WEBVTT - Australia's First Astronaut: The Artemis Program, Mars Mission and Elon Musk. 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.360 Catherine benel Peg. Welcome to straight Talk. How are you going? 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:04.920 I'm great, Thank you. 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.480 You've got Australia's Space Agency. Are you there now? 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:10.799 Yeah, I'm at work here in Adelaide at Lot fourteen 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.280 where the Space Agency headquarters is. This is where I 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:16.360 spend most of my days here when I'm in the office. 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.160 That's amazing. What that jacket you got on? It looks 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:22.360 very cool. I want one of those. Wow, can you 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:23.520 explain what you got on there? 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.119 What is that? So this is my flight jacket, we 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.640 call it. So basically on the left you wear your 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.519 country that you represent, obviously Australia. You get where your 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:36.720 astronaut wings, which you received when you pass basic training 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:41.560 and eligible for a flight assignment. Your Space agency, Australian 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:46.239 Space Agency. And this is my class patch. It's the Hoppers. 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.839 So I'm in a class with five others and we 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.840 name the Hoppers in part because well, Australia is represented 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.880 on astronaut training for the first time and we liked 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.800 how you know, kangaroos go forwards and not backwards. And 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.600 when you get missions, you get patches down your arms 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:04.399 and across your chest as well, so you can kind 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.119 of get a sense of what astronauts have done by 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:09.679 looking at their jackets and their flight suits. But I'm 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:11.720 a ricky astronaut by comparison to many. 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:14.960 Do you choose that name? The hoppers orders to zech 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:15.840 get allocated to you. 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:18.760 It's allocated by the class that's ahead of you. So 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.440 the class was ahead of us at the European Space 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:24.760 Agency or ISA is called the Shenanigans, and they gave 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:25.320 us the name. 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:27.280 What are they Irish or something? Were they? 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:29.240 Yeah, well they've played a lot of tricks on each 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.480 other apparently, so that's why they got that name. 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:35.600 That's pretty cool, Like I don't know, like being in 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:39.000 a space agency and being an astronaut, Oh my god, 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.520 Like it's sort of what everybody they don't even dream about, 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:47.280 they fantasize about, like especially young boys or young girls 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:49.919 who sort of sitting around looking at all the stuff 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.960 that's recently happened, of course with Artemis. But we'll come 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:55.920 back to itemis in a moment. But like, do you 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:57.840 ever have to pinch yourself? 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:02.240 Yeah, it's definitely a pinch stuff to be a qualified astronaut, 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:05.400 you know, ready for missions to the International Space Station 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.480 or even the Moon. It's been a long time coming, 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.680 but it's still really kind of a new beginning of 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:15.839 what the future could hold. So yeah, I'm excited for myself, yes, 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:18.720 but also I hope what this can enable more broadly 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:21.040 for the country, and I'm really grateful to be in 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:21.800 this position too. 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.320 To qualify as an astronaut, it's not like going to 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:30.000 university and becoming a lawyer or something. What's the process 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.000 of becoming an astronaut is like to get a science 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:33.760 degree or something? I mean, what does it mean? 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.440 Yeah, so when you finish school, there's no kind of 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.520 graduate job or apprentice to be an astronaut. You have 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.960 to have a first career in advance of even being 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:47.800 able to apply, and that first career has to be 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:51.120 something that's in a technical field. You can be a 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.000 scientist of any kind. You can be an engineer of 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.320 any kind. You can be a pilot, you can be 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.760 a medical doctor. And on top of that, you need 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:02.360 to be fit and healthy, not like an Olympic athlete, 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:04.600 but kind of like you're in the military, fit enough 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.480 and healthy enough to do your job. You need to 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:12.040 have expeditionary experience, meaning things like being in the military 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:17.280 or in Antarctica or on like scientific field ships. You 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:21.079 should have operational skills, which means things like having been 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.600 in the emergency service or flying or scuba diving situations 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:28.160 where you have to make decisions in real time where 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.679 someone could die if you screw up. And on top 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:35.040 of that, you should have kind of international experience or 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:39.040 speak other languages. So it's really broad and building out 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.960 a CV hopefully one day. Being an astronaut is an 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:45.200 awesome journey in its own right. So I tell people 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.600 with this dream, you know, pick something in that huge 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.560 breadth of fields that you love anyway, and becoming an 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:55.680 astronaut's just the cherry on the top of a path 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:56.640 that you're enjoying. 0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:59.680 Would you be able to sort of open up sort 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.480 of what did you do? Like go in your case, 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.760 I mean, did you do an engineering degree university? And 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.280 did you go to a university in South Australia or 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:09.880 whereabouts in Australia? What did you do? 