Rocket science – live from the Great Exhibition Road Festival
On Sunday, 8th of June, The Zero Pressure podcast hosted a live panel session titled "Rocket Science and the New Space Race, a sold-out event in the Spotlight Talks at the Great Exhibition Road Festival 2025. Chaired by Helen Sharman, the event brought cutting-edge space science and engineering to a packed and enthusiastic public audience. The session featured two of the UK’s leading voices in space innovation: Dr Adam Baker, a renowned rocket propulsion engineer and co-founder of UK Launch Services, and MatthewArcher, Director of Launch at the UK Space Agency. The panel explored the exciting evolution of space technologies, from high-thrust chemical rockets to innovative propulsion systems like the Magdrive, an in-space engine that utilisesmetallic fuels and plasma acceleration.
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On a Laser Quest: Countering Drones
This time, we're diving into the rise of high-energy laser systems and the game-changing potential of their high-powered lasers. Since their invention, lasers have revolutionized science and technology, enabling precision surgeries, driving advanced manufacturing, and transforming global communications. High power lasers, once confined to science fiction, are now capable of taking down drones and missiles with remarkable precision and efficiency.Helen Sharman is joined by Jessica Glenn and Jae Daniel, the co-founders of Aim Defence, and also Professor Richard Thompson. Richard is a professor of experimental physics at Imperial College London, with particular expertise in atomic physics, spectroscopy and quantum optics.
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Bonus: Space Stations with Christer Fuglesang
In the last of our series of special bonus editions, Helen Sharman is joined by Swedish physicist and ESA astronaut, Christer Fuglesang, who spent 26 days on board the ISS, and in that time conducted 31 hours of extravehicular activities (that’s space walks).
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Bonus: Space Stations with Soyeon Yi
Welcome to another special bonus edition of the Zero Pressure Podcast, presented by Imperial College London and Saab. For our recent episode on the future of space stations, we were lucky to be joined by 3 astronauts. To kick off 2025 we are releasing each of those conversations in full, bringing you even more leading insight into our future in space.This time we are hearing Helen Sharman's full conversation with Soyeon Yi, biotechnologist, and South Korea’s first astronaut, who spent 10 days on board the ISS.
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Bonus: Space Stations with Reinhold Ewald
Welcome to a special bonus edition of the Zero Pressure Podcast, presented by Imperial College London and Saab. For our recent episode on the future of space stations, we were lucky to be joined by 3 astronauts. To kick off 2025 we are releasing each of those conversations in full, bringing you even more leading insight into our future in space. To start with, here’s Helen Sharman's full conversation with German physicist and astronaut, Reinhold Ewald. Reinhold is President of the Association of Space Explorers and spent 18 days on the Mir space station.
A relaxed conversation with those on the cutting edge of science and technology - hosted by Britain's first astronaut Helen Sharman - Presented by Imperial College London and Saab
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