EUROPEAN SPACE EXPERTS HOLD PUBLIC PANEL DISCUSSION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three experts in the scientific exploration of the solar system will hold a public panel discussion titled "Space in the 21st Century: New Frontiers, New Challenges" at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21 in the Poultry Science Auditorium. The evening will involve discussions of some of the current space missions and a discussion of things to come.

In addition to the public panel, the researchers will be visiting the University of Arkansas on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 21 and 22, at the invitation of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences. They will visit five departments in the Arts and Sciences and Engineering Colleges to give colloquia in geology, physics and biological sciences and to participate in research discussions with University of Arkansas faculty and students.

Gerda Horneck, an astrobiologist with the German Space Agency, is an expert on the effects of radiation in space on microorganisms. She has flown experiments on many spacecraft including current experiments on the international space station. Herman Kochan, also with the German Space Agency, is an expert in space simulation, recreating the space environment in vacuum chambers on Earth. His experiments have helped engineers to design spacecraft to encounter and even land on comets, and to help astronomers understand processes occurring on the surfaces of comets. The third visitor, Ian Lyon, from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, is an expert in the analysis of microscopic extraterrestrial particles, such as pre-solar grains in meteorites and also comet dust, which is currently being collected by NASA's Stardust mission to sample a comet.

The three distinguished visitors will describe their work and will discuss the future of solar system exploration and the scientific opportunities it presents at the panel discussion, which will be moderated by Bob Smith, provost of the University of Arkansas. Smith has an interest in the scientific uses of space and the public policy of space.

The university community and the public are all invited to this unique opportunity to hear from and pose questions to some of Europe's leading authorities in the scientific exploration of space. There will be a reception afterwards when the audience members can meet with the visitors and hold informal discussion.

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Derek Sears, professor, chemistry and biochemistry, Fulbright College, Director, Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, (479) 575 5204, dsears@uark.edu

Melissa Blouin, science and research communications manager, (479) 575-5555., blouin@uark.edu