect to the Moon and asteroids, is the scientific objectives of such human missions and how these relate to volatiles.

Other topics of interest will be a discussion of future lunar robotic missions, be they government, international or private, their scientific potential and objectives, and how they can build towards a sustained lunar and solar system exploration program.

Participation of early career scientists is encouraged and avenues are being pursued to secure some travel support for students, post-doctoral researchers, etc. More information will be available in the second announcement.

Meeting Format

The three day meeting will promote lunar community discourse through both invited and contributed oral presentations, poster presentations and discussion sessions. As in previous years, the sessions will be a blend of science, exploration, resource utilization, and commercial activities. Contributed abstracts are highly encouraged and should be centered on recent scientific results, potential missions and technologies for lunar exploration, and concepts of lunar resource exploitation.

The call for abstracts will be included in the second announcement.

Indication of Interest

To subscribe to a mailing list to receive electronic reminders and special announcements relating to the meeting via e-mail, please submit an electronic Indication of Interest form by June 24, 2014.

Further details regarding the meeting, including the call for abstracts and registration information, will be included in the second announcement, available on this website at the end of June. The deadline for abstract submission will be August 7, 2014.

Contacts

For further information regarding the scientific content of the meeting contact

Name of Primary Scientific Contact:

Samuel Lawrence
Email:  [email protected]

or

Jeff Plescia
Email:  [email protected]

For further information regarding meeting details or announcements contact:

Ingrid Dudley
Meeting and Publication Services
Universities Space Research Association (USRA)
Phone:  281-244-2151
E-mail:  [email protected]

Schedule