What are we looking at when we look into the skies? What is myth and what is scientific fact? This episode is going to be the very definition of multi-disciplinary ‒ we’ll be hearing from an astronaut and an astrophysicist ‒ as well as an artist, and a curator of photography. David’s first guest occupies a place within a very select group of humans ‒ those who have actually been into space. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli shares with us how this extraordinary experience was from both a physical and psychological perspective. As we discover on the episode, looking (or going) into space is often a process of considering our own planet’s position within it, theoretical astrophysicist Dr.Katie Mack puts us on the right path and gives us an introduction to astronomy.

SPOILER ALERT: Did you know the Moon is leaving us? 

Next, choreographer, artist and author Ivan Muller takes us through some of the many mythical, mystical and mind-related associations that the Moon has in a cultural context. Introducing a lunar visual history is curator of photography at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mia Fineman, who charts how humans began to visualise and capture the moon only very recently. Ending our journey into space, James Carpenter of the European Space Agency - attempts to swerve the conversion back to science, although as he explains, space exploration and geo-politics are so often intertwined.