“Space Talk” – online broadcast about space exploration
Since April 2023, “Space Talk, the programme that brings outer space to Earth” videos have been released monthly. Guido Schwarz from the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS welcomes guests in the studio to talk about space topics. The online series is produced in cooperation with TeleBärn.
Every day, the media publish news about spaceflight and space exploration. But there hasn’t been a regular programme on outer space in Switzerland so far. That should change, the NCCR PlanetS and TeleBärn said last year, and together they created Space Talk.
The goal of the programme is to bring the public closer to space and, above all, to the research and spaceflight that is being carried out in Switzerland. “Many people still think that space research is mainly done by NASA,” says Guido Schwarz, who hosts Space Talk. “However, on closer inspection, it quickly becomes clear that Switzerland is involved in or even leads a huge number of missions and research projects.”
Recording of the first episode (from left): Guido Schwarz, moderator, and Audrey Vorburger, astrophysicist at the University of Bern. (Credit: Guido Schwarz)
More than just scratching the surface
The Space Talk that’s “bringing outer space to us on Earth” is divided into two blocks of 20 minutes. “That is extremely long compared to normal television programmes,” says Guido Schwarz. “It gives me the opportunity not only to scratch the surface, but to go into depth.” In the first part, Schwarz always goes into the guest’s field of research. “In doing so, I try to bring the sometimes quite complex matter down to a generally understandable level,” says Schwarz. In the second part, things get more personal. The audience learns more about the career of the researchers, why space research is an important scientific discipline, what they think while standing under the starry sky and how they relax from their “day in space”.
Markus von Känel, editor-in-chief of TeleBärn, is busy with the final preparations for the recordings. (Credit: Guido Schwarz)
So far, Guido Schwarz has had the pleasure of welcoming the following guests to the studio:
- Episode 1: Audrey Vorburger, Astrophysicist, University of Bern.
- Episode 2: Maria Schönbächler, Professor and Cosmochemist, ETH Zurich.
- Episode 3: Christoph Mordasini, Professor, Astrophysicist and Director of the Space Research & Planetary Sciences division, University of Bern.
- Episode 4: Adrian Glauser, Senior Scientist, ETH Zurich.
- Episode 5: Francesco Pepe, Professor, Astrophysicist and Director of the Observatoire de Genève, University of Geneva.
- Episode 6: Michael Kropf, Managing Director Space Eye, Observatory for Space and Environment.
- Episode 7: Susanne Wampfler, Professor, Astrochemist and co-Director of the Centre for Space and Habitability, University of Bern.
- Episode 8: Marcel Egli, Professor, Director Institute for Medical Technology, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
- Episode 9: Andreas Riedo, Physicist and Astrobiologist at the Physics Institute, University of Bern.
- Episode 10: Valentin Bickel, Planetary Scientist at the Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern.
- Episode 11 (to be published in February 2024): Sascha Quanz, Professor of Astrophysics at the ETH Zurich, and leader of the Exoplanets and Habitability research group.
- Episode 12 (to be published in March 2024): Monika Lendl, Assistant-Professor in Astrophysics, Observatoire de Genève, University of Geneva.
All episodes can be found on the TeleBärn website.
The pop-up studio: Filming takes place amidst rocket parts and artefacts from spaceflight and space exploration. (Credit: Guido Schwarz)
Pop-up studio in the showroom of the Swiss Space Museum
Space Talk is produced in close cooperation between Telebärn and the NCCR PlanetS. The programme is filmed in the Swiss Space Museum’s storage room dedicated to shows, which is converted into a temporary studio especially for this purpose. In the middle of rocket parts, models and other space artefacts stands the moderator’s desk, where Guido Schwarz receives a guest who is connected to the topic of space. In the room there are four cameras and the recording equipment where the talk is edited live.
The next episodes will air in February and March 2024 and will feature Sascha Quanz and Monika Lendl.
Categories: External Newsletter, News
