On The Space Show for Wednesday, 29 October 2025:
From The Space Show archives (1990):
NASA’s The Space Story: AMBLER — A six-legged rover for planetary exploration.
Come train and fly with us:
Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator & Pam Melroy, NASA Deputy Administrator, speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra on 23 March 2023. The then Administrators comment on their agency's activities, relationships with Australia and plans to return to the Moon. (Courtesy National Press Club)
iSpace:
Ahead of the failed Hakuto-R M2 landing on the Moon, employees of iSpace describe their work. (Inserts courtesy iSpace)
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 22 October 2025:
The Karman Project: Building a cooperative future in space
The Karman Project is a non-profit foundation promoting peace and security in space through strategic international cooperation.
The project aims to unite global decision-makers to drive urgent, collaborative action for a sustainable and peaceful future in space — recognising the core role of international cooperation to secure the space sector's prosperity, and Earth's critical reliance on it.
The organisation fosters trust, cooperation and independent dialogue between global leaders in tech, science, business, politics, the arts and people in the space industry, who want to positively impact space.
The Space That Makes Us Human is a documentary film experience showcasing the mission, vision and voices of The Karman Project. It shifts into focus The Karman Project’s efforts in connecting the leaders of tomorrow to create positive impact in space, and transports this message of impact to a global audience.
This episode features comments from Katherine Bennell (Australian Space Agency), Hélène Huby (Co-founder & Chair, The Karman Project), Thomas Pesquet (Astronaut, ESA), William Gerstenmaier (Vice President, Mission Assurance, SpaceX), Karen Hitschke (Board member, Yunus Social Business), Chris Boshuizen (Co-founder, Planet), Jonathan Hofeller (Vice-President, Starlink, SpaceX), Sera Markoff (Member, Event Horizon Project, University of Amsterdam), Jean-Jaques Dordain (former Director General, ESA) and Prateep Basu (Co-founder & CEO, SatSure).
Marking what would have been the 70th birthday of astronaut Ronald McNair, who died in 1986 during the launch of STS 51-L, Space Shuttle Challenger.
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 15 October 2025:
How to become an astronaut with Rose Tasker
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, Andreas Mogensen
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark and selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009, Andreas completed extensive training in spacecraft operations, spacewalks, and extreme environment missions, including ESA CAVES and NASA NEEMO underwater missions. He has served as European liaison officer to NASA’s Johnson Space Center and participated in ESA’s Pangaea field science training.
Andreas has logged two spaceflights: the 10-day ‘iriss’ mission to the ISS in 2015, and the 2023 ‘Huginn’ mission on SpaceX Crew-7, where he became the first non-US pilot of the Crew Dragon and later the longest-serving European commander of the International Space Station.
NASA The Space Story: ROSAT (ROentgen SATellite) was an X-ray observatory developed through a cooperative program between Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the world's most powerful X-ray telescope. It has eight-times greater resolution and is able to detect sources more than 20-times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope.
NASA The Space Story: Fast Auroral SnapshoT (FAST or Explorer 70) was a NASA plasma physics satellite, and the second spacecraft in the Small Explorer program (SMEX). FAST was designed to observe and measure the plasma physics of the auroral phenomena which occur around both of Earth's poles.
Planet Earth - Episode 72:
* Carbon Emissions: Europe’s Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes project with Prof. Ana Bastos of the Max Planck Institute
* The Copernicus Earth Observation Program supports society by providing authoritative information about the past, present and future climate in Europe and the rest of the World.
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 October 2025:
Kerrie Dougherty, Board Member, World Space Week Association
* International Space Week - its origin, local events & theme. (Recorded Deakin Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne, 2019)
* World Space Week theme for 2025 is "Living In Space”.
* Australia in Space by Kerrie Dougherty: This revised and updated edition of Space Australia tells the definitive story of Australia’s involvement with space activities, from the earliest rocketeers to the latest satellite projects.
Parker Solar Probe Perihelions - Part 2
* Parker Solar Probe Completes 25th Close Approach to Sun
* Mission scientists discuss the series of perihelion passes that brought the Parker Solar Probe as close as 6.1 million kilometres of the solar surface at a record setting speed of 687 000 km/h. (Inserts courtesy GSFC)
Bennu organics and the origins of life in the solar system
* The analysis of the samples of asteroid Bennu brought to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reveals the presence of organic chemicals. (Courtesy GSFC)
FUSE
* The FUSE astrophysics satellite, and the design of other satellites. (Courtesy GSFC)
Planet Earth - Episode 71
* Some Queensland projects use space technology to address environmental issues; the AIRS (Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder) on the Aqua satellite; and Agriculture and Climate Change (Inserts courtesy JPL, GSFC).
