Polymath World Channel

Episode Title: ISS Commander Steve Swanson on Spacewalks, Soyuz, and Space Lettuce

Description:
What does it take to command the International Space Station? In this episode, Dr. Steve Swanson—a veteran of three spaceflights and over 170 days in orbit—joins us to share the real stories behind the headlines.

Steve reveals how a "not-so-perfect" start in college and a year of construction work eventually led him to NASA. He discusses the intense reality of his first EVA (Extravehicular Activity), the "vertigo" of looking down at Earth 250 miles below, and the surprising emotional connection he formed while growing lettuce in space.

We also cover the grit required to fix a broken spacesuit pump mid-mission, the unique culture of launching from Kazakhstan, and why NASA's shift toward commercial partners like SpaceX is the key to getting humanity to Mars. Now a professor at Boise State, Steve is paying it forward by helping students build the tools for future lunar missions.

Key Topics:

• [00:00] Intro & Childhood Influences (Star Trek)
• [03:30] The "Penguins" Astronaut Class
• [15:00] First Spaceflight (STS-117) & The Heaviest Payload
• [22:00] The Reality of Spacewalks: Vertigo & No Water Drag
• [35:00] Launching on a Soyuz: Russian Traditions & "Urinating on the Tire"
• [41:00] The Veggie Experiment & Sneaking a Taste
• [48:00] Fixing Spacesuits & The Science of Aging in Space
• [55:00] The Future: Artemis, Commercial Space, and Lunar Robotics

Polymath, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), if new to you, has had an enormous impact on many important aspects of your life in the 21st Century. Learn from Dr Lloyd Strickland, interviewed by Sam McKee, how Leibniz was so powerful in his thinking that his contemporaries literally couldn't keep up with him.

Imagine playing a role in bringing Astronauts - British, European, and American into UK schools.  Upturned faces as the children listen attentively and learn to think bigger as they look to the sky in new ways.  This has been the mission of Rowland Lindill and his family, having founded the brilliantly named, "The Armchair Astronaut."  Rowland and the family's dedication  is responsible for helping new generations realise the positive impact that Space exploration has on our daily lives.  Rowland also hosts events for adults where everyone who has an interest gets an opportunity to hear and meet real Astronauts at a convenient location!

CHRISTIANITY

What is Christianity? Does it work? How does it shape the Western world? Glen Scrivener, author of the award-winning book "The Air We Breathe", director of the 321 course on Christianity and CEO of the organisation Speak Life comes to talk about the world's biggest religion and answer my questions. I met Glen a decade ago and we have crossed paths a few times for Premier Unbelievable. Given my own complicated past with Christianity he answers my questions and sheds light on many of the issues people can have over the faith.

The Polymath World Channel brings you interviews with extraordinary researchers and academics working on the frontiers of their disciplines. Meet and hear from scientists, professors, lecturers, researchers, engineers, philosophers and astronauts.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe. New episodes every Wednesday.

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CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY

Dr Shaun Steveson is lecturer in philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is an expert of philosophy of death, which not many people realise is a subject. His specialism is in continental philosophy with a strong focus on the 20th century. Shaun came to philosophy through theology and has a very interesting story of coming through religion, before abandoning it, and returning again with a different shape to it. He also talks about the power of philosophy for identity and mental health struggles.

The Polymath World Channel brings you interviews with extraordinary researchers and academics working on the frontiers of their disciplines. Meet and hear from scientists, professors, lecturers, researchers, engineers, philosophers and astronauts.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe. New episodes every Wednesday.

#PolymathWorldChannel #PursueExtraordinary #Philosophy #ContinentalPhilosophy #Theology #PhilosophyOfReligion #LifeAndDeath #Meaning #Purpose #Faith #PersonalGrowth #Community #Transformation #Mysticism #Education #MentalHealth #Nietzsche #Creativity #Death #SelfCultivation #Compassion #Deleuze

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A City On Mars

Dr Kelly Weinersmith is a scientist, pop-sci author, and podcaster. She is on the biosciences faculty at Rice University, a research associate at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the Vice President of the American Society of Parasitologists and President of the Helminthological Society of Washington. After undergraduate and masters degrees at Bowling Green, she did her PhD in ecology at the University of California Davis. Her award-winning books include 2023's "A City On Mars" which we talk about here.

How do we sift through the optimism and scepticism about space exploration in general and living on the Moon and Mars in particular? How will we survive in the long term? What are the big questions about food, health, reproduction, travel, living together and becoming self-sufficient? Together with her husband Zach, "A City On Mars" is a funny, informative and accessible assessment of this challenge that everyone can enjoy.

For more on Kelly, her website is Weinersmith |

For her books, see here: Dr. Kelly Weinersmith

For her Royal Society book prize, see here: Kelly Weinersmith: To Boldly Go? | Royal Society

The Polymath World Channel brings you interviews with extraordinary researchers and academics working on the frontiers of their disciplines. Meet and hear from scientists, professors, lecturers, researchers, engineers, philosophers and astronauts.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe. New episodes every Wednesday.

