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 |
| << < 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 > >> | |
| Add this to another station |
Grant Bonin, Sunday, 7-3-11 (58.97MB; download) -- Guest: Grant Bonin. Topic: Using Smaller & Existing Launch Vehicles rather than building a new heavy lift 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. We welcomed Grant Bonin to the program to discuss his ideas on using smaller launch vehicles for lunar and Mars missions rather than developing a new heavy lift launcher. Read his recent article on this subject in The Space Review (TSR), www.thespacereview.com/article/1861/1. Grant opened with the launch/LEO bottleneck which is cost to orbit. He talked about the conventional wisdom as well as his earlier aerospace training suggesting that for human space exploration to the Moon, Mars, and even beyond, we need a heavy lift rocket. He mentioned the Aries V program which he said was for the most part reconstituted as the Space Launch System (SLS) and then he asked if heavy lift and SLS were the right answer to the bottleneck problem. He said he had changed and evolved over the past decade and that is what his TSR article was about and his thesis for this discussion. In defining the problem, he said one of the major issues includes the up front costs and higher fixed costs as there will not be a high flight rate for the rocket. He mentioned the private companies did not want to do this because of the absence of a market but when we talked about the Falcon Heavy and needing to fly only four times/year to be cost effective, he said Space X operates under a different analysis, manufacturing routines, and even paradigms from NASA and its traditional contractors. In this segment, Grant talked about the costs issues in building a new heavy lift rocket & told us how these missions could be done using existing EELVs, the Falcon 9 and depots. Charles called & both talked about the need to diversify suppliers to LEO rather than putting all eggs in one basket regardless of it being a government or a private sector basket. Grant said heavy lift could not be competitive because of all the startup and development costs & what he said earlier. Using existing vehicles avoided this cost burden. Later in the discussion, he mentioned the NASA anchor tenant concept. In the second segment, caller John Hunt suggested his 50+mt 2 stage heavy lift concept. Grant said it was not necessary & the R&D costs could be avoided by using existing rockets. John questioned the capability of existing rockets to do manned missions to the Moon and Mars. Later, Grant affirmed the flexible path as a good direction as well as his support for the COTS and CCDEV programs. Throughout the discussion both Grant and I talked about the likelihood of government programs being cancelled, even after spending billions of taxpayer dollars on them, including the new SLS Congress has mandated to NASA. Grant also mentioned that he thought Congress mandating what rocket to build to NASA was absurd. We talked about NASA dragging its feet on the project & possible senate action to compel NASA to do what is in the authorization law. I then read some quotes confirming NASA's position to move forward on SLS as recently reported in the Washington Post. Our discussion then switched to the goals of our space program which Grant said was settlement. We talked about this during the program but he returned to the subject as our discussion was ending. He said settlement had to be the long term goal of the program & at times during our discussion, he took issue with destination goals such as going to Mars. If you have questions or comments for Grant Bonin, post them on the blog URL above. Grant can be reached by email at grant.bonin@utoronto.ca. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:42:03 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
Lucinda Land, Friday, 7-1-11 (46.13MB; download) -- Guest: Lucinda Land. Topics: The Mars Society and the upcoming 14th Annual International Mars Society Conference. 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 Lucinda Land, Executive Director of The Mars Society to update us on the organization and the upcoming conference scheduled for August 4-7, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. Visit the conference website for more information, registration, and hotel information, www.marssociety.org/home/join_us/convention. We started out talking about the main keynote speakers. Most of these speakers can be seen along with a short bio by visiting www.marssociety.org/home/join_us/convention/marsconv2011speakers. As Lucinda tells us about each speaker and their planned talk, you will see that this Mars Society Conference covers many interesting Mars related topics as well as cutting edge space exploration topics such as the Kepler Mission, Mars Science Lab, and more. Lucinda also told us about some of the specialty panels including nuclear propulsion, radiation, microgravity and more in the multi-track program. Lucinda went over the full range of networking opportunities along with the details for the reception, banquet, and outreach program. Later