In the Media

A study by MIT scientists has found that increased greenhouse gas emissions will shrink the Earth’s upper atmosphere causing a “drop in the satellite-carrying capacity of low Earth orbit,” repots Passant Rabie for Gizmodo. “Without an atmosphere, most space debris would remain in orbit indefinitely,” Parker said. “As the atmosphere thins, debris lingers longer, increasing the risk to active satellites. With the growing consequences of space debris, we can accommodate fewer debris-generating events.”

Researchers at MIT have found that climate change could raise the risk of satellite collisions, reports Justine Calma for The Verge. “We’ve really reached the end of that era of ‘space is big,’ and I think we should stop saying that,” says graduate student, William Parker. “People don’t realize that the space sustainability issue is really an issue that impacts them directly.”

Prof. Jonathan Gruber speaks with WCVB reporter Jackie DeFusco about the role of tariffs on manufacturing jobs in the United States. "Regardless of where the tariffs end up, the fact they're moving around so much is going to lower hiring,” says Gruber. “Whether the tariffs end up raising or lowering hiring once they're locked in, I think it is unclear.” 

Prof. Behnaz Farahi speaks with GBH’s The Culture Show host Jared Bowen about her new eye-catching work “Gaze to the Stars,” an exhibit that will transform the MIT Dome into a living canvas, showcasing video projections of eyes gazing at the stars, as part of the Artfinity art festival. “We are very excited about the possibility of bringing the community at MIT together and the question was how the community, MIT and beyond, can get the sense of community, the sense of unity, the sense of connectedness,” says Farahi on the inspiration behind her work.

A new study by MIT researchers finds that “climate change could threaten the future use of satellites and significantly reduce the number of spacecraft that can safety orbit Earth,” reports Julia Jacobo for ABC News. The researchers found “global warming is causing space debris to linger above the planet for longer periods of time, leaving less space for functioning satellites and posing a growing problem for the long-term use of Earth’s orbital space,” Jacobo explains. “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions doesn't just help us on Earth, it also has the potential to protect us from long-term sustainability issues in space,” explains graduate student William Parker. 

Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein writes that MIT scientists have found that climate change could “reduce the available space for satellites in low Earth orbit by anywhere from one-third to 82% by the end of the century, depending on how much carbon pollution is spewed.” Graduate student William Parker explains: “We rely on the atmosphere to clean up our debris. There’s no other way to remove debris. It’s trash. It’s garbage. And there are millions of pieces of it.”

MIT researchers have found that high levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere may increase the risk of satellite collisions, reports Sachi Kitajima Mulkey for Grist. “The environment is very cluttered already. Satellites are constantly dodging right and left,” says graduate student William Parker. “As long as we are emitting greenhouse gases, we are increasing the probability that we see more collision events between objects in space.” 

As part of MIT’s Artfinity festival - a new festival of the arts at MIT featuring 80 free performing and visual arts events, celebrating creativity and community – this month’s After Dark event on Thursday, March 13^th at the MIT Museum will be free and open to the public, reports Marianna Orozco for The Boston Globe. Attendees will be able to enjoy “a night of activities, including a ‘Flash Portrait’ drawing and textile design, as well as live DJ sets, open exhibits by faculty, and a talk from Behnaz Farahi, the interdisciplinary designer behind ‘Gaze to the Stars,’ which has brought the MIT dome to life,” explains Orozco. 

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere estimate that “while 36% of U.S. private sector jobs were technically ‘exposed’ to automation through computer vision… it would only make economic sense for firms to pursue automation for 8% of all private sector jobs—just a quarter of those jobs labelled ‘exposed,’” report François Candelon, David Zuluaga Martínez and Etienne Cavin for Fortune. 

Ariel Ekblaw, principal investigator for the “To the Moon to Stay” mission and a visiting scientist at the MIT Media Lab, speaks with Chaiel Schaffel of WBZ News Radio about the three payloads MIT engineers built for a recent mission to the moon. Of the AstroAnt rover that Ekblaw and her team developed for spacecraft assembly and external servicing, she explains: "What we want to do in the future is send hundreds or thousands that will crawl on the outside of space stations, maybe crawl on the outside of a lunar habitat, and do the inspections that would be really risky for humans to do."

Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray spotlights how MIT researchers developed a thumb-sized rover and a depth-mapping camera, technologies that will be used on a mission to the south pole of the Moon. The mini rover, dubbed AstroAnt, could one day be used to “patrol the exteriors of lunar probes, satellites, or space stations. Some might use cameras to spot meteorite damage, while others could apply sealants to prevent air or fuel leaks.”

MIT researchers developed a small robotic rover called the AstroAnt and a depth-mapping camera for use in monitoring spaceship conditions during space missions, reports Richard Luscombe for The Guardian. The AstroAnt is designed to “eventually assist in diagnostic and repair tasks for spacecraft during lunar missions,” explains Luscombe.

Researchers at MIT have sent three payloads into space, including the AstroAnt, a small robotic device developed to help monitor spaceship conditions, reports Kenneth Chang for The New York Times. The AstroAnt rover is about the size of a “Hot Wheels” toy car and can measure a lunar rover’s temperature and communicate via a wireless Bluetooth connection. “MIT researchers envision that swarms of AstroAnts could be used to perform various tasks in space,” Chang explains. 

Orlando Sentinel reporter Richard Tribou spotlights the AstroAnt, a small robotic device developed by MIT researchers to monitor spaceship conditions during lunar missions. The device can wheel around the roof of a lunar rover “to take temperature readings and monitor its operation.”  

Prof. Sara Seager, postdoctoral fellow Iaroslav Iakubivskyi and Claire Isabel Webb PhD '20 have designed Phainoterra, an imaginary planet “with a habitable sulfuric acid-based biochemistry” using “extensive scientific research and cross-checking against known physical precepts,” reports Leslie Katz for Forbes. The creation of Phainoterra is a part of “Proxima Kosmos, a new project that unites scientists, including one from NASA, with designers and sci-fi writers to create a speculative solar system consistent with the laws of astronomy and physics.”