The Space Show
The Space Show
The Space Show focuses on timely and important issues influencing the development of outer-space commerce, space tourism,space exploration and space development. The Space Show is committed to facilitating our becoming a space-faring nation and society with a growing and self-sustaining space-faring economy. The Space Show also focuses on other related subjects of interest to us all.
Station feed:  Created by: David Livingston |
Created on: 12 May 2005 Language: English |
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Kevin Sloan, Friday, 5-25-12 (45.12MB; download) --
Guest: Kevin Sloan. Topics: The 2012 Mars Society University Rover Challenge. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed Kevin Sloan back to the program to discuss the Sixth Annual Mars Society University Rover Challenge (URC). Much of the information we discussed is on the URC website, http://urc.marssociety.org so do follow along with us. In addition, while this program contains the typical Space Show three segments, our URC discussion overlapped the segments so this summary has been written without separating out the discussion by segment. We started our program with Kevin by asking about the 2012 teams and the international makeup of the teams. You can check out this year's contestants and their project websites at http://urc.marssociety.org/home/team-info. Kevin also talked about the site location which is as before, near Hanksville, Utah in the vicinity of the MDRS. As in past years, there are no facilities for visitors or those wanting to see the competition. We must wait for website pictures and news. Kevin explained the probable timing for releasing information during the challenge which runs from May 31-June 2, 2012. As with previous years, the contestants must have their rovers do four projects. These projects are described in Section 3.b of Rules & Regulations. When you go to this link, http://urc.marssociety.org/home/requirements-guidelines, click to download the data and then scroll down to 3.b. Briefly, the four tasks include a site survey task, a sample return task, a remote science documentation procedure, and an astronaut assistance task. We talked about the challenge being open to high school students, the gender makeup of the teams, potential ITAR issues for the foreign participants, and some general questions about Mars for HSF. We also talked about the Mars Society and some of its other programming. Listeners asked logistical and how to compete questions. We also mentioned the NASA news release about their receiving overwhelming new ideas for Mars missions. The URL I mentioned on air is http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/24may_newconcepts. If you have questions or comments about our discussion, please post them on The Space Show blog. If you have specific questions for Kevin about the URC, there is a contact page on the URC website for you to use. Make sure you reference his being on The Space Show.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 26 May 2012 16:58:12 UTC
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John Batchelor Show "Hotel Mars" Wednesday, 5-23-12 (4.85MB; download) -- Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. Scott Pace, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Falcon 9 launch, Dragon & the ISS, commercial space. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. During our 11.5 minute segment, Dr. Scott Pace talked about the COTS program, the Falcon 9 launch and the expected Dragon Capsule rendezvous and birthing with the ISS. We spoke about COTS expectations, the challenges still ahead for the COTS participants, commercial crew questions, and price points for Dragon which may give it a huge advantage over competition from the European and Japanese ISS cargo resupply programs and vehicles. As our segment was about end, Dr. Pace talked about limited markets at this time but that the program was designed to help expand markets and opportunities beyond those of government. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. If you want to email John Batchelor or Dr. Pace, you can do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Dr. Pace will be The Space Show guest for Sunday, May 27, 2012. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Thu, 24 May 2012 16:05:46 UTC
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Dr. Jordin Kare, Sunday, 5-20-12 (45.63MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Jordin Kare. Topics: Beamed energy propulsion updates. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed Dr. Jordin Kare back to the program for beamed energy propulsion (BEP) industry updates. Be sure to visit his website for more information, www.lasermotive.com. Our discussion started out by referencing two recent BEP studies involving NASA. The first, the Beamed Energy Propulsion Study was completed last year and was a joint study with DARPA. The newer study which is still being finalized is the NASA Ride The Light Project. As you will hear, these studies suggest technical feasibility but call into question basic economic questions such as is BEP worth it and who will pay for it. Dr. Kare and I then engaged in an interesting discussion about the NASA cost estimation compared to Dr. Kare's cost estimation. I urge you to listen carefully to this discussion. You may find as I and others did that it explains a lot regarding economic challenges to our current space programs. A listener as Jordin about the costs for a laser demo project. Jordin then estimated costs depending on the type of demo project involved. Also, Jordin was quick to point out that the economic conclusions of the studies were not the kiss of death as I suggested so again, listen attentively to what he has to say about this matter. Ben emails us wanting to know how laser beamed energy works. Jordin then described the basics of BEP, requirements for the beam to always be hitting the rocket all the way to space, and many factors related to laser launch. We talked about the hydrogen fuel, the need to be in a cloud free location, and the theoretical limits to a BEP system. Basic ISP was discussed and Jordin compared to BEP to traditional chemical rockets and different fuels. BEP is about twice the ISP of a typical chemical rocket. Dr. Kare described the three schools of thought and approaches to BEP, and as the segment ended, he responded to a question about the space elevator concept. In our second segment, Alice asked about the ease in getting federal grant money for BEP projects and we learned its not easy. A listener asked for a basic explanation of power beaming so Jordin took us through the power beaming and wireless power transmission concepts. We talked about near term commercial projects using lasers and here, Jordin directed us to his company, LaserMotive, as they are involved in several commercial projects unrelated to space. This is another interesting discussion, don't miss it. A caller asked how the laser beam is kept aligned with the rocket as it accelerates to orbit. He also asked about problems resulting from the wobble. I asked about laser launch for HSF, launch abort issues, and a listener asked about the laser frequencies used. Other subjects included the military use of lasers, migratory birds, & thin film solar panels. As our program ended, Jordin was asked look at laser launch over the near and intermediate term plus if it could be used for sea launch. Please post your comments/questions for Dr. Jordin Kare on The Space Show blog above.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 21 May 2012 03:58:37 UTC
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Todd Halvorson, Friday, 5-18-12 (48.34MB; download) -- Guest: Todd Halvorson. Topics: Upcoming Falcon 9 & Dragon launch, Florida space policy, NASA & more. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed Todd Halvorson, senior aerospace reporter for FLORIDA TODAY & USA TODAY to the show. During our first segment, we mostly discussed the upcoming Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Saturday early morning, May 19 2012. Note that Florida Today is having special coverage and programming starting at 3:30 AM EDT. To tune in, visit www.floridatoday.com. Todd detailed the coverage at the start of our next segment. Also in the initial segment, we talked about Congress, commercial crew, down selecting, the Space Act Agreement, and the U.S. human spaceflight program, such that it is a program. Also mentioned was the SLS program along with Orion, then I asked about the space coast economy per the recent 60 Minutes segment last month. Todd had much to say about the 60 Minutes Segment, especially the visuals they used. Don't miss it. Listener Jane asked about the differences in policy ideas between NewSpace and the old space crowd, especially the very well known astronauts who are most vocal in support of a more traditional NASA program. Todd had much to say about this and we talked about the future NASA as either a space tax service or an organization that explores BLEO. Another topic of interest dealt with the Chinese space program and going to the Moon. Our listener asked if Chinese space plans might start a space competition with the U.S. We then talked about the FY 13 budget for NASA and the possibility of doubling NASA's budget as proposed by Dr. Tyson. As the segment ended, we discussed Planetary Resources and sought Todd's perspective on what has been made public so far. In the second segment, Todd went into detail about the Florida Today broadcast for the Falcon 9 launch. Terry called in to ask about the ISS GPS issue and then we asked Todd to describe what happens when Dragon gets to the vicinity of the ISS. The process goes on through Wednesday morning. Another listener asked for Todd's analysis of the space program over his 25 year history of reporting space news. Our next topic honed in so the suborbital companies in Mojave, space tourism, and suborbital research. This discussion included spaceports in Florida, California, Virginia, New Mexico and elsewhere. As our program was nearing its end, we talked about Constellation, Ares 1, SRBs, Dr. Mike Griffin, SLS, and civility. In his closing comments, Todd again said we should have a space program that explores and is not a space taxi service. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email Todd through the Florida Today website. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 19 May 2012 01:58:04 UTC