in the discussion, listeners asked about the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and how to participate as crew. The same for FMARS located at Devon Island. Conference registration details were provided along with the hotel information for the Embassy Suites Grapevine in Dallas. The registration rate increases on July 20 so if you can be there for this year's conference, you want to be sure to register before then to get the Early Bird rate. Near the end of our discussion, Lucinda talked about the two other Mars Society Conferences, The Australian Mars Exploration Conference in Perth, Australia July 23-24, 2011 and the European Mars Convention in Neuchatel, Switzerland from Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2011. Another important point Lucinda made about the conference dealt with the Steering Committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon. This meeting is open for all to attend as you do not have to be on the Steering Committee since its open to conference attendees. If you have comments or questions about our discussion, post them on the blog URL above. You can email specific Mars Society and conference questions to Lucinda Land at lucinda@marssociety.org. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 02 Jul 2011 15:35:32 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
Jim Maser, Thursday, 6-30-11 (33.32MB; download) -- Guest: Jim Maser. Topics: Issues relating to our national aerospace industry and workforce. 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 Jim Maser, president of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), to discuss U.S. aerospace industry & workforce issues facing our country. You can read some of his comments on these issues: http://defense.aol.com/2011/06/19/crisis-grips-americas-space-program-as-shuttle-era-ends; www.dodbuzz.com/2011/06/21/pas11-a-warning-from-the-rocket-men; & www.pw.utc.com/media_center/executive_speeches/jim_maser_03-30-2011.asp. Note that our program was one hour without a break. Mr. Maser started our discussion with a concise summary of the problems facing our aerospace industry today, including a short history lesson on how we got from the 1960's to the space program of today, plus the differences between eras. Mr. Maser talked about the retiring of the Space Shuttle, the loss of about 10,000 jobs, and the uncertainty that exists today in not knowing what comes next. We addressed space policy issues with the White House, Congress, and segments of the space industry. At one point referring to Shuttle in 1972 with a gap, he said gaps are pretty much required in the transition from one government program to another but unlike in 1972 when we knew what we were transitioning to, now we don't know what we are going to be doing. This uncertainty is not good for business, strategic planning, employment, investment, and progress. Later in our discussion, we talked about old space, traditional aerospace, New Space, & Commercial Space. Jim suggested we really need to be focusing on Future Space, the new model that makes both commercial and civil space more effective and efficient. It allows for both segments to be effectively developed. At another point in our conversation, he addressed issues of launch demand & elasticity. Here, he referenced his experiences while at Sea Launch. Later on we talked about new industries going to LEO and the ISS, freeing up NASA to do what it can do best, taking us beyond LEO to deep space, Mars, and more. In talking about commercial launches, he went over demand, risk, and both fixed and variable costs. We also spoke about Department of Defense (DOD) space and its connection with NASA and civil space, plus the importance to our nation of these segments. Political leadership was discussed and a listener even asked Mr. Maser for his thoughts on some of the comments to his articles posted on blogs. Later in the segment, he talked about Pratt Whitney energy development projects built upon space technology, competition for engineers among different segments of the engineering community, and the importance of STEM education for our future. He also told us about the hypersonic work going on at PWR. As we neared the end of our discussion, Mr. Maser said it was possible that we were facing a day of reckoning. Another listener asked if he thought New Space & commercial space development would create an amount of jobs equal to those being lost at this time. Don't miss his answer to this question. In conclusion, Jim talked about Apollo and the Shuttle programs as part of the great heritage of our country. He said we needed to move forward to create the next great space programs for our future and there is urgency in doing this. If you have comments or questions for Jim Maser, post them on the blog URL above. I will forward email to him if you send it through drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:54:55 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
