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Check out the 2024 MIT Sustainability Conference summary to discover key insights on systemic change for climate action. This year's discussions focused on decarbonization, biodiversity, and innovative strategies for achieving net-zero goals by 2040. Learn how collaborative efforts and visionary leadership can drive transformative change across industries. Read the conference summary to see how you can contribute to a sustainable future.
The space enterprise is changing dramatically. Entrepreneurial space has increased dramatically, as has international space activity. The talk will review the critical space policy issues based on a recent class in this area. Next, it will outline the issues in space technology and architecture from the perspective of the AIAA and then turn to what research work in space is going on in the MIT AeroAstro Department. The talk will finish with some of the demographic challenges for the space enterprise.
Reaching Earth's orbit is an extremely energetic event. To remain in orbit requires a velocity of about 8 km/s, which corresponds to a specific energy of 30 MJ per kilogram. Since 1957 humans have been able to launch themselves as well as artificial satellites into orbit at increasing frequencies. This talk will give an update on the current state of launch vehicle technologies and this important and enabling part of the space sector. In 2023, for example, there were 222 launch attempts worldwide, of which 95% were successful. Assuming a CAGR of 12%, we predict that by 2027, there will be daily launches to space from somewhere on Earth's surface. This talk will summarize some of the physics, technologies, and economics of the launch vehicle industry.
MIT ARCLab focuses on space traffic management, space situational awareness, and space sustainability. This talk will analyze space security issues related to space management and orbital debris. It will also cover topics in space awareness, including behavior estimation, behavior characterization, and learning. Furthermore, the talk will discuss the Department of the Air Force's AI Accelerator, which has a focused project dedicated to space awareness and the development of AI techniques to address space security issues.
Availability and reliability of public electric vehicle charging infrastructure is an important factor for EV adoption. Professors Alex Jacquillat and Dan Freund provide an overview of their findings from an MIT Mobility Initiative research project that leverages computer vision and optimization to support public EV charging infrastructure within a dense urban context. Where can EV charging stations be feasibly located? Should fewer charging stations be offered each with more charging ports, or should more charging stations be offered each with fewer ports? Where should urban EV chargers be located? What is the ideal charging speed (power level)? This work focuses on the immediate neighborhood of Corktown in Detroit, Michigan, with support from Michigan Central.