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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Smithsonian Institution, and the International Laser Ranging Service are pleased to host the 13th International Laser Ranging Workshop in Washington D.C. on October 07 through 11, 2002. This page provides information about the workshop venue, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. tourism, climate, transportation, and social events during the workshop.
The workshop will be held in the at the Hyatt Regency Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill, located in downtown D.C. Morning and afternoon sessions will be held each day, with a special ILRS General Assembly meeting on Thursday afternoon. A wrap-up session will close the workshop on Friday afternoon. Free-standing boards will be set up in a separate room near the main conference room for workshop participants to display their posters. Viewing will occur during breaks, and at a special session during the workshop. A separate work room equipped with computers, network connectivity, and printers will be available to workshop attendees.
A registration fee of $200.00 (U.S.) will be charged to all attendees to cover meeting expenses and breaks; a $40.00 fee will be charged for the workshop banquet to be held at the Commons of the Smithsonian Institution. Attendees should complete the registration form by September 05, 2002. See the lodging section for information on hotel accommodations.
The hotel is located at 400 New Jersey Avenue, NW and located in the heart of the nation's capital, offering the visitor easy access to a variety of museums, monuments, restaurants, theaters, concert halls, and other recreational facilities. A fact sheet about the Hyatt Regency Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill is available for download. The Union Station Metro stop is the closest station to the Hyatt Regency.
The Smithsonian Institution is an independent trust and center for research dedicated to public education and scholarship in the arts, science, and history. The Smithsonian consists of sixteen museums and galleries, as well as the National Zoo and numerous research facilities located around the world. Nine of these museums are located on the National Mall within walking distance of the workshop venue. Five other museums and the National Zoo are located elsewhere in Washington, accessible via the Washington Metrorail system.
Admission to the majority of the Smithsonian Institution's museums and facilities is free. The museums are open every day of the year (except December 25) from 10:00 a.m. to 05:30 p.m. For more information about the many museums of the Smithsonian Institution, visit the planning section of the Smithsonion's web site.
Washington D.C., also known as the District of Columbia, is the capital city of the United States. Washington is about thirty minutes from NASA GSFC. The workshop venue is located in downtown D.C., offering the visitor easy access to a variety of museums, monuments, restaurants and recreational activities.
For more information on planning a trip to Washington D.C., Maryland, or Virginia, vistors can contact:
| Washington,
DC Convention and Tourism Corporation 1212 New York Ave., NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20005 202-789-7000 www.washington.org |
D.C. Heritage
Tourism Coalition 1250 H Street, NW, Suite 850 Washington, DC 20005 www.dcheritage.org |
| National Park Service
Office of Public Affairs 1100 Ohio Drive, SW Washington, DC 20242 202-619-7222 (voice) Dial-a-Park: 202-619-7275 www.nps.gov |
Maryland Office
of Tourism Development 217 E. Redwood Street Baltimore, MD 21202 1-800-543-1036 410-333-6926 (TTY) www.mdisfun.org |
| D.C. Chamber of
Commerce's D.C. Visitor Information Center Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center 13th St. and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-328-4748 www.dcvisit.com |
Virginia Tourism
Corporation |
The Washington Tourmobile, the only commercial sightseeing service federally authorized to operate on the National Mall, offers narrated tours with stops at the Smithsonian museums, major memorials and monuments, government and historic buildings, Arlington Cemetery, Mount Vernon, FDR Memorial, and Frederick Douglass National Historic Site; fees include the option of getting on and off at any stop for the duration of the ticket. For information, visitors can call 202-554-5100. Below are a few local touring company websites:
- Washington Tourmobile Sightseeing Tours
- Kenny Burns Touring Services of Washington, D.C.
- Capitol River Cruises
- Zohery International Tours
Other local area sites of interest:
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Low
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| September |
80°
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27°
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62°
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21°
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3.30 inches (rain) |
| October |
69°
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17°
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50°
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10°
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3.00 inches (rain) |
| Current Weather Conditions and Forcasts |
Washington, D.C. | ||||
| NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD | |||||
Three international airports service the Washington D.C. area:
- Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA), located in Washington D.C.
- Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) located in Maryland between Washington D.C. and Baltimore
- Dulles International Airport (IAD), located southwest of Washington D.C. in Virginia
National Airport is serviced by the Washington Metrorail system; taxi fare from the airport to the hotel costs about $15.00. Super Shuttle bus service from both Dulles and BWI is available to the hotel. Alternatively, taxi service averages $55.00 from either suburban airport to the hotel. Rental cars are of course available from all airports.
Once in D.C., attendees are encouraged to use the city's public transportation, the Metrorail system, to avoid the hassles of driving and parking in the congested city area. Metrorail stations are convenient to the workshop venue, most Smithsonian museums, the National Zoo, and other areas of interest in the D.C. area and its immediate suburbs.
A reception will be held at the Hyatt on Monday, October 6, 2002 after the afternoon session that will include hors d'oeuvres. A banquet dinner will be held at the Smithsonian's Castle Building on Thursday, October 10, 2002 at 7:00 pm. The dinner will be a nice buffet and vegetarians will be taken into consideration.
An excursion to the Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory (GGAO) is planned for the evening of Wednesday, October 09, 2002. This facility is located about five miles from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). GGAO is the home of pioneering research in many areas, such as the scientific application of lasers, astronomy, and solar physics. GGAO is home to the MOBLAS-7 SLR system, the SLR 2000 prototype system, the IGS permanent GPS receiver (GODE) and IGLOS-PP GPS/GLONASS receiver (GODZ), the MV-3 VLBI system, and a DORIS beacon (GREB). Demonstrations of many of these systems will be conducted during the evening. Transportation to and from the Smithsonian will be provided. Attendees of this tour must complete the registration form by the deadline (September 20) in order to obtain clearance from GSFC security.
Content Owner and Webmaster: Carey
Noll
Responsible NASA Official: Ed
Masuoka
Last Updated:
December 1, 2023