Dr. Robert (Bob) Zubrin, Tuesday, 6-28-11 (59.54MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Robert (Bob) Zubrin. Topics: Human spaceflight to Mars 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. Dr. Zubrin has completely rewritten in book, "Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must" and it became available this date. You can buy this completely updated Case for Mars from the OGLF Amazon partners page using www.amazon.com/dp/145160811X/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=onegialeafou-20. If you buy it using the OGLF link, Amazon makes a nice contribution to OGLF/The Space Show. Our two our discussion with Dr. Zubrin was in two segments. We started with Dr. Zubrin telling us what was new in his book. He had some very interesting observations. For example, the robotic section was very different from when he wrote the original book 15 years ago, but this was not the case with the human spaceflight section of the book. From this discussion, Bob covered lots of topics including Mars rovers, the upcoming Mars Science Lab mission and he even talked about funding the Vasimr project. He compared & contrasted funds for this project to no funds for nuclear propulsion research. Dr. Zubrin spent considerable time talking about the need for a mission and he compared and contrasted a mission driven program to what we have seen unfold for decades with ISS, the shuttle, and existing hardware. For example, we have an ISS, what can we use it for? The same for the Space Shuttle. Funding for projects that would eventually be cancelled seemed to be the name of the game. This brought up space policy, leadership & courage. He said the bright spot in all of this was the private sector space development, specifically Space X. From here, Dr. Zubrin talked about heavy lift, partial heavy lift, and how essential it was for going beyond LEO. We talked about challenges awaiting a manned Mars mission. Bob had much to say about engineering issues such as landing big payloads on Mars as well as human factors issues, specifically microgravity on the human body. Don't miss this discussion with Dr. Zubrin citing examples supporting what he was talking about such as WW2 bomber pilots, hypoxia, and the use of O2 masks. In our second segment, Bob described both Mars Direct and Mars Semi-Direct. He detailed the Falcon launches, the time lines, the use of the Dragon capsule with inflatable's attached to it, and the available power for the mission, all starting around 2018. When asked for the action plan to get the program going, he said courage was needed and we talked about that while also discussing the need for new systems, technology, etc. Listeners were calling and asking him questions during the program. He was also asked about the push for international cooperation for manned missions. He also got a question on fusion energy since he mentioned his experiences working in the fusion field. You might be surprised by what he had to say & his suggested time lines for fusion reactors. Bob was asked about the Orion capsule as compared to Dragon and for his thoughts on a Moon base. Phobos missions came up & he went into detail as to why he believes a Phobos mission is dumb. A listener asked about space solar power and low cost launches to LEO. Bob explained why he is not supportive of SSP and then shifted to the Transorbital Railroad idea to get launch costs to LEO down to around $20/lb. He concluded by saying that history was not a spectator sport and we must make things happen. Post your questions and comments on the blog URL above. If you want to email Dr. Zubrin, do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:29:24 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
Laura Delgado, Sunday, 6-26-11 (70.00MB; download) -- Guest: Laura Delgado. Topics: Space policy, the frontier analogy, Cold War space 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. 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 Laura Delgado to discuss the marketing of human spaceflight as a frontier or as part of the Cold War. Do read her article on this on SpacePolicyOnline.com at www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/images/stories/commentary_on_NASA_history_conference_final.pdf. During our first segment of this 2 hour 15 minute program, Ms. Delgado introduced us to the topic based upon her having attended a NASA and National Air & Space Museum conference on key milestones in human spaceflight (HSF) over the past 50 years. Among the issues participants brought into question at the conference included the applicability of using the frontier model for advocating space HSF development as well as making space policy based on left over policies from the Cold War. Ms. Delgado hit many nerves during this program, both in support of her position and from those challenging her. Our toll free line was ringing nonstop and I was even picking up emails from listeners complaining that the line was always busy. What a switch for Space Show listeners, demand for the phone over email! I certainly tip my space cadet hat to Laura for driving a passionate and quality discussion on these issues. Three big Saturn V cheers for Laura and her inspiring appearance on The Space Show this afternoon. Among the topics discussed in the context of Laura's SpacePolicyOnline commentary and her on air