HI Max,
somehow I didn't get your request until Tuesday, but I did manage to throw in an abstract for your session.  cheers, tco

Tullis C. Onstott 
Dept. of Geosciences 
Princeton University 
Princeton, NJ 08544 
609-258-7678 
fx:609-258-274 
geoweb.princeton.edu 
deepbio.princeton.edu 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Max Coleman <[log in to unmask]> 
Date: Thursday, August 31, 2006 9:13 pm 
Subject: Planetary and Earth Sciences Interdisciplinary AGU session - P18 
To: [log in to unmask] 

> Dear Isotopists, 
> 
> We are just like you and always leave things till just before the 
> deadline (or even just after). 
> 
> The abstract submission deadline for the AGU Fall Meeting is 
> September 7, but in the USA we have the upcoming holiday weekend 
> to 
> complete our essential contributions to this session. The meeting 
> will be held in San Francisco, CA, Dec. 11-15, 2006. We have put 
> together a special session focusing on in situ instruments and 
> critical sample acquisition issues essential to robotic analysis. 
> Our 
> aim is to stimulate and encourage discussion between different 
> disciplines. In furtherance of that end we have organized Invited 
> Papers from a number of people including Jim Garvin (GSFC), to 
> assess 
> the most recent MER results, give a perspective of the promise of 
> MSL/ExoMars and Phoenix and weigh in situ vs. sample return; Steve 
> Gorevan (Honeybee Robotics), to discuss robotic surface and 
> sub-surface sample acquisition hardware developments; Quinn Passey 
> (ExxonMobil Research), to discuss the current state-of-the-art in 
> terrestrial well logging instrumentation, sampling and automated 
> drilling; Jeff Bada (Scripps-UCSD), to discuss trace organic 
> biomarker detection within 1-2 meters of the Martian surface; 
> Angioletta Coradini (IFSI-CNR), to discuss the sub-surface sample 
> acquisition system being developed for the ESA ExoMars mission and 
> Mark Sims (Leicester Univ.) to describe recent developments in the 
> field of in situ instrumentation in Europe. We have promises of 
> papers from a number of people including Dimitri Papanastassiou 
> and 
> Tullis Onstott and even ourselves, the conveners. The session 
> title 
> and description follow. 
> 
> So, please help us ponder the limitations of in situ instruments 
> and 
> the realities of robotic sub-surface sample acquisition by 
> submitting 
> your abstract at: 
> http://submissions4.agu.org/submission/entrance.asp 
> 
> We want contributions from planetary and non-planetary geochemists 
> since the session is co-sponsored by both the Planetary Sciences 
> and 
> the Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology Sections 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------ 
> P18: Instruments for in Situ Exploration of Planets: How Do They 
> Measure Up? 
> Sponsor: Planetary Sciences 
> CoSponsor: Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology 
> Convener: Max Coleman, Frank Grunthaner, Pascale Ehrenfreund and 
> Angioletta Coradini 
> 
> Description: Planetary exploration missions are becoming 
> increasingly 
> sophisticated in their instrument capabilities, as evidenced by 
> Cassini-Huygens, MER and the NASA MSL and ESA ExoMars selections. 
> In 
> this session we want to engender debate about comparison of 
> current 
> approaches for sample handling and in situ instruments with their 
> terrestrial laboratory counterparts and what future requirements 
> and 
> possibilities might be. We particularly solicit papers addressing 
> the 
> difficulties encountered in maintaining the chemical and 
> structural 
> integrity of surface and sub-surface samples containing hydrated 
> minerals and/or with trace organic contents. Sub part-per-billion 
> levels of organic compounds especially pose problems in 
> controlling 
> contamination and meeting Planetary Protection requirements. We 
> would 
> also encourage some contributions defining which scientific 
> objectives cannot be achieved by in situ methods and therefore 
> must 
> wait for sample-return missions. Papers can relate to any 
> planetary 
> object. Any contributions on topics in these areas  welcomed from 
> both the planetary and terrestrial geoscience communities. 
> ------------------------------------------------------ 
> 
> thanks 
> 
> Max 
> -- 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ------------------ 
> Any opinions are mine and may not reflect policy of NASA, Caltech 
> or JPL 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ------------------ 
> Max Coleman 
> Director, Center for Life Detection 
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech 
> M/S 183-301 
> 4800 Oak Grove Drive 
> Pasadena, CA 91109, USA 
> 
> ph: (818) 393-6353 
> fx: (818) 393-4445 
> 
> [log in to unmask]