a nasa sign with the word nasa painted on it — (Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash)

Huge news for Alabama’s space scene—NASA has tapped UAB for a $37 million engineering contract to create an advanced Lunar Freeze System, a key piece of hardware that will support future missions to the moon.

Read on for everything we know.

Creating a cutting-edge freezer system

photography of Astronaut beside satellite — Photo by NASA on Unsplash

The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Engineering has been awarded a multimillion-dollar NASA contract to build a cutting-edge freezer system, according to a recent report by the BBJ.

The Lunar Freezer System will help bring temperature-sensitive samples back to Earth from the moon and the Gateway Space Station.

Valued at $37 million, the project taps UAB’s Engineering and Innovative Technology Development (EITD) team to design, manufacture, assemble and test the new Lunar Freeze System, with continued engineering support after launch.

Expanding UAB’s expertise

The effort officially kicked off December 4 and is slated to run 66 months, with optional extensions that could stretch the contract into 2033.

Chad Duke, director of EITD, says this milestone expands UAB’s decades-long cold-stowage expertise beyond low Earth orbit. According to Duke, the project marks “a new avenue” for supporting NASA’s lunar return and future deep-space ambitions.