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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Amaresh Kollipara, Friday, 10-21-11 (58.30MB; download) -- Guest: Amaresh Kollipara. Topics: Commercial space, business management, investing, promoting, entrepreneurship, and 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 Amaresh Kollipara back to the program for a nearly two hour hard hitting commercial space business investment program. I believe this to be a must listen to program. We started our discussion with an update on the Space Angels Network, the impact of the domestic and global economic climate on the space investing potential, and what angel investors look for in a commercial space investment. We talked about business plans, boot camp to improve the plan and the presentation, as well as what membership in the Space Angels Network offers to both members (investors) and companies. We also defined a space business in the context of what an angel might look for in the broader context. Later we talked about a manned mission to Mars and I brought up the stepping stone plan we have discussed on earlier Space Show programs. Amaresh supported the stepping stone or incremental development process and had much to say about it during the program. One listener asked him what the most common problem was for space businesses and he said it was the idea that the company had the coolest and best technology, and the best CEO with a bullet proof management team. Though this perspective is widely held, it is typically incorrect. We then talked about management team track records and Amaresh suggested that being adaptable was more important than the track record. At the end of the segment, Amaresh was asked to explain the difference in angel investing compared to venture capital. In the second segment, our guest returned to the stepping stone discussion and had more to say about HSF to Mars. He talked about enabling commercial ventures that could be done incrementally by the private sector that would enhance and facilitate going to Mars. He also stressed many times the need for the private sector to do more and more rather than funding HSF on the "backs of the taxpayer." Rich sent in a series of emails about microgravity R&D & how best to get companies to value the potential. This discussion consumed much of the rest of the show as we talked about intellectual property, protein crystal growth, computer simulations, DNA, space access, costs, and more. Amaresh mentioned SETI and the confirmation of ET life as a possible driver for space development, plus he said that no matter what we are limited by the rules of physics but we need radical change in how we do things and in our technology advancement. Later in the segment, I asked about the Indian space program and their HSF as well as lunar plans. We also got an update on Earth2Orbit. Our guest repeated that he thought we were at an important inflection point. He responded to listeners asking for startup advice as well as what to study in school to be an entrepreneur. In his concluding comments, he repeated that the space vision should not be on the back of the taxpayers and we need to be enabling commercial steps to reach the goals comprising the vision. Start small, the first ten incremental steps out of a thousand and keep moving forward. Please post your comments on the blog URL above. If you want to email Amaresh, do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 22 Oct 2011 19:44:12 UTC
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Lynn Baroff, Tuesday, 10-18-11 (58.26MB; download) -- Guest: Lynn Baroff. Topics: Space policy, long duration HSF needs and realities, crew size, costs, internationalization. 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 Lynn Baroff of NASA Ames to the program. Do note that Mr. Baroff spoke for himself, not for NASA. We started our first segment by asking Lynn when we would resume human spaceflight (HSF) and mount a long duration spaceflight mission to Mars, the moons of Mars, or another destination. He said that while we were in a difficult period now, it will eventually happen but he did not know when. He went on to say HSF was hard and costly and listed a few reasons in support of his statement. First, the human race has grown up living in great weather with an atmosphere and protection from solar radiation. Next, we have water, food, fuel, and overall our environment is very benign. Thus, we have to take our environment with us both going and coming and that is a challenge. The issue of mission trades in engineering, medicine, mass, and more came up and were discussed by our guest. One of the major trades focused on was crew size. Next, trades dealing with a variety of engineering & technical options & consequences brought up before we ended the first segment. In the longer second segment of this two hour program, John from Atlanta called to say we needed advanced propulsion. Nobody disagreed but our guest talked about the costs & the research needed to develop advanced propulsion. Our next topic was the mission and the trades in place for a lunar mission, a Mars direct mission, or a Deimos type mission. We talked about the payoffs to the public sector/private sector for undertaking such a mission. Lynn then suggested that for now space exploration was on the back burner though it was conceivable that should the government spend money on space & technology, needed jobs could be created. Alice from Arizona asked for an explanation of payoffs & this caused some problems for both Lynn and me. We talked about why we do space but the reality is a payoff can be different for each person or entity. There simply is no universal payoff, including space settlement. Lynn and I then