On The Space Show for Wednesday, 21 February 2024: Odysseus on its way to the Moon The plan for Intuitive Machine's Nova-C “Odysseus” IM-1 mission to Malapert A near the lunar South Pole; the launch and commissioning of the lunar lander; and a reminder that the lunar South Pole is at the TOP of the Moon, as seen from the southern hemisphere. (Inserts courtesy IM, NASA) Planet Earth: Season 5 — Episode 59 Season Five of our Planet Earth series begins with a detailed explanation of the just launched PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud Ocean Ecosystem) satellite; the PACE Fanfare; how the 2019-20 Australian bushfires caused a bloom of plankton in the Pacific Ocean; and the possible effect of mega-constellations of Internet satellites on the Earth's magnetic field. (Inserts courtesy NASA, GSFC)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 14 February 2024: Joe Kerwin, Skylab 2 Physician-Astronaut The conclusion of our conversation with Joe Kerwin to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Skylab 4 mission. (Interview by Peter Aylward) Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham reflects on the legacy of the Skylab program. (Audio insert courtesy NASA) Modern day in-space duration records set to tumble.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 7 February 2024: XPoSat: India's X-ray Polarimeter Satellite was launched on New Year's day 2024. (Audio inserts courtesy ISRO) Peregrine 1 Mission summary: John Thornton (CEO, Astrobotic, Pittsburgh) explains what happened to the Peregrine 1 spacecraft. (Courtesy Astrobotic) Celestis Memorial — Tranquility Flight: Human remains were aboard the Centaur stage of the Vulcan rocket and the ill-fated Peregrine 1 lunar lander. Joe Kerwin, Skylab 2 Doctor-Astronaut: The Space Association of Australia in conversation with Joe Kerwin to mark the 50th anniversary of the splashdown of the 84 day Skylab 4 mission. (Interview by Peter Aylward)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 31 January 2024: The demise of Ingenuity: Marking the end of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, comments by Bill Nelson (NASA Administrator); media teleconference briefing and Q&A. (Inserts courtesy NASA) SLIM awake again: After taking a tumble, SLIM is awake again. A full report from JAXA on what happened to SLIM. Celestis Memorial Flights: Human remains were aboard the Centaur stage of the Vulcan rocket that launched the ill-fated Peregrine 1 mission towards the Moon.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 24 January 2024: Artemis: Return to the Moon — Part 2 The Space Show’s Andrew Rennie continues his conversation with Space Association of Australia Committee member, Angelo Di Grazia (@GoCats2007) about the delay to the Artemis II and Artemis III crewed lunar missions and the future of the Artemis lunar exploration program, including commentary on: Orion heat shield degradation Artemis III flight profile and mission architecture SpaceX Starship Human Landing System variant and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Lunar Landing System Human Landing System in-space refuelling Artemis III, IV, V and beyond…

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 17 January 2024: Peregrine 1 — The perilous flight of the falcon: The Space Show examines the failure of the Peregrine 1 lunar lander after a successful launch on the maiden flight of the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Artemis II & III Delay with Angelo Di Grazia (@GoCats2007) Angelo discusses the announcement that the Artemis II and Artemis III crewed lunar missions have been delayed to September 2025 and September 2026 respectively. The conversation includes commentary and analysis on the following: Orion heat shield Orion valve circuitry Orion abort system SLS servicing while on the launch pad Artemis II flight profile Artemis II crew profile Artemis III flight profile and mission architecture Starship Human Landing System variant Human Landing System in space refuelling Starship Integrated Flight Tests.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 10 January 2024: SpIRIT in the Sky: The Space Show in conversation with Clint Therakam, Thermal Engineer, Melbourne Space Laboratory at the University of Melbourne discussing the SpIRIT satellite, its experiments, and Clint’s role in the project. Also his work on the design of the Australian Roo-ver lunar rover. Space Show News — Artemis and Peregrine 1: Announcement that the Artemis II and Artemis III crewed lunar missions will be delayed; and news of the failure of the Peregrine 1 lunar lander after a successful launch on the maiden flight of ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket. (Audio inserts courtesy NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 3 January 2024: The loss of the Mars Polar Lander: The story of the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander, which was launched 25 years ago today. (Audio inserts courtesy JPL) Moon Month — SLIM and Peregrine 1: This month will see the attempted landing of Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon or SLIM near Shioli Crater on the Moon, and the launch of Astrobotic's Perigrine 1 lunar lander with NASA and other payloads onboard. (Audio inserts courtesy NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 27 December 2023: Apollo 8: The Journey Home The homeward journey, President Johnson's remarks, and musical tributes. Final call to send your “Message in a Bottle” to Jupiter aboard the Europa Clipper spacecraft SLIM and Peregrine 1 The arrival into lunar orbit of Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) lunar lander, and a description of the instruments aboard Astrobotic's Peregrine 1 lunar lander that is due to be launched to the Moon in January 2024. (Audio insert courtesy NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 December 2023: Planet Earth — Season 4 Episode 58: Launch of iQPS-SAR-5, otherwise known as Tsukuyomi 1, by an Electron rocket from New Zealand, with a synthetic aperture radar to collect high-resolution images of the Earth. Skylab 4 — Part II: Continued from last week, how the three Skylab 4 crewmen earned the one-armed paper-hanger's award, played midwife to some moths, and made observations of Comet Kohoutek and talked to Lubos Kohoutek. Apollo 8: Christmas from the Moon: The outbound flight, lunar orbit and Christmas Day. The significance of the mission and profile of the crew.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 13 December 2023: Space News: * Neumann Space electric propulsion engine successfully tested in space aboard an unidentified Skykraft 3 air traffic control satellite. * Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is scheduled to launch the Earth-imaging satellite QPS-SAR-5 * Sydney based company HEO is a space technology company delivering on-demand non-Earth imagery and intelligence on spacecraft of interest, so that space players can confidently act in space and on Earth. Planet Earth — Season 4 Episode 57: How the European Space Agency is contributing to the Global Stocktake for the Paris Climate Accords meeting in Dubai. (Audio insert courtesy ESA) NASA’s Message in a bottle: Have your name engraved on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft as it travels 1.8 billion miles to explore Europa, an ocean world that may support life. From Kitty Hawk to Jezero Crater: Marking the 120th anniversary of the four flights by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, how they led to today's aviation industry, and how parts of the Flyer went to the Moon and Mars. Told in diary entries and narration. Skylab 4 with Joe Kerwin: Skylab 2 astronaut Joe Kerwin sets the record straight on the so-called Skylab 4 'strike' that occurred 50 years ago. (To be continued next week). (Audio insert recorded by Peter Aylward, Space Association of Australia)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 6 December 2023: SpIRIT launched: The Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal satellite, or SpIRIT, was launched for the Melbourne Space Laboratory by a Falcon 9 rocket after pre-launch secrecy. (Audio inserts courtesy Melbourne University, SpaceX, Neumann Space) Message in a bottle: Join the mission and have your name engraved on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft as it travels 1.8 billion miles to explore Europa, an ocean world that may support life. Australia’s lunar rover named: Australia's first Moon rover to be named Roo-ver, after public competition receives more than 8,000 submissions. US, UK, and Australia announce trilateral Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability initiative: The new program is designed to provide 24/7, all-weather capabilities that will increase the ability to detect, track, identify and characterise objects in deep space. The memorandum of understanding between the three countries will last 22 years. Cancellation of Science, Technology and Research (STaR) Shots Australian defence satellite program: Reports that the Defence Science Technology Group's RMS satellites have been cancelled without public announcement after two satellite buses had been built. Rod Smith (Leader, Resilient Multi-mission Space STaR Shot, DST, Adelaide) explains the project's rationale. (Audio inserts courtesy Sky, DST).

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 29 November 2023: Space Show News InSight Mars Lander: Marking the 5th anniversary of the landing of the InSight spacecraft on Mars (Audio inserts courtesy BBC, DLR) WRESAT (Weapons Research Establishment Satellite): With the launch of Melbourne University's SpIRIT satellite pending, a look back to the launch, 56 years ago, of WRESAT and six years ago of Buccaneer, and of other Australian satellites. (Audio inserts courtesy DST)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 22 November 2023: Marking the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, this special episode of The Space Show plays and interprets both JFK’s public speeches about space in 1963 and the secretly recorded private Oval Office conversations in which space was discussed. These recordings reveal the president’s doubts and conflicted attitude towards space activity, particularly the Apollo manned lunar landing program, and his advocacy for cooperation in space with the Soviet Union, all the while with an eye on the forthcoming 1964 presidential election. (Audio inserts and transcripts courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 November 2023: Remembering Frank Frederick Borman II: American United States Air Force colonel, aeronautical engineer, NASA astronaut, test pilot, and businessman. He was the commander of Gemini 7, and Apollo 8 — the first mission to fly around the Moon, and together with crewmates Jim Lovell and William Anders, became the first of 24 humans to do so, for which he was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. (Audio inserts courtesy NZBC and Andrew Rennie). 50 years since Skylab 4: Marking the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Skylab 4 mission through the recollections of astronauts Walter Cunningham, and Joe Kerwin in conversation with The Space Show’s Peter Aylward. (Audio inserts recorded by Peter Aylward, Space Association of Australia, Melbourne). Frank Borman & Wally Schirra in Auckland, New Zealand after their Gemini 6/7 rendezvous mission. Photographs taken by Andrew Rennie with an Agfa "Clack" camera using black&white 120 roll film, scanned from prints.Photo 1: Wally, followed by Frank, give Andrew a smile as they enter Auckland University.Photo 2: Frank, followed by Wally, walk past Andrew to enter the Hall at Auckland University. Uninvited, Andrew followed them into the Hall and listened to their lecture.Photo 3: As he strolls out of Auckland University Wally gives Andrew a friendly wave.Photo 4: Down in Queen Street, has Wally recognised Andrew? Beside Wally, wife Josephine reaches into her handbag.Cartoon: From the Auckland Star newspaper the day after the visit to Auckland.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 November 2023: Remembering Thomas Kenneth Mattingly II: American aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, rear admiral in the United States Navy, and astronaut who flew as Command Module Pilot on Apollo 16 and Space Shuttle Commander on the STS-4 and STS-51-C missions. Ken Mattingly, helped bring the Apollo 13 mission home safely. (Inserts courtesy AAB) New Horizons: Beyond Pluto: Alan Stern, Associate Vice President, Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, Principal Investigator and Michael Vincent, Payload Systems Engineer, New Horizons, answer audience questions about the New Horizons mission to the dwarf planet Pluto and the Kuiper Belt object Arokoth. (Recorded by The Space Show at RMIT University, Melbourne) Plans for the New Horizons mission beyond Pluto and Arokoth as told by Alan Stern, Principal Investigator

