Space
<p>A NASA-funded miniature satellite built by ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ students will launch at 5:55 p.m. EST on Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the start of a six-month-long mission to study solar flares and the powerful X-rays emitted by the sun.</p>
<p>United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced Thursday it's taking CubeSat rideshares to the next level by launching a new, innovative program offering universities the chance to compete for free CubeSat rides starting in 2017. The first free CubeSat launch is going to CU-Boulder.</p>
<p>Scientists involved in NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, which is being led by the ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ, have identified the process that appears to have played a key role in the transition of the Martian climate from an early, warm and wet environment that might have supported surface life to the cold, arid planet Mars is today.</p>
<p><span>A collaborative effort involving six counties, the ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ and the nonprofit aerospace advocacy group, UAS Colorado, has paved the way for the launch and testing of two unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the San Luis Valley. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr">When he was in high school, Daniel Pette was fascinated by stars. When his earth science teacher told him that massive stars die out faster than smaller ones, Pette diagrammed a theory to figure out why this was. When he discovered that his findings were correct, Pette became determined to pursue a career in astrophysics. </p>- <p class="p1">NASA has awarded the ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ’s Fiske Planetarium $1 million for the development of short, full-dome videos about space science-related discoveries that will be distributed to hundreds of planetariums nationwide.</p>
- <p>The ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ is the lead institution on a $1.9 million federal grant to develop autonomous aerial robotic systems that will enable new atmospheric science applications, including observing and better understanding the behavior of severe storms.</p>
<p>CU-Boulder's <a href="http://ccar.colorado.edu/pages/axelrad.html">Penina Axelrad</a>, professor and chair of the Department of Aerospace Sciences, received the 2015 Aerospace Educator Award from the <a href="http://www.womeninaerospace.org/">Women in Aerospace</a> association.</p>
<p>Waleed Abdalati, professor of geography at the ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ and director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), will co-chair a <a href="http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CurrentProjects/SSB_166359">prestigious national committee</a> charged with developing U.S. priorities for observing Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and land surfaces by satellite.</p>
<p>It’s August and that means the hottest show in the night sky -- the Perseid meteor shower -- will make its annual appearance, peaking in the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 11 to 14.</p>