WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.340 Good afternoon. Welcome to this session at Adelaide Festival of Ideas. 2 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:06.100 I'm your host today, Lisa Bailey. 3 00:00:06.600 --> 00:00:10.680 I'd like to also acknowledge that we're having this discussion today on Kaurna land. 4 00:00:11.020 --> 00:00:14.180 And today we're going to be talking about our future in space. 5 00:00:14.860 --> 00:00:17.540 Fifty years ago, space was just for special people. 6 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:22.580 Astronauts with years of training, pioneers exploring the cosmos on behalf of humanity. 7 00:00:23.060 --> 00:00:27.280 But are we about to enter the next phase of space, where space is for everyone? 8 00:00:27.740 --> 00:00:29.800 It's going to be another place where you go to work. 9 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.520 Moving past the freeze-dried food of the specialised space traveller 10 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:36.440 to the beer and pizza phase of space travel for all. 11 00:00:36.800 --> 00:00:40.780 So joining me in the session today will be Dr Tim Parsons, 12 00:00:40.800 --> 00:00:42.700 who you can see joining us via Zoom. 13 00:00:43.180 --> 00:00:45.140 Tim is a tech exec and entrepreneur, 14 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:49.860 helping shape policies and lead start-up, commercial and research-focused innovation programs 15 00:00:49.860 --> 00:00:51.360 for the Australian space sector. 16 00:00:52.480 --> 00:00:56.840 Down the end of the aisle here we have Associate Professor John Colton, 17 00:00:57.020 --> 00:00:59.580 Director of the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources 18 00:00:59.580 --> 00:00:59.980 and the Australian Space Agency. 19 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.760 He's also the head of the University of Adelaide's Hub 20 00:01:02.760 --> 00:01:05.840 of Sustainable Planetary Resource Research and Education. 21 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:11.700 We also have Dr Amit Srivastav, who's Deputy Head for the School of Architecture 22 00:01:11.700 --> 00:01:15.300 and Built Environment at the University of Adelaide, who's also a member 23 00:01:15.300 --> 00:01:17.180 of the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources. 24 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:21.300 And he works with the Lunar Construction Group and the Deep Space Habitation Group. 25 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:26.080 And we're also joined by Rebecca Custer from the Australian Space Agency, 26 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:29.680 who leads the supply chain program within the Moose to Moon, 27 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:30.820 the Moon to Mars Initiative. 28 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:33.600 So welcome everyone. 29 00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:35.080 Thanks for being here today. 30 00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:40.300 To get it started, I thought I might ask you, Rebecca, before we head to other planets, 31 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:42.660 we're going to be heading back to the moon shortly. 32 00:01:43.960 --> 00:01:48.080 So before we get to the beer and pizza in space, what are some of the more basic things 33 00:01:48.080 --> 00:01:49.600 that we're going to need to take care of? 34 00:01:51.260 --> 00:01:52.960 Yes. More than happy to talk to that. 35 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:58.080 So we spend a fair bit of time at work discussing these things with the Moon to Mars program. 36 00:01:58.600 --> 00:01:59.660 So for those of you who are interested, we're going to be talking about the Moon to Mars program. 37 00:01:59.660 --> 00:02:02.900 And for those of you that aren't familiar, we are looking at supporting NASA's return 38 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:05.860 to the moon and their ambitions to then go forward to Mars. 39 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:11.240 So if we're going to have people living and working in space for months at a time, 40 00:02:11.320 --> 00:02:14.260 you can't get back to Earth easily to go to the supermarket. 41 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:21.260 So you've got to think about becoming less dependent on Earth's resources and, I suppose, 42 00:02:21.320 --> 00:02:24.180 more dependent on what you can find in space. 43 00:02:24.600 --> 00:02:29.640 So we usually refer to that as, you know, new space. 44 00:02:29.640 --> 00:02:35.160 Using the resources that are in situ to help you then, you know, move forward and just survive. 