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UCF Professor to Moderate State Department Discussion on Planetary Defense
In June, at least five asteroids — some as large as a Boeing 747 — will buzz by Earth, coming as close as 431,000 miles from the planet. Asteroids are always moving through our solar system. Although none of them pose a serious threat to Earth now, they could in the future. As a civilization […]
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UCF Physics Professor Named Jefferson Science Fellow
UCF Physics Professor Humberto Campins has been named a Jefferson Science Fellow and will report to Washington D.C. beginning Nov. 21 to spend a year advising the U.S. Department of State. Campins is an international expert on asteroids. He is part of NASA’s historic OSIRIS REx mission, which is headed back to Earth with a […]
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12 UCF Researchers Honored with Asteroids Named after Them
A dozen University of Central Florida space researchers were honored recently when planetary bodies were named after them. This brings the total number of current UCF researchers whose names are attached to asteroids to 19, along with another 12 former researchers. The honor comes just in time for today’s International Asteroid Day, which was started […]
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UCF Professor Briefs Planetary Sciences Community about NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission During Conference
UCF physics Professor Humberto Campins is today (Thursday, Oct. 29) giving the science community a look at the evolving OSIRIS-REx mission to collect an asteroid sample and return it to earth. Astronomers and other scientists from around the world are attending the 52nd annual Division of Planetary Sciences meeting to learn and discuss the latest […]
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OSIRIS REx Ready to for Touch-n-Go Maneuver on Tuesday, Oct. 20
Four years after it launched, NASA’s OSIRIS REx NASA mission is closing in on its big day. On Oct. 20, the spacecraft is scheduled to complete its touch-and-go move to collect a sample of asteroid Bennu. University of Central Florida Physics Professor and asteroid expert Humberto Campins is counting down the days. He is part […]
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Asteroid Bennu Continues to Surprise Scientists
If UCF physics Professor Humberto Campins was a betting man, he should run out and play the lottery. The planetary scientist, who is an international expert on asteroids, predicted a finding from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu — remnants of another asteroid scattered across its surface. The spacecraft took images and made observations of […]
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National Asteroid Day: A Celebration of Mysterious Small Bodies
Imagine a celestial body larger than the Statue of Liberty skyrocketing past Earth with enough energy to flatten a city. Since 2011 this has only happened once, and it occurred earlier this month. Asteroids are small bodies, often made up of rock, that exist in the solar system. Where did they come from? Scientists speculate […]
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OSIRIS REx Target on Asteroid Bennu Revealed, Next Step – Touch-and-Go in 2020
By ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The OSIRIS-REx team announced today, the selection of two sites on asteroid Bennu that they will target for sample collection next year. The selection of the two spots nicknamed Nightingale and Osprey sites represents a milestone in NASA’s first mission to collect a sample of an asteroid and bring it back […]
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OSIRIS-REx on Final Approach to Bennu
There’s no better tool to teach students about physics than to see it at work in the real world. That’s why UCF professor Humberto Campins decided to teach this semester despite the heavy research load he knows will be coming. “I thought about taking time off to complete my work for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission,” Campins […]
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Introducing 13 New Ph.D. Graduates
In a reception hosted by Dean Michael Johnson, Ph.D., the College of Sciences celebrated its new Ph.D. graduates in the Physical Sciences building. Thirteen students were recognized with family members and faculty advisors by their side. Associate Dean Teresa Dorman, Ph.D., honored each student by presenting their research and dissertation. A champagne toast followed to celebrate the students’ […]
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UCF Expert Teams up with Astronaut for World Asteroid Day
Story by Zenaida Kotala For the third annual World Asteroid Day on Friday, UCF physics Professor Humberto Campins is teaming up with friend and astronaut Tom Jones for a special presentation at Kennedy Space Center beginning at 1:30 p.m. They will talk to the public about the importance of learning everything possible about asteroids. Asteroids represent a […]
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NASA Asteroid Mission Leader Is Coming to UCF
Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, will give a public talk at the University of Central Florida on June 2 about the mission that’s working to recover samples of a nearby asteroid. Lauretta, a professor of planetary science and cosmochemistry at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, is working with UCF Physics Professor Humberto Campins, on […]
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Researchers with UCF Connections Honored with Asteroid Names
Original story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala. The University of Central Florida hosts a chapter of an out-of-this-world club, which recently grew by two. Planetary astronomer Noemi Pinilla-Alonso from the Florida Space Institute and UCF alumna Emily Kramer were honored when asteroids were named after them to recognize their contributions to planetary science research. That increases the […]
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Physics Professor Achieves Astronomic Dream
