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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Bishop James Heiser, Monday, 11-29-10 (48.20MB; download) -- Guest: Rt. Reverend James Heiser. Topics: Space civilization building, Mars colonization, religion and space development. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Bishop James Heiser was our guest to discuss his new book "Civilization and the New Frontier: Reflections on Virtue and the Settlement of a New World." This book is available on the OGLF website and remember, if you buy it there, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show. Please visit www.amazon.com/dp/1891469487?tag=onegialeafou-20 to purchase this book. In our first segment, Bishop Heiser talked about building a new civilization through Mars colonization and he introduced us to his new book which consists of four essays that he delivered at recent Mars Society Conferences. We also talked about people having a spiritual connection to space and how space colonization is a type of renewal of civilization. We talked about some of the obvious problems with our system, highlighting our focus on the short term, not the long term, and on the two year cycle of power for Congress. Bishop Heiser then took us through a very brief summary of the four essays in his book. His discussion of the four essays then developed into a theme of how do we actually connect with the public because it seems that space enthusiasts largely connect with themselves, something we hear about on The Space Show programs. Reverend Heiser then introduced us to the carrot and stick approach of space advocacy. Listen carefully and let us know what you think about this approach. Reverend Heiser received lots of questions about the reception he gets from both those attending Mars Society conferences and from those listening to his talks in his church. This dialog carried over to the second segment with the lead off question by listener Becky. You might be surprised by Bishop Heiser's response. Tony sent in an email question that opened up a big discussion topic for the balance of the program. He simply asked if it would take a religious group like the Pilgrims to successfully colonize Mars? Well, this became the main theme of the discussion for the balance of the show though we also talked about ethics and the potential discovery of life on Mars and what that might mean for human exploration and eventual colonization of Mars. Don't miss this discussion. Trent asked for a clarification on what our guest meant when he talked about the frontier. As you will hear, Bishop Heiser provided us with a broad definition for the frontier and how its applied to space development. In the third segment, our guest was asked if we really could afford to think about space given all the problems we face right here on Earth. Then Tim called in and the Pilgrims were front and center for the balance of the show with lots of questions about religion going into space, fringe religious groups going to space for religious freedom and more. I believe you will find this to be a most interesting and unique discussion. Toward the end of the program, Bishop Heiser was asked about non-western cultures and religions colonizing space and he said that development could break either way. Don't miss all of his comments on this issue. If you want to send our guest a comment or ask him a question, please post it on the blog URL above and you can email Bishop Heiser at hunnius@mac.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:09:47 UTC
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Open Lines, Sunday, 11-28-10 (53.71MB; download) -- Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Space budget cuts, space property rights, space policy and more. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Our intended guest for this program, Dr. Chris McKay, had some last minute scheduling conflicts so we did an Open Lines program instead of the one planned for this date. Dr. McKay has been rescheduled to appear on The Space Show on Monday, Jan. 3, 2011 from 2-3:30 PM PST. As our Open Lines program got underway, Tim in Huntsville called in to talk about the Spanish woman making the headlines by claiming ownership of the sun. The article referred to by Tim can be found at http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8171119/spanish-woman-claims-ownership-of-the-sun. Our discussion then centered on property rights and do we need them or not for commercial space development. I also pointed out that many different registries exist where people claim ownership of every celestial body possible so what the Spanish woman was doing was nothing new. Tim wondered if such activities deter people from taking the space industry seriously. I said I doubted it but this was a vibrant discussion. Charles called in to say we had property right now and we do not need to own property in space. With Pooley on the phone, I asked him for some clarifications on his ideas of bypassing NASA as many listeners of late have been putting down his approach. See what you think of the explanation Charles gave us. In the context of the property rights discussion, we also talked about the Law of the Sea Treaty and Andrew in Tucson brought the Spitsbergen Treaty and the Svalbard archipelago as better models for the space community to use. Andrew may talk to us in detail about this treaty on our