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MIT Astronauts: Tweeting, Dancing, and Playing the Flute

  • Kate Repantis
  • slice.mit.edu
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More astronauts call MIT their alma mater than any other non-military academic institution. And many are coming back to campus this week for the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Centennial Symposium.

Just who are the 38 MIT men and women who have donned hefty spacesuits in the name of science? Check out our infographic of MIT’s former, current, and candidate astronauts:

Source: NASA
Source: NASA

Celebrating MIT’s contributions to space is nothing new. This week we’ve been sharing some of our favorite alumni astronaut snapshots on Facebook. At an #MITAlum Twitter chat earlier this month, alumni tweeted about the challenges of working in space exploration, and on October 30, Emily Calandrelli SM ’13 will share her own path from MIT to TV host of Xploration Outer Space. Astronaut Cady Coleman '83 is expected to join.

Alumnus Timothy Creamer sends the first tweet from space.
Alumnus Timothy Creamer sends the first tweet from space.

On Slice, we shared how MIT alumni were instrumental in the Hubble Telescope repairs and celebrated astronaut Cady Coleman ’83, an accomplished flutist, as she played a tune for NPR while on the International Space Station. Timothy Creamer SM ’92 sent the first tweet from space, while Buzz Aldrin shared how his MIT degree equipped him for moon walking and cutting a rug on Dancing with the Stars.

Left: Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin takes photos during training on July 1, 1969. Photo: NASA Kennedy Space Center. Right: Aldrin rehearses with dance partner Ashly Costa. A typical session in the studio is three-and-a-half to four hours. Photo: ABC/Rick Rowell.
Left: Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin takes photos during training on July 1, 1969. Photo: NASA Kennedy Space Center. Right: Aldrin rehearses with dance partner Ashly Costa. A typical session in the studio is three-and-a-half to four hours. Photo: ABC/Rick Rowell.

Christopher Cassidy SM ’00, P ’16
Christopher Cassidy SM ’00, P ’16

More recent stories include the Curiosity Rover landing on Mars—a mission led by 20 alumni—and the reawakening of the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft, scheduled to be the first probe to make a comet landing this November.

Here are some of our space favorites. What are yours?

1. MIT to the Rescue: Institute Astronauts Fix Hubble Troubles—Again

2. The NASA-Influenced Dress Shirt

3. Led by MIT Alums, Curiosity Rover Drills into Mars

4. Alums “Mohawk Guy,” “Touchdown Guy” Discuss Mars Landing

5. Space Flute Duet: Alumna’s Salute to Yuri Gagarin

6. Landing on a Comet Millions of Miles Away

7. Space: An Alumni Frontier

8. Meet NASA’s Newest Astronaut–and for MIT, Number 38

9. Alumnus Sends First Tweet from Space!

10. Buzz Cuts a Rug on Dancing with the Stars

Watch videos of this week’s AeroAstro Centennial Symposium. Visit the Alumni Association's Space Short Series with accounts from alumni astronauts about gravity, reacclimating to earth, and more. 

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eko suprapto Ir

Fri, 10/24/2014 3:11pm

good , ready us !

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