Dr. Michael Liemohn, professor at U-M Climate and Space, was featured in the article, “The Future of Space Commerce is Uncertain Under Trump. Here’s Why.” for The Conversation. The article highlights how The Office of Space Commerce has been under stress in 2025 due to budget cuts and regulation hurdles. | October 27,
Tag: UM Clasp
“Solar Sail Probe Could Detect Space Tornadoes Earlier”
Dr. Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti and Dr. Chip Manchester, of the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, were quoted in an article in Futurity with the headline “Solar sail probe could detect space tornadoes earlier.” | October 8, 2025
We Need a Solar Sail Probe to Detect Space Tornadoes Earlier, More Accurately, U-M Researchers Say
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
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
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.
“Spacecraft Equipped with a Solar Sail Could Deliver Earlier Warnings of Space Weather Threats to Earth’s Technologies”
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 »
“Sunscreen, Clothing and Caves May Have Given Modern Humans an Edge Over Neanderthals When Earth’s Magnetic Field Wandered”
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 »
Leinweber Lab Becomes Design Hub for Moon Garden Equipment
If you walk by the new Leinweber Innovation Lab inside the Climate & Space Research Building on a Wednesday evening, you might notice the BLiSS student team hard at work in each of the lab’s studios. There, members of their subteams are working in parallel to design tools that could help solve challenges in NASA’s future Artemis missions to the moon.
The lab’s four open studio spaces were the perfect fit for the BLiSS student team to help future moon missions.
A Vision for Safer Space Exploration with the CLEAR Center
The CLEAR Center, a Space Weather Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan, works to improve forecasting of solar energetic particles that emerge from a solar eruption, with speeds nearly reaching the speed of light, which follow the spiral shape of the solar wind’s magnetic fields into interplanetary space.
Parker Solar Probe Makes Closest Approach to Sun in History
Putting another triumph and spectacle in sight for NASA and University of Michigan researchers, the Parker Solar Probe made its closest approach to the Sun on December 24, 2024.