Working in space
The Big Bang and dark energy, mātauranga Māori and Māori astronomy, lakes and water quality, science fiction novels and movies – these are just a few of the things that inspired engineers and scientists to get involved in the space sector.
Questions for discussion:
Which expert do you relate to the most? Why?
How does working with programming languages like Scratch and Alice help prepare people for aerospace jobs?
Pauline is an astrophysicist and an expert in tātai arorangi. She speaks about both bodies of knowledge having their own mana and sometimes overlapping, which she calls the interface. What do you think she means when she says she enjoys looking at the interface?
How are scientists like Moritz and Sarah connected to the space sector?
Are you interested in working in space? Who or what has been your inspiration?
Transcript
Dr Pauline Harris
Astrophysicist, cosmologist, kairangahau Māori Senior Lecturer, Te Kawa a Māui – School of Māori Studies, Victoria University of Wellington Chairperson, Society of Māori Astronomy Research and Traditions
When I was growing up, I always loved the stars. On my wall, I had a picture of Matariki, which I knew as the Pleiades.
Mark Rocket
Chief Executive Officer, Kea Aerospace Founder and President, Aerospace Christchurch
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated by space technology and the concepts of space. I’m a Star Wars generation kid.
Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher
Principal Scientist (Carbon, Chemistry and Climate), NIWA Science Leader, MethaneSAT
I’ve been a science fiction fan since I knew how to read. I cut my teeth on Isaac Asimov novels and Ursula Le Guin novels.
Dr Pauline Harris
I am a Star Trek fan. So I love science fiction. I love physics and mathematics, and I love our mātauranga Māori and I love Māori astronomy.
Mark Rocket
There’s so many fascinating things about the universe. I’m really surprised that more people don’t think about the context of the world, the Solar System, the galaxy, the universe that we live in. Those amazing concepts, you know, from the Big Bang to dark energy, dark matter.
Juliet McLachlan
Software Engineer (Flight Operations), Dawn Aerospace
My favourite subjects at school were art, design and music. Software, on the other hand, I had been interested in for a very long time. So when I was younger, I worked with Scratch and Alice as well.
Dr Beata Bukosa
Atmospheric Modeller, NIWA
I loved science – specifically physics. I was amazed at everything that that subject covered. I didn’t understand everything, and that was driving me crazy. So I decided I’m going to study it, and I’m going to know everything.
Dr Philipp Sueltrop
Chief Technical Officer, Kea Aerospace
I was never fully focused on aerospace or space. What drew me to aerospace was more like the exploration part – working on the limits. Working in an area that’s unknown – that’s exciting.
Professor David Noone
Buckley-Glavish Professor of Climate Physics, Department of Physics, University of Auckland
As a teenager, I really liked racing little sailing boats, and I had a coach who said, “Well, if you want to win races, you have to learn about the weather.” And so I thought, “That’s a great idea. I’m gonna go to a university, figure out how the weather works.”
Mark Rocket
Doing a life planning day, I wrote down, “I want to go to space.” And when I sold one of my internet companies, I thought, “Well, this is a great opportunity”, and 2007 became the seed investor and co-director of Rocket Lab until 2011. And that was a really exciting journey. These days, I’ve started up Kea Aerospace and I’m also on the committee of Aerospace New Zealand.
Dr Philipp Sueltrop
I’m the Chief Technology Officer at Kea Aerospace and leading the technical team towards designing our unmanned aircraft, the Kea Atmos.
Dr Beata Bukosa
I’m an atmospheric modeller. I use different models to better understand what’s happening in the atmosphere.
Jennifer Blackburne
Mechanical Engineer (Propulsion), Dawn Aerospace
I’m a propulsion engineer, a mechanical engineer at Dawn. I think propulsion’s the coolest part of the plane. But also it’s quite tricky because the main challenge we have to work with is heat and pressure. And the main force that I work with is thrust. This is what makes the plane go ppffff.
Dr Moritz Lehmann
Aquatic remote sensing scientist Senior Scientist, Xerra Earth Observation Institute Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, University of Waikato
I study lakes primarily, but I use the technology that is offered by satellites and satellite sensors.
