The Sky Isn’t the Limit
Top left: Astrophysicist, Director of the Arizona Space Institute and content creator Erika Hamden has made it her mission to prove that the pursuit of knowledge is worth your time.
Bottom: An artist’s concept of NASA’s Pandora mission, which will help scientists untangle signals from the atmospheres of exoplanets — worlds beyond our solar system — and their stars. Rendering courtesy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab.
At the University of Arizona, the sky isn’t the limit — it’s just the beginning. As a major hub for astronomy and planetary science, the U of A is educating future scientists and fueling discoveries that expand our understanding of the universe. Learn how the U of A’s work has led to significant breakthroughs in the history of space research.
Our Legacy in Space
1961 | Mapping the Moon
When President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States would land a man on the moon, Gerard P. Kuiper and his team at the U of A created lunar atlases and maps that provided crucial insights into the moon’s surface.
1969-1972 | Apollo Missions
The U of A played a vital role in the Apollo missions, with Lunar and Planetary Laboratory astronomer Ewen Whitaker identifying the exact location on the moon of Surveyor 3. This crucial information enabled Apollo 12 astronauts to retrieve the film canister from the spacecraft.
1990 | First Discovery of an Asteroid’s Moon
U of A researchers analyzed images captured by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft and helped in the discovery of Dactyl, the first moon of an asteroid ever discovered.
2001 | Mars Odyssey Mission and Exploration
The U of A played a major role in NASA’s Mars Odyssey mission by contributing the Gamma Ray Spectrometer, which mapped the distribution of elements on the Martian surface — including hydrogen, a key indicator of water beneath the soil.
2016 | OSIRIS-REx Mission
The OSIRIS-REx mission, led by U of A researchers, collected samples — for the first time ever — from a near-Earth asteroid, Bennu. The mission has provided important insights, helping scientists understand the early solar system.
2019 | First Image of a Black Hole
U of A astronomers and the Event Horizon Telescope project played a crucial role in the historic capture of the first-ever image of a black hole — a new chapter in our understanding of some of the universe’s most mysterious objects.
2019 | James Webb Space Telescope
The U of A developed key technology and instruments for the James Webb Space Telescope, including the NIRCam, or Near Infrared Camera, which helps researchers study exoplanets and distant galaxies and peer deeper into space than ever before.
