Best info@astrotalkuk.org Podcasts (2025)

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Episode 128: George Danos: Cyprus in Space 48:50

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1d ago48:50

48:50

Cyprus is a small country with a small population and a small economy. But it has big ambitions in space. In this episode, recorded at Cospar 2025 in Nicosia, George Danos, who has been championing this case for Cyprus for years and can be considered Cyprus's Carl Sagan, explains the rise of Cyprus's space activities in communication services, smal…

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Episode 127: Weaving with Graphene. Vivek Koncherry 38:12

15d ago38:12

38:12

From centruries of weaving in the state of Kerala in India to automated AI controlled machines weaving Graphene coated fibres in Manchester. A modern day Cottonopolis.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 126: Graphene: From scientific discovery to commercial application 1:11:52

1M ago1:11:52

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rofessor James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Manchester, describes Manchester’s journey to commercialise the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of Graphene.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 125: Britian’s Greatest Pilot Captain Eric “Winkle” Brown 1:08:22

3M ago1:08:22

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You may have seen the BBC documentary Britain's Greatest Pilot. Yes, he was an outstanding pilot, but there was much more to him than just that. I published extracts from an interview with Captain Eric Brown in April 2011. Much of that interview was not published .. until now.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 124: Exploring the Stellar Neighbourhood. The Toliman Space Telescope 1:07:08

6M ago1:07:08

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Just as the Moon was the first stepping stone for our interplanetary exploration, our nearest star, the Alpha Centauri System will inevitably become our stepping stone for our Interstellar Journey. That is in the distance. A new mission, The Toliman Space Telescope, is launching soon will target the Alpha-Centauri System from Earth orbit.…

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Episode 123: Soaring over the surface of Titan: NASA’s Dragonfly Mission 46:42

6M ago46:42

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It is December 2034. A spacecraft launched from Earth in July 2028, enters Titan's atmosphere at 5km/s. Around 2 hours later, it softly lands on the surface at less than 1m /s. Over the next three years, NASA's Dragonfly mission, a rotorcraft the size of a small car, will chemically analyse the Titan's atmosphere, ground and a little of its subsurf…

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Episode 122. Are we alone and the Breakthrough Initiatives 1:11:52

8M ago1:11:52

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A two-day Breakthrough Discuss conference held on 23rd and 24th April 2025 in Oxford England, took stock of the latest developments through three main sessions: "Forms of Non-Terrestrial Life", "The Nature of Consciousness and Intelligence", and "Detecting Life As We Do Not Know It".Breakthough Discuss was overseen by the Chairman of the Breakthrou…

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Episode 121 – Failed stars or successful planets? 1:06:17

8M ago1:06:17

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The story of Teide-1 (the first brown dwarf to be observed) is the story at the other end of a star's life cycle. That early stage is when stars transition from a huge cloud of dust and gas (billions of km across). to the size of a large planet (150,000 km). This is way smaller than the size of the sun and only a little larger than Jupiter.…

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Episode 120: Prof. Gengxin Xie. A Greenhouse on the Moon 41:31

8M ago41:31

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On Thursday, 3rd January 2019, some water was added to some seeds in a tiny greenhouse. The seeds, cotton, potato, Rape and Arabidopsis sprouted. This was an experiment fonducted on the lunar surfaceBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 119: Professor Ivan Almar and Astronomy in Hungary during the Soviet Era 46:41

11M ago46:41

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A brief but fascinating life and work of Professor Ivan Almar. he and his wife's contributions to asttronautics in Hungary during and after the Soviet era.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 118 : Galactic Magnetic Fields 43:55

1y ago43:55

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Did you know our galaxy (the Milky Way) has a magnetic field? News to me! Dr Vasu Shaw explains how astronomers go about understanding such phenomena. We also speak her fascinating international journey to becoming an astrophysicist.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 117 – Early Aviation in Manchester 48:02

1+ y ago48:02

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Its not just cotton, trains and computers that Manchester is known for its innovation but aviation too. Frank Pleszak shares his insights in to the role Manchester played in aviation more than 100 years ago.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 116: Exploring Cosmic Events with Professor Rene Breton at Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics 1:13:54

