Local Students to Learn About Exploring Mars from Maryland

The “Space Academy” series ­ sponsored by APL, Comcast Cable and The Discovery Channel ­ takes students behind the scenes of actual space missions and introduces them to engineers and scientists who conduct some of NASA’s most exciting projects. Mission Mars will focus on Mars exploration and the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), a powerful camera APL is building to search for chemical traces of past water on the Martian surface. CRISM will fly aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, set for launch in 2005.

The event is open to the media and offers several photo, video and interview opportunities ­ including a student press conference with space scientists and a tour of the Applied Physics Lab's spacecraft design and testing facilities. APL, a division of The Johns Hopkins University, manages several NASA missions and has built 60 spacecraft over the past four decades.

What:
Comcast-Discovery Space Academy: Mission Mars

When:
Friday, May 10, 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT

Who:
Space Scientists and Engineers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and 100 students from Meade Middle School, Fort Meade (Anne Arundel County); Farquhar Middle School, Olney (Montgomery County); and Murray Hill Middle School, Laurel (Howard County).

Where:
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, located on Johns Hopkins Road, 1/2 mile west of U.S. Route 29 in Laurel, Md. Call (240) 228-7536.

The Applied Physics Laboratory, a division of The Johns Hopkins University, meets critical national challenges through the innovative application of science and technology. For information, visit www.jhuapl.edu.