  Experimental studies of hypernuclear dynamics, besides being essential for
the understanding of strong interactions in the strange sector, have important
astrophysical implications. The observation of neutron stars with masses
exceeding two solar masses poses a serious challenge to the models of hyperon
dynamics in dense nuclear matter, many of which predict a maximum mass
incompatible with the data. In this article, it is argued that valuable new
insight may be gained extending the experimental studies of kaon electro
production from nuclei to include the $\isotope[208][]{\rm Pb}(e,e^\prime K^+)
\isotope[208][\Lambda]{\rm Tl}$ process. The connection with proton knockout
reactions and the availability of accurate $\isotope[208][]{\rm Pb}(e,e^\prime
p) \isotope[207][]{\rm Tl}$ data can be exploited to achieve a largely
model-independent analysis of the measured cross section. A framework for the
description of kaon electro production based on the formalism of nuclear
many-body theory is outlined.