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 1 October 2025:
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 24 September 2025:
Artemis II crewed lunar orbital mission confirmed by NASA is set for 2026
The announcement that while the target launch date for Artemis II remains April 2025, NASA will attempt to move that forward to February 2025, without compromising crew safety or mission success.
Four astronauts (Reid Wiseman, Commander; Victor Glover, Pilot; and Mission Specialists, Christina Koch & Jeremy Hansen) 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 through the Artemis program. The 10-day flight will help confirm systems and hardware needed for early human lunar exploration missions.
The mission builds on the success of the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, and will demonstrate a broad range of capabilities needed on deep space missions. The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew atop the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and inside the Orion spacecraft.
(Audio inserts courtesy NASA)
Space Weather Trio
To be launched this evening at 21:30 AEST, details of the Curruthers, IMAP and the SWFO-L1 spacecraft, which will orbit Lagrange Point 1.
(Audio inserts courtesy of the Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland)
Life on Mars?
The Perseverance rover has found evidence for traces of past life at Jezero crater on Mars, drawing attention to whether, and how, the rock samples collected by Perseverance will be returned to Earth for further analysis.
(Audio inserts courtesy of NASA)
Planet Earth — Season 6 | Episode 70
Some Queensland projects to use space technology to address environmental issues.
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 17 September 2025:
Merging Black Holes and Gravitational Waves - Part 2: The Hawking Black Hole Area Theorem Confirmation
This week, The Space Show is in conversation with Teagan Clarke, PhD candidate and a lead researcher in gravitational-wave astrophysics at the School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav).
MONASH UNIVERSITY — MEDIA RELEASE
11 September 2025
Australian astrophysicists help prove Stephen Hawking’s landmark black hole prediction
A global team of astrophysicists, including Australians, has witnessed a collision between two black holes that was so loud, they were able to use it to test and prove Stephen Hawking’s Theory of Black Hole Thermodynamics.
The event, observed by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaborations, involved two black holes merging to form a single, larger one, strikingly reminiscent of the historic first detection in 2015.
The research has been published in Physical Review Letters: doi.org/10.1103/kw5g-d732
(Image credit: OzGrav - ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery)
Turn Back Time:
Fifty-five years since the Soviet Luna 16 sample return mission to the Moon.
Embargoed until Thursday, 11 September 2025:
Prof. Eric Thrane, School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University, Clayton, explains the significance of the Stephen Hawking Black Hole Area Theorem confirmation in a Space Show exclusive.
MONASH UNIVERSITY — MEDIA RELEASE
11/09/2025 | 08:13 AM AEST
Australian astrophysicists help prove Stephen Hawking’s landmark black hole prediction
A global team of astrophysicists, including Australians, witnessed a collision between two black holes that was so loud that they were able to use it to test and prove Stephen Hawking’s Theory of Black Hole Thermodynamics.
The event, observed by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaborations, involved two black holes merging to form a single, larger one, strikingly reminiscent of the historic first detection in 2015.
The research has been published in Physical Review Letters: doi.org/10.1103/kw5g-d732
(Image credit: OzGrav - ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery)
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 10 September 2025:
Merging Black Holes and Gravitational Waves:
The Space Show is in conversation with Prof. Eric Thrane, School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University, Clayton.
When scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) recently announced they had seen a bizarre pair of rapidly spinning black holes, the astrophysics community agreed it defied expectations — and may rewrite our understanding of the universe.
The announcement — “GW231123: A Binary Black Hole Merger” — describes unusually large black holes essentially smashing into each other. Each weighs more than 100 times more than our sun, and are spinning, where they would be expected to rotate more slowly, taking them to near the limits of what scientists understand to be physically possible.
The questions now are: How did these black holes form? Why are they so massive? And why are they spinning so fast?
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 3 September 2025:
Eric Philips: Australian Polar Explorer to Polar Orbiting Astronaut
Eric Philips OAM (born 30 April 1962) is an Australian polar explorer, adventurer, polar guide and now private astronaut aboard the Fram2 mission.