spent considerable time talking about the communication problem in the space industry with Congress as well as the public. Lynn suggested advertising, I expanded that to industry sponsored PSA announcements/PR & even put forth an idea I have thought about using Fathom Productions. Lynn talked about the need to engage the public with the mission but talked about possible failure points with such missions. As the program drew to a close, Lynn suggested it was very risky to have all the eggs for the human race in one basket and spreading the risk was and is important with space offering a possible solution to mitigate that risk. We also talked about a Bay Area AIAA event planned for Tuesday, Dec. 6 in Mountain View, CA where Lynn interviews me with audience participation. I'll furnish details of this even as it draws nearer for those of you in the area who would like to attend. Please post your comments & questions on the blog URL above. You can contact Lynn Baroff through me, drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:18:35 UTC
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Dr. Peter Westwick, Monday, 10-17-11 (49.86MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Peter Westwick. Topics: Aerospace History Project of S. California known as Blue Sky Metropolis at The Huntington Library. 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. Peter Westwick to the show. Dr. Westwick is the Executive Director of the Aerospace History Project at The Huntington Library. The exhibit is known as Blue Sky Metropolis. Visit the Blue Sky website for more information, http://huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary_02.aspx?id=9892. The website for The Huntington Library for information about visiting is http://huntington.org/default.aspx. In addition, the article we spoke about later in our discussion, "Taking Flight: The Launch Of The Huntington's Aerospace History Project" authored by our guest is at www.huntington.org/uploadedFiles/Files/PDFs/s10takingflight.pdf. During our fist segment, Dr. Westwick helped us to understand how the aerospace industry started in Southern California and why it expanded to become the major aerospace industry region for the entire nation. In addition to the excellent Southern California weather, he cited the outstanding academic institutions, research labs, a talented labor pool, initial non-union workers and a right to work industry. Furthermore, city boosters got behind the industry from the start. World War II played a role as did Hoover Dam and the buildup of our military and defense industries. Dr. Westwick talked about the commercial space business, communication satellites, Direct TV and the El Segundo area. However, the industry stretched to San Diego, eastward to Mojave, Palmdale, Edwards AFB and north beyond Santa Barbara to Vandenberg AFB. Northern California also played a role but the industry was not as expansive in the north as the south. Silicon Valley as you will hear later on also had a part as a drive to growth in this industry. Our guest provided many details of this growth starting the 1910 Los Angles International Air Meet which was the first air competition in the country. We also talked about the growth and contraction cycles of the industry with layoffs, cutbacks and then growth again. In our second segment, we spoke about the Blue Sky Metropolis Exhibit. As you will hear, it is mostly a document and photo exhibit with very little hardware other than a few items including an R 18 rocket motor, the prototype of the Hughes Syncon geo satellite, and Explorer 1 which was the first U.S. satellite. The exhibit has lots of information from the Cold War period and then up to and including New Space. We talked about the Skunk Works documents and the Ben Rich Collection, including information on the SR71. Peter took many questions about military space in California including the Sultan Sea and how the industry expanded to Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, and Downey. We also discussed the Edwards AFB test pilots plus X planes. Peter explained the connection to the surfing industry and space cowboys. This brought up the connection with aerospace and Hollywood. Silicon Valley played a role as well, especially in the early days of integrated circuits. If you can, see this exhibit before it ends on January 9, 2012. Please post your comments and questions on the bog URL above. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:37:03 UTC
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Loretta Hall, Sunday, 10-16-11 (44.51MB; download) -- Guest: Loretta Hall. Topics: New Mexico's role and contribution to space travel. 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 Loretta Hall, author of "Out of This World: New Mexico's Contributions to Space Travel" to the show. Learn more about the book and Ms. Hall at http://nmspacehistory.com. We started our discussion with Ms. Hall letting us know how and why she became interested in the topic. We then started off with the early space program history in New Mexico. Ms. Hall had much to say about Robert Goddard after his arrival in Roswell, then we moved to the early days of rocket and spaceflight testing at White Sands and Holloman AFB. We talked about John Paul Stapp, Eli Beeding and the various rocket sled programs, the animal testing programs and of course the Lovelace Clinic and Dr. Randy Lovelace with his astronaut screening profiles. Other famous people of the time included AF Captain Joe Kittinger and Dave Simon. In our next segment, we talked about the early days of animal testing for human spaceflight in New Mexico, including chimps and even Yogi Bear riding the rocket sled. More was said about Dr. Lovelace, his Albuquerque clinic, and