More than 150 Mars atmosphere experts from the U.S., Canada and Europe will be in Williamsburg, Va., for a NASA sponsored workshop.

NASA's Langley Research Center in nearby Hampton, Va., will host the four-day workshop, Nov. 10-13, at The Woodlands Hotel and Conference Center in Colonial Williamsburg. The goal of the Third International Workshop on the Mars Atmosphere: Modeling and Observations is to bring together experts on the Mars atmosphere and climate system.

Scientific interest in Mars is due in large part to its atmosphere, which has shaped its history and surface. This may have created past climate conditions that were suitable for sustaining surface liquid water and possibly life. The study of the Martian atmosphere and comparing its meteorology or weather conditions to Earth's is also of great interest to scientists who hope to better understand our atmosphere and improve our knowledge of the Martian environment for future robotic and human missions.

The workshop co-organizers and co-chairs are Joel Levine from the NASA Langley science directorate and Francois Forget from the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique, France. Workshop sponsors are the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston; the Centre National d'Etudies Spatial (the French space agency); and NASA's Mars Exploration Program and the Mars Program Office at the Jet Propulsion.

The Williamsburg workshop is the first time that this meeting will take place in the U.S. The previous two meetings took place in Europe. More than 130 talks and poster presentations will be presented at the workshop.

Details about the Third International Workshop on the Mars Atmosphere: Modeling and Observations, including the full program and abstracts, may be found on the workshop web site: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/modeling2008/modeling20083rd.shtml