As part of the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), Q+As with researchers from MIT and the Media Lab will be livestreamed from the International Space Station (ISS) on May 26 and May 28. The livestreams will begin promptly at the times listed.

• A Q+A with researchers from the Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit project will be livestreamed on May 26 at 10:45am EDT.
  

• A Q+A with researchers from the Humanity United with MIT Art and Nanotechnology in Space (HUMANS) project will be livestreamed on May 28 at 10am EDT. Watch this livestream in person at the MIT Museum! 

May 26 @ 10:45am EDT: Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit 

The MIT Human Systems Lab and the MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative are hosting an astronaut Q+A session on Friday, May 26 at 10:45am–11:00am with private astronaut John Shoffner, who is currently onboard the International Space Station (ISS) for 10 days in orbit with Axiom Mission 2. Shoffner will answer preselected questions from the MIT community and local K-12 Students, with live audio and video from the ISS. 

MIT community members can join in person in room 33-116. If attending in-person, please make sure to arrive on time. 

Project description: The Skinsuit is an innovative intravehicular activity suit designed to mitigate some of the physiological effects of microgravity; the system is intended to supplement exercise during future missions to the moon, and eventually, to Mars. The Skinsuit team is sponsored by the MIT Media Lab's Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) and led by Rachel Bellisle, PhD candidate in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and a Draper Scholar, and Dava Newman, director of the MIT Media Lab. 

May 28 @ 10am EDT: Humanity United with MIT Art and Nanotechnology in Space (HUMANS)

On Sunday, May 28 from 10am–10:20am, the MIT Museum will host a livestream directly from the International Space Station (ISS). The museum will open early at 9:30am that day so people have time to be seated in front of the giant screen in the Lee Family Exchange; please be sure to arrive on time, as the livestream will begin promptly at 10am. The astronauts aboard the ISS will discuss an MIT student project called HUMANS (Humanity United with MIT Art and Nanotechology in Space) that created a 6-inch silicon wafer etched with the words and sound recordings of 1,234 individuals from around the world.  At the museum, the HUMANS team will be talking directly with the astronauts. The program is free with Museum admission; Museum admission is free to the MIT community.  

Following the livestream, attendees can view the “back up” wafer and meet the MIT students and staff who conceived of this modern take on NASA’s famous “Golden Record.”

Project description: The Humanity United with MIT Art and Nanotechnology in Space (HUMANS) nanowafer is a record of messages in over 64 unique languages from stargazers around the world, symbolizing a declaration that space is a place for us all, and that our exploration of the cosmos is a global endeavor, not a national one. Learn more about this project and the cross-departmental team behind it in a recent MIT News article.