Into the Anthropocosmos: A Whole Space Catalog from the Mit Space Exploration Initiative

By Ariel Ekblaw

Book Overview

A lavishly illustrated catalog of space technology of the future: lab-tested devices, experiments, and habitats for the age of participatory space exploration.

As Earthlings, we stand on the brink of a new age: the Anthropocosmos--an era of space exploration in which we can expand humanity's horizons beyond our planet's bounds. And in this new era, we have twin responsibilities, to Earth and to space; we should neither abandon our own planet to environmental degradation nor litter the galaxy with space junk. This fascinating and generously illustrated volume--designed by MIT Media Lab researcher Sands Fish--presents space technology for this new age: prototypes, artifacts, experiments, and habitats for an era of participatory space exploration.

These projects, developed as part of MIT's Space Exploration Initiative, range from nanoscale imaging of microbes to responsive, sensor-mediated living environments. They show the usefulness of a seahorse tail for humans in microgravity, document the promise of shape-memory alloys for CubeSat in-orbit maneuvering, and introduce TESSERAE (Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive Environments), self-assembling space architecture. Some are ongoing, real-world systems: an art payload sent to the International Space Station via Space X CRS-20, for example, and a crowdsourced interplanetary cookbook. More than forty large-format, coffee table book-quality, full-color photographs make our future in space seem palpable. Short explanatory texts by Ariel Ekblaw, astronaut Cady Coleman, and others accompany the images.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262046377
• ISBN13: 9780262046374
• Release Date: October 2021
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 11.0" x 9.1"