On The Space Show for Wednesday, 8 July 2026:
Space Show News: Swift Boost Mission Launched
NASA has contracted Katalyst Space of Flagstaff, Arizona, to boost the altitude of its sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Swift is NASA’s astrophysics multitool, capable of quickly observing a wide range of cosmic objects in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light.
Update: On-Orbit Checkouts in Progress for Mission to Boost NASA’s Swift satellite.
The Western Australian Optical Ground Station with Sascha Schediwy, International Centre for Radio Astronomy, Perth
On September 11 2021, the University of Western Australia finished installing the first space laser optical ground station in the Southern Hemisphere and named it the Western Australian Optical Ground Station (WAOGS). It is only the first in a planned network of optical ground stations across Australia and New Zealand. (Recorded at a meeting of the Space Association of Australia in Melbourne)
Turn Back Time:
* The Sky is the Limit — A fascinating 1966 panel discussion on the use of satellites in mass communication, moderated by Rex Keating and featuring Arthur C. Clarke, Dr Leonard Jaffe of NASA and Prof. N. I. Krikikoff, from the Institute of Radio Telecommunications in Moscow.
The panel discusses the then nascent age of satellite communications and makes several predictions about the future of telecommunications that prove quite accurate. (Courtesy UNESCO)
* Soyuz 21 — In 1976, the Soyuz 21 mission was terminated early due to human health factors. (Audio inserts courtesy VOA, BBC and NZBC)
The Karman Project: Building a cooperative future in space - Part 3
- The recollections of William Gerstenmaier (Vice President, Mission Assurance, SpaceX) about STS 1
- Katherine Bennell (Capability, Robotics, Automation, Australian Space Agency, Adelaide) about discovering the Earth
- Jean-Jacques Dordain (former Director-General, ESA) on space as a common good
- Sera Markoff (Member, Event Horizon Team, University of Amsterdam) on the Event Horizon Telescope.
