PRESS RELEASE... On August 26, 2003 Cynthia L. Dinwiddie (WWC, Mechanical Engineering, 1995) discovered a small outflow channel emerging from a series of pits in the Ophir Catenae on the planet Mars. Dr. Dinwiddie was studying outflow channels sourced by deep pits in the Ophir and Aurorae Planum regions of the Martian surface (Figure 1) when she found the new outflow channel sourced by a pit chain (Figure 2). From Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data, Dr. Dinwiddie determined that the water that carved this channel erupted from the terrain at an elevation of more than 2525 m above the global datum (Figure 3). Once on the surface, the water followed the natural topographic relief down into a nearby crater located 2 km to the north of the pit chain at an elevation of approximately 2400 m. Given apparent shorelines visible in Figure 2, she postulates that lake-water gradually accumulated in the crater until the water overflowed its northwestern rim. As discharge from the pit chain slowed, a north-northwest-trending channel formed and deepened across the center of the crater. The erosional channel extends north-northwestward from the crater outlet and appears to join Allegheny Vallis, a much larger outflow channel to the north. On August 27, 2003, Dr. Dinwiddie proposed the name "Walla Walla Vallis" for the newly resolved outflow channel. "Walla Walla" is Nez Perce for "place of many waters" or alternatively, "running water". She also proposed the name "Wallula" for the crater through which Walla Walla Vallis once flowed. The Martian crater is a subdued feature from the Noachian (or earliest known) epoch, approximately 12.2 km in diameter. The outflow channel dates to the Hesperian (or middle) epoch, a time period known for having the greatest degree of outflow channel activity. Regarding the proposed names, a city, county, and river are named after the Walla Walla Native American tribe of southeastern Washington State. "Wallula" has the same meaning to the Walla Walla tribe as "Walla Walla" has to the Nez Perce. While different tribes, the Nez Perce and the Walla Wallas are both members of the Columbia Plateau Culture, with similar languages and ways of life. In naming these Martian features, Dr. Dinwiddie wanted to honor the Native American roots of a terrestrial valley and community that she values from her college years. She also finds the meaning of these names, i.e. "place of many waters", particularly fitting for this region on Mars. In fact, the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington created by the Missoula Floods are an excellent Earth analog for the many catastrophic Martian outflow channels. On October 20, 2003 Dr. Dinwiddie learned that the proposed names Wallula and Walla Walla Vallis were provisionally approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Now researchers will be able to use these names at conferences or in scholarly journals (e.g., Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets or Icarus) as long as their provisional status is made clear. The names will be formally adopted at the XXVI General Assembly of the IAU to be held in Praha, Czech Republic, August 14-25, 2006 (see http://www.iau.org/ and http://www.iau.org/IAU/Activities/nomenclature/ and http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/ for more information). Dr. Dinwiddie's research on these Martian features will be presented at the upcoming Lunar & Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas, March 15-19, 2004 (see http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2004/pdf/1316.pdf for conference abstract).