NASA awards $12 million to 12 institutions for space research

NASA selected 12 U.S. institutions to receive $12 million to accelerate academic research and technology development. The funding supports the agency's priorities for exploring the Moon, Mars and deep space.

The institutions were selected through NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project Space Technology Artemis Research initiative, known as M-STAR. Each institution will receive up to $1 million to grow scientific and engineering capabilities and enhance faculty and student engagement in aerospace research.

The initiative aims to expand the institutions' ability to compete for future federal and commercial research awards. Alicia Baturoni Cortez, MUREP program manager in the agency's Office of STEM Engagement, said NASA investments in research institutions create opportunities for students and faculty to build skills, knowledge and infrastructure.

The funding will help NASA address technology gaps for long-duration operations on the Moon and eventually Mars. The M-STAR initiative supports the agency's mission to develop innovative technologies that improve space transportation, human exploration, robotic discovery and the growing space economy.

The awardees are California State University Sacramento, University of Central Florida, University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Houston, University of Texas San Antonio, Kean University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Shaw University, Howard University, Prairie View A&M University, University of New Mexico and Fayetteville State University. Projects cover topics including adaptive vision-language-action models for multi-robot collaboration, aerothermal simulation and testing, radiation instrumentation, rover deployables, regolith characterization, autonomous path planning, multifunctional composites for nuclear thermal propulsion, regenerative environmental systems, remote sensing, propulsion hardware repair, extreme-environment batteries and fuel cells, and AI for systems engineering.

The NASA Office of STEM Engagement and the Research and Technology Mission Directorate are overseeing the initiative. The agency said the programs will align technological innovation with the workforce needed for future missions.