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 1 November 2023: Marking the 15th anniversary of the last contact with the Phoenix Mars Lander, the story of the mission told from the perspective of the Canadian Space Agency (Inserts courtesy CSA) Space Show News: Australia and US formalise a Technology Safeguards Agreement. The Hon Dr Kevin Rudd AC, Australia’s Ambassador to the United States signed the treaty-level agreement in Washington. The Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) will allow US companies to carry out space launch activities in Australia and protect US technology, including rockets and satellites. China launches Shenzhou-17 youngest crew crew for 6-month stay on Tiangong space station. The youngest-ever crew of Chinese astronauts departed for China's space station, paving the way for a new generation of "taikonauts" to advance the country's space ambitions. QuantX Labs and SSTL Partner to Propel Australian Quantum Clock Technology into Space. QuantX Labs has joined forces with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) through Airbus Australia, to bolster their space knowledge and skillsets, a collaboration set to propel Australian quantum technology into space. CyanoSat satellite imager undergoing tests in orbit. CSIRO and university and industry partners are testing an Australian-made CyanoSat hyperspectral imager which was recently launched into low Earth orbit on board a Skykraft satellite. Lockheed Martin selects Axiom Precision Manufacturing and Nupress Group for Orion spacecraft program. Australian companies have been selected as global supply chain partners by Lockheed Martin for the Orion spacecraft program, a cornerstone of NASA's Artemis missions to the Moon. Ingenuity helicopter completes 64th flight on Mars.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 18 October 2023: Lucy Mission to fly by asteroid Dinkinesh: The flyby, which will see Lucy pass within just 300 miles (480 km) of Dinkinesh, will combine science and engineering goals as the craft both reveals this small world to humanity and performs a rigorous first test of its innovative Terminal Tracking System. Planet Earth - Season 4 Episode 56: Earth Information Center; COVID, cars and temperatures; Landsat observes Amazon deforestation; EMIT observes mineral dust; astronaut Nicole Stott observes thunderstorms; CALIPSO decommissioned; SuomiNPP and NOAA 20 observe "milky sea" bioluminescence; Gavin Schmidt (Director, Goddard Institute for Space Sciences) on the 2023 July Global Temperature Report; MAIA to be launched next year; PolSIR approved; atmospheric ozone primer. (Inserts courtesy GSFC, NASA, AGU)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 18 October 2023: Space Show News: Shenzhou 17 to launch to the Tiangong space station on 26 October 55th anniversary of Apollo 7: Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 astronaut, relates the story of the splashdown of the first manned Apollo mission 55 years ago. (Insert courtesy AAB) Gail Illes, RMIT University, Melbourne and Andrea Boyd, ISS Flight Controller at the European Space Agency, Germany discuss: human spaceflight in the age of private spaceflight; space beer from Australia; food; mental health; astronaut qualifications and working in the space industry. (Recorded at Scienceworks, Spotswood) Psyche Launched: The launch of the Psyche spacecraft, and how it will study asteroid 16 Psyche. (Inserts courtesy JPL) NASA’s Mark Kirasich, Deputy Associate Administrator, Artemis Campaign Development Division and Prasun Desai, Deputy Associate Administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate on the Artemis 3 mission plan: technology development; powering Artemis; contingencies. (Inserts courtesy NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 11 October 2023: Heavy Metal with Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Principal Investigator - Psyche mission, Arizona State University: The scientific objectives of the Psyche mission to the asteroid 16 Psyche. Back to the Moon and Artemis with Angelo Di Grazia, Committee member, Space Association of Australia: The problems in launching the Artemis 1 circumlunar mission; the mission plan for the Artemis 3 human lunar landing; and the mission risks associated with the Starship architecture.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 4 October 2023: Marking the anniversary of the formation of NASA, and the first decade of manned spaceflight (Mercury to Apollo 8), in spoken feature, poetry and song.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 27 September 2023: Space Show News Soyuz MS-23 returns to Earth: Russia's Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and NASA's Frank Rubio landed in their Soyuz MS-23 capsule at 11:17 UTC on 27 September on the Steppe of Kazakhstan after spending more than a year living aboard the International Space Station. The trio launched to the space station on 21 September 2022. A competition to name Australia’s lunar rover: The Australian Space Agency, in partnership with NASA, is working with Australia’s space industry to design and build an Australian-made rover. The rover will go to the Moon as part of a future Artemis mission by as early as 2026. Australians can enter a name that will be in the running to be selected for the rover. Individuals and schools across Australia can enter a rover name, along with a brief explanation for choosing it. To get Australian students excited and engaged in the opportunity, schools can download a presentation and supporting materials. Space Shuttle Discovery — Return to Flight: The 35th anniversary of the STS 26 mission by the Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery, the first after the STS 51-L Challenger disaster, told in word and music. (Audio inserts courtesy NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 September 2023: Is there life on exoplanet Kepler K2-18b? Nikku Madhusudhan of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University, reports the discovery of methane, carbon dioxide and the possible detection of the biomarker dimethyl sulphide on an exoplanet, using the James Webb Space Telescope. (Audio insert courtesy STScI) OSIRIS-REx — Journey's End: A summary of the OSIRIS-REx mission to collect a sample of asteroid Bennu, and plans for Sunday's landing in Utah. (Audio insert courtesy GSFC) Hubble Tension: The age of the Universe is estimated by two main methods: Locally (Parallax-Cepheids-Supernovae-Redshift) and Cosmic Microwave Background (COBE, Planck). The problem is they give two different measures for the Hubble Constant, and hence the age of the Universe. This feature looks back on COBE, and has a talk by Nobel Prize winner Adam Riess on his use of the James Webb Space Telescope to refine the measure of the Hubble Constant. (Audio inserts courtesy NASA, STScI) Trolls, UAPs and NASA: The internet trolls made NASA initially suppress the name of the director of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena research. (Audio insert courtesy NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 13 September 2023: James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Methane and Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere of a Habitable-zone Exoplanet: K2-18b A new investigation with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope into K2-18b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon dioxide. Webb’s discovery adds to recent studies suggesting that K2-18b could be a Hycean exoplanet, one which has the potential to possess a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface. Lunar Orbit Rendezvous or "How to land on the Moon" by Andrew Rennie The options for the Apollo lunar landing mode, and how the decision was reached. (Re-recorded from a presentation to a meeting of the Space Association of Australia in 2019) The culmination of the launch campaign for NASA sounding rockets from the Arnhem Space Centre — High Above Down Under: Episode 5: To Space (And Back) Episode 6: This Just Fell From Space. Join Miles Hatfield, a science writer at the Goddard Spaceflight Centre in Greenbelt Maryland, as he follows two NASA rocket teams as they launch from Australia. Studying our nearest stellar neighbours – Alpha Centauri A & B – on a quest to understand how stars make the planets around them suitable for life. (audio inserts courtesy GSFC)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 6 September 2023: NASA’s sounding rocket launch campaign from the Arnhem Space Centre in Australia — High Above Down Under: Episode 3: UV Light – More Than Just Sunburns Episode 4: The Final Test Join Miles Hatfield, a science writer at the Goddard Spaceflight Centre in Greenbelt Maryland, as he follows two NASA rocket teams as they launch from Australia. Studying our nearest stellar neighbours – Alpha Centauri A & B – on a quest to understand how stars make the planets around them suitable for life. Ashburton Space Balls: Remnants of Cosmos 482 (Venera 9a - 1972 023A) landed near Ashburton in New Zealand's South Island. One "space ball" is now on display in the Ashburton Aviation Museum. (Audio insert courtesy Radio NZ) Cosmos 482 Image 1Cosmos 482 Image 2Cosmos 482 Image 3Cosmos 482 Image 4Cosmos 482 Image 5Cosmos 482 Image 6Cosmos 482 Image 7Cosmos 482 Image 8Cosmos 482 Image 9Cosmos 482 Image 10 Dr Joe Kerwin, Scientist-Astronaut — Skylab 2: Joe Kerwin describes the genesis of the Skylab project. Preceded by a song used to wake up the Skylab 3 crew. (Interviewer Peter Aylward)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 30 August 2023: Chandrayaan-3 on a Super Blue Full Moon — On the evening of a Super Blue Moon, a recounting of the landing of India's Vikram lander from the Chandrayaan-3 mission on the southern region of the Moon. (Audio inserts courtesy of ISRO) NASA’s 2023 sounding rocket launch campaign from the Arnhem Space Centre in Australia — High Above Down Under (a six-part series): Episode 1: A Star Fit For Life Episode 2: Living With the Stars Join Miles Hatfield, a science writer at the Goddard Spaceflight Centre in Greenbelt Maryland, as he follows two NASA rocket teams launch from Australia. Studying our nearest stellar neighbours – Alpha Centauri A & B – on a quest to understand how stars make the planets around them suitable for life. (Feature courtesy GSFC/NASA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 23 August 2023: A Roundup of Australian Space News: Equatorial Launch Australia signs up Innospace entX prototype radioisotope heater Plants for Space Neumann Space and CarbSAR Southern Launch planning permit for the Koonibba suborbital test range. Chinese satellites over Australia: Reports that China's Yaogan and Jilin satellites were 'spying' on Australian naval exercises Dr Malcolm Davis, a Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, on Chinese space activities. (Audio inserts courtesy ABC; Dr Davis recorded at Space Association of Australia, South Melbourne). Saving Voyager 2 Luna 25 Failure: The Luna 25 mission joins a long list of failures in the Luna programme A retrospective on Luna 5

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 16 August 2023: Space Show News: Aditya-L1: India’s first solar mission expected to launch on 26 August Updates on the progress of Chandrayaan-3 and Luna 25 missions Where should the Artemis program land on the Moon? Harrison Schmitt, geologist and Apollo 17 astronaut makes his recommendations on where Artemis should land, the science questions and priorities to be addressed, and the sample mix that should be collected. (This item is an extract from episode 26 of Lunar Science in the Artemis Era available in this podcast feed). Opportunities for Australia in Space: Naomi Mathers, Space Industry Association of Australia; Andrea Boyd, European Space Agency; moderated by Mike Thompson, astronomer, Backyard AstroScience (Recorded at Science Works Museum, Spotswood): Will Australia build its own global positioning system? Should Australia do niche projects or be a Jack-of-all-trades? Space science Space situational awareness What caused the rapid growth in the space industry in Australia? Defence uses of space Building things to leave Earth-orbit Will global players set up branches in Australia? The need for robust Internet infrastructure in Australia. Mars Observer: Marking the 30th anniversary of the explosion of the Mars Observer spacecraft as it was about to enter orbit about Mars.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 9 August 2023: Space Show News: Chandrayaan-3 Luna 25 Chang'e 7 Euclid Aeolus mission ends The third stage of a Russian Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M rocket makes a fiery re-entry over Melbourne, Australia Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: The testimony of David Grusch to the United States Congress on UAPs, their possible origin, a dozen retrieved crashed UAPs, and non-human biologics; Ryan Graves on a 100 yard square UAP allegedly seen at Vandenberg Air Force Base; and commentary by Andrew Rennie. What does UAP stand for? UAP stands for "unidentified anomalous phenomena," a catch-all term to describe objects detected in the air, sea and space that defy easy explanation. The acronym stood for "unidentified aerial phenomena" until December 2022, when the Pentagon updated its terminology to encompass "submerged and trans-medium objects," as one official put it at the time. NASA and other agencies soon followed suit. What are UAPs? By definition, unidentified anomalous phenomena are just that — unidentified. But generally the term refers to objects spotted by pilots or detected by sensors that cannot be immediately explained.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 2 August 2023: Space Show News: Russia is returning to the Moon with Lunar-25. After years of delays, Russia’s Luna-25 lander is scheduled to launch to the Moon aboard a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket on 11 August 2023. The uncrewed mission will be the first Russian spacecraft to land on the Moon in more than 45 years. Planet Earth — Episode 55: Acadia Plant efficiency declining DSCOVR GEDI Ecostress Landsat AI Arctic Weather Satellite Mission TEMPO EMIT.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 26 July 2023: Australia’s Moon to Mars Initiative 2020—2026 The following 10 projects will share in close to $40 million under the Demonstrator Mission Grants program of the Moon to Mars initiative: $6.2M to the Australian National University to develop Laser Technology for the next GRACE mission $5.2M to Advanced Navigation Pty. Ltd. for Project LUNA – Navigation and Guidance Technology for Lunar Exploration $4.5M to the Australian National University to lead the Australian Deep Space Optical Ground Station Network $4.4M to the University of Western Australia to establish TeraNet — A Commercial Optical Communications Ground Station Network network $3.9M to Fleet Space Technologies Pty. Ltd. to develop a Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration and Research $3.7M to QuantX Labs Pty. Ltd. for KAIROS-1 Mission: A Space Clock Technology Demonstrator $3.6M to Lunaria One Pty. Ltd. for the Australian Lunar Experiment Promoting Horticulture (ALEPH) project $2.8M to Retracer Pty. Ltd for Command and control for on0orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing vehicles $2.7M Enable Aerospace Pty. Ltd to develop Universal Payload Racking System Flight Qualification and Demonstration $2.6M Melbourne University for SpIRIT satellite operations: An Australian path to exploration beyond Earth Other Australian space news updates: Skykraft delivers world first space-based VHF communication for Air Traffic Management Neumann Drive and Transporter 8 and Space Inventor Edison CSIRO's CyanoSat 1.0 Space Machines. How to be a Space Tourist without leaving the Earth with Stewart Gangell: Stewart, a member of the Space Association of Australia, recounts his recent visit to the Kennedy Space Center and Visitor Complex, its attractions and meeting astronauts; the American Space Museum and Walk of Fame in Titusville; the Sands Space History Museum near the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station; and seeing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster and Dragon capsule on the recovery ships in Port Canaveral.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 19 July 2023: Chandrayaan 3 launched to the Moon: The mission plan for India's Chandrayaan 3 lunar orbiter, lander and rover, followed by launch commentary from the launch site. Also, a report from Australia that the venting of the spent upper stage of the launch vehicle was seen. (Audio inserts courtesy ISRO, Ch9) James Webb Space Telescope: A discussion on the James Webb Space Telescope's first year of science (Courtesy GSFC) Eric Jones and the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal: Peter Aylward in conversation with the founder and editor emeritus of the ALSJ, Eric Jones in Wodonga, Australia. Together they take us for a guided tour through the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal website, and explain how it was built up over many years.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 12 July 2023: Opportunity - Part 2: Marking the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Mars Explorations Rover - Opportunity, the story of the final years of the mission, as told in word, verse and song.

