Aerospace

The Ann and H. J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, part of CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, is one of the top 4 aerospace engineering departments in the country, with the #8 ranked graduate program (National Research Council) and #12 ranked undergraduate program nationwide (U. S. News & World Report).

Research Institutes & Entities

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) launched in 1948, a decade before NASA. Dan Baker, professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences and a strong advocate for increasing awareness of the risk and impacts of space weather, has served as director of LASP since 1994.

• Professor, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences

Faculty Leaders    Research Institutes & Entities

Researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) use space-based remote sensing to enhance our understanding of the Earth environment, from the oceans to the atmosphere. Waleed Abdalati, a professor of geography at CU Boulder who worked for 12 years as a NASA scientist, serves as director of CIRES. Most recently, Dr. Abdalati chaired the Committee for the Decadel Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space.

• Professor, Geography

Faculty Leaders    Research Institutes & Entities

Daniel Scheeres is recognized for his pioneering work on the motion of bodies in strongly perturbed environments, such as near asteroids and comets. He is currently the leader of the radio science team on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which will collect samples from asteroid Bennu and return them to Earth.

• Distinguished Professor, Aerospace Engineering Sciences

Faculty Leaders

Bruce Jakosky, principal investigator for the MAVEN mission and one of the world’s preeminent experts on the Martian atmosphere and astrobiology, is studying the potential for life on Mars and elsewhere in the universe, along with philosophical and societal issues in astrobiology.

• Professor, Geological Sciences

Faculty Leaders