Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/292443
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRAVIS BARNARD W hile many locals are scheming about which bikinis and tennis rackets to pack for a Nantucket vacation, a few are strategizing how to score one of MIT profes- sor Dava Newman's astronaut suits for a trip to Mars. After all, there's a global search for folks who are game to rocket up to the red planet in 2023 for Mars One, a nonprofit that's planning to launch small groups of the first humans to live and die on the Red Planet. The challenge caught the eye of 200,000 applicants (since narrowed down to 1,058), but Newman has had her eye on space travel since she stretched out under the stars as a kindergartner back in Helena, Montana. She would grow up to earn two master's degrees and a PhD at MIT, then rise through the ranks there to become a full professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She has devoted her life to adventure out of the lab, too: She skied in the Junior Olympics, has sailed around the world, and competes in triathlons. But when she lectures on "Building the Future Spacesuit" at the Harvard Smithsonian on Thursday, May 15, the audience will hear how Newman has become a leading expert on Mars travel and about the acclaimed BioSuit she invented. On Mars… What to Wear? MIT ROCKET SCIENTIST DAVA NEWMAN BLAZES NEW TRAILS WITH AN ASTRONAUT SUIT HEADED STRAIGHT TO THE RED PLANET. BY LISA PIERPONT MIT professor Dava Newman shows off her BioSuit prototype. 52 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM THOUGHT LEADER continued on page 54 052-054_BC_SP_ThoughtLeader_LteSpr14_REV.indd 52 4/4/14 10:51 AM