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NASA Awards Enable Research, Technology to Build Future Workforce

An illustration of a suited Artemis astronaut looking out of a Moon lander hatch across the lunar surface, a Lunar Terrain Vehicle and other surface elements.

Credits: NASA

NASA has selected 12 U.S. institutions to receive $12 million to accelerate academic research and technology development in support of the agency’s priorities for exploring the Moon, Mars, and deep space.

Through NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Space Technology Artemis Research (M‑STAR) initiative, selected institutions will each receive up to $1 million to grow their scientific and engineering capabilities, enhance faculty and student engagement in aerospace research, and expand their ability to compete for future federal and commercial research awards.

“We are excited to launch this new cohort of M-STAR investigators,” said Alicia Baturoni Cortez, MUREP program manager in the agency’s Office of STEM Engagement. “NASA investments in our Nation’s research institutions create real opportunities for students and faculty to build skills, knowledge, and infrastructure, while helping NASA close technology gaps for long-duration operations on the Moon and eventually, Mars.”

As NASA enters a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, the M-STAR initiative supports the agency’s mission to develop innovative technologies that improve space transportation, human exploration, robotic discovery, and the growing space economy.

The awardees and their projects are as follows:

California State University, Sacramento Adaptive Vision-Language-Action Models for Resilient Multi-Robot Collaboration in Unstructured Planetary Environments

University of Central Florida, Orlando M-FAST: Multi-Fidelity Aerothermal Simulation & Testing for Artemis

University of Hawaii at Manoa HI-STRIDE: Hawai’i Student Training in Radiation Instrumentation, Detection, and Exploration

University of Houston RODEO: Rover-carried On-surface Deployables for Exploration Operations

University of Texas, San Antonio Characterizing Physical and Mechanical Properties of Regolith at Cryogenic Conditions Using the Multi-Planetary Surface Simulator (MPS2)

Kean University, Union, New Jersey Integrating Terrain Understanding of AI Models With Robust Control for Autonomous Path Planning

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond BNNT-Reinforced Multifunctional Composites for Radiation-Tolerant, Hydrogen-Compatible Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Secondary Hardware

Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina Project ARES (Advanced Regenerative Environmental Systems): A 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 Minirover In-Situ and Standoff Remote Sensing

Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas Functionally Graded Interfaces for Directed-Energy-Deposition Repair of Copper-to-Superalloy Propulsion Hardware: An Integrated AI/ML Design-to-Validation Research Capability at Prairie View A&M University

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque POWER-Artemis: Extreme-Environment Batteries and Fuel Cells for Sustained Moon and Mars Operations

Fayetteville State University, North Carolina From Documents to Models: Method-Compliant Generative AI for Bootstrapping Model-Based Systems Engineering in NASA’s Artemis Enterprise (Doc2Model)

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement fosters an ecosystem across education, industry, and government to cultivate a well‑prepared talent pool, while the agency’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate develops the transformative space technologies that enable future NASA missions and ensure U.S. leadership in aerospace. Together, they accelerate mission readiness by aligning cutting edge technological innovation with the workforce needed to carry it forward.

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