45 00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:41.240 So I come back to my defence training and it gets drummed into you. 46 00:02:41.320 --> 00:02:45.020 Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food. 47 00:02:45.200 --> 00:02:49.360 And the other one that they heavily emphasise is the shelter. 48 00:02:49.540 --> 00:02:53.680 So on the moon, shelter is very important. 49 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:56.960 So it's much more radiation on the moon. 50 00:02:57.020 --> 00:02:59.120 We're not protected by the Earth's atmosphere. 51 00:02:59.640 --> 00:03:01.960 And that can cause radiation sickness in humans. 52 00:03:02.100 --> 00:03:06.320 You've also got one sixth gravity, which has its own set of challenges, 53 00:03:06.420 --> 00:03:07.600 although I'm sure it'll be fun. 54 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:17.260 But coming back to the basics, a few years ago there was a really cool scientific mission 55 00:03:17.260 --> 00:03:19.080 by NASA called the LADEE mission. 56 00:03:20.100 --> 00:03:26.580 And they orbited the moon and they discovered that when these small meteorites hit craters 57 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:28.900 that were in permanent shadow on the moon, 58 00:03:29.640 --> 00:03:31.200 then they emitted water vapour. 59 00:03:31.640 --> 00:03:33.640 So this was near the South Pole. 60 00:03:34.320 --> 00:03:39.120 So there's been a few scientific missions to look at water on the moon. 61 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:44.300 But one of the reasons NASA has targeted the South Pole is 62 00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:46.380 because they're pretty confident that there'll be some water there. 63 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:53.980 So if we can find water, then you can use solar energy to electrolyse it. 64 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:55.360 You can get air to breathe. 65 00:03:55.440 --> 00:03:57.820 So that's one of our survival things marked off. 66 00:03:58.700 --> 00:03:59.220 So that's one of our survival things marked off. 67 00:03:59.640 --> 00:04:00.420 You can get fuel. 68 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:02.680 And of course, there's water. 69 00:04:02.760 --> 00:04:04.460 So hopefully we can purify it and drink it. 70 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.160 And you know, that'll be helpful. 71 00:04:07.720 --> 00:04:09.760 So I think water is really key. 72 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:12.400 And going to the moon, you know, a lot of that is about water. 73 00:04:12.480 --> 00:04:16.040 The other key resource that the moon has is lunar regolith. 74 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:20.540 So my other panel members know a lot more about it than I do. 75 00:04:20.640 --> 00:04:24.780 But I would be remiss not to mention the challenges of dust. 76 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:27.340 So the lunar dust on the moon. 77 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:29.620 Highly electrostatic. 78 00:04:29.640 --> 00:04:30.760 Sticks to everything. 79 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:32.720 It's got very high adherence. 80 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:35.640 It can cause hay fever in people. 81 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:40.860 So and you know, of course, it will interfere with sensitive equipment. 82 00:04:41.100 --> 00:04:47.380 So there are a lot of very clever scientists and engineers trying to work out how to deal with the lunar dust. 83 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:53.120 So I think they're the key sort of immediate challenges that take up our brain space. 84 00:04:53.420 --> 00:04:56.900 But I'm sure the others will be able to add to that. 85 00:04:58.160 --> 00:04:59.620 So perhaps I'm like a human. 86 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:06.900 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 87 00:05:06.900 --> 00:05:07.440 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 88 00:05:07.940 --> 00:05:10.820 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 89 00:05:10.820 --> 00:05:13.220 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 90 00:05:13.820 --> 00:05:14.080 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 91 00:05:14.260 --> 00:05:14.540 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 92 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:14.740 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 93 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:16.520 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 94 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:19.020 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 95 00:05:20.340 --> 00:05:22.360 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 96 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:23.620 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 97 00:05:23.960 --> 00:05:24.680 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 98 00:05:25.460 --> 00:05:26.040 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 99 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:29.000 So maybe this was something that was discussed in part 2. 