Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research

University of Colorado Boulder Associate Professor Jay McMahon is a participating scientist on NASA's DART, or Double Asteroid Redirect Test mission, which launched last week. Denver's 9News spoke with McMahon about the project, which aims to test asteroid deflection technology. DART will travel to and then intentionally crash into the...

The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder has had a record-breaking year for research funding, bringing in $53 million in awards. The fiscal year 2021 number, which totals $53,101,624, blasts by the previous record of $33.2 million, set just one year ago in 2020...

Crack! Lightning strikes are bright and loud—violent enough to shake your bones and light up the sky. Now, a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder suggests that these powerful events may also alter the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere, even affecting Earth’s all-important ozone layer. The results, published...

Researchers at CU Boulder will take part in a $25 million effort to study a natural resource that’s becoming increasingly in demand: the radio frequency spectrum. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced the new initiative, called SpectrumX . It will be led by the University of Notre Dame...

The University of Colorado Boulder has received a $2 million gift from The Anschutz Foundation to support the university’s diverse research in aerospace and national defense—from tracking and protecting satellites in orbit to improving the security of mobile devices. The effort dovetails with a new research partnership between the CU...

Associate Professor Jay McMahon has been recognized with an Outstanding Faculty Graduate Advisor Award. The honor, bestowed by the College of Engineering and Applied Science, recognizes faculty who demonstrate exceptional advising skills and who serve as role models to other advisors. Honorees are selected based on the scores and comments...

“Exponential commercial utilization of space is simultaneously inspiring and terrifying.” Marcus Holzinger has addressed the U.S. Congress on space situational awareness and space traffic management. It is a subject with increasing importance as more nations and commercial businesses launch satellites into orbit around our planet. Holzinger, an associate professor in...

Update: The Hearing was held Thursday. Read Professor Holzinger's testimony. Marcus Holzinger , a Smead Faculty Fellow and associate professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, is set to speak to the United States Senate. Holzinger will address the Subcommittee on Space and Science on...

The journal Eos is touting Professor Emerita Kristine Larson's win of the 2020 AGU Charles A. Whitten Medal. The American Geophysical Union honor recognized Larson for her outstanding achievement in research on the form and dynamics of the Earth and planets: "Kristine Larson is among the great innovators in geodesy...

This weekend, a Chinese rocket booster, weighing nearly 23 tons, came rushing back to Earth after spending more than a week in space—the result of what some critics, including NASA Administrator Bill Nelson , have attributed to poor planning by China. Pieces of the rocket, dubbed Long March 5B, are...