Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

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Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Markus Mooslechner

142 episodes

1 week ago

The Episode In March 2022, Europe’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission was only weeks from launch when it was suddenly grounded. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ended years of cooperation, and left one of ESA’s most ambitious Mars projects without a ride, without partners, and without a plan. From inside ESA’s Mission Control in Darmstadt, Sara Melloni watched everything freeze. As Mission Operations Manager for Rosalind Franklin, she now leads the team bringing Europe’s Mars dream back to life,...

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The Episode In March 2022, Europe’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission was only weeks from launch when it was suddenly grounded. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ended years of cooperation, and left one of ESA’s most ambitious Mars projects without a ride, without partners, and without a plan. From inside ESA’s Mission Control in Darmstadt, Sara Melloni watched everything freeze. As Mission Operations Manager for Rosalind Franklin, she now leads the team bringing Europe’s Mars dream back to life,...

Show more...

Episodes (20/142)

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Two Days and a Half – How ESA Brought a Lost Mars Mission Back to Life

The Episode In March 2022, Europe’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission was only weeks from launch when it was suddenly grounded. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ended years of cooperation, and left one of ESA’s most ambitious Mars projects without a ride, without partners, and without a plan. From inside ESA’s Mission Control in Darmstadt, Sara Melloni watched everything freeze. As Mission Operations Manager for Rosalind Franklin, she now leads the team bringing Europe’s Mars dream back to life,...

1 week ago

1 hour 26 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Stop Chasing Ice: Why the First Moon Base Shouldn’t Be a Mine (with Pascal Lee)

Dr. Pascal Lee, planetary scientist, Arctic field explorer, and professor at the KSU (Kepler Space University) He’s spent his life between two extremes, the frozen frontiers of the Arctic and the conceptual edges of space exploration. Few people connect fieldwork, engineering, and philosophy like Pascal does. What We Talk About This episode begins on the Moon — and ends light-years away. Why the real space race isn’t who returns first, but who stays and builds.The illusion of lunar gold: why...

4 weeks ago

1 hour 25 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

The Ocean Isn’t Flat: ESA’s gravity maps, climate facts, and Earth’s hidden shape

Guest: Robert Meisner, Earth Observation, ESA, ESRIN The Cosmic Scoop: In this eye-opening episode, Markus travels to ESRIN, ESA’s Earth Observation hub in Frascati near Rome, to sit down with Robert Meisner – a man who has spent nearly 40 years watching our planet from above. Together they dive into the hidden landscapes of the ocean surface, the secrets of gravity maps, and how satellites reveal the slow but relentless transformation of our world. From sea level rise and melting glaciers t...

1 month ago

58 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Who Needs Legs in Space? The Incredible Journey of John McFall

John McFall — surgeon, Paralympic medalist, father of three, and ESA parastronaut selectee — joins Markus to explore how human spaceflight changes when we design for ability, not assumptions. From winter survival in the Pyrenees to EVA realities and cosmic radiation, John shares what it takes to open space to everyone. Cosmic Timeline [00:00:00] Squeezing life’s juice — John’s credo [00:03:00] Coffee breaks as medalist, surgeon, astronaut [00:06:00] Accident at 19 → sport, surgery, ESA call [...

1 month ago

1 hour 3 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Earth's Lost Rings: A 466-Million-Year-Old Warning

Guest: Dr. Andy Tomkins – Geologist, Professor at Monash University, and lead author of the groundbreaking study proposing that Earth once had a Saturn-like ring system. The Cosmic Scoop: What if Earth once had rings like Saturn? Dr. Andy Tomkins joins Markus to unravel the evidence that, 466 million years ago, a colossal asteroid breakup may have encircled our planet with a shimmering band of debris. From the science of ancient meteorites to the climate effects of planetary rings, this episo...

2 months ago

58 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Solar Lets You Visit. Nuclear Lets You Stay. A delicate conversation.

Guest: Dr. Bhavya Lal – Former NASA Chief Technologist, MIT-trained nuclear engineer, and architect of U.S. space nuclear policy. The Cosmic Scoop: Nuclear power’s bad Earthly reputation hides its potential as a lifeline beyond our planet. Space is already radioactive—and if we want to stay and build on the Moon, Mars, or Europa, nuclear offers “power abundance” solar can’t match. Dr. Lal explains why, covering tech, safety, law, history, and why the next space era may finally embrace it. Qu...

