U of A Scientists Play Crucial Roles in Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Science
The Launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope takes place live Sunday on NASA Live.U of A Scientists Play Crucial Roles in Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Science
By Mikayla Mace Kelley, University Communications - August 27, 2026
It is T-minus 4 days until lift off for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA's next flagship astrophysics mission after the James Webb Space Telescope. Several University of Arizona faculty and students will be watching the launch from Cape Canaveral in anticipation of the start of science activities, slated to begin in January 2027.
Watch the launch live Sunday morning at 7:26 am EDT/4:26 am MST on NASA Live.
While Webb was designed to see far, Roman will see wide, conducting rapid surveys of huge swaths of night sky. Both telescopes, however, can collect infrared light, allowing astronomers to cross reference their data. These flagship telescopes, working alongside each other, will reveal more about the universe than either alone.
Roman's primary mirror, at 7.9-feet across, is the same size as Hubble Space Telescope's and carries two instruments. The Coronagraph Instrument will reveal exoplanets and disks around other stars by blocking and filtering starlight. The Wide Field Instrument was made to be as sensitive as Hubble's cameras but will image an area 100 times larger. While Hubble has observed roughly 0.1% of the night sky over its 30-year mission, Roman has the potential to cover the entire sky at the same resolution.
Roman will detect rare objects both near and far, and capture images of dying stars, new worlds, galaxy clusters and more. The U of A will play various roles in Roman Telescope science.
New techniques in cosmology
One of Roman's central objectives is to probe cosmological mysteries related to dark matter and dark energy, enigmatic influences that make up nearly all the universe. Dark matter is a substance with gravitational influence but doesn't emit light. Dark energy, somehow, drives the accelerated expansion of the universe.
NASA selected the U of A's Arizona Cosmology Lab to support two investigations into the properties and mechanics of these mysteries – one in the wide-field science team and one in project infrastructure team category.
Elisabeth Krause, professor of astronomy and physics, leads the wide-field science team "Kinematic Lensing with the Roman Space Telescope," which was awarded $2 million to develop a new type of cosmological measurement called kinematic lensing. By combining images with spectroscopic data, the team will study dark matter and dark energy with more precision than ever before.
The U of A-based group of the project infrastructure team "Maximizing Cosmological Science with the Roman High Latitude Imaging Survey" will play a leading role within a multi-institutional effort. Tim Eifler, professor of astronomy and physics, is leading the working group that will interpret the cosmological data.
Astronomers will use the Roman Telescope to detect galaxies near and far, pinpoint their location and measure their particular characteristics to create a catalog. Then, they'll run models based on the catalog to help them understand the underlying physical properties of the universe.
In order to perform the complex calculations that underpin these physical models, the NASA Roman Project awarded Eifler's lab $800,000 to buy computing resources that will be part of a new university-wide high-performance computing system slated to arrive this fall and an additional $2.4 million over five years to do the science.
"This infrastructure will take us from catalogs to cosmological interpretation." Eifler said. "We'll be able to do things like determine how much dark energy and dark matter are in the universe."
Eifler is also the co-chair of the cosmology group, a collection of over 1,000 scientists from around the world.
"It's fantastic to rally the community and to organize us around this science case," he said. "This really is a dream job."
Planetary pursuit
Roman's Coronagraphic Instrument will wield a collection of masks, prisms, detectors, filters and self-flexing mirrors to demonstrate new technologies for blocking the light of other stars and directly imaging the planets and disks that surround them.
Being able to directly image planets is a gamechanger. Nearly all exoplanets have been found using indirect methods, such as measuring the dip in starlight when a planet passes in front of it. But blocking glare allows scientists to discover more elusive planets than before. In fact, the instrument will be able to see planets 100 million times fainter than their stars – 100 to 1,000 times better than existing space-based coronagraphs.
"It will be a crucial pathfinder for a future Habitable Worlds Observatory," a recommended telescope that would be specifically designed to search for signs of life in other solar systems, said Schuyler Wolff, an associate research professor of astronomy leading the observation planning working group for the Coronagraph Instrument.
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory director Mark Marley, associate professor of astronomy Ewan S. Douglas, Steward Observatory assistant research professor Ramya Anche, and astronomy postdoctoral research associate Justin Hom all also played roles in developing this instrument and will conduct future science as part of the observation planning working group.
Marley, along with LPL associate professor Ty Robinson and LPL postdoctoral research associate Zarah Brown, will use data from the Coronagraph Instrument to understand atmospheres the of other worlds.
Brown has been modeling the climate and spectra of self-luminous giant planets, which are typically so young and hot that they emit thermal infrared light. The model predicts not just the atmosphere's temperature, composition and clouds, but the spectrum of infrared light the object should give off; a prediction the team needs because most of these objects have never been observed at these wavelengths before.
"That predicted spectrum is critical for planning," Brown said. "Roman's coronagraph is working with extremely faint, high-contrast targets, so the team has to schedule enough observing time to detect a candidate without burning more of the mission's limited time than necessary."
Anche's team is studying the structure of extrasolar-systems, and Hom is leading efforts to select the best stars to calibrate the Coronagraph Instrument. Hom also leads the precursor observation programs using ground-based telescopes, critical for validating target selection for future science programs.
The start of science
Once science operations begin in January, data will be made available to the science community. The U of A will lead nine NASA-approved investigations using this data that will bring in more than $2 million. Our researchers will probe additional subjects such as supermassive black holes, gravitational lenses, galaxy formation, reionization and cosmic dust.
UA News - U of A Scientists Play Crucial Roles in Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Science
Planet Formation is a 'Race Against Time,' According to New U of A Research
"Stunning" JWST images of newborn-solar systems shed light on how and when they lose gas, suggesting that planet formation is "a race against time," according to new research led by U of A graduate student Naman Bajaj.Planet Formation is a 'Race Against Time,' According to New U of A Research
By Mikayla Mace Kelley, University Communcations - August 25, 2026
The solar system today – at a mature 4.5 billion years of age – is mostly empty space sprinkled with a few planets, asteroids and comets. But in the first few million years of the solar system's life, it was a thick, swirling mass that contained 100 times more gas than dust.