next open lines program. While addressing Andrew, I took the show to the light side by talking about the University of Arizona football game this past weekend with top ranked Oregon. Not to detract for the fine quality of the Oregon football team, I did lash out at the really horrible officiating by the refs when Oregon plays home football games. It happened again to Arizona, was widely reported in the press and as it was unfolding on national TV, the announcers were certainly on top of it - again. Seeing the replays and what these refs were doing against Arizona drove me to my comments as Andrew is an astronomer at the U of A and all of you know that I did my undergraduate work at U of A. So before the hate mail campaign comes at me from Oregon fans, my comments were not about your football team which is outstanding this year. Its about the poor quality officiating at your home games and that its tolerated year after year. John in Atlanta called in to talk about Blue Book and the old Ground Observer Corps in the context of our having mentioned on a recent show the UFO sightings over New York City and elsewhere. Later in the show, we started talking about what the Lame Duck Congress may do and about cutting the NASA budget, the Bipartisan Deficit Commission recommendations regarding commercial space funding cuts and more. Listeners brought in the possible extension of the current tax cuts and what it might mean for entrepreneurial space if the taxes were increased. We also talked about cutting entitlements as compared to space and the size and power of other lobby groups such as the AARP and NRA as compared to the efforts and size of the space community and specifically the space enthusiast community. Toward the end of the program, I went through the planned December 2010 programming scheduled for The Space Show. Please post your comments or questions on this program on the blog URL above. If you want to send a note to any of the callers or participants in today's Open Lines program, please send it to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it for you. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 29 Nov 2010 17:12:41 UTC
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Frank Stratford of MarsDrive, Friday, 11-26-10 (47.87MB; download) -- Guest: Frank Stratford. Topics: A path to undertaking human missions to Mars. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Frank Stratford, CEO of MarsDrive, returned to the program to discuss his pathway to human Mars Mission as outlined in his Space Review article of Oct. 4, 2010, "The Relevance of Mars." You can read this article at www.thespacereview.com/article/1705/1. While our program was in two segments, this will be a one part summary as the theme for this discussion was the need to answer pressing questions about a human Mars mission and this them was discussed throughout the full program. As Mr. Stratford wrote in his article and said on air, we need to clarify why we go, how we are going to go to Mars, and how we are going to pay for the human Mars mission. His overriding theme was that we have to be pragmatic, each step of the process and the mission must have benefits or as he says, a Return on Investment (ROI) separate from the actual mission. He cited possible incremental areas such as energy, hydrogen, nuclear, solar, and other areas that are likely to be developed to undertake and sustain a successful human mission to Mars. He further said that even if the mission did not work out, the ROI from advances in these sub-categories would more than pay for the mission. During our discussion, he talked about today's status of NewSpace in his pathway and its probable future role. The same for nuclear propulsion. He also suggested that the financial returns be no further out than five to ten years but that in reality, it has to be closer to five years. We also talked about space policy and the commitment to human spaceflight by our policy makers and political leaders with technology and progress flowing downward from that basic commitment. Later in the program, Frank questioned the idea of cheap access to space and making space affordable for anyone or any one nation. He suggested a strong national security component in space access and that governments may not really want just anyone or any nation having access to space. Callers and listeners had much to say about Frank's national security considerations. I thought they were valid for debris issues and space traffic and situational awareness issues but like the listeners, I questioned cheap access being blocked by government for national security reasons. You can find out more about MarsDrive and their programs by visiting their website, www.marsdrive.com. I think the path Frank has outlined in the basic stages per his Space Review article and this show is on solid grounds. Public private partnerships will be important for future Mars missions and making sure that the steps of the program produce benefits each step of the way, including ROI benefits, will assure human missions to Mars in our future. As we discussed, such a pathway in light of global economic problems and growing demands on government and the need for new industrial capabilities and growth seem to merge with many areas of common interest when thinking about and planning future human missions to Mars. If you have questions or comments for Frank Stratford, please post them on the blog URL above. You can also email Frank at frank.stratford@marsdrive.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:39:24 UTC