#PolymathWorldChannel #PursueExtraordinary #Mars #SpaceScience #SpaceExploration #NASA #ESA #SpaceX #BlueOrigin #SpaceTravel #Artemis #MarsSociety #Space #Moon #Ecology #ScienceCommunication #CityOnMars #KellyWienersmith #BehavioralEcology #Parasites #HumanReproductionInSpace #Artemis2 #MarsColonization #Regolith #Radiation #NuclearPower #Habitats #FoodProduction #Psychology

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Nuclear Propulsion

Can we travel further, faster in space with nuclear propulsion? As NASA gets ready to launch Space Reactor-1 Freedom (SR-1) in 2028 we explore the details of this technology. This mission aims to demonstrate a reactor generating over 20 kW of power, using HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium) fuel. People can get nervous about nuclear, but this technology can (and will) revolutionise everything about space technology, power and energy here on earth, and clean processes much needed on and off world.

Patrick Rennie is a physicist and rocket scientist. He is a Fellow and board member of the British Interplanetary Society, president of the Mars Society, and a space engineer with experience in nuclear systems.

Check out our previous episode on space planes here: Patrick Rennie on Rocket Science, Mars Exploration & Space Innovation |Polymath World #3

Check out our discussion on Mars here: Polymath World #50: The Mars Society UK | Exploring the Red Planet

The Polymath World Channel brings you interviews with extraordinary researchers and academics working on the frontiers of their disciplines. Meet and hear from scientists, professors, lecturers, researchers, engineers, philosophers and astronauts.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe. New episodes every Wednesday.

#PolymathWorldChannel #PursueExtraordinary #Nuclear #Physics #SpaceScience #SpaceExploration #HistoryOfSpace #Moon #Mars #Voyager #NASA #ESA #BritishInterplanetarySociety #MarsSociety #SpaceX #BlueOrigin #NuclearPropulsion #RTGs #NuclearThermalPropulsion #NuclearElectricPropulsion #SpaceTechnology #RocketScience #DeepSpaceMissions #SpacePowerSystems #NuclearPower #Radiation #NuclearFusion #NuclearFission #Artemis #Energy #SpaceColonization #CleanEnergy

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GENE EDITING AND TERRAFORMING MARS

Dr Erika DeBenedictus is CEO of Pioneer Labs. She is a computational physicist and synthetic biologist working at the intersection of space science and the life sciences. She studied at Caltech before moving to MIT and did her postdoc under 2024 Nobel Laureate David Baker. She also trained at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At Pioneer Labs they use several methods, including CRISPR and other forms of gene editing, to engineer microbes such as cyanobacteria to help make Mars more hospitable to earth life. The Great Oxidation event saw cyanobacteria transform earth's atmosphere into a world inhabitable for us and the same could happen on Mars but much faster. Mars was once very earth like - could it be brought back to its life-supporting state?

The Polymath World Channel brings you interviews with extraordinary researchers and academics working on the frontiers of their disciplines. Meet and hear from scientists, professors, lecturers, researchers, engineers, philosophers and astronauts.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe. New episodes every Wednesday.

#PolymathWorldChannel #PursueExtraordinary #Mars #Terraforming #LifeSciences #SpaceScience #Microbes #PioneerLabs #Biotechnology #Astrobiology #EnvironmentalScience #SyntheticBiology #Photosynthesis #PlanetaryProtection #Engineering #Biosphere #Ethics #SpaceExploration #Climate #EvolutionaryBiology #Microbiology #PlanetaryScience #Science #DirectedEvolution #Genetics #GeneEditing #CRISPR

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COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT

Many thanks to the British Interplanetary Society for allowing me to publish this lecture on my channel. I was delighted and honoured to speak at the BIS Reinventing Space conference for a second year in a row.

What are the implications for human spaceflight and space medicine coming from the recent revolutions in computational biology? How can we use it to better assess astronaut's health and assist them in travelling further and living longer off-world? AlphaFold and its competitors are opening up new possibilities for this space age.

The Polymath World Channel brings you interviews with extraordinary researchers and academics working on the frontiers of their disciplines. Meet and hear from scientists, professors, lecturers, researchers, engineers, philosophers and astronauts.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe. New episodes every Wednesday.

#PolymathWorldChannel #PursueExtraordinary #DNARepair #SpaceMedicine #ComputationalBiology #CancerTreatment #GeneEditing #BioInk #AlphaFold #AstronautHealth #GenomicMedicine #Immunotherapy #Bioinformatics #Bioastronautics #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #Space #Genomics

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ASTROPHYSICS AND THEOLOGY

Dr David Wilkinson is an extraordinary polymath - a man with 2 PhDs and a published scholar across both science and theology. He is Professor of Theology and Principle of St John's College, University of Durham. He has authored many books including God, Stephen Hawking and the Multiverse. After initially working on the study of star formation and the chemical evolution of galaxies, he transitioned to systematic theology where he has become one of the leading researchers in the relationship between science and religion in the UK and overseas. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Society for Science and Religion. He is a regular contributor to BBC Thought for the Day. He headed up the ECLAS initiative to help churches better engage with science.

David has always been an immense encouragement to me and greatly supported my doctorate on the Quaker astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington.

The Polymath World Channel brings you interviews with extraordinary researchers and academics working on the frontiers of their disciplines. Meet and hear from scientists, professors, lecturers, researchers, engineers, philosophers and astronauts.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe. New episodes every Wednesday.

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