James Webb and astronaut Jessica Meir

The next big leap for mankind in telescope terms, and the first all-woman spacewalk...
22 November 2021
Presented by Richard Hollingham, Sue Nelson

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Jessica Meir

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It’s been decades in the making but the James Webb Space Telescope - an international collaboration between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency - is finally ready for launch. ESA’s senior science advisor Mark McCaughrean joins Space Boffins Sue Nelson and Richard Hollingham to enthuse about the most powerful space telescope ever built and what it will achieve. And when NASA astronaut Jessica Meir came back to Earth in April 2020 after six months of isolation with her crew mates on board the International Space Station, most of the world was also imposing its own lockdown due to the pandemic. Jessica discusses how it felt to be back under such strange circumstances, her first all women space walk, why she’s wanted to be an astronaut since the age of 5 and her preparations as part of the Artemis astronaut corps - meaning she’s in with a chance of becoming the first woman to walk on the Moon. Plus new CEO of the UK Space Agency, Paul Bate, flies the red, white and blue for the UK’s continued success within the space industry.

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