Self-Assembling Liquid Mirror Telescope

Project Sponsor : DARPA DSO, Honeywell Aerospace Prime Start Date : 10/01/2023 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Álvaro Romero-Calvo Project Status : Active Our Low-Gravity Science and Technology Lab is working with Honeywell Aerospace and Soter Technology to design a self-assembling liquid mirror telescope with off-axis tilting and slewing capabilities. The effort, supported by the DARPA Zenith Program, explores […]

Orbital Calibration 2 (OrCa-2)

Project Sponsor : AFRL Start Date : 08/01/2022 Faculty Investigator : Professor Brian Gunter Project Status : To be delivered Summer 2024 OrCa-2 is a continued effort to improve Space Domain Awareness (SDA) in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory. By fully characterizing the reflectance properties on Earth, OrCa-2 can aid the calibration of […]

Vacuum Chamber for Testing Thermal Properties of Lunar Regolith for ISRU Applications 

Project Sponsor : NASA/SSERVI Center for Lunar Environment and Volatile Exploration Research (CLEVER) Start Date : 9/2022 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Masatoshi “Toshi” Hirabayashi Project Status : Ongoing The main task is to set up a vacuum chamber that can simulate the pressure and temperature conditions of the moon. We aim to achieve pressure of […]

ExoSalt: Biosignature Preservation in Sulfate-Dominated Hypersaline Environments

Project Sponsor : Supported by NASA Exobiology awards 80NSSC18K1088 and 80NSSC20K0849 (Pontefract). Start Date : 01/2021 Faculty Investigator : Alexandra Pontefract (Georgetown/APL); Prof. Christopher E. Carr (Co-I) Project Status : Awaiting transfer of award Team: Alexandra Pontefract (PI), Magdalena Osburn (Co-I), Chris Carr (Co-I), Mitchell Barklage (Collaborator), Jacob Buffo (Collaborator), Shuhei Ono (Collaborator), Virginia Walker […]

NERPE: Non-Enzymatic RNA Primer Extension

Project Sponsor : Supported by H.H.M.I. awards to Szostak. Start Date : Mid 2018 Faculty Investigator : Prof. Jack Szostak/Dr. Daniel Duzdevich (U. Chicago); Christopher E. Carr (Georgia Tech, Collaborator) Project Status : Active Collaborators: This is a collaborative project led by the Szostak lab at University of Chicago All known life is related to […]

DSRG: Deep Space Radiation Genomics

Project Sponsor : NASA award # 80NSSC19K0708 to Luis Zea/CU Boulder. Start Date : 05/2019 Faculty Investigator : Luis Zea (PI), University of Colorado, Boulder, and Corey Nislow (UBC, Co-PI); Prof. Christopher E. Carr (Collaborator) Project Status : Waiting for Artemis I launch! Launch Provider: NASA Collaborators: See CU Boulder DSRG website for extended team […]

OAST: Oceans Across Space and Time

Project Sponsor : Supported by awards 80NSSC18K1301 and 80NSSC22K1409 (PI: Britney Schmidt). Start Date : 09/2018 Faculty Investigator : Prof. Britney Schmidt (Cornell); Prof. Christopher E. Carr (Co-I) Project Status : Active Collaborators: OAST has an extended multi-institute team. Oceans Across Space and Time (OAST) project is part of the Network for Life Detection (NfoLD), […]

InSitu: Investigating the Rate of Potential Biological in Situ Gas Production of CO and CH4 in Arctic Ice

Project Sponsor : Supported by NSF Collaborative award 2139293 to Chellman (DRI, lead institution) and Carr (Georgia Tech). Start Date : 03/2022 Faculty Investigator : Nathan J. Chellman (DRI, PI); Prof. Christopher E. Carr (Co-PI, Georgia Tech) Project Status : Planning for fieldwork Collaborators: Joe McConnell (DRI), Edward J. Brook (Oregon State), Rachel A. Moore […]

ExoMethane: Genome-informed Habitability, Biosignature Potential, and Limit of Methane Production in Planetary Environments

Project Sponsor : NASA Exobiology award # 80NSSC22K0974 to C.E.C. (PI) and R.A.M. (Science PI). Start Date : 07/2022 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr (PI), Dr. Rachel A. Moore (Science PI) Project Status : Active Collaborators: Douglas Bartlett (Co-I, UCSD), Miguel Desmarais (Graduate Student, UCSD), and Jeff Bowman (Collaborator, UCSD) Background: Subsurface environments […]

ExoArid: Microbial Functional and Evolutionary Adaptations to AridityExoArid:

Project Sponsor : Supported by NASA Exobiology awards 80NSSC19K0469 (MIT) and 80NSSC22K0189 (Georgia Tech) to C.E.C. Start Date : 01/2022 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr Collaborators: Co-Is: Dr. Rachel A. Moore (Georgia Tech), Alexandra Pontefract (APL), Ralf Moeller (DLR), Jens Boy (Hannover University), Armando Azua-Bustos (Center of Astrobiology, CSIC). Collaborators: Diana Boy (Hannover […]