When Lanie McKinney was 3 years old, her parents stopped at a massive meteor crater during a road trip through the U.S. Southwest. As they prepared to leave, McKinney began to protest.“I want to wait here for the next one,” she told them.She didn’t yet understand that another meteor wasn’t likely to land in exactly the same spot. But the story, which her parents still tell, captures a fascination that has remained with McKinney throughout her life.“I just always remember being captivated by space and what is out there,” she says.Today, McKinney is entering her fifth year as a PhD candidate at MIT, where she works in the Aerospace Plasma Group with Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Prof...