Titan, Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of Life
Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo
Palacio de Magdalena, Santander, Cantabria (Spain)
Del 10 al 15 de julio de 2005
10th to 15th July, 2005

Scholarships and Support Logistics Program Biblography Registration Area Information

Program

Monday, July 11

10:30 Inauguration
Bruce Runnegar

11:00 Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan
John C. Zarnecki
Principal Investigator of the Huygens Surface Science Package, Open University, U.K.

12:30 Round table discussion: Cassini at Saturn
Athéna Coustenis, Juan Peréz Mercader, John C. Zarneki

16:30 Titan: past, present and future
Jonathan I. Lunine
Huygens interdisciplinary scientist and Chair of NASA's Solar System Exploration Subcommittee, University of Arizona, U.S.A.

Tuesday, July 12

10:00 Titan: the astronomical perspective
Athéna Coustenis
Co-author of ìTitan. The Earth-like Moonî, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France

12:00 The Huygens Probe lands on Titan
John C. Zarnecki

16:30 Round table discussion: Astrobiology of Titan
Athéna Coustenis, Robert Hazen, Jonathan I. Lunine

Wednesday, July 13

10:00 Emergence of life
Robert Hazen
Author of ìGenesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Originî
Carnegie Institution of Washington and George Mason University, U.S.A.

12:00 Composition of Titan's atmosphere
Athéna Coustenis

16:30 Round table discussion: Nature of life
Robert Hazen, Juan Peréz Mercader, Bruce Runnegar

19:00 Open Session
NASA's Deep Impact on Comet Tempel
TBD
Affiliation

Thursday, July 14

10:00 Crucial steps for the origin of life on Earth
Robert Hazen

12:00 Future missions to the Saturn system
Athéna Coustenis, Jonathan I. Lunine, John C. Zarnecki

16:30 Student group presentations

Friday, July 15

10:00 Life as a consequence of the evolution of the Universe
Juan Pérez Mercader

12:00 Synthesis, diplomas, farewell

15:00 K-T boundary field excursion (or some alternative Cretaceous and Tertiary sites)
Jesús Martínez Frías, Bruce Runnegar