100 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:30.880 that we don't have to carry from here 101 00:05:30.880 --> 00:05:33.280 because that's an extremely costly endeavor. 102 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:38.060 So the whole idea of the in-situ resource utilization 103 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:40.240 is to be able to use a material there, 104 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:45.480 and what we have most of is lunar dust or regolith. 105 00:05:45.700 --> 00:05:49.220 Now, as a material, it's a very sort of fine material, 106 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:54.440 mostly out of the thousands of years of meteors 107 00:05:55.020 --> 00:05:56.780 hitting the surface of the moon, 108 00:05:56.860 --> 00:05:58.700 it has created this fine-grained material 109 00:05:58.700 --> 00:06:01.380 and there's an example of, 110 00:06:01.440 --> 00:06:04.520 if you see the footprint of the astronauts on the moon, 111 00:06:04.620 --> 00:06:06.820 that's what the compressed material would look like. 112 00:06:07.300 --> 00:06:09.880 But it is also a problematic material in many ways, 113 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.520 as has just been mentioned, that it's quite abrasive 114 00:06:12.520 --> 00:06:15.160 and will stick to certain things. 115 00:06:15.440 --> 00:06:18.000 So we're working with the material 116 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.580 and trying to basically develop it into a construction material. 117 00:06:22.260 --> 00:06:26.480 Now, of course, we don't have that much of the material available, 118 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:28.520 so we create simulants, 119 00:06:28.700 --> 00:06:28.920 but we have a lot of materials for that, 120 00:06:29.080 --> 00:06:32.120 and that is the basis of trying certain things out. 121 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:36.060 And is that then trying to make sort of like a concrete-type thing out of it? 122 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:36.980 Yes, absolutely. 123 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.040 So the thing is that lots of things that have been tried, 124 00:06:40.200 --> 00:06:42.760 and of course, with developing different sorts of concrete, 125 00:06:43.760 --> 00:06:47.680 you need to often use binders or certain other materials for that. 126 00:06:47.940 --> 00:06:50.880 What we are now trying here at the University of Adelaide 127 00:06:50.880 --> 00:06:54.140 is a sintering process, which basically just uses energy 128 00:06:54.700 --> 00:06:58.380 to heat up the material and then create a binding, 129 00:06:58.700 --> 00:06:59.760 and that's the outcome of that. 130 00:06:59.960 --> 00:07:03.980 So the sintered regolith then becomes a kind of concrete, you could say. 131 00:07:04.220 --> 00:07:09.800 And what we are hoping to do is use the sintered regolith as a block 132 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.820 to then create a building material. 133 00:07:13.340 --> 00:07:16.240 Now, previously, there's been work that has been done, 134 00:07:16.340 --> 00:07:18.340 and there are lots of big architecture firms 135 00:07:18.340 --> 00:07:20.940 who have produced quite interesting... 136 00:07:21.700 --> 00:07:25.620 If you look for it online, you can find these fabulous structures. 137 00:07:25.880 --> 00:07:28.080 So there are big companies like Norman Foster, 138 00:07:28.700 --> 00:07:29.940 or Björk Engel, who are doing that, 139 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:34.220 but also Hassel Architects, which, if nobody is aware, 140 00:07:34.460 --> 00:07:39.660 is an Adelaide architecture firm, which has now become global. 141 00:07:40.080 --> 00:07:42.100 They've been working with the European Space Agency 142 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:45.980 to use that same sort of material in that context. 143 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:49.580 But a lot of that use it additive manufacturing, 144 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:51.360 or 3-D printing, you could say. 145 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:55.960 What we are trying to do is use things like osteomorphic blocks, 146 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:58.620 so blocks that sort of, because of their topology, 147 00:07:58.700 --> 00:08:00.960 kind of fit with each other or are interlocking. 