4th Australian Mars Exploration Conference, 2004



‘From the Red Centre to the Red Planet: An Australian Role in Mars Exploration’ The Mars Society Australia will be holding its annual conference AMEC 2004 in Adelaide this year, over the weekend of July 31 - August 1. The program will include a range of local and international speakers across both days, covering diverse disciplines including geology, astro-biology, psychology/human factors, biomedicine, engineering and robotics. The conference banquet will be held on the evening of Saturday 31 July. Download a conference poster here. Program – Banquet - Registration - Venue – Accommodation - Travel Information - Sponsors PROGRAM
*PRE-CONFERENCE DRINKS* Informal pre-conference drinks will be held this Friday evening (30th July) at the Federal Bar & Cafe at the Mercure Grosvenor Hotel (ground floor), 125 North Terrace, Adelaide. *CONFERENCE OPENING* Registration will open at 8.15am, with the conference formally commencing at 9am each day. The keynote speaker at this year’s conference will be Mr Neal Newman (NASA representative to Australia and South-East Asia), presenting ‘A New Vision for U.S. Space Exploration’. Other speakers include: Dr. Jennifer Heldmann, NASA Ames Research Center, ‘Formation of Martian gullies by the flow of simultaneously freezing and boiling liquid water’. Dr. Vic Gostin, Visiting Fellow, University of Adelaide, ‘How and Why Martian Geology is So Different to that of Earth’. Dr. Mark Bishop, University of South Australia, ‘Environmental Change and the Aeolian Evolution of Landscape: The Dominant Process on Mars’. David Willson, Mars Society Australia & Dr. Jonathan Clarke, Australian Centre for Astrobiology, ‘Design and Development of the MARS-OZ Base.’ Dr Sheryl Bishop, University of Texas Medical Branch, ‘A Comparison of Male and Female Teams in Surviving the Australian Outback’. View the full program here. BANQUET A special conference banquet will be held on the evening of 31 July. TIME: Beginning at 7.30pm with predinner drinks LOCATION: Pioneer Room, 1st Floor, Mercure Grovenor Hotel, 125 North Terrace, ADELAIDE. DRESS: Semi-formal/smart casual Cost - $50 per person. It is essential to register for this by Friday 30th July (see below) to confirm a seat, though a small number of places will be available to registrants on Saturday morning. REGISTRATION Registration for AMEC2004 is now open. Registration can be done online or by downloading a registration form here (pdf). Both registration methods include an option to book a seat at the conference banquet. Standard registration is $95. Mars Society Australia members are eligible for a discounted registration rate of $80, with this rate available to new members who join at registration. A further $15 discount is available to all students or registrants who hold a concession card. Single day registration will also be available to those interested in attending only one day Registration will be available on the morning, though we encourage attendees to register online. VENUE
Centenary Building Level 3 - Room 16 (C3-16) School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, City East Campus, Cnr North Terrace and Frome Rd, ADELAIDE (click here for on campus map or dowload print friendly pdf version) ACCOMMODATION		Entry from North Terrace
There is a range of hotels and other types of accommodation in central Adelaide close to the conference venue. We would particularly like to recommend: The Mercure Grovenor Hotel Adelaide The hotel is offering AMEC2004 attendees special rates of $85 per room - 3 star leisure suite for singe / twin/ double room $115 per room - 4 star corporate suite for singe/ twin/ double room To claim these rates book by phone and state you are attending the Mars Society Australia's annual conference (AMEC2004). Mercure Grovenor Hotel Adelaide 125 North Terrace Adelaide PO Box 8095 ADELAIDE South Australia 5000 Tel: 08 8407 8888 For budget travellers, the Royal Adelaide Hospital Nurses Quarters (opposite the conference venue) has a limited number of rooms available at $17.60/person for shared single rooms or $60 for 2 people - (2 bedroom apartments) contact : Nina Stansfield to check on room availability email: ninastansfield@hotmail.com mobile: 0421 820 000 TRAVEL INFORMATION

For information on public transport in the Adelaide metropolitan region visit Adelaide Metro Some useful travel links for online booking of airfares are: QANTAS - http://www.qantas.com.au/ Virgin Blue - http://www.virginblue.com.au/ For finding your way around Adelaide and other Australian cities, try Streetdirectory.com You can search Australian telephone directories online at http://www.whitepages.com.au/ You can access the internet wirelessly at hotspots around central Adelaide using Citilan. Read more at http://www.citilan.com.au/ SPONSORS



University of South Australia	AMEC 2004 is an official National Science Week Event