NASA Awards $12 Million to 12 U.S. Universities for Moon, Mars and Deep-Space Research

NASA has selected 12 U.S. institutions to receive a total of $12 million for academic research and technology development supporting lunar, Mars and deep-space exploration.

Through the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Space Technology Artemis Research (M-STAR) initiative, each institution will receive up to $1 million. The funding will help universities strengthen science and engineering capabilities, expand faculty and student participation in aerospace research, and compete for future federal and commercial research awards.

NASA M-STAR Awards Support Artemis Technology Development

“We are excited to launch this new group of M-STAR investigators,” said Alicia Batuloni-Cortes, MUREP program manager in NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement. “NASA’s investments in our nation’s research institutions will create real opportunities for students and faculty to build skills, knowledge and infrastructure, while helping NASA close the technology gap for long-term operations on the Moon and, ultimately, Mars.”

As NASA enters a golden age of innovation and exploration, the M-STAR initiative supports the development of technologies for space transportation, human exploration, robotic discovery and the growing space economy.

12 Universities Selected for NASA Research Funding

The M-STAR award recipients and their projects are:

• California State University Sacramento
  Adaptive visual, linguistic and behavioral models for resilient multirobot collaboration in unstructured planetary environments
• University of Central Florida Orlando
  M-FAST: Multi-Fidelity Aerothermal Simulation and Testing for Artemis
• University of Hawaii at Manoa
  HI-STRIDE: Hawaiian students train in radiation measurement, detection and exploration
• University of Houston
  RODEO: Ground-deployable equipment mounted on a spacecraft for exploration activities
• University of Texas San Antonio
  Characterization of physical and mechanical properties of regolith in cryogenic conditions using the Multiplanetary Surface Simulator (MPS2)
• Kean University, Union, New Jersey
  Integrate AI model terrain understanding with robust controls for autonomous route planning
• Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond
  Radiation-resistant, hydrogen-compatible BNNT-reinforced multifunctional composite for nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) secondary hardware
• Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina
  Project ARES (Advanced Regenerative Environmental Systems): Materials-by-design research and workforce development platform for environmental control and surface infrastructure
• Howard University, Washington
  LumSHRS: Lunar Monolithic Spatial Heterodyne Raman Spectrometer for Mini Rover In-Situ and Standoff Remote Sensing
• Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas
  Functionally graded interfaces for directed energy deposition remediation of copper-to-superalloy propulsion hardware: Prairie View A&M University’s integrated AI/ML design-to-validation research capabilities
• University of New Mexico Albuquerque
  POWER-Artemis: Extreme environment batteries and fuel cells for sustainable operations on the Moon and Mars
• Fayetteville State University, North Carolina
  From Documents to Models: Method-Based Generative AI (Doc2Model) to Bootstrap Model-Based Systems Engineering on NASA’s Artemis Enterprise

Building NASA’s Future Space Technology Workforce

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement fosters an ecosystem across education, industry and government to develop a well-prepared talent pool. NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate develops innovative space technologies that will enable future missions and help ensure U.S. leadership in aerospace.

Together, these efforts align advanced technology research with the skilled workforce needed to accelerate mission readiness for Artemis, Mars exploration and future deep-space missions.