1+ y ago1:13:54

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In this episode, Professor Rene Breton, originally from Quebec, has been working at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics for over a decade. We discuss only a small part of his current research, including how Pulsars may one day be used as a GPS for interstellar travel.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 115 – Professor Michael Garrett & Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics 49:24

1+ y ago49:24

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In this episode, Professor Mike Garrett from @jodrellbank, discusses research activities at the #Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, including international collaborations, Dennis Walsh's work on #GravitationalLensing, and the increased #SETI activities through the #Breakthrough Listen Programme. Topics also include the Square Kilometer Array #SK…

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Episode 114 – Chris Riley and The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks 56:30

1+ y ago56:30

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Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks is an immersive audio-visual experience in a unique venue in the centre of London. Written by @alifeofriley and Tom Hanks. Available only in London and only until 13th October 2024By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 113 – Rocket Pioneer Hermann Oberth 1:05:53

1+ y ago1:05:53

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If you want to learn about the life and work of rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth, there is only one place to visit. The Hermann Oberth Space Travel Museum in the German Town of Feucht, near Nurnberg. @OberthMuseum #OberthBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 112 – Brown Dwarfs, Dark Matter and Dark Energy 48:53

1+ y ago48:53

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Euclid, a @esa science mission, will shed light on both dark matter and dark energy. It was launched in July 2023 and arrived in its L2 orbit a month later. It has just two instruments which will produce a high-resolution 3-D map of a third of the sky, stretching back 10 billion years during its initial 6-year operational lifetime.…

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Episode 111 – Chandrayaan-3 36:14

2y ago36:14

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Following the successful landing of @isro #Chandrayaan-3, Associate Project Director Kalpana Kalahasti was the first female to speak at the ISRO live stream event. As a seasoned engineer, Kalahasti contributed to numerous projects including SARAL in 2013. Here she talks about her journey with ISRO which began in 1999 as a radar engineer.…

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Episode 110 – Humanity’s spiritual destiny and the 100 year starship 34:08

2y ago34:08

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The 100 year starship project @100YSS aims to get humanity to develop the capability to travel to the stars in one hundred years time. It started in 2012 headed by Dr Mae Jemison the first woman of colour to fly in to space in STS 47 in 1992.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 109 – The Antikythera Mechanism with Prof Xenophon Moussas 45:21

3y ago45:21

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I first came across the Antikythera Mechanism just over a decade ago. It is still the most incredible artefact from history. It is as out of place in our time as William Shakespeare using an Iphone or Vasco De Gama travelling in a speedboat. The Antikythera Mechanism is a complex mechanical (clockwork) device that can determine the position of the …

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Episode 108 – NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission 25:49

3y ago25:49

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The Clarke Exobelt is the name that Dr Hector Socas-Navarro has given to perhaps the largest structure humans have built. A collection of satellites in earth orbit (geosynchronous) 36,000 km radius. All circling the earth at the same speed in the same direction. The density of this orbit has been increasing since the 1960s but is not yet sufficient…

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Episode 107 – SETI’s new tool – Technosignatures 40:25

3y ago40:25

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The Clarke Exobelt is the name that Dr Hector Socas-Navarro has given to perhaps the largest structure humans have built. A collection of satellites in earth orbit (geosynchronous) 36,000 km radius. All circling the earth at the same speed in the same direction. The density of this orbit has been increasing since the 1960s but is not yet sufficient…

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Episode 106 – ESA’s new science missions 43:00

3y ago43:00

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European Space Agency's Dr Paul McNamara was studying low-frequency gravitational waves just before they were discovered in 2015. Now he is the astronomy and astrophysics coordinator for the European Space Agency. In this interview, recorded in Athens during Cospar2022, he speaks about some of the exciting science missions that ESA will be launchin…

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Episode 105 – Return to Titan – Dragonfly 44:04