To better understand how and when such vast amounts of gas vanished from our solar system disk and others like it, University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory doctoral student Naman Bajaj dug into archival data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
In one of the largest studies in planet formation conducted using JWST, this work supports past research that shows the existence of two physical mechanisms working in succession in the first 10 million years of a solar system's life. This study also constrains when the transition between dominating mechanisms occurs.
A real image of disk winds carrying out molecular hydrogen gas from a planet-forming disk located about 450 light-years from us. The white line is the plane of the planet-forming disk, while the bright yellow, orange, pink and purple represent ejected gas. - Naman Bajaj/JWST/MIRI-IFU
Bajaj and his team published their findings today in the Astronomical Journal.
It starts with a newborn star ringed by a dense protoplanetary disk, which hosts its own huge magnetic field. Gas from the disk hitches a ride along magnetic field lines. They are funneled up and out from the solar system's navel at 10-100 miles per second. This outflowing gas is called the "magnetic winds," and it is so massive that it blocks all the X-ray photons, which is high-energy light, from reaching the disk.
But, after a few million years, the magnetic winds weaken. At this point, what's known as 'photoevaporative winds' likely become the dominating force, this study suggests. Composed of energetic X-rays and ultraviolet light from the sun, the photoevaporative wind penetrates the magnetic winds, excites the gas in the disk and expels it from the system. Bajaj likes to compare this to how the energy from the sun heats water on Earth and evaporates it.
"After a few million years, the jets disappear and the molecular winds fade, leaving behind only gentler atomic winds that quietly erode what remains," Bajaj said. "This means that every planetary system with a sun-like star, including our own, likely underwent a vigorous phase of magnetic wind-driven mass loss early in its history, before transitioning to a calmer dispersal phase.
"Planet formation is therefore a race against time," he said. "Gas giants like Jupiter must assemble their massive atmospheres while the disk is still substantial enough to supply them, before winds and jets carry that raw material away into space."
The results were based on 72 images of young sun-like stars and their surrounding disks. Each image captured a system at a different stage of life, so when the images were stitched together like stills from a movie, it created a timeline of how planetary systems lose the raw material to build planets.
Data from each system allowed the team to trace the movement of two specific gases: molecular hydrogen, which is two bonded hydrogen atoms, and neon gas that has been ionized, or electrically charged.
They focused on molecular hydrogen because it makes up most of the mass in the universe, and past U of A-led research showed it traces molecular winds. Neon, on the other hand, can only be observed by Webb's midinfrared detectors when it's ionized, meaning it's excited by high-energy radiation in the photoevaporative wind.
"Neon initially traces the fast-moving jets while molecular hydrogen is tracing wider winds. Later, we see neon in the slower, broader motion of the photoevaporative wind when the magnetic jets and winds weaken, and the X-ray photons can excite neon," said Bajaj. "During this phase, molecular hydrogen seems to trace weaker winds or nothing at all."
In 2020, LPL professor Ilaria Pascucci, second author of the paper and Bajaj's advisor, led a team that conducted a similar study to understand how jets and winds evolve. At that time, pre-JWST, they couldn't observe molecular hydrogen directly, but they predicted the existence of molecular winds and that these winds could be massive enough to block X-ray photons at earlier ages. With this new study, by tracing molecular hydrogen directly, Bajaj's team also confirmed these predictions with the JWST images.
Reflecting on the images, what surprised Bajaj most was just how beautiful they were.
"I mean, we expected the images to be nice, we didn't expect them to be absolutely stunning," he said.
Next, the team hopes to more thoroughly constrain how much gas mass is lost over time. Bajaj also wants to pin down exactly at what distance from the star the gas launches from the disk, which is important for understanding at what distance certain planets can form.
Additional co-authors include Sylvie Cabrit of Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Smith College's Suzan Edwards, University of Zurich's Gabriele Cugno, Leiden University's Andrew Sellek, NSF NOIRLab's Joan Najita, University of Wisconsin-Madison's Ke Zhang, University of Leicester's Richard Alexander, Peking University's Gregory Herczeg, Uma Gorti of SETI Institute and NASA, U of A's Sophie Clark and Space Telescope Science Institute's Tracy Beck.
A mosaic of the James Webb Space Telescope images used in this study. Each of these images is about 750 astronomical units, or AU, wide and tall. For context, one AU is the average Earth-Sun distance. - Bajaj et al. 2026
UA News - Planet Formation is a 'Race Against Time,' According to New U of A Research
U of A Begins Building Moon-bound EMILIA-3D to Study Lunar Terrain
The LPL-led EMILIA-3D is one of three recent science investigation payloads selected through NASA's PRISM SALSA program to study the lunar surface.U of A Begins Building Moon-bound EMILIA-3D to Study Lunar Terrain
By Mikayla Mace Kelley, University Communications - August 19, 2026
The University of Arizona has begun building EMILIA-3D, one of three science investigation payloads selected by NASA earlier this year to be delivered to the moon by a future Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, lander.
Short for EMission Imager for Lunar Infrared Analysis in 3D, the three-sensor package was selected under the Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon: Stand-Alone Landing Site-Agnostic, or PRISM SALSA, program.
It will allow scientists to study the interplay between lighting conditions, small-scale topography and temperature to create three-dimensional thermal models of the dusty lunar soil, called regolith. Ultimately, this can help the U.S. better image and navigate the moon's surface.
EMILIA-3D includes the Stereo Visible Imaging System, SVIS, and the Thermal Infrared Imager, TIR.
SVIS will provide stereovision with two eye-like cameras, while TIR captures temperature data. Both are mounted on a gimbal, which will be built by Rocket Lab Robotics (Motiv). The gimbal will allow the sensors to scan the lunar surface from the bottom of the lander to the horizon every eight hours for two weeks, the equivalent of one sunrise to sunset on the slowly revolving moon. As the sun slowly pushes and pulls shadows across the land, the sensors will do their work.
Filling an important gap
"The stereo images will be combined with thermal measurements at the centimeter- to meter-scale to create a totally new dataset of the lunar surface. This will help fill an important gap in data, since most images of the lunar surface are taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which are comparatively low-resolution at this scale," said Sarah Sutton, EMILIA-3D principal investigator and photogrammetry program lead in the U of A Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. "Data returned by EMILIA-3D will feed into a sophisticated thermal model that shows how heat may transfer through the surface horizontally as well as vertically. Ours will be the first measurements of the lunar surface at this scale to support and improve 3D thermal models."
