Carolina helps America reach for the stars
From celestial navigation to astronaut alumni, the University has a history of strong support for the nation’s space exploration.
Carolina’s multifaceted contributions to space exploration range from a worldwide telescope network to alumni who rocketed into space. But the most critical was NASA astronaut training that saved three space missions.
Between 1960 and 1975, the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center trained 62 NASA astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. Astronauts from NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs studied celestial navigation, critical knowledge if automatic navigation systems failed while they were in space. The training saved lives during malfunctions on the Mercury Atlas 9, Apollo 12 and Apollo 13 missions.
Morehead Planetarium’s astronaut training program prepared NASA crews for celestial exploration. (UNC-Chapel Hill)
NASA research
In the UNC School of Medicine, Jonathan Schisler’s lab is helping NASA with studies related to astronaut health. Schisler, an assistant professor of pharmacology, is a member of the McAllister Heart Center.
- Mitochondria damage. The lab is looking at how spaceflight damages mitochondria (special compartments in cells that help power the body) and how the damage can be mitigated.
- Effects of moondust. Fine, dry particles of the Moon’s soil may be as dangerous to health as coal dust and could affect how mitochondria generate energy.
- Space fog. The causes of this type of brain fog may result from space travel’s physical and emotional stressors.
Cardman ’10 delivered the 2024 spring commencement address before later spending over five months aboard the International Space Station. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Carolina’s astronauts
Meet Tar Heels who have flown in space.
- Dr. William E. Thornton, ’52, ’63 (MD), Challenger and Spacelab, conducted space medicine research while in the U.S. Air Force and as a physician-astronaut.
- Charles Brady Jr. ’71, Space Shuttle Columbia, spent 16 days in space in 1996.
- Jerry Linenger ’89 (MPH) ’90 (PhD), Space Shuttle Discovery in 1994, took a five-hour spacewalk when on the Russian Space Station Mir in 1997.
- Zena Cardman ’10, ’14 (MS) commanded SpaceX Crew‑11, spending over five months on the International Space Station as a flight engineer.
Once completed, the Argus Array, led by professor Nicholas Law, will be the world’s largest and most powerful telescope survey system. (Megan Mendenhall/UNC Research)
Connections to groundbreaking observations
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was named for a Tar Heel. James Webb ’28 was a Marine Corps pilot and Truman administration undersecretary who became NASA’s second administrator. From 1961 to 1968, he oversaw critical first manned launches and began NASA’s work toward landing a man on the moon. The telescope that bears his name went into an orbit four times farther away than the Moon in 2018, with unprecedented ability to see distant events and objects in the universe.
Skynet, a global network of automated or robotic telescopes, is directed by Dan Reichart, Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor, and was developed by his team in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’ physics and astronomy department. Skynet includes 28 telescopes located in North Carolina’s western mountains and in five countries.
In an article published in July 2026, a team of Carolina astronomers reported on their observation of an extremely rare “wandering” black hole located tens of thousands of light-years from the center of its galaxy. This finding could reshape scientists’ understanding of how massive black holes move through the universe after galaxies collide.
The discoveries and advances will continue with the development of the Argus Array, a project led by Nicholas Law, a professor of physics and astronomy at Carolina. Once completed, the Argus Array will be the world’s largest and most powerful telescope survey system and will revolutionize the study of the cosmos.
