Overview
It's time to talk about science. Year after year, Sydney is overtaken by a free celebration of the unseen force that guides our life and universe. The Sydney Science Festival is returning in force for 2024 with a series of insightful events and activations by Powerhouse across Sydney.
With the festival just around the corner, let's take a look at the various events to catch, plus where to find them.
Powerhouse Castle Hill, image by Hamish Mcintosh
Saturday, August 10 — Castle Hill Science Day
If you have any young and curious minds in your life, the opening event of the Sydney Science Festival 2024 is the perfect occasion for you and any junior scientists you know. Taking place at Powerhouse Castle Hill from 10am — 4pm, the day will be packed with activities and events organised around the celestial themes of this year's festival.
Some events run all day, like Sky Broadcasts, where you'll be able to work with artist Lauren Brincat to create messages to be sent to space; there's also Star Emissions, an activity led by artist Michaela Gleave that'll see you interpret the views of telescopes from Sydney Observatory into a star map.
You could also learn about the search for signs of life on Mars, listen to readings of well-known books Stellarphant by James Foley and Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers at 10.30am, 11.30am, 1pm and 2pm, or join tours of the museum and storage facility throughout the day.
Susmita Mohanty at the 2006 Mars Desert Research Station. Courtesy: Susmita Mohanty
Tuesday, August 13 — Space for Earth with Susmita Mohanty and Celestial Emu
Tuesday night will see the first keynote speech of the festival take place, with UTS hosting a night of fascinating conversations between two experts. This keynote event keeps your eyes trained on the sky with a conversation between Dr Susmita Mohanty and Professor Janna Levin.
Dr Mohanty is a leading voice in the world of commercial spaceflight, with the unique claim as the only entrepreneur to found three space companies on three continents. Her greatest achievements are founding the first space startup and space think tank, respectively, based in India.
She'll be joined by Professor Janna Levin, the Claire Tow Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Columbia University. They'll be discussing Dr Mohanty's work, India's growing space industry, how to build habitats on new worlds, and the tech powering the future of spaceflight.
'Celestial Emu', 2023, directed by Olivia Costa, courtesy of Powerhouse.
Also kicking off on Tuesday night is Celestial Emu, a ticketed arts event that runs for two nights at Sydney Observatory. This event is an exploration of First Nations knowledge and storytelling regarding the night sky. The evening involves a screening of Celestial Emu, a short film about the Emu Constellation, a dark space of 'dust lanes' between the stars of the Milky Way galaxy.
There'll also be sky tours (pending cloud cover), a conversation with artist Gail Mabo (daughter of legendary Torres Strait Islander land rights activist Eddie Mabo), a performance from Wiradjuri/Gadigal performer and songwriter Akala Newman singing in Gadigal and a Powerhouse pop up shop.
Still from 'Unseen Skies', 2021. Directed by Yaara Bou Melhem
Wednesday, August 14 – Our Crowded Skies with Moriba Jah, Trevor Paglen and Dagogo Altraide
Aside from Celestial Emu, which continues this evening, Wednesday will see another keynote talk take place, this time hosted in Parramatta Town Hall. With the focus still firmly locked on the skies above, Our Crowded Skies will be a conversation between three experts regarding the growing cloud of junk and satellite objects above Earth.
The guests for this event include Moriba Jah, an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas, and the Chief Scientist at the space company Privateer. He'll be joined by Trevor Paglen, an American artist, geographer and author who specialises in the topic of mass surveillance and data collection. Leading the conversation is Australian content creator Dagogo Altraide, aka ColdFusionTV, who develops science documentaries on his YouTube channel.
Together, the panel will discuss the cloud that encircles Earth (invisible to the naked eye) and what it contains, from the debris we left there to the 'invisible' satellites that watch our every move.
Dr Susmita Mohanty and crewmate at Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, USA, Crew #26. Courtesy: Susmita Mohanty
Thursday, August 15 — Passport to Space with Susmita Mohanty and Maya Nasr
Thursday night will move the conversation to Parramatta Town Hall. Dr Susmita Mohanty will return for her second panel of the festival, this time joined by Dr Maya Nasr for Passport to Space. They will tackle a question of particular importance in a world where space is becoming readily accessible: is space travel accessible for everyone?
As mentioned, Dr Mohanty is a leading voice in the cutting-edge space industry and brings her expertise from multiple ongoing projects to any space-focused conversation. Her fellow guest, Dr Nasr, is a US-based remote sensing scientist of Lebanese descent, who has worked in NASA for projects like the Perseverance Rover, Cassini-Huygen spacecraft and OneWeb.
Together, they'll discuss their careers and achievements, the challenges they've faced and their shared vision for the future of space exploration — all to envision an industry that offers improved representation and opportunities for all.
Xin Liu, image by Steve Boxall
Friday, August 16 — Bodies in Space with Katherine Bennell-Pegg and Xin Liu
The Friday night will see the final keynote of the festival take place at UTS, with a conversation on space and our place in it, with more of an emphasis on the latter this time. The experts for the evening are Katherine Bennell-Pegg and Xin Liu, and they will joined by returning moderator Professor Janna Levin.
Katherine Bennell-Pegg is the Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency and the first-ever Australian woman to become a certified astronaut after graduating from the European Space Agency. Her fellow speaker, Xin Liu, is an artist and engineer with titles and credentials at institutes all over the world, experience in zero-gravity performances and the proud (former) owner of a wisdom tooth sent to space.
Moderated by Professor Levin, the duo will discuss their work and experiences, comparing knowledge to build a clearer picture of the many effects that zero gravity and space have on the human body.
Family Science Day 2023. Image: Andy Roberts
Saturday, August 17 — Family Science Day
Ending as it began, the Sydney Science Festival concludes with another day for the whole family, co-presented by Powerhouse and City of Parramatta. Taking over Parramatta will be a hands-on program of scientific activities and discovery for all ages across Parramatta Square PHIVE Parramatta and Parramatta Town Hall.
At PHIVE, you'll be able to meet and chat with leading scientists from Western Sydney University and UTS, learn about poetry and have a go at your own space-themed piece of writing, get an intro to coding with robots and learn just how hard it is to build in space (with a little help from Minecraft).
Meanwhile, at Parramatta Town Hall, astronaut and Australia's leading space advocate Katherine Bennell-Pegg will talk all about her life, career and her recently fulfilled childhood dream: become a certified astronaut.
And finally, at Parramatta Square, you can catch live demonstrations from Western Sydney University students, engineers and researchers on their work on cognitive neuroscience, AI and space technology or a live robotics demonstration by students and engineers from the UTS Robotics Institute between 10am — 3pm.
Sydney Science Festival will take place across various Sydney venues from Saturday, August 10 to Saturday, August 17. Registration is essential for all events. For more information and to register for events, visit the website.
Top image: Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Courtesy of Collins Aerospace.