Space exploration has led to greater understanding of the planet Earth, our Solar System and our place in the universe, but there’s still much to be discovered. To help uncover some of the greatest cosmic mysteries, space agencies around the world are planning missions to explore neighbouring planets to map their history and search for possible signs of past extraterrestrial life. 

In this episode, David Blaney is joined by Professor Phil Bland to discuss mission preparations to the Moon and Mars, the systemic and environmental challenges faced by automated rockets and rovers, and what we are doing at Curtin University in this space.

• What we can learn from looking at meteorites [03:53]
• CubeSats: what they are and what they can do [06:36]
• Major challenges faced by exploring space [10:36]
• Why Mars is such a big focus for space agencies [14:58]
• Who actually ‘owns’ space? [18:13]
• How space exploration benefits the economy [24:17]

Learn more

• From WA to the Moon
• Our very own rocket man
• Are We Alone in the Universe? | Ask an Expert
• Professor Phil Bland | Taking Curtin into orbit!

Got any questions, or suggestions for future topics?

Email [email protected].

Curtin University supports academic freedom of speech. The views expressed in The Future Of podcast may not reflect those of the university.

Music: OKAY by 13ounce Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Music promoted by Audio Library

You can read the full transcript for the episode here