University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a public research university whose current aerospace- and space-relevant offerings include an ABET-accredited Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, research M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, on-campus and online applied aerospace engineering master's and certificate options, an online hypersonics certificate, and astronomy and planetary-science programmes. UMD astronomer Michael A'Hearn was principal investigator for NASA's Deep Impact and EPOXI missions and led their science teams. Its Center for Advanced Space Science and Technology Research (ASTRA-UMD) connects campus researchers with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA Goddard. Seed-funded collaborations investigate event-driven energetic-particle sensors, compact spacecraft power modules, radiance-field models of spacecraft, and microfluidic sensors for assessing water activity in planetary brines. These are research and prototype-development efforts rather than operational flight instruments.