Julian Hammerl makes adjustments to a metal cube representing a derelict spacecraft inside the ECLIPS facility.

Space tractor beams may not be the stuff of sci-fi for long

June 1, 2023

On Feb. 10, 2009, disaster struck hundreds of miles above the Siberian Peninsula. That evening, a defunct Russian satellite orbiting Earth crashed into a communications satellite called Iridium 33 moving at a speed of thousands of miles per hour. Both spacecraft erupted into a rain of shrapnel, sending more than...

Hanspeter Schaub

Hanspeter Schaub earns CU Boulder’s highest award for teaching and research

May 26, 2023

Hanspeter Schaub has a passion for exploring the unknown—peering into uncharted areas of aerospace to push the boundaries of science and engineering. As a professor and chair of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder, Schaub has made a career at the forefront of...

Alumni with Dr. Gerren.

Alumni, faculty honored at Smead Aerospace banquet

April 24, 2023

The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences honored graduates and faculty during a special 2023 alumni banquet. Seven graduates were recognized for achievements in education, industry, research, and public service.

Members of the Experimental Aerodynamics Laboratory team.

Epic year for aerospace research funding at CU Boulder

Sept. 22, 2022

The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder had another big year for research funding, bringing in nearly $48 million in awards. The fiscal year 2022 number totals $47,834,766. It is the...

The waning gibbous Moon is pictured above the Earth's horizon as the International Space Station above the Atlantic Ocean.

CU Boulder lands $5.5 million Air Force project to advance orbital and AI research

Aug. 23, 2022

A team of University of Colorado Boulder researchers is embarking on a major research project that will advance our understanding of orbital mechanics and monitoring, artificial intelligence, and hypersonics. Led by Marcus Holzinger, an...

The International Space Station

Aerospace PhD research proposes better way to keep astronauts breathing in space

Aug. 8, 2022

Álvaro Romero-Calvo (AeroEngr PhD’22) is proposing a potentially better way to make oxygen for astronauts in space – using magnetism. Romero-Calvo, a recent PhD graduate from the University of Colorado Boulder, is part of an international team...

Hanspeter Schaub

Schaub elected chair of Smead Aerospace

July 6, 2022

Professor Hanspeter Schaub is the new chair of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Schaub was elected chair by the Smead Aerospace faculty. He succeeds Brian Argrow, who is stepping down from the position after five years of service. “I’m...

Hanspeter Schaub

Schaub discusses growing space junk problem with Salon

Nov. 15, 2021

Outer space is incomprehensibly vast and empty. Yet over the past century, humans have managed to clutter a region known as low Earth orbit (LEO), which stretches from 125 to 1,200 miles above the surface of the planet, with "space debris." This broad category of man-made objects includes "dead" satellites,...

Visualization of satellites in orbit around Earth. (Credit: NASA)

Crashing Chinese rocket highlights growing dangers of space debris

May 12, 2021

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...

Hanspeter Schaub

AIAA Spotlight on Success: Hanspeter Schaub and multi-national space exploration

Feb. 11, 2021

Professor Hanspeter Schaub talks about the multi-national research going on in space exploration in a new video AIAA created for the 2021 AIAA SciTech Forum and Exposition.

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