Deep Space Message Platform

HUMANS

HUMANS deep space message platform, Powerhouse Museum and MIT

Category

Space Technology & Science

Client

Powerhouse Museum × MIT

Year

2025

Role

Sole Platform Engineer

Inside a HUMANS recording booth: the platform running on a tablet, headphones hanging beneath it, acoustic foam on the walls
[ Inside the recording booth ]
HUMANS recording booths at the International Astronautical Congress 2025 in Sydney, a visitor walking past the brass panel inviting people to record a message
[ Recording booths at IAC 2025 ]

[ Overview ]

[ 76th IAC · 4,500+ delegates · 50+ countries ]

A public platform that collected thousands of recorded human messages for transmission to deep space.

HUMANS is a collaboration between Powerhouse Museum and MIT's nanotechnology laboratory. The public platform collected thousands of recorded human messages for transmission to deep space via Lunar Outpost and Intuitive Machines, scheduled for 2027.

I designed and built the platform as sole engineer. It was presented at the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney in October 2025, the world's foremost astronautics forum, with more than 4,500 delegates from over 50 countries.

Project Information

[ Space Technology & Science ]

[ The Challenge ]

Collect thousands of voices from the public and hold them to a standard fit for a lunar transmission.

The platform had to take recorded messages from the public at scale, with submissions closing on a date set by the mission partners, and hold the archive ready for transmission in 2027. It also carried the public face of a program presented alongside the Australian Space Agency and MIT.

[ The Approach ]

One engineer, the whole platform.

As sole platform engineer I designed and built the public-facing platform end to end, from the recording and submission flow to the archive behind it. The work ran alongside my role at Powerhouse, where the same data and integration standards applied.

[ The Outcome ]

Presented at the 76th International Astronautical Congress and recognised across science, government and media.

The project was formally acknowledged by the Australian Space Agency, covered independently by ABC News and Radio New Zealand, recognised in a NSW Government ministerial release, and nominated for a 2026 Webby Award in the Science and Education category.

Program partners include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, M+ Hong Kong, OMA, Sydney Opera House and Sydney Design Week.

Gloved hands holding the HUMANS record, a black disc etched with a world map and the HUMANS mark
[ The HUMANS record ]

[ Recognised By ]

  • Australian Space Agency, formal acknowledgement of the HUMANS project

  • ABC News, independent national media coverage

  • Radio New Zealand, independent international media coverage

  • NSW Government, ministerial recognition of IAC 2025

  • Webby Awards 2026, nominee in the Science and Education category

[ Learn More ]

[ Next Project ]

[ 04 / 06 ]

The M+ facade in Hong Kong showing the Powerhouse collaboration

65-Metre LED Facade

Powerhouse × M+

Australian collection objects, 3D-scanned as digital twins and presented across the 65-metre M+ facade in Hong Kong.

[ 65m LED facade · Hong Kong ]