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Chris Stott, Tuesday, 11-23-10 (59.39MB; download) -- Guest: Christopher (Chris) Stott. Topics: Space commerce, ManSat, Isle of Man, communication satellites, Space Shuttle program. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. We welcomed Chris Stott back to the Space Show. Please visit the ManSat website for more information on his company, www.mansat.com. To learn more about the Business Man of the Year Award given to Chris Stott on the Isle of Man, please visit www.isleofman.com/News/business/article.aspx?article=30870. We congratulated Chris on being named the Business Person of the Year in the Isle of Man Newspapers Awards for Excellence. I then asked Chris to provide us with an introduction to his company, ManSat. As you will hear, this is a commercial space company specializing in the frequency and the regulatory processes for geo satellite operators. We talked about various frequencies such as the C band, KU Band, KA Band and newer spectrums, S,L, and V bands. We also discussed the new broadband satellites such as Sky Terra 1 with the company Lightsquared located in Reston, Va. A listener asked Chris about the maturity of the communication satellite industry. In responding to this question, Chris broke maturity down into several segments and issues so don't miss what he had to say. He also talked about the NewSpace industry and satellite and rocket insurance. In our second segment, we talked about the upcoming Discovery flight as his wife Nicole is one of the astronauts on the Discovery crew. Chris was asked several questions about the shuttles retiring and the safety of the shuttles. As you will hear, he does not want them to retire, he expressed strong views on shuttle safety as well as the future of our human spaceflight program and the direction our program seems to be headed. In describing the changes in our space program, he made an analogy to the direction the UK went in the 1980's when Margaret Thatcher ended the UK space program. We talked about this at length and its an important discussion. Chris believes we are on a similar path to what happened in the UK under Thatcher with similar results and this is a huge concern. Listen to what he said and see what you think. Could the British example serve as a warning to US space policy makers? Chris then told us about the Isle of Man, some of its history and why its such a strong commercial state within a state regarding the UK. Listeners took him back to the shuttle issue, asking him if there were ways the shuttle program could be kept flying rather than being retired. We then talked about economic issues and the costs of continuing with various space programs. Chris spoke about the economics of space and human spaceflight, calling for the ending of the separation with our economy and space as they should be merged. Don't miss this economic oriented discussion about space programs and policy. We also talked about his teaching space law. He offered some interesting comparisons with students in Europe and their view of private business as compared to students in Houston. Who out there is surprised? Toward the end of the program, we had several callers. John in Atlanta thought we needed a shock treatment to wake us up re space policy, Tim called in to talk about the role of government with space and wondered if we would have developed space at all without the Cold War. Greg called in to talk about space property rights. If you have questions or comments for Chris Stott, please post them on the blog URL above and you can send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I'll forward them to Chris.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:06:39 UTC
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Dr. Steven Moore & Dr. Valentina Dilda, NSBRI, Monday, 11-22-10 (45.06MB; download) -- Guests: Dr. Steven Moore, Dr. Valentina Dilda. Topic: Electrical trickery on the brain to induce realistic spaceflight effects and why this is so important. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. We welcomed Dr. Steven Moore and Dr. Valentina Dilda, researchers with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) regarding their Galvanic vestibular stimulation research on the brain to induce realistic spaceflight effects. You can read the official NSBRI press release on the experiments and findings at www.nsbri.org/newsflash/indivArticle.asp?id=454&articleID=133. In our first segment, Dr. Moore described a major problem in that 20% of all Space Shuttle landings are outside the touchdown parameters for the vehicle. It is believed that the vestibular system may be adversely impacted by spaceflight so the two doctors developed a way to electrically stimulate the brain to induce realistic spaceflight effects within the vestibular system. In talking about what the effects were like, our guests said it was described by one of the volunteers as a "two martini sensation!" Dr. Dilda reported a test group of 60 subjects not prone to motion sickness. When asked if there were gender differences, Dr. Dilda did report them but said that they were statistically insignificant. Listen to what she said about the findings of their tests. 