148 00:08:01.200 --> 00:08:02.800 It's like Lego bricks in space. 149 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.480 Kind of, but, yeah, because of the shape of the block itself. 150 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:11.100 And then use, hopefully, robotics to be able to produce the structure. 151 00:08:11.640 --> 00:08:14.620 But I think it's not just a technical issue. 152 00:08:14.780 --> 00:08:18.240 Of course, human habitation goes far beyond that, 153 00:08:18.320 --> 00:08:20.480 and it's a very hostile environment, 154 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:22.060 has just been sort of set up. 155 00:08:22.140 --> 00:08:25.700 The idea of the radiation and the micrometeorites 156 00:08:26.380 --> 00:08:28.680 that are continuously attacking the structure, 157 00:08:28.700 --> 00:08:31.100 so we really have to consider those things, 158 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:33.660 and also the sort of psychosocial impact 159 00:08:33.660 --> 00:08:35.220 that's going to happen on the people. 160 00:08:35.380 --> 00:08:37.900 So we are also looking at it from the perspective 161 00:08:37.900 --> 00:08:40.720 of the psychology of the astronauts, 162 00:08:40.900 --> 00:08:41.980 of people who will be there, 163 00:08:42.700 --> 00:08:44.400 and what kind of... 164 00:08:45.180 --> 00:08:47.200 how they're going to deal with the idea 165 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.440 of being in that atmosphere for such a long period of time. 166 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:54.000 Yeah, because you can't just get outside and go for a walk. 167 00:08:54.140 --> 00:08:55.300 Yes. No, no. 168 00:08:55.640 --> 00:08:57.800 We'll talk a little bit more, we'll get back to that point 169 00:08:57.800 --> 00:08:59.460 a bit further on in our session. 170 00:09:00.040 --> 00:09:05.080 I'd like to welcome John and Tim to contribute at this point. 171 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:07.120 I think we've been talking a bit here 172 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:10.560 about some of the near-term opportunities that we have 173 00:09:10.560 --> 00:09:12.560 around kind of being able to barely survive 174 00:09:12.560 --> 00:09:17.420 and start building shelters in places really close to us on the moon. 175 00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:21.660 What's the kind of prospects for the longer-term picture 176 00:09:21.660 --> 00:09:24.720 about how we might become a little bit more self-sufficient in space? 177 00:09:26.740 --> 00:09:27.780 Maybe, Tim, did you want to... 178 00:09:27.800 --> 00:09:28.500 Do you want to start, Tim? 179 00:09:29.040 --> 00:09:29.800 ..speak to that? 180 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:31.800 Oh, sure. OK. I'm happy to. 181 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:37.600 So, the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, 182 00:09:37.620 --> 00:09:41.600 you have a history of really contemplating really big ideas. 183 00:09:41.980 --> 00:09:44.400 So I'll give you this future vision, 184 00:09:44.520 --> 00:09:47.600 and I'm not sure how soon we might be able to achieve this. 185 00:09:48.660 --> 00:09:51.340 It turns out that on the moon 186 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:56.000 there are these things called lunar lava tubes. 187 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.480 And these lunar lava tubes... 188 00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:05.140 Well, lava tubes on the Earth tend to be around 25 to 50 metres wide. 189 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:10.180 It turns out that, although we haven't seen one, 190 00:10:10.300 --> 00:10:13.200 the models that scientists are doing and some of the research 191 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:19.000 are showing that lunar lava tubes might be up to 1,000 times bigger. 192 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:25.980 It could well be that you could even have a lunar lava tube buried in a hole, 193 00:10:25.980 --> 00:10:27.440 buried underneath the lunar regolith, 194 00:10:27.660 --> 00:10:30.640 so protected from the radiation that Catherine mentioned before. 195 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.340 It could be as much as a kilometre wide, kilometre high, 196 00:10:35.580 --> 00:10:37.040 because of the low gravity. 197 00:10:37.980 --> 00:10:42.740 And, in fact, Mars, which is quite a bit smaller than the Earth... 198 00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:45.460 People are talking about them being about 100 times bigger 199 00:10:45.460 --> 00:10:46.900 than the lava tubes on the Earth. 