To Mars with Mitch Schulte
Learn about Mars and Perseverance with Mitch Schulte
Kōkihi: Could New Zealand Spinach Feed Astronauts on the Moon or Mars?
Could kōkihi, New Zealand’s native spinach, help feed future astronauts on the Moon or Mars? Discover how this remarkable coastal plant’s tolerance to salt and water stress makes it an intriguing candidate for space agriculture, and explore the scientific questions we need to answer before taking it beyond Earth.
Mark Rocket: From Aotearoa to the blackness of space
Mark Rocket, the first New Zealander to reach space, shares the experience of launch, weightlessness and seeing Earth against the blackness of space. He also discusses sustainability, aerospace careers and why students should take action to follow their ambitions.
Hot Life in Antarctica: A new extremophile discovered at the edge of fire and ice
What can a microorganism living in Antarctica’s volcanic sediments teach us about life beyond Earth? Quite a lot, it turns out.
Witnessing the birth of a new solar system for the first time
Astronomers have, for the first time, witnessed the very beginning of a planetary system forming around a distant star. Using the combined power of the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA, researchers observed hot minerals just starting to solidify around the baby star HOPS-315. These earliest stages of planet formation tells about what our own Solar System may have looked like over 4.5 billion years ago. This discovery is a major leap for astrobiology, as we are trying to understand how the conditions for life might emerge elsewhere in the Universe.
Professor Carol Oliver
A/Prof Carol A. Oliver PhD, MSciCom, SFHEA, University of New South Wales Carol Oliver is an Associate Professor with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, teaching astrobiology and science communication. She is a Fellow of UNSW’s Scientia Education Academy, a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, and in 2022 won […]
Peggy Whitson: First Female Space Station Commander
Peggy Whitson’s first space mission took place in 2002 aboard the International Space Station’s Expedition 5 as a flight engineer. In 2007, Whitson returned to the International Space Station aboard the Expedition 16 mission as the commander, which made her the first woman commander of the International Space Station. Whitson’s third and final trip to […]
Valentina Tereshkova: First Woman in Space
In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space when she launched aboard the Soviet space program’s Vostok 6. To this day, she remains the only woman to have completed a solo space mission. The Vostok 6 mission lasted three days and orbited the Earth a total of 48 times. Tereshkova was born in […]
World Space Week 2021
World Space Week 2021 is about women in space. We interviewed the Executive Director of the World Space Week Association, Maruška Strah who explains what the event is about and how can you participate.
MethaneSAT, with the New Zealand Space Agency
Learn about MethaneSAT, New Zealand’s first official space mission as a country.
The New Zealand Astrobiology Network interviewed Dr Peter Crabtree, Head of the NZ Space Agency, Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, Lead Researcher for the mission and Steven Hamburg, Chief Scientist, EDF, as New Zealand joined its first official space mission to combat climate change.