analysis, we talked about toughing it out for astronauts, a one way Mars trip, international displeasure with the frontier model, old west mythology and romance, plus much more. One of the key points that Laura made was not to stop the frontier model but to be aware of the potential negative impact it has on groups of people that are or can be interested in space as its not a universal positive analogy. We talked about broadening the base for getting people interested in space, not narrowing the base with a "my way or the highway" approach. We also talked about being better listeners and finding out what motivates a particular audience so that space advocates can resonate with the audience in question. Our second segment was the very long segment and in it we talked about the trend and even the need for international cooperation in HSF, even talking about the Paris Air Show policy statements made on this subject. Funding issues came up and we went over how NASA is funded and how it uses it money. A few listeners challenged Laura on her thesis, also on the point that international cooperation is preferable as the listeners indicated that international cooperation would be more costly and worse than our typical space funding of projects. We drove home the point that even international programs required quality leadership and management. Later in this segment, we clarified the frontier metaphor and talked about different types of frontiers including the technology frontier. I believe you will find this discussion as interesting, informative and fun as did all of the listeners participating with Laura via email and their phone calls. Post your comments and questions on The Space Show blog URL above. If you want to email Ms. Delgado, send your note to me and I will forward it to her. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 27 Jun 2011 03:02:27 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference, Friday, 6-24-11 (36.87MB; download) -- Guests: Bob Dickman; Wayne Hurwitz. Topics: The AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit along with the International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference. 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 welcome Bob Dickman, Executive Director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and Wayne Hurwitz of Northrop Grumman to discuss this upcoming conference and AIAA programming with us. Visit the conference website at www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=230&lumeetingid=2424 for more information and registration. This conference will take place at the San Diego Convention Center from July 31-August 3, 2011. Note the special tour on Wednesday afternoon, http://aiaa-mjpc11.abstractcentral.com/planner re the "Renewable Energy Research Promotion and Implementation in San Diego" tour. Our one hour program (followed by a brief open lines list of topic suggestions) started with Gen. Dickman providing us with a brief AIAA and conference overview and history. As you will hear, this is primarily a technical conference with approximately a thousand scientists, engineers, academics, and others in attendance, delivering technical papers and talks. The key conference theme this year is "design, test, and fly." Gen. Dickman told us about keynotes including General Sheridan and Elon Musk of SpaceX. We also talked about the luncheon programs and speakers and the exhibits in the Exhibit Hall representing both groups supporting the conference. There are special hotel rates and early bird as well as student and retired rates for attending the conference. One early listener question asked about hypersonics and as you will hear, this topic is covered on Monday with a key X-51 panel. We then talked about the technical aspect of the conference and the networking opportunities which are abundant. There is also a commercial panel Monday afternoon featuring several panel members from the New Space industry. Later in our discussion, we talked about the Wednesday afternoon tour mentioned above. As you will hear, a certain number of participants is required for this tour so make your reservation for it early. The tour cost is $40 and can be paid for at the time of your conference registration. Among the many listener questions, one dealt with the Call for Papers for the 2012 conference. The Call for Papers will be announced at this year's conference so for those attending, you can get the information there, otherwise from the AIAA website. Our two guests fielded several questions about advanced and breakthrough propulsion being addressed at the conference. Additional inquiries dealt with international space programs and the space activities of other nations. You will hear that this conference has a growing international aspect to it. Also note that there are participating education credits available for classes on Thursday and Friday after the formal part of the conference ends. Near the end of our discussion, another program we learned about was the Engineers as Educators Workshop designed for training engineers and others to go into the classroom to teach and inspire kids about space and related topics. This free training program is Tuesday evening, 7-10 PM (www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=230&lumeetingid=2424&viewcon=other1420&id=1420). The final segment contains a list of possible topics for the next Open Lines program on July 5. For questions or comments, post them on the blog URL. If you have a question about the conference or specifically for one of our guests, send it to me for forwarding. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:15:00 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