200 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:50.000 So certainly many, many hundreds of metres wide. 201 00:10:50.300 --> 00:10:53.740 So the idea that perhaps in some future 202 00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:59.940 we might be able to grow the wheat or the barley that we use, 203 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:03.100 that we mix together to create that pizza base, 204 00:11:03.300 --> 00:11:06.320 and even perhaps some of those ingredients to hops 205 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:07.540 instead of, of course, for the beer, 206 00:11:07.680 --> 00:11:12.160 and go and sit on a little artificial hill overlooking a valley 207 00:11:12.160 --> 00:11:15.480 with a blue ceiling and clouds, but we're on the moon, 208 00:11:15.640 --> 00:11:18.600 that's something that people are starting to think about 209 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.520 as potentially possible within 100 years, 210 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:23.720 maybe even within a century. 211 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:24.680 But I think within 50 years, 212 00:11:25.400 --> 00:11:27.820 certainly it's going to take a lot of the skills 213 00:11:27.820 --> 00:11:33.300 of folks like Amit and Catherine's space start-up companies. 214 00:11:33.520 --> 00:11:38.320 But certainly I think that vision of being actually able to sort of see 215 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:42.920 not just, you know, spam in a can type environment 216 00:11:42.920 --> 00:11:44.220 that we're going to live in, 217 00:11:44.300 --> 00:11:47.320 you know, a very restricted environment like being in Antarctica, 218 00:11:47.620 --> 00:11:50.060 except way, way, way more extreme, 219 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:53.520 but actually an environment that might be much more familiar 220 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:57.380 to us where we are creating spaces that are big enough for us to occupy. 221 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:01.320 And of course, if we're starting to look at those resources, 222 00:12:01.560 --> 00:12:04.200 there's all sorts of interesting architectural design 223 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.800 and lifestyle things that could exist because the gravity is so light. 224 00:12:08.180 --> 00:12:12.320 So, for example, there are some photographs that you can Google up online 225 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:17.780 about how some of these very, very large lava tubes on Mars, 226 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.960 in some cases we've seen they're quite close to the surface, 227 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:22.980 and in fact, it looks like there are skylights, 228 00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:24.660 as in there are domes that have collapsed, 229 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:28.200 and we can look in to these areas on Mars' surface. 230 00:12:28.380 --> 00:12:30.980 So that's one of the things that I think the early explorers 231 00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:34.660 of both the Moon and Mars might go looking for. 232 00:12:34.860 --> 00:12:38.100 We could have gravitometric satellites, 233 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:40.880 a particular area that Australia is a world leader in, 234 00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:44.180 that could be orbiting the Moon at pretty low altitude 235 00:12:44.180 --> 00:12:45.340 because there's no atmosphere, 236 00:12:45.520 --> 00:12:51.720 and picking up where these magnetic and gravitometric anomalies are 237 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:52.960 and then sending them to Mars. 238 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:54.480 So we're putting robots down to explore, 239 00:12:54.800 --> 00:12:57.240 and perhaps those robots are going to be operated by, 240 00:12:57.360 --> 00:12:58.820 and they probably will be operated by, 241 00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.240 people in Adelaide, certainly in Sydney where I am, 242 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:04.280 certainly in Perth where a lot of our mining companies are, 243 00:13:04.400 --> 00:13:07.060 and bring back amazing photographs, amazing images, 244 00:13:07.260 --> 00:13:10.000 and then hopefully inspire all of you in the audience 245 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.000 and others around the world to think, 246 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:15.460 OK, what might be an amazing way to live there 247 00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:17.020 that could be more permanent, 248 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:19.620 and also to some extent in harmony with the environment 249 00:13:19.620 --> 00:13:22.200 because being underground, you're disturbing that environment 250 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:22.780 a little less. 251 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:25.600 So I think that's probably one of the things I'm thinking about, 252 00:13:25.700 --> 00:13:30.520 hopefully expanding us all in terms of how we might think of the Moon 253 00:13:30.520 --> 00:13:31.820 and beyond that, Mars. 254 00:13:33.780 --> 00:13:35.000 John, what do you reckon? 