Historian George Dyson and inventor Danny Hillis discuss  spaceships past and future–from the fascinating story behind “Orion” to the present day. Erika Wagner and Geoff Nunn will show us how we take this into the New Space Age paradigm, from rockets and spaceflight, to preserving the artifacts of our space exploration future.

Erika Wagner, Business Development Manager, Blue Origin

George Dyson, Historian

Danny Hillis, Inventor and Founder, Applied Invention

Geoff Nunn, Adjunct Curator for Space History, Seattle Museum of Flight

How can humanity better plan for remote, long-duration space missions? Deep sea and oceans research and on-land remote expeditions offer compelling analogs for the challenges of space travel. Hear from Dava Newman, former Deputy Administrator of NASA, on a vision for exploration that unites many spheres of inquiry. Media Lab Director’s Fellow Katy Croff Bell and NASA’s Darlene Lim will discuss their cutting-edge research in this area, and engage the group in an exploration design exercise.

Dava Newman, Apollo Program Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems, MIT

Katy Croff Bell, Deep sea explorer; Founder and lead, Open Ocean Initiative, MIT Media Lab

Darlene Lim, Geobiologist; PI for NASA BASALT mission, NASA Ames Research Center

The future of human habitation in space calls for a new wave of architectural exploration--from adaptive structures, to biological materials, to space hotels and martian colonies. Hear from leading figures in this field about their work and see a sneak peak of your future space habitat! This workshop will include both an open conversation and a design session with the audience.

Valentina Sumini, Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Media Lab

Chris Maurer, Architect/Biotect, redhouse studio

Michael Morris, Principal, Morris Sato Studio; Founding member, SEArch+ LLC

Caitlin Mueller, Assistant Professor of Architecture, PI for Digital Structures group, MIT

Gui Trotti, Architect; President, Trotti & Associates, Inc. (TAI)

Have an idea for an aerospace startup of your own? Florida and California may house the launch pads, but the New Space Age is inspiring startups and small companies right here in the greater Boston area. Come meet CEOs and founders of local space companies working in launch, propulsion, adaptive optics, and small satellite development. You will learn about the process of founding an aerospace startup and about university collaborations. This workshop will be led by MIT Aerospace Engineering professor Kerri Cahoy.

Kerri Cahoy, Associate Professor, STAR Lab, MIT

Paul Bierden, President and CEO, Boston Micromachines Corporation

Karl Hoose, CEO/CTO, VALT Enterprises, LLC

Ryan McDevitt, CEO and VP of R&D, Benchmark Space Systems, Inc.

Louis Perna, Lead Mechanical Engineer and Founder, Accion Systems

Humanity stands on the cusp of an interplanetary future. Science fiction encourages us to imagine large cohorts of humans living and working as space voyagers. Where and how does pregnancy and early childhood development fit into this picture? How will we birth and raise a new generation of native space-farers? Hear from NASA flight surgeons and Ob-Gyns, childhood development experts, and artists on the future of supporting the human race in an entirely new and unusual reproductive environment!

Alexis Hope, Designer and Research Affiliate, MIT Media Lab

Dr. Richard Jennings, MS, Ret. NASA Flight Surgeon

Lucy McRea, Sci Fi Artist and Body Architect (Remote)

Dr. Joshua Sparrow,  Director, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Children’s Hospital; Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Part-time, Harvard Medical School

In every photo of a human in space, we see a spacesuit. The spacesuit symbolizes both the promise and the terror of human progress---the boundless possibility of technological achievement and the fragility of the human body apart from the Earth. What we wear in the void inevitably becomes an integral part of us. From augmentation to fashion, how will the body adapt to the most hostile environment we can imagine? What are the limits of our fundamental nature? Join bionic pop artist Viktoria Modesta, performance artist Xin Liu, and fashion pioneers Andrea Lauer and Lee Anderson in designing the look of the new space age.

Xin Liu, Arts Curator, MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative

Viktoria Modesta, Bionic Artist and Multi-Media Performer; Director’s Fellow, MIT Media Lab

Andrea Lauer, Chief Creative Officer, Risen from the Thread; Director’s Fellow, MIT Media Lab

Lee Anderson, Founder, Starkweather and FAAR

Games are a uniquely human endeavour, reducing stress and supporting mental wellbeing. Astronauts aboard the ISS have created their own games using materials at hand and pure creativity. What if we could create games for them that take particular advantage of aspects of space–such as micro-gravity–and would help keep astronauts mentally engaged, socially connected, and physically relaxed? Promising projects from this workshop may have the opportunity to be tested on the Media Lab’s next Zero-G flight! Let’s play!

Dan Novy, PhD student & Sci Fab Class Instructor, MIT Media Lab