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MIT is commemorating the 50thanniversary year of the Apollo 11 moon landing with MIT Space Week, March 13 to 15. This series of events will celebrate the past 50 years of space exploration and consider the future of interplanetary travel. We are proud to announce that the System Design and Management (SDM) community will be well-represented at these events.

On March 13, two people with SDM ties will participate in a symposium hosted by the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro) to investigate the legacy of the Apollo program and envision the next 50 years of human space exploration. The day’s events will feature panel discussions with NASA astronauts and engineers as well as MIT faculty and students.

Olivier de Weck, professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering systems, will moderate two panels; he has served as the head of SDM’s integrated core curriculum. George Lordos, SDM alum and current AeroAstro doctoral student, will deliver a lightning talk on Project HYDRATION, which envisions mining water from ice on Mars. (The HYDRATION project has also included collaboration from Integrated Design and Management alum Meghan Maupin and Roland de Filippi, a current SDM student.)

Two days later, on March 15, SDM alum John Rising will speak at the student-led New Space Age Conference. Rising will appear on the “Astropreneurs” panel during the Emerging Space Economy Forum, a discussion focused on the rise of the private space industry. Rising is the director of vehicle engineering at Relativity Space, a company working toward 3D printing orbital rockets.

Many of the talks and events will be livestreamed over the internet. For more information, visit MIT Space Week.