31 was the average age with test subjects ranging from 20-55 years of age. Also, only about 10% in total stopped the experiments. Dr. Moore described the hardware used for the test as it was very portable. They even walked around a shopping center with it but they did not press their luck and try going through TSA airport screening wearing the electrodes. Near the end of this segment, we asked about mitigation techniques and remedies to the problems being researched. So far, these issues remain challenges. In the second segment, our guests talked about running the experiments on parabolic zero gravity flights but said they were disappointed with the results in that there was not much of a difference. Another question arose about countermeasures but as you will hear, they don't exist and there are not yet a series of flight protocols that can minimize the effects that were being addressed by this research. We also talked about the astronaut and research subject feedback from the experiments and the posturing swaying front to back that results from the vestibular issues. Later in the segment, the issue of these effects in lower gravity came up and our guests had much to say about this issue, artificial gravity, and more. They also said that the lack of available data on these is issues was a problem for this type of research. In our last segment, we talked about the cognitive effects and put them into the overall context of challenges to be resolved for human spaceflight missions. The major issue centers around safety as the sensory motor system is impacted by these effects. Toward the end of the program, I asked Dr. Moore about the competitive nature of funding for these types of grants and if this research would be impacted by the retiring of the shuttle and little or seldom access to the ISS. Don't miss what he had to say about this issue. He talked about their being no goals and that we would be extremely limited by the limitation on up mass to the ISS. A concern that we have lost our spark was expressed at the end of this program. For questions or comments for Dr. Dilda or Dr. Moore, please post them on the blog. You can also send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and to the NSBRI contact person, Brad Thomas at rbthomas@bcm.edu. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:40:29 UTC
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Dr. June Scobee Rodgers & Dr. Scott Parazynski; Open Lines (64.81MB; download) -- Guests: Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, Dr. Scott Parazynski. Topics: Challenger Center For Space Science Education followed by Open Lines. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Additionally, you can learn more about the topics discussed in today's program by visiting The Challenger Center website at www.challenger.org, Dr. Parazynski's website at www.parazynski.com, and the Star Challenger book series website, www.starchallengers.com. You can also purchase the book, "Moonbase Crisis" through the One Giant Leap Foundation Amazon partners website and Amazon will make a contribution to The Space Show. www.amazon.com/dp/1934857289?tag=onegialeafou-20. As said on air, this book will make an outstanding holiday gift for your child of any age. Our guests, Drs. Rodgers and Parazynski were with us for the first hour to share with us all sorts of information about the Challenger Center For Space Science Education. Having inspired over 4,000,000 school children worldwide and about 400,000 kids a year through 50 global centers during their 25 year history, this is an outstanding organization with amazing facilities and programming. Having been fortunate to attend the opening of the Challenger Center in Downey, CA during the AIAA Space 2010 conference and meeting June Scobee Rodgers, I urge all of you to visit a center near you, encourage students, teachers, classrooms, and parents to do field trips to a Challenger Center as there really is nothing finer that I have come across for teaching, inspiring, and leading kids to STEM education and space careers. As you listen to our discussion and visit the Challenger Center website, you will see why I am so positive toward this organization. During our hour with our guests, many calls and questions came in about how the Centers work, the programming, their mission manuals, even starting a Center in an area where there is currently no center. We also talked about the Star Challengers book series and the first book which is now available, "Moonbase Crisis." There will be three books in this series and the next one is due out in January. Since Dr. Parazynski is a medical doctor, he was asked about life science issues at the Challenger Center rather than a focus only on engineering and propulsion. As you will hear, Challenger Center programming does pay attention to human factors for space missions. We also talked about using metrics to follow the Challenger Center alumni to measure the impact of this training and these experiences as these students go through college and develop their careers. If you have questions or comments for our guests or about The Challenger Centers, please post it on the blog URL above. You should also direct them to the Challenger contact page, www.challenger.org/contact.cfm and reference The Space Show in your note. Questions for Dr. Parazynski can be directed to his website listed above. In the second hour, we had a vibrant Open Lines discussion, mainly about educational problems in the U.S. There was some bleed over from the Friday show on science fiction movies as well as from a few earlier programs where RLV topics were discussed. John from Montana talked about the need for having a more productive and unified space enthusiast effort with a common voice, sort of a United Way for Space Organizations. See what you think of the idea. Your Open Lines comments are welcome to be posted on the blog as well. If you would like to contact any of the Open Lines participants, please send your note through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it to the person you wish to contact. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:59:02 UTC
