Space, Eh?

We’re chatting today with Peter Dyba from Space AlphaInsights. He's an engineer with multiple years experience in Project, Systems and Radio Frequency engineering. We talk about the future of payload systems and space startups in Canada and also about navigating career paths to find work you truly enjoy!

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! 

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.

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. 

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! 

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.