When most people think about the type of person who will work in space, the image that springs to mind is that of an astronaut in a bulky white suit floating around outside the International Space Station! That is certainly a part of the story, however the exploration of space needs a lot more than just rocket pilots. In fact, some of the astronauts who will launch this week (July 31st 2025* - Crew-11) come from surprising backgrounds. One of them, Zena Cardman, didn’t start out flying planes or building rockets — she studied microbes in mud and explored caves and Antarctic ice looking for life in extreme environments.
Another of the astronauts, Kimiya Yui from Japan, started out in the Japanese Air Force and later trained with engineers and scientists before becoming an astronaut. Theirs and other stories like them prove that you don’t have to be a math genius or science whiz to have a future in space!
*note: launch delayed to 1st August 2025 due to weather constraints

Space Needs Everyone - Below are just a few of the surprising roles that play a huge part in exploring the cosmos:

• Writers & Communicators – NASA hires science storytellers to explain missions to the world.
• Lawyers - Space law is real! We need legal minds to navigate treaties, satellite rights, and even the ethics of space mining.
• Doctors & Biologists – Astronauts need medical support, and we need people studying how the human body changes in space, such as our very own aerospace medicine specialist Prof Thais Russomano.
• Plumbers - Plumbing is critical—someone has to make sure the water systems (and toilets!) work on the ISS and future Moon bases.
• Artists & Designers – Someone has to design mission patches, build virtual training tools, and even help plan future habitats.
• Gamers & Coders – In fact, video game skills translate well to robot control and navigation.

Whether you're into fashion, food, fitness, or filmmaking... there is room within space exploration for all of these talents and more.

The webinar, organised by InnovaSpace Director Prof Thais Russomano, was presented by 4 students from the Remote Medicine iBSc program, National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, and in association with the MVA (Moon Village Association). The focus of the event was on one of the most critical aspects of future lunar habitation: human health.
Join the student panel as they explore the unique environment of the Moon, the history of its human exploration from NASA Apollo Mission first steps to future Artemis plans, its potential impact on human physical health and mental well-being, Moon research and Earth-based space analogues, and research limitations and gaps in the knowledge.
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Congratulations to the presenters - Manvi Bhatt, Nareh Ghazarians, Diya Raj Yajaman, & Elvyn Vijayanathan - and good luck with your future careers. 

A review of original article - Building Robots For “Zero Mass” Space Exploration - written by Jacek Krywko (8th Feb 2024), published on the ARS Technica website

​The idea of exploring space without lugging around tons of gear sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi flick, but guess what? It might just be closer than we think! This article dives into the wild world of "Zero Mass" space exploration, where scientists are ditching the heavy payloads and instead relying on super-intelligent robots and nifty building materials.
 
Think about it: sending stuff into space costs a fortune. Like a serious fortune. But what if we could cut down on all that weight and send up a bunch of self-replicating robots armed with super cool building blocks? That's the dream these NASA and Stanford folks are chasing.

​They're talking about using materials that can rebuild themselves, which is mind-blowing. It's like something out of a sci-fi novel from way back in the day. And get this - they're not just dreaming about it. They've built a bunch of these little building blocks called "voxels" and tested them out. These things are crazy vital but weigh next to nothing. So you can pack a bunch of them in your backpack and build whatever you need on the fly - like a shelter, a bridge, or even a boat!
 
And here's the kicker - they're not just building stuff on their own. They've got these robots doing all the heavy lifting. These robots are like little construction workers, piecing together structures autonomously. It's like watching a futuristic version of a construction site!

​But it's not all just for show. They're thinking about using this tech to build towers on the Moon! Yeah, you heard that right. Towers on the freaking Moon! It's all about maximizing sunlight and getting the best communication signals. And with this tech, they reckon they can pull it off.
 
So, while we might not be hopping on spaceships and jetting off to distant planets just yet, it seems like we're getting closer every day. Who knows, maybe one day we'll all be living in moon towers built by robots. Hey, a guy can dream, right?