You are cordially invited to attend the 86th annual meeting of The Meteoritical Society, which will take place from July 28 through August 2nd, 2024, at the Palace of the Academies in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting is hosted by the Université libre de Bruxelles, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
Although hosting the European parliament at the heart of Europe, Brussels remained a captivating medium-sized city where all major sites can be reached by foot or public transportation. Brussels is easily accessible from Brussels Airport (BRU), but also from Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL), Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG), or Schiphol Amsterdam Airport (AMS), and connected by direct high-speed trains from several European Capitals, such as London and Cologne to Brussels-Midi train station. Because Brussels is a highly touristic but relatively inexpensive city, no rooms will be booked in advance. All information to prepare your visit can be found here: https://www.visit.brussels/en/visitors.
Oral, poster and plenary sessions will be hosted at the Palace of the Academies. Located next of the Royal Palace, the Palace of the Academies was built between 1823 and 1825 for the Prince of Orange and became the residence of the Royal Academy of Sciences and art and Royal Academy of Medicine in 1876. The Barringer lecture will take place at the Plaza Hotel, famous for its charming Belle Epoque decorated theater. The banquet will be organized as a walking dinner at the Royal Museum for Natural Sciences, where you will be able to enjoy the tasty Belgian cuisine in the largest dinosaur gallery of Europe, known for the spectacular Iguanodon fossil skeletons. Fieldtrips on Wednesday afternoon include a visit to the Atomium, a landmark modernist building constructed for the 1958 World Fair that represents a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion time, but also to the European Parliament, the battlefield of Waterloo where the fate of Europe was tragically determined, or the city of Ghent, labelled Belgium’s best kept secret by Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler in 2023. Post-conference tours include a tour on the WWI and WWII battlefields located in Belgium, and a visit to some of the world-renowned Trappist beer abbeys.
We plan to host special sessions on asteroid sample-return missions, as we expect to celebrate the arrival of OSIRIS-Rex, and in honor of Dieter Stöffler. Emphasis will also be placed on micrometeorites and the curation of extraterrestrial samples, through the organization of a workshop at the RBINS. More information concerning the scientific program will be provided soon on the website: https://metsoc2024.brussels. As the worldwide COVID-19 sanitary crisis has continuously improved, we plan for an in-person meeting only, with no option for remote access, to keep costs as low as possible.
The weather is an uncertain factor in Belgium, so do prepare for both rain and heat waves. Food is always there to enjoy, with chocolates, waffles, beers, and fries, and plenty of options for any dietary requirements! We are looking forward to welcoming you in Brussels!
Vinciane Debaille (vinciane.debaille@ulb.be), Steven Goderis, Sophie Decrée, and Philippe Claeys