UWA piloting national campaign to blast Katherine Bennell-Pegg into space inspired by Artemis II mission joy

Space fanatics hope ‘moon joy’ from NASA’s Artemis II mission will spark lift-off for Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg. The Federal Government is considering an invitation from the European Space Agency for the Australian of the Year to have a place on a spaceflight to the International Space Station. With time running out for a decision, there’s an increasingly urgent #FlyKatherine campaign to secure Bennell-Pegg, 41, her maiden rocket flight and space mission. It’s being led by the University of WA’s International Space Centre, which sees the invitation as an unmissable opportunity with flow-on benefits for the nation’s space industry. But it’s no free rocket ride. Australia will have to invest an undisclosed sum to clinch her crew position. With Cabinet poised to make a decision, supporters hope the public’s fascination with the Artemis II crew’s journey to the far side of the moon will inspire them to grasp the chance. “Moon joy” went viral this week after it was used to describe the emotions and “mind-blowing” wonder of the four crew during their lunar fly-by. The astronauts are due to splash down off San Diego today after 10 days in the Orion spacecraft, in which they journeyed farther from home than any humans before them — 406,772 km from Earth. The mission has been a feel good news story against the backdrop of war and economic gloom. A few Australians have blasted into space in the past, but none representing their country. Bennell-Pegg, who’s qualified for long duration missions, would be the first under the Australian flag. The Sydney-born space scientist and mum-of-two beat more than 22,500 applicants to be trained as an astronaut by the ESA. Whilst she was eligible to apply as a dual UK citizen, she completed the 13 month training program in Germany as an Australian Space Agency employee and was the first international candidate to do the course, which she aced. The discounted $500,000 cost was met by Australia. International Space Centre Deputy Director Larissa Wiese has been a passionate and galvanising force behind the #FlyKatherine campaign and has visited Canberra twice to pitch to ministers. Ms Wiese stressed the campaign was about much more than getting Bennell-Pegg a ticket to space. Funding would flow back to the nation’s space industry in the form of research, commercial opportunities and capability development. She cited the UK’s sevenfold return on astronaut investment. And other industries would gain from more STEM graduates, inspired to study maths, engineering and sciences by Bennell-Pegg’s example. Capabilities and tech developed by the space sector were already finding earthly applications, supporting mining and other industries. “It would be hugely impactful (for Australia), and that’s why we’re really pushing for this to happen,” Ms Wiese said. “Also, if we don’t take this opportunity, which really will end in a couple of weeks, we don’t have another astronaut in the pipeline. We’re just so lucky that we have Katherine. “It seems ridiculous that we’d train an astronaut and not take up (this) opportunity. “The only way Australia is not going to be playing catch up forever, is if we participate now. We have to connect to that global space framework now.” ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher recently described Bennell-Pegg a “very impressive astronaut”. The #FlyKatherine campaign team collected letters of support from universities, space organisations and businesses, industry associations, chief scientists, STEM organisations. Packages of nearly 80 were sent to the Prime Minister and senior Cabinet members. “These letters represented tens of thousands of people across Australia,” Ms Wiese said. There was also a co-contribution fund with industry chipping-in money, so it wasn’t wholly government-funded. The fund was kicked-started by $1 million commitment from Jim Whalley, director and co-founder of Nova Systems. The pledge was matched this week by businessman Dick Smith. His offer was contingent on the Federal Government acting quickly. In a letter to Anthony Albanese, Mr Smith said the opportunity was “narrow and time-sensitive”, and urged the PM to support its inclusion in the May Budget. “This is not simply about sending one Australian into space,” he wrote. “It is about whether Australia chooses to seize a rare strategic opportunity that may not come again for decades.” As with the Apollo moon missions half a century ago, Australia played a role in Artemis II and will have bigger roles in future Artemis campaign missions, which aim to put a base on the Moon and lay the foundations for NASA’s first crewed missions to Mars. Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, helped mission control in Houston stay in radio communication with the crew via the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and other facilities. Also in the ACT, the scientists at Australian National University’s Quantum Optical Ground Station (QOGS) at Mount Stromlo have been testing laser communications - up to 100 times faster radio - with Orion for NASA. Artemis II is the first crewed mission to use lasers to transmit data from such a distance. It’s hoped the high-definition videos and pictures from the mission will be shared soon. Laser communications systems for space missions are also being developed in Perth at UWA. Bennell-Pegg said that in a world full of conflict Artemis II. has been a powerful reminder of what can be achieved through working peacefully in partnership. “During astronaut training, we learned about the overview effect – the cognitive shift that comes from seeing Earth from space,” she wrote this week. “You can’t see borders from up there. Just a fragile, shared home and a powerful truth: We’re all in this together.” The Australian Space Agency, in partnership with NASA, has been working with industry here to design and build a lunar rover, that will be flown to the Moon’s South Pole region in 2030. The Roo-ver, as it has been named, will be remotely controlled by pilots in Australia. The ELO2 consortium selected to design and develop the Roo-ver was awarded $42 million in funding and its partners have injected another $17 million. Roo-ver Mission and ELO2 Consortium Director Ben Sorensen said the effort built on Australia’s strengths in extreme environment robotics and remote operations. “You have regolith (on the Moon), which is highly abrasive and sticks to things because it’s electrostatic properties,” he said. “You have high radiation and extreme temperature environments, as high as 160 degrees in the sunlight, and as low as minus 120 literally on the other side of the rover, in the shade.” WA’s Edith Cowan University was involved, ensuring the Roo-ver is cyber secure.