Case Studies

Accessibility in Human Spaceflight

AstroAccess · Design & human factors · Flight-tested aboard ZERO-G

Anastasia designed tactile wayfinding for blind and low-vision astronauts, flight-tested aboard ZERO-G in parabolic flight and featured in ESA's “Fly!” feasibility study. The work reframes accessibility as a benefit to every crew member: non-visual cues that help in an emergency, when anyone may lose sight of a visual signal. The project has been covered by The New York Times, Scientific American, Gizmodo, and Good Morning America.

Deep-Pressure Sleep Countermeasure

Aurelia Institute & MIT · Medical input from NASA JSC & Axiom Space · 2024 zero-gravity flight

Selected by the Aurelia Institute and MIT for a 2024 zero-gravity flight to develop a deep-pressure sleep countermeasure for astronauts, addressing one of the most persistent problems in long-duration spaceflight. The system was built with medical input from NASA Johnson Space Center and Axiom Space, and validated in parabolic flight.

Self-Assembling Habitat Platform

MIT Media Lab · TESSERAE · AIAA Best Professional Paper, 2020

As a visiting researcher at the MIT Media Lab's Space Exploration Initiative, Anastasia contributed to TESSERAE, a platform for self-assembling space structures, and is a co-author of the AIAA Best Professional Paper (2020) on the architectural design of its interior volume.