Space, Eh?

Astronauts endure a lot in space and as we prepare to send our first woman to the moon, its important to consider whether men and women respond differently to space and space radiation. ESA's Space Medicine Team is doing exactly that. Today, we chat with an intern in the team who is supporting the crowd-sourced systematic review of literature to see what we find regarding sex differences. The team ESA Space Medicine team at large comprises of medical doctors, biomedical engineers, exercise physiologists, psychologists, IT specialists, education coordinators, administrators and project managers. Each plays a vital role in ensuring the health and well-being of astronauts during all stages of a mission. To better support astronauts during current missions to the International Space Station and prepare for human missions beyond low Earth orbit, the Space Medicine Team is working to identify, evaluate and develop new space technologies and procedures.

Having a space podcast isn't easy but it isn't isolating either if you can find others just like you! Today we're back with another episode chatting with Dr. Gavin Tolometti. He is an aspiring science communicator and holds a PhD in Geology and Planetary Science from Western University. He's got experience working at the Canadian Space Agency, workshop experience from the European Space Agency, and now works as an outreach high school program coordinator at Western University. We talk about Science Communication, Podcasting, Analog missions, and combining your interests to create a fun and exciting career!

What's a marriage if you don't start a rocket company together? Today we're chatting with the co-founders of SpaceRyde, COO Saharnaz Safari and CEO Sohrab Haghighat. SpaceRyde is the first on-demand network of rockets with the ability to transport cargo from the Earth to the Moon, and everywhere in between. The innovation making this possible is a launch system that uses balloons to carry rockets beyond the earth's atmosphere before ignition takes place. Let's take a ryde with SpaceRyde!

In this episode, we caught up with Mariam Naseem (who we last spoke to in S1), to follow along in her journey to the stars!

In this episode, we spoke to CEO Evandro Barros, one of the Top 50 AI CEOs of 2021. He is the founder of Data H, an artificial intelligence venture builder.  Data H transforms science into business opportunities through the creation of AI companies. From autonomous delivery robots, behaviour analysis for security and defence and analyzing cyberattacks in real time, to enhancing scientific research, building medical imaging and more, Data H helps companies transform accumulated and dispersed knowledge into algorithms, generating new products and services and improving existing processes.

In this exciting episode we got a clinician's perspective on the cutting research in Space Medicine! Dr. Michael Gallagher is the President and CEO of Association of Spaceflight Professionals Inc., an organization developing early-stage human-in-the-loop space experiments and technologies. He previously practiced family and dive medicine at the Canadian Forces Base in Esquimalt, British Columbia. He now practices Medicine in British Columbia and sometimes works with patients in rural communities in Alberta and Canada's north. In April 2010, he completed a Canadian Space Agency-sponsored aerospace medicine elective at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. He became a finalist for the Aerospace Medical Association's Jeff Myers Young Investigator Award for preliminary investigations into lower body negative pressure as a possible countermeasure for bone loss in space. Feel free to reach out to Dr. Gallagher at michael.gallagher@spaceflightprofessionals.org.

Human settlement in Space is no doubt an active area of research in the modern Space age. Settling in Space of course comes with several nuanced challenges that need cross-functional creative solutions. One area that is incredibly fascinating to explore is the design and architecture of those spaces. Today we've got on our podcast Sach Grewal, who is currently pursuing his Master of Architecture degree from Carleton University. As a budding architect, his interest lies in integrating creative design solutions with sustainability. Arguably, the coolest outcome of such projects and research is exploring applications in which a designer's creativity is challenged and they may need to come up with some 'out of the box' or rather 'out of the world' solutions. Today we explore a new aspect of Space on our podcast by chatting with Sach who can give us some insights into habitat design in Space and the challenges that come with it.

In this episode, we chat with Adam Trumpour, a rocket and gas turbine propulsion professional and founder and president of Launch Canada, an organization founded to support and advance grassroots experimental rocketry in Canada. We talk about his motivation to start a student rocket competition series and plan for the year! If interested in Launch Canada, you can contact him at adam@launchcanada.org.

In this episode we got to interview the CEO and CTO of Stardust Technologies, Jason Michaud and Jawad El Houssine. Stardust is forging innovative technologies through applied science in collaboration with international space agencies, heavy industry and the medical community. Serving humanity through scientific and technological advances, Stardust's haptic feedback solutions are making fiction a reality! 

We sat down with the winners of the Shad Canada 2020 Design Challenge! The program devised a novel challenge for their 2020 cohort: to design a research project, completely virtually in the era of COVID-19, for suborbital flight that leverages space and microgravity in a meaningful and creative way with impacts for science and humanity. A judging panel of Shad representatives and industry experts evaluated 62 final projects based on their impact, scientific merit, technical feasibility and project plan, and the final team, Mous4Inc., was selected as the winner. Listen on to hear about their investigation of the structural formation of polyurethane foam in microgravity and potential terrestrial applications.

Dr. Ferguson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Manitoba and holds the NSERC / Magellan Aerospace Industrial Research Chair in Satellite Engineering. His work aims to improve the reliability and accessibility of space technology through research into new satellite control and manufacturing technologies. We got to speak to him about CubeSats and how young people can get more involved in space.

