Back at it.

Two weeks after Artemis II splashed down, things have calmed down for me too. It was good to be back at my desk, though the Artemis energy has clearly reignited conversations about humans in space, which I'm not complaining about.

Three things this week:

The final Launchpad session

I ran the final training session of Launchpad, my year-long programme with these remarkable women, working through everything from communication under pressure to psychological resilience to leadership. They have done the work, been incredibly insightful and supportive of each other, and I'm so proud of what we’ve built together.

The formal programme is closing, but the monthly calls are continuing. I've been wondering whether to open those up more widely — a lighter-touch community for people who want to work on this stuff without the year-long commitment. Just an hour a month of support and questions answered.

If that would interest you, just hit reply.

Human Factors

Yesterday I was back at ESA's ECSAT facility in Harwell with the Spaceship ECSAT team. Last week I gave a lightning talk on Human Factors at their workshop; this week we had a follow-up conversation: where does Human Factors fit within their current projects, and where are the gaps? A fantastic discussion with a remarkable team.

The Economist

On Wednesday I had a call with the rest of the panel for The Economist's Space Economy Summit Europe, taking place in Lisbon on 5-6th May. The theme is sovereignty in space, what European independence in space actually means, and why it matters now. My angle, as always, is the human one. The systems are only as good as the people running them. If you're going to be in Lisbon, do let me know, it would be great to see some familiar faces 😄

Susan

Coming home

When I sent last week's newsletter, the crew had been in space for two days. They were still in Earth's gravitational sphere of influence, running systems checks, sleeping in four-hour shifts, dealing with a malfunctioning toilet. The moon was still four days away. Since then, the

We're going to the moon

What a week. This is a long one, but it has been a very exciting few days! On Saturday morning I was sitting at my kitchen table when my phone rang. Five minutes later I was live on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme to several million people, talking

The right stuff?

This week I went to my first ever book launch. Dallas Campbell (BBC science presenter, actor, great guy) launched Space Journal: Art, Science and Cosmic Exploration, and it is one of the most beautiful books I've ever held. It's sitting on my desk right now, and

Lessons from 60 years of human spaceflight

What 60 years of spaceflight can teach us about human performance This week I gave a talk at Airbus in Stevenage on something I find really fascinating: how the demands of human performance have shifted across six decades of spaceflight, and what that means for all of us right now.