MJMARGGRAFF

MISSION FILE / MM–BLOG

04.05° NResearch / Education / Flight

Space health · Human factors · STEM leadership

Innovate.Inspire.Imagine.

Pushing the bounds of what's possible—making space safer for astronauts and preparing today's students to become tomorrow's space leaders.

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01

Orbital
research

02

Lunar
systems

03

Human
connection

● NOW TRANSMITTING

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PROJECT MOONDUST
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GRAVITY GAMES™ / ISS
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HUMAN FACTORS
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STEM LEADERSHIP
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MISSION PRINCIPLE / 00

The path to the stars runs through space health, student ingenuity, and imagination.
SPACE IS AN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTHUMANITY IS THE MISSION

01 / MISSION ARCHIVE

Work built for
life beyond Earth.

MJ brings students, researchers, and space-sector partners together to address practical human challenges—then turns the work into opportunities for the next generation.

01
A student researcher working with SEE Lab equipment at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Student researcher / NASA Marshall Space Flight Center SEE Lab

INNOVATE / LUNAR SYSTEMS

Project
MOONDUST

A student-built answer to a problem that could shape the future of lunar exploration.

As creator and principal investigator, MJ led a collaboration between NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's SEE Lab and Aerospace Systems Management students to design a device that captures levitating lunar dust simulant found at the Moon's south pole. We proposed that lofted dust indicates what is contained in the regolith below, which downstream analysis could verify. Findings from dust collected by the proof-of-concept device were presented by the students at the annual Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium meeting.

Environment
Lunar south pole
Focus
Regolith capture
Impact
Understanding the content of various lunar regolith locations helps inform safety, construction, and harvesting for forthcoming Artemis missions.
02

INSPIRE / ORBITAL EXPERIMENT

Gravity
Games™

What kind of game could only be played in space?

MJ gave STEM students the chance to design StarCatcher—the first game made on the MadeInSpace zero-gravity 3D printer in space and playable only in space. It was demonstrated aboard the ISS during Expedition 50/51.

Platform
International Space Station
Mission
Expedition 50/51
First
Game made in space
Commander Peggy Whitson demonstrating StarCatcher aboard the International Space Station

Commander Peggy Whitson demonstrates StarCatcher / Photo: NASA

MISSION FOOTAGE / ISSWatch the crew demonstration
Gravity Games™ aboard the International Space Station
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“
College students today will lead tomorrow's return to the Moon and beyond.

IMAGINE / NEXT GENERATION

Preparing the people who will take us farther.

Tomorrow's Moon and deep-space missions need leaders who can think across disciplines, work through uncertainty, and build what does not yet exist. MJ helps students become proactive, imaginative, and effective contributors to the future of aerospace.

MJ Marggraff speaking with students in a classroom

02 / ACTIVE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Q–01

How do we protect the human mind when Earth is no longer close?

Long-duration missions affect health, performance, sleep, cognition, and crew relationships. MJ's doctoral research explored social-support technology designed to strengthen connection between astronauts and the people who matter to them.

Q–02

Can artificial intelligence create genuine connection across extreme distance?

Contacts are not always connections. MJ's work asks how technology can better support belonging, empathy, reciprocity, and human relationships—even under the most extreme conditions.

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SUBJECT PROFILE
MJ MARGGRAFF

MJ Marggraff standing beside an aircraft

Applied researcher · Educator · Commercial pilot

ABOUT / HUMAN FACTORS

Exploration
is human.

MJ is an applied researcher with projects on the International Space Station and at NASA, a Human Factors in Aerospace and Aviation adjunct professor, and a commercial pilot working at the intersection of space health and human connection.

Her doctoral research at USC focused on reducing the risks of isolation on long-duration space flights. She founded Gravity Games™, advised Students for the Exploration and Discovery of Space, served as a CapCom officer at the Mars Desert Research Station, and created Project MOONDUST.

EducationEdD, USC · MS, Indiana University · BA, UCSB · FAA Certifications: Flight and Advanced Ground Instructor
Field experienceISS · NASA Marshall · Mars Desert Research Station
Memberships & affiliationsAIAA · LSCI · UC Alumni · Concord (MA) Authors
Additional Air & Space

Mission Support Representative — Virgin Galactic

Author — Finding the Wow: How Dreams Take Flight at Midlife, IPPY Bronze Award, and other publications

Speaker — Beyond the Cradle (MIT), Chautauqua Speaker (NY), Hallmark Morning Show (LA)

Media — Bay Area TV news and other interviews

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04 / FIELD NOTES

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OPEN CHANNEL / SPEAKING · RESEARCH · COLLABORATION

What should
we imagine next?

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