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:13.920 Yeah? So I originally wanted to be a pilot, right. 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.120 I did aerobatic flying and loved science as well as 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:21.760 a teenager, but I got medically postponed in the selection 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.159 to be an Air Force pilot. So I had to 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.400 go do something else, and I picked being an engineer 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:29.480 and scientist. So I went to Sydney UNI. I grew 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:33.080 up in Sydney and did a double degree in physics 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:37.520 and aeronautical space engineering. And I picked up the engineering 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:39.440 half of the degree just because it had the word 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:42.320 space in the title. I didn't actually know what engineering was. 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:44.320 I'd never used a drill or written a line of code, 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.920 but I thought it would be a way to kind 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.680 of broaden my knowledge base. And I'm so glad I did. 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:54.520 It took me on the most wonderful journey around the world, 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:56.880 working on some of the best space missions I could 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.599 have imagined. So I ultimately became a space engineer. So 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:06.200 someone that designs and develops satellites, space stations, robots for 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:10.680 other planets. And I've done that for about fifteen years now. 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:14.960 Wow. So being involved in a team that designs a 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.520 space station that sounds pretty hectic. I'm sure the team's 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:22.920 pretty big. And if the errors, well, you can't afford 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:24.640 to make one eraror I mean, I can imagine there 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:30.360 would be definitely you know, you know the effect of 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:34.359 making one era in a million is catastrophic, So you 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:38.599 probably have to be you know, ten standard deviations away 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:40.919 from the mean in terms of error rates, I mean, like, 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.040 how does that work? Like I can't even get my 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.000 head around that, Like, in terms of error rates, you 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:52.080 can't afford to make one slightest opportunity for something not 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:52.640 to work. 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:56.479 In a space station, Yeah, there's an acceptable error risk, 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.719 and you have all these different sigmas and things like 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:03.320 you say. Overall for an International Space Station mission, which 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:05.840 is about six months on a tested vehicle, it's been 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:10.560 up there for twenty six years, you're designed in fatality 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.479 risk is one in two hundred, so that been some 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.960 time in that mission. Your designed risk of death is 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:19.280 one in two hundred, which is something I wouldn't get 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:21.719 in the car for right, We're an airline of four, 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:25.000 so astronauts do that because we believe in the discoveries 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.520 you can make up there and the importance of that work. 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.480 But as an engineer doing that before, you're very aware 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:35.440 how important it is, and you only take risks you 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:39.400 need to take risks. I worked for Airbus, so like Boeing, 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:42.479 the developed aircraft and another part of the business, so 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.560 that safety culture comes across from designing aircraft. But when 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:51.200 we design satellites, we should be not over perfecting and 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.640 gold plating everything because we want to be low cost 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.240 there as far as we can when we're looking at 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.960 things like weather and disasters and communications, so that you know, 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.240 we make it as economical as possible. 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:07.880 So what are your ambitions in terms of maybe one 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:11.200 day going to the Moon or maybe even Mars. How 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.200 do you control that ambition instead of because the day 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:17.680 to day you do something different, but you've always got 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:21.680 this burning ambition or desire to be chosen to go 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.120 on the next moon expedition, whether it be landing on 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:27.920 the Moon or just going around there, going to the 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:29.400 dark side of the Moon or the other side of 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:31.840 the moon like recently. I mean, how do you control 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:34.200 that ambition? Excitement? 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.760 It's a great positive thing, it's a wonderful motivator. But 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.559 the reality is most of an astronaut's career is spent 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:44.680 here on the ground. I've only been a qualified astronaut 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:49.280 for two years since April twenty twenty four was when 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:54.400 I graduated, so it's relatively early days. You know, being 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:57.920 a qualified astronaut from a country without a human space 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.800 flight program is unusual. So it's just another layer on 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.800 the uncertainty youngion, and the way I handle that uncertainty 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.360 is by knowing that I can contribute from what I've 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.760 learned so far as well as continue to learn into 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:13.840 the future. So I've been able to get out and 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.160 about across the country through the Australian Space Agency to 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:21.280 speak to people, especially young people, about opportunities in space 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:25.440 and technical careers and open doors also for our researchers 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:29.600 and companies to be more involved in space opportunities and 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:31.920 to support with what the Space Agency is doing for 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:35.640 Artemis as well. I think for most people that have 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.800 become astronauts or people that have big dreams for themselves 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.520 for their careers, the easiest way to manage it, I 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:46.760 think is to make it not about what you want 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:50.000 to be like yourself, but what you want to contribute. 