Eric Blood: Driving Curiosity on Mars Time

Leon and Alyshia sit down with Perth-based aerospace engineer Eric Blood, who worked on NASA's Curiosity rover at JPL and lived on Mars time for three months. He talks about getting pulled over at 4am, the drill fault found six weeks before launch, blowing up giant parachutes launched from Hawaii and the secret message hidden in Perseverance's parachute. Plus his work on Australia's moon rover and why there's no single path into a space career.

This month Leon and Alyshia explore the wonders of the October night sky, starting with Saturn's intriguing new shape and the potential discovery of dark matter and some questionable pictures sent to the moon. Saturn's Decagon https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-tracks-new-decagon-encircling-saturns-south-pole/ Interesting Read: https://www.fearandwine.com/post/saturn-decagon-south-pole Leon's Space Pic - https://particle.scitech.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/crater-1.png Alyshia's Space Pic - https://particle.scitech.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Moon_Art_Scale_Fingers.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Museum Tarantula Nebula - https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/a-cosmic-tarantula-caught-by-nasas-webb/ As the Milky Way shifts towards the western sky, spot constellations like Scorpius and Sagittarius. Venus and Mercury make a dazzling appearance alongside the moon on October 12. How to see the Orionids meteor with tips on the best viewing times. We also check out the Dorado constellation Large Magellanic Cloud and Tarantula Nebula & significance of Supernova 1987A, a pivotal moment in astronomical history.

September 2026: Rogue Rockets, Untethered Astronauts & Extremely Large Telescopes This month on Please Look Up, Leon and Alyshia look to the September skies, where Venus meets the Moon, Mercury makes a brief appearance and the constellation Ophiuchus wrangles a celestial snake. Back on Earth (and the Moon), a rogue SpaceX rocket creates a brand-new lunar crater, China has a spectacular space fail and an enormous Starship hitches a ride home. Plus, we revisit the terrifyingly brilliant time NASA let astronauts fly around completely untethered to retrieve broken satellites, and step inside the aptly named Extremely Large Telescope – a 38-metre-wide monster currently taking shape in Chile. Alyshia's Space Pic: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Satellites_For_Sale_-_GPN-2000-001036.jpg/960px-Satellites_For_Sale_-_GPN-2000-001036.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/51a-46-057.jpg https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/capturing-satellite-november-1984/ Leon's Space Pic: https://cdn.eso.org/images/screen/potw2627a.jpg Chinese Rocket that snapped in half & exploded https://teams.microsoft.com/l/message/19:67aad3c7-8912-4bb1-ae4e-868dc4da5dfb_e7ef984c-f199-4c38-8af5-4104649eb015@unq.gbl.spaces/1788418794605?context=%7B%22contextType%22%3A%22chat%22%7D

