OSU’s space research program recently received national recognition with the development of a technique adopted by NASA for the recent Discovery shuttle mission. The OSL technique developed by an OSU research team was used in a badge modified by NASA for crew members’ badges. In addition, OSU is part of an international research team working on the MATROSHKA project that is part of ongoing studies conducted on the International Space Station. With a shift in space exploration to missions that will include the Moon and Mars, OSU is also focused on dating Martian soils and is collaborating with a local company, Nomadics, to develop a device that will allow the entire process to take place on Mars with the help of a robot. OSU collaborates with other local companies, national laboratories and federal agencies on space-related projects. These efforts have led to the formation of a cluster of companies dedicated to space research.