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The John Batchelor Show "Hotel Mars," Wednesday, 5-16-12 (4.84MB; download) -- Guest: John Batchelor, Guillermo Sohnlein, Dr. Space. Topics: The Sea-Space Initiative, synergies with the oceans and space. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. During our 11.5 minute segment, Guillermo Sohnlein joined us to talk about the first of several upcoming Sea-Space Initiative Workshops to help develop long-term strategic plans as well as near-term tactical projects that are synergistic between the oceans and space. This first workshop takes place next week at the offices of Google, Inc. in Silicon Valley, California. For more information, please visit http://seaspaceinitiative.org. Our guest talked about both inner and outer space, he mentioned several synergistic industries, we talked about NASA’s interest in the oceans plus a host of other issues. John also asked about the Law of the Sea Treaty and the space treaties in terms of impact on sea and space future opportunities/obstacles. I will be attending the workshop and in fact am chairing the communications panel discussion. I will report on the workshop on our next open lines program. If you want to email John Batchelor, you can do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 19 May 2012 01:56:38 UTC
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Rand Simberg, Tuesday, 5-15-12 (50.98MB; download) -- Guest: Rand Simberg. Topics: Space Frontier property rights and risk aversion. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed back Rand Simberg to discuss his research paper on space property rights, Homesteading the Final Frontier (http://cei.org/sites/default/files/Rand%20Simberg%20-%20Homesteading%20the%20Final%20Frontier.pdf). In the second part of the program, we discussed his next project focusing on our being too risk averse. Our property rights discussion addressed many areas including land claims, the Outer Space Treaty, the Moon Treaty, English Common Law, royalty payments, commercial space development & enhancement, government regulation, marketable space real estate, both the Antarctica & Arctic models, & the Law of the Sea Treaty. Issues about launch country liability/responsibility were discussed & several listeners commented to Rand on his ideas, both for & con. I also strongly recommend you read his paper per the URL above as he does a good job of laying out his idea and why he believes it to be both viable and important. In the last segment, we switched topics to his newest project dealing with risk aversion. He said the working title of his new project would be "We Are Not Killing Enough People." When I questioned him about the wisdom of such an inflammatory title, he said it was meant to get attention. Listen to the discussion and see what you think. Rand & listeners cited many examples of what is believed to be excessive regulation that either already does or has the potential to limit our choices as to what we can and cannot do. I also cited examples from my own life about choosing risky things to do without having to be concerned about government regulations at the time. But Rand kept the topic focused on space as much as possible & put forth a strong case for individual choice as long as it does not impact third parties & he made a strong connection with choice to economic growth, development, & resource expansion/utilization. He also talked about the need to be free to fail and that frontiers have never been settled throughout history without the loss of life. Near the end of the program, one listener said to Rand that "life without risk is a fantasy." Our congress was a big part of the focus of the discussion & here, Rand suggested that since most in Congress don't care that much about space & most people don't either, that when we write to our representatives, our letters have more impact than usual because they so seldom here from space supporters other than those in the industry lobbying for this or that policy. Rand received lots of agreement on his risk conclusions & his idea that more people need to die to develop the frontier, but he also got strong opposition to his ideas. Bill was one who opposed Rand's ideas from a marketing & adverse publicity perspective. Jim suggested that Rand & others needed to convince the public & Congress that space was a frontier and that it was actually worth dying for in settling/taming it. For the most part, there was strong support for being less risk averse & for settling & economically developing the space frontier. When Rand's new project is published, I will be sure to call your attention to it so you can read & evaluate it for yourself. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog above. Rand can be contacted through his own blog, Transterrestrial Musings at www.transterrestrial.com. You can also comment on his Space Show appearance on his blog in addition to our blog. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 16 May 2012 16:47:38 UTC
