ORLANDO, Fla. — An army of Knights is among the researchers charging their way into final frontier with innovative projects shaping the future of space travel.
Perhaps it’s unsurprising due to the University of Central Florida’s history tied to the American space program. As the need for more aerospace engineers rose, the “space university” opened its doors to education in 1968 — the same year the Apollo 8 mission took humans into the moon’s orbit.
Since then, students and professors have taken full advantage of being only 35 miles from Kennedy Space Center collaborating with NASA, developing new technologies and techniques straight out of science fiction. In the last 18 months, UCF has had 71 space-related research projects approved and awarded with grants exceeding $10 million, according to UCF spokeswoman Zenaida Kotala.
