Irishman Aidan Cowley, is Science officer at the future missions lab in the European Space Agency’s Astronaut Centre. He never believed that he could be a part of space activities growing up, as much as he loved that idea. He attributes the change in his career path to his professor and mentor at Dublin City University where he earned his PhD in Materials Science. Focussing on future lunar missions, Aidans leads a team who research how to make best use of the resources on the moon for human survival. Niamh believes that Aidan is Ireland’s likeliest candidate for astronaut if the country invested in ESA’s Human spaceflight programme. In this weeks episode this humble, talented scientist chats with Niamh from his home in Cologne (due to lockdown) about the importance of having mentors and keeping dreams alive.

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Humans of Space was produced by Catherine Cunning and Mark Gardener of Ox4 Studios, Oxford and music by Tom Beasley. To find out more, and to subscribe for further episodes, go to www.niamhshaw.ie for further details. Follow Niamh on Twitter & Instagram at @dr_niamh_shaw.

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