This episode of The Space Show podcast, is dedicated to the memory of former Space Association of Australia president and long-time contributor to the programme, Peter Aylward, who passed away in Melbourne last week after a valiant battle with cancer. He was 65. On The Space Show for Wednesday, 5 July 2023: Euclid: Exploring the dark universe The purpose of the European Space Agency's Euclid mission, and the role played by ESA's New Norcia Space Tracking Station, DSA-1, in Western Australia. Opportunity — Part 1: Marking the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Mars Exploration Rover - Opportunity, the story of the first five years of the mission, as told in word and verse.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 28 June 2023: Planet Earth: Season 4 — Episode 54 Gamba grass and WorldView 3 United Kingdom Space Agency - UK/Australia Space Bridge New Zealand and Australian fire mapping COVID and South-East Asian smoke Thomas Pesque (ESA Astronaut) and climate research from the International Space Station Canada's WildFireSat Crop monitoring during COVID 19 ERS 1 - European Resources Satellite GPM 1 GLAM Aircraft contrails Landsat 1 and Virginia Norwood.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 21 June 2023: " target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) extended mission phase Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and the Hera mission follow-up Sixty Years of Women in Space: Marking the 60th anniversary of Valentina Tereshkova's Vostok 6 flight and the 40th anniversary of Sally Ride's STS-6 mission, a celebration of several female astronauts. Also, "Women in Space", a talk, recorded at the Space Association of Australia in South Melbourne, by Kerrie Dougherty (Management Team Member, Space Discovery Centre, Australian Space Agency in Adelaide) mentioning many other female astronauts.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 14 June 2023: Australian Defence Science and Technology Roadmap A presentation by Andrew Seedhouse, Chief, National Security and Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Division, at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation about the Defence Science and Technology Roadmap. Themes include: accessing space; satellite technologies; assurance of access to space; satellite constellation options; space situational awareness; space cloud service; and the DST Roadmap. (Recorded at the 2019 Space Industry Association of Australia Conference, South Melbourne) Message in a Bottle: details of how you can send your name to Jupiter aboard the Europa Clipper mission exploring Jupiter’s icy moon. Spirit - Part Two: Marking the 20th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover, The Space Show presents the story of the Spirit mission in word, poetry and song. (Insert courtesy GSFC)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 7 June 2023: In Praise of Mystery: A poem for Europa Ada Limón, 24th Poet Laureate of The United States, in conversation with Dr Carla Haden, Librarian of Congress, Washington D.C. A conversation about, and the reading of a poem to be inscribed aboard NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft that will be sent to Jupiter. Also details of Message in a Bottle⁠ and how you can send your name to Jupiter with that poem aboard the Europa Clipper mission exploring Jupiter’s icy moon. (audio insert courtesy NASA) Spirit - Part One: Marking the 20th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover, The Space Show presents the story of the Spirit mission in word, poetry and song. Beagle 2 lander and Mars Express orbiter 20th anniversary livestream from Mars orbit. (audio insert courtesy ESA)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 31 May 2023: Space Show News As this episode of The Space Show was broadcast live to air, there were a record 17 people orbiting the Earth, from five countries. The previous record, set during the privately funded Inspiration4 mission in September 2021, was 14 people. The record count was comprised of the following four seperate crews: Shenzhou 16 (three people) — Chinese taikonauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, now aboard China's Tiangong space station. Shenzhou 15 (three people) — Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, who have been aboard Tiangong since November 2022 and who are expected to return to Earth in early June. Expedition 69 (seven people) — Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev of Russia's federal space corporate Roscosmos; astronauts Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen and Warren "Woody" Hoburg of NASA; and Emirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the International Space Station (ISS). Axiom-2 (four people) — Axiom Space astronaut Peggy Whitson, private astronaut John Shoffner and Saudi Arabian astronauts Ali AlQarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, who departed the ISS aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon "Freedom" to return to Earth on Tuesday (May 30). The challenges of clinical medicine in space: * Preliminary comments by Skylab 2 astronaut Dr Joe Kerwin, the second medical doctor to fly in space. Taken from an exclusive interview recorded at the Space Association of Australia, May 2023 public meeting in South Melbourne. * A presentation by Dr Rowena Christiansen, a Medical Educator at the Melbourne Medical School at the Moon Village Association 2019 meeting, Deakin Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne The official announcement of Chinese crewed lunar landing objectives by 2030 Planet Earth Season 4 — Episode 53: * Tropics 3 & 4 launch with Rocket Lab * RainCube * Freshwater lakes dwindling * U.S. Space Council reports from USGS, NOAA and the Department of Agriculture * MARVEL

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 24 May 2023: Marking the 50th anniversary of Skylab: America’s first space station The Skylab 2 mission was one of the great 'saves' of the space age. The story is told in mission audio and the words of astronaut Joe Kerwin recorded in conversation with the Space Association of Australia. (Mission audio inserts courtesy JSC)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 17 May 2023: Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Director, Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency and now also Australia’s first astronaut candidate in training with the European Space Agency, presents the 2022 Warren Centre Innovation Lecture at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney. Katherine is introduced by Professor Ben Thornber, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Sydney. Katherine presents a comprehensive look at the ambitions of the Australian Space Agency and the potentialities of the space industry in Australia, including: space as the high ground the four segments of space industry space and Australia Australian Space Agency roadmaps Earth observation access to space exploration services space industry resilience, workforce & skills Trailblazer lunar rover the innovation cycle questions and answers. (Audio inserts courtesy of the Warren Centre)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 10 May 2023: Space Show News: The Federal Budget has made some cuts to the funding allocations for the Australian Space Agency and the national space industry. Planet Earth: Season 4 - Episode 52 The TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) satellites launched from New Zealand after a delay caused by an atmospheric river. (Inserts courtesy TV1, NewsHub, Rocket Lab) Skylab: America’s first space station Marking the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Skylab space station, detailing the realisation that there were serious problems. Comments by Skylab 2 astronaut Joseph Kerwin, recorded at the Space Association of Australia. (Inserts courtesy JSC)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 3 May 2023: Follow along as Japan's commercial space company, ispace, confirms that its HAKUTO-R Mission 1 failed its lunar landing attempt. ispace is a lunar exploration company with a vision to extend human presence into outer space and create a sustainable world. Our story features "Sorato", the music of Sakanaction from Japan, a recording of which travelled aboard the ill-fated M1 Lander. Planet Earth: Season 4 - Episode 51 The TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution) mission The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 26 April 2023: Lunar Mining and Robotics — Part 2 of a panel discussion with the Moon Village Association recorded at Deakin Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne in March 2019, featuring: * Anita Parbhakar-Fox, Senior Research Fellow, Geo-environmental Studies, University of Queensland * Carlos Espejel, iSpace, Luxembourg * Bohan Deng, CEO Spherospace, Sydney * Daniel Ricardo & Henry Lourey, Nova Rover Team, Monash University Space Show News: * SpaceX Starship/Superheavy launch report * Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract to deliver Australia’s first sovereign military satellite communications constellation MilSatCom. * Fleet Space Technologies has signed a $6.4M contract with the Australian Defence Space Command China’s future space missions revealed: * A mission to Ceres and a large dark matter space telescope * A clear and independent long-term vision for space * A pathway for lunar and deep space exploration What's happening on Mars: * NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has completed 51 flights across the surface of the Red Planet * More on plans for future investigations of the Perseverance Mars rover NASA and the Department of Energy are collaborating on an innovative lunar experiment to attempt first of its kind measurement of the dark ages of the universe — the Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment (LuSEE-Night) Planet Earth: Season 4 - Episode 50 * The TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution) mission * The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 19 April 2023: Update on the imminent SpaceX fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy orbital flight test from Starbase, Texas. The launch of JUICE - the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer. No Phosphine on Venus, according to SOFIA (the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy). Study using three decades old Magellan data finds Venus’ ‘squishy’ outer shell may be resurfacing the planet. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has completed it’s 50th flight above the surface of the Red Planet. Plans for future investigations of the Perseverance Mars rover. In Europe, an independent advisory group has reported to the European Space Agency calling for the Agency to significantly increase its autonomy in human and robotic space exploration. In the report, “Revolution Space: Europe’s Mission for Space Exploration”, the group argues that human space exploration is undergoing a revolution, which Europe cannot afford to miss. Rocket Lab set to launch NASA’s TROPICS constellation to study cyclone/hurricane formation, evolution and dissipation. A description of the Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution, or TEMPO instrument and its mission.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 12 April 2023: In conversation with astronomer and author Dr Nick Lomb about solar eclipses and his new book: Includes a discussion about solar eclipses, the 2023 April 20 Exmouth eclipse, the excitement of seeing a total eclipse, the 2028 July 22 eclipse in New South Wales, and the Nick Lomb and Tomer Stevenson's book “Eclipse Chasers”, published by CSIRO Publishing. Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) launch scheduled for Thursday, 13 April at 22:15 AEST on the penultimate Ariane 5 ECA. Ingenuity and its descendants: As we await news of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter's 50th flight, (perhaps it has and the flight log has not been updated because of Easter), a report on what has been achieved, and plans for the Mars Sample Return mission's use of helicopters. (Insert Courtesy JPL) Findings by the Zhurong rover about the subsurface of Mars Planet Earth: Season 4 - Episode 48: Intelsat 40e and Tempo - The launch on Good Friday (7 April) of the Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution, or TEMPO instrument as a piggyback payload aboard the Intelsat 40e communications satellite. (Incorrectly introduced as Episode 47 - Insert courtesy SpaceX)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 5 April 2023: NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced the four astronauts who will venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration. The agencies revealed the crew members on Monday, 3 April during an event at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The approximately 10-day Artemis II flight test will launch on the agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket, prove the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems, and validate the capabilities and techniques needed for humans to live and work in deep space. The crew assignments are as follows: Commander Reid Wiseman Pilot Victor Glover Mission Specialist 1 Christina Hammock Koch Mission Specialist 2 Jeremy Hansen.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 29 March 2023: Space Show News: The strongest gamma ray burst ever detected has been reported in the scientific literature. Commentary by Eric Burns (Louisiana State University) and Francis Reddy (Goddard Space Flight Center). Ed Husic, Federal Minister for Industry and Science and minister responsible for the Australian Space Agency: Comment about space industry funding. (excerpt courtesy National Press Club) Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator: Artemis II crew selection announcement and desire for an Australian astronaut. (excerpt courtesy National Press Club). Lunar and Planetary Science Conference | LPSC 2023: Joel Kearns, Deputy Associate Administrator, Exploration Division, NASA HQ, Washington, D.C. on the status of the Artemis and supporting missions lunar science projects. Remembering Yuri Gagarin: Marking the 55th anniversary of the death of the first cosmonaut using archival audio. Ingenuity: The race between the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter and the Mars 2020 Rover Perseverance to the top of an ancient river delta on Mars, and confirmation that two helicopters will be used to retrieve the rock samples collected by Perseverance.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 22 March 2023: Space Show News Trailblazer Program Awarded: Australia is closer to embarking on its first mission to the Moon in partnership with NASA. The Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth (AROSE) consortium and the EPE and Lunar Outpost Oceania consortium, will each receive $4 million to design early-stage prototypes of a semi-autonomous rover, as part of stage one of the Trailblazer program mission to the Moon. Launch of the National Indigenous Space Academy: Indigenous Australian university students will be given an opportunity to allow their careers to take off with a new internship program supported by the Australian Space Agency (ASA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA) will see up to five students studying in STEM fields travel to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL) in California for a 10-week full-time summer internship program. A panel discussion on Moon mining and robotics at the Moon Village Association meeting, Deakin Edge at Federation Square in March 2019, featuring: Anita Parbhakar-Fox, Senior Research Fellow, Geo-environmental Studies, University of Queensland Carlos Espejel, iSpace, Luxembourg Bohan Deng, CEO Spherospace, Sydney Daniel Ricardo & Henry Lourey, Nova Rover Team, Monash University Key highlights of the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference - LPSC 2023 reporting on NASA's budget decisions, the status of planetary missions, and a vigorous discussion on matters arising, with: Sandra Connelly, Deputy Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA HQ Lori Glaze, Director, Planetary Science Division, NASA HQ Sue Smrekar, Principal Investigator, VERITAS, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and others... Planet Earth: Season 4 - Episode 47 The Surface Water Ocean Topography or SWOT satellite.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 March 2023: Space Show News: Rocket Lab, a global leader in launch services and space systems, announced it has established a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Rocket Lab Australia, to explore opportunities to support the expansion of Australia’s national space capabilities. Rocket Lab to launch multiple Acadia Earth-imaging satellites for Capella Space, an American space tech company and a leading provider of commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery.  Spaceflight Inc. Readies BlackSky Satellites for Upcoming Rocket Lab Launch.  NASA to reveal the Artemis Moon mission spacesuit designed by Axiom Space NASA announces the selection of Axiom Space to provide the third private mission to the International Space Station Detection of barium in the atmospheres of WASP-76b and WASP-121b exoplanets. What’s with Dark Matter?: DAMPE and VLAST hope to find out. Skykraft satellites are operational in orbit but how many of them are there? Planet Earth: Season 4 - Episode 46 Pamela Melroy and the Earth System Observatory satellites and the Earth Information Centre China launches a pair of geographic mapping, land resource surveys and science experiments NASA’s Compact Total Irradiance Monitor (CTIM) cubesat Tianhe 6A and 6b; CTIM 1; ICEYE; GeoCarb; GRACE-FO; Landslide Hazards; SWOT. (Inserts courtesy NASA HQ, ICEYE, USRA & JPL). 

