Scaled Composites, LLC - the proud home of several AAE alumni - successfully executed a low-speed taxi test of the world's largest aircraft.

Imagine working and living inside a simulated Mars colony for two weeks. If you're AAE PhD student Jennifer Pouplin (MS '16), that's a dream come true. She participated in the Poland Mars Analogue Simulation.

AAE Prof. Dan Dumbacher is quoted in a new report from The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which says NASA should raise the priority of research that addresses risks and the unknown of human space exploration. The report also highlights the importance of developing a plan for the International Space Station beyond 2024.

An AAE undergraduate team was selected by NASA for the 2018 Micro-g NExT challenge to design and build an original spacewalk or exploration tool for testing in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab.

Three AAE faculty were among more than 300 faculty honored in November for years of service to Purdue. AAE Profs. Li Qiao, Kathleen Howell and James Doyle were among those honored.

For Cathi Chislaghi Roberts, the journey after Purdue has included flying in F-15s and F-16s, working on global consumer brands, and living in Switzerland.

AAE is helping to lead the way as a team of Purdue students and alumni plan to begin 2018 in an out-of-this world environment as part of a two-week mission to the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.

Purdue is among nine university teams selected by NASA to collaborate on the development and demonstration of new technologies and capabilities for small spacecraft. The Purdue project, “Distributed Attitude Control and Maneuvering for Deep Space SmallSats,” will further develop a film-evaporation micro-scale thruster that uses water as a propellant for precision pointing and attitude control of small spacecraft and deployable structures.

USA Today named Purdue among the top 5 colleges for aerospace careers. The publication mentions Purdue's research focuses on structures and materials, propulsion, and astrodynamics, and space applications, among other fields.

Purdue Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) received the Chapter of the Year award from the national SEDS organization.