SATLA and Melbourne Space Program's 2020 Space Law event offered students exposure to a stellar panel of lawyers exploring the use of space law to enable technological advancement, regulatory frameworks and multi-faceted use of space, and the significance of human rights and international law in how we govern space. As the 2021 SATLA Committee works to bring you new events examining the intersection between science, technology and the law, revisit our 2020 Space Law event or keep scrolling for reading recommendations to keep you thinking about worlds known and yet to be discovered.

Space 2069

Science journalist David Whitehouse surveys humanity's future in space over the next 50 years. A book to inspire imaginations while posing some hard-hitting questions, Space 2069 examines the limitations of the human body in space exploration and what we might find as we take steps closer to landing the first explorers on the Red Planet – more relevant than ever following the landing of NASA's Perseverance rover

Alien Oceans

From one of NASA's leading scientists, Alien Oceans looks at promising places to find life beyond Earth – and beyond Mars, as one of the most promising sites in our solar system. Author Kevin Peter Hand uncovers the science behind the quest to discover life in the alien oceans beyond the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and what lessons for space exploration we can find on our own planet.

Look Up

Space Journalist and Broadcaster Sarah Cruddas looks to her childhood spent staring at the Moon and stories of the space race to reflect on her passion for space advocacy. Look Up tracks stories going beyond our Earth, examines humankind's place in the in the universe and how everything from medicine to mobile phones is affected by space technology to signify the importance of space to everyone on this planet.

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) 

Acclaimed theoretical astrophysicist Katie Mack explores the destruction of the cosmos and how small tweaks to our understanding of reality can result in different futures. The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) is a witty and wild exploration of an unfamiliar physics landscape, reminding us that humans are both puny in the scope of the Universe and capable of understanding the great wonders of the world.

‘Pale blue dot’

Ceridwen Dovey critiques the use of the term 'overview effect' in her contribution to the December 2020 - January 2021 edition of The Monthly. 'Pale blue dot' spans from American writer Frank White's reflection of the phrase in the 1980s to its use in Darren Aronnofky's 2018 series, One Strange Rock, to the employment of the concept in current commercial settings. More than anything, Dovey's piece urges critical consideration of the way humans occupy space – now and into the future. For those who don't have access to The Monthly, this free 7am podcast episode focuses on 'Pale blue dot' in its investigation into the colonisation of space.

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