Orbital debris – perhaps the greatest threat to human space exploration – has just met its nemesis: Houston’s Jacobs Technology, a Fortune 500 engineering, architecture and construction firm, one of America’s most trustworthy companies, and now a space superhero.
Jacobs and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) this month entered a five-year, $5 million partnership to create research opportunities for students and faculties. The funds also allow UTEP to hire five leading experts in planetary geology and orbital debris to conduct studies at the Houston Johnson Space Center.
Orbital debris are man-made objects that no longer serve a useful purpose in orbit around the earth. These include spent rocket stages, old satellites and fragments from disintegration, erosion and collisions. Almost 20,000 pieces of “space junk” are greater than 2 inches in diameter, large enough to cause significant problems if they collide with operational spacecraft.
The researchers, along UTEP’s Center for the Advancement of Space Safety and Mission Assurance Research (CASSMAR), will also conduct studies to further CASSMAR and NASA’s mission to ensure safer spaceflight overall.
“Partnerships such as this one created by visionaries at Jacobs Technology and UTEP will help make commercial spaceflight a reality,” said former astronaut John “Danny” Olivas, director of space initiatives at CASSMAR. “Research to solve the problem of orbital debris will truly clear a path for more governmental and private space initiatives.”
For more information about this historic partnership, follow these links:
El Paso Times: http://www.elpasotimes.com/business/ci_27685137/5-million-deal-with-nasa-contractor-bolsters-space-research-at-utep
El Diario de El Paso: http://diario.mx/El_Paso/2015-03-10_1f6a9cd0/estrecha-utep-vinculos-e-investigacion-con-nasa/
El Paso Inc.: http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/business_announcements/article_bac7ccfc-c80f-11e4-a1ea-23821c1a0efc.html
Phys.org: http://phys.org/wire-news/187609382/utep-research-at-nasa-to-explore-space-safety.html
ECN Magazine: http://www.ecnmag.com/news/2015/03/research-nasa-explore-space-safety