Comcast, a Media Lab member provided sponsorship of mission operations, and the development of the MIT Mission Control room. Additionally, the Live mission experience was developed in collaboration with Comcast. The Livestream Mission Experience can be accessed at TotheMoontoStay.org or X1 customers can access the experience by saying ‘to the Moon’ in their voice remote. A post-mission experience is currently in development with Comcast to provide access to data collected on the Lunar surface, 3D exploration of the Moon, and educational content to learn more about why we are going to the Moon.
Draper provided mission support through the MIT Space Exploration Initiative Lunar Operations course through instruction and expertise in Lunar missions. This support guided students through the development of their Lunar payloads, with the selection of two of the projects as the active payloads for the To the Moon to Stay mission. Find more details on the course under Operating in the Lunar Environment.
Lockheed Martin provided support for the Lunar mission, making it possible for MIT to return to the Moon’s surface.
Digital Garage provided support for the Lunar mission, making it possible for MIT to return to the Moon’s surface.
Perseid provided support for the Lunar mission, making it possible for MIT to return to the Moon’s surface.
Castrol provided support for the Lunar mission, making it possible for MIT to return to the Moon’s surface. Castrol also provided the lubricant used to enable the AstroAnt’s wheels to function in the extreme environment of space.
The Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) at the MIT Media Lab and Inploration, a non-profit art and space initiative, will conduct an outreach and education collaboration surrounding the Lunar Mission Control and an innovative and dynamic public exhibit curated by Inploration. This collaboration will commence in the Fall of 2024, and will be realized on the MIT campus.
The project involves constructing a cutting-edge structure designed by leading architects from the School of Architecture + Planning's Program, and manufactured using FOAMGLAS technology to push the boundaries of future architecture. Advising the project are Inploration co-founders, Lawrence Azerrad and Richelle Ellis with additional support from Tiffany Pitoun and Sarah Kraft. The MIT team will be led by Dr. Cody Paige, Director of the Space Exploration Initiative, design architects Matteo Ghidoni, MIT Architecture, and Skylar Tibbits, Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Programs, Assistant Director for Education at the Morningside Academy for Design, alongside planetary science software engineer Don Derek Haddad. The exhibit features mission operators working live from within the structure, controlling the lunar mission in real-time.
Visitors will have the unique opportunity to observe the mission as it unfolds, alongside projections and displays of artwork and quotes from Inploration artists, merging perspectives from science, engineering, design, and art. The Lunar Mission Control will manage MIT's payload delivery to a lunar lander and act as a communication hub for creative projects across multiple research stations during the World’s Biggest Analog 2025 (WBA 2025). Inploration will collaborate with SEI student Madelyn Hoying and SEI alumni Sana Sharma to develop a multi-venue creative research initiative corresponding with WBA leadership. The project will explore the necessity to utilize artistic thinking in our efforts to understand space.
DELL, a Media Lab member company, provided the operator stations, display stations and technical support for the Lunar Mission Control. The compute power will enable real-time communications with Lunar Outpost to operate our active payloads on the Lunar surface, processing of Lunar data for in-mission analysis, and to share with the public the virtual environments used to develop the 3D camera payload at our Lunar mission control room. Learn more about the MIT Mission Control.
Owens Corning supported the build of the MIT Mission Control providing the cellular glass building material, a lightweight and modular material that provides an efficient and durable structure. The cellular glass mimics the materials on the Moon as a fabricated basalt-like material. Learn more about the MIT Mission Control.
Steelcase provided the seating for the Mission Control room, allowing payload operators to work in comfort late into the night over the 9-day mission.
Bose provided technical aviation headsets for the main payload operators with both noise canceling and adaptive microphones capable of providing clear communication with Lunar Outpost, despite the potential for noise in the Media Lab lobby, allowing the Mission Control to be open to the public even during operations. Additionally, Bose provided noise canceling headsets for all back-up operators and support team members in the Mission Control room.