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Dr. Harold Rosen, Monday, 5-14-12 (31.83MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Harold Rosen. Topics: SYNCOM Geostationary Satellite history. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed Dr. Harold Rosen to the program to discuss the world's first geostationary communication satellite which he created, SYNCOM. Dr. Rosen has given me permission to upload to The Space Show blog Chapter 2 from Success Stories In Satellite Systems which is an AIAA book published in 2008. Chapter 2 is titled "SYNCOM: World's First Geostationary Satellite." This is Dr. Rosen's own story of SYNCOM from idea conception to success as he is recognized as the father of the geostationary satellite. Dr. Rosen started our discussion by going back in time to the conditions and the political situation of the time. Sputnik was orbiting Earth and the advanced radar unit Dr. Rosen was working on was suddenly cancelled when it was discovered that the Soviet Union was replacing its bombers with ICBMs. Dr. Rosen's department at Hughes was now challenged to find new and appropriate technologies building upon the radar technology as it was important to keep the team employed. One project suggested was the design and development of a communications satellite system as existing communications were problematic at best, expensive, and transoceanic television was impossible. Dr. Rosen tells us how he expanded the idea, put together an amazing team to develop the concept, and how his team had to struggle and fight for sponsors, funding, and backing. One of the issues we talked about was the spin configuration and thruster development. Dr. Rosen talked about the rocket limitations at the time and how they planned on using a Scout sounding rocket. As it turned out, the Delta was being worked on and when the satellites were ready for launch, a Delta was used. In fact, once they knew that the launch would be on a Delta, they did some redesign of their satellite to add in more redundancy given the Delta could handle significantly more mass than a Scout. Dr. Rosen talked about many of the challenges including the need to have a light weight traveling wave tube amplifier. We also talked about the competing LEO comsat programs proposed at the time and Dr. Rosen had some interesting things to say about these types of systems, especially for today with modern technology. I asked Dr. Rosen why the early SYNCOM system had a five year life. Don't miss his explanation for this. A listener asked him to compare the early geo satellites to a Direct TV satellite of today. Again, you will find the comparison most interesting. This is an important part of our space history and Dr. Rosen with the team he assembled made it happen, from idea to reality. Our communications and world were forever changed because of his success. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. I will be sure to let Dr. Rosen know about blog comments. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 15 May 2012 17:24:47 UTC
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Randa & Rod Milliron with Olav Zipser, Sunday, 5-13-12 (52.65MB; download) -- Guests: Randa and Rod Milliron; Olav Zipser. Topics: Interorbital Systems update, Olav Zipser & freeflying rocket ejection. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed back Randa and Rod Milliron for updates with their company, Interorbital Systems (IOS). Visit their website at http://interorbital.com. During our first hour long segment, our guests provided us with a current overview of IOS, their rockets and their static and flight testing upcoming program. We talked about their sea launch plans, their rocket fuel which is white fuming nitric acid with turpentine/furfuryl alcohol, and their TubeSat and newly added CubeSat personal satellite kits available on their website. We learned more about their modular rocket plans along with both suborbital and orbital plans for the company. Listeners asked lots of questions about their modular rocket system, ocean launch, their choice of fuel, and the high altitude jump from their rocket planned by Olav Zipser. In the last segment of the program, Olav joined us for a detailed discussion about his plans so more about that later in this summary. We talked about the personal satellite kits and I asked if they were user friendly in terms of building them. As we learned, they do require expertise and thus are a terrific learning tool for students as well as others, crossing over many disciplines from soldering to software programming. If you or a group are interested in these kits, contact Randa/Rod for more information through their website. Some listeners asked our guests technical questions about their guidance system plans and their rocket pressure fed system. In the second segment, Olav Zipser joined us. For more information about Olav and his freeflying astronaut program which he created, visit his website at www.freeflyastronaut.com. His freeflying program which he invented for skydiving allows him to use his body as a type of "lifting body" (he cannot go up) in that he can change his positions, movements, angles, etc. to actually "fly" during his skydive. For jumping from