The Future Of Space: Author Libby Jackson On How Space Travel and The Space Industry Can Improve Our Lives Here On Earth
An Interview With David Leichner
Don’t be afraid of making decisions. Do your research, think it through, then decide and have confidence. And if you really can’t decide, it probably doesn’t matter which way you jump. Choose one and go with it!
The commercial space industry has never been more active. With the privatization of the space industry, led by companies like SpaceX and Rocket Lab, billions of dollars are now being poured into pushing the boundaries of space travel. But while this is very exciting and interesting, how exactly will space exploration improve the lives of the vast, vast majority of us who will be remaining on earth? How can space exploration improve our society? In this interview series, we are talking to leaders from the space industry who can talk about the new developments in space travel and space technology, and how these developments can improve all of our lives. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Libby Jackson.
Libby Jackson is one of Britain’s leading experts in human spaceflight, having spent over a decade working at the forefront of the field. Space was her childhood passion and after completing degrees in physics at Imperial College and astronautics and space engineering at Cranfield University, she has worked in the space industry ever since.
Libby is passionate about sharing stories of human spaceflight and encouraging young people to follow their passions in life. Her first book, A Galaxy of Her Own: Amazing Stories of Women in Space was published in the UK in 2017 and was later released in the US in 2018 under the title Galaxy Girls by Harper Collins. Libby is a frequent contributor on television and radio, including Stargazing Live, The Big Think: Should We Go To Mars?, and Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?
Libby’s latest children’s book Space Explorers: 25 Extraordinary Stories of Space Exploration and Adventure is available now online and in stores. For more about Libby and her work, visit: www.libbyjackson.com.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started in the space industry?
Space was always something that interested me as I grew up. It took me a while to figure out how to turn my interest into a career, but one of the key moments was when I, somewhat amazingly, organized a work shadowing placement at NASA’s Johnson Space Center while I was still in school. That was where I realized that I really wanted to work in Mission Control. Even from there, it took me a while to figure out how to make the dream a reality, but after degrees in physics and space engineering, I landed a graduate job helping to install a control center and from there found my way to the European Space Agency’s control room for the International Space Station, and I never looked back.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Just recently, I finally had the opportunity to say thank you to Cathy Koerner. When I came home after my work shadowing trip, I made a scrapbook and wrote down the name of the young flight controller I’d sat next to on the PROP console. I never forgot those few hours watching the team practice dealing with shuttle launches that didn’t go to plan, and the name I wrote down, Cathy Larson. I even mentioned her in the introduction to Galaxy Girls.
Over the years, I’d wonder what she was doing now, but early internet searches didn’t offer any clues. Then, a few years back, NASA announced that Catherine Koerner was to be the Orion Program Manager. Something about the announcement made me wonder about Cathy Larson, and I searched the web again. Imagine my amazement when I found an article from the Daily Herald, that talked about Catherine Koerner, daughter of Al Larson.
Then, recently, I was at a meeting, and there she was, charting some sessions. Twenty-three years after she had, unknowingly, inspired me and set me on the course that would lead me here, we met a second time, and I could say thank you.
Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell our readers about the most interesting space related projects you are working on now?
I had lots of fun writing my first two books. The second, Space Explorers, came out during the pandemic, so it’s great to be spending some time now talking about the fantastic, true stories that it contains. I’ve got some ideas for my next book too, which I’m starting to work on, and generally, it’s just great to be out and about meeting people again.
How do you think this might change the world?
Space, alongside all the other technology, is something that we all rely on every single day, to make our lives better. It’s really important that we find the people in the next generation who are passionate about this area, who want to join the sector, and who will carry on all the projects, which can take decades to come to fruition. For many of these areas, and certainly in the space sector, there are a lot of societal stereotypes that some people feel they can’t or shouldn’t work in the space industry. I really hope that my writing speaks to young people and shows them that they should be true to themselves and that what they look like or where they should be has nothing to do with what they themselves can or can’t do. If that message lands in just a few people’s worlds when they read my books, I’ll be really happy.
What are the three things that most excite you about the space industry today? Why?
