Many call Tucson the astronomy capital of the world, and for good reason. The University of Arizona spent $121,908,000 on astronomy and astrophysics research in fiscal year 2020, more than any other school, according to a survey from the National Science Foundation. Most of that goes toward the university’s contributions to developing NASA planetary missions and the research behind them. Professor Mark Marley graduated from UArizona before working at NASA for 20 years. Last year, he returned to campus to become head of the school’s Department of Planetary Sciences and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL). “Really it’s the backbone of the faculty and our research staff that make all these things possible,” he said. “The thing that really strikes me coming back is just the entrepreneurial spirit of the faculty. People will spend years developing and proposing a mission proposal to NASA. And sometimes given how much competition there is, these things are not successful.”