University of Michigan Space Institute – Page 2 – University of Michigan Space Institute

Human Exploration of Mars: National Academies Give NASA Their Recommendations

Posted on December 10, 2025 (March 26, 2026) by U-M Space Institute

NASA hired the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine to identify the scientific community’s priority objectives for human study and exploration of Mars, as well as the types of measurements, samples and studies needed to complete the objectives. The Academies delivered their report to NASA in December.

Zurbuchen, Formerly of U-M, NASA, Honored by Center for Entrepreneurship

Posted on December 5, 2025 (March 26, 2026) by U-M Space Institute

The University of Michigan’s Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) honored co-founder Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, with the presentation of a new award bearing his name, as well as the renaming of the center’s long-running Friday speaker series he launched, EHour.

U-M Joins International Consortium to Design, Build MOSAIC Instrument for Extremely Large Telescope

Posted on December 1, 2025 (March 26, 2026) by U-M Space Institute

The European Southern Observatory, or ESO, has signed an agreement with a large international consortium that includes the University of Michigan for the design and construction of the Multi-Object Spectrograph, or MOSAIC.

Launching the World’s Largest Space Telescope

Posted on November 12, 2025 (February 5, 2026) by U-M Space Institute

The James Webb Space Telescope is safe from the sun’s light and heat thanks, in part, to Robby Swoish. The largest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space, Webb is designed to study galaxies so far away that their light takes 13.5 billion years to reach us. That ancient light gives us a view of our universe that dates back to the origins of the very first stars.

We Need a Solar Sail Probe to Detect Space Tornadoes Earlier, More Accurately, U-M Researchers Say

Posted on October 6, 2025 (February 5, 2026) by U-M Space Institute

Spirals of solar wind can spin off larger solar eruptions and disrupt Earth’s magnetic field, yet they are too difficult to detect with our current single-location warning system, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. But a constellation of spacecraft, including one that sails on sunlight, could help find the tornado-like features in time to protect equipment on Earth and in orbit.

Frontier No More? Michigan Engineers Work on Solutions for Space Debris

Posted on October 6, 2025 (February 5, 2026) by U-M Space Institute

Researchers at U-M and elsewhere are working to keep space safe for future generations. They’re developing solutions that could enable tracking of microscopic fragments and designing forecasting tools that could more accurately track active satellites during space weather events.

B-SPICE Raises TRL of the Spacecraft-Charging Mitigation Scheme, Operating in a Space Environment

Posted on August 28, 2025 (December 11, 2025) by U-M Space Institute

Omar León, an Assistant Research Scientist at the U-M Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, talks more about the launch of the B-SPICE mission from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on November 23, 2024.

The People Behind SPAR: Tate Gill

Posted on July 21, 2025 (December 11, 2025) by U-M Space Institute

Tate Gill, an assistant research scientist within the Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL), has taken on the technical leadership role as head of the institute’s propulsion division. Since receiving a $35 million award from the USSF University Consortium in late 2024, the University of Michigan has continued to lead one of the nation’s largest efforts to advance space power and propulsion through Space Power and Propulsion for Agility, Responsiveness and Resilience (SPAR) Institute.

NASA Announces Lepri Will Serve as SunRISE Mission Lead

Posted on June 5, 2025 (December 11, 2025) by U-M Space Institute

In June, NASA announced that Professor Sue Lepri, who works as the director of the Space Physics Research Laboratory and a professor at the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space and Engineering, is taking over as the Principal Investigator of the SunRISE Mission, or the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment.

Professors from U-M Law and U-M Aerospace Co-Instruct Course on Removing Space Debris

Posted on April 29, 2025 (May 2, 2025) by U-M Space Institute

The Problem Solving Initiative (PSI) course series, where students from a variety of academic backgrounds come together and learn how to collaborate and solve problems, recently drew its latest iteration to a close with an end-of-semester presentation and forum. This semester’s PSI was co-taught by U-M Law School Professor Donald Moore and U-M Aerospace Engineering Assistant Professor Oliver Jia-Richards and covered the topic of how to handle and remove debris from space.