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Mars InSight’s escorts: Michigan Engineers built first deep-space CubeSats

The MarCO mission opens new space exploration opportunities that aren’t possible with large, expensive probes.|Medium Read
BepiColombo approaching Mercury. Credit: European Space Agency

U-M researchers to help unravel Mercury, solar system mysteries

In ESA's BepiColombo mission, an examination of the particles in Mercury's upper atmosphere will shed light on what the planet is made of.|Medium Read
featured Space stories
Portrait of Anthony WaasFeatured Story

Embracing changing landscapes: autonomy, space exploration and diversity

A Q&A with Anthony Waas, the new Richard A. Auhll Department Chair of Aerospace Engineering and Felix Pawlowski Collegiate Chair at the University of Michigan. |Medium Read
Jupiter's moon Europa viewed from spaceFeatured Story

Europa’s ocean: New evidence from an old mission

An image from Hubble and data from Galileo support the theory that this moon is home to global body of water. |Medium Read
Digital illustration of an exploding starFeatured Story

Recreating supernova reaction yields new insights for fusion energy

Our pursuit of fusion needs a heat-check |Short Read
a photo of a meteor in the skyFeatured Story

Meteor over Michigan: How dangerous are space hazards like bolides?

Around 8 pm on Jan. 16, people across Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio witnessed a meteor exploding in Earth's atmosphere. |Short Read
Aerospace Engineering Professor Iain Boyd

Aerospace Professor Iain Boyd wins 2018 AIAA Thermophysics Best Paper award

Congratulations to Aerospace Professor Iain Boyd, winner of the 2018 AIAA Thermophysics Best Paper Award!|Short Read

U-M alum is key player in first-ever image of a black hole

EECS-ECE alum Dr. Katie Bouman has helped expand our knowledge of the universe in a big way by shining light on one of the darkest mysteries in the cosmos.|Medium Read
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of an X2.0-class solar flare

Solar storm congressional testimony: ‘The risk is real’

Professor Justin Kasper addresses Senate committee on solar threat to power grid.|Medium Read

Mars InSight’s escorts: Michigan Engineers built first deep-space CubeSats

The MarCO mission opens new space exploration opportunities that aren’t possible with large, expensive probes.|Medium Read
Prof. Mavalvala, Prof. Theodore Norris, and Prof. Steven Cundiff

A world-shaking discovery 100 years in the making

Prof. Nergis Mavalvala detailed the history and science behind the discovery of gravitational waves as the inaugural recipient of the M. Alten Gilleo Distinguished Lectureship|Medium Read
Havel Liu (BSE CE) and teammates Taylor Sun (BSE ME), Jeff Yin (BSE CE), and Andres Penaranda (MSE AERO).

Miniature satellites to maximize global communication

Havel Liu is working on a project to revolutionize satellite systems, improving communications during natural disasters and providing a blueprint for receiving future interplanetary voicemails|Medium Read
BepiColombo approaching Mercury. Credit: European Space Agency

U-M researchers to help unravel Mercury, solar system mysteries

In ESA's BepiColombo mission, an examination of the particles in Mercury's upper atmosphere will shed light on what the planet is made of.|Medium Read
An artist’s rendering of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun

Touching the Sun to protect the Earth

A Q&A with Justin Kasper on going where no probe has gone before.|Medium Read
Members of the Parker Solar Probe team examine and align one of the spacecraft’s two solar arrays on May 31, 2018. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

Part 7: The end of the mission

The clock on the Parker Solar Probe will start ticking when it runs out of fuel used to make the attitude adjustments necessary to keep the craft’s key components protected behind the heat shield. |Short Read
The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission in July 2018. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Part 6: The big send-off

The power and fuel capacity of the Delta IV, along with an eventual gravity assist from Venus, will get the solar probe velocity down to a point where it can orbit the sun.|Short Read
Parker Solar Probe’s heat shield arrives in Florida on April 18, 2018, and is unloaded at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida, where it will eventually be reattached to the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft before launch in late July. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

Part 5: Sunblock and instrumentation

The extreme conditions of the corona are one of the main reasons a solar probe mission like this hasn’t been undertaken before. But Parker features a series of innovations that will allow the probe to get close enough to do what needs to be done. |Short Read
Preparing for the Parker Solar Probe launch meant plenty of calculations and testing to get everything right. Photo: Levi Hutmacher/Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing

Part 4: Using the gravity of Venus to reach the sun

While NASA never intended for the probe to return to Earth, Venus represents a point of no return. |Short Read
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