the tests he developed to confirm the fitness of Mercury astronauts. Loretta also discussed the Mercury Manhigh Program and seven geographical locations in New Mexico used for astronaut training. We then moved forward to talk about Spaceport America near Las Cruces. This discussion opened the door for our guest to talk with us about today's space programs in New Mexico which are focused on commercial and space tourism development. In our third segment, Ms. Hall talked about the famous VLA near Socorro and told us about the improvements to the VLA and the contest going on to give the VLA a new name. You can find out more about this contest at http://www.nrao.edu/namethearray. The deadline is Dec. 1 if you are interested. As we neared the end of our program, Loretta was asked about the Spaceport America progress, road development, and different phases of its construction. I also asked her for highlight events spanning New Mexico's space history. Robert Goddard toped the list with the V2 testing at White Sands. Also, the X Prize Cup which was held in the area for several years. If you have comments or questions, please post them on the blog URL above. Loretta Hall can be contacted through her website. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:11:17 UTC
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Jane Reifert, Friday, 10-14-11 (43.42MB; download) -- Guest: Jane Reifert. Topics: Adventure travel with Incredible Adventures including space tourism. 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 Jane Reifert back to the show to discuss adventure travel, her company Incredible Adventures, space tourism, informed consent and much more. Visit the company website for details and more information about their adventure travel offerings and for contacting Jane with your questions, www.incredible-adventures.com, also they are on Facebook. We started with Jane providing us with a brief history of the company while letting us know that this month is their 18th anniversary of the first tourist Mig flight by Incredible Adventure. Jane provided us with an interesting history of the Mig flights including the Mig 21, 23, 25 & 29. Flights now use the Mig 29 and can reach an altitude of 70,000 feet which is less than what the Mig 25 could do. Jane spent some time talking about the flight options in the United States but was quick to point out the restrictions that impact these adventures here but not abroad. As you will hear, there are lots of regulations impacting adventure travel and activities in the U.S. that do not exist in other countries. I found her description of shark diving off the San Francisco coast to be fascinating, especially the cage and the regulations in place that overlay this experience. Note what she says about shark diving adventures in S. Africa and the Bahamas. For space tourism, Jane said they would be working with XCOR. They also offer an astronaut training program in Star City which can be customized to your wants, time table, budget, etc. Anthony called in from the UK and wanted to know about adventure shipwreck diving which at this time the company does not offer. Returning to the subject of space tourism, we talked about Incredible Adventures wanting offer the trips in the late 90s for flight around 2001. The delays and missed expectations are still with us as we seem to be getting closer to suborbital tourism operations. We also talked about AST certification and unknowns, high altitude balloon sky diving, zero G flights using a Rockwell Commander business jet. These zero G flights are one on one with the instructor/guide and crew as they only accommodate one passenger at a time. We spent some time discussing most of the adventures listed on their website, then in the final part of the program, we talked with Jane about her experience using waivers and informed consent agreements signed by the customer. Jane had much to say on this issue given her years of experience. If the customer does not sign the forms, there is no adventure available for the would be customer. The waivers and the form describe the risk, avoid liability for the company even with negligence, and for the most part tell the customer that he or she might die no matter what the company does or omits or fails to do. Their forms have been perfected over the years by their company attorneys. She has spoken at space conferences on the subject but not as much as possible given most conferences like her to speak about marketing to the adventure customer. I asked her about the target group for space tourism and she said it was mostly 50 and up. I also asked her about the likelihood of repeat customers. Post your comments & questions on the blog URL above. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:07:57 UTC
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Dr. Haym Benaroya, Dr. John Jurist, Thursday, 10-13-11 (62.03MB; download) -- Guests: Dr. Haym Benaroya, Dr. John Jurist. Topics: U.S. Space Policy & how it is made & funded. Human spaceflight, Congress. 