Bennell-Pegg, the first professional astronaut to officially represent Australia, made the comments during a Ralph Slatyer Address on Science and Society earlier this week at an event in Canberra supported by the Australasian Space Innovation Institute.
“Translating Australian talent, ideas, and research into capability remains one of our greatest challenges. So today I also want to talk about daring. About aspiration. About national confidence,” Bennell-Pegg said.
“(I want to talk) about the role space can play to help our people, ideas and industries reach further.
“In pursuing bold ideas and breakthroughs, that moment of instability that comes from a leap in the dark is necessary to move forward. We must be daring if we want to discover. To progress.
“The kind of daring I’m talking about is not recklessness. Nor ambition untethered from evidence. It is the courage to ask a basic question when we don’t know the answer. To challenge a long or widely held assumption. To attempt something never done before because it matters. It is comfort in sitting in uncertainty.
“It is the conviction to invest ahead of the curve in a capability whose full value we can’t yet predict. And sometimes, to decide that we are going to do something difficult simply because the act of trying will make us better for it.
“I think the courage to dare, to be resilient through challenging pursuits, comes from finding and fostering your awe. Not your ego.
“Awe is defined as experiencing something that moves you. Which gives you the imperative to change yourself and the world around you for the better.
“It’s being struck silent when you look out at the mountain on the horizon. The intake of breath when you lie on your back on the grass and look up at the stars. It’s that surge of childhood-like curiosity you get when you want to look under a rock or climb a tree. It’s witnessing someone achieve something great and feeling proud you contributed. Experiencing awe together in teams and across societies is shown to unify and foster positive bonds. It’s this feeling, that has meant we humans have long been explorers and adventurers, travellers and trailblazers.
“We’ve chased the horizon in every direction. Climbed higher, descended deeper, gone further. And it’s this feeling that has driven humans to want to know more about our planet and to explore and understand our world. And also to explore and understand space.
“Science is what turns that awe into discovery. And research and development is what makes it practical for society.
“Here in Australia, we are a nation of practical dreamers. Looking up has never meant losing touch with the ground, but finding our way forward.”
Bennell-Pegg advocated for the exploration of space to ultimately benefit the Earth and the continuation of stories like Australia’s very first satellite; WRESAT-1.
“When the countdown stopped and that rocket soared into the sky, it didn’t just mark a scientific milestone. It put Australia on the map as only the 3rd/ 4th nation to have its own satellite launched from its own soil,” she said.
“An achievement powered by that uniquely Australian blend of grit, practical engineering and healthy scepticism for the word ‘impossible’.
“Growing up as a kid dreaming of the stars, that story felt like legend. Today, I see it as our foundation. Those Aussies in the outback didn’t know where the technology would lead. They certainly couldn’t have predicted all the ways we use space today.
“The world wants to work with Australia because of the capabilities we’ve developed to live and work across our vast and remote land translate beautifully to space. Remote operations. Field robotics. Low data-rate low power communications. Exquisite tracking and next gen laser communications. Remote medical care. These new technical capabilities forged in the harsh space environment will then spin back out to applications here on the ground.
In addition, Bennell-Pegg advocated for the aspirational value for the next generation of Australian STEM students.
“When we talk about research we measure publications, impact, patents, economic return. These matter. But research’s greatest impacts are so much harder to measure. How do you measure the child who decides to become an engineer because they saw Roover? (or) the researcher who was inspired because they saw a rocket launch from Australian soil? We probably can't, but these impacts may be the most enduring,” she said.
“Australia’s future prosperity will be determined by the ambitions we cultivate in the minds of our people. The most important thing we build next isn’t a rocket. Or a spacecraft. It’s also not a stadium. Or a lab. It’s culture.
“A culture that celebrates curiosity. That values service. That encourages research as a form of service. That encourages bold ideas and gives people permission to aim a little higher than they thought possible. Especially our young people.
“Young people are stepping away from STEM before they realise what they are capable of. We are leaving too much talent on the launchpad. I suspect that is a symptom of something deeper. You can’t be what you can’t imagine yourself being.
“For Australia to be able to influence and contribute to address the global and domestic issues of the next years – the next century – we need every curious mind engaged in STEM. Believing they belong.
“Space is one of the most powerful ways I’ve seen to lift aspiration… Space is a gateway – a lure – into the full breadth of STEM fields. Especially for those that dream of going up there.
“What I'd like to see is that national pride translate into national confidence. There's a big difference between looking at something admirable and saying, ‘Look what THEY did’, and feeling, ‘Look what WE did.’”
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