Funds to Further Planetary Exploration, Research and Education

Uwingu, a company helping people personally connect with space exploration and astronomy, today announced the award of travel grants to planetary science PhD students from both the United States and overseas to present their research at scientific conferences. Eleven winning students were selected from a field of dozens of applications Uwingu received in late April.

Uwingu, a for profit space company, consists of a growing team of space scientists, educators, NASA veterans, and prominent business people who are passionate about space exploration and education. Uwingu generates funds for grants like these via public engagement projects at its web site www.uwingu.com. There the public can participate in projects like Uwingu’s Mars Map Crater Naming Project that allows anyone to help name the approximately 590,000 unnamed, scientifically cataloged craters on Mars, starting at prices of $5 each. Uwingu aims to raise $10 million for The Uwingu Fund from its projects. The Uwingu Fund provides grants to further space exploration, space research, and space education and has to date awarded 20 grants of various sizes.

The selected students, both men and women, will all complete their PhDs in 2014. Their research topics range from Martian and lunar science, to astrobiology, to the study of planets around other stars. The awarded Uwingu travel grants will enable these students to report their results and further their professional advancement in the scientific community.

“We’re very proud to be able to support these meritorious students and the reporting of their research,” said Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist, founder, and CEO of Uwingu. Stern added, “We look forward to our growing opportunity to support space research, education, and exploration in the future.”