Dr Pauline Harris
I am trained in Western science. I learned computer programming, I learned the physics – the understanding of celestial movement. From my mātauranga, I’ll learn about the relationship celestial movement has with the environment. Both bodies of knowledge have their own mana, and sometimes you’re going to have some overlap, and we call that the interface. And so I like learning both and then looking at the interface.
Dr Sarah Kessans
Senior Lecturer, School of Product Design, Faculty of Engineering, University of Canterbury
I went from plant biology and fungal biochemistry to space technology development via my participation in NASA’s astronaut candidate selection process. My real passion is to be able to grow food and fuel and pharmaceuticals in space.
Juliet McLachlan
I am a software and flight operations engineer. I work on software for anything from the flight computer to the ground station. And I also help when we’re out in the field, so that’s the flight operation side.
Dr Sarah Kessans
The people that I get to work with are my favourite parts of the research – so the students, our collaborators, our international partners, the engineers helping us design these spacecraft. It’s just a really dynamic, fun, innovative team.
Dr Philipp Sueltrop
So I like hands-on work and working with a really good team of engineers to design something that hasn’t been done in that way.
Professor David Noone
Those aircraft missions – they’re really exciting to be involved with – and the team itself ends up being a whole that’s greater than the sum of the parts. One scientist is great, but a team of 20 scientists all staring over new data that’s coming in live as you’re flying through these environments, it really sparks the imagination.
Dr Beata Bukosa
What excites me about space industry is the numerous possibilities for amazing science. The satellite techniques that we have today can literally get us closer to seeing the whole picture in order to fight climate change.
Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher
It’s exciting to me to bring together two huge passions – to be part of a climate solution and to give my children the world that I want them to live in. Ultimately, the job as the Science Leader of the MethaneSAT science programme, it’s as close as I’m ever going to get to my actual dream job – Chief Science Officer on board the USS Enterprise.
Acknowledgements Dr Pauline Harris, Victoria University of Wellington and SMART Mark Rocket, Kea Aerospace Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, NIWA Juliet McLachlan, Dawn Aerospace Dr Beata Bukosa, NIWA Dr Philipp Sueltrop, Kea Aerospace Professor David Noone, University of Auckland Jennifer Blackburne, Dawn Aerospace Dr Moritz Lehmann, Xerra Earth Observation Institute Dr Sarah Kessans, University of Canterbury Timelapse of night sky showing Matariki, Dr Ian Griffin, Otago Museum Isaac Asimov (Editor), The Hugo Winners 1963–1967, Sphere, 1973 Isaac Asimov, Foundation, Granada, 1951 Isaac Asimov, The Currents of Space, Doubleday and Company, 1971 Ursula K Le Guin, Planet of Exile, Tandem, 1972 Ursula K Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness, 25th Anniversary Edition, Walker & Co, 1994 Blackboard diagram, 1000 Pixels/123RF Ltd Zooming into the heart of Messier 87, ESO/L. Calçada, Digitized Sky Survey 2, ESA/Hubble, RadioAstron, De Gasperin et al., Kim et al., EHT Collaboration, CC BY 4.0 Trieste bathyscape after plunge into Mariana Trough, 1960, copyright www.jeandanielmeyer.com Balloon ascending into stratosphere and BO3 above the Alps, Solar Impulse Foundation Optimist yacht, by Bilby, and stormy ocean footage by Background Video, CC BY 3.0 Launch of Rocket Lab Atea-1 technology demonstration in 2009 and still of early team with Mark Rocket, Rocket Lab Kea Aerospace logo and Kea Atmos concept animation, Kea Aerospace Dr Pauline Harris researching with microfiche files and at telescope, Project Mātauranga, Scottie Productions Dr Kessans at NASA, University of Canterbury and Dr Sarah Kessans Footage of Aurora space plane, Dawn Aerospace Dr Sarah Kessans with students, Vaishnavi Anand, New Zealand Students’ Space Association Still of Dr Sarah Kessans with Mark Rocket and the Hon. Megan Woods, Aerospace Christchurch Students working on CubeSats at University of Auckland, MBIE Dr Philipp Sueltrop at computer, ChristchurchNZ Gulfstream plane in hangar and taking off, Permian Basin methane mapping project with Scientific Aviation and the University of Wyoming, animation of MethaneSAT satellite above Earth, courtesy of MethaneSAT and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) NASA research aircraft with David Noone, Jane Peterson, NASA
