MIT scientists, researchers, artists, and designers unite to reimagine humanity’s return to the Moon. In early 2025, special experiments and equipment from MIT will be sent to the Moon's south polar region on the Lunar Outpost MAPP (Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform) rover, carried by Intuitive Machines's Nova-C lander on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. MIT's three payloads include the AstroAnt (a robotic ant experiment), the 3D camera, and the HUMANS project (an MIT art and nanotechnology initiative). Targeted to land on the Moon in Q1 of 2025, MIT will operate their active payloads (the AstroAnt and the 3D camera) during the 9-day mission from Mission Control, a facility designed by the MIT Architecture students and faculty in collaboration with the MIT Space Exploration Initiative and installed in the MIT Media Lab ground-floor gallery. The installation serves as an interactive site for public engagement, allowing visitors to observe payload operators in real time, learn about the science behind the project, and interact with the same software used by the payload operators via virtual reality.

Designing the Lunar-Inspired Architecture

Constructed using Owens Corning cellular glass—a lightweight and modular material that provides an efficient and durable structure—Mission Control manifests a dual connection to the Moon: its screens deliver real-time views of the lunar surface while its very walls echo the basalt-rich terrain.

Leveraging technologies used by the MIT Architecture students and faculty for robotic production and modular design, and their research in optimized structural forms, the self-supporting and fully insulated structure revisits materials that can be produced efficiently here on earth and found naturally on the moon.

The Lunar Research

MIT’s three payloads include:

• The AstroAnt, inspired by science fiction concepts of biomimetic swarm robotics, is a miniature robot designed to work in swarms. During the first few days of the mission, it will traverse the surface of the Lunar Outpost rover while recording surface temperatures—critical data for assessing the rover's operational health. This innovative design explores the potential for robot swarms to perform diagnostic and repair tasks in symbiosis with spacecraft.
• The 3D camera payload (derived from a Microsoft Kinect) began as part of the NASA-funded RESOURCE project, assessing analog extreme environments and how VR can assist explorers and astronauts in the field. The camera will collect the first-ever LiDAR data from the surface of the Moon, providing high-resolution 3D imagery to help scientists understand the Lunar surface, help to train future astronauts for the unique environment of the Moon’s South polar region, and bring the world with us as MIT returns to the Lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo missions.
• The Humanity United with MIT Art and Nanotechnology in Space (HUMANS) project exemplifies MIT's commitment to global representation in space, combining art and nanotechnology to create innovative, inclusive contributions to space exploration.

‍Space and the Arts

Through artistic projections, live mission operations, and interactive elements, the installation creates moments of wonder and understanding that transcend traditional boundaries between art and science. It offers visitors direct engagement with lunar exploration while inspiring deeper reflection on our place in the cosmos. Inploration co-founders Lawrence Azerrad and Richelle Ellis guide the creative vision, working alongside Cody Paige, architects Mateo Fernandez and Skylar Tibbits, and planetary science software engineer Don Derek Haddad. The MIT Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) and Inploration unite visionary thinking with technical innovation in this ambitious project.

Inploration transforms humanity's relationship with space through ground-breaking collaborations between artists, scientists, and innovative thinkers. By weaving together art, science, and consciousness, we create experiences that expand perspectives and deepen our connection to the cosmos. Young creators - artists, designers, and innovators who naturally blur boundaries between fields - find in Inploration a blueprint for their own explorations. Inploration is a non-profit arts and cultural initiative, operating under Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)3 non-profit arts service organization. Learn more at inploration.com.

Future Exhibits

The Mission Control design has been thoughtfully created with reusability in mind. It will remain on display at the MIT Media Lab through late fall 2025, coinciding with the Media Lab's fortieth anniversary celebration. This milestone event will bring together member companies from diverse industries for celebratory activities. Plans are also in motion for additional exhibits across the United States and internationally, ensuring continued engagement and inspiration well beyond the initial mission.

Project Designer: Mateo Fernandez

Fabrication: Simon Lesina-Debiasi, Nof Nathansohn, Nebyu Haile, Jared Laucks

Faculty: John Ochsendorf,, Brandon Clifford, J. Roc Jih, Skylar Tibbits