Space Sciences

Center for Aerospace Structures (CAS)

CAS received the prestigious Department of Defense award for computer modeling and simulation in 2001. The simulation on the right depicts the air flow and vibration of an F-16 aircraft during acceleration.

In the Structural Dynamics and Control Laboratory of the Center for Aerospace Structures (CAS), students and faculty research the engineering of future large space telescopes with up to 1,000 times the resolving power of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). NASA plans call for deploying a space telescope roughly the size of a small house in 10 years, and one the size of Folsom Field in 20 years. Due to their size, these telescopes will be roughly 1,000 times more flexible than the HST and thus super-sensitive to imperfections in their structures. Current research activities are under way to characterize and control these imperfections, with a tolerance of a small fraction of a wavelength of light. More

Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR)

The Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research was established in 1985 as part of CU's commitment to developing a program of excellence in space science. CCAR is a multidisciplinary group involving faculty, staff, and students from the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. The research program emphasizes astrodynamics, orbit and attitude determination, satellite oceanography, meteorology, geodesy, and terrestrial vegetation studies. More

Colorado Space Grant Consortium

The Colorado Space Grant Consortium announces a new mission partnership with two universities, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Air Force Research Labs, to fly imaging instruments and advanced decision-making software on board a constellation of three student-built nanosatellites, called "Three Corner Sat." The project is a joint effort of Arizona State University, New Mexico State University, and the University of Colorado at Boulder to demonstrate stereo imaging, formation flying, and innovative operations. More