Dan Novy, an alum of the Media Lab’s Object-Based Media group and current professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, has been selected to participate as a communications officer in an upcoming analog astronaut mission. This mission is in conjunction with the Armenian Space Forum at the Mars Analog Research Station in Armash, Armenia.
The station is one of the flagship independent habitats for the World’s Biggest Analog (WBA) initiative. This proof-of-concept mission is bringing together 16 habitats across four continents to run simulated Lunar and Martian missions, united by a central Mission Control run by MICO-VIE, which is hosted by the Austrian Space Forum.
To help other aspiring astronauts run their own simulated space missions, Professor Novy has also created an educational Minecraft modpack.