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Laura Delgado, Friday, 11-19-10 (55.72MB; download) -- Guest: Laura Delgado. Topics: Science fiction movies and space commerce and the impact on the public's perception of space development. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. We welcomed Laura Delgado to the program regarding her AIAA Space 2010 paper and presentation, "The Commercialization of Space in Science Fiction Movies: The Key to Sustainability or the Road to a Capitalist Dystopia?" While her paper is only available through AIAA, you can read Laura's guest blog article on this subject in Space News at www.spacenews.com/commentaries/101019-blog-popcorn-perspective-space-commercialization.html. In our fist segment, Laura put forth her thesis referencing the science fiction movies that she used to illustrate her points that the genre of science fiction movies mentioned show corporations to have surpassed or taken over the role of the state and often the corporation is hostile, disapproving of the state, and basically ruining things in space as well as on Earth. As these movies have been around for decades and are seen by millions of people, the idea is that many people form their ideas about space and private business from the films. At the same time and as evidenced by the space policy debate underway now, commercial space is portrayed differently, as essential for improving our world, not hurting it. But the space message is lost on the public in comparison to the message of the science fiction movies. There were several callers that amplified and clarified from their perspective what Laura was talking about. Additional movies were brought up that were not included in her research including Avatar, Star Trek, Star Wars, and more. We talked about why the negative image was more powerful and influential than the positive image put forth by the actual space community. In our second segment, we talked about Hollywood, the likely future for science fiction movies, how some movies such as Star Trek actually show that social problems have been solved through the true multi-cultural and racial mix of the crew and more. These are very positive statements but they do not displace the negative evil corporation in the science fiction block busters from decades ago through today. More callers called in to help us understand why this particular image of corporations and commercial space are key to the science fiction genre as opposed to the realities of the commercial space industry today. Another issue that came up that got lots of attention was the development and settling of space as a frontier. As you will hear, this model does not appeal to Laura and I referenced the previous Thalia show where Thalia told us how disconnected the frontier model was from her peer group. I also brought in the responses to this disconnection from those that support the frontier model when its been a topic on The Space Show. We spent a considerable time talking about the frontier model and why it appeals to different segments of society more than others. Toward the end of the program, the subject of images came up for how better to sell space and commercial space development as opposed to selling it based on the frontier idea. The use of warm and glowing pictures of places or things in space used much in the way the travel industry uses pictures to sell a destination was put forth. I then mentioned the power and effectiveness of using a good image and referenced the famous Earth rise picture and what that has meant for groups not so supportive of space development and how its used by groups that are engaged in promoting commercial space. If you have questions or comments for Laura Delgado, please post them on the blog above. You can also email Ms. Delgado at ldelgado@gwmail.gwu.edu. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:56:29 UTC
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Open Lines, Tuesday, 11-16-10 (78.14MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. David Livingston. Topics: NASA, air launching rockets, commercial space, human space flight regulations, what the public thinks of space and more. