For 75 years, CU Boulder has been a leader in space exploration and innovation. We travel to space to monitor sea level rise, melting ice, weather patterns and more. Our researchers explore how to track and remove dangerous debris in space. We research the health of humans in space to inform medical applications for people on Earth. Learn more about the latest in space research and science at CU Boulder.
 

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.

Image of the black hole M87*

Scientists dig deeper into subject of first-ever image of a black hole

March 24, 2021

Black holes are impossible to observe directly. But researchers like Jason Dexter are probing the hot and violent regions of space that circle these mysterious objects.

Mars' upper atmosphere seen at different wavelengths of ultraviolet light

New Hope Probe images show the glow of Mars' upper atmosphere

March 9, 2021

“Moments like these, when the first science data comes back from an instrument you’ve been working on for years, are always special," said LASP scientist Mike Chaffin.

Image of the star Vega

A giant, scorching-hot planet may be orbiting the star Vega

March 8, 2021

Vega, one of the brightest stars in the night sky, may play host to a giant planet with average surface temperatures of 5,390 degrees Fahrenheit.

Panorama of Martian mountain

Decades of Mars research laying groundwork for human astronauts

March 4, 2021

Mars is a dangerous place for vulnerable humans—but robotic space missions can probe the planet's radiation, dust storms and other threats safely and for a fraction of the cost of crewed missions.

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