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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Dr. Louis Friedman, Monday, 1-9-12 (31.20MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Lou Friedman. Topics: The Planetary Society LightSail Program, solar sails 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 Dr. Louis Friedman back to the show to discuss solar sails and his recent articles in The Space Review titled “Mind Expansion,” Nov. 21, 2011 and “The Dangers of a Rocket To Nowhere,” May 23, 2011. We started our one hour discussion with Dr. Friedman talking about solar sails and recent Planetary Society solar sail missions. Dr. Friedman gave us the basics on solar sails and explained the interest and commitment to their demo solar sail efforts and the LightSail Program. Listeners asked technical questions about solar sails, the materials used, and the radiation degradation of the materials. We talked about using only sunlight for the solar sail energy, but in the future being able to use onboard lasers and even the light from distant stars. We talked about the Phobos-Grunt mission as The Planetary Society had an experiment onboard, the Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE). Dr. Friedman described this microbial experiment and the titanium capsule it was in with the possibility of its being able to survive reentry and even being recovered though the odds are clearly against that happening. We talked liability issues regarding the debris, including LIFE, doing damage upon returning to Earth. Both Dr. Friedman and attorney Michael Listener who called in said that primary liability was with Russia based on the OST. The SLS came up as Dr. Friedman wrote about it in his above mentioned Space Review article. In talking about SLS, we spoke about mediocrity in space policy, specifically human spaceflight. I asked Dr. Friedman about the importance of connecting with the general public regarding HSF and how we could do a better job of it than what we are currently doing. I then asked Dr. Friedman to comment on his excellent “Mind Expansion” Space Review article which you can read at www.thespacereview.com/article/1973/1. We talked about the need to think big, issues facing space entrepreneurs, and a needed bridge between traditional commercial interests for entrepreneurs and thinking big and doing the new and innovative, especially if the business case is tentative or illusive. Listeners asked Dr. Friedman about today’s college students and if they were being trained to think big. As we closed in on the end of our hour discussion, I asked Lou if he thought space would be an issue in this year’s presidential campaign. He did not think it would be an issue. In our second segment which was to be Open Lines, I made an error in editing the show and lost the 50 minute segment. However, during this brief OL segment, I went over some of the key upcoming Space Show programs. Michael Listener called in to talk about the Chinese space policy. Not only did we address China and space, but I also brought into the mix some of China’s economic and banking issues which may impact their space progress. Terry Picket called in regarding my comment about asking for help in coming up with a new template for the email newsletter and my time zone comment. He offered us a time zone tool from the net and we talked about it and the various time zones across the United States including Alaska and Hawaii. I regret having accidentally cut this segment and I apologize to Michael, Terry and all of you for not being able to bring this segment to you. If you have questions/comments regarding the discussion with Dr. Friedman, please post them on The Space Show blog per the above URL. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:56:47 UTC
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Dr. Edmund Storms, Sunday, 1-8-12 (58.95MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Edmund Storms. Topics: Cold Fusion or Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) today. 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. Edmund Storms to the program for a nearly two comprehensive discussion on LENR or as it is more commonly referred to, cold fusion. Dr. Storms started us out with the history of cold fusion dating back to Pons and Fleischman on through to today. He also explained why there is now a renewed interest in the field. Jumping forward to today, Dr. Storms talked about Andrea Rossi and his E-Cat cold fusion device and demonstration, plus his special reactor units. For more information, check out these sites: www.lenr.org, and the YouTube sites listed here: www.lenr-canr.org/news.htm. While Dr. Storms provided us with the basics, it was his response to listener questions and phone calls that allowed us to dig deeper into the potential of LENR. Our program was devoted to exploring, understanding, and evaluating where the LENR field is today and what risks and challenges lie ahead before the observed phenomena is understood and can be commercialized. Dr. Storm talked about being able to replicate science but often in the early days when the research is not well understood, replication might be challenging. He also talked about the difference with scientific observation of experiments and scientific replication. Several of the listeners and callers went into detail with Dr. Storms. For example, John's call from Atlanta inquired about quantum tunneling. Charles R. called in a few times with very technical questions, including asking about the Widom-Larsen Theory Portal (http://newenergytimes.com/v2/sr/WL/WLTheory.shtml#4step). In the second segment, our friend Charles Pooley called in as a skeptic to debate cold fusion as being real, dismissing the observations and research across the board. I know you will find this short "debate" interesting. Throughout the