On The Space Show for International Women's Day on Wednesday, 8 March 2023: A history making announcement to coincide with International Women's Day, with the news that Katherine Bennell-Pegg will head to Germany next month to train as an astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA). Katherine will be the first Australian woman to be trained as an astronaut by an international space agency, after recently being one of only 25 people to successfully complete ESA’s astronaut selection process from a pool of 22,500 eligible applicants. While on secondment to ESA, Katherine will remain an employee of the Australian Space Agency. Celebrating International Women's Day 2023: "Women In Space" by Kerrie Dougherty recorded at a public meeting of the Space Association of Australia, South Melbourne for World Space Week. Kerrie is a space historian and management team member of the Space Discovery Centre at the Australian Space Agency in Adelaide, South Australia. Australia in Space: A History of a Nation's Involvement by Kerrie Dougherty. Kerrie is an acknowledged expert on Australia’s space history, having co-authored the original edition of this book, Space Australia, and published more than a dozen other papers on the topic. This revised and updated edition now entitled, Australia in Space, tells the story of Australia’s involvement with space activities, from the earliest rocketeers to the latest satellite projects. It's the definitive book on Australian space history. We remember the Antonov AN-225 aircraft on the first anniversary of its destruction. The AN-225 was originally designed to airlift the Energia rocket boosters and the Buran-class shuttle orbiter for the Soviet space program.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 1 March 2023: Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 50 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023. OneWeb is a communications company that aims to build broadband satellite Internet services. The company is headquartered in London, and has offices in Virginia, US and a satellite manufacturing facility in Florida. BlueWalker 3 is AST SpaceMobile’s prototype satellite for its space-based cellular broadband network designed to operate directly with standard, unmodified mobile devices.  A panel discussion from the Space Industry Association of Australia, on the future of the communication satellite industry. Some of the leading movers and shakers in the Australian satellite communications industry discuss where the market technology is headed. The European Space Agency plans to place a network of communications satellites in orbit around the Moon.  How NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), which orbits the Earth, has been able to measure energetic neutral atoms to reveal the variable nature of the boundary between our heliosphere and the interstellar medium.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 22 February 2023: Marking the 60th anniversary of the demise of Telstar 1 with a fascinating and prescient 1962 pre-launch talk by Jean Felkar (Assistant Chief Engineer at AT&T). Mr Felker discusses communication by satellite and other aspects of the future of communication in space, followed by questions from the floor. He discusses the technical innovations involving microwaves that led to  broadcast television. Because microwaves travel in straight lines, the curvature of the Earth prevents broadcasting worldwide.  Mr Felker predicts that by 1965 there will be an commercial satellite system for industries that will use satellite technology - telephone, television, all kinds of electronic communications. Starlink and Rocketlab to the rescue in New Zealand after tropical cyclone Gabrielle batters the north island.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 February 2023: Dr Malcolm Davis, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in Canberra, outlines the implications of China’s strategic ambitions in space. Dr Davis argues that the so-called China Space Dream has significant soft power implications, both domestically and internationally, and that it will be important for other countries to respond to these developments in a thoughtful and strategic manner. A report on the progress of the Chinese Long March 9 (LM-9) heavy-lift rocket.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 February 2023: Preview of European Space Agency space activities for 2023 2023 is going to be a very exciting year for the European Space Agency (ESA) including:  * The Juice mission, also known as JUpiter ICy moons Explorer, will be an ambitious mission to explore the Jovian system, with a focus on the icy moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.  * Euclid, is a space observatory designed to map the distribution of dark matter and dark energy in the universe.  * Sentinel-1C, as part of the European Commission's Copernicus program, will continue to provide valuable information about the Earth's surface and atmosphere, including data on land, ocean and coastal areas, emergency response, and security. * The new generation of ESA astronauts will start their training and prepare for future space missions.  * The inaugural launch of Ariane 6, Europe's new heavy-lift rocket, will mark a new chapter in Europe's space history and pave the way for even more ambitious missions in the future.  A panel discussion on gender balance in the space industry; prospects for an Australian astronaut; long term industry planning; STEM and Tasmania; Australian Space Agency and Space Industry Association. (Recorded at the Moon Village Association conference, Deakin Edge, Federation Square in 2019) with:  * Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway, Astrophysicist, Monash University * Antoinette Daily, Australian Space Agency * Amanda Caples, Lead Scientist, Victorian Government * Kerrie Dougherty, Board Member, World Space Week * Rose Tasker, Multitasker Marking the 20th anniversary of the final tragic flight of the space shuttle Columbia - STS 107

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 21 December 2022: 50th Anniversary of Apollo 17 - Part III: On the Shoulders of Giants — Gene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt and Jim Lovell in conversation with journalist Phil Rogers at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium on 13 November 2012.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 14 December 2022: Space Show News: * Artemis I Mission Update — The Orion spacecraft returns to the Earth and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja, California. * The HAKUTO-R and NASA's Lunar Flashlight spacecraft successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and are now both on course for the Moon.  50th Anniversary of Apollo 17 - Part II: A second mission to Taurus-Littrow * Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt describe their voyage to the Moon. * The Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) program — A fascinating discussion between Harrison Schmitt (ANGSA Principal Investigator), Charles Shearer (ANGSA Co-Lead, Research Scientist, University of New Mexico) and Clive Neal (Planetary Geology Researcher, University of Notre Dame) at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in November 2022.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 7 December 2022: Space Show News: * The three-person crew of Shenzhou 14 return to Earth after a six month stay aboard the China Space Station * The Australian companies Southern Launch and ATSpace have announced they intend to launch two South Australian built Kestrel 1 rockets from the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex in South Australia.  Learn about ATSpace. * HHAKUTO-R is a multinational commercial lunar exploration program operated by ispace. It includes ispace’s first two lunar missions: Mission 1, a soft lunar landing in 2022 — this will be the first privately-led Japanese mission to land on the lunar surface — and Mission 2, a lunar landing and deployment of a rover in 2024. For both missions, the HAKUTO-R lander will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Artemis I Mission Update: * The Orion spacecraft is on it’s way back to Earth from the far side of the Moon * Reports on the little-known biological passengers aboard the Orion spacecraft: algae, fungi, seeds and yeast!  The trials & tribulations of the cubesats flying rideshare on Artemis I: * " target="_blank">Near-Earth Asteroid Scout  * CuSP  * BioSentinel  * EQUULEUS  * OMOTENASHI  Mission Updates: * GeoTail * CAPSTONE 50th anniversary of Apollo 17 - Part I: * Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, geologist and Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot speaks in Melbourne about the history of the Moon  * Eugene “Gene” Cernan, Commander of Apollo 17, in conversation with The Space Show’s Peter Aylward

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 30 November 2022: The launch of Shenzhou 15: Six Chinese astronauts make historic gathering in space aboard Tiangong, the China Space Station.  The European Space Agency has announced the names of 17 new astronaut candidates for its 2022 astronaut class: Meganne Christian was born in 1987. In addition to British and Italian citizenship, she also holds Australian and New Zealand citizenship. Space Show News: Australia and Japan recommit to deepening their bilateral collaboration in space. 50 years of the Voyager I & II spacecraft and Project Scientist Ed Stone - Part II Artemis 1 Mission Update The trials and tribulations of the cubesats flying rideshare on Artemis 1:  * ArgoMoon  * LunaH-Map  * LunIR  * Team Miles  * Lunar IceCube  * Near-Earth Asteroid Scout

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 23 November 2022: Space Show News: * Funding for a new Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space (P4S) is announced. Artemis 1 Mission Update: * Outbound powered lunar flyby for insertion into distant retrograde orbit (DSO) * Orbital manoeuvring system (OMS) engine burn * Alexa around the Moon * Helga and Zohar medical phantoms * Artemis Flight Director report * Orion Integration Manager report * Artemis 1 Mission Manager report * The trials, tribulations and triumphs of the cubesats flying rideshare on Artemis 1  — OMOTENASHI  — EQUULEUS  — LunaH-Map