We bring you an exciting conversation with Dr. Ed Cloutis! He has over 25 years of expertise in Earth and planetary remote sensing. His research focuses on developing new applications of remote sensing to exploring the surface of the Earth and planets in the solar system, both for geology and the search for extraterrestrial life. He is the founder and Director of the University of Winnipeg's Planetary Spectrophotometer Facility, a state-of-the-art lab dedicated to advancing planetary exploration. Cloutis is a member of science teams associated with a number of planetary exploration missions, including the NASA-led Dawn asteroid rendezvous mission, the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) rover, the NASA-CSA OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, and the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and ExoMars rover. He has over 150 peer-reviewed publications. You can reach out to him with more questions at e.cloutis@uwinnipeg.ca.

What do 'Perseverance', 'Curiosity' and 'InSight' all have in common? Dr. Farah Alibay of course! She has either witnessed (as a NASA intern) or been a key component of launching many rovers to Mars to help us answer many questions about the Red Planet such as: what does the deep interior look like? was there ever life on Mars? Tune in hear about her journey, her take on STEM education for girls, and her awesome job at NASA JPL. Fun fact: she even dyed her hair red once to celebrate landing on Mars! 

Mariam Naseem is a space consultant (talk about a cool job!) at Euroconsult and Zaid Rana is Junior Program Scientist at the Canadian Space Agency. What unites them is a passion for space and engaging young people in Canada. They both serve as the National Point of Contact for the United Nations Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC). Join us for our first ever joint-interview with this dynamic duo! 

What is Lunar Ice Mining and what's on a Canadian $5 bill? We answer these interesting questions and more in our conversation with Zac Trolley. Zac is an engineer who spent 2 weeks in Utah at a Mars simulation site and hopes to go Mars one day. For now, he's setting up a Lunar Water Supply company and hopes that Canada can dream bigger to achieve even bigger heights! Learn more about his work at https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-trolley/, MDRS Mission page http://mdrs.marssociety.org/crew-188/, The Lunar Water Supply Company page https://lunarwatersupply.com. For more info on the Canadian $5 bill check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_five-dollar_note

Preparation is key for an astronaut, but for us folks here on Earth, we can prepare everyday to discover our passions and live out our dreams. Mr. Merali is the Chief Operating Officer of 4pi Lab Inc. a Calgary-based space company and founder of the non-profit Zenith Canada, a national merit based career development mentorship program designed to connect the Canadian aerospace industry workforce. In 2018, he was recognized globally as a Top 35 Under 35 of the space industry, selected by a panel of industry movers & shakers (including former astronauts from USA, Canada and Korea) for his achievement, dedication, outreach and contribution to the space business.  Brace yourself for an exciting conversation with him about his achievements and some solid life advice. 

Madame Amanda Green is a teacher in Alberta and loves to share her excitement for science with her students, colleagues and other professionals. Amanda was a co-recipient of the 2018 ATA Science Council Outstanding Science Teacher Award too! She also got the opportunity to name an exoplanet and a star! Dive into this exciting conversation with us.  Links mentioned in the episode:  https://letstalkscience.ca/ https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/4103546/ https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/resources-young/junior-astronauts/default.asp https://sites.google.com/gshare.blackgold.ca/green/space/teaching-space

Dr. Parshati Patel is an astrophysicist, STEM educator and researcher, podcaster, and science communicator. We spoke to her about the need for diversity in space, what skills young people need in the new space era, and in the fun question section we asked about her favorite yummy snacks since she's a self-proclaimed foodie! 

While this podcast is about Canadians in Space, we also love highlighting the narratives of young people working the space industry who inspire us. This week we bring you a bonus episode featuring Hans Uy, a Space Banker. He's a financial analyst at SpaceX by trade but space geek by passion. On this episode we chat about his blog (Astronomical Returns), combining your passion with your skills, and representation in the space industry!

Dave Williams has defied odds in many domains. He set the Canadian record for the total number of spacewalks, became the first non-American to hold a senior management position at NASA, battled cancer and went back to space for more adventure. All in all, he's pretty special. We delve into some fun questions with him and discuss his novel Defying Limits.

Physician, aquanaut, ...superwoman? We had the privilege to interview Dr. Shawna Pandya (after a ~72 hour shift in the ER!) to chat about her passion for space and medicine and what the future might hold when these two worlds collide.

Jay Modi is a young creative mind who started STARSCAPE Creative which aims to build a global community of youth that are actively engaged in the developments of the NewSpace economy. Tune into this episode to hear more about the intersection between art and space and a general discussion about Canada's position in the space sector!

She's the CEO & Founder of a space biotech company called Luna Design & Innovation which is the official channel partner for the Blue Origin New Shepard System. We asked her some pertinent questions about her background, the Canadian space sector, and what the future looks like for biological missions in space! 

Welcome to the official podcast of the Canadian Space Society (CSS)! We will be bringing you up close and personal with Canadian space heros and fascinating narratives across all disciplines in space.