Australia's First Astronaut: The Artemis Program, Mars Mission and Elon Musk.
5/5/202652 min
Dr Katherine Bennell-Pegg is the first astronaut to be trained under the Australian flag and a critical voice in the nation's emerging space ambitions.
From her headquarters at the Australian Space Agency in Adelaide, Katherine reveals how Australia is playing an essential role in the Artemis moon programme and why space exploration delivers genuine economic returns.
She discusses the rigorous process of becoming an astronaut, the real risks involved in space travel, and how her engineering background shaped her journey from designing space stations to potentially living in them. The conversation explores everything from toilet malfunctions on Artemis missions to the radiation challenges facing future Mars explorers.
We also talk about...
- Australia's $7 return for every $1 invested in space programmes
- The five major hazards astronauts face in space
- How Australian technology supported Artemis 2's critical moon mission
- The reality of radiation exposure and medical risks for astronauts
- Why the International Space Station has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
- Australia's role in the global space race versus international collaboration
- The technological hurdles preventing humans from reaching Mars
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Clips
Showing 10 of 12Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMark Bouris· Host0:00
Katherine Bennell-Pegg, welcome to Straight Talk. How you going?
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest0:03
I'm great, thank you.
Mark Bouris· Host0:04
You got Australian Space Agency. Are you there now?
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest0:07
Yeah, I'm at, uh, work here in Adelaide at Lot 14, where the space agency headquarters is. This is where I spend most of my days, uh, here when I'm in the office.
Mark Bouris· Host0:16
That's amazing. Uh, uh, what- that jacket you got on, that looks very cool. I want one of those. Uh- Yeah, it's very cool. What, what ... Sh- can you explain what you got on there? What is that?
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest0:24
That's, this is, uh, my flight jacket we call it.
Mark Bouris· Host0:26
Yep.
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest0:26
So, um, basically on the left you wear your country that you represent.
Mark Bouris· Host0:30
Yep.
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest0:30
Obviously Australia.
Mark Bouris· Host0:32
Yep.
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest0:32
Um, you get, wear your astronaut wings, which you receive when you pass basic training and are eligible for a flight assignment.
Mark Bouris· Host0:39
Yep.
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest0:39
Uh, your space agency, Australian Space Agency, and this is my class patch. It's the Hoppers. So I'm in a class with, uh, five others, and we're named the Hoppers in part because, uh, well, Australia's represented on astronaut training for the first time, and we liked how, uh, you know, kangaroos go forwards and not backwards. And when you get missions, you get patches down your arms and across your chest as well, so you can kind of get a sense of, uh, what astronauts have done by looking at their jackets and their flight suits. But I'm a rookie astronaut by comparison to many.
Mark Bouris· Host1:11
Do you choose that name, the Hoppers, or does the, does that get allocated to you?
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest1:15
It's allocated by the class that's ahead of you.
Mark Bouris· Host1:18
Right.
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest1:18
So the class that was ahead of us at the European Space Agency, or ESA, uh, is called the Shenanigans, and they gave us the name.
Mark Bouris· Host1:25
What are they Irish or something, were they?
Katherine Bennell-Pegg· Guest1:27
[laughs] Yeah, well, they played a lot of tricks on each other apparently,