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 16 November 2022: Liftoff! NASA’s Artemis 1 Mega Rocket Launches Orion to the Moon: * Following a successful launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the agency’s Orion spacecraft is on its way to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. Carrying an uncrewed Orion spacecraft, SLS lifted off for its flight test debut at 5:47 p.m. AEDT on Wednesday, 16 November from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.   * The European Space Agency contributions to the Artemis program 55 Years Ago: Apollo 4, the First Flight of the Saturn V Lunar Flashlight: Roughly the size of a briefcase, Lunar Flashlight is a very small satellite being developed and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that will use near-infrared lasers and an onboard spectrometer to map ice in permanently shadowed regions near the Moon's south pole. 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 9 November 2022:  Due to a power outage affecting the studios of Southern FM, this week's episode of The Space Show did not go to air. In its place, we are pleased to present a preview of a forthcoming series of programmes called, Lunar Science In the Artemis Era.  Lunar Science In the Artemis Era — Episode 1:  * Artemis project science overview with Jacob Bleacher   * Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) with Steve Clarke   * Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) Mission with Craig Hardgrove.  Lunar Science In the Artemis Era is a series which focuses attention on the science to be done at the Moon by both robotic missions and the crewed Artemis missions.  These programs are based on a series of NASA workshops held during 2020, 2021 and 2022 in which the scientific knowledge gaps that need to be filled to achieve the Artemis human missions to the Moon, and the scientific investigations that scientists desire to be done both on the Moon and in the vicinity of the Moon, were discussed.  Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the participants were talking from their homes and offices, and so the audio quality varies considerably. Some relevant talks were not included because the audio was so dreadful as to make them unlistenable. 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 2 November 2022: Space Show News:  * NOAA’s JPSS-2 is set to launch atop an Atlas V rocket and will join the fleet of Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites.  * Rocket Lab prepares to launch its “Catch Me If You Can” Electron booster recovery mission carrying the MATS (Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy) satellite * Update on the CAPSTONE mission * Final module docks at China's Tiangong space station InSight and MRO combine to discover newly formed crater on Mars: * NASA’s InSight lander detects meteoroid impact on Mars while cameras aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spotted the new crater from space Diary time: * Details of the total lunar eclipse on 8 November 2022 Voyager 1 & 2 and Ed Stone retirement: * Ed Stone, Voyager Project Scientist, retires after 50 years in the job and a 60 year career with NASA

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 26 October 2022: Space Show News:  * A breakdown of the Australian Federal Budget — What’s in it for space? Panel discussion — “Victorian Space Opportunities" recorded at Engineers Australia, Melbourne featuring: * Peter Moar, La Trobe University, Bundoora * Mark Fittock, OHP, Germany * Rebecca Allen, Astrophysicist, Swinburne University, Glenferrie * Mathew Bricali, Research Fellow and Team Lead at the Co-operative Research Centre, RMIT University, Melbourne  Diary time: * 4th Annual International Humans in Space Summit 2022: 7-11 November 2022, University of Technology, Sydney * Details of the total lunar eclipse: 8 November 2022 Planet Earth Episode 45: * The Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20 and JPSS. Inserts courtesy AGU, GSFC.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 19 October 2022: In anticipation of next week's Federal Budget, a Space Show exclusive interview with Sussan Ley, Shadow Minister for Small and Family Business, on potential delays to funding space activities. Jenny Mitchell, Director, Civil Space Policy at the Australian Space Agency on space career opportunities, skill shortages and $1.2 billion dollars for Australian Earth observation. Space Show News: An international team of researchers led by the University of Cambridge has revealed new evidence for the possible existence of liquid water under the south polar ice cap of Mars. Dr Malcolm Davis, a Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Australian strategic space policy and Australia’s response in space.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 12 October 2022:  Speaking at the Final Frontier Festival at Melbourne University, space historian Kerrie Dougherty (@KerrieDougherty) asks the question: “What’s space ever done for me?”  China’s involvement in the space field across the African continent.  BlueWalker 3 by AST SpaceMobile: A revolution in mobile telephony.  Space Show News:   NASA confirms that the DART impact successfully changed the period of Dimorphos’ orbit around its companion asteroid Didymos  An update on some of the 152 cubesat missions launched by NASA since 2016  NASA and SpaceX to Study Hubble Telescope Reboost Possibility 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 5 October 2022: National Space Council:  Scientific research on the International Space Station Space Traffic Awareness in low Earth orbit Chinese Moon exploration: Chinese scientists have discovered a new mineral in lunar samples they have called Changesite—(Y) Lunar Helium-3 analysis in lunar samples High pressure minerals in lunar regolith The identification of indigenous lunar water  Opinion: Lunar land grab and the Outer Space Treaty with Dr Malcolm Davis (@Dr_M_Davis) from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute The European Space Agency’s Hera mission plans to follow up the impact of DART into the asteroid Dimorphos  The geographic importance of the Magellan-Elcano expedition 500 years after circumnavigating the world  Russia’s next phase of lunar exploration starting with the launch of Luna 25 mission to the Moon in 2023 NASA’s InSight lander records three impacts on Mars  China’s Zhurong Mars rover radar results published in the journal Nature

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 28 September 2022: NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully scores a direct hit on the asteroid Dimorphos:  Tom Slater, DART Program Scientist at NASA, describes the test objectives of the DART mission Elena Adams, DART Systems Engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, answers questions from the media and takes us through the final stages of the mission.  Space Show News: Valery Polyakov: A record-breaking Russian cosmonaut dies aged 80. Valery Polyakov spent 437 full days orbiting the Earth between 1994 and 1995 on the Mir space station. The maiden launch of United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket set for 2022, will carry the autonomous Peregrine lunar lander for Astrobotic and the cremated remains of Australian-born NASA astronaut Philip Chapman and Star Trek actor Nichelle Nicholls for the Celestis memorial spaceflight company. The Artemis I has been rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to shelter from Hurricane Ian  The Mars helicopter Ingenuity has made three flights in the month of September while the Perseverance rover continues to explore a geologically rich part of Jezero Crater. National Space Council:  Chairperson, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris recommits the United States to a direct ascent anti-satellite test ban. The U.S. will introduce a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly to call on other nations to make the same commitment. Addressing orbital debris or cleaning up space junk  Three space directives: two for NASA and one for the Department of Transportation.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 21 September 2022: A conversation with the Space Association of Australia’s Angelo Di Grazia, reporting on his recent American space adventure including Vice President Kamala Harris’ remarks at her second National Space Council meeting in Houston and a visit to the SpaceX Starbase in Boco Chica.   See NASA Spaceflight’s 360 degree drive through of SpaceX Starbase at Boca Chica, Texas September Public Meeting of the Space Association of Australia in person and online | Melbourne Space Program: ACRUX-2  Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory briefing on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft set to impact the asteroid  Dimorphos on Tuesday, 27 September at 9:15am AEST Update on the status of Artemis I cryogenic tanking test

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 14 September 2022: 60th anniversary of JFK’s address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort: NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson U.S. Representative, Brian Babin U.S. Representative, Al Green Greetings from astronauts aboard the International Space Station French astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien and U.S. astronaut Shannon Walker Update on the status of Artemis I NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft set to impact the asteroid Dimorphos on Tuesday, 27 September at 9:15am AEST Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft launched 45 years ago

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 7 September 2022: Angelo Di Grazia reports from the Kennedy Space Centre on the two scrubbed launch attempts for the Artemis I test mission Quinlan Buklap - A data scientist in space medicine takes us on a virtual journey to the Moon at the Moon Village Association conference MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) generates oxygen on the surface of Mars Curiosity Rover searches for signs of life on Mars for 10 years Solar Orbiter hit by a coronal mass ejection

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 31 August 2022: Mike Sarafin (Artemis I Mission Manager, NASA) - Mission status Thomas Berger (Principal Investigator, German Aerospace Centre) - Helgar and Zohar Ramona Gaza (MARE Team Lead, NASA Johnson Space Centre, Houston) - Radiation experiments on Artemis I Shirit Schwarz (Director of Product Management, AstroRad at StemRad) - AstroRad is personal protective equipment for astronauts to wear beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) that markedly reduces Radiation Exposure Induced Death (REID) such as cancer, while eliminating the possibility of Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) due to solar particle events (SPE). Gender differences and radiation risk - Ramona Gaza  Sergio Santa Maria (Lead Scientist, NASA AMES Research Center) - BioSentinel Justin Gomet (Project Manager, Orion Crew Survival Systems, NASA Johnson Space Centre, Houston) - Commander Moonkin Campos: A mannequin in a spacesuit  Rod Chambers (Director, Commercial Civil Space Strategy, Lockheed Martin) - Callisto: A version of Alexa aboard the Orion spacecraft Dr Omar Eduardo Rodriguez speaking at the Moon Village Association about mental health on long duration spaceflight

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 24 August 2022:  Rachael Craft, NASA Office of Communications — Introduction to the secondary payloads on the Artemis I mission Jacob Bleacher, NASA Chief Exploration Scientist — Summary of the key science objectives of the Artemis I  mission Craig Hardgrove, Principal Investigator of LunaH-Map, Arizona State University — A cubesat creating higher-fidelity maps of near-surface hydrogen in craters and other permanently shadowed regions of the lunar South Pole with neutron spectrometers Joseph Shoa, Architect for Small Satellite Missions, describes LunIR (formerly known as SkyFire) — A Lockheed Martin cubesat that will perform  advanced infrared imaging of the lunar surface Ben Belfris, Principal Investigator on the Lunar IceCube mission by Morehead State University — Searching for water in all forms and other volatiles with an infrared spectrometer OMOTENASHI – JAXA, Japan — Developing the world’s smallest lunar lander and studying the lunar environment EQUULEUS – University of Tokyo/JAXA, Japan — Imaging the Earth’s plasmasphere for a better understanding of Earth’s radiation environment from Earth-Moon LaGrange 2 point Team Miles — Demonstrating propulsion using plasma thrusters and competing in NASA’s Deep Space Derby NEA Scout — Traveling by solar sail to a near-Earth asteroid and taking pictures and other characterisations of its surface  CuSP – Southwest Research Institute — Measuring particles and magnetic fields as a space weather station ArgoMoon – Italian Space Agency, ArgoTec, Italy — Observing the interim cryogenic propulsion stage with advanced optics and software imaging system

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 17 August 2022:  Artemis I mission milestones, priorities and science objectives Mike Sarafin (Artemis I Mission Manager) - Mission summary and priorities Bhavy Lal (TPS Associate Administrator) - Cubesats and Orion cabin science Sara Noble (Lead Lunar Scientist, NASA) - Lunar science - VIPER, LunaH-Map, Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter Pam Clark (JPL) - Lunar IceCube GSFC PR - Lunar IceCube BIRCHES Craig Hardgrove (Arizona State University) - LunaH-Map Biomedicine and lunar spaceflight with Gordon Cable (University of Adelaide)

