Tue 05 May, 2018

Space is the Place

Joe and Dave, living at HMP Leicester, have been part of the team putting together a brand new show for National Prison Radio all about space.

“When you’re in prison, you find yourself with a lot of time on your hands to think about yourself, your life and the world around you.

“Sometimes those thoughts can take you to some quite profound places – thinking about the endlessness of the universe, how small we are, how the universe began.

“So we came up with Space is the Place, a new series of shows on National Prison Radio, made here at HMP Leicester. 

“With the help of Leicester’s National Space Centre, we’ve managed to line up a panel of cutting edge researchers, experts and scientists. These include investigators on the Cassini Mission to Saturn, and a scientist studying comet samples from NASA’s Stardust mission.

“The programmes are introduced by comedian Robin Ince, sidekick of physicist Professor Brian Cox on BBC Radio 4’s science show The Infinite Monkey Cage. But all the questions are from people living in HMP Leicester. 

“Leicester is the hub of the UK space industry, home to the UK’s largest planetarium, and a hotbed for the National Space Program. So if you are scratching your head thinking why HMP Leicester has turned into a branch of NASA, there’s your answer. 

“Space is the Place was put together by the staff in HMP Leicester library. The first four programs will focus on science, and will be broadcast during the month of May.

“We’ve learned about how we observe our 14 billion year-old universe, about the great discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Keplar mission, which has found numerous planets around other stars.

“We’ve questioned the experts on why we spend billions of pounds putting satellites into orbit.

“We also ask the big questions: are we truly utterly alone? And if not, where might we find life, in the vastness of the cosmos? It’s got to be out there, right? 

“Space is the biggest of subjects and we are certain that there is something that is going to grab the imagination of NPR’s listeners. It certainly grabbed ours.”