Hampton University gets $101 million to study high-level clouds.(Daily Press (Newport News, Va.))

Byline: Kimball Payne

HAMPTON, Va. _ Hampton University will spearhead a $101 million NASA project designed to investigate clouds hovering on the edge of space and their effects on the Earth's climate.

The grant, awarded this week after a two-year application process that involved 42 other proposals, is a landmark victory for the school's Center for Atmospheric Sciences.

"It's really historic," said Professor James M. Russell III, who will be the lead investigator on the project. "It's the first time that a historically black college has been given the responsibility of managing a NASA satellite mission."

The project could provide crucial …