Utah State's Space Dynamics Lab Assists NASA in Asteroid Research

Jed J. Hancock, president of Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), defied expectations after being told he would never become an engineer. With the support of his mentor, engineering professor Doran Baker, Hancock earned a NASA fellowship and went on to lead SDL. The lab partnered with the University of Arizona to develop the cameras for NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which successfully collected samples from the asteroid Bennu. SDL's contributions to space exploration include upcoming missions to study the asteroid Apophis and launch a telescope from the International Space Station.