To learn more about Eric Philips and the Fram2 mission, listen to our two-part special episodes of The Space Show from October 2024:
* 2024.10.02 | Fram2 Polar Mission — Part 1: One More Orbit
* 2024.10.09 | Fram2 Polar Mission — Part 2: Greenland & Polar Orbit
Planet Earth: Season 6 — Episode 69
The UK hosted the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow on 31 October – 13 November 2021.
* 50th Anniversary of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Program
Since 1975, NOAA's GOES Satellites have provided continuous imagery and data on atmospheric conditions and solar activity (space weather). They have even aided in search and rescue of people in distress. GOES data products have led to more accurate and timely weather forecasts and better understanding of long-term climate conditions.
* The Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) on the International Space Station studies air glow caused by Atmospheric Gravity Waves.
* Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM Microwave Imager (GMI)
* Aerosols with Erika Podest, Carbon Cycle and Ecosystem Scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory
* Gavin Schmidt, Climate Scientist answers the question: How do we know what the climate of the Earth was like in the distant past?
Gavin Schmidt is a British climatologist, climate modeler and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, and co-founder of the climate science blog RealClimate.
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 28 May 2025:
The State of Space: My Perspective
Sir Peter Beck, Rocket Lab Founder & CEO at the SmallSat Symposium, 4-6 February 2025, Mountain View, California.
Speaking from Auckland, New Zealand, Sir Peter Beck gives his personal views on the state of space in 2025, including launch vehicles, large constellations of satellites, funding, company failures, China, and his predictions for the international space industry in 2025.
(Courtesy SmallSat Symposium 2025 and Rocket Lab)
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 27 August 2025:
Turn Back Time:
* Sixty years since the record breaking flight of Gemini V.
* Fifty years since the launch of the Viking 1 & 2 missions to Mars.
Space Show News:
* NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites and other Earth observation satellites.
The five satellites scheduled in the fleet are the currently-flying NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, NOAA-20, previously known as JPSS-1, NOAA-21, previously known as JPSS-2, and the upcoming JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 satellites.
(Audio insert courtesy of NESDIS)
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 20 August 2025:
James (Jim) A. Lovell Jr (1928-2025) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and mechanical engineer. This two-part special episode of The Space Show celebrates the 97-year life of the Gemini 7 & 12 and Apollo 8 & 13 astronaut.
Largely told in his own words, hear how the flight of Apollo 8, which saw the first crewed mission to leave the Earth and orbit the Moon in 1968, became the highlight and pinnacle of his space career.
(Jim Lovell in conversation with TV reporter Ron Stone on 25 May 1999, at the NASA Oral History Unit, Johnson Space Centre, Clear Lake, Houston. Audio inserts courtesy of the Johnson Space Center)
Archibald MacLeish - Bubble of Blue Air
Further reading on Archibald MacLeish and his reflections on the Apollo voyages to the Moon:
Turn Back Time:
The Flight of the Gemini 5 Mission, sixty years on.
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 13 August 2025:
James (Jim) A. Lovell Jr. (1928-2025) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and mechanical engineer. This two-part special episode of The Space Show celebrates the 97-year life of this Gemini 7 & 12 and Apollo 8 & 13 astronaut.
Largely told in his own words, listen out for his story about how he was almost “selected” to be the 7th astronaut of the original Mercury Seven.
As fate would have it, Jim Lovell was instead to be the last surviving member of NASA Astronaut Group 2 (nicknamed the "Next Nine" or the "New Nine"), the group of astronauts selected after the Mercury Seven in September 1962. In addition to Lovell, the nine astronauts included: Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, James McDivitt, Elliot See, Tom Stafford, Ed White, and John Young
(Inserts courtesy of the Johnson Space Center)
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 6 August 2025:
A Retrospective (2016): Searching for Life in the Outer Solar System
A discussion of the proposed BRINE Discovery Mission to Enceladus and the status of the United States’ commercial space projects with the late Dr David Wilson, then Vice President of the Mars Society Australia and a research and development engineer at the Space Science and Astrobiology Division of the NASA Ames Research Center in California.
In 2012 and 2013, NASA's Ames Research Center undertook a series of studies using a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on Mars, defining possible payloads including deep drills for astrobiology missions and Earth return rockets for Mars sample return. In 2015 Ames proposed the IceBreaker search for life mission to Mars for NASA's Discovery Program and then a mission to Saturn's moon Enceladus, called BRINE.
