Last October I attended the 70th International Astronautical Congress in Washington DC. IAC is a massive conference, bringing together thousands of people who work in the space sector from national agency representatives to defence practitioners to those in private industry. In this episode I speak with three Australians at the conference who give 3 different perspectives on Space. They are Adam Gilmour (Gilmour Space), Malcolm Davis (ASPI) and William Crowe (HEO...

This is the final instalment of the live audio from the Moon Vilalge Association event in Melbourne. In this episode, I join the panel to lead a conversation about space environmentalism, ethics, and exploration. The panellists are Alice Gorman, Gabrielle Harris, Ceridwen Dovey, Donna Lawler, and Kerrie...

In this episode I bring you part 2 of the live audio from the Moon Village Association forum on the moon in Melbourne last month. We hear talks from journalist and writer Ceridwen Dovey, Space Lawyer Donna Lawler, and Space Historian Kerrie Dougherty. https://moonvillageassociation.org/ https://mpavilion.org/program/mva-mini-moon/ https://officeofotherspaces.com/ https://www.ceridwendovey.com/ https://azimuthadvisory.com.au/ http://atfpress.com/product/space-in-australia/

Last month I traveled to Melbourne to moderate the Moon Village Association's public forum on the Moon. This is the audio from the event. First to the microphone was Thomas Gooch, who heads up the Office of Other Spaces and the Office of Planetary Observation, and is the regional coordinator for the Moon Village Association. You'll then hear from Madeleine Bandurski, who works on the Moon Village association payload team. Next we hear remarks from Associate Professor Alice Gorman, space...

In this episode, I speak to some grade 6 students about how they see the Moon, the Earth, and our place in the Cosmos. I also touch base with Madeleine Bandurski from the Moon Village Association, and Thomas Gooch, founder of the Office of Other Spaces and the Office of Planetary Observation. On Wednesday 26 February 2020 at 6:15pm I'll be moderating a panel discussion with Alice Gorman (aka dr spacejunk), Donna Lawler, Kerrie Dougherty, Gabrielle Harris and Ceridwen Dovey. The event is a...

In this episode, I speak with Australian space historian Kerrie Dougherty about Australia's place in the history of space exploration. We reflect on Australia's history with the Apollo program, and how we see our place in the universe. Kerrie will be on a panel that I will be moderating on 26 Feb 2020 at 6:15pm at the MPavillion in Melbourne. Other panelists are Alice Gorman (aka dr spacejunk), Donna Lawler, Gabrielle Harris and Ceridwen Dovey. The event is a public forum on the Moon, put on...

In this episode I speak with Dr Moriba Jah, an Associate Professor and the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. Moriba Jah is the director for Computational Astronautical Sciences and Technologies (CAST), a group within the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the Lead for the Space Security and Safety Program at the Robert Strauss Center for International...

In this episode, I bring you part 2 of my conversation with NASA Sagan Fellow Dr Benjamin Pope, a conversation ostensibly about space movies, but at this point so off the rails that I'm almost embarrassed to give it that title. We launch straight in after having watched Grimes' music video 'we appreciate power' and our chat quickly devolves to AI apocalypse as the logical end to industrial capitalism. Any opinions expressed by me on this podcast are my own and do not represent the views of...

In this episode, I bring you part 1 of a relaxed, wide-ranging and delectable conversation with fan-favourite and good friend Dr Benjamin Pope. Ben has a PhD in Astrophysics from Oxford University and is currently a NASA Sagan Fellow at NYU researching exoplanets. In this episode, Ben and I tackle an in-advisably large number and bewilderingly wide range of Space movies. Do either of us have qualifications in film studies? No, but Ben won University Challenge and I took Drama in year 11, so...

In this episode, we get technical. I catch up with Dr Francis Bennet, a researcher from the Australian National University who works on Lasers, adaptive optics, and quantum electronics and is currently based out of Mt Stromlo. Our conversation ranges from space situational awareness (SSA) and riding bicycles, to making your own chocolate while fixing the kitchen sink, to photon entanglement and encryption. Make yourself a cup of tea and settle in for a good old fashioned chat. Patreon:...

In this episode I chat to space lawyer Donna Lawler, the Principal at Azimuth Advisory, a firm which provides advice and assistance to Governments and businesses who are engaged in space activities. Donna is a commercial space lawyer with decades of experience working with Optus Satellite, and other Aussie space companies. We talk about the intricacies of space contracts, current developments in the Australian space industry, and what the Moon Agreement might mean for Australian companies...

In part 2 of my conversation with Dr Vince Houghton, the chief historian and curator at the international spy museum in Washington DC, we continue to delve into the intersections between technology, espionage, and society. If you haven't heard part 1, listen to that one first! http://spaceaustralia.com/opinions/space-junk-space-espionage-dr-vince-houghton-part-1 Dr Houghton specializes in military and intelligence history, with specific expertise on late-WWII and early-Cold War eras. He is a...