show, listeners wanted to know about the potential application and use of a Rossi device in the U.S., both in our homes or as part of the power supplied by utility companies. We also talked about the broader uses for cold fusion in the less regulated third world. In the second segment, our guest was asked about Andrea Rossi and his track record, plus his effort to commercialize, patent, and sell Rossi devices. Later we talked about funding opportunities for LENR research, the lack of available funding from traditional sources such as NSF, and the paradigm shift required from traditionalists to realize that cold fusion may involve different processes from the well understood nuclear reaction process. In fact, you will hear several listeners resist seeing this in a vastly different light and we talked about this during our program. As you will hear, much research is needed to understand cold fusion and to validate its potential, especially its commercial potential. At this time, there is good research being done by credible scientists. When asked what we should look for, Dr. Storm directed us to follow the reviewed literature and news accounts on www.lenrr.org and the links provided on that site. This brief summary only touches upon what we discussed today. Post your comments and questions on The Space Show blog URL above. You can also follow the contact instructions on www.lenr.org. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:00:40 UTC
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Chris Luginbuhl, Friday, 1-6-12 (43.96MB; download) -- Guest: Chris Luginbuhl. Topics: Dark Skies, light and air pollution, lighting, clear night skies. 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. We welcomed Chris Luginbuhl back to the show for important updates in progress with combating light pollution and establishing Dark Skies programs in areas where one cannot see a real night sky. Our guest started our discussion by mentioning technology improvements in hardware but improvements on policy and adoption of Dark Skies programs has been less than desired. We talked about the issues involved in Dark Skies policies including building codes, economic arguments, vision issues, brighter lighting or less lighting, lighting as a marketing tool, and more. As you will hear, solid research is needed in many of these areas to be able to wisely craft policy and make effective hardware. We also talked about glare issues and shielding light so that it is directed downward. Listeners asked questions about lighting and building codes but here good, independent research is badly needed. Chris mentioned several organizations and websites for additional information. Checkout the Flagstaff Dark Sky Coalition at www.flagstaffdarksies.org. Also check out the International Dark-Sky Organization in Tucson at www.darksky.org. Terry called in to talk about the night sky picture of Earth taken from the ISS as it orbits, including the area of N. Korea which essentially has little or no night lighting. As this segment was drawing to a close, we talked about Flagstaff as a model city for Dark Skies policies and programs. Southern California light and air pollution came up in the context of limiting the capabilities of the two famous observatories, Mt. Wilson and Mt. Palomar. As we started our second segment, we talked about the various observatories in Flagstaff and asked questions about why there was a Naval Observatory Station in Flagstaff. A listener asked Chris for his opinion on funding and completing the James Webb Space Telescope and this led us to a brief discussion about the need to continue to invest in space, science and STEM education. As Chris said, such investments strongly influence our spirit and desire to look outward. While discussing the Flagstaff Naval Observatory Station, we talked about GPS and timing issues. As the program was nearing its end, I asked our guest to look forward five years and tell us what he would like to see accomplished during that time period. Chris repeated what he said earlier in that we needed real, quantifiable data and answers addressing issues of how much light is needed, does it really help deter or prevent crime, what is the effect of light on seniors or young people, does it help businesses, what levels are acceptable and what levels of lighting are not acceptable. He said issues of glare also needed to be studied and that this research should be the focus for the next five year. We took two more listener questions, one from a Toronto listener about Dark Skies programs in Canada. The other comment/question was from a New York City resident regarding the light pollution issues in the Big Apple. Here, Chris and I both came up with some ideas to raise the awareness of the issues in the City. Chris also said that even a 25% improvement would make a huge difference. This is an important discussion applicable to all of us regardless of where we live so don't miss it. Post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog URL above. You can contact Chris through the Flagstaff website.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:10:23 UTC
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John Batchelor, Drspace, Wednesday, 1-4-12 (5.94MB; download) -- Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: The recent appointment of a Russian space czar to solve Russian launch problems & space policy hints regarding the Republican presidential candidates and how they might view space development and policy. 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. The topics in this 11 minute plus segment John Batchelor Show included the appointment of a new Russian defense and space czar, Dmitry Rogozin to solve the Russian launch problems and to outline a new Russian space program through 2030. You can read about this at http://www.parabolicarc.com/2011/12/29/new-russian-space-czar-hits-ground-running. John then switched the topic to a discussion about the Republican presidential candidates likely space policy. For this discussion, we referred to a Jan. 3, 2012 Space Review article on the subject by Dr. Jeff Foust. You can read his article at www.thespacereview.com/article/1999/1. Mr. Batchelor focused his discussion on Romney, Gingrich, Ron Paul and commercial space ongoing projects. If you want to send a note to Mr. Batchelor, send it to me and I will forward it for you. Please post any comments or questions you might have on The Space Show blog URL above. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:42:35 UTC
