CU BOULDER

Student uses augmented reality to map space travel

David Dezell Turner, a 24-year-old CU graduate student, is using an augmented reality software called ASTROMECH to project various pathways for spacecraft to reach the moon.

Through what scientists refer to as “cislunar” space, or the area between Earth and the moon’s surface and orbit, Turner hopes that his carefully crafted technology can help NASA and other space groups plan out missions. In a nod to a class of droids from Star Wars movies, ASTROMECH picks routes and calculates travel factors such as speed versus fuel cost.

The technology could be beneficial for training new employees and for increasing small companies ability to operate spacecraft in cislunar space, Jay McMahon, associate professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, told CU Boulder Today, a university newsletter.

LAFAYETTE

Council gets advice about Lafayette Marketplace

The City Council Tuesday had an closed-door meeting to receive legal advice about land annexation and development review procedures related to the proposed Lafayette Marketplace.

The closed-door meeting with the city attorney comes ahead of a scheduled Lafayette Marketplace eligibility hearing set for Feb. 18 to determine whether a plot of land in the southwest corner of U.S. 287 and Arapahoe Road can be annexed into Lafayette. The closed-door meeting, also known as an executive session, is not open to the public, but is allowed by Colorado law under specific circumstances to handle confidential information.

LONGMONT

Poet receives national creative writing fellowship

Longmont poet Amber Adams received a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship recently.

Adams is one of 35 writers to receive a Creative Writing Fellowship of $25,000 for 2025. Fellows are selected through an anonymous review and judged on the artistic merits of their submitted work. Fellowships allow the recipients to set aside time for writing, travel, research and career development.

Adams received a master’s degree in literary studies from the University of Denver and a master’s in counseling from Regis University. She is the author of “Becoming Ribbons” and is working on her second poetry collection, “Under Snow.” She lives in Longmont with her family.

— Staff reports