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Our first segment was about 70 minutes and the second was about 75 minutes so this is a longer than usual program. Initially, I put on the table several possible discussion points: 1) Flakey space projects and having a Crackpot Week on the show; 2) The Wayne Hale blog article, "The Coming Train Wreck for Commercial Human Spaceflight," 3) The Space News article by Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese: "Reality Bites: The 2010 National Space Policy," 4) Topics suggested by listener Tom Hanson including air launch, selling space based on the hoarding of rare earth elements by China, the rocket equation and relativistic mass increase, and his version of Crackpot Week. I urge listeners to read both the Wayne Hale article and the Space News article by Dr. Johnson-Freese. In addition, Wayne posted an update to his Coming Train Wreck article and I urge all of you read the updated post and keep it in mind as you hear the listener comments regarding NASA human spaceflight rules. You can find these two articles at http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/the-coming-train-wreck-for-commercial-human-spaceflight and http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/trying-to-clean-up-a-mess. You can read the Space News article by Dr. Johnson-Freese at www.spacenews.com/commentaries/101115-blog-reality-bites.html. These topics and a few others were the drivers behind tonight's Open Lines program. Dr. Jurist called in to discuss air launch and relativistic mass, and then told us his UPS horror story. I commented with a UPS story of my own, but also went out of my way to applaud Federal Express with a story I have told before on the program about their going the extra mile to deliver refrigerated meds to my son. This discussion resulted in a broader discussion about customer service in both the public and private sectors. Many regular callers were predictable letting us know that they agreed with Wayne's comments though I wish his second post had been available to us at air time. I also read parts of the Johnson-Freese article on air as I found it to be right on the money addressing important issues we frequently discussed on the program. Trent from Australia updated us on space activities in Australia, he commented on the upcoming Falcon 9 launch, the Discovery problems, a reentry license, and the SpaceX plan for tugging Dragon back to shore. Mark called in from Huntsville to give us an update on the situation there as he is a NASA contractor. We talked about the need for space infrastructure and markets which if in existence could change the dynamic of human spaceflight. The issue of the entrepreneurial and commercial companies taking federal money and being culturally changed in the process was again discussed and many listeners believe this is a risk. Charles called in to repeat his mantra that we need to bypass NASA in our commercial space development efforts. Near the end of the program, Tim called in from Huntsville to talk about air launch along with the RLV and SSP. We spent some time on RLV economics, launch rates and demand, and on the economics of SSP. I'm sure my comments will be viewed as heresy by many in the space community so I've battened down the hatches in anticipation of being raked over burning flames for not worshiping at the RLV and SSP alter. John Jurist called back to go over some of the financial and economic considerations of RLVs and to point out that the saltwater recovery of a liquid rocket motor and turbo pump is no easy thing to do. (please see the rest of the program description at www.thespaceshow.com). Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:32:50 UTC
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Dr. Peter Smith, Monday, 11-15-10 (41.17MB; download) -- Guest: Peter Smith. Topics: The search for life on Mars and Mars science missions. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. We welcomed to the show Dr. Peter Smith from the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Smith was with us for one full hour, then we took a short break and returned for a few minutes in which I outlined future Space Show programming. Our discussion with Dr. Smith focused on the history and efforts to determine if there was or is some sort of biological life on Mars. Dr. Smith explained the Viking experiments to us and then brought us current given the changes in the search for Martian life that began around six years. He spoke at length about the Phoenix Mission of which he was the PI but also about the prep work that was done in advance of the Phoenix mission. This prep work included visits to Devon Island, the Arctic and Antarctica. Dr. Smith talked about microbes and life in these desolate places and you will realize why these areas make good Mars analog sites right here on Earth. As Dr. Smith was telling us his story, he got sidetracked by listener questions and some questions from me about the next steps that should be pursued for Mars exploration. One of the ideas he suggested was to go to an asteroid and see if we could slightly move it. Don't miss this discussion as our guest was also asked about unintended consequences for doing this. He was also asked about humans going to Phobos instead of Mars. You might be surprised by his response to this question. At this point in our discussion, Dr. Smith returned to discussing Phoenix and talked about the discovery of perchlorates in the Martian soil and what this has meant in terms of the old Viking experiments and new experiments where perchlorates has been introduced to dry soil as in the Chilean desert and how it produces the same sort of data as Viking recovered. This could mean that Viking might actually have discovered organics in the Martian soil but the existence of perchlorates in the Martian soil distorted the data. The upcoming Mars Science Lab (MSL) has experiments on board to determine