The team is specifically interested in temperature data in terms of small-scale surface structure, which can be quite craggy. Even the smallest of shadows can create a frigid environment that harbors volatiles, which are chemical compounds that vaporize at low temperatures, such as water ice on the moon. Also, because regolith doesn't conduct heat well, it warms up quickly in daylight but remains cold just beneath the surface, where volatiles may lurk.
"Understanding how human exploration affects volatiles, such as water, will be important before Artemis astronauts land at the lunar south pole," said Andy Ryan, a co-investigator and EMILIA-3D's science team lead. Ryan led the project proposal, which was supported in part by the Arizona Space Institute, when he was a U of A staff research scientist. Now, he's head of mining and payloads at AstroForge, a deep-space mining company. "Homing in on the correct physics will have important implications for where water ice could be stable and if human activity could destabilize it."
Beyond studying volatiles, heat flow through regolith can also reveal something about its physical properties, such as particle size and compaction in the near subsurface, giving insight into the geologic history of the surface.
Examining the effects of exploration
Another science objective is to observe how the thruster blast from the lander scours the surface and changes the thermal measurements from within that zone. This will shed light on the effects of exploration on the near-surface and inform the design of equipment, instruments and gear, according to the team.
The proposal required the payload be designed to achieve its science objectives from anywhere on the moon and from any lander.
The team now has 24 months to prepare the instrument for delivery to NASA. To reduce risk, the sensors will be derived from elements that have already demonstrated success on other missions, according to Sutton. For example, SVIS and TIR – EMILIA-3D's eyes – are based on Northern Arizona University's VISIONS instrument, short for VISible and Infrared ObservatioN System, which is currently on its way to Mars on NASA's ESCAPADE mission.
"VISIONS proved that NAU can design and build what we call science-grade cameras – instruments that combine off-the-shelf and custom parts engineered to survive the harsh conditions of space," said Chris Haberle of NAU, EMILIA-3D's deputy principal investigator and camera instrument scientist. "With EMILIA-3D, we're taking that same approach from a Mars mission to the surface of the Moon."
There's also support from the Technology and Research Initiative Fund – or TRIF, a state fund to drive innovation and economic development at universities – to build a thermally controlled vacuum chamber. This chamber is distinct because it will be filled with mirrors to view to the simulated lunar surface at different angles much like EMILIA-3D will. These lab measurements will aid in interpretation of actual lunar surface data. This effort is led by U of A LPL researcher Michael Phillips.
"EMILIA-3D is an exciting opportunity to perform infrared stereo imaging to study the moon's surface in a new way," said LPL associate professor Dani DellaGiustina, who is serving as a project scientist. Along with experience on other missions, she served as deputy principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx and now leads OSIRIS-APEX. "My role is to help the team connect the science goals to the practical realities of building and operating a NASA instrument, drawing on lessons learned from our Artemis LEMS seismometers, OSIRIS-REx, OSIRIS-APEX and other planetary missions. Sarah has a really strong team, and I'm excited to support her leadership and help ensure EMILIA-3D is positioned for success."
Other team members include U of A's Carina Bennett and Cameron Dickinson, Kenneth Edmundson of Edmundson Photogrammetry, NAU's Christopher Edwards and Kristen Bennett, University of Hawai'i, Manoa's Matthew Siegler, University of Central Florida's Phil Metzger, U.S. Geological Survey's Randolph Kirk, Colorado University, Boulder's Paul Hayne, and Mines Paris-PSL's Daniel Pino Muñoz and Marc Bernacki.
UA News - U of A Begins Building Moon-bound EMILIA-3D to Study Lunar Terrain
Prototype NASA Lunar Radar Instrument Makes History as the First Test Subject for U of A’s Giant Thermal Vacuum Chamber
SESAR-LITE, a radar instrument designed to search for water ice and map lunar subsurface terrain, has completed critical thermal vacuum and preliminary antenna testing at the U of A ahead of humanity's planned return to the moon.Prototype NASA Lunar Radar Instrument Makes History as the First Test Subject for U of A’s Giant Thermal Vacuum Chamber
By Laine Kowalski, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships - June 17, 2026
University of Arizona engineers and NASA radar technicians rotate the heavy chamber door, revealing the thermal vacuum chamber's dark, expansive stainless-steel interior. The lunar radar rolls slowly across the pristine clean room floor before being wheeled into the chamber's depths. The door seals behind it, and as the air pressure slowly drains from the chamber, the radar is left to endure the empty vacuum of space.
The U of A Thermal Vacuum Chamber, or TVAC, which is the largest such equipment hosted by any university worldwide, has its first test subject.
The Space Exploration Synthetic Aperture Radar – Lunar Investigations Targeted Experiment, or SESAR-LITE, is a high-resolution low frequency, or P-band, radar instrument designed to peer beneath the surface of the moon in search of layers of water ice and other underground structures that reside within the upper layers of the lunar crust.
The compact instrument was developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and by principal investigator Lynn Carter, U of A Lunar and Planetary Laboratory professor and distinguished scholar. It sends radar waves at a frequency long enough to penetrate several meters underground to reveal subsurface structures that could directly inform future mission sites and exploration. The instrument was funded for development by NASA’s Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation, or DALI, program, which develops and demonstrates instruments that show promise for use in future announcements of NASA flight opportunities.
Radar and TVAC engineers roll SESAR-LITE into the chamber. - Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
Part of SESAR-LITE’s development process involves proving that it could survive the brutal conditions of space. NASA shipped it across the country to the U of A Space Institute for testing.
Over roughly two weeks at the Applied Research Building, NASA radar and mechanical engineers Rafael Rincon and Peter Steigner worked alongside university TVAC experts. The team put SESAR-LITE through its paces in the chamber, which replicated the airless conditions of space and extreme temperature swings of lunar orbit. With more time allotted, the building’s anechoic chamber – a room engineered to absorb all external electromagnetic signals – is available for future testing to evaluate the instrument’s radar antenna system in an interference-free environment.
The instrument successfully passed TVAC testing and preliminary radar tests.
The TVAC’s inaugural test subject marks the university's entry into an exclusive testing arena, positioning the Space Institute alongside established government and commercial testing facilities. Carter, who helped to facilitate the connection between NASA and U of A testing facilities, hopes this opportunity is only the beginning.
