In 2016, the MIT Media Lab set its sights on space. Just over three years later, the Space Exploration Initiative has grown to 50+ graduate students, staff, and faculty and now charters an annual ZERO-G parabolic flight for 14–15 projects and 25 researchers! These projects, shown below, were tested over many microgravity parabolas (including two lunar and one martian parabola), on August 15, 2019. This mission included participation from several departments at MIT and outside collaborators from across the globe in our mission to democratize access to space; this mission is a core milestone in the schedule of iterative microgravity testing (parabolic flights, suborbital launches, ISS launches) that the Space Exploration Initiative undertakes throughout the year.
The Initiative unites engineers, scientists, artists, and designers to prototype our space future. We hope you explore and enjoy the rich diversity of research perspectives in the projects shown below. Stay tuned for flight results and our research publications!