the IOS rocket at about 40 KM (25 miles), he intends to practice the jumps from various altitudes working up to his main jump altitude in which he hopes to break the record set by Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger decades ago. Olav fielded several questions about how he intended to exit from the rocket, stabilize himself against spin, handle human supersonic flight including going into and out of supersonic flight. Olav had much to say about the need for a custom designed space suit to allow him to safely do his jump. He also explained why he was working with the Russians on this space suit design. As you will hear, flexibility is crucial to the type of space suit he requires for this jump. At the end of our discussion, Olav said that his suit design and what he learns from his jump should allow a safe emergency crew exit even for an unconscious person, giving the person a fighting chance for survival. Our program ended with a brief summary of thoughts offered by Randa and Ron, their plans to attend the CubeSat workshop which is part of SmallSat each year, plus they left us with a worthy closing statement you will want to hear. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 14 May 2012 16:56:04 UTC
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Reinventing Space Conference Interviews,Friday, 5-11-12 (60.98MB; download) -- Guests: 1st Segment: Col (Res.) Yoram Ilan-Lipovsky with George Vamos; 2nd Segment: George Vamos. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. This program consists of two recorded interviews from the Reinventing Space Conference 2012. The first interview for an hour is with Col (Res.) Yoram Ilan-Lipovsky . Yoram has been interviewed in earlier years at this conference, still serves with the IAF though he is retired, and is still part of the Israeli Space Program. We were joined by George Vamos who was attending the conference as he was most interested in Yoram's plans for air launch for Israeli satellites and missions. Col. Ilan-Lipovsky told us about his plan to use cubesats for disaster management including wild fires as well as a host of other natural and man made disasters. He talked about the interest in this project in Japan, the U.S. including the states most subject to wild fires, Europe and Israel. We went through his satellite plan, the use of air launch to quickly get the satellites up for a specific disaster, and debris issues when the small satellites reach the end of their mission. Later in this interview, we talked about space and the average Israeli, the Kepler Space Telescope and STEM issues in education in Israel and around the world. In the second segment, George Vamos proposed several questions to us and hopes that listeners to this program will offer him comments, information, or ask questions on the blog. George is looking ahead to the day when he believes there might be a government space program leaving all space exploration, including deep space exploration, to the private sector. Thus, he is looking at a new model to finance deep space missions using philanthropy. He is wondering what the price points might be for deep space mission, perhaps to Mars, and then can such a mission be financed through philanthropy. He said he realized that most of these types of missions would not support a commercial model since traditional investment and ROI objectives would not likely be met. Based on what he sees with wealthy people building wings of hospitals, cancer centers and even financing the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, he exploring philanthropy as a possible means of carrying, perhaps at a small level, meaningful deep space missions. See what you think and let him know your thoughts on the blog. He will be responding to your comments and questions. For all comments and questions regarding both segments of this discussion, please post them on The Space Show blog. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 11 May 2012 14:52:59 UTC
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John Batchelor "Hotel Mars, Wednesday, 5-9-11 (4.95MB; download) -- Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Responsive Space, Reinventing Space Conference 2012. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. During our 11.5 minute segment, John and I discussed many responsive space issues, dual use technology for DOD and the commercial industry concerning the responsive space goals of low cost launch, redundancy, backup, and the rapid replacement of space assets as needed on a case by case basis. We talked about improving technology enabling us to evolve closer to a true responsive space capability. Commercial space applications were discussed and I mentioned one conference talk about the possibility of commercializing weather satellites with the government buying the data rather than building, financing, deploying, and operating weather satellites. For more information on the subject, visit the conference website, www.responsivespace.com. If you want to email John Batchelor, you can do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 11 May 2012 14:51:12 UTC
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