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.ĚýLearn more about the latest in space research and science at CU Boulder.
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an illustration of possible future transit vehicles, habitats, and power systems on Mars

Designing lighter, stronger vehicles for space exploration

March 15, 2017

NASA has named CU Boulder as a partner in a first-of-its-kind $15 million research institute developing superstrong, lightweight materials for use in space exploration vehicles.

Aerospace summit

Groundbreaking space missions, student success focus of Aerospace Summit

March 10, 2017

Alumni, industry execs and other space buffs celebrated the state’s growing prominence in aerospace—from probing the Bennu asteroid to an array of industry partnerships—at the second annual CU Boulder Aerospace Summit earlier this week.

Ben Lewis, Stefanie Countryman and Shelby Bottoms

Students play key biomedical research role – in space

Feb. 15, 2017

Students and faculty at BioServe Space Technologies in aerospace engineering built two biomedical payloads that will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Feb. 18 to the International Space Station.

an illustration of hydrogen escaping mars

High-altitude water acts as atmospheric escape route for Martian hydrogen

Jan. 30, 2017

Â鶹ĘÓƵ researchers have discovered an atmospheric escape route for hydrogen on Mars, a mechanism that may have played a significant role in the planet’s loss of liquid water.

nasa satellite black holes

CU Boulder to lead operations for NASA black holes mission

Jan. 11, 2017

CU Boulder students and professionals from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics will operate the satellite for an upcoming NASA mission to investigate exotic astronomical objects like black holes, neutron stars and pulsars.

solar storms Earth atmosphere

Researchers dial in to 'thermostat' in Earth’s upper atmosphere

Dec. 14, 2016

Researchers have found Earth's upper atmosphere has a natural thermostat that dramatically cools the area after powerful solar storms bring on the heat.

student space gardening

Sky-high harvest: Space gardening for astronauts

Nov. 18, 2016

Graduate student Heather Hava has received several national awards for her research on developing new research tools for growing and maintaining fruits and vegetables in a space environment. And she wouldn't mind being among the first astronauts to reap the benefits of gardens grown in the low gravity of space.

Supermoon

Let’s just call it a 'Supermoon Monday'

Nov. 15, 2016

Nov. 14, 2016 Right before sunrise on Monday, something really super is going to happen. That’s when we’ll be treated to a “super, supermoon” – a full moon at its closest distance to Earth - but one that’s even more spectacular than usual, says Matt Benjamin with CU Boulder Fiske...

NOAA satellite CU Boulder space weather

Ready for launch: Instrument suite to assess space weather

Nov. 10, 2016

Solar flares could damage satellites, trigger radio blackouts and even threaten the health of astronauts by penetrating spacecraft shielding. That's why scientists are on a quest to better understand space weather, and a soon-to-launch instrument package will help.

galaxy

Galactic close encounter leaves behind 'nearly naked' supermassive black hole

Nov. 4, 2016

A team of astronomers, including one from CU Boulder, used the super-sharp radio vision of the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) to find the shredded remains of a galaxy that passed through a larger galaxy, leaving only the smaller galaxy's nearly-naked supermassive black hole to emerge and speed away at more than 2,000 miles per second.

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