2 months ago

1 hour 4 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Planet Earth, Digitized: Can ESA’s Virtual Twin Save Us?

This week, Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Observation Programs at the European Space Agency (ESA), joins Markus to dive into one of the most ambitious and groundbreaking projects of our time: building a digital twin of our planet. Through Destination Earth (DestinE), ESA is creating a dynamic, real-time model of Earth—a tool designed to simulate future scenarios, test the impact of human decisions, and ultimately help us better care for our fragile world. Quotable Insights “We’re giving E...

3 months ago

47 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Former Space Agency Head: The Real Reason We Aren't on the Moon (It's Not Technology)

Giorgio Saccoccia – former President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), propulsion engineer, and lifelong “space fan.” From lunar outposts and electric thrusters to space-as-diplomacy, Saccoccia brings four decades of insight into turning quick “flags-and-footprints” missions into a permanent human presence beyond Earth. Key Moments ⏱ Time Topic | 00:00:20 | Bootprints vs. Blueprints – Why Apollo was a sprint and why Artemis (or its successor) must be about settlement, not headlines. ...

4 months ago

1 hour 14 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Forget Mars: Blue Origin Wants Earth as a National Park!

Heather Nelson, Director of the Club for the Future at Blue Origin, is at the forefront of inspiring the next generation to dream boldly about humanity’s role as an interplanetary species. In this expansive conversation, Heather provides a rare peek behind the curtain of Blue Origin’s ambitious plans and philosophical vision for the future of humankind both on Earth and beyond. Quotable Insights: “If we want Earth to flourish again, we have to expand somewhere else.”“Imagine Earth as a nation...

4 months ago

52 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

This Architect Is Redesigning Humanity for Life in Space

🚀 The Cosmic Scoop In this expansive and deeply human conversation, Phnam Bagley challenges everything we think we know about architecture. From floating tables to engineered space hearts, she reimagines what it means to design for a future where gravity is optional and emotion is essential. Together, we explore the untold questions of life in space: What is a “table” without gravity?Can architecture heal isolation?Do space-born humans need new organs?And above all: Are we building habitats—o...

5 months ago

1 hour 2 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Hearing a Universe: How a Blind Scientist Uncovers Hidden Patterns in Astronomical Data

Guest: Wanda Diaz Merced This very special episode of the Space Café Podcast introduces Wanda Diaz Merced, a visionary scientist who, after losing her sight in her twenties, pioneered a groundbreaking new method of exploring space through sound—sonification. Wanda shares her remarkable story and insights, showing us that blindness does not limit one's ability to explore the cosmos but rather enriches it with a rare new perspective. Key Discussion Points: [00:00:32] How Wanda turned a personal...

5 months ago

1 hour 2 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Someone is Seriously Putting a Swedish House on the Moon—Right Now!

Guest Introduction: In an extraordinary fusion of art, engineering, and cosmic ambition, Swedish artist Mikael Genberg and space engineer Emil Vinterhav have realized what many deemed impossible—a traditional Swedish red house, journeying through space toward the lunar surface. This Moonhouse symbolizes humanity’s unyielding aspiration and our innate desire to explore, challenge limits, and leave lasting footprints in new worlds. Key Discussion Points: The Birth of a Vision: Mikael’s inspirat...

6 months ago

1 hour 29 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Memory Meltdown in Microgravity: Why you may just not remember your pioneering visit to Mars.

This episode's guest, Dr. Heather Collins, cognitive neuroscientist, brain-hack expert, and sought-after keynote speaker, takes us on a fascinating - and slightly unsettling - journey into how space travel changes the human brain. Buckle up as Heather reveals the extraordinary findings and crucial insights at the forefront of cognitive neuroscience, helping us understand not only space’s impact on our minds, but how to unlock our brain’s limitless potential here on Earth. 🚀 Key Discussion Poi...

