Ground tier team members assemble, maintain, and automate a ground-based sensor cluster. Through this hands-on process, they master data integration and synthesis techniques. This includes observing and analayzing "natural radio emissions of Jupiter, the Sun, and our galaxy using their own easy to construct radio telescopes" through NASA's RadioJOVE project and other equipment. 

Learn More in the Radio JOVE Newsletter... 

Initiated in 2023, SFU's high-altitude ballooning program has supported "the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP), [where] students gain real-world STEM experience and contribute valuable scientific and engineering data through their projects, which...[are] carried by weather balloons into the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere."  The team recently participated in the NASA-sponsored High Altitude Student Project.

Read about the NEBP project on SFU's blog.

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The SFU CubeSat team is working to construct a small satellite, SoFIE, that will be launched into orbit around Earth. Students manage the integration, environmental testing, and flight operations. The project will study the effects of solar flare (confined and eruptive) interaction with the Earth's ionosphere. Learn More...

Image Credit: Reid Wiseman/NASA

The institute works to disseminate information about our research as well as the broader astronomy field to the public through various outreach initiatives, such as a NASA-funded mobile exhibit aimed at inspiring children’s natural curiosity about the world around them, excite the Artemis generation about space exploration, and engage them in creative thinking and problem-solving. 

Earth to Moon Exhibit (developed 2023)
James Webb Telescope Community Engagement Site (2021)
Hubble Space Telescope 30th Anniversary Celebration Site (2020)