This month Alyshia & Leon discuss Australia's accidental trip back to 2006, a giant space teapot, glowing red-hot rockets & the telescope hunting the universe's biggest mysteries. This month we're pointing to the centre of the Milky Way with a cosmic teapot, celebrating the launch of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, watching Space X reusable rockets survive another test flight, and asking whether Australia is a little *too* reliant on GPS. Along the way we discover why Sagittarius A* has a star in its name, Dark Energy & how astronomers measure the expansion of the universe, and why a software bug sent parts of Telstra back to 2006. Alyshia's Space Picture https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/03/Plato_readies_for_space-like_tests PLATO Space Telescope in ESA's Large Space Simulator Credit: ESA Leon's Space Picture https://particle.scitech.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/image-3-scaled.png Inside Starship's Engine Bay Credit: SpaceX https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13 What's Up in the Night Sky for August? - Venus dominates the western sky. - Jupiter has disappeared into the Sun's glare. - Scorpius is high overhead. - The Milky Way stretches across the winter sky. - Sagittarius sits beneath Scorpius - find the "Teapot" and point its spout towards the centre of our galaxy. Before sunrise (East/North-East) - Mars glows red in the north-east. - Saturn appears higher in the northern sky with its distinctive yellow tint. - Perseid meteor shower (best chance: 12–13 August, very low on the northern horizon). Dates of Interest - 12 August – Total Solar Eclipse (visible from Spain, Iceland, Greenland, Portugal & parts of Russia) - 12–13 August – Perseid Meteor Shower peak - 27 August – Partial Lunar Eclipse (not visible from Australia) - 30 August – Planned launch of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Constellation of the Month Sagittarius – A giant centaur wielding a bow & arrow & the Galactic Teapot Space Flight Focus Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launches 30th August. Starship Flight 13 Success China String Catch Success Space Fail of the Month Australia's Accidental Trip Back to 2006 A Telstra software bug caused widespread outages after a timing server misinterpreted a GPS week rollover. Please Look Up is recorded on Whadjuk Noongar Country. Produced by Leon Smith Hosted by Leon Smith & Alyshia Gatani, Edited by Alyshia Gatani. For more space news check out: https://particle.scitech.org.au/ Got a question? Leave it in the comments and we might answer it next episode! Particle is powered by Scitech.

This month Alyshia & Leon discuss galaxy sub-clumps, space jellyfish, weird egg shaped stars & yelling at the moon. *Disclaimer - There's a 4 letter swear word around 30 mins in that starts with an "s." Alyshia's Space Pic: https://particle.scitech.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/space-jellyfish-fuelburny.jpg Leon's Space Pic/ Space Fail: https://particle.scitech.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/twisty-telescope.png What's up in the Night Sky for July? In the West - Jupiter going going gone. Venus is still super bright & swings by Regulus in Leo constellation July 10. To the East - see Mars in the morning. Pleiades, Taurus, Aldebaran. Dates of interest: July 7: Earth at aphelion July 10: Venus close to Regulus in Leo July 20: International Moon Day July 29: Full Moon Buzz Aldrin yells at the moon in 30 Rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvG8qI0HCfY&t=96s Constellation of the month: Virgo & the wheat laden maiden Virgo Cluster: Subclumps, sub-subclumps & non cometary fuzzy objects Messier 87's cool plasma jet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Messier_87_Hubble_WikiSky.jpg M87's Black Hole image https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/resources/teachable-moment/how-scientists-captured-the-first-image-of-a-black-hole/ Spica - Leon's Hypothetical Egg Boys https://particle.scitech.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/bin_000001-egg-boys.png Image: Hypothetical appearance of stars in an ellipsiodal binary. Credit: Smith/Scitech Space Flight Focus: Artemis 3 crew is announced! (Which was fresh news at time of recording!) Leon discusses the battle between Space X & Blue Origin on whose landing craft will be ready. Alyshia get's confused about the Artemis 3 confusing mission map from 2022. https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/artemis_iii_mission_map_2022.jpg Space Fail of the Month: Deep Space Station 14 Azimuth Over-Rotation Mishap. How a cultural/workplace issue caused $4m worth of damage for NASA. Big Whoops! Read the very redacted document here. https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/dss14-mishap-investigation-board-report-signed-final-redacted-hm-tagged-508.pdf?emrc=74c749 For more space news check out https://particle.scitech.org.au/atoms-galaxies/the-sky-tonight-july-2026/ Got a question? Chuck it in the comments and we will try to answer it next episode! Please Look Up is recorded on Whajduk Noongar Land. Particle is powered by Scitech.

Leon is joined by Sharna, a Scitech Planetarium Presenter, to highlight a collection of creatively named objects you can see in the Perth night sky. Some examples include Grus the Crane and the Spare-tyre nebula. The duo also discuss how scientists are going to calculate the weight of our universe. To find out more about WA space news, visit: www.particle.scitech.org.au/category/space/ Credits Host: Leon Smith Guest: Sharna Lambert Producer: Zaya Altangerel