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. In addition, on the blog following this article, you will find the chart we refer to in Dr. Benaroya's book on page 90, "Turning Dust to Gold: Building a Future on the Moon and Mars." You will also find the space policy outline Dr. Jurist referred to during our discussion. We welcome your feedback, criticism, and we want to hear your suggestions for improving the way space policy is made and funded. During the first hour of this program, we summarized Part 1 which was aired on Sept. 13, 2011. We then said that rather than trying to create the "perfect" space policy, we decided to address the problems within the current system for making and funding space policy. We not only outlined a few of the basic problems, but we talked about the needed payoff for those who funded the mission, either from public monies (taxpayers) or investors in a private mission. Dr. Benaroya pointed us to a chart on page 90 in his Turning Dust To Gold book which showed the corresponding rise in advanced academic degrees following NASA spending for Apollo. As this chart will be on the blog, I urge all of you to check it out. As our discussion continued, we expanded upon the idea John presented last month for an independent panel modeled to some degree like the NRC or the FCC. Dr. Benaroya added in the multiplier effect which is reported in his book at the bottom of p. 90 which references a Nature article by Bezdek & Wendling from 1992. Both John and Haym listed several examples of what they were talking about and we took our first call from John in Atlanta. As a result of John's questions and comments, Dr. Jurist went over how he thought the independent committee would work regarding funding. In the end, Congress would still be funding annually but the independent space committee would be applying those funds to the projects selected on a competitive (not pork) basis and with accountability and milestones needing to be met to keep the project going from year to year to completion. The independent committee would be composed of professionals, full time, and from all segments of the space industry from New Space to government, DOD, and traditional aerospace. In the second hour in segment two, we solicited feedback from the listeners regarding how best to refine the program we described and get it in front of presidential candidates, including possibly the remaining Republican presidential debates, as well as key members of congress and their staff members. We also talked about our publishing options once we write up the idea, connecting the dots and after listening to your feedback and suggestions. Later in this segment, Ben called in with some additional ideas along with suggestions for getting our plan in front of the Republican presidential hopefuls as well as President Obama. As Ben is in New Jersey, I asked him about space in New Jersey. We learned that the industry does not have a strong presence in the state. Before closing our program, the three of us made it very clear that we want your feedback and suggestions so don't just criticize, let us know your ideas as well. Please post all comments, questions, and suggestions on the blog URL above. Remember, any private emails I get regarding this discussion will be posted on the blog under your name as the goal is to broaden this discussion as much as possible. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:59:01 UTC
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Dr. Stephen B. Johnson, Wednesday, 10-12-11 (54.01MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Stephen B. Johnson. Topics: Systems Health Management, failure plans, human spaceflight, cost analysis and 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. For more information about Dr. Johnson and his publications as well as his new book, "System Health Management with Aerospace Applications" published by John Wiley, visit these websites: /www.uccs.edu/css/About-The-Center/Our-People/Research-Faculty/Johnson.html; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781119994053. We welcomed Dr. Johnson back to the program to discuss not only his new book but aerospace engineering systems health management and failure analysis of space systems, rockets, hardware, etc. During our first segment, Dr. Johnson said it was unreasonable to expect no failure. What was important was to have plans to deal with the failures when they happen or better yet, to detect and prevent them from happening. He said Fault Protection as it is known is a black art. He listed several examples of where and how this field of engineering has been and is used. We then moved to talking about reliability and he mentioned three main factors in getting higher reliability. The three factors were experience, creating technically reliable and simpler missions with a breakthrough such as using solids for ICBMs instead of liquid rocket motors. The third area was bureaucracy Here he said the bureaucratic oversight compensates for deficiencies in the space industry in the first two items. Don't miss this important discussion. In our longer second segment, we talked about NASA oversight along with third party oversight. Dr. Johnson talked about company internal oversight known as insight and the experience the DOD had using it and why they changed back to external oversight. John from Atlanta called in to ask if we had any advanced technology ready to go regarding space missions given all the years we have been doing things in space. I then read a portion of a listener email regarding why we just can't do a human mission to Mars in say 10 years rather than waiting for the 2033 ideal launch window. Stephen had much to say, starting with the emailer having cited Apollo as an example of what we can do. Listen to what our guest had to say about Apollo, what was already known by 1961 and why Apollo was really a development mission, not a research mission. Stephen then went on to address mission costs as a major challenge to a manned Mars mission. He believes such a mission is possible, would likely be international in scope due to the costs, but that in the end, the costs will dictate much of the parameters of the mission. We talked about the difference between research, development, and their respective budgets. Stephen was asked for the payoff for the taxpayer for spending the money to do a manned mission to Mars. He listed multiple benefits, said there was not just one benefit, but the issue of the benefits being more valuable than the costs required to go to Mars remains an unknown. He suggested an incremental plan starting with lunar development and then on to a NEO, then Mars.. Toward the end of our discussion, we talked about good fortune, serendipity in research, and if a research plan can depend on it to show up and make a huge difference in the research. Before we ended, we talked about SLS, abort systems, space tourism, and the role uncertainty plays in the engineering, policy, and financing of space missions. Please post your comments/questions on the blog URL above. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:47:59 UTC
