Boise State wins $3.5 million NASA grant for classroom telescopes in Idaho
The five-year Science Activation award will fund 150 robotic telescopes for teachers and an astronomer-in-residence in the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve.
BOISE CITY - A Boise State University team led by Professor Brian Jackson has received a five-year, $3.5 million NASA Science Activation grant to support astronomy research and education in Idaho, according to a university news release dated Nov. 11.
The grant will fund 150 robotic telescopes for Idaho teachers, especially in rural areas with less light pollution, the university said. In 2023, the Department of Physics and Astronomy distributed 50 telescopes under a smaller grant.
The new telescopes will also support research on asteroids, comets, dwarf planets and exoplanets, coordinated by a grant-funded postdoctoral researcher at Boise State. Teachers will work as citizen scientists, and the university said it will provide lesson plans.
The grant also supports an astronomer-in-residence who will live in the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve for a few weeks each year, give public talks and help measure light pollution.
Source: Boise State News, Nov. 11, 2026.