NASA
Vanderbilt rocketeers win seventh NASA launch national title
Jul. 24, 2020—The Vanderbilt University rocket team has won an unprecedented seventh NASA Student Launch national title, beating out 45 other university competitors to claim its seventh national title in the past eight years.
Vanderbilt, The Ohio State University are joint Founding Members of satellite mission ‘Twinkle’ to find potentially habitable worlds around nearby stars
Jul. 23, 2020—Following the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission, Vanderbilt astronomer Keivan Stassun leads the next phase of discovery to find atmospheres like our own.
4D printed thermite could make welding in space and combat zones easier, safer
Jul. 20, 2020—A recent mechanical engineering doctoral graduate has created a material for welding in extreme conditions that could minimize equipment needed and operator hazards.
To find giant black holes, start with Jupiter
Jun. 30, 2020—On a quest to find the Universe’s largest black holes, Vanderbilt researcher identifies the center of the solar system within 100 meters.
Vanderbilt astronomers among NASA’s TESS Mission team to discover a rare newly formed planet
Jun. 24, 2020—Stars mapped out by Vanderbilt astronomers for exploration by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission and recently decommissioned Spitzer Space Telescope have led to the discovery of AU Mic b, a newly formed Neptune-like exoplanet located a relatively short 31.9 light-years away.
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.