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Josh Hopkins, Monday, 10-10-11 (22.33MB; download) -- Guest: Josh Hopkins: Topics: Human Spaceflight to Mars and/or its moons, Phobos and Deimos. 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 Josh Hopkins of Lockheed Martin back to the show to address specific issues concerning a human mission to either Mars, Phobos, or Deimos. I was assisted in this interview by Leonard David who writes for Space.com, SpaceNews, and many other publications. To learn more about a Mars, Phobos, or Deimos mission, visit the Lockheed Martin Stepping Stones website at www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/Orion/humanexplore/SteppingStonesBrochure-FINAL.pdf . Josh was a speaker at the AIAA Space 2011 Long Beach Conference on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011 as part of the Human Exploration Beyond Earth Orbit Panel. Josh delivered a talk titled " Comparison of Deimos and Phobos as Destinations for Human Exploration and Identification of Preferred Landing Sites." After the AIAA panel ended, I sat down with Josh, assisted by Leonard David, for a more detailed discussion regarding Deimos and Phobos as primary destinations rather than an initial program involving humans to Mars. During our discussion, Josh explained Mars, Deimos, and Phobos launch windows in detail, including the 15 year launch window. Frequent listeners to The Space Show will recall Mars launch windows were the topic of discussion in a recent show resulting in a considerable amount of confusion about them. I asked Josh to spend a few minutes with us to clarify our concerns and explain in detail the windows and the options they provide mission planners, including the 15 year window, going during a time of Solar Max, cosmic ray solar shielding. Josh also provided a detailed explanation as to why Deimos might be considered the first choice destination, but as we learned, even going first to Phobos has some distinct advantages over an initial direct Mars human spaceflight mission. Josh presented a compelling and factual case for the Deimos option, but does not rule out the possibility of other Mars first ventures. He explained the challenges and issues involved in the Mars first option so listen carefully and let us know what you think. During this 41 minute discussion, we also talked about the time line for being able to go Mars or its moons, going to our Moon first for learning and enabling the Mars mission, and even the NEO flyby. He also talked about the time line to the best launch window for Mars which is in 2033, and what needs to be done and at what intervals to make us ready for launch in 2033. Josh Hopkins and Lockheed Martin have done great work in thinking through the reality of a human Mars mission. This is a discussion you do not want to miss. For sure, Josh will be invited back to The Space Show as he is an outstanding resource for all of us in learning facts regarding deep space mission planning and implementation. Post your comments and questions on The Space Show blog URL above. If you want to email Josh Hopkins, please send your note to me at Drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it to him. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:42:15 UTC
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Dr. George H. Ludwig, Sunday, 10-9-11 (47.43MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. George Ludwig. Topics: Cosmic ray hardware for first U.S. satellites, Explorer 1, 3, the Van Allen Radiation Belts & 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 Dr. George H. Ludwig to the show to discuss his new book, "Opening Space Research: Dreams, Technology, and Scientific Discovery." Dr. Ludwig was the person who designed and built the actual cosmic ray experiment hardware that flew in this country's first satellite, Explorer 1. During our first segment, Dr. Ludwig started out with a quick overview of the early history of high altitude space research using early rockets, balloons and later rockoons. From the point of the opening of the space age with Sputnik 1 on Oct. 4, 1957, he told us the inside story of building the cosmic ray research equipment, Dr. James Van Allen and his work, the politics and policies used to select the Navy Vanguard rocket for our first satellite launch. He also told us that both President Eisenhower and Premiere Khruschev did not realize the significance of Sputnik but eventually Khrushchev came to realize it much quicker than Ike and thus started to capitalize on the propaganda value associated with Sputnik. We also talked about the U.S. not wanting the military involved in space as these early space projects were to be part of the international cooperative science year known as the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58. Another point made by our guest was that aviation was 54 years old at the time of Sputnik 1 and the field was pretty far advanced. He said now we have been in space for 54 years, we have been to the Moon, the planets, deep space, we have large orbiting telescopes, satellites, and