if organics are on Mars. Dr. Smith then talked about the discovery of methane and the efforts to track down the source of that methane on Mars. We talked about funding Mars research and the lag time as well as turn around time from getting exciting data to develop a follow up Martian mission. I asked about private sector opportunities for funding Martian science missions. Don't miss his response to this line of questioning. A listener asked about a news article saying scientists were now interested in doing a one way human mission to Mars. Dr. Smith had much to say about this idea. Another topic brought up was the use of the Mars programs to attract students to do the hard studies in science and engineering programs. You will hear what Dr. Smith had to say about this as it relates to the University of Arizona programs. Also discussed was the idea that robotics and HD Video could replace humans on a Mars mission, extremophiles on Earth and what that might mean for microbial survival on Mars, and suggestions for how best to use energy and resources for the space enthusiasts interested in humans to Mars. We also talked about searching for life on Europa as compared to Mars. We concluded our discussion with Dr. Smith telling us all to pay close attention to the MSL when it is deployed on Mars. Please post your questions and comments for Dr. Smith on the blog URL above. His UofA website is www.lpl.arizona.edu/resources/faculty/faculty-s.php?nom=Smith. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:12:04 UTC
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Dr. Mike Gruntman, Sunday, 11-14-10 (60.49MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Mike Gruntman. Topics: USC Department of Astronautics and a Soviet spy at USC pre and during WWII. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. You can also obtain all of Dr. Gruntman's book, including "Enemy Amongst Trojans" from the One Giant Leap Foundation Amazon partners book page. Remember, if you buy his books or any books from this site, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show. Please visit www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/books. In addition, please visit these sites for more information about Dr. Gruntman, his work, and the USC Department of Astronautics: http://astronauticsnow.com/SpaceEducation; http://astronauticsnow.com/courses and his highly-popular space mission educational videos http://astronauticsnow.com/vp. In our first segment, Dr. Gruntman explained the reorganization that was recently completed at USC regarding aerospace engineering and the forming of a completely new department focusing on space engineering, the Department of Astronautical Engineering. Mike explained why this was necessary, the results so far, and what this has meant for aerospace engineering students at USC and around the country. We talked about STEM education and aerospace engineering at the college level in general. He explained the USC Distance Learning program and how growth in that program and its rising importance serves an important part of the professional community. In our second segment, Dr. Gruntman talked about his new book, "Enemy Amongst Trojans: A Soviet Spy at USC." There is a remote connection to space with this story because Mike stumbled on it by accident when doing research on the possibility of Soviet ballistic missile espionage in the 40's similar to the espionage that went on in the atomic program. While Mike could not verify the existence of ballistic missile espionage with the former Soviet Union, he did discover the story about the former USC student Ignacy Samuel Witczak who mysteriously disappeared from a Southern California beach in 1945 only to show up later in the Soviet Union as Col. Zalman V. Litvin. The story that Mike tells in his book and on this show was made possible because recently several important documents were declassified in the U.S., Russia, and the UK. For the balance of our program, Mike Gruntman tells the story of this spy and his work, his return to the Soviet Union and then his fall from grace from his Mother Country as the country pursued abusive anti-Semitic policies. This is a fascinating story that you will want to hear. Mike tells how this spy and his family came from Canada using stolen passports from volunteers that went to Spain to fight against General Franco. In discussing this story, listeners asked Dr. Gruntman several questions about life in the former Soviet Union and now. Remember, from earlier appearances on The Space Show, Dr. Gruntman actually escaped from behind the Iron Curtain to America when it was still the Soviet Union so he knows of which he speaks - first hand. Later in our discussion, Mike was asked several questions about Communism, Socialism, and Marxism and could such systems be managed today without the killing and human rights violations associated with them. You do not want to miss what he had to say about this and what these systems do to the spirit and free will of individuals. We also talked about specific Soviet rocket programs and their heritage in the context of possible missile espionage in the early years. If you have a question or comment for Dr. Mike Gruntman, please post it on the blog URL above. You can also send him an email using mikeg@usc.edu. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:49:54 UTC
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