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:53.760 So be purpose driven and that helps to remove your 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:56.640 ego from it. It helps you to stop being narcissistic, 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.440 but also to stop worrying if you're good enough and 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.120 just focus on getting the job done the best you can. 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:05.480 And also knowing that you're not alone in space. You're 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:09.040 part of a crew, not just up there, but one 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.319 hundreds of people on the ground supporting you and here 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.400 on Earth. You know, space is part it's not a bubble. 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:19.600 It's part of a broader ecosystem that underpins all our 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:21.400 utilities here in Australia. 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:26.079 What is the broad objective generally for space exploration and 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:30.520 in particular the Moon. What is the broader purpose of 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:32.000 it as opposed to just to be a say, look 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:33.400 we went there, we went on the other side and 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.480 we were able to land. What's the fundamental reason why 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:37.840 we need to land on the moon. 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:40.880 Yeah, so there's a number of reasons why you do it. 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.960 The real focus for Artemis, which is the new Apollo, 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.560 is about going back to the Moon, not to plant 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.080 a flag and have footprints to be the first, but 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:51.800 to go back there to set up a long term 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.000 presence what's called a sustainable presence, in order to do 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:58.000 long term science and also to have a presence in 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:00.920 the same way you know as a nation, as countries 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.800 we do in Antarctica to ensure all nations are using 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:07.000 it responsibly. So by going up to the Moon long term, 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.720 we can understand Earth better. It's thought the Earth and 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.600 the Moon formed from a collision Apollo Tortoise that because 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.600 the Moon's moving slowly further away from us. We can 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:19.319 tell from the reflectives we put on there, so we've 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.600 formed of the same stuffs, but we can't see the 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:25.040 early Earth. On Earth, we've got weathering and volcanic activity. 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.480 The Moon is frozen in time, so by understanding the moon, 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:32.480 we know more about the inputs into our climate models 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.120 and things like that to support early Earth. We can 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:40.079 also look up there for sources like water, which can 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.760 help us to live off the land up there and 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.040 to go further afield. There's a lot of things we 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.280 can research up there using the space environment. Radiation is 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.880 one of them. We've already learned a lot about radiation's 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:56.640 effects on the human bodies through artamus I, which was 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:03.720 flu crash test dummies called phantoms for women's bodies. 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:03.800 And actual bodies. 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.960 Well, it was like crash test dummies of women's bodies 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.240 to look at how radiation from out there moves through them, 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.600 which is something we didn't know before, and that data 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:17.400 is already been used to improve like radiotherapy treatments for 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:21.920 women on Earth. So ultimately we got there for science. 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:25.559 We got there for international cooperation to set the stage 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.600 to work together in big challenges that we have around 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.640 the world. If we look at the International Space Station, 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:37.440 which is underpinned Artemis. So the International Space Station is 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:42.240 a soccer field sized space station in the lower orbit, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.200 only four hundred kilometers up. It's been there for twenty 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:49.920 six years and that has helped us work together with 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.400 countries from around the world in ways that we would 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.400 never have otherwise. It's been nominated for the Nobel Peace 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.439 Prize twice because of what it's done to help integrate 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:04.720 different nations. Basically, it's also an economic opportunity exploration in Australia. 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:08.959 Our exploration programs through the Australian Space Agency are returning 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.840 seven dollars for every one dollar we've invested in them 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.400 into programs like a small lunar ROVERA for the South 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:19.120 Pole to take up our field robotics and our automation. 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.560 We've invested in senses that will be helping land as 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.720 land on the Moon more safely. In senses that go 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.160 on the surface that tell us what's under the surface, 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:32.720 which is helping us to do that more sustainably on Earth, 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:35.400 for mining, how to grow plants on the Moon that 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:37.800 helps us with drought tolerant crops on Earth. That's all 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:40.760 returning seven to one at least per project. 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.040 These are things that Australia is. 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.400 Doing relatively specifically. 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:49.199 So we're innovating around sensing programs, the engineering of it, 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.280 the software around it, the feedback from it, and the 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.200 learning from it. I guess what we can learn from that. 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:00.320 So that's so we are actually making money of what 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:05.079 we spend. And is the Space Agency allocated money from 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:06.920 the government, Like, where's that money coming from? Was the 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:09.040 Space Agency have some private element? 