Image OSIRIS-REx Team Completes Final Test Before Asteroid Sample Delivery Sept. 1, 2023 The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will deliver a sample from asteroid Bennu to scientists waiting in the Utah desert on Sept. 24. Read more
Image Asteroid Sample Delivery to Launch Decades of Science Aug. 28, 2023 A University of Arizona-led NASA mission nearly 20 years in the making is finally reaching its end, but the scientific investigation is only beginning. Read more
Image Two LPL Researchers Will Get First Crack at Asteroid Samples July 29, 2023 When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivers its precious asteroid samples to Earth on Sept. 24, Pierre Haenecour and Tom Zega will be among the first to examine the scientific treasure trove. Read more
Image Pass the Salt: This Space Rock Holds Clues as to How Earth Got Its Water June 13, 2023 The discovery of tiny salt grains in an asteroid sample brought to Earth by the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft provides strong evidence that liquid water may be more common in the solar system's largest asteroid population than previously thought. Read more
Image 2023 Hitachi Electron Microscopy Scholarship May 22, 2023 The Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility awards the Hitachi Scholarship in Electron Microscopy annually to two graduate students generating cutting-edge research and publications in the area of electron microscopy. The scholarship was established by Hitachi High-Technologies as part of their partnership with the University of Arizona. Read more
Image Solar System 'Detectives' Search for Clues in 'Crumbs' Left Over from Early Solar System Jan. 25, 2023 NASA awarded nearly $3 million to the University of Arizona Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility to support OSIRIS-REx sample science and much more. Read more
Image Maizey Benner Awarded Best Student Paper Aug. 15, 2022 Maizey Benner’s contributed research to the 2022 Microscopy and Microanalysis Meeting was named Best Student Paper. Read more
Image Dying stars could seed interstellar medium with carbon nanotubes June 16, 2022 Evidence suggests that carbon nanotubes, tiny tubes consisting of pure carbon, could be forged in the envelopes of dust and gas surrounding dying stars. The findings propose a simple, yet elegant mechanism for the formation and survival of complex carbon molecules in space. Read more
Image Hitachi Electron Microscopy Scholarship April 11, 2022 Congratulations to Zoë Wilbur and Yi Zhang, recipients of the Hitachi Electron Microscopy Scholarship for 2022/2023! Read more
Image Researchers Trace Dust Grain's Journey Through Newborn Solar System June 21, 2021 Combining atomic-scale sample analysis and models simulating likely conditions in the nascent solar system, a new study reveals clues about the origin of crystals that formed more than 4.5 billion years ago. Read more