Dr. Bruce Cordell, Tuesday, 6-21-11 (56.78MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Bruce Cordell. Topics: Future trends in space exploration and technology as determined by Maslow Windows looking at the past 200 years. 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, do visit Dr. Cordell's website, http://21stcenturywaves.com. The article referred to near the end of our discussion is part of an email I got from Dr. Cordell after the program which I have uploaded to The Space Show blog. We started with Dr. Cordell giving us a brief overview of Abraham Maslow and his famous Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs & how it can be applied to space exploration. As Dr. Cordell's research looks at long term trends over 200 years, he has been able to identify great exploration booms, including space exploration booms tied to economic booms. He cited many examples including our exploration of the north and south poles, Lewis & Clark, and more recently the decade of the 1960's. He also pointed out that the economic booms followed great recessions, citing the 1890's followed by a very large economic boom only to be ended by World War 1. Dr. Cordell pointed out that these economic booms changed the mood of the people who became drivers for the great explorations & technology developments. These periods of great economic booms created ebullience within the population & that made all the difference in the world. You will hear Dr. Cordell speak to the needed ebullience throughout our discussion as that awesome feeling is a key ingredient needed to launch a great exploration like space exploration. During our discussion, Bruce had much to say about the economic cycles, including the one we are in now. Leadership was a major topic of our discussion. Bruce said our leaders are forced into prosperity leadership regardless of who gets elected. According to his trend analysis, the next Maslow Window will be the 2012 election but could also be in 2016. Listen to his explanations for his trend analysis both in this first segment & in the second segment. In our second segment, Marshall asked about his wish lists of space projects & how each fit into the Maslow Window, wondering which one might be the driver for the others. Our guest had much to say about the type of project that drives the great exploration, including a discussion of Macro-engineering projects (MEPs) like the Panama Canal & the ISS. He then pointed out that usually something huge like war terminates the Maslow Window period. Among the wish list projects Marshall mentioned was space solar power. We got sidetracked into an SSP feasibility discussion when I asked our guest how the economics of a project as well as needed technology impacted a project as a driver. This led to a digression on SSP and a subsequent phone call from Tim wanting to take me to task for my comments on SSP projects not being able to close a business case. Eventually we got back on topic with Dr. Cordell who indicated that when there is needed technology advancement for an MEP, it comes about automatically as part of the project being developed. Another listener asked about the Moon and a future Maslow Window, especially given the discover of water on it. We had much to say about leadership in this segment. We also talked about the stimulus money & investment in projects like SSP. Tim called back to ask about economic theories. In concluding, Bruce said we have no choice but to engage in long term thinking & planning. If you have questions or comments, post them on The Space Show blog. You can email Dr. Cordell at Bruce@21stCenturyWaves.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:12:02 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
Dr. Robert Hienz, Dr. Pete Roma, Monday, 6-20-11 (44.34MB; download) -- Guests: Dr. Robert Hienz, Dr. Peter Roma. Topics: Neurobehavioral and Psychosocial Factors for long duration spaceflight crew safety. 