This is a highly interactive activity in which MIT Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) takes you on the journey of planning a space mission. In coming decades, humanity will return to the Moon and visit Near Earth Objects (NEOs). Engineers and scientists will work together to develop these missions, and this will not alway be easy (as you will see!). Your goal during this class is to come up with a destination for a human space mission given scientific goals and constraints such as how long a human can survive on a spacecraft or the amount of money allotted for your space mission. You will have team discussions, present your findings, offer criticisms and lead the charge into the heavens.

Past, present, and future of space exploration, including new discoveries and technologies along with the basic science that allows this. This will include a presentation of data from the Moon collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in large format! Explore the floor of Tycho Crater and the Taurus Littrow Valley, the Apollo 17 Landing site. Meet students who have worked on space missions such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, in government organizations such as NASA, the US Air Force Research Lab. Plan to participate in an inspiring dialog on the status and future of space exploration.

Ever want to learn how rockets are designed and built? How about how to use composite materials, which if used properly, can have significant benefits over traditional materials, such as metals. This class will discuss how rockets work and what goes into the design of a rocket. Then it will discuss how composites are generally fabricated and students will get a chance to make their own rocket fins out of composite materials. This class is sponsored by the Rocket Team of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS).

Get hands-on with astronomy! In this two-hour class, you will learn about telescopes -- coordinate systems, alignment, focusing, eyepiece size and field of view -- during the first hour, and then move outside for a hands-on lab during the second hour. Depending on the time of the class, students will either get to observe the Sun (though a solar filter, of course!) or the stars. This class is sponsored by the Astrophotography Team of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) at MIT.

Since the beginning of the space race deep in the heart of the Cold War, international policies have tried to steer the course of space exploration into an international, peaceful endeavor to benefit all mankind. This course will focus on major international space treaties, like the Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Treaty, and how they may or may not be relevant in the future of space exploration. Students will also discuss key policy decisions that the United States has made regarding manned space exploration over the course of the space age. This class is sponsored by the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) at MIT. For more information about MIT-SEDS, visit http://seds.mit.edu

We will look up into the night sky and peer deep into the universe, exploring our own solar system, the Milky Way Galaxy, and beyond! Students will learn about just how big our universe is, and how diverse the matter that fills it is. Hosted by the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Astrophotography Team.

Everyone's grandparents grew up thinking that by the year 2000 we'd have flying cars and round trip service to Moon hotels. Student will learn many of the challenges that still face our space program in allowing humans to live off Earth. Moon and Mars habitats as well as free-floating space colonies will be discussed along with the environmental barriers that must be overcome. Hosted by the Students for the Exploration and Developement of Space.