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Space Exploration Initiative
Space Exploration Initiative
Dr. Cody Paige is the Director of the Space Exploration Initiative at the Media Lab, a team of students, faculty and staff building and flying advanced technology and innovative ideas for space exploration. Using a three phase approach SEI takes research from ideation to space exploration. From testing and prototyping research in the lab and on field expeditions in extreme environments, to testing in altered gravity on parabolic and suborbital flights in micro-, Lunar, and Martian-gravity, we mature research for the realization of space exploration. Our final phase takes experiments to the International Space Station and now on to the Lunar surface with our Lunar Mission slated for early 2025.
Cody began at MIT as a Fulbright Scholar and completed her Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2023. Her research focused on enabling a permanent human presence on the Moon through the development of wearable radiation shielding material and a virtual reality platform for geological surface exploration of the Moon and Mars. Cody is also completing a Ph.D. in geology, specifically quaternary geochronology, and completed her Master of Applied Science at the University of Toronto in Aerospace Engineering and her Bachelor of Applied Science from Queen’s University in Engineering Physics. She is passionate about student outreach, in particular encouraging girls, and young women in STEAMD (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math and Design).
Moderator: Dr. Forrest Meyen is a Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of the space robotics company, Lunar Outpost. Lunar Outpost is the dominate provider of commercial planetary surface mobility. Forrest directs company strategy as well as technical leadership on key flight programs. He led Lunar Outpost’s development of the MAPP Rover for Lunar Voyage 1. The MAPP rover was the first US teleoperated rover operated on the lunar surface and in cislunar space. Lunar Voyage 1 achieved the first successful commercialization of a lunar rover system through successful integration, transit operations, and delivery of numerous partners and payloads. Dr. Meyen also leads Lunar Outpost’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services program, to develop a human-rated rover for NASA Artemis Astronauts. His other experience on planetary surface mobility includes a multi-year role as a contributing scientist for the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE) aboard NASA’s Perseverance Rover.
Prior to co-founding Lunar Outpost, Dr. Meyen led key parts of several spacecraft programs and created companies that used technology to solve the world’s toughest challenges. While at Draper Labs, Forrest led the avionics systems engineering of multiple lunar landers. He also was a program manager of Draper’s Sembler office dedicated to startup collaborations and commercialization. Prior to Draper, he co-founded the MIT 100K winner and Y-Combinator backed solar asset management software company, Raptor Maps.
Dr. Meyen earned his master’s and doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Aeronautics and Astronautics for his contributions to the design of the MOXIE, and research in space suit development.
Dr. Amanda M. Cook is a space instrument scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. She is the integration and test lead and mission ops lead for the Near-InfraRed Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS). NIRVSS is a science instrument on the VIPER rover to search for water and other ices at the South Pole of the Moon; VIPER launches late 2024. Amanda also spends her time developing “younger” instruments like anemometers, cloud sensors, and imaging systems for use on future missions to the moon and beyond.
Kaila Pfrang is a Thermal Engineer at Lunar Outpost, where she designs and tests thermal control systems for advanced lunar rovers. Thermal control systems are a crucial component of multi-planetary rover design, as they maintain the rover’s components within an acceptable temperature range for optimal operations.
During Lunar Voyage 1, Kaila was an operator in Lunar Outpost’s Mission Control. As a Power & Thermal Officer, she managed the MAPP rover’s power systems and thermal control, monitoring energy usage and temperature levels.
Prior to joining Lunar Outpost, Kaila served as the Beavercube Thermal Subsystem Lead at MIT, guiding a team in the development of a thermal control system for a CubeSat program. Her expertise in this area is highlighted by her authorship of the paper, “Reducing CubeSat Complexity Through Thermal Modeling & Control Systems.” During her time at MIT, Kaila also served as the Chief-of-Staff and Project Lead for the MIT Undergraduate Innovation Committee and founded MIT Innovation Week.
Kaila’s work in the space industry began in 2018 when she interned at NASA’s Langley Research Center on the Mars Study Capability Team – determining optimal trajectories for human spaceflight to and from Mars. She co-authored the paper, “Hybrid Transportation Systems Integrated Trajectory Design and Optimization for Mars Landing Site Accessibility,” which was presented at the 2019 AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum.
Nathan Perry is a second-year Master's student at the MIT Media Lab in the Responsive Environments Group. He is a multidisciplinary software engineer working on networking improvements for embedded devices.
