Prof Michele Dougherty talks about space missions and her first telescope

An Imperial scientist who is leading missions to Saturn and Jupiter has been awarded a prestigious Research Professorship by the Royal Society. Professor Michele Dougherty FRS is the Principal Investigator for the magnetometer instruments for two major outer planetary space missions: the NASA Cassini spacecraft, which is in orbit around Saturn; and the European Space Agency JUICE spacecraft that is due to go into orbit around Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, in around 2030. The Royal Society Research Professorship, announced today, provides long-term support, enabling world-class scientists to focus on their research. Appointments are usually made for up to ten years. Just two Research Professorships have been awarded this year, with the other going to Nobel-prize-winning physicist Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov FRS. Laura Gallagher caught up with Professor Dougherty, who is based in the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, to find out more about her exciting career and how she got here. When did you first become interested in science? "As a young child my dad built a telescope, and he ground the mirror himself, and my sister and I mixed the concrete for the base of the telescope.