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 10 August 2022:  Part 2 of a two-part special episode marking the 10th anniversary of the Curiosity rover's landing in and exploration of Gale crater on Mars — in this episode we find out what the rover has been doing in the 10 years since it landed in August 2012. Announcing Lunar Science in the Artemis Era: a new series by The Space Show in which we discuss the scientific investigation of the Moon and its environment in the Artemis era. Lunar Science is about the science to be done on and near the Moon during the Artemis project and the supporting uncrewed missions. These programs will be released shortly as a seperate podcast stream, or you can begin listening now by visiting: https://space.southernfm.com.au/LunarScience/LunarScience.html. will.i.am releases his “Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition)” single on Mars courtesy of the NASA Curiosity rover on the surface of the Red Planet. The single became the first song in history to be broadcast from another planet, completing a journey of more than 300 million miles between Mars and Earth. Monash University’s Nova Rover student team at the Moon Village Association’s Forum on the Moon, talk about their entry into the Mars Society's international University Rover Challenge competition. 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 3 August 2022: Part 1 of a two-part special episode marking the 10th anniversary of the Curiosity rover's landing in and exploration of Gale crater on Mars — we remember back to its landing day on 6 August 2012 and find out what it has been doing since. Announcing Lunar Science in the Artemis Era: a new series by The Space Show in which we discuss the scientific investigation of the Moon and its environment in the Artemis era. Lunar Science is about the science to be done on and near the Moon during the Artemis project and the supporting uncrewed missions. These programs will be released shortly as a seperate podcast stream, or begin listening now by visiting: https://space.southernfm.com.au/LunarScience/LunarScience.html.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 27 July 2022:  Space Show News: Lunar-VISE (Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer): NASA Selects New Instruments for Priority Artemis Science on Moon. VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) lunar rover: On 21 September 2021, NASA announced the landing site for its VIPER mission to the Moon’s south pole. On 19 July 2022, NASA reschedules CLPS delivery of VIPER to 2024 to reduce risk to the mission. NASA has awarded Draper of Cambridge, Massachusetts a contract to deliver Artemis science investigations to the Schrödinger Basin on the far side of the Moon in 2025: The commercial delivery is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative under Artemis. The Australian Defence Force has started planning for two experimental Australian satellite missions: Australia’s Chief Defence Scientist,  Professor Tanya Monro, has announced that Airbus has been selected as the strategic partner for Defence’s Resilient Multi-mission Space STaR Shot – a strategic research program established to develop future space capabilities for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Space Industry Association of Australia conference Q&A panel session moderated by Prof. Alan Duffy on Australian space industry workforce planning. Prof. Iver Cairns from CUAVA (the ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and their Applications at the University of Sydney) in conversation with the Space Association of Australia on the future of CUAVA and the multiple uses for cubesats. From the Vault: 1986 NASA feature on the “Orient Express”, the National Aero-Space Plane, designated the X-30. The magnetic objectives of the delayed Psyche mission. JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) mission overview and implications of the launch delay: a feature courtesy of the European Space Agency.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 July 2022:  Planet Earth — Episode 44 The 50th Anniversary of the Landsat Earth Observation Program: The history of the Landsat satellites: a feature courtesy of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland The Space Show in conversation with David Hudson, Director of Satellite Programs for Satellite Land Imagery Collection at Geoscience Australia about Landsat and Australia Jeff Masek, the Project Scientist for Landsat 9 answers questions from the Goddard Space Flight Center Public Affairs team Nine facts about Landsat EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation): EMIT will be the first instrument to use NASA-invented imaging spectroscopy technology to comprehensively measure the mineral composition of the Earth's arid land dust source regions. Space Show News: The recently launched United States National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) USA-334 satellite has an Australian Defence Force connection On 5 July 2022, Saber Astronautics, an Australian global space operations provider, signed a deal with U.S. private spaceflight leader Axiom Space Inc. The agreement is set to create an Australian presence on the International Space Station (ISS) and future Axiom Station. Saber Astronautics will develop the first formal program to enable Australians and Australian industry to, via Axiom, access the Station’s orbiting microgravity laboratory and develop a new generation of space-developed products for human health, materials, electronics, cleantech, and more.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 13 July 2022:  The James Webb Space Telescope's first images shed new light on the cosmos: with Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Bill Nelson and a little help from James E. Webb. Psyche: Mission objectives, mission team and mission postponement announcement. Planet Earth — Episode 43:  CYGNUS (Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System): Estimating methane emissions from wetlands  SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity): A European Space Agency Earth Explorer Mission measures the water cycle - an ESA feature  ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti addresses the World Economic Forum on orbit from the International Space Station   “Escape to Mars” by Gift of Gab.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 6 July 2022:  In this special episode, we mark the 60th anniversary of the launch of Telstar 1: the world’s first active telecommunications satellite. On only its second day in orbit, the satellite relayed the first live television pictures broadcast across the Atlantic. The satellite captured the imagination of people all around the globe and sparked a new age of instant worldwide communications.  The event also inspired a chart-topping musical tribute. "Telstar" is a 1962 instrumental recording originally written and produced by Joe Meek for the English band the Tornados. In December 1962, the track reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Listen to an eerie goodwill recording from John F. Kennedy to the people of Japan relayed by Telstar 2 only two days before the U.S. president’s assassination in Dallas, Texas.  Telstar made one place in the United Kingdom very well-known to the public: the British Telecom (BT) ground station at Goonhilly in Cornwall. A BT feature outlines the history and operation of the Goonhilly facility. The Space Show in conversation with Robert Gough, the Head of Business Development for Australia and Asia-Pacific, Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, Goonhilly Downs, Helston, Cornwall. The Telstar satellites were superseded by the Intelsat series of satellites. Early Bird 1 (Intelsat 1-F1) was the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geostationary orbit in April 1965.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 29 June 2022:  " target="_blank">NASA successfully launched the first of three sounding rockets from Equatorial Launch Australia’s Arnhem Space Centre in East Arnhem Land on the weekend. The rocket carried the X-ray Quantum Calorimeter, or XQC, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. XQC contained unique X-ray detectors, cooled to a frigid one-twentieth of a degree above absolute zero, to measure interstellar X-rays with unprecedented precision to better understand the interstellar medium and its influence on the structure and evolution of galaxies and stars. Australia Sounding Rocket Campaign Press Kit. Successful launch of CAPSTONE on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from New Zealand’s North Island. The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, the NASA CubeSat designed to test a unique lunar orbit, is safely in space and on the first leg of its journey to the Moon. The spacecraft is heading toward an orbit intended in the future for Gateway, a lunar space station built by the agency and its commercial and international partners that will support NASA’s Artemis program, including human landing missions. Measuring, managing and automating the detection of aircraft wake turbulence: an episode of The Space Story courtesy of NASA. Planet Earth - Episode 42:  The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Mission will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses providing information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, and will support a host of other applications. The NASA Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) launched on 15 December 2016, is a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Mission that is intended to collect the first frequent space‐based measurements of surface wind speeds in the inner core of tropical cyclones.  The NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission, is a constellation of state-of-the-science observing platforms that will measure temperature, humidity and precipitation with microwave spatial resolution but with an unprecedented median revisit time of 50 minutes.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 June 2022:  We mark the sixtieth anniversary of the 7 June 1962 public announcement of the Apollo lunar mission mode decision with a special episode of The Space Show. The episode details the history of the technical and political reasons why the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous method won out over the Direct Ascent and Earth Orbit Assembly (or Rendezvous) methods of travelling to and landing on the Moon. View the original 2019 PowerPoint presentation version of this talk (no audio - 239.5 MB).

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 June 2022:  Planet Earth - Episode 40 Esper Satellite Imagery is a Melbourne based space startup focusing on collecting hyperspectral imagery from micro satellite constellations to supercharge industries with environmental data. Esper Satellite Imagery is developing small satellites capable of hyperspectral Earth observation, to deliver intelligent data from space for industrial efficiency on Earth. Troy McCann, founder and CEO of space startup accelerator, MoonshotX (now Moonshot Space Co.) Space Show News: NASA to launch three sounding rockets from Equatorial Launch Australia’s facility in the Northern Territory NASA's MAVEN Spacecraft Exits Safe Mode and Resumes Science & Operations | NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (or MAVEN) mission returned to normal science and relay operations on 28 May 2022, after recovering from an extended safe mode event. The spacecraft encountered problems in February with its Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). Forty years since AUSSAT Pty Ltd placed a contract for Australian satellites | AUSSAT was created by the Australian Government in 1979 and was one of Australia's national satellite companies and one of the first national communications satellite systems in the world. It became a publicly-owned company known as AUSSAT Pty Ltd and delivered satellite television, telephone and other services.  A summary of the CAPSTONE mission courtesy of NASA New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, comments on her meeting with U.S. Vice President, Kamala Harris James Webb Space Telescope update - first images due on 13 July

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 1 June 2022:  Space Show News: Ed Husic is sworn in as Minister for Industry and Science: Australia’s new “Space Minister”  Planet Earth - Episode 39:  Moon Bounce: The Hubble Space Telescope detects signs of life on Earth by looking at the Moon during an eclipse Bushfire smoke detection from space with the TERRA, CloudSat and Suomi satellites   GOES-18 (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) detects the extent of bushfire smoke  Dr Stephen Giovannoni is discovering life deep underground on Earth (a feature courtesy of EarthSky: A Clear Voice for Science) Rocket Lab has set June 13 as the targeted launch date of NASA’s CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) satellite. We join a NASA media briefing that outlines this exciting precursor mission.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 25 May 2022:  Vale Vangelis: For 31 years, The Space Show has used as its opening theme, “Motion of Stars” by Vangelis. The Space Show is sad to report the death of Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou last week, at the age of 79. The artist, known professionally as Vangelis, was a Greek musician, composer, songwriter and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. Vangelis was best known for his Academy Award-winning score to Chariots of Fire (1981), as well as for composing the scores to the film Blade Runner (1982), music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey - Mythodea (2001) [listen to The Space Show episode 2021.10.20 | Mythodia: Music dedicated to the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission], and for the use of his music in the 1980 PBS documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan. CAPSTONE mission launch update. The Future Australian Space Workforce and its Development panel at the Space Industry Association of Australia conference:  Assoc. Prof. Alan Duffy (Swinburne University, Melbourne) Michael Pakakis (Director, Victorian Space Science Education Centre, Melbourne)  Prof. Anna Moore (Director, Institute for Space, ANU, Canberra)  Prof. Michael Smart (Chair, Hypersonic Propulsion HyShot Group, University of Queensland, Brisbane)  Prof. Andy Koronios (Dean of Industry and Enterprise, University of South Australia, Adelaide)  Jackie Carpenter (Director, One Giant Leap Australia) James Webb Space Telescope: An overview of the scientific instrument package Scott Carpenter and Mercury Atlas 7: A feature celebrating the 60th anniversary of the second U.S. manned orbital spaceflight. Taken from the documentary “Moonshot” based on the book of the same name by Donald “Deke” Slayton.  For the first time ever, researchers have grown plants in nutrient poor lunar regolith: Jim Greene in conversation with Dr Anna-Lisa Paul. More than 50 years after astronauts brought the last rock samples to Earth from the Moon, scientists have successfully grown plants in lunar soil from three different Apollo missions for the first time. The plants showed visible and genetic signs of "stressful" growing conditions. The research paper was published on May 12 in the journal, Communications Biology. 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 18 May 2022:  Eurovision 2022 (yes, there are space/astrophysics links): Italian and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha), aboard the International Space Station, sends her greetings to the Eurovision Song Contest being held in Turin, Italy  Sam Ryder (@SamRyderMusic) with “Space Man”, the United Kingdom’s entrant in Eurovision 2022, which placed second behind Ukraine Sagittarius A* black hole is imaged for the first time:  Sagittarius A*, abbreviated Sgr A*, is the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. It is located near the border of the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, about 5.6° south of the ecliptic, visually close to the Butterfly Cluster and Lambda Scorpii. We join the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Event Horizon Telescope project joint media conference to announce the successful imaging of Sagittarius A* Planet Earth - Episode 38: NOAA’s GOES-18 (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) launched DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration space weather, space climate, and Earth observation satellite.  Astronaut reflections on seeing the Earth from space: Luca Parmitano (@astro_luca), Italian and ESA astronaut

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 11 May 2022:  Space Show News: NASA’s CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) spacecraft is in transit from California to Rocket Lab’s launch complex 1B on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand  A report on the first two years of Yutu-2, the robotic lunar rover component of CNSA's Chang'e 4 mission to the far side of the Moon Hayabusa2 (the asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese state space agency JAXA) sample analysis reveals the presence of organic material (amino acids), the building blocks of life Ingenuity helicopter successfully completes 28 flights across Mars Features: The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer aboard the International Space Station James Webb Space Telescope imaged by Gaia Planet Earth - Episode 37:  AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA's Aqua satellite) Reduced air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic and a sharp decline in precipitation in the western United States OCO (Orbiting Carbon Observatory) 2 and 3  Carbon Mapper  Gavin Schmidt, Acting Senior Climate Advisor at NASA Astronaut reflections on seeing the Earth from space: “The only border that matters is this thin blue line of atmosphere that blankets and protects us all” ~ Nicole Stott

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 4 May 2022: The third and final part of a series of special episodes celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission to the Descartes region of the lunar highlands in the words of Commander, John Young and Lunar Module Pilot, Charlie Duke, as recorded by The Space Show. Nothing So Hidden: "There is nothing so far removed from us as to be beyond our reach, or so hidden that we cannot discover it." ~ Rene Descartes Also on tonight’s episode:  Chiara Ferrari-Wong, a PhD candidate at the University of Hawaii, reports on anorthosite rocks recently discovered near the Apollo 16 landing site and describes the HyTI - Hyperspectral Thermal Imager The story of the Apollo 16 command module Casper at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama  The Space Show in conversation with Eric Jones, the founder and editor emeritus of the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, recounts the genesis of the Journal and how the interviews were conducted on which this unique online archive is based John Saxon, Operations Supervisor at the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station gives an audio tour and description of the facility at Honeysuckle Creek outside Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory as it existed during the Apollo missions.   Resources Apollo Flight Journal: https://history.nasa.gov/afj Apollo Lunar Surface Journal: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station tribute website: https://honeysucklecreek.net  Tracking Apollo to the Moon by Hamish Lindsay: https://booko.com.au/works/7246322 Honeysuckle Creek: The story of Tom Reid, a little dish, and Neil Armstrong’s first step by Andrew Tink: https://booko.com.au/works/8691802

