May 17, 2004 Gretchen Cook-Anderson Headquarters, Washington (Phone: 202/358-0836) Rob Gutro/Krishna Ramanujan Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/286-4044) NOTE TO EDITORS: N04-073 NASA NOTES PRESENTATIONS FOR 2004 JOINT ASSEMBLY NASA researchers will present findings on a variety of Earth science topics at the 2004 Joint Assembly of the American and Canadian Geophysical Unions at the Palais des Congrès de Montreal, at Viger Avenue West, Montreal, May 17-21. Press Conference: Mars Rovers: The Very Latest News In mid-April, NASA approved a five-month extension for the Mars Exploration Rover's (MER) Mission. Steven W. Squyres, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and Principal Investigator for MER science Instruments, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., will present latest findings. Today, 2:00 p.m. EDT, Room 522A; related session U15A, today at 7:15 p.m. EDT, Room CC517A Press Conference: Earth About To Gain A New AURA NASA's next generation Earth-observing satellite, Aura, will supply the most complete information yet on the health of Earth's atmosphere. Aura will help scientists understand how climate is affected by changes in the atmosphere, and the processes that control air quality. Panelists: Philip DeCola (Program Scientist) and Mike Tanner (Aura Program Executive), NASA Headquarters, Washington; and Rick Pickering (Aura GSFC Project Manager) and Mark Schoeberl (Aura Project Scientist) of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md. Today, 4:00 p.m. EDT, Room 522A. Free Workshop: Aura Science Writer Workshop Science writer's workshop conducted by Aura scientists is an "Atmospheric Chemistry 101" crash course, to better understand the atmospheric chemistry and processes it will study. Today, 5:00 p.m. EDT, Room 522A. Presentation: Ice Sheet Maps From The ICEsat Satellite NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) mission was developed to precisely measure changes in elevation of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. This poster session will present the most detailed look at the ice sheets from ICESat's first year (2003-2004) of observations. Thursday, 10:30 a.m. EDT, Session C42A-01; related session C43A-20, Thursday, 3:00 p.m. EDT. Press Conference: Violent Solar Events Of Fall 2003 The sun unleashed a series of storms for a two-week period from October 22 to November 4, 2003, producing some of the most extreme events on record. GSFC's Dr. Nat Gopalswamy and four panelists present findings about the events. Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. EDT, Room 522A; related sessions Wednesday, room CC518: SH31B, 8:30 a.m. EDT; SH32A, 10:30 a.m. EDT; and SH33A, 3:30 p.m. EDT. Thursday session SH41B is at 8:30 a.m. EDT. For NASA information at the American Geophysical Union Press Room (521B/C), call: 514/871-5822. -end-