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Mark Sirangelo, Wednesday, 1-4-12 (46.97MB; download) -- Guest: Mark Sirangelo. Topics: Dream Chaser, hybrid rocket motors, human spaceflight & 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 welcomes Mark Sirangelo of Sierra Nevada Corp Space Systems to the program to discuss Dream Chaser, hybrid rocket motors, human spaceflight, space policy, budgets and more. You can learn more about Dream Chaser at http://sncspace.com/space_exploration.php. For those of you interested in learning more on the previous NASA HL-20 concept vehicle, visit www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/HL-20.html. We started our discussion by asking Mr. Sirangelo for a brief history and overview of Dream Chaser. He talked about the lifting body design and the capabilities of a lifting body, including costs and reusability. In response to questions he did say it was meant for LEO though later in the program he discussed the potential to scale Dream Chaser up if markets warranted it. He was also asked to compare the Dream Chaser style of vehicle to a capsule. Mark was asked about the choice of rocket, the Atlas V. While he explained that choice, he also said Dream Chaser was rocket agnostic. Don't miss his comments on the rocket question. A listener asked him to clarify the current status with the SAA, the FAR, and a possible CCDEV 3 round of NASA support. Mark said there would be a round three with a call for awards in February with winners announced later in the summer. He talked about the companies going to the next level, the Critical Design Review (CDR) and what this means for NASA as well as the companies. Mark talked about the switch back to the SAA but said at some point down the road, the FAR will likely be used, probably in the acquisition stage. Again, you do not want to miss what he had to say on this important issue. Yves from Canada asked about the launch abort system for Dream Chaser and its ability to land in places and the ocean instead of a designated runway. We talked about test flights, the number of needed flights, and the view that testing is not based on the number of flights but on successfully completing the essential and needed testing/flight protocols. In our second segment, Trent called from Australia and wanted to know more about the full history and struggles for Dream Chaser up to now. This time around Mark provided us with a more comprehensive vehicle history. We also talked quite a bit about the hybrid rocket motor so you will for sure want to hear this segment. Mark was asked if the Dream Chaser hybrid was the same being used for the Virgin SS2 and he said essentially yes other than for size. He was asked some more questions about his work on SS2 for Virgin but deferred those questions to Virgin . Our guest received a few questions about the GAP, buying rides on the Soyuz, recent Soyuz issues, and speeding up the development of Dream Chaser. Harry wanted to know about using Dream Chaser for various types of orbital space tourism, and much was said about certifying Dream Chaser as safe for human spaceflight. Near the end, Robert wanted to know if Dream Chaser might be used for Point to Point travel. John from Jersey City called to ask about multiple markets for Dream Chaser. As our discussion was drawing to a close, our guest was asked about hypergolic fuels and reaction control systems and again about the thermal protection system. Please post your comments/questions for Mark Sirangelo on The Space Show blog at the above URL.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:38:36 UTC
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Michael Listner, Monday, 1-2-12 (52.73MB; download) -- Guest: Michael Listner. Topics: National and international space law issues including property rights, the Moon Treaty & 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 welcomes Michael Listner to the program to discuss national and international space law issues and related matters. We started out discussing the new Austrian domestic space law and inquiring of our guest why we should take note of this Austrian law here in the U.S. As you will hear from Mr. Listner, the new Austrian law relates specifically to the UN space treaties and plays a role in international space law. Our guest wrote a recent article on this subject in The Space Review on Dec. 12, 2011. You can read his article at www.thespacereview.com/article/1988/1. Another interesting article of his you might value is in DefensePolicy.org from July 7, 2011 and titled "TCBMs: A New Definition and New Role for Outer Space Security." You can download it at www.defensepolicy.org/2011/michlis/tcbms-a-new-definition-and-new-role-for-outer-space-security. Our discussion then focused on launching country issues and liability, satellite operations in different countries and both the Liability and the Registration U.N. Conventions. This discussion led us to talking about the European Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities and Michael updated us on the status of this voluntary agreement, both on the international front as well as here in the U.S. Other issues discussed