255 00:13:35.520 --> 00:13:37.500 Yeah, I would agree. 256 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:40.860 You did definitely bring a big vision there 257 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:43.520 with the discussion about the lava tubes. 258 00:13:45.920 --> 00:13:50.580 What I would add to that is that I think an important realization 259 00:13:50.580 --> 00:13:52.180 for everybody is that the next 50 years, 260 00:13:52.180 --> 00:13:59.260 and I see some people in the audience that might be approaching my similar age, 261 00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:03.320 but the next 50 years is not going to be like the last 50 years. 262 00:14:03.540 --> 00:14:06.980 The pace of activity is increasing dramatically, 263 00:14:07.740 --> 00:14:08.660 potentially exponentially. 264 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:14.420 So especially for those in the audience that are much, much younger than me, 265 00:14:14.460 --> 00:14:16.240 and I see just a couple, 266 00:14:16.420 --> 00:14:18.760 if this is an area that you want to work in, 267 00:14:18.760 --> 00:14:19.820 if you want to work in space, 268 00:14:20.040 --> 00:14:22.160 that opportunity will very likely be a thing 269 00:14:22.180 --> 00:14:25.760 that will be available for you in your working lifetime, 270 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:27.900 even as a young adult. 271 00:14:28.260 --> 00:14:31.340 So these are really, really exciting times. 272 00:14:31.580 --> 00:14:34.480 I mean, just the fact that in 2015 was the first time 273 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:38.620 we saw that science fiction picture of a spacecraft 274 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:40.440 that had just come back from Earth orbit 275 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:43.420 and lands on a pad standing up on the end. 276 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:44.580 That was only in 2015. 277 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:47.940 And then in 2018, when two of them did it at the same time. 278 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:49.740 And now we have these, 279 00:14:49.800 --> 00:14:52.080 those fantastic launches are happening, 280 00:14:52.180 --> 00:14:54.540 every, you know, once, sometimes twice a week, 281 00:14:54.680 --> 00:14:55.460 and we don't even, 282 00:14:56.020 --> 00:14:57.920 it's not even a big deal on the news. 283 00:14:58.520 --> 00:15:02.100 Space tourism is about to kick off, 284 00:15:02.260 --> 00:15:07.480 where now for something like six orders of magnitude less 285 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:11.120 than the ticket for Alan Shepard to go on a suborbital flight, 286 00:15:11.800 --> 00:15:14.440 somebody who doesn't have to be a military test pilot 287 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:16.200 can potentially gain access to space. 288 00:15:16.280 --> 00:15:19.260 And of course, the business model there is to bring those ticket costs down. 289 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:22.160 So we have Axios, 290 00:15:22.180 --> 00:15:24.200 which is a space station that's in the process, 291 00:15:24.500 --> 00:15:28.760 I mean, actually building components for a space hotel. 292 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:31.620 First it'll attach to the space station, 293 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:33.300 then it'll be an independent free flyer. 294 00:15:33.420 --> 00:15:34.740 We have at least four, 295 00:15:34.780 --> 00:15:36.120 Tim may be correct if I'm wrong, 296 00:15:36.260 --> 00:15:39.780 four to six different Falcon crew dragon flights 297 00:15:39.780 --> 00:15:43.240 that have been completely bought out by commercial companies 298 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:46.500 to send, to go up and make movies in space. 299 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.840 And they're sending camera crews and directors 300 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:50.720 and all of these kinds of people to space 301 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:52.460 to make movies on the ISS. 302 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:55.980 So there's just, there's too many things happening 303 00:15:55.980 --> 00:15:58.840 to even be able to begin listing those things. 