Tag: space

Could One of Jupiter’s Moons Support Alien Life? U-M Scientists Are on the Case

Posted on by U-M Space Institute
Europa Clipper
NASA’s Europa Clipper, the organization’s latest mission to Jupiter’s system of moons, launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. It’s the start of a grand journey to Europa, a moon that scientists believe has a salty ocean of water beneath its icy outer surface. When the spacecraft reaches its target in 2031, it will start collecting the data necessary for University of Michigan researchers to help determine whether the ocean could support life.

First Data from XRISM Space Mission Provides New Perspective on Supermassive Black Holes

Posted on by U-M Space Institute
black hole
Some of the first data from an international space mission is confirming decades worth of speculation about the galactic neighborhoods of supermassive black holes. More exciting than the data, though, is the fact that the long-awaited satellite behind it—the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission or XRISM—is just getting started providing such unparalleled insights.

“Space Force Awards $45 Million to Universities for Propulsion and Power Research”

Posted on by U-M Space Institute

The University of Michigan was featured in “Space Force Awards $45 Million to Universities for Propulsion and Power Research” for SpaceNews. The U.S. Space Force awarded nearly $45 million to the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan to spearhead advanced research in space power and propulsion. | September 16, 2024

“USSF Announces Selections for Advanced Space Power, Propulsion Research”

Posted on by U-M Space Institute

The University of Michigan was featured in “USSF Announces Selections for Advanced Space Power, Propulsion Research” for United States Space Force News. The United States Space Force, in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory, selected Rochester Institute of Technology and University of Michigan to lead the USSF University Consortium/Space Strategic Technology Institute Continue Reading »

In Six New Rogue Worlds, Webb Telescope Finds More Star Birth Clues

Posted on by U-M Space Institute
stars
An international collaboration that included the University of Michigan has spotted six likely rogue worlds—objects with planetlike masses but untethered from any star’s gravity—using the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST. The discovery includes the lightest rogue planet candidate ever identified with a dusty disk around it. The elusive objects offer new evidence that the same cosmic processes that give birth to stars may also play a common role in making objects only slightly bigger than Jupiter.