More than 100 Maryland middle school students will get an inside look at lunar exploration when they visit the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., for "Space Academy" on Friday, Oct.  22.

Now in its 11th year, the Space Academy series, sponsored by APL and the Science Channel, takes students behind the scenes of real space missions and introduces them to the people who conduct some of NASA’s most exciting projects. The Oct. 22 event focuses on the next generation of NASA missions to explore the moon, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and its Mini-RF radar instrument, which has detected signs of water ice on the lunar surface.

Space Academy is open to the media and offers several photo, video and interview opportunities, including a student press conference with space scientists and engineers, and a demonstration in the Applied Physics Laboratory’s spacecraft design and testing facilities. APL, a division of The Johns Hopkins University, manages several NASA missions and has built 64 spacecraft over the past five decades.

What: Space Academy: A New Age of Lunar Discovery

When: Friday, Oct. 22, from 9:20 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT

Who: Space scientists and engineers from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and approximately 100 invited students from Hammond Middle School (Howard County), Dundalk Middle School (Baltimore County) and Takoma Park Middle School (Montgomery County).

Where: The Kossiakoff Center of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, located at 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, 1/2-mile west of U.S. Route 29 in Laurel, Md. Call (240) 228-7536 for directions, or visit the APL Web site at http://www.jhuapl.edu/aboutapl/visitor/directions.asp.

For more information or to attend, please contact: Michael Buckley, APL Public Affairs, (240) 228-7536 or (443) 567-3145

Media may also register on the Space Academy Web site at: http://www.spaceacademy.jhuapl.edu/PressRoom/PressRegistration.php.