Space

<p dir="ltr">When he was in high school, Daniel Pette was fascinated by stars. When his earth science teacher told him that massive stars die out faster than smaller ones, Pette diagrammed a theory to figure out why this was. When he discovered that his findings were correct, Pette became determined to pursue a career in astrophysics. </p>

<p class="p1">NASA has awarded the University of Colorado Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium $1 million for the development of short, full-dome videos about space science-related discoveries that will be distributed to hundreds of planetariums nationwide.</p>

<p>The University of Colorado Boulder is the lead institution on a $1.9 million federal grant to develop autonomous aerial robotic systems that will enable new atmospheric science applications, including observing and better understanding the behavior of severe storms.</p>

<p>CU-Boulder's <a href="http://ccar.colorado.edu/pages/axelrad.html">Penina Axelrad</a>, professor and chair of the Department of Aerospace Sciences, received the 2015 Aerospace Educator Award from the <a href="http://www.womeninaerospace.org/">Women in Aerospace</a> association.</p>

<p>Waleed Abdalati, professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), will co-chair a <a href="http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CurrentProjects/SSB_166359">prestigious national committee</a> charged with developing U.S. priorities for observing Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and land surfaces by satellite.</p>

<p>It’s August and that means the hottest show in the night sky -- the Perseid meteor shower -- will make its annual appearance, peaking in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 11 to 14.</p>

<p>Mars turned cold and dry long ago, but researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered evidence of an ancient lake that likely represents some of the last potentially habitable surface water ever to exist on the Red Planet.</p>

<p>After a nine-year journey of 3 billion miles, a piano-sized, power-packed NASA spacecraft has an upcoming date with history that some University of Colorado Boulder students, faculty and alumni wouldn’t miss for the world.</p>

<p>A University of Colorado Boulder space center will fly high-tech hardware on the commercial SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launching to the International Space Station Sunday, the 50th space mission flown by BioServe Space Technologies since it was founded by NASA in 1987.</p>

<p>If planets had personalities, Mars would be a rock star according to recent preliminary results from NASA's MAVEN spacecraft. Mars sports a "Mohawk" of escaping atmospheric particles at its poles, "wears" a layer of metal particles high in its atmosphere, and lights up with aurora after being smacked by solar storms. MAVEN is also mapping out the escaping atmospheric particles.  The early results are being discussed at a MAVEN-sponsored "new media" workshop held in Berkeley, California, on June 19-21.</p>