6 months ago

1 hour 24 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Did NASA Miss This? How Artists Are Starting to Unlock Space Travel’s Future

We love to hear from you. Send us your thought, comments, suggestions, love letters 🎙 Guest: Dr. Claudia Schnugg, Curator of the Universe Pavilion at the Venice Biennale & Art-Science Visionary The Cosmic Scoop: What if art could transform how we design habitats beyond Earth—and inspire new ways to live here at home? Dr. Claudia Schnugg is making this vision a reality. As curator of the groundbreaking Universe Pavilion at the prestigious 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, she merges ...

7 months ago

54 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Dark Energy is a Cosmic Marketing Scam! Says a Cosmologist—And She Might Just Be Right.

🎙 Guest: Guadalupe Cañas Herrera, Theoretical Cosmologist and Euclid Consortium Member The Cosmic Scoop: What’s driving the universe’s wild expansion? Dark energy and dark matter make up 95% of the cosmos—but we barely understand them. Enter Euclid, launched in July 2023 to map a 3D universe and crack these mysteries. Guadalupe Cañas Herrera, a key player in the mission, takes us 10 billion light-years into the past, challenging Einstein’s gravity and rethinking the “dark” labels we’ve slappe...

7 months ago

1 hour 26 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Would You Eat This? NASA Thinks It’s the Future of Food

We love to hear from you. Send us your thought, comments, suggestions, love letters 🎙 Guest: Arttu Luukanen, Head of Space & Defense at Solar Foods The Cosmic Scoop: How do we feed ourselves in space? The settlers of the past brought livestock, but in deep space, resupply isn’t an option, and every gram counts. Could microbes be the answer? Enter Solar Foods, a Finnish company producing food from just water, electricity, and bacteria—a breakthrough that won NASA’s Deep Space Food Challeng...

8 months ago

55 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Saturn’s Secret Oceans: Did Cassini Glimpse Life Before Its Fiery End?

We love to hear from you. Send us your thought, comments, suggestions, love letters Professor Luciano Iess, Planetary Scientist and NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medalist The Cassini spacecraft’s final moments were like a fading heartbeat—one last signal before silence. In this episode, Professor Luciano Iess takes us on a journey across the solar system, from Saturn’s icy moons to Venus’s runaway greenhouse effect. Hidden oceans beneath alien surfaces, the search for extraterrestri...

9 months ago

1 hour 33 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

Beyond Billionaires: MoonDAO and the Radical Vision of a Decentralized Space Economy

We love to hear from you. Send us your thought, comments, suggestions, love letters What if space exploration wasn’t driven by governments or billionaires but by a decentralized community? Enter MoonDAO, an experiment in blockchain-powered space governance. In this episode, Pablo Moncada shares insights into how MoonDAO successfully crowdfunded a spaceflight, the potential of blockchain-based lunar economies, and whether decentralization can truly work in space. Pablo also takes us through th...

9 months ago

1 hour 22 minutes

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

The Outer Space Cultural Evolution Lab: Aoife Van Linden Tol on the Explosive Power of Art in Space Exploration

We love to hear from you. Send us your thought, comments, suggestions, love letters Aoife Van Linden Tol Space Artist and Visionary Episode Summary: In this explosive episode of the Space Café Podcast, we delve into the fascinating intersection of art, space, and planetary healing with renowned space artist Aoife Van Linden Tol. Known for her bold approach to creation and destruction, Aoife explores how the vastness of the cosmos can inspire solutions to Earth's most pressing challenges. From...

9 months ago

1 hour 1 minute

Space Café Podcast - Navigating Our Interplanetary Ambitions

The Accidental Astronaut—Chris Sembroski’s Unlikely Journey —and Why You May Be Next

We love to hear from you. Send us your thought, comments, suggestions, love letters Guest: Chris "Hanks" Sembroski – Inspiration4 Astronaut, Engineer, and Space Enthusiast Episode Overview In this thrilling episode of the Space Cafe Podcast, host Markus Mooslechner speaks with Chris Sembroski, one of the civilian astronauts aboard SpaceX's Inspiration4—the first all-civilian mission to orbit. Chris shares his incredible journey from an ordinary life to an extraordinary experience, reflecting ...

10 months ago

1 hour 34 minutes