For 75 years, CU Boulder has been a leader in space exploration and innovation. We travel to space to monitor sea level rise, melting ice, weather patterns and more. Our researchers explore how to track and remove dangerous debris in space. We research the health of humans in space to inform medical applications for people on Earth.ÌýLearn more about the latest in space research and science at CU Boulder.
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An orrery, a type of device once used to track the movements of the planets, sitting above an infrared image of a hypothetical "protoplanetary" disk that may have divided the solar system early in its history.

How the solar system got its ‘Great Divide,’ and why it matters for life on Earth

Jan. 13, 2020

Scientists have finally scaled the equivalent of the Rocky Mountain range in space.

A ball of cotton candy floating in space

Behold the super-puffs: Planets as fluffy as cotton candy

Dec. 19, 2019

Researchers have taken the closest look yet at the Kepler 51 star system, home to the lowest-density planets ever discovered.

Image of Mars' climate today (left) and an artist's depiction of how the planet may have looked billions of years ago (right).

Mars’ brilliant aurora sheds light on changing climate

Dec. 12, 2019

A type of Martian aurora first identified by NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft in 2016 is much more common than scientists originally thought.

An artist's rendering of Parker Solar Probe orbiting the sun

Daring space mission gets its first look at the sun

Dec. 5, 2019

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has gotten closer to the sun than any other object designed and developed by humans—and CU Boulder scientists have been along for the ride.

NOAA’S Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo. (Photo by Katie Palubicki/CIRES and NCEI)

Detecting solar flares and more in real time

Dec. 4, 2019

A new machine learning tool, developed by scientists at CIRES and NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), can improve space weather forecasts and understanding of solar data.

Paul Sanchez

Asteroid named for CU Boulder researcher

Nov. 25, 2019

Paul Sanchez, a scientist in aerospace engineering, is getting an asteroid named after him. And it's actually two asteroids: His namesake is a binary system made up of two rocky bodies orbiting around each other in space.

Principal Investigator Luis Zea working in the lab

Mold in space: NASA grant to study space station fungus

Nov. 1, 2019

The International Space Station has a problem with fungus and mold—and BioServe Space Technologies at CU Boulder is investigating potential fixes thanks to a new grant from NASA.

A close up of Saturn's rings

Think Saturn’s rings are old? Not so fast

Sept. 16, 2019

Scientists have reignited the debate over the age of Saturn’s rings, suggesting that the features may have formed early in the history of the solar system.

An artist's depiction of an early Earth bombarded by asteroids.

A new timeline of Earth’s cataclysmic past

Aug. 12, 2019

Recent research shows that our planet may have been pummeled with asteroids long before some scientists had previously thought.

Rendering of the asteroid Psyche

Can bacteria help people mine asteroids?

Aug. 1, 2019

Luis Zea and his colleagues are exploring whether a technique common on Earth, called biomining, may one day help people to extract resources in space.

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