Student Press Conference, Feb 10, 2000

More that 20 young journalists from Baltimore and Washington area schools got a chance to cover space exploration and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission during a student press conference Feb. 10 at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md. Sponsored by APL and The Planetary Society, the event featured an informative exchange between the students and panelists on topics ranging from the science and objectives of the NEAR mission, to the prospects of finding organic life on asteroids and traveling to other planets.

"The panelists didn't just treat us like students, they treated us like we were covering the story," said Katie Rouse, a senior at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson, Md., and co-editor of the school's monthly newspaper. "These are the kinds of things you read about in a science textbook, and no one ever realizes the time and effort that goes into getting that information or that it's a lot of fun for the people who work on it."

The space experts included Dr. Louis Friedman, executive director and co-founder of The Planetary Society; Dr. Roald Sagdeev, a University of Maryland professor and former director of the Institute for Space Research, Russian Academy of Sciences; and Dr. Noam Izenberg and Dr. Robert Gold, members of the NEAR mission team at the Applied Physics Laboratory.

"It was a great experience," said Izenberg, an instrument scientist for NEAR's infrared spectrometer. "The kids wanted more information and answers on things they had read and heard about, and they seemed to enjoy the chance to talk to someone who was an authority on these subjects."

NEAR is on track to encounter and begin orbiting asteroid Eros on Valentine's Day. The Applied Physics Laboratory designed and built the NEAR spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.