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 on this subject and other research projects sponsored by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), visit their website at www.nsbri.org. We welcomed our two guests, Dr. Robert Hienz and Dr. Roma to the program. In our opening, our guests talked about the work of Dr. Jo Brady since before even NASA got started dating back to the 1950's. Dr. Brady trained space monkey Able and Baker and later with Project Mercury, he trained the chimps Ham and Enos to function in space. You do not want to miss this discussion and tribute to Dr. Brady and his outstanding career and contributions to human spaceflight. Our guests then began describing the research they do regarding neurobehavioral & psychosocial factors for crew safety in long duration spaceflight. We talked about the Mars 500 study, the importance of analog environmental studies, and more. Our guests also discussed some of the techniques available to mitigate some of the problems encountered by long duration crew. Among the tools talked about, long term and lots of planning were at the top of the list. We also talked about communications and the delays as the crew goes deeper into space. We learned the need to keep the communications short but to pack lots of data and information into the communication package. At the end of the first segment, we talked about emotional support on the long durations and we addressed emotional support animals as well as plants. In our second segment, team performance was discussed as was group cohesion. Our guests told us about the experiments that study how people do in these areas in closed groups and simulated experiences. We learned for example that most of the tests are video game like which helps to cross over language and culture barriers. Our guests received many questions drawing upon parallels with submarines and other established group organizations. We talked about the probable command structure of a long duration mission and compared it to the military structure in a submarine. This brought our guests to discuss leadership and different types of leaders, looking at what may be preferable for the long mission to Mars. Family influence was another topic and after much discussion, our guest indicated than an option may be to have a crew less connected to Earth given the amount of time the crew will be gone along with the uncertainties of the trip. Questions came in about those wanting to go to Mars, even on a one way trip. Don't miss what our guests said about astronauts being asked about going on a Mars mission. You will hear it said that anyone not an astronaut, including our two guests, would be totally naive about spaceflight and a potential Mars mission. Our two guests defined long duration for us in this segment. You might be surprised by the definition. Other topics discussed near the end of our program included microgravity and its impact on behavior, food & nutritional variables and how the research studies are evaluated. At the end, I asked about time lines. In summary, we agreed that it would be more likely that the engineering & propulsion issues would be worked out prior to the behavioral & medical issues. For more information on this subject, visit the NSBRI website. Post your comments and questions on blog URL above. If you want to email either of our guests, send your note to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:31:14 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
Dr. John Hunter, Sunday, 6-19-11 (88.24MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. John Hunter. Topics: Quicklaunch, LLC, hydrogen gas guns, propellant depots, Mars exploration. 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 Dr. John Hunter, co-founder of Quicklaunch, LLC to update us on the progress of his hydrogen gas gun for launching cargo to space, including propellant. Among the goals he talked about were Mars exploration & propellant depot supply. For more information about Quicklaunch, LLC, visit www.quicklaunchinc.com. Dr. Hunter gave us a brief introduction to hydrogen gas guns and Quicklaunch. As you will hear throughout this discussion, lots of numbers and technical terms are used so I recommend you listen to the discussion with pencil and paper in hand if that is possible. As we moved forward in the first segment, we talked about why use hydrogen, the cost of hydrogen as a fuel, and how it is used as a propellant. We talked about using the gas gun for sea launch but also demo shots from White Sands and the role Adak, Alaska will play for going to the ISS. In response to listener Paul, Dr. Hunter said they were hoping for costs under $500/lb. to LEO. Dr. Hunter spoke a lot about big dumb boosters, Space X, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy. He was encouraged by the progress being made by Space X and said everyone wins with competing launch programs. Later in the program he thought it might take five more years or so to determine which system is more cost effective, the hydrogen gas gun or a Space X Falcon rocket. Dr. Hunter described the "sweet spot" for cargo at between 100 and 1,000 lbs. Harry asked about the differences in his approach and magnetic rail guns. We talked about the differences, including the need for large amounts of real estate with the magnetic gun. Dr. Hunter then introduced us to the need for downrange safety for these systems. John then mentioned that Quicklaunch now had a Facebook page so for those of you on Facebook, search for Quicklaunch and befriend the company. They will be sending out weekly update reports and will be using Facebook for some of their correspondence. John then talked about impulse launch, & sonic booms over water as compared to land. Marshall asked about escape velocity and the rocket assist. We started the second segment with an email