Astro Ben Podcast

Sarah Gillis is an SpaceX engineer who is scheduled to fly on  Polaris Dawn , the inaugural mission of the Polaris Program. If the trip goes ahead as planned in 2023, she will become the youngest American to reach orbit.   In this episode, Ben and Sarah discuss how she and the crew are preparing for the first commercial EVA mentally and physically, will Sarah be taking her violin to Space and why...

Eric Ingram is the Founder and CEO of SCOUT Space Inc., a US-based company developing orbital products and services to enable a new era of space safety and transparency. He is also a Board Member at the Space Frontier Foundation, and is an Organizing Team Member & Ambassador for Mission: AstroAccess. In this episode, Ben and Eric discuss how to train satellites to become "Space Domain Awareness Da...

Dr. Doug Plata is a physician and public health specialist with a background in biophysics. He is interested in space exploration and is developing a cost-effective transportation method to the Moon using lunar polar ice for propellant. He founded the Space Development Network and created a proposed, fully inflatable base for the initial permanent crew on the Moon and Mars called the InstaBase. He...

"The Galaxis Gal", Inara Tabir, is a science communicator and aerospace connector. She is the president of the Multiplanetary Society and the Executive Director of Gaaays in Spaaace. Her work focuses on bridging the public and the industry to secure our future in space.  Her show, Coffee on the Moon, focuses on making space accessible to everyone and talking to people who found unique ways into th...

Luke Fischer, Co-Founder and CEO of SkyFi, has a strong background in aviation, technology, and military industries. His leadership has driven the success of his latest innovative satellite imagery startup SkyFi.   In this episode, Ben and Luke discuss what happens when clouds get in the way of arial pictures, the diverse utility of democratising arial surveillance and the importance of networking...

Spaceport Cornwall is a launch site for satellites and spaceplanes in the United Kingdom, located at Cornwall Airport Newquay. The project is a partnership between the Cornwall Council and Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit, with the goal of offering low-cost and flexible access to space for small satellite launch providers. Spaceport Cornwall aims to support the growing demand for space-based service...

Meagan is a leading voice in the entrepreneurial space industry and an experienced startup executive and founder, with multiple exits under her belt. She is the host of the Mission Eve podcast that aims to increase the number of women in the space industry and is frequently featured as a thought leader on the industry's development and investment potential.   Meagan is a strong believer in the pow...

"Space Prize" seeks to promote universal space literacy and inspire the next generation of private astronauts by connecting private citizens with a thrilling range of astronaut, earthanaut and aquanaut experiences. In this episode, Ben and Kim discuss where the Space Prize is going next, the importance of mentorship and the role of science communication in inspiring the next generation of young wo...

John Kraus "snap" , is a photographer based on Florida's Space Coast working to capture rocket launches and other spaceflight activities in Cape Canaveral and around the world. Outside of that work, he serves as the Content Director of the  Polaris Program and has worked with and has his images used by space entities such as NASA, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, the European Space Agency, Inspirat...

Freya Blekman is the lead scientist at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY and professor in elementary particle physics at the University of Hamburg. Freya's research interests include the search for signs of "new physics" using the large hadron collider at CERN and future colliders. In this episode, Ben and Freya discuss how she went from being cast as a "crazy scientist" in a school play t...

Andy Aldrin is the President of the Aldrin Family Foundation, a charity dedicated to harnessing the inspiration of space to ignite a passion for STEAM education in students of all ages and backgrounds. In this episode, Ben and Andy talk about the Aldrin Family Foundation, why they have teamed up with the University of Sunderland (in the UK), what it was like growing up with Buzz as a father and th...

Jared Isaacman is an American entrepreneur,  pilot , philanthropist, and  commercial astronaut . He is the founder, CEO of  Draken International  and  Shift4 Payments . As well as being commander of the iconic inspiration 4 mission last year, Jared will command the  Polaris Dawn mission , the first private spaceflight in a series of missions named the  Polaris Program which starts early next year....