We are on the cusp of a new era in human exploration. For the first time since the 1970s, humans will leave the relative safety of low Earth orbit and venture back towards the Moon, and I can’t wait to see what happens. I grew up devouring stories of Apollo and the images they brought back, and it was those that in turn inspired me to follow my career in the space industry. Imagine what impact the images in high definition and live streamed from the surface of the moon will have on humankind living here on Earth. The science results that will be returned will help researchers learn more about how our Earth formed and evolved, which helps us understand what is happening now and in the future. The stepping stones of the Lunar Gateway, and then learning how to live and work on the Moon will prepare humanity to explore Mars. To do that, a challenge that follows from climbing mountains, sailing oceans, or flying around the world, will force us to develop new technologies that will benefit everyone, and will return science experiments that will change our understanding of life on Earth. I’m excited to see those missions in my lifetime.
What are the three things that concern you about the space industry? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
Personally speaking, I hope that as humanity ventures back out into the solar system, we learn from the situations we find ourselves in today. The Earth’s resources are finite, and humankind has made an awful lot of mess which we’re now trying to find ways to clear up, from climate change via the mess of plastics to the growing problem of space debris in low Earth orbit. We have histories of forging into the unknown and then only later worrying about the mess. (And we’ve already left rubbish strewn across planets). It is human instinct to explore, and we will, in time, see commercial exploitation of resources beyond Earth, but I really hope that humanity goes with a wiser view of how to do this having learned about what we’ve done in the past to Earth.
Can you help articulate to our readers a few of the ways that the space industry can improve the lives of the vast majority of us who will be remaining on earth? How can space exploration improve our society?
Space is something that we all rely on everyday. Checking the weather forecasts, getting turn-by-turn directions, paying for things with plastic, watching live sports from around the world… All of that uses technology that has been developed by putting things into space, which is not easy. With limited power, space, and mass, we are forced to innovate and shrink items that are just fine to use on Earth. And when we do, we find out the new ones are even better on Earth! Solar power, digital cameras, advanced materials, water recycling systems, all have been helped on Earth by going to Space. Rising to the challenge of sending humans to the moon, and one day back to them, on to Mars will undoubtedly bring benefits that we don’t yet forecast. The images captured and the perspectives gained by those who have left our planet, looking back on it, and seeing how delicate and precious the blue and green and white sphere is in the vast blackness of space helps humanity see that Earth is (as far as we know now) a unique oasis in the solar system and possibly further beyond. There are many, many challenges to solve here on Earth. Exploring space is inevitable, thanks to our human nature, curiosity, and ambition, but doing so will always help us in ways we can’t always imagine or predict.
What are your “5 Things You Need to Create a Highly Successful Career in the Space Industry?
Back in 2003, I gave a talk sharing the story of my career so far and ended it on this advice. Two decades later, I stick by it.
- Follow your heart. Be true to yourself and find things you enjoy doing. People tend to do well at things they enjoy. The space Industry is big and needs all kinds of people, it’s not all scientists and engineers. We need lawyers, financers, journalists, website designers, artists, specialist manufacturers, people to actually put spacecraft together… the list is endless.
- Grab every opportunity that comes your way. People won’t offer things to make a fool of you. They will offer you something because they want to, they believe in you, and they think you can do it. Go for it!
- Don’t be afraid of making decisions. Do your research, think it through, then decide and have confidence. And if you really can’t decide, it probably doesn’t matter which way you jump. Choose one and go with it!
- If you don’t ask, you’ll never get. At worse, the answer is no. It might be no, but with a point of direction to someone who can. Or, it might just be yes! (Be polite and respectful too; that always helps.)
- Have fun and enjoy everything! Find the positives, and if it’s not fun, at least work out why you are doing things. (The end of my first degree was not fun, but I knew it was worth the slug to complete it, and it was necessary for me to have for my second degree, which was much more fun!)
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I think that if people treat others the way they like to be treated, and the same — no matter what they look like, where they come from, or who they love, then we’ll do just that bit better all together.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find me on Twitter and Instagram, @Libby Jackson__. I am also on Facebook (@LibbyJackson), and you can also head to my website at www.libbyjackson.com.
Thank you so much for the time you spent doing this interview. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success.
About The Interviewer: David Leichner is a veteran of the Israeli high-tech industry with significant experience in the areas of cyber and security, enterprise software and communications. At Cybellum, a leading provider of Product Security Lifecycle Management, David is responsible for creating and executing the marketing strategy and managing the global marketing team that forms the foundation for Cybellum’s product and market penetration. Prior to Cybellum, David was CMO at SQream and VP Sales and Marketing at endpoint protection vendor, Cynet. David is the Chairman of the Friends of Israel and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Jerusalem Technology College. He holds a BA in Information Systems Management and an MBA in International Business from the City University of New York.
