Down to earth: Alumnus Tani returns from space station

Daniel Tani SB ’84, SM ’88 returned to the Kennedy Space Center aboard space shuttle Atlantis on Feb. 20. Tani spent 120 days in orbit aboard the International Space Station as a member of the Expedition 16 crew. He was launched into space aboard Discovery, commanded by MIT alumna Pamela Melroy SM ’84, on Oct. 20. Tani participated in numerous scientific investigations, including four sessions running SPHERES, which was developed by MIT’s Space Systems Laboratory. In this photo, Tani does a check of the SPHERES Beacon/Beacon tester in the Destiny laboratory of the ISS. He also participated in four spacewalks to support assembly of the Harmony and Columbus space station modules, logging more than 28 hours outside of the space station. Photo courtesy / NASA