The “12th Annual AMOS Conference”—Audience with an Astronaut, Thursday, September 15th at the Wailea Marriott Resort. The event was co-sponsored by MEDB and the Space Foundation. Our 7th and 8th grade students were invited to attend this awesome event! A total of 300 middle and high school students participated in this program featuring an “Audience with an Astronaut”. Astronaut Leroy Chow was the guest speaker. They also had hands-on space related science experiments, and visited with industry leaders in the AMOS Exhibit Center. The 60-minute Astronaut presentation was informative and inspirational and was followed by a question and answer period where students learned what it takes to get from middle/high school to becoming a space explorer. After the presentation by Astronaut Chow, the students walked through the Exhibit Center (escorted by Kawehi Rickard, Class of 1998 and Frank DeRego, Class of 1973 ) which showcased over a dozen Space companies. After visiting the exhibits, Maui’s AFRL/Detachment 15, The Boeing Company, UH-Institute for Astronomy, Maui High Performance Computing Center (MHPCC) and Pacific Defense Solutions engaged the students in Space Exploration which featured hands-on science experiments involving principles of optics, spectroscopy, imaging and telescopes. The day ended with a wonderful lunch prepared by the Wailea Marriott Resort.