In this week's episode, I interrupt the normal scheduling to bring you a special episode on space and bushfires. It seems that despite the technological advances that space has brought, we are still at the whim of nature when it comes to natural disasters. Or are we? To help me answer this question, I tracked down the best expert I know to tell me about the ongoing bushfire situation in Australia, and how space enabled technologies can assist efforts to predict, manage, and assess the impact...

In this episode, I chat to Dr Vince Houghton, the chief historian and curator of the International Spy Museum in DC and the host of their podcast ‘SpyCast’ about Space Espionage, and Space-enabled spying. Dr Houghton specializes in military and intelligence history, with specific expertise on late-WWII and early-Cold War eras. He is a veteran of the US army and served in the Balkans before receiving his Masters and PhD in Diplomatic and Military History from the University of Maryland. We...

In this episode, Meaghan Munro and I talk about the future of space in Australia and internationally. Meaghan is an aerospace engineering student who founded the Monash University rocketry team and is chairing the Australian Youth Aerospace Association (AYAA) Space Futures conference in Adelaide, Australia in 2020. This episode is a wild ride in which we discuss what it feels like to launch a rocket, where Australia will be in 50 years (in Space, we hope!) and why millennials ought to...

In this episode, Secure World Foundation Space Lawyer Chris Johnson and I branch out from our discussion on the tardigrades on the Moon to chat about the benefits of using robots for space exploration, whether it's possible to interpret space law in a non-anthropocentric manner, and what it means to use space sustainably. We also touch on astropolitics and archaeology, because why not? Media mentioned include: The Three Body Problem:...

In this episode, Chris Johnson from the Secure World Foundation joins me to do a deep dive on the curious news about an Israeli spacecraft crash landing onto the moon, and potentially releasing thousands of little critters called tardigrades onto the lunar surface. We ask such important questions as ‘what is a tardigrade?’, explore the ins and outs of international planetary protection laws, and explain why, even though it’s highly unlikely the tardigrades will ever manage to colonise the...

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, I tracked down Dylan O'Donnell, one of Australia's leading amateur astrophotographers, in beautiful Byron Bay. Dylan is also the creator of the 'Star Stuff' festival. In this episode we speak about astronomy, the state of science in Australia, the power of space to inspire, and the rising mistrust in science and authority more generally. We also chat about the ethics of technological development, Musk's StarLink satellites, and...

In this episode I talk with Daniel Porras, a Space Security Fellow at UNIDIR, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. Daniel focuses on political and legal issues surrounding space security and, in particular, the progressive development of sustainable norms of behaviour for space. We talk about space weaponization, space debris, and India’s recent ASAT test. Daniel's full bio can be found here: http://www.unidir.org/about/staff/daniel-porras In the spirit of disarmament,...

In this podcast, I chat to Professor Steven Freeland, international space law expert and current Dean of Law at Western Sydney University, about the challenges and opportunities posed by the international legal regime that governs our activities in space. What is international law? how does it work? How do advances in technology drive or impede its efficacy? Where does Australia fit into the international space community? And why is it irresponsible to talk about weapons in space? We tackle...

In this episode I sit down with Dr Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Malcolm's research focuses on defence strategy and capability development, military technology, and the future of warfare. In this episode we talk about the importance of space to national security, what a hybrid cyber / space war might look like, and what space activities by Russia, the USA and a rising China mean for Australia's strategic future. This episode was recorded...

In this episode I talk with Ben Piggott, a submariner and Communications and Information Warfare Officer with the Royal Australian Navy. Ben did his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and recently completed his Masters of Space Operations at UNSW Canberra. He is Secretary of the Australian Youth Aerospace Association and on the Future Strategic Leaders Committee of the Institute for Regional Security. We discuss phase zero, submarines, space weaponry, thought-collectives, and the future of...

In this episode I chat with Political Data Scientist Dominic Jarkey in St. Louis, Missouri. Dom did his undergraduate degree in physics and international relations at the University of Sydney, and his Masters at Washington University, St. Louis, researching political methodology, game theory, and social choice theory. He now works in the private sector. We talk about big data, Cambridge Analytica, international governance, the challenges of space colonisation.

In September 2018 the 69th annual International Astronautical Congress was held in Bremen, Germany. In this episode I take you through the event from start to finish, with music from the opening ceremony and interviews with international attendees. There is a particular focus on the Australian Space Agency.

Part 2 of my conversation with visiting NASA Sagan Fellow and exoplanet-studying astrophysicist Dr Ben Pope is a lot like a Jane Austen novel. We unpack our prejudice against the Humanity Star and Musk’s space Tesla, we spend a lot of time talking about money and the elite, and ultimately find common ground in our mutual embarrassment about Australia’s obsession with STEM. We hope you enjoy this wild ride through politics, philosophy, sociology and stolen biccies. Ben did his undergraduate...