ILLUMA-T launches to the International Space Station
This laser communications terminal, developed at Lincoln Laboratory, aims to transmit data at high rates from the ISS to ground stations via NASA’s first two-way laser communications relay system.
MIT HUMANS project breaks down borders, empowering global voices to reach for the stars
The HUMANS nanowafer, an MIT Space Exploration Initiative student-led project, will travel to the ISS this month, and later to the moon, carrying messages in more than 64 languages from over 80 countries.
Pilot, engineer, neuroscientist, bridge-builder
How Elissa Gibson ’22 connected the dots to form her own unique constellation of MIT experiences.
White House names Daniel Hastings to space advisory group
National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group will guide the Biden-Harris administration on space preservation and industry.
Communications system achieves fastest laser link from space yet
Lincoln Laboratory’s TeraByte InfraRed Delivery system sent data from a satellite to Earth at 100 Gbps — a rate that will transform future science missions.
Channeling creativity through art and engineering
Recent mechanical engineering alumna Emily Satterfield ’22 pursues passions that might seem unrelated but “actually go hand-in-hand.”
3 Questions: Looking to Artemis I for a return to the moon
As NASA launches Artemis I, MIT experts weigh in on the importance of the mission to future space exploration.
Bridging careers in aerospace manufacturing and fusion energy, with a focus on intentional inclusion
Joy Dunn ’08 helps solve the world’s greatest climate challenges while creating an open and equitable working environment.
MIT design for Mars propellant production trucks wins NASA competition
BART and MARGE will reliably produce, store, and distribute 50 tons of rocket fuel per year on the surface of Mars.
How to reach a tumbling target in space
Experiments aboard International Space Station demonstrate a potential solution for cleaning up orbital debris and repairing damaged satellites.
Robotic cubes shapeshift in outer space
Self-reconfiguring ElectroVoxels use embedded electromagnets to test applications for space exploration.
Professor Emeritus Ronald Probstein, world-renowned expert in fluid mechanics, dies at 93
Probstein’s research had diverse applications in fields including aeronautics, energy, desalination, and soil decontamination.
Laurence Young, professor emeritus of astronautics and renowned expert in bioastronautics, dies at 85
Pioneer in the science of humans in space remembered for far-reaching impact on his field and the people closest to him.
Life in space: Preparing for an increasingly tangible reality
The Space Exploration Initiative supports research across and beyond MIT in two microgravity flights this spring.
With the HUMANS project, a message that space is for everyone
A student-run project is collecting messages from around the world, using nanotechnology to etch them on a disk, and sending the disk to the International Space Station.