from Charles stating that the gas gun would not work. He said basic physics made it impossible on 3 ground so don't miss what he said: This email produced a detailed back and forth with John and Charles. John urged him to run the numbers and check out http://www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/td/td2003/gilreath.pdf. Since the show aired, others have contacted me & have been crunching numbers getting similar results to what Charles said. I have encouraged everyone doing this analysis to post their work on the blog. Don't miss the discussion on these issues during this segment. We also talked about drag which our guest said for simplicity was composed of is composed of form drag, skin drag & base drag. I asked Dr. Hunter for his top challenges & he listed two in this segment. John Hunt from Atlanta called in, we talked about the Delta V with the rocket motor, the choice for liquid rather than a solid, and the front loading of the gun. Marshall sent in another note about the work by Gerald Bull. As the program was nearing completion, we talked about the funding for Quicklaunch, conference presentations, and more. If you have comments or questions for Dr. Hunter, post them on the blog URL. If you are using Facebook, befriend the Quicklaunch page. Dr. Hunter's email address is jwhunter2004@yahoo.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:25:13 UTC
|
| Add this to another station |
Taber MacCallum, Friday, 6-17-11 (45.38MB; download) --
Guest: Taber MacCallum. Topics: Life support issues for human spaceflight. 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 to the program Taber MacCallum, CEO of Paragon Space Development Corporation, to discuss the current state of life support for human spaceflight long duration missions. Check out the Paragon website for more information, www.paragonsdc.com. We started our fist segment by discussing Biosphere 2 as Taber was a founding member of the Biosphere 2 Design Development, Test & Operations team as well as a crew member. We extrapolated lessons learned to the ISS and space travel. We also talked about our progress toward having a true closed loop life support systems for space and Mars travel. I asked Taber how important a closed loop system was for going to Mars so don't miss his answer. I then asked a series of questions submitted by listener Tony concerning the Biosphere 2 oxygen absorption being considered a "failure of biological closed loop life support systems." Taber had much to say about what a failure meant for Biosphere 2 as well as the O2 problem. He did not see problems and Biosphere 2 difficulties as failures. Tony also asked about using algae for a possible Martian closed loop system and if this were now possible. Taber addressed what it would take to have a closed loop system on Mars and various scenario timelines. Tony was further interested in Garbage Warrior and Earthship Biotecture but our guest was not familiar with this subject. Later in this segment, Taber talked about the need to have bioregenerative systems and to use the ISS for testing technology. In fact, this was a theme that came back throughout our discussion. I then asked our guest for his own action plan for developing closed loop life support to facilitate humans to Mars. You do not want to miss this discussion. Also what he had to say about the Orion capsule under development and its importance to deep space human exploration. He made the point of saying that deep space was very different and separate from LEO. Taber then talked about leadership issues and he told us about the Gabrielle Giffords Earth and Space Leadership Fund (www.gabriellegiffordsleadershipfund.org). Our guest received many listener questions about Bigelow space stations and the life expectancy of the ISS. We started our second and final segment with a request from Carl to compare and contrast Orion with Dragon. Taber did a good job doing the compare and contrast, don't miss it. We also talked long duration spaceflight mental issues and I mentioned touchable holograms for the future as being developed by Japanese researchers (www.switched.com/2010/07/27/japanese-researchers-invent-holograms-you-can-touch). Our next topic was artificial gravity and the need for this research on the ISS. Toward the end of the program, Taber gave us an update on the SUSTAIN Technology Roadmap as he was a part of the SUSTAIN effort and all of us are still working to get the roadmap released to the public. In his closing remarks, he said it was nice that we had Darwinian Competition going on in commercial space. In his closing comments, he told us to quit fighting about space policy. We need to unite with a policy and move forward in developing outer space and human spaceflight. The fighting about policy and this and that is far too self-destructive for the space community. Umm, where have listeners heard that message before? If you have comments or questions for Taber MacCallum, post them on the blog URL above. You can email Taber at tmaccallum@paragonsdc.com.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:09:19 UTC
|
| << < 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 > >> | |