World Space Week Association

Michael Paolucci is the visionary founder of Slooh, a pioneering online platform that brings space exploration directly to the public. Through Slooh’s network of robotic telescopes stationed around the world, Paolucci has revolutionized access to live celestial events, allowing space enthusiasts to observe and capture astronomical phenomena in real-time. His passion for democratizing space observation has opened up the cosmos to schools, individuals, and citizen scientists, inspiring countless people to look up and explore the universe.

THE WORLD SPACE WEEK ASSOCIATION PODCAST SERIESA series of conversations with visionary thinkers and doers, sharing their unique insights and aspirations for the future of humanity beyond Earth — made possible with the support of the World Space Week Association.

World Space Week Association Podcasting Team

Host and producer: Haritina Mogoșanu, Co-host: Samuel Leske, Milky-Way.Kiwi

Special thanks to– Milky-Way.Kiwi and New Zealand Astrobiology Network for the recording equipment and time.– Rhian Sheehan for the music.

The podcasts have been produced for the global World Space Week network.

This is a podcast for the World Space Week 2024, which has the theme: Space and Climate Change.

Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, a principal scientist at the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand, discussed the MethaneSAT mission, the first international space mission New Zealand has officially participated in. Funded by charitable donations and led by the Environmental Defense Fund, the mission aims to quantify and map agricultural emissions globally from space. The satellite launched recently, and initial data from New Zealand were collected, validated through ground-based and aircraft measurements. Sara emphasises the role of space in monitoring climate change, particularly methane leaks from oil and gas, and highlights the importance of global observations for effective climate action.

Outline

THE WORLD SPACE WEEK ASSOCIATION PODCAST SERIES

A series of conversations with visionary thinkers and doers, sharing their unique insights and aspirations for the future of humanity beyond Earth — made possible with the support of the World Space Week Association.

World Space Week Association Podcasting Team

Host and producer: Haritina Mogoșanu, Co-host: Samuel Leske, Milky-Way.Kiwi

Special thanks to– Milky-Way.Kiwi and New Zealand Astrobiology Network for the recording equipment and time.– Rhian Sheehan for the music: "An afternoon on the Moon"

The podcasts have been produced for the global World Space Week network.

An Interview with Rosaly Lopes, Deputy Director of Planetary Science at JPL

Rosaly Lopes, Deputy Director for the Planetary Science Directorate at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discussed her career journey, starting with her fascination with space during the Apollo era. She transitioned from astronomy to planetary geology and volcanology, eventually joining JPL through a postdoctoral program. Lopez highlighted her work on the Galileo mission, where she discovered 71 new volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io, and her contributions to the Cassini mission, which revealed details of Saturn's moon Titan. She emphasised the importance of inspiring young people in science and the technological spin-offs from space exploration, such as miniaturisation for cell phones. Lopez also underscored the value of science literacy and the hope in humankind's ability to solve global challenges through scientific and technological advancements.

THE WORLD SPACE WEEK ASSOCIATION PODCAST SERIESA series of conversations with visionary thinkers and doers, sharing their unique insights and aspirations for the future of humanity beyond Earth — made possible with the support of the World Space Week Association.

World Space Week Association Podcasting Team

Host and producer: Haritina Mogoșanu, Co-host: Samuel Leske, Milky-Way.Kiwi

Special thanks to– Milky-Way.Kiwi and New Zealand Astrobiology Network for the recording equipment and time.– Rhian Sheehan for the music.

The podcasts have been produced for the global World Space Week network.

We are starting 2022 with an interview with Steven Freeland, Emeritus Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University where he was also previously the Dean of the School of Law, and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also holds Visiting or Adjunct positions at various other Universities/Institutes in Copenhagen, Vienna, Toulouse, Hong Kong, Montreal, Kuala Lumpur and London.

Prior to becoming an academic, Steven had a 20-year career as an international commercial lawyer and investment banker.

He is a Member of the Australian Space Agency Advisory Board and has been an advisor to the Australian, New Zealand, Norwegian and several other Governments on issues relating to national space legislative frameworks and policy. He has represented the Australian Government at Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) meetings and was appointed in June 2021 by UNCOPUOS as Vice-Chair of a 5-year Working Group looking at issues regarding the exploration, exploitation and utilisation of space resources.

Steven is also a Director of the International Institute of Space Law.

We talk about the role of legislation in the space context and his personal opinions about space and space exploration. 

Siân Cleaver is an Industrial Manager Orion ESM and ESM-2 AIT Scheduler at Airbus Defence and Space. 

We talked to Siân about her interest in space and what is it exactly that she is doing at work, the Artemis mission, her jobs, engineering and space, moving countries, what would she take with her to space and when will people go back to the Moon. She told us about dream jobs, career paths and how she got into the job she is doing, STEM and girls, and we discussed how to encourage girls to pursue space careers and generally how to make the world a better place. 

Thank you very much Siân Cleaver for generously sharing with the World Space Week Association and we wish you success in everything you do.

Maruška Strah is the Executive Director of the World Space Week Association. She is giving an overview of the World Space Week this year and what can you do to contribute to this very special week.