Gen. Thompson shakes hand with an ROTC cadet in fatigues

Newest frontier in national security—space—gets boost at CU Boulder

June 28, 2021

The United States Space Force's vice chief of space operations visited campus on June 24, learning about new research on autonomous vehicles, satellites smaller than toaster ovens and more.

The Condon Report

CU the site of one of the last government-commissioned reports on UFOs. What does it say?

June 9, 2021

A 53-year-old government-commissioned report on UFOs was collected at CU Boulder and resides in the University Libraries archives. Heather Bowden, head of Rare and Distinctive Collections, shares her insights.

Area 51

How studying UFOs could lead to new scientific breakthroughs

June 8, 2021

This month, a Pentagon task force will release a long-awaited report digging into a topic typically relegated to science fiction movies and tabloids: unidentified flying objects. Professor Carol Cleland talks about the report and why scientists should take weird and mysterious observations seriously.

Researchers in front of the Mars Desert Research Station

Planning for life on Mars

June 4, 2021

Shayna Hume and a team of fellow students are trying out life on Mars through a unique Earth-based experience at the Mars Desert Research Station.

Image of the globe surrounded by satellites

Crashing Chinese rocket highlights growing dangers of space debris

May 12, 2021

In this Q&A, aerospace engineer Hanspeter Schaub says that the odds of people getting hit by debris falling from space are astronomically low. But collisions in orbit around Earth could still pose a threat to satellites and astronauts.

A satellite and asteroid

Building planetary defenses for killer asteroids

April 23, 2021

Assistant Professor Jay McMahon is joining a groundbreaking NASA mission to test asteroid deflection technology.

Artist's conception of a flare ejecting from a star with a planet nearbyArtist's conception of a flare ejecting from a star with a planet nearby

Humongous flare from sun’s nearest neighbor breaks records

April 21, 2021

On May 1, 2019, researchers observed a record-setting flare from the star Proxima Centauri—a burst of energy roughly 100 times more powerful than any similar event seen from Earth's sun.

Two people wearing spacesuits walk through the Utah desert

Science, spacesuits, dehydrated food: Simulating Mars in the Utah desert

April 8, 2021

Graduate student Shayna Hume will get a taste of what life on Mars could be like during a two-week mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.

Illustration of a space craft reentering the atmosphere

CU Boulder to lead new NASA Space Tech Research Institute

April 6, 2021

Researchers at CU Boulder are leading a new $15 million, multi-partner institute with NASA over the next five years to improve entry, descent and landing technologies for exploring other planets.

Engineers work on the EMM spacecraft in a cleanroom

How years of international collaboration led to Hope circling Mars

April 1, 2021

Beginning in 2015, dozens of researchers and engineers from the United Arab Emirates traveled to the foot of the Rocky Mountains to work toward an ambitious goal—to launch the first mission to Mars from an Arab nation.

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