Dr Helen O’Brien
Mechanical engineer Helen O’Brien leads a team of engineers and scientists at the Space Magnetometer Lab.
Helen and her team build and operate magnetometers (magnetic field instruments) for space science satellites, including for NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
One of the most exciting projects she works on is the Solar Orbiter mission which launched in 2020. Helen and her team built the Solar Orbiter’s magnetometer which has sent back billions of measurements of the magnetic field of the Sun and Venus.
Taskeen Ali
A committed futurist, Taskeen Ali works on space policy and champions the rights of everyone to have access to space, now and in the future.
A prominent figure in the UK space industry, Taskeen Ali works to promote and support space exploration in policy and funding. She is actively involved in promoting conservation and sustainable use of space, advocating for its accessibility for all, now and in the future.
Taskeen connects disciplines and sectors, offering innovative insights and challenging conventional thinking. Her work often includes drawing parallels between space and other nascent fields, such as quantum technology. She has been called on as a thought leader for various sectors and a wide range of organisations including the All-Party Parliamentary Groups UK Parliament, European Union, Reuters, FT, the Economist, auDA, ESA, RAeS, Catapult and the UN.
Professor Mark Sephton
Mark Sephton is a geologist working on Mars and Jupiter space exploration missions.
Professor Mark Sephton is a space geologist whose work ranges from astrobiology to the study of meteorites. He’s been involved in space missions for 20 years and is currently on the team for the Mars Rover expedition and the Europa Clipper mission looking for life on Jupiter’s icy moon.
Professor Sephton applies his space research to challenges on earth, including in the fight against climate change.
In recognition of his work, asteroid 7552 which orbits between Mars and Jupiter has been named “Sephton”.
Dr Simon Foster
Simon Foster is a space scientist researching sunspots and their impact on climate change.
Dr Simon Foster is a space scientist at Imperial College London who is passionate about outreach and introducing the exciting world of space science to as many young people as possible.
Dr Foster has a PhD in Solar-terrestrial Physics and PGCE in Science education and has over 20 years’ experience in the fields of Space Science and STEM education. His area of specialism is solar variability and climate change, using sunspot records to investigate current and historic variations in the Sun’s energy output called the Total Solar Irradiance.
Dr Sunday Popo-Ola
Dr Sunday Popo-Ola is a space engineer training the next generation of space scientists and a champion of diversity at Imperial College London.
Dr Sunday Popo-Ola is a multi-disciplinary engineer who is the Director of Imperial College’s Integrated Space Science and Engineering (ISSE) course training up the next generation of space scientists.
ISSE teaches a huge range of topics and subjects such as Planetary science, Satellite technology, Mission planning, Rocketry, space health, Space materials, Earth Observation, Space security, Space Law & History and the commercialisation of space, all of which are part of a Space scientists knowledge base.
Dr Tamlyn Peel
Teaching Fellow in Remote Medicine, Imperial College London
After managing to study for an PhD in immunology while getting away to climb mountains, Tamlyn moved from science research to teaching medical students. He mostly teaches medicine in ‘extreme environments’, such as under the sea or up mountains, where surviving and thriving is challenging – no more so than in space!
Future medical doctors will need to understand how to prepare and support humans to travel for long periods in space as it becomes more common. Some of their students go on to complete projects protecting humans from lunar and Martian dust, while others have done internships at ESA.