The People Behind SPAR: Tate Gill

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PEPL
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.

H3D Detectors Arrive at the International Space Station

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space station
Radiation detectors developed by Ann Arbor-based startup H3D, Inc.—founded by University of Michigan researchers—were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) early Monday morning as part of NASA’s latest resupply mission. The payload was carried aboard SpaceX’s 32nd cargo delivery flight to the ISS, which lifted off April 21 at 4:15am EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule successfully arrived at the ISS the following morning, docking with the station at 8:40am EDT on April 22.

“Spacecraft Equipped with a Solar Sail Could Deliver Earlier Warnings of Space Weather Threats to Earth’s Technologies”

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Dr. Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, a research faculty member at U-M Climate and Space, was featured in the article, “Spacecraft Equipped with a Solar Sail Could Deliver Earlier Warnings of Space Weather Threats to Earth’s Technologies for The Conversation. The article highlights how solar sails, as deployed in the SWIFT mission, could improve protections against space Continue Reading »

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

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PSI
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.

The People Behind SPAR: Eric Viges

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Eric Viges
As one of the key players the new Space Power and Propulsion for Agility, Responsiveness and Resilience (SPAR) Institute, Eric Viges is taking on the technical leadership role as head of the institute’s power division. With this, he will be coordinating different elements of the power side to bring together sub team members and do systems demonstrations in Year 2 and Year 5 of the project.

“Sunscreen, Clothing and Caves May Have Given Modern Humans an Edge Over Neanderthals When Earth’s Magnetic Field Wandered”

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Lead Author and U-M Climate and Space Alumnus Dr. Agnit Mukhopadhyay was interviewed for the article “Sunscreen, Clothing and Caves May Have Given Modern Humans an Edge Over Neanderthals When Earth’s Magnetic Field Wandered” in Smithsonian Magazine. The article covers the paper “Wandering of the auroral oval 41,000 years ago” which has been published in  Continue Reading »

Alumna Aisha Bowe Ready to Launch on Historic All-Women Space Flight

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Aisha Bowe in Museum
Aisha Bowe, an alumna from Michigan Aerospace, is set to board the first-ever all-women Blue Origin flight, scheduled to launch on April 14, 2025. This historic flight will be Blue Origin’s 11th human space mission that will cross the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, 62 miles (100 km) above Earth.