National Astronomy Week 2020

Is living and working on Mars realistic? Could we go there in our lifetime? Join Lucinda Offer, Mike Curtis-Rouse and Sarah Batout  to discuss and debate living and working on Mars and meet some of the people who are trying to make this a reality.

** This event has now run. You can still view it on our YouTube Channel by clicking here.

About the speakers: Lucinda Offer is the Education and Outreach Officer for the Royal Astronomical Society and the Executive Director of the Mars Society. A former NASA Associate who has conducted Mars analogue research with five expeditions around the world as part of the NASA Spaceward Bound team researching: tardigrades in the Mojave; 3.5 Bya stromatolites in the Pilbara, Australia; geothermal vents in Rotorua, New Zealand; and Mars and Titan analogues in the U.A.E.. As part of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) crew 97, she performed as a NASA teleroboticist deploying and testing a NASA/Google/Mars Society rover for scouting future Mars geologic field science extravehicular activities (EVAs) under simulation. She is currently the Chair of National Astronomy Week 2020.

Mike Curtis Rouse is Head of Manufacturing for Space at the Satellite Applications Catapult, based in Harwell. With a background in advanced manufacturing, metallurgy, and robotics, he is an expert and thought leader on disruptive technologies across multiple sectors.  Currently, his focus is the development of the UK’s space manufacturing ecosystem, covering spaceports, launch vehicles and orbital manufacturing. Mike works extensively with nascent and established rocket companies, as well those organisations exploring manufacturing in LEO, and beyond. Previously, Mike worked for Reaction Engines, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, and several technology start-ups, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and a senior officer in the British Army Reserves.

Prof. Dr. Sarah Baatout is the director of the Radiobiology Unit at SCK CEN (Belgian Nuclear Research Centre), a Foundation of Public Utility, Mol, Belgium. She is also guest-professor at Ghent University and KULeuven (Belgium) teaching and directing research in the field of radiation biology, radiation protection, space biology and medicine. She obtained a Master in Biology from UCLouvain, Belgium followed by a PhD in Biochemistry in the field of oncology. She is an active member of the Mars Society Belgium.

Hosts: Sandra Voss (Observatory Science Centre) and Robin Scagell (SPA)