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.960 So no, the money that the Space Agency administers is 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.920 government funds. So we've had a program called Moon to 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.440 Mars which is developing the rover for the Moon and 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.920 a number of technologies for space that is returning at 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.120 least seven to one on investment. The Space Agency is 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:30.480 administered over one hundred and seventy million dollars in grants. 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:34.120 Over the eight years, we've had a Space Agency across 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:38.760 more than ninety different organizations, ninety different projects across Australia, 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:44.120 hundreds of organizations. So we're smaller than most space agencies, 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.760 we're smaller than most space economies, but we're really emerging 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.680 in this more commercial space era, which means that we're 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.360 able to target our programs to ones that do bring 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:58.640 Australia an economic return. Globally, the space economy is set 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:03.920 to triple over the next decade, so if Australian businesses 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:08.560 can access those markets, we stand to benefit economically as 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:12.360 well as from having our own capability. Because Australia really 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:14.920 relies on space, and most of the space we rely 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:18.719 on almost all of it is supplied by international companies 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:23.080 or international or other countries, and so by being able 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.120 to do more ourselves, we can become more resilient with 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:27.000 our own needs. 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.960 Well, how do you mean Australia relies on space? I 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.320 didn't know that. How do we rely on space? Whatfull? 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.760 So ninety nine percent of data about climate and where 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:40.920 the globally comes from satellites in space. It's how we 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:44.320 communicate across our land. We're shortly to have triple zero 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.840 coverage across all of Australia direct to our mobile phones 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:52.200 through satellites in space. If we look at the UK, 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.920 I know eighteen percent of their GDP relies on space. 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.000 For Australia it's even more. I don't have the number, 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.840 but it's even more. Just inspection of how big and 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:05.520 vast and remote. We are across lands and seas. So 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:09.040 one way to think of space isn't as a niche industry, 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.840 but as a place. Space is like the ocean, and 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.560 it's a place that is the ultimate high point from 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.480 which we can see things. And from that high point, 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:19.920 like a super high mobile phone tower, we can connect 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.240 what we can see and what we can connect. We 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:26.280 can send information through things like you know the GPS 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:28.720 that guides us on our Google maps. The timing data 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:32.920 from GPS actually is what our banking system relies on. 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:35.320 Every time you tap your phone to buy a coffee, 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:40.200 the data in real time is being synchronized through clock 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.360 measurements from space. It's the same behind our energy and 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.800 transport system. And all of these things that we rely 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:52.040 on are really international provided satellites. So we rely in 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.000 many cases on the good will of other nations to 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:54.440 provide that. 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:56.760 When we hear about the amount of money that's getting 0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:00.720 allocated to the Space Agency in Australia, most of us 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.120 don'tuts actually sort of go to the next step and say, well, 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:06.680 you know, what's the return and if we're getting a 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.920 seven multiple of seven, In other words, every dollar we spend, 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.920 we get seven dollars back or seven dollars contributed. That's 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:14.600 not back, but we get seven dollars contributed to the 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.840 strained economy. Why wouldn't the government contribute more? I mean, 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:19.720 instead of one hundred and seventy million, why wouldn't we 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:20.600 make it a billion? 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.600 I mean, that's a question for government, But I'd say 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.760 that what's really exciting is that our space sector, over 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:31.040 the investments in the last few years, is moving from 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.480 being auted to demonstrate capability to being able to deliver 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:38.840 operational capability. So we're poised to scale, you know, right 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:44.480 as the global space sector is shifting geopolitically, it's shifting programmatically, 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.840 it's shifting industrially to be more commercial and that is 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:51.480 a really rare alignment and it's really powerful for us 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.440 in terms of we've got the capability if we can 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:59.200 bridge that gap to serving these international markets. But most 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.840 space markets are quite closed, and that's the role of 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:05.199 government and the role of the Space Agency to unlock access. 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:10.320 For example, we've recently signed an agreement called the TSA 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:15.119 or Technology Safeguards Agreement with the US which allows US 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:19.879 rocket companies to launch from Australia, and that business that 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:23.000 could bring to Australia is thought to be over one 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.600 billion dollars over the next decade because we're a fantastic 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.520 place to launch from just where we are where we 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.679 are in the world. We've got the ability to launch 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:35.280 near the equator, which lets lets you launch further afield, 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:39.119 you know, to what's called geostationary orbit, which is a 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:42.440 really important one for communications, or further out to the Moon. 