Story by By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today Humberto Campins grew up looking at the night sky and reading The Little Prince. The children’s story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is about a man who crashes his plane in the middle of the Sahara Desert. While he’s making repairs, a boy shows up. He is the […]
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Physics Faculty Lead Conference
UCF Physics professor Daniel Britt, Ph.D., who was recently selected to take part in the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) New Horizons extended mission, continues to make waves in the world of physics. Most recently, he assisted in organizing the International Conference on the Exploration of Phobos and Deimos hosted by NASA […]
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UCF in CLASS of Its Own Studying Space
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today UCF has diligently and methodically been making a name for itself in the world of planetary exploration, and it’s beginning to pay off in big ways. Not only are two UCF professors part of the upcoming NASA OSIRIS-REx mission to collect asteroid samples – a first for the United […]
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UCF and the Next Space Frontier: Making the Case for Mars
Story by UCF Today Many feared the United States’ role in space exploration was over after an accident took the lives of a second space shuttle crew in 2003. After another long grounding of the shuttle fleet, flights restarted briefly but by 2011 the program was retired and no manned missions were on the horizon. […]
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COS Faculty Receive Incentive Awards
The College of Sciences is proud to announce the 2015-2016 winners for the Teaching Incentive Program and Research Incentive Award. Each year, UCF’s Academic Affairs’ Office of Faculty Excellence gives incentive awards to outstanding faculty for their dedication to teaching, research and scholarship. Every award winner, whether holding a nine or 12 month contract, is given […]
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UCF NASA Experiment Takes Flight
Five experiments testing everything from how fire reacts in space, to the effectiveness of a lizard-inspired adhesive are headed to the International Space Station on Tuesday, March 22. NASA’s commercial partner Orbital ATK Inc. is scheduled to launch the Cygnus spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. […]
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Incentive Awards in Teaching, Research & Scholarship Go To………….
The College of Sciences is elated to announce the 2013-2014 winners for the Teaching Incentive Program, Research Incentive Award, and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. As Dean Michael Johnson said, “this is a very accomplished group.” Each year, UCF’s Academic Affairs’ Office of Faculty Excellence gives incentive awards to outstanding faculty for their dedication to teaching, […]
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Astronomers Locate “The Little Prince[‘s]” Home Planet*
*Sort of. As a child, UCF professor Humberto Campins, read “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The book was one of his earliest motivators in pursuing a career in astrophysics. Now, Campins is considered an international expert on asteroids. He is a member of NASA’s OSIRIS REx mission and the European Space Agency’s MarcoPolo-R […]
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Dr. Campins Selected as 2013 Pegasus Professor
Dr. Humberto Campins’ impressive list of accomplishments ranges from discovering water ice and organic molecules on asteroids to being a part of NASA and European Space Agency teams, but he can now add UCF Pegasus Professor to that list. Campins was among seven faculty members who were honored this year with the prestigious Pegasus Professor […]
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Science Cafés featuring UCF scientists
As part of our celebrations for the UCF 50th Anniversary the College of Sciences will be hosting several Science Cafés to showcase our Pegasus Professors and discuss Science Beyond UCF with the Central Florida community. Admission is free, and you need no reservation—just come ready to listen and contribute. Each speaker will begin their presentation at […]
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Closest-Ever Asteroid Flyby Thrills Large UCF Crowd
More than 800 people packed the Pegasus Ballroom at the University of Central Florida on Friday to watch a live video feed of an asteroid zip by Earth, coming within 17,500 miles from the planet. It was the closest flyby on record, with the half-city-block sized asteroid squeezing in between the Earth’s surface and orbiting […]
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Asteroid Expert on ABC World News
By Ned Potter, ABC World News It begins to get on your nerves. Every now and then — a few times a year, depending on what you count — an asteroid goes whizzing past Earth at fairly close range, reminding us that sometimes outer space isn’t quite as, well, spacious as we may like to think. This […]
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Asteroid Encounter at UCF
An asteroid, the size of half a city block, will buzz Earth’s surface on Feb. 15, squeezing by communication satellites orbiting the planet. The University of Central Florida will host a free 1 p.m. viewing party for the public to watch this event via feeds from telescopes in Spain, where it will be nighttime. UCF’s Humberto […]
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International expert explains asteroids’ ‘real’ threat to Earth
Join space expert Dr. Humberto Campins at the Orlando Science Center on Saturday, Dec. 1 for a hands-on program that delivers the real story when it comes to asteroids that pass near the earth Earth. Campins, a physics professor at the University of Central Florida, will also share exciting details about forthcoming NASA and European […]
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European asteroid mission taps UCF expert
University of Central Florida Professor and international asteroid expert Humberto Campins is working with more than 100 fellow astrophysicists preparing for a European mission aimed at collecting an asteroid sample and returning it to earth.The Marco Polo-R Mission is a project of the European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA could participate later. The goal is […]