Episode18: European Space Agency

Since the days of Sputnik and Apollo, Space technology has matured
to an extent that it is almost a routine commercial activity.
China, India, and Japan are well-established players, along with
the USA and Russia. Next year, Virgin Galactic will embark on space
tourism. Since its establishment in 1975, the European Space Agency
( ESA) has come a long way. The original 10 founding member
countries have now grown to 17 with a broad mission to “Explore
Space”. All member countries are European, as you would expect –
except one. With the same disregard for geography that allows
Israel to join the Eurovision Song Contest, Canada also plays a
role in the ESA. ESA has many projects active or in the
pipeline, and last month initiated an astronaut recruitment
program. You have to be from one of the 17 member countries
and you can even apply online. David Southwood is the ESA Director
of Science. The following conversation with him was recorded at the
Space conference. Thanks to the guys at space.co.uk (Paul and
Martyn) and Cy from speed-of-light.co.uk for the following video.
http://youtu.be/Q3uIl7MU9QM