The University of Texas at Austin, Center for Space Research was established in 1981 under the direction of Dr. Byron D. Tapley. The mission of the Center is to conduct research in orbit determination, space geodesy, the Earth and its environment, exploration of the solar system, as well as expanding the scientific applications of space systems data.

Results of CSR's research have provided solutions to questions associated with fishery, agriculture, mapping ocean circulation, improving models of the Earth's gravity field, environmental impacts of oil spills, oil exploration and drilling operations, and weather forecasting.

Symposium Honoring Professor Byron Tapley's 50 years of service to the University of Texas

For 50 years, Dr. Byron D. Tapley, principal investigator of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission and professor of aerospace engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, has been an educator, a researcher, and a visionary who has made unique and lasting contributions to the field of aerospace education and research.

On February 1, 2008, a symposium was held in recognition of his 50 years of service at the Center for Space Research, The University of Texas at Austin, attended by more than 100 colleagues and former students from around the world. The symposium was sponsored by The University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering and the American Astronautical Society. Symposium presentations spanned a range of disciplines that reflected Prof. Tapley's interests and contributions in science and engineering, including orbit determination and estimation theory, space mission design, space geodesy, oceanography and relativity. The numerous awards Professor Tapley has received in his career include election to the National Academy of Engineering, the American Geophysical Union Charles A. Whitten Medal, the American Astronautical Society Dirk Brouwer Award, the honorary doctorate from Delft University of Technology, and NASA's recent 2007 William T. Pecora Award to the GRACE science team for achieving excellence in Earth observation.