in this segment included space debris and the Draft Russian Chinese Treaty On The Prevention Of The Placement Of Weapons In Outer Space (PPWT). We also talked about the Chinese GPS system covering Asia, its military focus, and Chinese geo political intersects. Michael then introduced us to Transparency and Confidence Building Measures (TCBMs) as alternatives to treaties. This prompted several listener questions and comments about "so called" government transparency, the word of governments, and their effectiveness so far. This was an interesting discussion, especially when I asked our guest for his personal opinion on these types of agreements. Space tourism became a subject and we spent some time on the liability issues and the states that have passed liability protection laws for the space companies. Jack from Virginia was listening and provided us with important information about the Virginia law which he largely authored and which has become a model for the laws in Florida, Texas, and New Mexico. We spent the rest of the first segment talking about liability and space tourism issues. In the second segment, Helen asked if funding levels for NASA and space interests correlated to up's and downs in space policy. As you will hear, most policy is driven by politics, not funding levels. There were lots of questions about the legality of the Moon Treaty and its applicability to commercial space, even Google Lunar X Prize contestants. We fielded questions on lunar mineral extractions as well as messing with Apollo artifacts on the Moon. We then jumped over to property rights and what this actually means regarding space issues. As we were nearing the end of our discussion, I asked Michael if space law was largely an academic field or if it was becoming a career choice field in terms of practical application. He said it was becoming more and more practical and more and more schools were offering commercial law classes. If you have comments or questions for Michael Listner, please post them on the blog URL above. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:43:39 UTC
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Sra Howard, Friday, 12-30-11 (45.34MB; download) -- Guest: Sara Howard. Topics: Sara's experiences being one of two women who worked on the Saturn V rocket. 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. The Space Show/OGLF is now engaged in its annual fundraising drive. Please see & act upon our appeal at
http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/space-show-2011-fundraising-campaign. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EACH AND EVERYONE ONE OF YOU! We welcomed Sara Howard to the program, author of "Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Moon" which is her personal story about her experiences being one of only two women engineers who worked on the Saturn V rocket. Later on Sara worked on the Trident submarine but most of our discussion today focused on her Saturn V experiences. Sara was motivated by JFK's Rice University speech, she was a math major at LSU, and got the chance to work at Michoud, Louisiana as a Boeing contractor on the team that worked on the Saturn 1-C. Sara tells us about her team, the security for those working on the Saturn V and Apollo programs, and the need to get everything right and be 100% safe. She talked about her team completing the first stage of the Saturn and the static firing tests of the 1-C in Mississippi. Her stories about the security the workers went through to enter the workplace did not seem that unusual given we were in the midst of the Cold War and our experiences with air travel today. But back then, as you will hear, this was all new to those working on the rocket. She also told us some interesting stories about what the workers did when the program was cancelled. Static tests, the love of their work, and their mission clearly drove these teams. When we started the second segment of our program, Sara responded to questions about the F1 engine tests and she relayed to us what it was like firing all five of the engines for the static test at the same time. We talked about not going beyond LEO and our guest questioned the purpose of the ISS several times during our discussion. A caller wanted to know if she ever met Von Braun and the answer was yes. Sara then told us some personal Von Braun stories. She also told us about taking a family trip as a youngster to New Mexico and seeing a rocket launch from White Sands but not knowing what it was. During our discussion she talked with us about the importance of studying math and physics and she repeated this several times over during our interview. Later in the second segment, Sara was asked for her thoughts on the private sector taking over the building of the human spaceflight spaceships and she was very supportive of it, saying government was just messing things up. I questioned her on safety issues with the private companies since she made strong comments about safety during the first segment. As you will hear, she supports the move to privatization. Toward the end, we talked about some of the chapters in her book and learned that she was never able to see a live Saturn V launch. Near the end, John called in from Atlanta about the 2.5 minute engine test firing with several questions about the burn and the engine readiness. At the end, Sara returned to questioning the purpose of the ISS & John and I attempted an answer. Please post your questions and comments on the blog URL above. You can contact Sara Howard at sara1861@gmail.com.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:11:36 UTC
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Tom Olson, Tuesday, 12-27-11 (67.17MB; download) -- Guest: Tom Olson. Topics: The year 2011 in review regarding all space issues. 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.
