Episode 1504: Space Debris Risks – Perception vs. Reality With a Little Human Nature Thrown In

Talking Space

Talk about risky! This time around, the two cousins are being left alone to see what mischief they can get up to. Good thing there’ll be an adult in the room.

Mark Ratterman and Larry Herrin are joined by our guest, NASA’s Dr. Mary K. Kaiser, to discuss the omnipresent issue of space debris. We are “flexing” once again from our usual format to bring you a wide-ranging discussion that will cover how scientists objectively calculate risk versus subjective risk perception; dealing with Low-Probability/High-Consequence Risks; and the realities of basic human nature. How does all this relate to the issue of space debris and the world’s willingness to do something about it? We’re about to find out!

As mentioned, our guest for this discussion is Dr. Mary K. Kaiser. Dr. Kaiser spent 30 years as a research psychologist in the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames Research Center. She now serves as a consultant to the Human Factors Technical Discipline Team at the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC). This fascinating scientist spends her days worrying about things as diverse as subjective risk perception and innovative spacecraft instrument display technologies. She has authored or co-authored dozens of scientific papers, holds two patents, and is the self-published author of a novel, “The Muse of Kill Devil Hills,” available now on Amazon. Then, see and hear Dr. Kaiser’s NASA NESC Academy presentation on “Miserable Risk Estimation: "Managing" Low-Probability, High-Consequence Risks" here.

If you want to hear even more about Dr. Kaiser’s very interesting career, keep listening after the main podcast for a big Easter egg’s worth of conversation we left there for you!

Let us know what you think of our new “flexible” format and your thoughts on this week’s show. You can always reach us at [e-mail] .

Show recorded 5-15-2023.

Host: Larry Herrin

Panelists: Mark Ratterman

Podcast Editor: Larry Herrin

Gene Mikulka, Sawyer Rosenstein and Dr. Kat Robison will be back.