Texas A&M Approves $200 Million for New Space Institute

Houston will soon be home to a $200 million research facility dedicated to space mission assistance, all thanks to Texas A&M University.

Houston, We Have an Agenda

According to a press release from the Texas A&M University System, the university's Board of Regents approved over half a billion dollars worth of projects that range from space exploration to national defense.

Chancellor John Sharp stated that this massive price tag is meant to address "the great needs of the state and nation".

Before addressing what the university will receive for such a hefty price, it's important to note that just last year, the state approved $1.19 billion in new spending.

Thanks to this thumbs up from the state, Texas A&M took $200 million to build a four-story building on 32 acres of land at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It will also include "landscapes that mimic the surfaces of the moon and Mars"... spooky.

So, the new building, set to begin construction in January, will have separate garages for specialized robots and vehicles as well as special spaces for labs, offices and classrooms.

Other Projects Approved for Texas A&M

Another initiative by Texas legislation is a $10 million Hypersonic Wind Tunnel in the City of Bryan. For all you nerds out there, this would provide aerodynamic testing between the ranges of Mach 5 to Mach 9. For those of us who aren't engineers, it makes things go really fast... for science.

The wind tunnel will be the largest academic facility of its kind in the country, but there are a variety of other board approvals:

• $25.3 million Engineering Extension training facility
• $21.69 million childcare education lab-school
• $10 million softball facility and multipurpose field renovations
• $7.4 million student dining facility
• $74.9 million HVAC upgrades on campus