Labs That Go Boom
Home base for some of tomorrow's great rocket scientists

The Propulsion Research Center Ready to Take Off John B. Carnett

This month, as part of our special on the future of education, PopSci presents 10 labs where students do serious research (and career training) by blowing stuff up.

Lab: Propulsion Research Center at the University of Alabama at Huntsville
Career: Rocket scientist, aircraft designer, missile systems engineer

Strategically located a few miles from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the Propulsion Research Center has been a proving ground for some of the world’s top rocket scientists since its inception in 1991. In addition to making rockets that launch payloads into orbit, says interim director Robert Frederick, students will soon begin work on new nuclear propulsion systems that could reach Mars in weeks instead of months.

2 Comments

The thing is that we are a market economy at all levels of this nation. Pure supply and demand, as it applies to how many get funding. The experienced performers in the trades are all people who will never do anything but this, and just like our population index says, our talent is growing older and staying at work to an increased age. Some of these prospectives better double down on their education for flexibility. When aerospace industries are ready to seriously start going for orbit, funding will naturally appear.

Ha! I am at UAH reading a Popular Science article about UAH!


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February 2013: How To Build A Hero

Engineers are racing to build robots that can take the place of rescuers. That story, plus a city that storms can't break and how having fun could lead to breakthrough science.

Also! A leech detective, the solution to America's train-crash problems, the world's fastest baby carriage, and more.



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