Dr Brian Keating is a Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of physics at the Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences (CASS) in the Department of Physics at the  University of California, San Diego . He is a public speaker, inventor, and an expert in the study of the universe's oldest light, the  cosmic microwave background (CMB) , using it to learn about the origin and evolution of the universe....

Julie McEnery is the Project Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. In this role, she is the scientific lead of a NASA Astrophysics flagship mission that will study the expansion history of the Universe, the evolution of cosmic structure and perform a statistical census of planets around other stars. Her scientific research focuses on the study of extreme high energy transients and t...

Jeremy Schiel is the Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer at Orbit Fab and a leading entrepreneur in the growing in-space economy. Spacecraft are no longer restricted to the fuel they are launched with. Orbit Fab delivers the fuel and other materials that are required, where and when they are needed, to enable business models never before thought possible. In this episode, Ben and Jeremy discu...

Stephen Bass ett is a political activist, Disclosure advocate and the executive director of Paradigm Research Group (PRG) founded in 1996 to end a government imposed embargo on the truth behind extraterrestrial related phenomena. He has spoken to audiences around the world about the implications of "Disclosure" - the  formal confirmation by heads of state of an extraterrestrial presence engaging t...

Dr. Doug Corrigan is a physicist, biochemist, and molecular biologist, and is the author of the book   "The Author of Light."   As a Graduate Fellow, he worked with NASA on microgravity experiments that flew aboard the Space Shuttle. Later in his career, Dr. Corrigan launched a biotech company that developed tools to help the pharmaceutical industry discover new antiviral drugs. He is an avid inno...

Aurora is a research scientist at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at IPAC/Caltech and also works as a scientist on the NASA Exoplanet Archive.  Aurora is primarily an observational astronomer and her research interests include exoplanets atmospheres and brown dwarfs.   In this episode Ben and Aurora discuss nervous launch moments, the difference between a red and a brown dwarf and what it mea...

Lawrence Krauss is an internationally known theoretical physicist and bestselling author, as well as being an acclaimed lecturer. He is currently President of The Origins Project Foundation, and host of The Origins Podcast, His wide research interests have focused on the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology, including the origin and evolution of the Universe and the fundamen...

Bailey is an experienced system engineer with a history of working in mechanical engineering in the space industry. Bailey does a lot of STEM outreach and is also an accomplished "analogue astronaut" with plans to do more missions next year. Bailey is a Rubik's Cube ambassador and has solved a Rubik's cube with ZeroG! In this episode, Ben and Bailey discuss trusting in yourself and your equipment,...

Nika Chinchaladze is a space entrepreneur, CEO and Co-Founder of Altair Enterprises - a space education company with the goal of accelerating the growth of the new space economy by providing globally accessible on-demand learning, fostering international cooperation, and supplying the industry with the next generation workforce - organisers of the International Space Convention - one of the bigges...

Avi Loeb is an  Israeli -American  theoretical physicist  who works on  astrophysics  and  cosmology and is a Professor of Science at Harvard University . He had been the longest serving chair of Harvard's Department of Astronomy, founding director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative  and director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (within the  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)...

Hayley Arceneaux  is a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital physician assistant, a career she committed to at age ten, after surviving pediatric bone cancer. She is also now a member of the SpaceX medical team, where she helps medically train commercial astronauts. She joined SpaceX's first private spaceflight, Inspiration4, on September 15, 2021, and successfully water-landed three days later. A...

In Episode 49 Ben speaks to Emily Higgins ,   the Director of Communications and Special Projects for Uplift Aerospace, documenting and creating the infrastructure for "Next Space" within the aerospace industry using advanced technologies, art, and Web3. Within her role at Uplift, Higgins is also the Director of Space+, the world's first Web3 Space Program. Her role encompasses content production...

In episode 48 Ben speaks to Dallas Campbell,  a British television presenter, television and stage actor, best known as a presenter on the  Channel 5  series  The Gadget Show  in 2008 and  BBC One  science series  Bang Goes the Theory  from 2009 to 2012. He's a well known science communicator who has just back from filming a new series on Hydrogen (coming soon to Youtube). In this episode, Ben and...