Guest: Libby Jackson; Topics: Ms. Jackson's new book, "Galaxy Girls: 50 Amazing Stories of Women In Space," Women in STEM, following dreams and passion, UK space activities and more.
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We welcomed Libby Jackson to the show to discuss her new book, "Galaxy Girls: 50 Amazing Stories of Women In Space" plus multiple other human spaceflight topics focused in the UK and elsewhere. We started our 65 minute discussion by talking about the overall theme of her book, the celebration of key women helping to develop space and human spaceflight, plus early women contributors that have helped create our foundation for moving forward to the modern day human spaceflight effort. I asked our guest how she selected the 50 women referenced in the book. There was a most interesting story behind the final selections so be sure to listen to what Libby said about the selection process.
Another topic that was interesting was how the former Soviet Union used the women in their early program for propaganda purposes. Libby discussed Valentina Tereshkova as the first woman in space as well as Svetlana Savitskaya who was the first women to do an EVA. Don't miss what was said about the Soviet Union and propaganda for women in space.
Libby's book has an exceptional structure which absolutely adds to the uniqueness and quality of the book. In addition, the art work is complimentary to the stories of the 50 women. Don't miss what she said about the art work, who contributed it and how it was done. As for the book's excellent structure, the multi-page Space Exploration Timeline is second to none. This alone will prove to be a terrific reference tool for your space work and discussions. It is also noting the sections of the book or the date and chapter titles. Simply put, they tell the story of human spaceflight in chronological order.
Libby was asked about the UK Space Agency and space program. She mentioned that Tim Peake's flight on the ISS changed things for the good. Don't miss what she said about Tim Peake and his ISS mission from late 2015 into early 2016. Tim Peak's ESA and ISS experiences transformed space in the UK. From talking about Tim Peak to asking about UK spaceports, human spaceflight in the UK Space Agency, commercial space efforts, space policy and more, we got a good glimpse of how space and human spaceflight is progressing in England. One of the things that our guest said was that for UK space policy, programs had to economically pay for them to become policy. Don't miss these important comments.
Several listeners sent in email questions for our guest. One wanted to know if the book was age appropriate for her second grade daughter. Libby said that she thought the book was fine for the 8-14 age group but also said it was easy to read to kids plus there was an audio version of the book. Risk taking was another topic that was brought up as a common theme for the 50 women featured in the book. Libby said another connecting trend was that the women had self-confidence and a belief in their success. They did not believe anyone could say "no" to them thus a takeaway from the book would be to "go for it" and "go for your passion." The women did not allow others to convince them to do something else or comply with the norm. As we were nearing the end of the show, Libby was asked why she featured the Mercury 7 wives as a group. There was an interesting story behind this so don't miss it. Before the program ended, another listener asked Libby about space tourism and if she wanted to go to space. You might be surprised by her answer.
Libby's concluding remarks focused on shifting societal views about women in the technical, space and science world plus much more. Don't miss her concluding remarks and her passion for inspiring women in space and for human spaceflight in general.
Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog for this show. You can reach Libby Jackson through www.destinationspace.uk/meet-space-crew/libby-jackson or me.
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