(Recorded at a joint meeting of the Mars Society Australia and the Space Association of Australia in June 2016)
Planet Earth — Episode 67:
(Inserts courtesy GSFC, JPL)
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 30 July 2025:
Eris TestFlight-1: Gilmour Space takes first step towards Australian sovereign launch capability
Bowen, Queensland, Australia - 30 July 2025: Gilmour Space Technologies has completed the maiden test launch of Australia's first locally designed and built orbital rocket — a major milestone toward offering low-cost, responsive launch services for small satellites globally.
The 23-meter, 30-tonne Eris rocket, powered by new hybrid propulsion technology, successfully lifted off from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland, achieving approximately 14 seconds of flight.
BONUS: A 2019 interview with Adam Gilmour, CEO and Founder of Gilmour Space Technologies
Adam provides a company profile and describes the aspirations of the company to develop an Australian space launch vehicle. (Interviewer: Peter Aylward)
Australian Space Industry 2025 — Part 10
* Skykraft mission 4
* Artemis 2 Australian laser
* Optimus satellite factory
* Kanyini.
Planet Earth — Episode 66:
* NISAR launch due soon
* MethaneSAT fail
* TRACERS in orbit
* SWOT update
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 23 July 2025:
A Cold War Handshake in Space — The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project:
* Apollo 7 astronaut, Walter Cunningham, shares his unique and candid perspective on the first international joint mission with America's Soviet adversaries.
* Terry Virts (@AstroTerry), another former NASA astronaut, shares his forthright reflections on training and working with his Russian counterparts on the International Space Station in more recent times.
10th Anniversary of the New Horizons flyby of Pluto:
Astrobiologist, Dr David Grinspoon, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and NASA, reflecting on Pluto and the human imagination. A talk about Pluto and the New Horizons spacecraft that flew past the dwarf planet ten years ago. (Courtesy PSI)
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 16 July 2025:
Space Show News:
The U.S. Globalchange.gov website has been shutdown.
Remembering space historian Dr Eric M. Jones (1944—2025):
Marking the death of Eric Jones, the founder and chief editor of the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, with an interview with Eric about the artefacts left behind by Neil Armstrong. (Interviewer, Peter Aylward)
For more interviews with Eric Jones and information about the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, go to The Space Show website and click on the Alphabetical List of People (who have been on, or discussed on, the Show) and select "J" for Jones.
Turn Back Time:
The stories of Proton 1, Zond 3 and Mariner 4 told in narration and contemporary news reports.
Mariner 4 video and PDF tribute by Glen Nagle on the Honeysuckle Creek website:
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 9 July 2025:
Medicine and the Moon:
A Moon Village Association event introduced and moderated by Dr Marc Jurblum, Doctor of Psychiatry, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne.
Speakers:
Prof. Gordon Cable, Specialist in Aerospace Medicine, University of Adelaide.
Dr Omar Eduardo Rodriguez, Neuro-radiology Registrar, Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Dr Rowena Christiansen, Medical Educator, University of Melbourne Medical School.
Quinlan Buchlak, Data Scientist in Space Medicine.
Topics discussed:
* Oxygen toxicity
* Gut health
* Planetary protection
* Human evolution
* Fluid-filled EVA suit
* Altered mental state
* The “overview effect”.
(Recorded by The Space Show at Deakin Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne)
Australian Space Industry 2025 — Part 9:
* Lunaria One Moon plant funding
* Aussie payloads and technology on the SpaceX Transporter 14 rideshare mission
* Gilmour Space and Japan’s Space BD announce a new collaboration
* Winnebago.
(Audio insert courtesy Rocket Lab)
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World:
The Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery is to be moved from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, to Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas.
On The Space Show for Wednesday, 2 July 2025:
Prompted by the destruction of Kosmos 1408, a history of anti-satellite tests, and a discussion from the European Space Agency on the problem of space debris and mitigation efforts. (Audio inserts courtesy ESA)
* The Kessler Syndrome, also known as the Kessler Effect, describes a situation in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) becomes so high due to the accumulation of space pollution that collisions between these objects cascade, exponentially increasing the amount of space debris over time. The scenario was first proposed by NASA scientists Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais in 1978.