UCF Physics Professor Humberto Campins is part of the team studying Bennu, which may contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and the Earth’s oceans. BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA | MARCH 19, 2019 Sometimes the unexpected is more exciting than finding exactly what you thought you’d find, and this is indeed the case for the Read More …
Scientists from around the world will converge at UCF’s Florida Space Institute this week to discuss Centaurs, a type of poorly understood objects found between Jupiter and Neptune. Centaurs are made of rock and ice and can be as large as 125 miles across. These objects are believed to be similar to distant Kuiper Belt Read More …
Chair of UCF’s physics department part of discussion about how to best harness the power of the observatory for future space-related research. BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The Arecibo Observatory and its researchers hosted scientists from around the world this week to discuss the future of research at the Puerto Rican facility under UCF management. Planetary Read More …
Pluto was demoted from a planet in 2006 according to the definition of a planet set by the International Astronomical Union, after discussion and voting from astronomers and planetary scientists from all over the world. However, the controversy of this move is far from over. FSI’s Philip Metzger is challenging the reclassification, with a literature Read More …
With the Florida Space Institute (FSI) Senior Design Program, UCF students have an opportunity to participate in interdisciplinary teams to tackle real problems in space research. The program kicked off early in 2018 with three goals: Match NASA Kennedy Space Center project opportunities with UCF Senior Design Faculty and Student Teams Create unique, NASA-mentored, Read More …
Dr. Julie Brisset, an Associate Scientist at the Florida Space Institute, was recently awarded a NASA grant to study man-made dust clouds in microgravity. The Dust In-Situ Manipulation System (DIMS) is a platform that can conduct controlled experiments on dust grains; ultimately providing insight on how dust grain material properties, sizes, and shapes affect how Read More …
FSI workers at Arecibo Observatory for a workshop
Click here to read the article in the Orlando Sentinel.
Click here to watch FSI Associate Scientist Phil Metzger’s interview at Channel 6 News Orlando
Data collected from the William E. Gordon Telescope at the Arecibo Observatory helped researchers confirm the strong equivalence principle of general relativity for heavy objects. An essential concept in Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, the equivalence principle, proposed that all objects accelerate identically in an external gravitational field. Prior to the results by Archibald, et al. published in Nature, Read More …