The Rice Space Institute provides a unique collaborative environment in which to meet the educational, research and technological challenges faced by the exploration and study of space.

David Alexander, Ph.D. OBE
Director, Rice Space Institute
Professor in Physics and Astronomy

Rice University has a proud and distinguished heritage of collaboration with NASA and the nation’s space program, recently celebrating 50 years of science and engineering partnership with the Johnson Space Center. As we embark on the first steps of the next 50 years, the Rice Space Institute is working to strengthen our ties with JSC and the broader Houston space community, to foster deeper research collaborations within this community, and facilitate multidisciplinary research to address the most pressing scientific and technological problems facing the exploration of space.

Space exploration has impacted society and culture across the globe in many diverse and imaginative ways, changing how we view the world, how we interact with it, and how we imagine our place within it. Increasingly, research in the humanities and social sciences is addressing this impact and exploring the cultural context in which it occurs. The Rice Space Institute aims to foster these discussions and to bridge the disciplines as we seek to understand the societal and cultural impact of space exploration.

Education and scientific research are the cornerstones of our activities as we strive to produce the next generation of scientists, engineers and scholars. Education at all levels is a crucial component of the mission of the Rice Space Institute and our goal is to expand our efforts in undergraduate and graduate level study while enhancing our participation in Rice’s broad range of outreach programs and community engagement.

We, at the Rice Space Institute look forward to working with you as we move forward into this new, exciting period of collaborative research.