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 27 April 2022: Part 2 of a three-part series of special episodes celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission in the words of Commander, John Young and Lunar Module Pilot, Charlie Duke, as recorded by The Space Show. In tonight’s episode, the Apollo 16 astronauts take their lunar roving vehicle for a spin in the first "Grand Prix" held on the Moon; discuss potassium-induced astronaut flatulence; talk with John Saxon, the Operations Supervisor at the Honeysuckle Creek tracking station outside Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (the only Australian ever to speak directly to an astronaut on the Moon), and place their beer orders; take a walk in deep space and lose, find, lose again and then recapture a missing wedding ring, on their way home from the Moon. 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 April 2022: Part 1 of a three-part series of special episodes celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission in the words of Commander, John Young and Lunar Module Pilot, Charlie Duke, as recorded by The Space Show. Only twelve people have walked on the Moon. Only one (the 10th person) of that dozen has walked into the studios of Southern FM where The Space Show is broadcast and recorded. On another occasion, The Space Show travelled to Canberra to record his commander’s (the 9th person) account of their moonwalks in the Descartes highlands.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 13 April 2022: The Space Show interviews Dr Malcolm Davis, a Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). In a wide-ranging conversation, Dr Davis breaks down the 2022 Federal Budget and its implications for the Australian Space Agency, the Australian Defence Force, the Defence Space Command, sovereign space capability and more. The Strategist is the commentary and analysis site of ASPI. Planet Earth - Episode 36: Melting Ice ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2) monitors the Earth’s melting ice sheets  Dr Alex Gardner, a Glaciologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Earth's Cryosphere - melting ice, rising temperatures, changes in the ice sheets ICESat-2 discovers new lakes under the Antarctic ice sheet - a report from the Goddard Space Flight Center

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 6 April 2022: Space Show News: Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1): A private crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for Axiom Space Three Chinese taikonauts to return to Earth this month from the Chinese Space Station after completing their six-month Shenzhou 13 mission  Artemis 1: Space Launch System (SLS) wet dress rehearsal delayed Sustaining Lunar Development Project: NASA seeks proposals for future Lunar Human Landing Systems Hubble Space Telescope archival data reveals evidence of water vapour in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede  Planet Earth - Episode 35: NASA partners with Australian Space Agency on Earth observation: ASA and NASA sign Statement of Intent Gilmour Space Technologies and Lat Connect 60 announce an agreement to launch micro-satellites for a planned high resolution, hyperspectral Earth-imaging constellation Sea level rise and flooding: Rising Waters - Four Time Horizons with John Englander, Executive Director of the Caribbean Centre for Rising Seas

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 30 March 2022: Space Show News: Australian Federal Budget 2022: $1.3 billion to grow the Australian space sector and space manufacturing industry. This includes $1.2 billion to establish a National Space Mission for Earth Observation to secure data streams, build Australia’s sovereign capability and enter agreements with international partners including for the procurement and operation of four Australian cross-calibration, radiometer satellites. Russia’s war in Ukraine and the effect on the international space industry with Space Association of Australia member, Angelo Di Grazia Ingenuity helicopter conducts it’s 22 flight across Mars while NASA has extended its operational mission again, this time until September  Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft roll-out and a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) update James Webb Space Telescope update Planet Earth - Episode 34: European Space Agency (ESA) satellite monitoring algal blooms  ESA’s Space Safety and Security Applications: Detecting and mitigating threats from space INCUS - Investigation of Convective Updrafts: NASA’s 3rd Venture Mission

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 23 March 2022: Space Show News: Australian launch permit application fees abolished by the Australian Government Australian Space Agency tasked with developing a Space Strategic Update  Activation of the Australian Defence Space Command [Note: A feature on the formation of the Australian Defence Force Space Division from the 12 May 2021 episode of The Space Show can be found here: http://space.southernfm.com.au/spaceshow2021programmes.html] A compilation of space-related items affected by the Russian war in Ukraine Prof. Christian Barry, School of Philosophy at the Australian National University in  Canberra on “The ethical benefits of sharing the benefits of space utilisation” - some thoughts foreshadowing the Monday, 28 March meeting of the Space Association of Australia  [Join us for the March 2022 meeting of the Space Association of Australia: The Ethics of Space Colonisation with Gordon Young of Ethilogical - details & Zoom reservations here http://thq.fyi/se/48c12b3dd7e6] A review of the roll-out celebrations of Artemis-1:  Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, Artemis-1 commendation speech  Eddie Vedder (musician) sings "Invincible", the theme song of the Artemis program A feature on the successful mirror alignment of the James Webb Space Telescope

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 16 March 2022: SLS Artemis 1 rollout and wet dress rehearsal: Artemis 1, is a planned uncrewed test flight for NASA's Artemis program. It is the first flight of the agency's Space Launch System super heavy-lift launch vehicle and the first flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. Binar-2 and beyond including outreach to schools and the amateur radio community and the ambition of sending a Binar prospector to the Moon with Fergus Downey at the Space Science Technology Centre, Curtin University A NASA primer on the Space Service Volume of the Global Navigation Satellite System Multi-GNSS and CUAVA 2 and 3 with Prof. Iver Cairns, Director of CUAVA, the ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and their Applications at Sydney University presenting to the Space Industry Association of Australia Planet Earth - Episode 33: Sea level rises projected by a joint report of three U.S. Government agencies: NASA, NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 9 March 2022: Andrew Sysouphat (BAE Systems) - Australian designed space telescope Vasily Lobzin (Bureau of Meteorology) - Automated solar flare prediction Kirco Arsov (Bureau of Meteorology) - Space Weather Services Enrico Palermo and Campbell Pegg (Australian Space Agency) - Australian Moon to Mars Initiative Carlos Espejel (iSpace) - A business case for mining the Moon Peter Beck (Rocket Lab) - Introducing Pad B: A new launch pad as part of Launch Complex 1 on the New Zealand north island Planet Earth - Episode 32: Spiral Blue (Sydney) and Esper Satellite Imagery (Melbourne) - Project Rainbow Python: An in-space imaging and processing system 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 2 March 2022: Space Show News: The Space Show takes a dig at Prime Minister Scott Morrison by giving him a lesson on the history of Australians in space Ukrainian singer Alena Vinnitskaya performs “Stargazer (Astrologer)”  Suraj Bijjahalli (RMIT University): Augmenting global navigation systems Belinda Nicholson (University of Southern Queensland): Stars as proxies for studying the Sun's early history Planet Earth - Episode 31: A feature from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on its Earth observation spacecraft 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 23 February 2022: “Splashdown, John Glenn”, a new song celebrating the 60th anniversary of the flight of Friendship 7 by the HR Arts Factory. An interview with Simon Banks, an Australian composer and musician, about his song, five years in the making, about John Glenn. Siddharth Pandey (Mars Society Australia): An Astrobiology Expedition to Ladakk, India.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 16 February 2022: A special edition of The Space Show commemorating the 60th anniversary of the first United States human orbital spaceflight by John Glenn in his Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. The program will feature a 1962 audio documentary about the flight, a  portion of Glenn's 2013 oral history recording, Glenn's 1962 speech to a joint sitting of the U.S. Congress, and several songs about John Glenn and his MA-6 mission.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 9 February 2022: An update on the Swift Observatory satellite, together with a feature about one of its findings: a stellar tidal disruption event, courtesy of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. China's Five Year Space Plan. Steven Hobbs (University of New South Wales, Sydney) - Hands-off Field Work: Comparing human and robotic methods of gathering terrain data. A preview of European Space Agency (ESA) missions in 2022. Naveen Kodikara (RMIT University, Melbourne) - Efficacy of Global Ionospheric Maps. Planet Earth Episode 30:  The TROPICS mission William Blackwell (MIT Lincoln Laboratory) - An overview of TROPICS A feature on the TROPICS mission from the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 2 February 2022:  Upulie Divisekera (Monash University) - A New Era of Space Exploration  James Webb Space Telescope - The next-generation infra-red observatory has entered orbit around L2, the second Lagrange Point    Swift Observatory enters safe mode - Also, a feature from the Goddard Space Flight Centre, in Greenbelt, Maryland describes one of the discoveries during the Swift Observatory's 17 year mission.    Planet Earth Episode 29:  Enrico Palermo (Australian Space Agency) - Australian Earth Observation from Space Roadmap   Karen St. Germain (NASA) - Towards the Earth System Observatory  Ceddric David (JPL) - Plan A: There is no Plan B  Gavin Schmidt et al (Goddard Institute for Space Studies & Goddard Space Flight Center feature) - Global Temperatures 2021

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 December 2021: NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite with Tiffany Russell-Lockhart, a systems engineer at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama  A primer on why astronomers need to see the non-visible wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum  Dr Ellen Stofan, Smithsonian Under Secretary for Science and Research and Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, discuss XPIE at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. The " target="_blank">James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): A next-generation infra-red observatory is prepared for launch James Webb Space Telescope by the Chromatics  Revealing the universe with the JWST: a feature from the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland The Operations Control Centre for the Hubble Space Telescope: a feature from the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland The Chandra X-ray Observatory: Celebrating the 8th and 15th anniversaries of the telescope  The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 December 2021: Launch coverage of Soyuz MS-20: a Russian Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station launched on 8 December 2021. Soyuz MS-20 is commanded by a single professional cosmonaut, Alexander Misurkin, and carries two space tourists, Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano for the space tourism company Space Adventures. NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE): A space observatory built to discover the secrets of some of the most extreme objects in the universe – the remnants of supernova explosions and more. Thomas Pesquet, ESA astronaut mission end: A profile of his second mission aboard the International Space Station and his personal reflections on seeing the Earth from space. Twelve astronaut candidates have been selected to begin training at the Johnson Space Centre, Houston in January 2022. The 17th flight of the ingenuity helicopter above the surface of Mars. The science objectives of the Lucy mission to the Trojan asteroids. The Queensland-based Hypersonix Launch Systems has announced its latest project, the DART AE. DART AE is the world’s first 3D printed hypersonic platform in high-temperature alloys - and it’s made in Australia. NASA DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) asteroid impactor: NASA's first planetary defence mission The European Space Agency’s Hera mission Near Earth Asteroid Scout (NEA Scout) cubesat mission Distributing the rewards of asteroid mining operations with Prof Christian Barry, the Centre for Social, Moral and Political Theory at the Australian National University in Canberra Using supernovae as ‘Standard Candles’ and the Nancy Roman Space Telescope  Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s icy moon: What’s the big deal about Europa?

