NASA Pays 12 Institutions $1 Million Each to Close Technology Gaps for the Moon

NASA has selected 12 U.S. institutions to split $12 million, with each receiving up to $1 million, under its Minority University Research and Education Project's Space Technology Artemis Research initiative, known as M-STAR. The money is meant to grow scientific and engineering capabilities at those institutions, pull faculty and students into aerospace research, and improve their odds of winning future federal and commercial research awards — a workforce pipeline rather than a hardware program. Alicia Baturoni Cortez, the MUREP program manager in NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, framed the investment as creating opportunities for students and faculty to build skills, knowledge and infrastructure while helping the agency close technology gaps for long-duration operations on the Moon and eventually Mars. The agency ties M-STAR to technologies for space transportation, human exploration, robotic discovery and the growing space economy.