304 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:01.460 So here and in other places, 305 00:16:01.620 --> 00:16:03.500 Tim's heavily involved in these activities, 306 00:16:03.640 --> 00:16:06.360 of course Rebecca's working on this from the Space Agency perspective. 307 00:16:06.820 --> 00:16:09.960 And one of the things that she's doing that I think is so amazing 308 00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:12.100 from an Australian context 309 00:16:12.780 --> 00:16:17.940 is that she's working to help build space companies here in Australia. 310 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:19.940 It used to be that if you were an Australian 311 00:16:19.940 --> 00:16:21.560 and you wanted to work in the space sector, 312 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:23.020 you would have to go out of country. 313 00:16:23.400 --> 00:16:26.360 And now, for the young folks here in the audience, 314 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:28.080 if you want to have a career in space, 315 00:16:28.300 --> 00:16:30.380 you can stay in Adelaide and you can make things 316 00:16:30.380 --> 00:16:31.400 that are going to the moon. 317 00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:32.940 You can be in a space company, 318 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:36.180 you can be in a space agency and stay in Australia. 319 00:16:36.860 --> 00:16:39.220 So that's one end of this fantastic vision. 320 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.900 But then the longer term thing is here at the University of Adelaide 321 00:16:42.900 --> 00:16:44.740 and other universities here in South Australia 322 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:47.120 and also throughout the country, 323 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.920 we are researching all of those things 324 00:16:49.940 --> 00:16:51.580 and we're looking at all of those small steps that are needed, 325 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:54.180 that Rebecca alluded to, 326 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:59.100 that we need to actually be able to travel to these far distant places, 327 00:16:59.300 --> 00:17:03.160 use the resources that we find there so that we can eat, drink, 328 00:17:03.380 --> 00:17:05.900 and build novel sorts of housing. 329 00:17:06.120 --> 00:17:09.160 When we go to Mars, we don't want to be sending the astronauts 330 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.500 who need to live inside a round container 331 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:13.180 like we're all used to seeing in space. 332 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:16.400 And the reason that it's this tiny little round tube 333 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.800 is because it has to fit inside the launch shroud of a rocket 334 00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:20.560 here on Earth. 335 00:17:21.040 --> 00:17:22.860 Well, if we're freed from that limitation 336 00:17:22.860 --> 00:17:25.280 and we can now build a structure on the surface of Mars 337 00:17:25.280 --> 00:17:27.860 just using the dirt that we find underneath our feet, 338 00:17:28.020 --> 00:17:32.400 we can make something that is not only much more useful for the mission, 339 00:17:32.540 --> 00:17:36.420 but is much more tolerable for the human psychological need 340 00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:41.440 that might be a requirement to enhance teamwork 341 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.580 and human mental wellness 342 00:17:44.580 --> 00:17:47.720 when you're that far away from the home planet. 343 00:17:47.860 --> 00:17:49.760 So we could go on and on, 344 00:17:49.760 --> 00:17:52.840 but I'll stop there and allow Lisa to move us along. 345 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:54.900 So on that point, John, I think that's an interesting point. 346 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:57.700 When I was first asked to chair this session, 347 00:17:57.800 --> 00:17:59.500 the first question that I thought of was, 348 00:17:59.620 --> 00:18:02.200 well, if we're talking about beer and pizza in space, 349 00:18:02.260 --> 00:18:03.600 and we're talking about food in space, 350 00:18:05.020 --> 00:18:05.740 what's the problem? 351 00:18:05.860 --> 00:18:06.500 Why can't we? 352 00:18:06.580 --> 00:18:07.320 We're going to Mars. 353 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:08.380 It's going to take years. 