Episode 137: Bouncing on Phobos. MMX – Mars Sample Return Mission

Founded in 1958, COSPAR organises Scientific Assemblies and Symposia in different countries where thousands of scientists, engineers and researchers gather over several days to share their latest work. This interview was recorded on 8 August 2026, on the final day of the 46th Scientific Assembly in Florence, Italy. Dr Pascale Ehrenfreund, a former president of the International Astronautical Federation who has led COSPAR as its president since 2022 — and was re-elected to that role just hours after this recorded was made.

Dr Lev Zelenyi talks about his long career in many roles, including 17 years as the Director of the Space Research Institute (IKI), contributing to structural reforms within the Russian Academy of Sciences and his deep conviction in cultivating global partnerships in several key Russian space missions.

Our Staggering, Invisible Space Dependency: Approximately 8% to 10% of all global socioeconomic activity is now directly dependent on space-based assets. Dr Plattard shares his concerns on the absence of international rules and potential long term impact.

The ambitious Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) mission is expected to launch to Mars on 20th October 2026 and return a sample from the surface of Phobos by 2031. Several years in the making, it is a collaborative venture between CNES, DLR, NASA and led by JAXA.

Every national space programme rests on four pillars: visionary leadership, unwavering political and economic commitment, realistic ambitions, and a deep acknowledgement that fundamental science is the essential bedrock for a successful and enduring space programme. Professor Wu, Ji has continued that tradition of putting science first. In this interview, recorded during COSPAR2026 in Florence. He talks about his priorities of science, international collaboration and the profound significance of adherence to "Systems Engineering".

Just between you and me, one of the best parts of this podcast is the opportunity it gives me to meet some very unique and special people, like today's guest, Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. Last summer I met and recorded this interview in Oxford. We covered a range of topics, including Pulsars (of course), women in science, her many awards and her faith. As part of her PhD in Cambridge in the late 1960s, she helped build an instrument called the Interplanetary Scintillation Array. In the interview, we discussed many topics, including Discovery of pulsars Dealing journalists Women in physics Special Breakthrough Prize in 2018 Faith and status of science in society

The European Solar Telescope is a project to build ever laregr telescope on Earth but this time for a solar telescope. This interview was recorded in Tenerife but the EST will be built on the negighboring Island of Las Palmas.

The Toliman Space Telescope. A small, novel spacecraft looking for Earth-like planets in our nearest neighbour star system, Alpha Centauri.

Imagine a giant vertical railway stretching 100,000 km from the equator, somewhere in the Pacific, straight up into space. Instead of expensive, polluting rockets, the space elevator offers a smooth, slow electric ascent to Earth orbit. This "bridge to the stars" connects a floating Earth platform at 36,000 km to a massive counterweight located 64,000 km farther out. It is held taut by the Earth's rotation.

We are increasingly aware of the impact of space weather on spacecraft in space and, occasionally, on electrical power transmission on Earth, but what about its impact on the Earth's atmosphere? That is exactly the research interest of Professor Pallam Raju, Dean of the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, India. Founded in 1947, the PRL is one of India's most prestigious scientific institutions, not least because it was founded by Dr Vikram Sarabhai.