From new and renewed space programs in developed and developing countries to innovative technologies and commercial services from private industry, we are seeing a strong and renewed societal focus on space exploration. Along the way, cultural production for outer space becomes crucial for humanity as we expand beyond the earthbound. In the past, science fiction, such as Star Trek, has had a profound impact on our imaginations of planetary futures. What shall we read and imagine now? In this paper, we use the arts curation work of the Space Exploration Initiative at the MIT Media Lab as a case study, where the objective is to create broad and inclusive new dialogues and to envision the future of outer space. Our effort addresses outer space as a critical territory that must be inhabited--imaginatively, artistically, scientifically and collaboratively. The paper centers on the activities of designers, artists, scientists, engineers and social scientists at MIT, and the structures we have created to connect different efforts surrounding the arts in space outside of academia. The paper shares our strategies and methodologies for fostering these projects in three aspects: From Science to Arts, From Arts to Science and Space for All.
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