NASA
National Academies committee including Vanderbilt astrophysicist publishes review of latest NASA Science Plan
Oct. 18, 2019—An astrophysicist at Vanderbilt is part of the committee behind a review of NASA’s updated Science Plan, a five-year strategic roadmap for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
Rare study of Earth-sized planet uses technique pioneered by Vanderbilt professor
Aug. 19, 2019—A groundbreaking study, using data from NASA and a technique pioneered by a Vanderbilt professor, is giving humankind a glimpse at a distant exoplanet with a size similar to Earth and a surface which may resemble Mercury or Earth’s Moon. Located nearly 49 light-years from Earth, the planet known as LHS 3844b was first discovered...
From Mars habitat to little boy’s prosthetic hand, Design Day 2019 fascinates
Apr. 24, 2019—Inspiration and innovation abounded as more than 70 teams of engineering seniors presented their final projects Monday. The annual Senior Design Day attracted hundreds of visitors from Vanderbilt and the Nashville community to the Student Life Center.
The hunt is on for closest Earth-like planets
Mar. 26, 2019—The catalog identifies 1,823 stars for which TESS is sensitive enough to spot Earth-like planets just a bit larger than Earth that receive radiation from their star equivalent to what Earth receives from our sun.
Launch Pad: Vanderbilt’s internationally acclaimed student rocket team has propelled many alumni into the science of spaceflight
Feb. 19, 2019—During the past 11 years, NASA has awarded the Vanderbilt rocket team eight payload design awards and five national championships. The team has won a total of 30 national and international awards and 16 regional awards. In addition, the Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Lab has launched an impressive number of graduates into roles at companies such as SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Rolls Royce, NASA and Northrop.
Risk modeling, data integration drive NASA next-gen air travel safety project
Jan. 9, 2019—Sankaran Mahadevan is leading a team of Vanderbilt engineers in an ambitious NASA effort to revolutionize air traffic control.
Class of 2018: Alexandra Doten wants to help young students reach for the stars
Apr. 26, 2018—Alexandra Doten’s passion for blending science, education and outreach was born from a failure. Doten took an astronomy class her first semester freshman year and failed the first test. But with encouragement from a professor, she turned the experience into a lesson in perseverance.
NASA’s TESS mission to discover new worlds will use a map developed at Vanderbilt
Apr. 16, 2018—Vanderbilt’s Keivan Stassun serves as a deputy principal investigator on the mission and is tasked with identifying the most promising stars to target in its search for habitable nearby planets.
Rocket team’s novel two-part design addresses NASA challenge; launch is April 7
Mar. 29, 2018—Engineering students in the Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Laboratory will demonstrate their solution to a common rocket dilemma at the 2018 NASA Student Launch Competition on April 7.
VU astronomer heads U.S. study team for space-based gravitational wave detector
Nov. 3, 2017—A Vanderbilt astrophysicist has been elected chair of a scientific study team that will advise NASA on science issues related to the international Laser Interferometer Space Antenna program.
Vanderbilt joins NASA in eclipse balloon launch
Aug. 24, 2017—Vanderbilt University researchers joined a national NASA weather balloon project giving scientists and people around the world a view of the total solar eclipse from the edge of space.
Racing the eclipse, School of Engineering weather balloon sends striking video
Aug. 24, 2017—A high-altitude weather balloon rose yesterday from a Vanderbilt garage rooftop to the edge of space to live-stream the eclipse from above Nashville and record the temporary atmospheric changes it caused.