Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray explores how MIT Instrumentation Lab researchers helped pave the way for the Apollo 11 moon landing. Bray notes Instrumentation Lab researchers “developed one of its most vital components: the guidance and navigation systems that directed the Apollo command and landing crafts to — and onto — the moon.”
Smithsonian reporters Abigail Croll and Maddi Hellmich spotlight Margaret Hamilton’s work developing the coding used in the Apollo 11 onboard flight software and lunar landing machinery. “Because software was a mystery, a black box, upper management gave us total freedom and trust,” says Hamilton. “Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers."
Writing for PBS’ American Experience about the women who helped ensure the success of the Apollo 11 mission, Nathalia Holt highlights the work of Margaret Hamilton, who led the development of software for the Apollo missions while at MIT.
WCVB-TV’s Chronicle highlights MIT startup Lunar Station, which is developing navigational services for companies and organizations looking to travel to the moon. Chronicle explains that the Lunar Station team “maps the lunar surface to ensure safe and profitable missions.”
WCVB-TV’s Chronicle spotlights how researchers at the MIT Instrumentation Lab developed the technology needed to successfully bring Apollo astronauts to the moon.
BBC Future reporter Richard Hollingham examines how MIT researchers developed the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), which helped Apollo 11 astronauts navigate safely to and from the moon. “The AGC was filled with thousands of integrated circuits, or silicon chips,” Hollingham explains. “NASA’s order of this new technology led to the rapid expansion of Silicon Valley and accelerated the development of today’s computers.”
Fast Company contributor Charles Fishman explores the late Prof. Charles Draper’s instrumental contributions to making space flight possible, noting that Draper was so committed to his work that he volunteered to train as an astronaut so he could join an Apollo mission. “Space travel wouldn’t have been possible without Draper’s work and that of his group at MIT’s Instrumentation Lab,” writes Fishman.
Boston Globe reporter Martin Finucane writes that a team of scientists, including MIT researchers, has uncovered evidence of a large mass, which could be the metallic core of an asteroid, under a crater on the dark side of the moon. “The results of this study provide new information on the violent history of our nearest celestial neighbor,” explains Prof. Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research.
Writing for Fast Company, Charles Fishman explores how MIT researchers developed the computer that helped enable the Apollo 11 moon landing. Fishman notes that the computer was “the smallest, fastest, most nimble, and most reliable computer ever created,” adding that it became “so indispensable that some at MIT and NASA called it ‘the fourth crew member.’”
MIT researchers have found that the universe’s first stars exploded in an aspherical manner, spewing heavy metals into the universe, reports Rachel Cromwell for Scientific American. “This is a beautiful paper,” says Volker Bromm of the University of Texas at Austin, noting that this type of stellar sleuthing is possible only with very high-quality data.
Writing for CNN about designing a spacesuit suitable for Mars, Jackie Wattles spotlights Prof. Dava Newman’s work developing the BioSuit. “Space flight for me is about raising up all of our potential, and it's also about answering the hardest problems I can think of," says Newman. "Designing a suit for an astronaut to go to Mars is about the biggest challenge I can think of.”
Newsweek reporter Aristos Georgiou writes that MIT researchers have found that explosions of our universe’s first stars sent the first heavy elements into neighboring galaxies. “These elements provided the raw material for the formation of a second generation of stars, some of which survive to this day,” Georgiou explains.
Blue Origin unveiled plans to send a spaceship to the moon, reports Seth Borenstein for the AP. Prof. Dava Newman explained that the newly designed rocket engine is what makes Blue Origin’s attempt to reach the moon unique. “It’s for real,” said Newman.
Boston Globe reporter Laura Krantz visits MIT’s Haystack Observatory to learn more about the place where scientists played a key role in developing the first image of a black hole and created a supercomputer used to compile the image. Krantz notes that researchers at Haystack also study the Earth, not-far-away planets, and stars, and are creating devices to track the decay of icebergs.
Researchers from MIT and the European Space Agency are developing a process to evaluate how operators deploy satellites to help reduce the amount of debris in space, reports Loren Grush for The Verge. “It’s actually encouraging companies to try to beat each other in how good they behave, so they can build their brand,” explains Prof. Danielle Wood.