Episode #306: Lunar Litter

On this week's episode, we’ll discuss lunar surface waste management, the important role this will play as humanity scales to a presence in space, and attempt to answer the very important question, “who takes out the trash on the moon?”

My guest on the show, Nadia Khan, is a first year graduate student at MIT pursuing an M.S. in Technology and Policy at the Institute for Data Systems and Society. Nadia has a dual research assistantship position at the Engineering Systems Lab in the AeroAstro department as well as being a project leader at the MIT Media Lab's Space Exploration Initiative, where she is leading the development of MIT's Lunar Open Architecture platform. Nadia has an eclectic background, in international relations, disaster risk reduction, space weather and space exploration. She's also the operations lead for MIT's Global Start Up Workshop, a member of the MIT Grad Arts Forum's Executive Committee, professional development lead and executive committee member at the Graduate Women of Aerospace at MIT's AeroAstro lab. Prior to starting her second M.S. at MIT, Nadia was an Aziz Foundation Scholar at University College London where she completed a MSc in Space, Risk and Disaster Reduction. She also completed a BA in International Relations from Queen Mary, University of London. In 2019, Nadia was recognised by HM Queen Elizabeth II for her services to mental health in the UK, in setting up her award winning Not for Profit - The Delicate Mind C.I.C. Nadia is a Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum and a Local Leader as part of the Franco British Programme.