The Space Show/OGLF is now engaged in its annual fundraising drive. Please see & act upon our appeal at
http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/space-show-2011-fundraising-campaign. We welcomed Tom Olson back to the show for his annual yearly summary of space events. We had much to cover in this 105 minute program. Tom started out reminding us that 2011 was the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight. He told us about the banner year for Yuri's Night parties around the globe celebrating this important milestone and specifically about the even he attended in New Your City. Next, he pointed out the recent National Press Club talk given by Elon Musk on going to Mars and building the rockets to take us there, plus his recent New Scientist interview which you can read in full on the Mars Society website. Tom commented that the sky was actually falling in 2011 with two large junk satellites coming back to Earth. We also talked about the return of Phobos Grunt to earth probably in early to mid-January 2012. One of the big events we discussed for 2011 was the retirement of the shuttle. This led us to discussing the recent Chinese space rendezvous and the fact that China is now the number two launching country behind Russia having overtaken the U.S. this year. Planetary missions were part of our year in review with Vesta and Dawn, the Kepler Space Telescope, MSL with Curiosity. New Horizons continued its journey to Pluto and Explorer 1 continued beyond our solar system. Tom talked about SLS and the ORION MPC Vehicle, plus the James Webb Space Telescope and its cost issues in the context of its impact on the NASA budget. Soyuz rocket problems along with all the Russian rocket failures this year were fair game for our discussion. I asked Tom what he thought of the idea of SLS as a place holder for skill sets and technology until our space program improves. Don't miss his answer. He brought up Virgin Galactic's drop tests this year, especially the last one where trouble showed up. Making news for 2011 were NASA and space industry workforce layoffs and the successful Falcon 9 and Dragon launch. At the end of the first segment, Bigelow Aerospace was in our spotlight. In segment two, Tom led off with XCOR news, Terry called wondering about CCDEV3 and Tom suggested program winners! Don't miss his prediction. He also was asked to predict the cancellation year for SLS. Don't miss this prediction as well. We talked about the upcoming New Space Business Plan Competition for 2012, the prizes which are the largest ever, and the timing. If this interests you, make sure to stay tuned for more information. Later in the segment we began a summary of our discussion and 2011. Tom was asked about the space elevator and the Lunar Space Elevator. We wrapped up our discussion talking about growth in the space conferences even in the tough economic year of 2011. Post your comments and questions on The Space Show blog URL above.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:44:06 UTC
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Open Lines, Monday, 12-26-11 (62.79MB; download) -- Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Elon Musk New Scientist interview on his Mars plans, rocket development costs, policy issues. 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. The Space Show/OGLF is now engaged in its annual fundraising drive. Please see & act upon our appeal at
http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/space-show-2011-fundraising-campaign. We welcomed the final 2011 Open Lines program. During our two hour discussion with one break, I outlined discussion topics up front but as you will hear, one topic struck home. Listeners wanted to talk about the New Scientist interview with Elon Musk entitled "I'll Put Millions of People on Mars, says Elon Musk." You can read the full interview on The Mars Society website, www.marssociety.org/home/press/news/illputmillionsofpeopleonmarssayselonmusk. Callers honed in on the reported development costs for the Mars spaceship ranging from the $2-$5 billion. Those that called the program thought this was inadequate funding. At one point I looked up the development costs for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which so far was estimated at $32 billion. Since all of us thought a Mars spaceship was more complicated and involved in R&D than a new Boeing jetliner, listeners seemed to be more convinced that the projected costs were too low. One listener brought up the costs of military projects such as the F22, the JSF, nuclear powered carriers and submarines, etc. Another listener wanted to know if Space X was planning to open up additional launch sites to those that are publicly known. In the second longer segment, not only did the military hardware come up for cost comparisons, but John in Atlanta wanted to talk about the Space News Op-Ed by Christopher Kraft (http://spacenews.com/commentaries/111219-nasa-needs-wake-reality.html). Mr. Kraft wrote about the need to internationalize projects and make use of publicly available international hardware rather than build the SLS. Tim called in from Huntsville to talk about the Musk interview, the rocket development costs, and using space resources to