Meet the Team

Dr. Cody Paige is expedition Principal Investigator. She is also the lead on the Capturing the Moon project. Cody is the Director of the Space Exploration Initiative at the Media Lab, a team of 50+ students, faculty and staff building and flying advanced technology for space exploration.  The Initiative focuses on helping students take their research into space. Cody completed her Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. Her research focused on enabling a permanent human presence on the Moon through the development of wearable radiation shielding material and a virtual reality platform for geological surface exploration of the Moon and Mars. Cody also has a background in geology, specifically quaternary geochronology, and completed her Master of Applied Science at the University of Toronto in Aerospace Engineering and her Bachelor of Applied Science from Queen’s University in Engineering Physics. Cody is also a pilot, a scuba diver, an avid hiker and rock climber.

Maggie Coblentz is Head of Field Logistics and Production. After initiating the Space Exploration Initiative's first fieldwork program in the Arctic in 2022, she has made multiple expeditions as an educator, guide, and storyteller. Drawn to remote contexts, her work reflects on the relationship between people, technology, and wildlife. Maggie's work has included a multi-week Arctic expedition in 24 hours darkness, a residency at the world's northernmost research station, flying on zero gravity flights, and an experiment in the International Space Station. Maggie is a lifelong adventurer. Her research often takes shape as photography, writing, and image-based books.

Chucho (Jesús) Ocampo Aguilar is the lead of the Papalotes Atmosféricos project. Chucho is a Mexican artist and architect. At the heart of his practice lies the concern of how, through interfaces, workshops, walking, and appropriation of spaces can we misuse, misinterpret, and detour deterministic conceptions of our milieu. Using drifting/erring as a tool, Chucho seeks to challenge preconceptions around scale, use-function, bureaucracy, and our relation to more than human entities. Chucho holds a Science Master in Art, Culture and Technology from MIT, where he cofounded ppppress, a student and alumni run independent press. In parallel, Ocampo works as creative director and partner in dérive LAB: an art, architecture, and urbanism firm with projects related to housing, urban design, public space interventions and cultural management, and is cofounder of BEMA: a cultural center in Queretaro, Mexico. Ocampo has taught and researched in the Art, Culture and, Technology program at MIT, Parsons School of Design, and the Art, Film, and Visual Studies program at Harvard University. 

Philip Cherner is the lead on the Earth Mission Control project.  Phil recently finished his Master's in EECS and was a research assistant at the MIT Media Lab under Prof. Dava Newman, focusing on the intersection of Human Computer Interaction(HCI) and AI. Prior to coming back to MIT after initially receiving his S.B. in EECS, he was at Microsoft for 5 years as a developer and project manager, working on numerous enterprise level AI and VR projects for clients. His current work centers around creating a immersive virtual multi-user climate data visualization platform, translating global and local climate change impacts into relatable, actionable steps for community members and policymakers.  He is passionate about shaping the future of HCI through the design of inspiring and innovative digital and tangible human-centered experiences.

Fangzheng Liu is the lead engineer for the HexSense and the AstroAnt. Fangzheng received a B.S. in Information Engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology in 2015, an M.S. in Information and Communication Engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology in 2018, and an M.S. in Digital Communication and Multimedia from MIT Media Lab. He is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program at MIT Media Lab in Responsive Environments group. His main research interest is miniature robotic swarms and wireless sensor networks for planetary explorations. A notable project within this framework is the development of the "AstroAnt", a miniature robot slated for deployment to the Lunar South Pole in the IM-2 lunar mission. The AstroAnt will work on the top panel of the MAPP-1 lunar rover, collecting thermal data from various positions to monitor the rover's thermal system performance.

Nathan Perry is the field engineer for the HexSense and the AstroAnt. He is a Master's student at the MIT Media Lab's Responsive Environments group, and has a background in software and embedded systems. He completed his Computer Science / Philosophy undergrad at Williams College in 2018, spent several years in industry startups, and returned to school at the Media Lab in 2023. Nathan is researching implementation modes and efficiency metrics over robust heterogenous swarms of autonomous agents. His interests include control systems, space and aviation technology, sensory augmentation, realtime HITL systems, and autonomy.