"Being able to conduct end-to-end development and testing directly at the university is incredibly valuable, and we hope it will lead to future projects and collaborations," Carter said. "This is a chance to demonstrate that we do have extensive instrument testing capabilities here that our future clients could utilize in tandem with our scientific expertise, and at much lower cost than having to go to a commercial facility."
The TVAC is available for other users, including external companies, and stands as a central test facility within the Applied Research Building.
The chamber’s first operational tests
U of A Steward Observatory senior mechanical engineer Ruben Dominguez explains the TVAC’s external systems and controls. - Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
The building’s team of engineers refurbished and modernized the TVAC extensively over the last three years in preparation for testing. The vacuum chamber acquired from Grumman Aerospace is around 40 years old. The internal, cylindrical chamber is capable of draining out all the air and replicating temperature extremes like those found in space.
“We needed to re-design the chamber so that testing would be much more efficient,” said Mark Matusko, director of Space Institute Advanced Technology and Testing Laboratories. “Originally, this TVAC used diffusion pumps, but nowadays we use turbo pumps that are cleaner and start-up faster for the specific applications we plan on using the chamber for. We installed those and ensured everything was leak tight, from the chamber’s subsystems, pumps, cryogen input and so on. We also designed custom computer software for the chamber, so now it’s easier for us to control.”
Before thermal cycling began, TVAC engineers and NASA personnel moved SESAR-LITE through the ARB's series of progressively sterile clean rooms. It was then sealed inside the TVAC and placed under vacuum conditions, where infrared lamps heated the instrument through an initial “bake-out” phase, Matusko explained. This process drives off any residual water molecules absorbed into the instrument’s materials that would otherwise prevent the chamber from reaching the near-airless pressure levels required for testing.
According to lead TVAC testing engineer Jake Roberts, SESAR-LITE then underwent “three full thermal cycles” – moving between a high temperature of roughly 122 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of −22 degrees F to represent the extreme swings the instrument might experience passing between sunlight and shadow in lunar orbit. Between cycles, engineers held the instrument at each temperature extreme in what is called a “soak,” monitoring for any signs of expansion, contraction, component failure or electronic malfunction while under deep vacuum conditions.
The data gathered will also serve as a thermal calibration baseline that scientists could reference during lunar operations, should the instrument be selected for a future flight opportunity.
Next-generation lunar radar imaging
What specifically sets SESAR-LITE apart from previous lunar radars is how its beam shape and direction are controlled. Rather than relying on mechanical components to redirect the radar signal, SESAR-LITE manages everything through its digital domain processor.
Engineers prepare SESAR-LITE for thermal vacuum testing in an adjacent clean room. The radar's four "smart" panels carry nine circular antenna elements each – 36 in total. - Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
With more streamlined commands, the antenna elements can be immediately reprogrammed to either scan a broad section of the lunar surface or focus on a narrower target, all without physically moving any components.
SESAR-LITE operates at a central frequency of 435 MHz (70-centimeter wavelength), which is long enough to pass straight through the moon's rocky and dusty outer layer, known as lunar regolith, and penetrate around 30 feet into the subsurface. According to Carter, as the instrument orbits the moon, it is designed to continuously ping radar signals down to the surface and collect the returning signals to build detailed images of shallow lunar terrain.
SESAR-LITE's full polarimetry capability – its ability to measure precisely how the orientation of radar waves shifts upon bouncing back off the subsurface – gives it an advantage in the search for water. Water ice produces a distinct pattern of internal reflections called a polarization ratio. Detecting that signature on the moon would confirm whether substantial water ice deposits exist.
"We have seen evidence that there's probably water ice on the moon, but is it dispersed among the regolith in smaller bits or collected into more massive ice sheets below the surface?" Carter said. "This is the main scientific question we want to address."
Among areas of interest is the lunar South Pole, where permanently shadowed craters are thought to harbor deposits of water ice. Transporting water from Earth to support human missions carries an enormous logistical and financial cost, making an accessible lunar water source potentially transformative for a sustained presence on the moon.
"Even if no ice is found, the instrument would still yield significant science," Carter said. "If this were to travel to the moon, we would be able to learn about the regolith structure, look for buried channels or lava tubes that could potentially serve as underground shelters for astronauts and get an idea of what may lie directly beneath potential landing sites."
NASA recently announced a phased approach for building a permanent lunar base, ultimately targeting a continuous human foothold on the moon. The buried geology and ice deposits SESAR-LITE is designed to reveal could be useful to determine where astronauts can safely and sustainably build that base.
Carter hopes the radar might be able to hitch a ride into lunar orbit as part of a science payload on a future Artemis mission – NASA's missions to return humans to the moon.
“If we truly want to build a base, we're going to need more orbiters,” Carter said. “We engineered SESAR-LITE to be compact enough so that it’s compatible with smaller satellite missions. Maybe a commercial company will be interested in it, and we could ride along with other instruments to the moon.”
Engineers make final adjustments to SESAR-LITE inside the thermal vacuum chamber before sealing the radar in for testing. - Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
UA Research & Partnerships - Prototype NASA Lunar Radar Instrument Makes History as the First Test Subject for U of A’s Giant Thermal Vacuum Chamber
U of A Space Science Ranks No. 1 Among Public Universities in Latest US News Global Ranking
The U of A ranked No. 1 among public U.S. universities in space science and No. 20 among all public U.S. universities overall in the 2026-2027 Best Global Universities ranking.U of A Space Science Ranks No. 1 Among Public Universities in Latest US News Global Ranking
University Communications - June 16, 2026
The University of Arizona is one of the world's best public research institutions and the No. 1 public U.S. university in space science, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The U of A ranked No. 20 among public U.S. universities and No. 40 among all U.S. universities in the 2026-2027 Best Global Universities ranking, released Tuesday. The U of A rose 13 spots to No. 102 out of 2,250 higher education institutions across more than 100 countries.
The global ranking places the U of A among the top 5% of all qualified universities throughout the world.
The U of A again earned its best subject ranking in the space science category, climbing one spot to No. 3 globally, in addition to its No. 1 placement among U.S. public universities. The university earned top marks in this category for its research reputation, along with the number of citations and publications by U of A researchers.
