Danny Olivas to Kick-Off UTEP’s New NASA Space Exploration Center

Astronaut and UTEP alumnus Danny Olivas is coming to campus to celebrate the opening of UTEP’s new Center for Space Exploration Technology Research (cSETR) on Feb. 3.
Olivas will present an STS-128 flag and patch to be put on display at the new center. Both traveled to space on his most recent space shuttle mission, STS-128, last August.

UTEP was recently awarded a five-year, $5 million grant by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to establish multi-disciplinary engineering and scientific research that will contribute to NASA programs.
The UTEP Center for Space Exploration Technology Research will work closely with other NASA research facilities, including the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M. Research will include advanced capabilities in environmentally friendly propulsion technologies and the use of natural resources on other planets and the moon to create spacecraft fuel and other materials. UTEP faculty from the College of Engineering and the Department of Geological Sciences will collaborate on the research.

UTEP was one of six minority universities selected from 35 applicants for this grant.

The award comes via the NASA Group 5 University Research Center program, which fosters new aerospace science and technology concepts with a goal of increasing the number of underrepresented minorities who receive degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.


Danny Olivas’ visit to UTEP on Feb. 3
4:30 p.m. Olivas will give remarks during UTEP’s cSETR kick-off reception in the
College of Engineering Annex lobby. Members of NASA’s Technical Review Committee from the Johnson Space Center in Houston will attend the reception.

5:30 p.m. cSETR lab tours

6:30 p.m. Olivas will sign autographs and NASA will have a display at the Don Haskins
Center

8 p.m. UTEP vs. University of Houston Cougars basketball game starts. Shortly after half-time, Olivas will present an STS-128 flag and patch on a presentation board to cSETR students on behalf of NASA.