3y ago44:04

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Dr Ralph Lorenz speaks about Dragonfly, a return mission to land on Titan. This mission, for which he is the mission architect, is like no other. It is not really a lander or rover but a quadcopter that will sample different regions near the landing site during its 3.3-year lifetime.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 104 – William Leitch. The forgotten Scottish Rocket Pioneer 1:09:01

3y ago1:09:01

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When it comes to the pioneers of rocketry, tradition has it that it was Tsiolkovsky, Goddard and Oberth. in this episode, author Rob Godwin talks about William Leitch from Scotland. He was writing about rocketry from the 1850sBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 103 -Observing the Solar System with the JWST 35:21

3y ago35:21

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Astronomer Dr Connor Nixon @shamrocketeer speaks about the @nasawebb program to observe solar system objects using the #JWST led by @hbhammelBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 102 – Martian Geology with Prof Sanjeev Gupta 30:08

3y ago30:08

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In 1972, Harrison Schmitt became the first (and so far only), scientist to walk on the surface of the Moon. Since then many scientists have brought their scientific insights to understanding to the solar system and their moons. geologist @sanjeevgupta45 from @imperialcollege talks about MarsBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 101 UNOOSA – Peaceful Uses of Outer Space 30:26

3y ago30:26

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Niklas Hedman, the Acting Director of the @UN Office for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNOOSA) talks about @UNOOSA ongoing role in facilitating and promoting the peaceful uses of space in Low Earth orbit and beyond.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 100 Sandra Benitez Herrera – ESA Education Outreach 27:08

3y ago27:08

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Sandra Benitez-Herrera talks about the opportunities for teachers and students made available by the European Space Agency 's CESAR (Cooperation through Education in Science and Astronomy Research) program. @esaBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 99 Professor Stamatios Krimigis – Exploring the Solar System with Voyager 40:42

3+ y ago40:42

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A chance meeting with James van Allen led Stamatios Krimigis to build instruments for Mariner 3 and 4. Eventually became a Principle Investigator for the charged particle instrument on voyager which was initially known as Mariner Jupiter Saturn 77 programBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 98 Astrophotography with Nik Szymanek 1:00:11

4y ago1:00:11

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Astrophotographer Nik Szymanek shares his unique perspective on how astrophotography has evolved since the 1980s when he first started. We speak about software and robotic telescopes @telescopelivehq @APinSpain & @astronomynow get a mention.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 97 Bob Heil’s Moon Bounce Experiment with NASA 53:41

4y ago53:41

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Following an unexpected meeting with USA's first Astronaut, Alan Shepard in around 1962. In this episode he recounts a Moon-Bounce experiments with @Nasa.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 96 Seti – The search so far with Jill Tarter 35:04

4y ago35:04

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Since the beginning of human civilisation, people have looked up at the night sky and wondered – are we alone? Science and technology of the 20th century has made it possible to try to address that question. So how is are we doing? With Jill Tarter from @SETIInstituteBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 95 European Space Cooperation DeGaulle to ExoMars with Brian Harvey 1:04:24

4y ago1:04:24

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The latest book from author Brian Harvey @BrianHarveyAut1, this is probably the first English language analysis of the individuals, institutions and early space projects that would eventually lead, not just France, but Europe to its status as a leader in designing, building and operating complex space infrastructure.…

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Episode 94 Seti – Techniques and Technology with Jill Tarter 31:04

4y ago31:04

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How has the ¢SETI evolved over the last 6 decades and especially what can modern technology allow today that was not possible then? With Jill Tarter from @SETIInstituteBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 93: Exploring the surface of Titan 59:42

5y ago59:42

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On 14th January 2005, the Huygens probe landed on Titan. Saturns and the solar systems largest Moon. This was a joint NAS/ESA mission called Cassini-Huygens. Whilst Huygens landed on Titan, Cassini continued to orbit Saturn.Professor John Zarnecki, the prinicpal investigator for the Surface Science Package, recalls the experience of that mission an…

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Episode 92: Revisiting Panspermia with Prof. Wickramasinghe 1:15:03

