On a chilly Monday night over 100 students (from the Junior, Middle, and Senior Schools), parents, teachers, and others from the Barker community gathered to listen to Anthony Wicht share from his expertise in the space industry. He spoke about economics, physics, engineering, policy and law and how all of these areas combine to contribute to the space industry we have today.

Anthony was full of interesting stories and facts about space technology including:

  • Satellites are just like mobile phones hurtling around space that are almost impossible to fix if something goes wrong.
  • It’s vital to take off the lens cap before launching a satellite-mounted camera into space, because you can’t do it later.
  • Australia is an ideal location for satellite communications, and even for satellite re-entry and recovery.
  • It’s often cheapest to just leave a satellite in space rather than bring it back to ground, contributing to the space junk problem.
  • You can contribute to the Space Industry regardless of the field of research or work you find yourself in.

The night ended with a series of questions from people of all ages.

Dr Matthew Hill

Dr Matthew Hill is the Director of The Barker Institute with a focus on professional learning, research, and innovation in the school.  He teaches Physics and the new Science Extension course at the School which introduces students to scientific academic research. Matthew's doctorate reflects his passion for science education focussing on Representational Fluency amongst physics students at school and university. He has published in leadership, education, and science journals and been involved in course development and teaching at The University of Sydney and The University of Western Sydney. He has also completed a Graduate Diploma in Divinity at Ridley College in Melbourne.