A celebration of the Apollo moon landing 40th anniversary will feature a panel discussion with Cornell astronomers and activities for children, July 18 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Kennedy Hall.

Free and open to the public, the event will commemorate the July 1969 landing of NASA's Apollo 11 and man's first steps on the moon.

A panel discussion at 2 p.m., "Apollo 11 Lunar Landing 40 Years After," will include Steve Squyres, Cornell's Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy and principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover mission; Jim Bell, professor of astronomy; Peter Thomas, senior research associate; and Elizabeth Bilson, who served as the Department of Astronomy's administrative director during the Apollo years. The discussion will cover the history of the Apollo era, Cornell's past and present involvement in lunar science and plans for future exploration of the moon.

A book signing by Bell, author of "Moon 3-D: The Lunar Surface Comes to Life," will follow the panel discussion.

For kids, such hands-on activities as building an air-powered rocket, designing lunar landing devices to protect marshmallow astronauts and learning about weightlessness on the moon will start at 3 p.m. near the Kennedy Hall foyer.

The event is sponsored by the Cornell Department of Astronomy, the Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, the Cornell/NASA Spacecraft Imaging Facility and the NASA/New York Space Grant Consortium.

Information: http://www.astro.cornell.edu/outreach/informal or contact Nancy Schaff, nancys@astro.cornell.edu, 607-255-1955.