UArizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

09/16/2026

The first 2026 LPL Evening Lecture is tonight! Please join us either in-person or virtually! More information is here: https://lpl.arizona.edu/events/2026-lpl-evening-lecture-series-dr-marc-neveu

09/11/2026

LPL is participating in the first annual Southwest Skies Astronomy and Dark Skies Festival happening from October 1-3. Find more information here: https://southwestskies.cfa.harvard.edu/

09/09/2026

The first LPL Evening Lecture is one week from tonight! You can join us either in-person in Tucson or online. More information is here: https://lpl.arizona.edu/events/2026-lpl-evening-lecture-series-dr-marc-neveu

09/08/2026

Researchers at the Southwest Research Institute and LPL used state-of-the-art computational techniques that revealed fundamental differences in how the moon may have formed from the collision between a Mars-sized object and Earth roughly 4.5 billion years ago.

Historically, computer simulations modeling collisions between protoplanetary bodies have treated them largely as fluids. A new study suggests taking into account the material strength of solid bodies drastically changes outcomes.

09/01/2026

Seven months after launch, Pandora has officially begun its mission: to catch never-before-seen-glimpses of worlds beyond our solar system and the stars they orbit. Now the work of Professor Daniel Apai and his science team is kicking into high gear.

Few space missions are run from university campuses. NASA's Pandora space has embarked on its mission to stare at worlds outside of our solar system and their host stars, all under the watchful eyes of a dedicated team at the U of A's own mission control center.

08/27/2026

LPL scientists play crucial roles in the science of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which launches Sunday, August 30 at 7:26am EDT.

The launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope takes place live Sunday morning at 7:26 am EDT/4:26 am MST on NASA Live.

08/25/2026

LPL grad student Naman Bajaj dug into archival data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to better understand how vast amounts of gas vanished from our solar system disk and other like it.

"Stunning" JWST images of newborn-solar systems shed light on how and when they lose gas, suggesting that planet formation is "a race against time," according to new research led by U of A graduate student Naman Bajaj.

08/25/2026

The Fall 2027 application for the Ph.D. program at LPL is now open. Find more information here: https://lpl.arizona.edu/admissions

08/20/2026

LPL has begun building EMILIA-3D, one of three science investigation payloads selected by NASA earlier this year to be delivered to the moon by a future Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, lander.

The U of A-led EMILIA-3D is one of three recent science investigation payloads selected through NASA's PRISM SALSA program to study the lunar surface.

08/19/2026

Congrats again to LPL grads Namya Baijal and Ruby Fulford!

Learn more about the 2026 Amelia Earhart Fellows! ✈️

This year, 30 remarkable women from around the world are advancing groundbreaking research in aerospace engineering, planetary science, robotics and more. Carrying forward Amelia Earhart’s pioneering legacy, these scholars are expanding the frontiers of discovery while inspiring the next generation of .

Learn more about the 2026 Fellows and their innovative research: https://zonta.org/Web/News_Events/Articles/2026_AE_Fellows_bios