Dec 28, 202110 Amazing Things Humans Did in Space in 2021While this year may have sucked pretty hard on Earth, some pretty cool stuff happened in (and/or near) space in 2021. And while robots and rockets tend to steal the show, all of those bits of technology were designed, built, and operated by humans! …Space7 min read
Oct 14, 2021It’s Time to Reclaim the Narrative Around Space from the BillionairesWith the “billionaire space race” taking center stage in the media over the past few months, we’ve lost sight of why so many people are passionate about space. This morning, Jeff Bezos’ rocket company Blue Origin launched four people into space, including Star Trek’s own Captain Kirk, William Shatner*. While…Jeff Bezos4 min read
Aug 5, 20219 Big Discoveries by Curiosity for its 9th LandiversaryNervous Mars scientists around the world watched with bated breath as the behemoth Curiosity rover began its descent toward the surface of the Red Planet, known as the “Seven Minutes of Terror.” We’d never sent something this size to land on Mars. We’d never used anything like the Skycrane to…Mars9 min read
Aug 1, 2021Surviving Grad School: 3 Tips Before You Even ApplyGraduate school is hard. Not going to sugar coat that. But it can also be a truly amazing and unique time in your life, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be miserable on top of being difficult. Here are some things you can do and think about before you even…Ph D7 min read
Jul 20, 2021For All Humankind: Memories of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing from MexicoThe following is an excerpt from For All Humankind: The Untold Stories of How the Moon Landing Inspired the World by Tanya Harrison and Danny Bednar. The small wooden bookshelf in Matias’ room housed a collection of science fiction classics, including Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Heinlein. Contained within…Mexico10 min read
Jul 1, 2021The International Impact of the Apollo 11 Moon LandingThe Space Race might have been America versus the Soviets, but how was the race viewed by the rest of the world? On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on a celestial body beyond Earth while Command Module Pilot…Space Exploration4 min read
Jul 1, 2021I never thought being queer impacted my professional life as a scientist. I was wrong.For years, I’ve been quite frank and open on social media (mainly Twitter) about a lot of aspects of my life and professional career as a scientist: How having a physical disability has impacted things, my experiences with harassment that nearly drove me out of the field, making the shift…Pride4 min read
May 1, 2021Ingenuity Gets an Upgrade on MarsThe tiny 4-pound (1.8 kg) helicopter that hitched a ride to Mars with NASA’s Perseverance rover just got a mission upgrade. Initially planned as a “technology demonstration” to prove whether or not powered flight…Mars3 min read
Apr 24, 2021How Space Benefits Canadian Life on EarthFour years ago on Earth Day, I spoke in front of a crowd of approximately 3,000 people in Toronto for the March for Science on the importance of assets in space in the everyday lives of Canadians here on Earth. Since the messages are still entirely relevant today, here is…Strawberry 20215 min read
Apr 22, 2021For Earth Day: Ten Stunning Views of Earth from Space MissionsMost people are probably familiar, even if not by name, with the iconic “Earthrise” and “Blue Marble” view of Earth taken by Apollo astronauts on their journeys to the Moon. Apollo 8’s Earthrise, taken on Christmas Eve in 1968, is often referred to as one of the catalysts that led…Strawberry 20215 min read