Episode 2 – Space
8.30pm, RTE One – Monday 19th November
In Space, Jonathan heads to the European Space Agency in Amsterdam to meet the Irish researchers who are playing their part in the development of future space missions! Stephen O’Connor and Kim Heary are the first Irish graduates to experience a unique 2 year ESA traineeship in partnership with the Irish Research Council, and Jonathan finds out how they’re learning their trade with access to some of the most innovative technologies for testing new materials for satellites.
Not to be outdone, back in UCD, Aoibhinn meets the team of students who are designing, testing and developing EIRSAT-1, a 3-year project that will see Ireland’s first satellite – a cubesat – launched from the International Station! As cubesats are much smaller, quicker and cheaper to design and launch than regular satellites, they provide an ideal testbed for new technologies, and Aoibhinn meets some of the scientists and engineers working to deliver the satellite to the European Space Agency in 2020!
Tractors and space may seem an unlikely alliance, but agriculture has come a long way from the sickles, horses and carts of Irish farms of old! Technology is driving a revolution in Precision Agriculture, and Kathriona meets Teagasc’s Dermot Forristal and farmer Kevin Nolan to get behind the wheel of a satellite-controlled smart tractor to experience the future of farming. And in Weird Science, Fergus reveals the Cold War battle to develop the space pen over the space pencil…
Missed it? Watch the episode on the 