News in Depth  


CU-Boulder in Space

Astronaunt walking on the moonCommanding spacecraft ranging from Mercury space capsules to space shuttles, the CU-Boulder astronaut alumni are testament to the confidence NASA has shown in the university's faculty and students. Campus researchers began their foray into the Space Age in the late 1940s by sending instruments and experiments into the heavens on sounding rockets.

Since then, NASA spacecraft have launched 17 CU-Boulder alumni on 40 space missions, spanning virtually the entire manned space flight program. CU-Boulder is the only research institution in the world to design and build space instruments for NASA that have been launched to every planet in the solar system.

CU-Boulder ranks among the top five U.S. universities, excluding military academies, in the number of astronaut alumni. Also, CU-Boulder annually ranks among the top universities in the nation in NASA funding.

CU-Boulder's space presence began with Scott Carpenter, one of the original seven astronauts selected by NASA who flew on the second American-manned orbital flight in 1962, piloting his Mercury capsule three times around Earth. Carpenter, who earned an honorary bachelor's degree in 1962, subsequently was in the Navy's Man-in-the-Sea Program, spending 30 days living and working on the ocean floor, becoming the only human to thoroughly explore both outer and inner space.

CU Alumni Astronauts and Recent Missions

Current NASA Missions Involving CU

Videos and Podcasts

Saturn’s Rings May Be Old As Solar System, According To New Cassini Oservations
Saturn's F-Ring Video
CU-Boulder Satellite Shows Regional Warming Variations During Course of Solar Cycle
Researchers Discover Unseen Belt of Moonlets in Saturn's "A" Ring


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  Astronaunt on space walk
 CU-Boulder ranks among the top five U.S. universities, excluding military academies, in the number of astronaut alumni.


Related Links

CU's Astronaut-Alumni

Facts on CU's Space Program

Kalpana Chawla, Astronaut
A Tribute

Contact Information

Jim Scott
303-492-6431
Office of News Services