Author: Nicole Elizabeth Gilles

Inspiring Women in Leadership: Laura Shaw

At the forefront of human space exploration, the women of the International Space Station Program are creating opportunities for the future. Driven to inspire the generation of young women who will soon follow in their footsteps, the numerous space station...

The moon is too hot and too cold; now it could be just right for humans, thanks to newly available science

Eugene Cernan: Purdue astronaut, NASA pioneer

One of Eugene Cernan’s greatest gifts was his ability to seem ordinary. Of course, Cernan (BSEE ’56) was not ordinary. Far from it. There’s nothing typical about becoming one of 12 people – thus far – to have walked on the...

Scientists get first-ever sound recording of dust devils (tiny tornadoes of dust, grit) on Mars

When the rover Perseverance landed on Mars, it was equipped with the first working microphone on the planet’s surface. Scientists have used it to make the first-ever audio recording of an extraterrestrial whirlwind. The study was published in Nature Communications by planetary scientist Naomi...

This solar system rocks

Michelle Thompson is a geologist. But while “geo” means earth, she studies things that are decidedly unearthly, or at least extraterrestrial: the moon and asteroids. “I study space weathering: how space environments affect tiny mineral particles on planetary surfaces,” said Thompson,...

Artemis adventure: Mark Baldwin keeps NASA’s Orion occupants safe

Before NASA takes the “giant leap” of sending humans back to the moon, they are first taking the “small step” of launching an uncrewed Orion capsule as part of the Artemis 1 mission. And just like the Apollo missions, the...

Vestigo Aerospace raises $375K in seed funding to spur deorbit systems

Vestigo Aerospace, a space technology company focused on deorbit systems, has closed a seed funding round with an investment of $375,000 from Manhattan West, a Los Angeles-based strategic investment firm. NASA will provide a 1:1 match of Manhattan West’s investment through a...

Lasers, landscape and lost magnetic fields

The first letter ever etched on the Martian surface is the letter L. Far from being an act of interplanetary graffiti, though, it’s there for scientific purposes. And it won’t be there forever – scientists plan to bring the marked...

“Gas stations” in zero gravity: Purdue experiment establishes foundational science for cryogenic fuel depots in space

To journey and return from other planets, future spacecraft may have to do something they've never done before: refueling in space. Thanks to a Purdue University experiment, scientists are now beginning to understand how cryogenic liquids behave in zero-gravity, and...

This is Purdue Podcast: Alum Ronak Dave’s Next Giant Leap: NASA Flight Director

In this episode of “This Is Purdue,” we’re talking to Ronak Dave, a Purdue aeronautics and astronautics alum recently selected as a NASA flight director. Ronak will lead missions to the International Space Station and prepare for lunar missions for...