354 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:10.920 Why don't we just give them all, like, 355 00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:13.580 five years' worth of soylent in a tube? 356 00:18:13.820 --> 00:18:15.440 And it has all the nutrition they need, 357 00:18:15.500 --> 00:18:16.780 it has all the calories they need. 358 00:18:17.360 --> 00:18:18.040 No problems. 359 00:18:18.040 --> 00:18:19.460 They can just have that forever. 360 00:18:19.580 --> 00:18:21.700 It's going to be shelf-stable for as long as possible. 361 00:18:22.340 --> 00:18:24.000 Why does that not work? 362 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.380 Obviously because astronauts are humans. 363 00:18:27.120 --> 00:18:29.180 But can you talk a little bit about that? 364 00:18:30.060 --> 00:18:31.560 Well, just very quickly, 365 00:18:33.100 --> 00:18:34.740 we're envisioning a time in the future 366 00:18:34.740 --> 00:18:38.080 where astronauts don't have to be military test subjects anymore. 367 00:18:38.260 --> 00:18:39.220 So they don't need to, 368 00:18:39.260 --> 00:18:43.140 here's your vanilla-flavored cricket paste 369 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:45.780 and you're going to eat this three times a day on the mission. 370 00:18:46.600 --> 00:18:48.020 So we want to be able to offer that. 371 00:18:48.040 --> 00:18:49.980 And when you talk to a NASA astronaut, 372 00:18:50.120 --> 00:18:54.280 you mentioned having some greenery on the ISS 373 00:18:54.280 --> 00:18:58.020 when one of the supply runs comes up to the station, 374 00:18:58.140 --> 00:18:59.440 they actually bring off an apple. 375 00:18:59.600 --> 00:19:03.620 There's great celebration and joy on the station 376 00:19:03.620 --> 00:19:06.420 because not only can they eat something like that 377 00:19:06.420 --> 00:19:08.480 that's familiar and it's from a terrestrial context, 378 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:10.340 but even just seeing the color green 379 00:19:10.340 --> 00:19:14.260 is a huge mental enhancement for the astronauts. 380 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:16.680 But then, you know, so all of that is this, 381 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:22.560 the psychological aspect is incredibly important and we're going, we're potentially going to 382 00:19:23.260 --> 00:19:28.540 unknown territory. Humans have never been out of sight of the planet Earth. So what might that 383 00:19:28.540 --> 00:19:32.600 look like? And we have people that are looking into that here and around the world. But the 384 00:19:32.600 --> 00:19:38.640 practical aspect is that medicines and food, they degrade very quickly in the space environment. So 385 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:43.740 we have two payloads on the International Space Station right now that are examining how quickly 386 00:19:43.740 --> 00:19:52.840 just a simple ibuprofen tablet actually loses its ability to provide the prescribed effect. Those 387 00:19:52.840 --> 00:19:58.220 effects change even just within a year. So even astronauts on a Mars mission, just taking the 388 00:19:58.220 --> 00:20:03.580 medicine with them that they need, that may not work. So that's just one intervention. But I'm 389 00:20:03.580 --> 00:20:09.640 sure Rebecca's got something more she can say to that. I hadn't heard about the medication actually. 390 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:13.440 But one thing that I 391 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:19.060 did talk to a colleague about is, and I watched it myself, I don't know if anyone saw Heston 392 00:20:19.060 --> 00:20:26.960 Blumenthal had a special for space food. And on the ISS at least with microgravity, you can't have 393 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:31.860 anything that has crumbs. And so the pizza thing, you know, we have to go to the moon for that 394 00:20:31.860 --> 00:20:37.020 because at least we've got one sixth gravity. Although apparently they have eaten pizza on the 395 00:20:37.020 --> 00:20:42.760 ISS in 2017, because I also googled that. And there is a picture of people eating pizza on the ISS. 396 00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:43.160 So, 397 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:45.460 in front of a vacuum cleaner to get the crumbs. 398 00:20:45.540 --> 00:20:45.560 Yeah, yeah. 399 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.000 So they're getting all the crumbs. 400 00:20:48.000 --> 00:21:13.180 There's one other thing that is to be added. But of course, John's talked a lot about the experience of the person who is, you know, eating the cricket paste. But also, food is a very social thing as well. And Tim can talk a lot more about the idea of the democratization of space, which is thinking of not, you know, people not going up there as trained astronauts or things who we're treating as 401 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:13.420