In this video, Prof. Leia Stirling and graduate student Alison Gibson speak with Wired about the vibrating boots they developed to help astronauts avoid obstacles. “To be able to provide technologies that can assist the astronauts and actually make a group of people have more capability, that’s really exciting,” explains Stirling.
Space.com reporter Samantha Mathewson writes that MIT researchers have developed a vibrating boot to help astronauts avoid obstacles. Prof. Leia Stirling explains that she hopes the boot will make astronauts “more confident and efficient during extravehicular activities and may decrease their injury risk due to trips and falls.”
Samantha Cole writes for Popular Science that researchers from MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics are developing boots that pulse and vibrate to warn the wearer of nearby obstacles. Cole explains that the researchers see the technology “as valuable not only for space walks, but for firefighters, the elderly, or those with compromised sensory systems.”
Researchers have created a gravity map of Mars that provides insight into the planet’s interior, reports Brian Mastroianni for CBS News. MIT postdoc Antonio Genova says the map will be, “helpful for future Mars exploration, because better knowledge of the planet's gravity anomalies helps mission controllers insert spacecraft more precisely into orbit around Mars.”
MIT researchers are collaborating with NASA and Fusion to develop a virtual-reality experience that will allow users to explore Mars, reports John Gaudiosi for Fortune. Gaudiosi explains that the experience "will allow users to walk or drive the Mars Rover prototype across several square miles of actual Martian terrain while pursuing research-oriented mission goals.”
Forbes reporter Bruce Dorminey writes about a new MIT study showing that refueling at the moon would make Mars missions more efficient. Prof. Olivier de Weck explains that this strategy could “represent a savings of $5.8 billion per mission.”
Dr. Michael Hecht speaks with Meghna Chakrabarti of WBUR’s Radio Boston about NASA’s discovery of water on Mars. Hecht says that the discovery “opens up a whole new avenue for using what nature gives us on Mars to help us explore.”
Graduate student Sydney Do speaks with Huffington Post Live about the technological shortfalls that currently make the Mars One plan for colonizing the Red Planet unrealistic. “Our finding is the Mars One plan is inherently unsustainable and is hence infeasible,” explains Do. “The technology that’s required is just not there yet.”
Graduate students Sydney Do and Andrew Owens will debate Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp at a convention celebrating the red planet this month, writes Steve Annear for The Boston Globe: “Do, Owens, and other MIT researchers released a paper in October questioning the Mars One mission design and practicality.”
Mary Bowerman writes for USA Today that while the Mars One Project has narrowed its applicants to the top 100, MIT researchers question whether the technology exists to accomplish the mission. "A lot of the technologies you need to sustain life on Mars are very much in development,” says Ph.D. candidate Sydney Do.
Following the announcement of the shortlist for participants for the Mars One project, Michael Rundle of The Huffington Post reports on an MIT study indicating that current technology makes the mission infeasible. Even with additional technology “the Mars One mission would become exceedingly expensive and unsustainable” over time, explains Ph.D candidate Sydney Do.
The Huffington Post reports on an analysis of the Mars One project led by Professor Olivier de Weck. “We’re not saying, black and white, Mars One is infeasible,” explains de Weck. “But we do think it’s not really feasible under the assumptions they’ve made.”
NASA’s Curiosity rover has discovered methane and carbon in Martian rocks, reports Andrew Soergel for U.S. News & World Report. “Organics are important because they can tell us about the chemical pathways by which they were formed and preserved,” says Prof. Roger Summons, a member of the Curiosity team.
Professor Roger Summons is part of the Curiosity team that has detected a large spike in methane on Mars, which could indicate the presence of life, writes Brid-Aine Parnell for Forbes. “This first confirmation of organic carbon in a rock on Mars holds much promise,” says Summons.
MIT engineers have examined the feasibility of the Mars One colonization plans and found that new technologies will be necessary for human survival on Mars, writes Lucy Draper for Newsweek. “[W]e do think it’s not really feasible under the assumptions they’ve made,” says Professor Oliver De Weck.