"Rankings are more than numbers, they're a reflection of the strength of our faculty," said U of A president Suresh Garimella. "We're proud this latest ranking reflects our research strength on a global scale. We bring together experts across many disciplines, and it is through their work making new discoveries, advancing new technologies, and finding new solutions to global challenges that the U of A acts as a force for good around the world."
The U of A also ranked among the world's top universities in water resources (No. 3 in the U.S.) and geosciences (No. 13 in the U.S.).
U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities ranks colleges and universities in 51 subjects. The University of Arizona earned a spot on 33 of the subject ranking lists, with top 50 marks in the U.S. in the following categories:
- Meteorology and atmospheric sciences (No. 15)
- Ecology (No. 21)
- Plant and animal science (No. 22)
- Optics (No. 22)
- Environment ecology (No. 23)
- Pharmacology and toxicology (No. 30)
- Agricultural sciences (No. 30)
- Microbiology (No. 31)
- Arts and humanities (No. 37)
- Physics (No. 41)
- Public, environmental and occupational health (No. 41)
- Clinical medicine (No. 46) Oncology (No. 46)
- Psychiatry and psychology (No. 48)
- Cardiac and cardiovascular systems (No. 49)
- Engineering (No. 50)
The university's overall research reputation was ranked No. 46 in the U.S. and No. 97 globally.
The 12th annual Best Global Universities rankings provide insight into how research institutions compare throughout the world. To produce the global rankings, which are based on data and metrics provided by the analytics company Clarivate, U.S. News & World Report uses a methodology that focuses on a university's global and regional reputation and academic research performance using indicators such as citations and publications.
U.S. News uses a separate methodology for the subject-specific rankings that is based on academic research performance in each subject. U.S. News uses various measures, including publications and citations as well as indicators for global and regional reputation in each specific subject area.
UA News - U of A Space Science Ranks No. 1 Among Public Universities in Latest US News Global Ranking
Google Selects U of A for Quantum Research Group Focused on Life Sciences
LPL's Regents Professor Dante Lauretta leads the university's participation in an initiative announced by Google Quantum AI that will apply advanced quantum science and artificial intelligence to the life sciences to catalyze scientific discovery in these fields.Google Selects U of A for Quantum Research Group Focused on Life Sciences
By Katy Smith, Office of Research and Partnerships - May 12, 2026
Google Quantum AI announced an initiative with the University of Arizona and four other academic institutions that will apply advanced quantum science and artificial intelligence to the life sciences to catalyze scientific discovery in these fields.
In a blog post published today, Google Quantum AI founder and lead Hartmut Neven said the Research Program at the Intersection of Life Sciences & Quantum AI, or REPLIQA, is designed to advance understanding of biological processes at the molecular level – one of science’s greatest challenges.
The program is supported by a $10 million commitment from Google.org to advance research at the U of A; the University of California San Diego, the University of California, Santa Barbara; Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“We are at a rare inflection point where quantum science and artificial intelligence are converging in ways that could redefine what is knowable in the life sciences,” said Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships. “Life may have evolved to exploit quantum mechanics in ways we are only beginning to understand. REPLIQA will give us the ability to ask questions we’ve never been able to ask before and find answers that could accelerate scientific discovery in ways that benefit people and society for generations to come.”
Quantum science draws on physics describing matter and energy at very small scales, where the behavior of particles can be used to improve sensing, imaging and computation, as well as modeling and interpreting complex biological systems.
By exploring how quantum particles interact at the molecular level, the initiative aims to uncover how these fundamental forces govern biological functions. The research lays a foundation for new biological discoveries and improved human outcomes by developing hybrid sensors – which combine the extreme sensitivity of quantum particles with biological interfaces – and quantum-enhanced AI algorithms. These advancements allow scientists to observe cellular processes with unprecedented precision and simulate molecular interactions that are simply too complex for today’s standard computers.
U of A Regents Professor of Planetary Science and Cosmochemistry Dante Lauretta leads the university’s participation. Lauretta is founding director of the Arizona Astrobiology Center, part of the U of A Office of Research and Partnerships. He also serves as principal investigator for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, which seeks to better understand the origins of life through analysis of materials retrieved from the asteroid Bennu, a research effort similarly focused on uncovering fundamental processes in complex natural systems.
“By aligning the collective expertise of U of A researchers with Google Quantum AI and the other REPLIQA university participants, we are exploring the potential of quantum technology to understand the biological worlds,” Lauretta said. “This initiative gives us the rare opportunity to apply the same rigor we use in space exploration to the microscopic frontier of the cell, uncovering the vital mechanisms that sustain life.”
Additional U of A researchers include Frederic Zenhausern, professor of biomedical sciences and biomedical engineering and director of the Center for Applied NanoBioscience and Medicine; Zafer Mutlu, assistant professor of materials science and engineering; Narayanan Rengaswamy, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; Regis Ferriere, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology; and Veaceslav Coropceanu, research professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
U of A Reasearch & Partnerships - Google Selects U of A for Quantum Research Group Focused on Life Sciences
Seismometers Re-designed by U of A Will Measure Moonquakes During a Future Artemis Mission
LPL researchers developed seismometers for NASA’s Lunar Environment Monitoring Station to capture seismic activity at the moon’s South Pole and assess sites for future human exploration and infrastructure.Seismometers Re-designed by U of A Will Measure Moonquakes During a Future Artemis Mission
By Laine Kowalski, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships - April 28, 2026
As NASA prepares to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972, University of Arizona researchers are pushing beyond the seemingly undisturbed lunar surface to capture buried insights that will help lay the groundwork for future exploration.
Scientists at the U of A’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL), in partnership with seismic technology company Silicon Audio Inc. and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, have developed a compact seismometer suite designed to continuously measure seismic activity on the moon, from shallow moonquakes to the deepest ground vibrations.
NASA’s Lunar Environment Monitoring Station, or LEMS, consists of two seismometers, which will be deployed by astronauts expected to land on the moon under a future Artemis mission.
“LEMS is one small step toward building a deeper understanding of the moon, as humanity aims to leap beyond Earth’s surface once again,” said LEMS seismometer lead and co-investigator, Daniella Mendoza DellaGiustina, an LPL professor.
LEMS seismometer lead and co-investigator Daniella Mendoza DellaGiustina.
Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
LEMS lays the groundwork for future exploration
As planned, starting with Artemis IV, humans will land on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years and will serve as a stepping stone for NASA to send astronauts to Mars as part of the larger Artemis campaign.
The crew will deploy LEMS near the moon’s South Pole, which remains largely unexplored, burying the instruments under the loose, rocky material that makes up the lunar surface. LEMS will operate autonomously for at least two years, collecting continuous seismic data that will help scientists better understand the moon’s interior and how to sustain long-duration human operations on this potential moon base.
NASA recently outlined a three-phase initiative to establish the moon base, which would enable a sustained U.S. presence on the lunar surface. Assessing regional risks and safety concerns is a prerequisite for establishing a future, long-term human presence on the moon. Researchers must understand the frequency and intensity of moonquakes to determine whether a given site is suitable for infrastructure such as habitats, landing systems or long-term scientific installations. The seismometers will be sensitive enough to detect nearby surface activity, including human footsteps, offering a way to monitor interactions between astronauts and the environment.
For LEMS, a two-year operational lifetime is optimal. Continuous measurements over extended periods allow scientists to capture a wider range of seismic events and build a more complete picture of the moon’s behavior. Interest is growing within NASA to expand beyond a single seismic station towards creating a broader network of seismometers, which would improve the ability to locate and characterize seismic events around the entire moon.
Beyond immediate mission planning, the data collected by LEMS will contribute to broader efforts to learn more about lunar evolution. By refining models of the moon’s internal structures, scientists can better understand how rocky bodies form and change over time. Specifically, LEMS may enable scientists to refine models of the moon’s formation, which has long been debated within the astronomy community.
Seismic science on the moon
DellaGiustina, along with former program manager Hop Bailey and tech company Silicon Audio, developed an initial project idea in 2016 to create seismometers equipped for spaceflight. At the time, no such instrument existed domestically.
Now, their work is part of the broader LEMS collaboration led by Mehdi Benna at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with NASA Goddard building and operating the fully integrated instrument suite. U of A assistant research professor Angela Marusiak serves as a LEMS co-investigator alongside DellaGiustina and Bailey, and Arizona associate research professor Veronica Bray supports science operations.
Over the last three years, DellaGiustina’s planetary instrument laboratory has optimized and re-designed the seismometers to withstand both the forces of spaceflight and the harsh lunar environment.
U of A LEMS seismometer lead systems engineer Dathon Golish examines one of the LEMS seismometers during the instrument’s testing phase.
Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
When the ground shifts on Earth during an earthquake, sensors measure that motion to record the planet’s activity and support early warning systems. Translating that concept for the moon requires rethinking many aspects of how a seismometer is built to effectively detect what’s called a moonquake.
“The configuration of two sets of identical sensors gives you something really interesting because you're able to reduce noise, which improves data quality by comparing signals from both seismometers,” said Dathon Golish, the U of A LEMS seismometer lead systems engineer focused on testing and development.
Each sensor consists of a weighted mass suspended on a spring. When seismic waves pass through the ground, the mass shifts. The amount of shifting is related to the acceleration of ground motion. Each seismometer will use three sensors oriented in different directions so that motion can be measured along three perpendicular axes, enabling researchers to reconstruct how seismic waves propagate through the lunar surface.
“These sensors are capable of detecting very small vibrations, even as small as someone setting a coffee cup down on a table,” DellaGiustina said. “They're extraordinarily sensitive.”
The seismometers are designed to capture signals from a range of sources, including deep tidal forces caused by Earth’s gravitational pull on the moon, shallow moonquakes generated as the moon continues to cool and contract overtime and even impacts from micrometeorites striking the surface.
Unlike Earth, the moon does not have plate tectonics, but it is still seismically active. As seismic waves travel through different materials, they change speed and behavior. Scientists can then use information about these waves to infer properties of the lunar crust and its deeper interior layers.
What makes LEMS unique is where it will be deployed. The 1960s Apollo-era instruments, including seismometers, were placed on the near side of the moon. LEMS, however, will operate at the lunar South Pole to determine how seismic hazards and activity there might compare to other regions.
Transforming a terrestrial seismometer into a spaceflight-ready instrument required extensive redesign and precision in partnership with Silicon Audio. These sensors must withstand the intense vibrations and accelerations of launch and survive temperature shifts of 200 degrees Fahrenheit on the lunar surface, where it can get as cold as –256º F in the southern region.
“We had to be very careful about how we selected our materials because when something gets hot, various components within the instrument will expand, and when it gets cold, they’ll contract,” DellaGiustina said. “We have to ensure these components are not expanding and contracting at such different rates that something ends up moving inside the sensor, which could throw off the alignment.”
Even glues used in the instruments had to be evaluated to ensure they would still adhere in the cold. Testing and refinement took two years, including the development of prototype models to resolve issues before the final flight versions were built.
Arizona’s legacy on the lunar surface
For the U of A, LEMS represents both a forward-facing effort towards humanity’s future on the moon and a continuation of the university’s longstanding lunar legacy.
“Engineers like Dathon continue to work on spaceflight program after program and have learned from people before him who passed down that knowledge,” DellaGiustina said. “Even though things change with time, maintaining that continuity of expertise is key to sustaining our legacy that really was born out of the Apollo era.”
Researchers at LPL played a critical role in the 1960 Ranger and Apollo missions, producing lunar surface maps that helped guide astronauts to safe landing sites and contributing instruments, including lunar magnetometers designed by Charles Sonett. That history established the laboratory as an integral player in planetary instrumentation, a role it continues to maintain through decades of mission involvement. Now, the development of LEMS brings Arizona back to the lunar surface, alongside technological advances and a renewed national focus on returning to the moon.
Both seismometers will undergo performance testing at Sandia National Laboratories before being transported to NASA Goddard.
“It's incredible to know that something that we’ve helped build is going to be deployed on the moon,” Golish said. “I'll be able to look up and see where it is every single day, and I think that's pretty special.”