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 1 December 2021: Aussie movers and shakers: Self-profiles by some of Australia's space industry's leaders. Australian based Saber Astronautics has signed a deal with private U.S. spaceflight company Axiom Space to create an Australian presence on the International Space Station. Ben Greene, Group CEO, Electro-Optics Systems, Canberra on 'Sovereign Space Situational Awareness Capabilities'. Planet Earth - Episode 28: DSCOVR; INCUS; Landsat 9; Tropics Pathfinder; algal blooms.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 24 November 2021: Planet Earth: Global Rising Sea Levels Sentinel 6 satellite one year anniversary Sea level rise Glaciers driving sea-level rise Land subsidence High tide flooding Australian buildings at sea level El Nino and La Nina Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite “Rising Seas” by the Australian band Midnight Oil (song) Josh Willis, Lead Scientist, Sentinel 6 on the satellite's 1st anniversary SWOT satellite CSIRO "State Of The Climate" report DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) asteroid impactor: NASA's first planetary defence mission

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 17 November 2021: The United States has condemned a Russian anti-satellite missile test: The U.S. State Department has accused Russia of jeopardising the safety and security of space exploration following the launch of an anti-satellite missile against one of its own targets, the defunct Cosmos 1408 satellite. Planet Earth - Episode 26  Global Methane Pledge at COP 26: The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021 Ursula von der Leyen (President, European Commission) Joe Biden (President, United States of America) Scott Morrison (Prime Minister, Australia) Gina McCarthy (former Head, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) The Methane Pavilion: The Space Race to Save the Planet Dr Steven Hamburg (Co-lead, MethaneSAT) Riley Duren (CEO, Carbon Mapper) Stephane Germain (President, GHGSat) Antoine Rostand (President/Founder, Kayrros) Celebrating Women in Space with Kerrie Dougherty: Join us for the November 2021 public meeting of the Space Association of Australia. This month we feature space historian Kerrie Dougherty who will reprise her World Space Week 2021 presentation, Women in Space. Find meeting details and registration here.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 10 November 2021: A leaky toilet on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft has forced NASA to ask it's Crew 2 astronauts returning to Earth to use absorbent 'undergarments' – also known as 'adult diapers' for the eight-hour trip home.     LeoLabs to construct space radars in Western Australia: LeoLabs has announced it will construct two phased-array space radars in Western Australia, the sixth site for the Silicon Valley startup’s global space domain awareness tracking network. The recently released United States Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 has listed the giant Magellan telescope as one of it’s top priorities - and there’s an Australian connection.  New insights about our Moon’s geologic history have been gained from the analysis of China’s Chang'e 5 lunar samples. Comparison with the analysis of Apollo lunar samples has identified both similarities and differences. An in-depth look at CUAVA-1, Sydney University’s pioneering cubesat, with Professor Iver Cairns (@CairnsIver). 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 3 November 2021: NASA's SpaceX Crew 3 mission: The launch of the next commercial crew mission to the International Space Station, already postponed by weather, has been further delayed by what NASA calls a “minor medical issue” with one of its four astronauts. Lucy mission: Spacecraft in cruise mode but solar panel remains unlatched and only partially deployed Mars Express: Ground penetrating radar sub-surface reflections from the Red Planet may not be liquid water after all Planet Earth - Episode 25: CSIRO's AquaWatch Australia; astronaut Story Musgrave on the Earth from space; COVID-19 Earth Observation Dashboard; Apollo 14 Moonwalker Edgar Mitchell guided visualisation; NASA-ISRO SAR Mission (NISAR) radar satellite.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 October 2021: Mythodia by the Greek composer Vangelis: Music dedicated to the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission celebrating 20 years mapping Mars Lucy: NASA’s mission to investigate the Trojan Asteroids launches successfully - Hal Levison, Lucy Principal Investigator Soyuz MS-18 returns to Earth from the ISS with a cosmonaut, a Russian actress and film director aboard Shenzhou 13 and Tianhe Planet Earth - Episode 23: William Shatner and Chris Boshuizen speak after they return from their suborbital journey into space aboard Blue Origin's NS-18 mission   Rocket Lab selected as the launch provider for NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System. This exciting mission will explore new technology to harness sunlight to power deep space exploration. The Electron rocket will deploy an innovative satellite designed to test new deployable structures and materials technologies for solar sail propulsion systems, paving the way for sunlight to power future exploration in deep space. 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 13 October 2021: Australia signs a deal with NASA to be part of a future Moon mission: The Australian Space Agency has reached an agreement with NASA for an Australian-made rover to be part of a future lunar mission, possibly as early as 2026, leveraging the nation's skills and experience in the resources sector. Leading Australian businesses and researchers will come together to develop the rover, backed by $50 million in funding from the Trailblazer program, a part of the Australian Government’s Moon to Mars initiative. The Trailblazer program is expected to open later this year, with applications to be submitted in early 2022. For more information, visit space.gov.au. Read the full text of the joint media release about the rover mission on the Prime Minister's website.   Hypersonix Launch Systems to develop re-usable space vehicle: Queensland aerospace engineering company Hypersonix Launch Systems has teamed up with the University of Southern Queensland to create a re-usable hypersonic UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) to be named Delta Velos. The launch vehicle is to be a technology demonstrator for key aspects of a re-usable small satellite launch system to support Hypersonix’s first launch due in approximately two years time. Hypersonix’s initial focus is to deploy small satellites into low Earth orbit and find their unique place in the rapidly growing small satellite launch market.  Blue Origin NS-18 mission update: Australian physicist and entrepreneur, Chris Boshuizen, set to become the third Aussie to go to space aboard New Shepard, speaks on a panel discussion in Australia about Planet Labs, the space industry and innovation in 2016. On the eve of his suborbital journey into space, Chris Boshuizen’s alter ego Dr Chrispy, has released two new music tracks as an EP called One by One. Both tracks feature the voice of Stephen Fry. Announcing the release of his new music online, Dr Chrispy wrote: "I’m excited to announce two new songs featuring Stephen Fry. These are my feelings about human spaceflight, narrated by Stephen and set to music written by Bill Simpkins and me. It’s been an honour to work with Stephen, an international treasure, to produce something very unique and honest. A fitting tribute to human spaceflight, exploration and imagination." William Shatner reflects on what his imminent flight aboard NS-18 means not only to himself but to the legion of fans for the spacefaring character he made famous, Captain James T. Kirk. Shenzhou 13 launch scheduled for 3:24 am Friday, 15 October 2021 AEDT.  Binar-1 and CUAVA-1: Australian cubesats deployed successfully from the International Space Station. Lucy: NASA’s mission to investigate the Trojan Asteroids prepares for an October 16 launch.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 6 October 2021: Rocket Lab signs a dedicated launch contract with Astroscale Japan for the ADRAS-J (Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan) satellite  Rocket Lab awarded US$24.35 million contract with the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command for development of the upper stage of the company’s new Neutron launch vehicle Soyuz MS-19 launches a Russian cosmonaut, a feature film director and an actress into orbit bound for a film shoot, on location, aboard the International Space Station A tale about Klim Shipenko, Salyut 7 / “Salyut 7”, Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Soyuz MS-19  Matthias Maurer, German ESA astronaut and Josef Aschbacher, the Director General of the European Space Agency comment on space tourism The European Space Agency embarks on an astronaut selection process including, for the first time, for those individuals with disability  The worst kept secret in the space world was confirmed on Monday, October 4 (Australian time) when Blue Origin announced that the third and fourth seats on its New Shepard NS-18 flight next week will be taken by actor William Shatner (best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek television series and movie franchise) and Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations. They will join crew mates Chris Boshuizen – an Australian as featured on last week’s episode of The Space Show – and Glen de Vries. The flight is scheduled to lift off from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas at 12:30 am on Wednesday, October 13 AEDT. If the just over 10 minute suborbital flight is successful, Shatner will become – at the age of 90 – the oldest person to go to space, no matter how briefly, eclipsing 82-year-old female aviator Wally Funk who was aboard the first crewed New Shepard flight in July with Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. Chris Boshuizen: while working at the NASA Ames Research Centre, talks about why you would want to go to space and what it takes to get there cheaply Planet Earth - Episode 22: Landsat 9 mission science briefing (cont’d) and the next chapter in The Landsat Legacy 

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 29 September 2021: Dr Chris Boshuizen, a former NASA engineer at the Ames Research Centre and co-founder of Planet Labs (now Planet), is set to become only the third Australian to go to space when he launches aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard 18 suborbital mission, which is scheduled for October 14. Soyuz MS-19 crewed mission to the International Space Station is scheduled for October 5. The three-person crew will include director Klim Shipenko, actor Yulia Peresild and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, hoping to be the first feature film to shoot scenes in space.   Construction of the launch pads at Equatorial Launch Australia’s Arnhem Space Centre has begun with formwork and concrete pours completed recently. Meanwhile, a NASA contingent has arrived at the Arnhem Space Centre in preparation for a historic sounding rocket launch campaign from the site next year. SpaceOz Pty Ltd has announced the development of the Space Centre Australia launch facility at Weipa, in far north Queensland, with initial construction expected in Q1 of 2022. If successful, Space Centre Australia will join Southern Launch’s Whalers Way Orbital Launch Facility in South Australia, Equatorial Launch Australia’s Arnhem Space Centre at Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory and the Queensland Government’s proposal for a launch facility at Abbot’s Point in Queensland, as sovereign space launch facilities in Australia. Round 3 of the Australian Government’s Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement grants have been awarded to four local companies — Gilmour Space Technologies (Qld), Crytalaid Manufacture (Qld), Black Sky Aerospace (Qld) and Inovor Technologies (SA) — to improve their technical capabilities and help them enter new national and international markets. Space Machines Company and the CSIRO have partnered to test an innovative Australian printable solar cell technology in space.  Microsoft to build a set of satellite ground stations in Australia. Chinese satellite, Shiyan-10, fails in orbit after a successful launch but not before causing a great “UFO” mystery to unfold in the skies above parts of northern and eastern Australia. Planet Earth Episode 21: NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey successfully launch the next Earth observation satellite in the series — Landsat 9

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 22 September 2021: Space Show News: Update on Hapith I launch campaign from Southern Launch’s Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex in South Australia; Black Sky Aerospace weekend launch attempt of a sounding rocket; Gilmour Space static test fire of its hybrid rocket engine; Inspiration4 crew plays Kings of Leon’s “Time in Disguise” NFT (Non-Fungible Token) music in space - another first for the mission; and more… Planet Earth Episode 20: Space agency heads talk Earth observation; and the history, achievements and future of the Landsat satellite program, including a preview of Landsat 9 launching next Tuesday, 28 September

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 September 2021: The puzzle of the Australian satellites M2-A and M2-B: These satellites were launched on 2021 March 22 as one satellite, and separated last Friday, 10 September at 2:55 pm AEST. But M2-B has been given a NORAD number dated from March 22-24 period, not the range being allocated last week! SpaceX Inspiration4 mission: first-ever non-government, human orbital spaceflight - an introduction to the crew and a preview of the mission plan Lunar Environment: Part 2 of a panel discussion hosted by the Moon Village Association Space Show News including Southern Launch, TiSPACE's Hapith I launch update, Equatorial Launch Australia, an impact on Jupiter observed and more…

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 September 2021: International Space Station: visible passes & cracks aboard the ISS Asteroids named including Asteroid (551014) Gorman for Dr Alice Gorman aka @DrSpaceJunk in the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Small Body Nomenclature Bulletin (vol. 1 no. 7 p. 10) on 2 September 2021 Lunar environment panel discussion  GRAIL launch 10th anniversary: NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 1 September 2021: CUAVA-1 with Iver Cairns et al from the Centre for Cubesats, UAVs & their Applications at the University of Sydney  Binar-1 with Stuart Buchan and Fergus Downey from the Space Science and Technology Centre at Curtin University NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) controversy with Angelo Di Grazia Peter Beck, Founder, President & CEO of Rocket Lab describes progress being made to make the Electron rocket reusable through the Rocket Lab Reusability Program Space Show News and more...

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 25 August 2021: Doug Forrest, Space Artist Adam Gilmour, Co-Founder & CEO of Gilmour Space Episode 19 in our Planet Earth series: a weather report from Greenland; SMOS - an ESA satellite monitoring climate change; North American wildfires; Paul Davies on how life on Earth began; and the FORUM satellite Space news and more...

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 18 August 2021: Antoinette Dailey, Executive Director, Operations and Communications, Australian Space Agency NASA Explorer program (circa 1991) Episode 18 in our Planet Earth series: ECOSTRESS, PACE, IceSat 2, greening Earth, IPCC scary story, methane on Earth and Mars, SMOS Space news and more...

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 11 August 2021: Stan Anderson, Facilities Manager at ARIA (Apollo/Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft) Control answering questions from secondary school students Virtual Reality Flight Simulators (circa 1991) SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) Episode 17 in our Planet Earth series Space news and more...