(NEXSTAR) – Two research teams at the University of Colorado Boulder are working on separate projects that could protect astronauts in space, as well as human health here on Earth. Among the myriad dangers astronauts face while traveling to the moon, is the dust on its surface. As sharp as glass, moon dust can not only cut through clothing, but it is highly charged – think of static on steroids. "Dust is one of the biggest hazards for exploration," Xu Wang, research scientist, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at University of Colorado Boulder, told Nexstar's KDVR. NASA recently awarded Wang and the Atmospheric and Space Physics Lab almost $25 million to build the best moon dust tester possible. Right now, Wang and his team of more than 30 scientists, engineers and students are rushing to build the state-of-the-art dust and plasma tester called DUSTER. The final product is set to fly on the Artemis IV moon mission in two years. "I cannot be happier ... I've been working on this for 20 years," Wang said. "I finally got to the point to fly this to the moon." Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder are also protecting people on Earth, keeping them healthy and making medical breakthroughs by sending cells to space. "On Earth, the cells settle down to the bottom of your vessel, and in space that doesn't happen," said Tobias Niederwieser, assistant research professor, BioServe Space Technologies at University of Colorado Boulder. "We look at heart cells and kidney cells and bone cells and really see how they behave in microgravity." BioServe has received tens of millions of dollars from NASA, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, and has sent more than 300 experiments into space in the last 35 years, KDVR reports. Their results have included advanced medicine for osteoporosis and blood cancers. Now, they're working with stem cells and hope to develop new treatments for arthritis and even a cure for diabetes – and maybe one day, 3D print new organs in space. "It's a long time away, I think, but that's absolutely where we are heading," Niederwieser said. "We already had beating heart cells in space, and I think that was the most exciting experiment ever."