Report on the 38th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

I just got back last night from the 38th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC). It was a good meeting. Since I do primarily Mars work, I mostly hung out in the Mars sessions though I did check out the astrobiology and Lunar remote sensing sessions too. I think everyone is really excited about the spectacular images that we have been getting back from the HiRISE camera. They really are amazing. It is as if we sent someone there with a balloon and he was sending back pictures. CRISM is providing some great results too though they are coming slower. Mostly, it seems, they are provided added spatial resolution to some of the discoveries made by the European OMEGA instrument. Specifically, it was fascinating to hear that they have been finding many exposures of phyllosilicate minerals in ancient terrains, albeit in smaller exposures than those at Mawrth Valles and Nili Fossae. I didn't attend the NASA meeting night on Monday, but I didn't hear any horror stories so I suppose it wasn't the smack-down that took place last year. I think everyone is just waiting to see how the 2008 NASA budget looks and also to see how the 2008 elections go since those could alter the NASA funding landscape as well.