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:45.520 We can also launch orbits to go around the polls, 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.520 which are really good for looking at the Earth because 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.919 the whole Earth rotates underneath you. We are the only 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:56.399 place in the world that has commercial capsules returning to 0:17:56.480 --> 0:18:01.119 commercial spaceports. It's Australian businesses running a spaceport thoughts that 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.119 are getting the economic benefit. And what those catsules contain 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:09.360 are pharmaceuticals. So in space, because everything is really stable 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.320 because it floats, you can make new medicines that you 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:16.160 can't make on Earth and they're returning those to Australia 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:19.280 and we've only just started that in the last few years, 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.640 and there's been a deal just signed for twenty more 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:26.000 until twenty twenty eight. So Australia is really critical to 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:28.760 the global space economy and everyone wants to work with us. 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:30.480 I can tell you that when I went to train 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:32.760 as an astronaut that all the other space agencies were 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:36.800 so excited that Australia was stepping up in its space ambition. 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.840 In the Artemis, the most recent Artemis voyage. What's the 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.600 role of Australia in something like that. It's more importantly 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.239 the space agency, your space agency. What's the role that 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:47.879 we play. 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:50.760 I mean, this is just the beginning for Artemis. We've 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:53.080 just had the first man mission of many to follow, 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:56.200 and it's also the beginning of Australia's role in it. 0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:00.480 For Artemis two, which just went around the Moon, just 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:04.600 like an Apollo, Australia was critical for communications and tracking. 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:08.560 So when the astronauts went around the far side of 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:12.480 the Moon and then re emerged, they were actually above Australia, right. 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.280 It was Australian operators that were waiting to reconnect out 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:18.040 and recommunicate. 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.160 With them during that blackout period you took, yeah. 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:22.520 So when they came around out of the blackout, yep, 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.880 it was Australia that found them and connected them back 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.320 up because it was above us. So we have one 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:30.640 of three big dishes in the world called the Deep 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:35.720 Space Network DSN, just outside Canberra, and we were critical 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.400 doing that, just like we did a similar function in Apollo. 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:43.120 We also had a space laser the Australian Space Agency 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.520 co funded with four hundred four point five million dollars, 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:49.639 a new kind of space laser through a and U 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:52.760 that is able to get lots more data down. It's 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:55.320 kind of like going from dial up Internet to broadband 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:57.880 Internet to get the data down. So when we got 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:00.640 those beautiful images back from the Moon, they were sent 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:04.560 through optical communications, which we did not have in Apollo. 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:07.520 But for future missions for Artemis, we're sending up hardware, 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:10.919 a small rover to the Moon which is going to 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:15.280 showcase the best of Australia's robotics up there and set 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:17.679 us up if we wish to to be able to 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:21.480 provide a lot of scientific and industrial services on the Moon. 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:24.800 Were the best in the world at operating complex mind 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.600 sights here on Earth, lots of robots and automatic trucks 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.840 and trains around each other and safely around humans, and 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.640 that's something that NASA is interested in having on the Moon, 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:38.320 not to MiNet but to help set up you know, 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:43.000 a man base and do expirations safely. And by being involved, 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:46.240 Australia gets to show in a really visible way how 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.800 good we are at building things and our science, and 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:55.000 gets to integrate with other global ecosystems and supply chains 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:57.960 in ways that permeates across the full economy. You know, 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:02.040 Apollo was the engine room for innovation of its era, 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.640 the whole space economy that we rely on now, Earth 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.040 observation looking at the Earth, the communications, starlink and so on. 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:12.640 All of that came from what was created in Apollo, 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.760 as well as advances on Earth. Artemis is going to 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:19.920 be the engine room for the next wave of innovation 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:22.680 in space and how it will support us as well 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:25.520 as here on Earth. So from Apollo, we can thank 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:28.720 Apolo for the Silicon Valley, right. We needed to have 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:33.080 you know, transistor silicon chicks in order to stabilize the 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:36.119 big rockets of Apollo. And when Apollo you know, wound 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:40.119 down the Silicon Valley spun up, Artemis will have similar 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:43.159 follow on effects we can't even imagine yet. Now, I 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:46.879 don't think we can justify space investment on spin out alone. 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:50.480 You have to justify it on planned return. But we're 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:53.159 getting those plan returns to So if. 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:56.560 I could just talk about Artemis for a moment, you 0:21:56.640 --> 0:21:58.320