we are expanding our knowledge about the universe. He compared the two 54 year periods with one another as an interesting point of common reference. In the second segment, we spent more time discussing the significance of the IGY and this early space and satellite period in our space history, we talked about the early rockets used after WW2 include V-2s, the Aerobee and others, then the high altitude balloons and the rockoons. Dr. Ludwig also went through the pros and cons with both the Vanguard and the Orbiter programs and as you will hear, there were good reasons to select the Vanguard which ultimate proved to be a successful launcher. Anthony asked some questions about Apollo astronauts and the Van Allen belts, then later he inquired about Van Allen radiation type belts around Jupiter and the other planets. In the third segment, we talked about some of the challenges faced by Dr. Ludwig in designing and making this hardware, including miniaturization, the need to consume very low levels of power, and the need to have sufficient data storage. Don't miss what he has to say about meeting these challenges. Later in this segment, he talked about the Cold War situation and the experiments to blow a nuclear bomb up in space to see if we could develop hardware and systems to detect incoming Soviet weapons. In this discussion, he explained the Argus program. One of the points he made through the interview was the amount of time it took to develop these projects. For example, he said Argus was done in 77 days. Explorer 3 was 80 days. We compared that to the time it takes to do something today. Post your comments/questions on the blog URL above. You can email Dr. Ludwig in care of me. To buy his book, visit www.agu.org/books. You can also call (202) 462-6900.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:16:15 UTC
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Tim Pickens, Friday, 10-7-11 (39.45MB; download) -- Guest: Tim Pickens. Topics: Rocket City Space Pioneers, space policy, commercial space, space business plans, making money with space projects. You are invited to comment, ask questions, & discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, & any discussion must be relevant & 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 Tim Pickens back to the program for updates with Rocket City Space Pioneers & commercial space business planning. In our first 45 minute segment in this two hour plus discussion, Tim brought us current with the Rocket City Space Pioneers Google Lunar X Prize venture. He said that there was a mixture of good times with challenging times. Their team is solid, they have a high confidence factor, they have a great business model, but the U.S. & global economies are in bad shape & it impacts everything thing & everyone. He talked about secondary payload space they want to sell to finance their plan, the Falcon 9 & possibly using the Falcon heavy. Due to the economic crisis, R&D is off, even with DOD & others. He explained the Rocket City plan/goals so don't miss this discussion. Several listeners asked about a sustainable lunar business model. Don't miss his response. Tim also had much to say about the choice of a lunar landing site. We talked about the ESPA ring & secondary payloads, plus longevity of missions beyond their expected lifespan. Tim was asked if fuel depots would be helpful to his project. He had quite a bit to say about this so don't overlook this discussion near the end of the first segment. In our second segment, I asked Tim about his upcoming talk in New Mexico at the Personal Spaceflight Symposium. Tim went into great detail to describe the supply chain problem, solutions & why he thinks this is an important approach to take to develop emerging space companies & the industry. See what you think about what he had to say. Share your thoughts with us on the blog, OK? He was asked about radiation shielding going to the Moon. The short answer was that its not such a big problem as they travel very fast & are not gone for long. He did talk about not having shielded hardware on the surface of the Moon & probably not being able to survive more than one lunar night but to shield means lots of added mass. Were he to add mass to their project, it would be in the form of more propellant. We then talked about innovation & we used Steve Jobs as an example. He told us a most interesting story about Boise speakers. Don't miss it. Based on a listener question, we returned to the topic of government funding & involvement in projects & he said it had the potential to be a slippery slope for the business. Elliott called & asked Tim if his company & he would have planned & built a lunar mission were it not for the Google Lunar X Prize. Tim's response might surprise you. Toward the end, I asked Tim, given his background, if has knew how best to talk with the space enthusiasts to minimize Kool Aid & fantasy in the industry. This started a rather intensive discussion with one of my very intense rants. At the end of the program, Tim supported Teachers in Space saying if government does fly teachers, it is a good value. He concluded his comments by saying we needed a balanced government & commercial space program & we needed to fuel innovation. Before ending the discussion, he said made in America was best. For rockets & technology, that was not yet a problem due to ITAR restrictions but we need to do this in our country to continue being the space & technology leader of the world. Post your comments or questions for Tim on the blog URL above. Visit www.rocketcityspacepioneers.com for more information on his Google Lunar X Prize team. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:12:24 UTC
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