LEMS seismometer and mission patch displayed together
Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Office of Research and Partnerships
Research & Partnership - Seismometers Re-designed by U of A Will Measure Moonquakes During a Future Artemis Mission
Drone Radar Reveals Buried Glaciers on Earth, Guiding the Search for Water on Mars
LPL Researchers launched drones equipped with ground-penetrating radar over debris-covered glaciers in Alaska and Wyoming that resemble buried ice deposits found on Mars.Drone Radar Reveals Buried Glaciers on Earth, Guiding the Search for Water on Mars
By Kylianne Chadwick, University Communications - April 28, 2026
Understanding how to explore hidden glaciers on Mars begins not in a laboratory, but in remote field camps across Alaska and Wyoming.
Armed with mosquito repellent, bear spray and drone batteries charged by a generator the night before, a team of researchers at the University of Arizona spent long days driving off-road, hiking rugged terrain and launching drones.
In a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the team demonstrated that ground-penetrating radar mounted on drones can map the thickness of rocky debris covering glaciers on Earth. These results could help future astronauts locate accessible water locked in buried ice on the Red Planet.
Obscured by rocky debris, the Sourdough Rock Glacier flows down from the Wrangell Mountains in Alaska. - Eric Petersen
"If you want to make decisions about where to drill on Mars, you need to know if the ice you're trying to find is under one meter of debris or 10," said Roberto Aguilar, a doctoral researcher at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and first author of the paper. "That's the kind of information a drone-based system could provide."
Most people picture glaciers as massive blocks of exposed ice, dusted with bright white, powdery snow. Debris-covered glaciers, however, appear very different, with their icy core hidden by thick layers of rock and sediment. These glaciers are found in mountainous regions on Earth, including warmer areas such as Colorado and California, where debris helps insulate and keep the ice underneath from melting.
On Mars, debris-covered glaciers are found in mid-latitude regions, halfway between the equator and the polar caps. According to Aguilar, some Martian ice deposits occur in craters that have been filled with ice and later covered by dust. Others form in large valleys where ice accumulated and was subsequently buried by debris. In mountainous regions, rockfall can also act as a protective layer, shielding the underlying ice from escaping into the atmosphere.
"Some of these deposits are large enough that radars on orbiting spacecraft can detect and estimate the amount of ice, but current technology cannot determine fine details, such as how thick the overlying debris layer is, or if there are internal, rocky layers hidden from view," Aguilar said.
This stereo image taken by the UofA-led HiRISE camera aboard the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a viscous flow feature in Deuteronilus Mensae, a region on Mars believed to contain large amounts of ice. - HiRISE/CTX
The researchers believe drone radar could solve the problem by scouting out glacier ice and mapping rocky debris on top of it. Instead of drilling blindly through layers of rock and dust, mission planners could target sites where ice lies closest to the surface.
According to Aguilar, buried ice could be one of Mars' most valuable resources. Water ice on Mars could preserve a record of past environmental conditions, support future astronauts through drinking water supplies, oxygen production and agriculture, and help guide drilling for astrobiology research.
To get there, however, the team first needed to test the approach on Earth.
"We already knew ground-penetrating radar works, but this was the first time we mounted it to drones and tested how we could put it into practice," said Aguilar. "For instance, we learned at what altitude and speed the drone should fly, as well as the importance of flying in the direction of the glacier's flow, and how to make sure the radar was properly aligned to detect the ice."
The team focused on sites in Alaska and Wyoming, where years of research had already provided clues about glacier thickness and composition.
"These debris-covered glaciers on Earth are some of the best analogs we have for similar glaciers that spacecraft have photographed on Mars," Aguilar said. "While this ground-penetrating radar doesn't work in every terrain, we found the technology could be applied to planetary exploration, including identifying potential drilling sites on Mars."
The team compared measurements obtained with radar to those from excavating and drilling into the glaciers. The measurements of debris thickness matched, validating their method as reliable and effective.
A research drone equipped with ground-penetrating radar takes off for a reconnaissance flight on Galena Creek Rock Glacier, Wyoming. - Michael Daniel
Because drones can fly much closer to the surface than orbiting spacecraft, they can image the ground at much higher resolution. This allowed the researchers to not only estimate debris thickness but also assess the purity of the ice and spot any rocky layers hidden inside.
"The internal layers we're seeing are important because they're a record of past climate cycles," Aguilar said. "Each layer represents a different period of ice accumulation and environmental conditions over centuries or millennia, and it is likely we would see similar layers on Mars."
The team also used simulations to make sure that the radar wasn't being fooled by nearby trees or boulders. They were able to confirm that the signals were coming from below the rubble.
"We are filling the gap between today's orbital observations and a more distant future, where astronauts land on Mars and make observations on the ground," said Aguilar. "This gives us a way to investigate the glaciers now, from the air."
Testing that future technology was rarely glamorous. In Alaska, it meant carrying gear through mosquito swarms and rough terrain. In Wyoming, the field season often meant hauling equipment deeper into the mountains. Some days, the team hiked across boulder fields to reach specific targets higher on the glacier.
"It's not fun walking on those rocks," Aguilar said. "That's why it's better to fly a drone."
UA News - Drone Radar Reveals Buried Glaciers on Earth, Guiding the Search for Water on Mars
Bear Down 100: Tagging an Asteroid
When it came time to actually land on asteroid Bennu and collect a sample, it took the scientific know-how and meticulous dedication found in University of Arizona LPL researchers to make that mission a reality.Bear Down 100: Tagging an Asteroid
By Logan Burtch-Buus, University Communications - March 6, 2026
As part of the 100th anniversary of our motto, "Bear Down," the University of Arizona is looking back at several of the most remarkable moments and accomplishments in the university’s illustrious history, with an eye toward the "Bear Down" moments of the future.
Made from the leftover material of a solar system that took shape more than 4.5 billion years ago, asteroid Bennu holds clues to some of the biggest questions still hidden in the mysteries of our vast cosmos. When it came time to actually land on that asteroid and collect a sample, it took the scientific know-how and meticulous dedication found in University of Arizona researchers to make that mission a reality.
Dreamed up by the late Michael Drake and principal investigator Dante Lauretta, and led by the U of A's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, the OSIRIS-REx mission launched on Sept. 8, 2016. The team guided its arrival at Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018, and sample collection took place on Oct. 20, 2020. The capsule returned to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, where Lauretta and his team eagerly awaited its arrival in Utah.
Life's building blocks
Scientists around the world immediately began analyzing the Bennu sample – an estimated 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams, of surface material – and discovered that the asteroid likely originated from a salty world containing the chemical precursors necessary for life to evolve.
