Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
2 appearances
Space scientist studying meteorite geochemistry and extraterrestrial life; part of ESA team that landed a probe on a comet.
On the island
Eight records
This is my karaoke song, the two minutes of air guitar at the start. It has to be seen to be believed.
When the Foeman Bears His Steel
D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Isidore Godfrey
What I love about it is it brings home my family to me so much. My father, who died 15 years ago, he used to sing a lot, especially on car journeys, and we'd all join in.
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
this brings back my school days. I can see Miss Lawton, our deputy headmistress and my maths teacher, I can see her sawing away at the double bass in the school orchestra as this hymn was played.
This was the first LP I bought... And this is my favourite track, Bridge Over Trouble Water.
We started we got together in nineteen eighty one, and this is our song.
I do want to remember my workplace.
The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
National Youth Choir of Great Britain, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Benniston
The music that I like is is all harmonious and this is again a a a beautiful choral piece which which I love.
Vltava (The Moldau)Favourite
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine
I love listening to this particular movement because it's about a river and you can hear the young river and then it becomes a middle-aged river, then an older river, and it sweeps into grandeur. I just love hearing the youth turning into middle age.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:46Had you given up hope?
No, no, no, definitely never given up hope. When Feli landed in November, it had two batteries on board, a permanent battery and one which could be recharged by the sun. But unfortunately, it landed in the wrong place on the comet, basically somewhere in shadow. So we've had to wait for the comet to get closer to the sun. So the strengthening sunlight falling on Phili's solar panels has now charged up the battery. It needs 25 watts of power to actually do stuff and then communicate the results to Rosetta.
Presenter asks
1:46What did you think when you saw yourself on TV?
Oh, I was horrified. And poor old David Schuckman, who I hugged, I'm sure he flinches when he sees me in the same room as him now. When I got back, I was appalled at the fool I seem to have made myself, you know, punching the air and yelling it's landed. But in my defence, you know, we'd been waiting for a long time to do this. And since then, I have been absolutely knocked out by the response I get from people who say how pleased they were to see this unconscious and unself-conscious outpouring of joy.
Presenter asks
17:25What was it that appealed to you at the time about that job [with Colin Pillinger]?
I loved being at Durham where I did my BSc. And it was chemistry and geology. Chemistry and geology. And it wasn't until I got my degree that I realised that actually I could possibly do a PhD. And I went to the careers office and I saw this advert and it said wanted physicist or chemist or geologist or astronomer or mathematician to come to work with Dr. Colin Pillinger at the University of Cambridge to study lunar samples and meteorites. Now I'd already seen lunar samples and realised how beautiful they were. But what really attracted me to this was the job was in Cambridge because the guy who was my boyfriend at the time had got a job in Cambridge.
The keepsakes
The book
James Joyce
It's Ulysses by James Joyce. And I reckon, you know, on a desert island, I might be able to make sense of it. If I can't, I'll just tear it up and use it for sanitary purposes.
The luxury
My luxury is my flute. I'm learning to play the flute. My husband gave me the flute on my 50th birthday and I love it.
Presenter asks
21:52What problems have you had through the decades as a woman in science and engineering, in those environments that are so often male-dominated?
None. I have been very, very fortunate. I did a degree at university and I was encouraged by my tutors there. I did a PhD at Cambridge with Colin Pillinger, who probably never even considered gender, never even thought about it.
Presenter asks
32:58When you look at these incredible slivers of rock, or when you look through a telescope out at the night sky, does that reinforce your sense of where religion is?
I don't know whether it does, actually. My faith is it just permeates everything. It's just there. And so I can't separate science from it. But I'm not a creationist. I can't ever, ever be, you know, and I'm very happy with evolution and Darwinian evolution and all that sort of stuff. I think one of the most powerful documents that I've read recently was the encyclical that Pope Francis put out in mid-June about the Earth, our common home, warning of the dangers of climate change. And to me, that's where my faith comes in. We can't care for our Earth, our solar system, our universe, if we don't care for the people on it and go for social justice and all those sorts of things. It's difficult for me to articulate, but to me, it's so important. It's all bound up together.
“No, no, no, definitely never given up hope.”
“Oh, I was horrified. And poor old David Schuckman, who I hugged, I'm sure he flinches when he sees me in the same room as him now.”
“I love talking to people about science because we need more scientists, more engineers.”
“None. I have been very, very fortunate. I did a degree at university and I was encouraged by my tutors there. I did a PhD at Cambridge with Colin Pillinger, who probably never even considered gender, never even thought about it.”
“I don't know whether it does, actually. My faith is it just permeates everything. It's just there. And so I can't separate science from it. But I'm not a creationist.”