Dr. Don D. Haddad is a Planetary Science Software Engineer working for NASA Ames Research Center and the Space Exploration Initiative at MIT. He serves as the lead software engineer for the MIT Lunar Imaging payload, on the Mobile and Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) Lunar Rover, developed by Lunar Outpost as part of the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission. Don develops pipelines to control hardware and process data from the lunar surface, producing virtual 3D models of microtopographic terrains. His work extends to analyzing lunar surface properties using Near-Infrared (NIR) and visible spectral imaging to detect variations in mineral composition, regolith types, and other surface characteristics essential for understanding resource distribution, and geological processes, blending the canvas of Science and Exploration.
Dr. Maya Nasr is a scientist at Harvard and EDF, focusing on the mission planning for in-orbit calibrations and the development of machine learning models for the MethaneSAT project, with expertise in spacecraft operations, engineering systems, technology strategy, and space law and policy. Holds Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD degrees in Aerospace Engineering from MIT. Passionate about increasing global representation and access in the space sector and raising awareness about nationality-based discrimination. Project lead and co-founder of HUMANS, an ISS and Lunar symbolic avenue for space access worldwide. Also served as co-lead of the Space Law & Policy Project Group at SGAC. Experienced in several space projects, including MOXIE for NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission, Cassini’s mission activity on Titan, and the OneWeb satellites network.
Moderator: Dr. Dava Newman is the Director of the MIT Media Lab. She’s also the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Harvard–MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology faculty member. She served as NASA Deputy Administrator (2015-17), the first female engineer in this role, and was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Her research and teaching expertise include aerospace biomedical engineering, human performance, advanced space suit design, AI/ML for climate, design, leadership development, innovation, and technology and policy. Newman has been principal investigator (PI) on four spaceflight missions flown aboard the Space Shuttle, Russian Mir Space Station and the International Space Station, and is best known for her revolutionary BioSuit™ planetary spacesuit. Recently, she co-founded EarthDNA with partner Guillermo Trotti to accelerate solutions for spaceship Earth’s Ocean, Land and Air subsystems by curating satellite data to make the world work for 100% of humanity.
Dr. Michael R. Barratt was selected by NASA in 2000. Board certified in Internal and Aerospace Medicine, he has participated in two spaceflights. In 2009, Dr. Barratt served as Flight Engineer for Expedition 19/20. This marked the transition from three to six permanent International Space Station crew members. During this time, he performed two spacewalks. He also flew on STS-133, which delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module and fourth Express Logistics Carrier. Dr. Barratt served in the Mission Support branches providing medical and human factors expertise to multiple spaceflight programs. He has spent a total of 212 days in space across two spaceflights. Dr. Barratt launched to the International Space Station March 3, 2024, as pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. He served as a flight engineer aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission successfully splashed down at 3:29 a.m. EDT Friday, off Pensacola, Florida, concluding a nearly eight-month science mission and the agency’s eighth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station.
Dr. Erika Wagner serves as the Lead for US Business Development at The Exploration Company, one of the fastest growing space companies globally, building reusable space capsules and lunar landers. Previously, Dr. Wagner spent more than a decade at Blue Origin, where she helped drive the company’s go-to-market strategies in suborbital research, commercial space stations, and lunar technologies. Earlier, she worked with the X PRIZE Foundation as Senior Director of Exploration Prize Development and founding Executive Director of the X PRIZE Lab@MIT. She also served at MIT as Science Director and Executive Director of the Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program.
In the community, Dr. Wagner has worked with The National Academies since 2014, including her current seat on the Steering Committee for A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars. Her Board service currently focuses on STEM/STEAM engagement and innovation with The Museum of Flight and Aurelia Institute. She is an advocate for gender diversity in tech with the International Women’s Forum and Brooke Owens Fellowship.
Dr. Wagner’s interdisciplinary academic background includes studies in Biomedical and Aerospace Engineering from Vanderbilt University, MIT, International Space University, and the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Her research spanned both human and mammalian adaptation to microgravity, partial gravity, and centrifugation; as well as organizational innovation and prize theory. She has been named a Fellow of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) and the Explorers Club, and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Dr. Cady Coleman is a former NASA Astronaut and a retired US Air Force Colonel with more than 180 days in space, accumulated during two space shuttle missions and a six-month expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) as the Lead Robotics and Lead Science officer.
Cady served in a variety of roles within the Astronaut Office, including Chief of Robotics, and lead astronaut for integration of supply ships from NASA’s commercial partners. Before retiring from NASA, she led open-innovation and public-private partnership efforts for NASA’s Chief Technologist.
A popular public speaker and media consultant, she also serves as a research affiliate to MIT’s Media Lab. She is a regular contributor to ABC for space exploration news and co-hosted Arizona State University’s Mission: Interplanetary podcast.
Cady’s book, Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change, has garnered praise from a wide range of thought leaders for its candid stories and widely-applicable insights. She and her family were recently featured in two documentaries, PBS’s The Longest Goodbye, and The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station.