5y ago1:15:03

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The idea of Panspermia, that life exists throughout the universe and spreads via asteroids, comets and cosmic dust, has been around for a long time. Two of the strongest advocates were Professor Fred Hoyle and Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 91 – ISRO and the Spy who was not 47:52

6y ago47:52

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In 1994, Narayan Nambi an ISRO aerospace engineer was falsely arrested by the Investigation Beuro on charges of espionage. He was accused of passing on confidential launch vehicle flight test data to foreign nationals. In 1996 he was cleared by the Central Investigations Bureau and India's Supreme Court found him not guilty in 1998. In 2019 he was …

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Episode 90 – An update on ISRO’s activities with S Somanath and R Umamaheshwaran 50:35

6y ago50:35

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This interview with S Somanath (director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre) and R Umamaheshwaran (Scientific Secretary) was recorded on 24th October 2019 during the International Astronautical Congress in Washington DC. It was not focused on a specific theme but rather an update on all things @ISRO - current and future activities.…

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IAC2019 Heads of Space Agency – Press Conference 41:37

6y ago41:37

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This audio recording captures most of the Q&A that took place on Monday 21st October #IAC2019. The audio quality is variable. The agencies represented included #isro #nasa #jaxa #china #RussiaBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 89 – Carbon Nanotubes 42:58

6y ago42:58

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In his 1979 novel, Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C Clarke imagines a cable stretching from the Earth's equator to Geosynchronous orbit. He called it a "space elevator" and imagined it would be constructed from continuous pseudo-one-dimensional diamond crystals. Bangalore based NoPo Technologies is now commercially producing Carbon Nanotubes. Could …

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Episode 88 – India’s Private Space Sector 1:25:03

6y ago1:25:03

1:25:03

As in other nations, the private space sector is now emerging in India. One name that pops up when discussing private and commercial space in India is Narayanan PrasadBy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 87 – Apollo Era recollections of a Brit working in NASA 52:44

6+ y ago52:44

52:44

Episode 87 - Apollo Era recollections of a Brit working in @NASABy Gurbir Singh

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Episode 86 – Moon: Art, Science, Culture 42:55

6+ y ago42:55

42:55

Moon: Art, Science, CultureThe 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing was a momentous event and expected to be marked by numerous publications. Most books cover the technologies, events, personal recollections and politics of the first human voyage to another world. One book jointly authored by an art historian and an astronomer has a fresh pers…

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Episode 85 – Russia’s Space programme with Brian Harvey 43:50

6+ y ago43:50

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Brian Harvey is a Dublin based writer who has authored more than 14 books the space programmes of USSR/Russia, USA, India, Korea Japan and China. He has a deep understanding of the motivations and politics as well as the space technology that has emerged.By Gurbir Singh

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Enabling democracy through an App? 51:37

6+ y ago51:37

51:37

GovernEye and is designed to facilitate democratic engagement by allowing voters elected politician and all stakeholders. @GovernEye founder Anant Ahuja talks about how Governeye works and what motivated it.By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 84: NASA after the Shuttle. SLS and The Gateway 30:55

6+ y ago30:55

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Why has NASA not been able to launch American astronauts to space on American rockets since 2011? What is the SLS and the Gateway? Will China and US cooperate in space?By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 83: India’s Human Spaceflight Programme with R Umamaheswaran 18:32

7y ago18:32

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Astrotalkuk.org - Episode 83 - India's Human Spaceflight Programme. R Umamaheswaren talks about @ISRO Human Space Flight Programme #gaganyaan and thinks the chances of a woman as a member of the first crew "highly likely". recorded at #IAC2018By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 82: Jaxa and International Collaboration with Professor Fujimoto Masaki 22:35

7y ago22:35

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A conversation with Prof. Fujimoto Masaki about @JAXA current and future plans to explore the inner solar system and #samplereturn missions. Recorded in Bremen just after #IAC2018By Gurbir Singh

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Episode 81: United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs 25:12

7y ago25:12

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Astrotalkuk.org. Episode 81 - United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of UNOOSA# talks about some of UNOOSA's current projects. recorded during #IAC2018By Gurbir Singh

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