lower the costs. He even suggested Elon make use of the QuickLaunch idea to put lox/kerosene in orbit for refueling. Dr. Jurist called in to talk about the human factors for a Mars mission and that they seem to be understated by the Mars advocates. Dr. Jurist speculated that it might take 5-10 years just to be able to address most of the human factor issues, not including what might be involved in implementing solutions. We then talked about Stratolaunch and air launch. We talked about the small payload capacity of the proposed vehicle and the need for multiple flight depending on the mission and the needed total payload. Our next topic was yet another Soyuz failure and what this might mean for the ISS if the Soyuz problems are not fixed. Terry called in again from Corpus Christi to talk about the Falcon 9 & Dragon flight in early February and how the success of the flight might become a driver for more commercial crew funding from the government. With Dr. Jurist, we also explored the idea of inviting a certain UC Davis aerospace engineering professor to the program to discuss horizontal versus vertical launch and reusability. I concluded this program with my own wish list for more civility within our space advocacy family and for real leadership with responsibility and accountability to emerge at all levels in Washington, DC, not just for space, but for the future of our nation. If you have comments or questions, post them on The Space Show blog URL above.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:13:01 UTC
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Dr. James Hughes, Friday, 12-23-11 (45.29MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. James Hughes. Topics: We discussed his book, "Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future," human enhancement, public & space policy, long duration spaceflight. The Space Show wishes all of you a very Merry Christmas and holiday season. 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.
The Space Show/OGLF is now engaged in its annual fundraising drive. Please see & act upon our appeal at
http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/space-show-2011-fundraising-campaign. We welcomed Dr. James Hughes to the program to discuss his new book, "Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future." Please note that we experienced telephone noise which you will hear as audio noise on this show. Unfortunately, we could not edit out the phone line background noise. Our discussion started with a focus on bio and medical ethics and an assessment of an anti-technology, anti-science movement in various segments of society and that impact policy making. In Citizen Cyborg, Dr. Hughes talks about using human enhancement and other technologies to push the boundaries of humans to improve the quality of our lives. Fundamental to being able to do this is overcoming the opposition and this was a significant part of our discussion. We had several listener emails asking about playing God by pushing these technologies and engaging in the human enhancement technologies. This took us into a discussion about God, religious and spiritual issues. I believe you will find this discussion to be most interesting. At times during our discussion we extrapolated to the space field, particularly human spaceflight. In our second segment, listener Lonnie asked Dr. Hughes to describe some of the main bioethical issues. Here, we got into animal research, morality, Apes, Great Apes, and even pets, specifically dogs. We talked about our eventual settlement on Mars or elsewhere, making modifications for us to live on Mars or another world, and the ethics of making it possible for animals to live on the new world with us. We talked about medical research, cloning, and human genetic modification, especially for space travel. One listener asked if humans were cloned and we sent the clone on a deep space mission, was that the same as sending humans. The answer was yes but you will want to hear the full discussion on this topic. Later in the segment, Dr. Hughes was asked if human spaceflight could be a leader in developing human enhancement technologies or would it be a beneficiary. Our guest said beneficiary and pointed to the main issue of needing cheap propulsion for human spaceflight. Our guest was asked about his term bioLuddites which he uses in his book. Dr. Hughes provided us with a brief history of Luddism and then we discussed the mix in society that makes up the bioLuddites. Another listener asked if cosmetic surgery was also human enhancement and we asked Dr. Hughes about his theory as expressed in his book that happiness is an illusion. Near the end of the program, he mentioned the organization of which he is the Executive Director, The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (www.ieet.org). This Space Show discussion not only addressed human enhancement technologies for human spaceflight, but also for our society in general. For those of you interested in the subject, I strongly recommend you read his book, Citizen Cyborg. Please post your comments and questions on The Space Show blog URL above.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:37:18 UTC
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