As a child, Jenn Pint wore thin the pages of a Smithsonian book about the planets, absorbing an astronomical number of facts about space to rain down a meteor shower of knowledge. With her head tilted to the night sky and her mind enveloped by a sense of awe, Pint set her sights on the final frontier.
The 2009 mechanical engineering alumna never imagined she would be able to contribute to the advancement of space research without ever leaving Earth.
In October 2025, Pint completed an analog astronaut mission as part of the World's Biggest Analog, a global research project to explore elements of space travel, that, while critical, are too difficult, expensive, or unknown to research onboard a spacecraft. For two weeks, experts gathered at 16 different research sites across every continent except Antarctica, in environments analogous — "analog" — to those encountered in space travel or on board the International Space Station.
"In those analogs, you can do research on the effects of isolation in confined and extreme environments, you can test procedures, you can test equipment," Pint explained. "There are a lot of things that can be done here on Earth doing these spaceflight simulations. It's very much an unknown side of space exploration."
Pint was selected for a mission at Hydronaut in "Little Moon City" in Prague, Czech Republic, which simulated a vessel en route to the moon. Their habitat had a porthole facing Earth at one end, and one facing the moon at the other, with no other windows or external stimuli.
"It really had high fidelity as far as actually feeling like you could be in space," she said. "It was such an incredible mindset to be in and imagine how we really would be on a mission like that."
"A big part of this was 'How are we going to live and work as a community in space?'" Pint said.
Their little community explored aspects integral to life beyond Earth's atmosphere, including experimenting with nurturing plants within the Hydronaut. The team also collected data on creating exercise routines for astronauts to use, the output of which will soon be flown on a European space mission.
Together, the crew gave the tiny space a cozy atmosphere, seeking moments of shared beauty. When they discovered that one crew member enjoyed reading out loud, they started throwing snuggly story times, nestling under their favorite blankets to listen to their teammate read. They also quickly discovered a joint passion for music and delighted with sharing some of their favorites.
"We found we were trying to find artists or genres that we could share with each other," Pint said, recalling a singalong session to the Aladdin soundtrack. "We all loved different aspects of music. Those instant connections and memories being made in those moments were absolutely magical."
Despite their joint joy, the confined quarters required extreme mental stamina. Before the mission, each analog astronaut underwent three months of rigorous online preparation through the Stellar Training for Astronaut Readiness (STAR) program, with modules covering topics from mindfulness and nutrition to communication and conflict resolution. Pint had participated in an earlier cohort of the program as well.
"I apply it to my life every day," Pint said. "You really have to be conscientious of how you communicate with other people. What are you trying to convey? Are you truly listening, and how are you receiving what they are trying to tell you?" In her day-to-day life, Pint works under contract with Eli Lilly and Co. on the health and safety environmental group for the construction of a new facility in Lebanon, Indiana, but she always keeps her eyes to the skies.
She added, "Growing up, we always thought you had to be an engineer or an astronaut to get to space or to really have a big hand in it. Space is for everyone. We need everybody to get humanity into space, to get us to tomorrow and beyond."
Though she didn't know that this opportunity was an option while she was in college, the skills Pint built as an undergraduate at Rose-Hulman helped her launch to new horizons.
"Rose taught us to be open and be aware, and be thinking about what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how we can always make it better. That's exactly what we're doing in analog, and that's what we are doing in space exploration," Pint said. "It's not just about getting to another planetary path and putting a human's footprints there. The things we learn in space come back home to Earth to make our home better."
Photos provided by Jenn Pint.