Ranging from calcite to halite and sylvite, scientists identified 11 minerals that comprise a complete set of "evaporites" from a brine, or salt-saturated water. These evaporites form as water containing dissolved salts evaporates over long periods of time, leaving behind the salts as solid crystals. Finding evaporites indicates that the interior of Bennu's ancestor was warm enough to support liquid water for a substantial amount of time.
From OREX to APEX
After making history as the first U.S. mission to return part of an asteroid to Earth, the OSIRIS-REx mission transitioned to OSIRIS-APEX. The spacecraft is now scheduled to rendezvous with another asteroid, Apophis, and study it for 18 months after its close approach to Earth on April 13, 2029. The new mission is led by Dani Mendoza DellaGiustina, assistant professor of planetary science.
The mission to Bennu provided scientists with an unprecedented sample of a carbon-rich asteroid, while the flight to Apophis offers something else entirely: high-resolution data of a stony asteroid after it passes near the Earth. The spacecraft will study how the surface of Apophis could change by interacting with Earth's gravity, leading to a better understanding of other potentially hazardous celestial bodies.
On a recent flyby, OSIRIS-APEX swung by Earth within 2,136 miles before heading into deep space for another trip around the sun. A so-called Earth gravity assist, the first of three such maneuvers planned for the remainder of the mission, is essential to ensure the spacecraft will rendezvous with Apophis in 2029. During its approach and as it passed Earth, the spacecraft looked home using its suite of three cameras to capture images and data of our planet to help calibrate its instruments.
Unfortunately, the craft does not have hands in the traditional sense and could not flash the Wildcat hand symbol and say, "Bear Down" in its selfie, but we all know that was the intended message.
Explore more Bear Down 100 moments at Arizona.edu/BearDown.
Asteroid Bennu's Rugged Surface Baffled NASA. We Finally Know Why
In one of the biggest surprises of the OSIRIS-REx mission, its target asteroid, Bennu, turned out to be a jagged, rugged world covered in large boulders.Asteroid Bennu's Rugged Surface Baffled NASA. We Finally Know Why
By Daniel Stolte, University Communications - March 17, 2026
In one of the biggest surprises of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, its target asteroid, Bennu, turned out to be a jagged, rugged world covered in large boulders, with few of the smooth patches that earlier observations from Earth-based instruments had indicated.
"When OSIRIS-REx got to Bennu in 2018, we were surprised by what we saw," said Andrew Ryan, a scientist with the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, who led the mission's sample physical and thermal analysis working group. "We expected some boulders, but we anticipated at least some large regions with smoother, finer regolith that would be easy to collect. Instead, it looked like it was all boulders, and we were scratching our heads for a while."
Close-up of a sample particle from asteroid Bennu.
NASA/Scott Eckley
Particularly puzzling were observations made in 2007 by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which measured low thermal inertia, indicative of an asteroid whose surface heats up and cools down rapidly as it rotates into and out of sunlight, like a sandy beach on Earth. This was at odds with the many large boulders that OSIRIS-REx found upon arrival, which should act more like blocks of concrete, shedding heat long after the Sun has set.
Data collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during its survey campaign at the asteroid suggested a possible explanation: the boulders could be much more porous than expected. Once the samples were delivered to Earth, researchers were able to investigate this further.
Ryan's team scrutinized rock particles collected from Bennu's surface using a variety of laboratory analysis techniques. In a study published in Nature Communications, the authors reported that the boulders are indeed porous enough to account for some of the observed heat loss, but not all of it. Rather, many of the rocks turned out to be riddled with extensive networks of cracks.
To test whether the cracks could be the reason for the asteroid’s surface losing heat, a team at Nagoya University in Japan analyzed Bennu sample material using lock-in thermography. This laser-based technique allows researchers to hit a tiny spot on the surface of the sample and measure how the heat diffuses through it, similar to how ripples move across a pond.
The same particle analyzed with X-ray computed tomography scanning. This specimen shows the most common types of crack networks observed in Bennu samples. One has an extensive and connect framework of curved cracks, whereas the other has sparse, straight and flat fractures.
NASA/Scott Eckley
"That's when things became really interesting," Ryan said. "The thermal inertia measured in the lab samples turned out to be much higher than what the spacecraft's instruments had recorded, echoing similar findings obtained by the team of OSIRIS-REx's partner mission, JAXA's (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa-2."
To make meaningful predictions about how the material would behave in the large boulders on the asteroid, the team had to find a way to scale up the measurements obtained with the small sample particles.
Using a glove box, team members at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston sealed sample particles in air-tight containers under a protective nitrogen atmosphere, then transferred them to a lab where they could perform X-ray computed tomography, or XCT scans. Once a particle was scanned, it went back into the glove box.
"The sample goes into its own 'spacesuit,' gets a CT scan, and then comes back to its pristine environment, all without having any exposure to the terrestrial environment," said Nicole Lunning, lead OSIRIS-REx sample curator within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science division at NASA Johnson and one of the study's co-authors. "We can image right through these airtight containers to visualize the shape and internal structure of the rock that's inside."
"X-ray computed tomography allows us to look at the inside of an object in three dimensions, without damaging it," said study co-author and NASA Johnson X-ray scientist Scott Eckley.
Andrew Ryan is a scientist with the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
Once mapped in this way, a permanent three-dimensional digital archive of a sample particle's shape and interior is created, and the data are entered into a public database. Ryan's team used the X-ray CT scan data for computer simulations modeling heat flow and thermal inertia. When scaled up to boulder size, the thermal inertia results fell into agreement with what the spacecraft had measured at the asteroid.
Where scientists once expected the boulders of Bennu to be extremely porous and fluffy, perhaps even spongy, the sample analysis revealed something unexpected.
"It turns out that they're really cracked too, and that was the missing piece of the puzzle," Ryan said.
Ron Ballouz, a scientist with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, and the paper's second author, said this work transforms how scientists interpret the structure of an asteroid based on its thermal properties seen from Earth.
"We can finally ground our understanding of telescope observations of the thermal properties of an asteroid through analyzing these samples from that very same asteroid," Ballouz said.
UA News - Asteroid Bennu's Rugged Surface Baffled NASA. We Finally Know Why