UC Berkeley announces space center at NASA Ames Research Center

UC Berkeley unveiled plans for a 36-acre space center at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, which will accommodate classrooms, laboratories and housing – as well as open doors for students to conduct research with researchers at NASA and in various industries, the LA Times reported.

“The planned expansion of Berkeley’s physical footprint and academic reach represents a fantastic and unprecedented opportunity for our students, faculty and staff,” said UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ at the project’s unveiling last week.

NASA Ames’ director told the LA Times that the agency wanted to remain closer to students in an effort to inspire future generations of researchers.

UC Berkeley and NASA Ames signed a 99-year lease that will allow the university to take up 10% of the site to begin with and eventually increase to 40%.

“We are thrilled by the prospect of new collaborations that can speed the translation of research discoveries into the inventions, technologies and services that will advance the greater good,” Christ said at the event, the LA Times reported.