Senator Sinema Holds Space and Defense Roundtable on Campus
United States Senator Kyrsten Sinema visited campus last week to tour University of Arizona’s hypersonics facilities and to discuss space and defense issues with UA experts and industry partners in Southern Arizona. President Robbins and Engineering Dean David Hahn thanked Sinema for her continued support for UA, including hypersonic research and support for the NEO Surveyor mission.
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering professors Jesse Little and Alex Craig led Sinema through a tour of UA’s Arizona Supersonic Wind Tunnel, which thanks to state and federal investment, is being upgraded to the Arizona Polysonic Wind Tunnel and able to reach Mach 5. The professors noted to Sinema the unique capabilities for testing, research, and education the UA now possesses in this important field. These upgrades to the wind tunnel facilities are important to U.S. defense capabilities and is strongly supported by our partner Raytheon Missile & Defense.
UA Professor and Director of Space Situational Awareness Roberto Furfaro and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Professor Vishnu Reddy joined Craig and Little at the industry Roundtable. Furfaro and Reddy updated Sinema on NEO Surveyor, a NASA mission that aims to discover and track 90 percent of asteroids 140 meters and larger that could pose a hazard to Earth. The mission is led by UA and principal investigator Amy Mainzer, and one that Sinema has been instrumental in garnering federal support. Professors Furfaro and Reddy also briefed Sinema on their space situational awareness work with the Air Force that includes mapping and tracking a growing amount of space debris. Reddy’s team identified and tracked a Chinese rocket booster that will hit the moon sometime this week. Space congestion is a growing problem especially with more than 50 missions to the moon planned over the next eight years.