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!



July 2013: The Future Of Flight

The incredible innovations, like drone swarms and perpetual flight, bringing aviation into the world of tomorrow. Plus: today's greatest sci-fi writers predict the future, the science behind the summer's biggest blockbusters, a Doctor Who-themed DIY 'bot, the organs you can do without, and much more.


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