Last year Prof. Binzel took us on a historic voyage from StoneHenge to MITHenge through cosmic alignments. This year we will look forward to what special alignments and cosmic vistas will greet future human visitors and settlers on the Moon and Mars. We will share the dates of this year's MITHenge event, and review the total solar eclipse many of us enjoyed on April 8, 2024. We will then proceed on to the Moon and Mars and look at solar and planetary alignments in the remainder of this century which will see the expansion of humanity as a multi-planetary species.

Olivier de Weck is Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is the Associate Department Head of Aero Astro. His research is in Systems Engineering with a focus on how complex technological systems are designed and how they evolve over time. He is a Fellow of INCOSE and AIAA and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. His textbook "Technology Roadmapping and Development" received a most promising textbook of 2024 award by TAA.

The lecture will take place in 10-250, followed by a reception in Lobby 13.