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. Robert (Bobby) Braun, Friday, 11-12-10 (49.91MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Robert (Bobby) Braun. Topics: NASA technology for the future. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. In addition, please visit the NASA Chief Technologist website at www.nasa.gov/offices/oct as this website has the details to many of the programs and projects Dr. Braun discussed on the show. In our first segment which was about 75 minutes, Dr. Braun explained the Office of the Chief Technologist, its reporting parameters, its purpose, and the type of programs under its jurisdiction. He described the past and current status of Research and Technology (R&T) within NASA and how that is now changing and will continue to change into the future as more emphasis is put on R&T. He explained how they solicit ideas, the competitive nature of the program, and the two main areas, grand challenges and road mapping. Listener questions came in via email addressing the use of tethers, nuclear and advanced propulsion, and heavy lift rockets. Other email questions dealt with new technology changes for robotic missions and DARPA TTOs. Dallas called in to ask Dr. Braun for the top three technologies.. John also called in to talk about affordable and reusable first stage rockets and as you will hear, Dr. Braun said that reusability was useful if it contributed to more affordable space access. You don't want to miss this discussion. I asked Dr. Braun about technology partnerships with other governmental agencies such as DARPA and DOD as well as other national space programs as long as ITAR did not block such partnerships. Later in the discussion, we extended this question to partnering with private, commercial corporations with the profit motive. This is another important discussion you do not want to miss. Dr. Braun and I also talked about suborbital research opportunities and then I asked Dr. Braun about student as well as professor feedback regarding the new directions and changes being implemented in NASA and our civil and commercial space industry. Dr. Braun had much to say about this subject. Additionally, we talked about the need for government programs to show more stability and credibility over time than they currently do. Also, NASA and the space industry in general must do a better job of communicating the importance and need for space development to the public and to members of Congress. Other topics included heavy lift and propellant depots, and then I asked him about landing high mass payloads on Mars given his previous appearance on The Space Show last year regarding his paper on this subject. As you will hear, progress is being made on landing high mass payloads on Mars, but its still a huge challenge, especially for human missions. Toward the end of the show, Dr. Braun outlined his space vision for the future. We concluded the discussion with a segment on risk tolerance. Dr. Braun made it clear that this issue is vitally important to our space program development, both on the robotic and scientific side as well as the human space flight side of NASA. He talked about adopting more of the DARPA model and the need for NASA flexibility concerning risk tolerance. There was a short second segment for Open Lines for listeners to discuss the interview with Dr. Braun. I also used this segment to tell the audience about upcoming programs. Nancy called in with some heavy lift questions and I answered with my own opinion regarding shuttle derived systems but right now there is so much uncertainty until the FY 11 program is actually funded and in place and until we get a good handle on the new incoming Congress, that our future gazing crystal balls are fuzzy at best. If you have a question or comment for Dr. Bobby Braun, please post it on the blog URL above. You can also send your comments to bobby.braun@nasa.gov. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 13 Nov 2010 17:54:41 UTC
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Derek Webber, Tuesday, 11-9-10 (46.62MB; download) -- Guest: Derek Webber. Topics: Space tourism, aviation and rocket history per his book, "The Wright Stuff: The Century of Effort Behind Your Ticket to Space." Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. In addition, Derek's book can be purchased on the OGLF Amazon page and Amazon will make a contribution to The Space Show. Please use www.amazon.com/dp/1926592174?tag=onegialeafou-20. Derek's website has lots of free information on it so take a look, www.spaceportassociates.com. In our first segment, Derek explained how he wrote the book in that he had to go backwards from today to 1903 in order to explain where we are today and how we got to where we are. As you will hear, he documents both aviation and rocketry back to 1903, the 1927 Lindberg flight across the Atlantic and more. He has lots of photos to support his information, some of which are rare. He also attended the Personal Spaceflight Symposium and Spaceport America runway dedication in Las Cruces, NM a few weeks back and he shared his thought with us on that, specifically the two mile runway in the middle of nowhere. When asked if he had updated his market research for the earlier Futron-Zogby Report, he said that he did not see a need to update it. Listen to his explanation for this. He also talked about the categories he used in the book for Aviators, Rocketmen, and Xmen. Taking risk was a common theme throughout this segment and the entire interview. Additionally, he told us some stories from his experiences as a docent for the Smithsonian. One story about a 12 year old and the Apollo 11 capsule was disconcerting since the kid had never heard of our having gone to the Moon. Derek received questions about the price for suborbital tourism coming down and the regulatory regime now in place for space tourism and how it might change in coming years. In our second segment, I asked Derek for the most influential US presidents that facilitated the growth of both aviation and space. On the aviation side, he said presidents did not lead but if he had to pick one, it would be FDR. For space, he said JFK stood out as did Bush 43. Listen to his reasons for making these selections. Tim in Huntsville called to ask questions about HOTOL and Reaction Engines with Dr. Alan Bond. Derek had much to say about Dr. Bond and his projects so don't miss this conversation. Later in this segment, Derek did say that the suborbital industry was "unstoppable" as he mentioned the various contenders in the developing industry. When asked about European companies, he mentioned the EADS project but we both questioned if it would ever be developed. In the context of EADS being able to make a space tourism plane, I brought the DHL Airbus 300 SA-7 missile attack from 2003 and the plane was able to be landed, a testament to both the Airbus and the DHL flight crew. We started the third and final segment with Derek telling us about the "Wright Stuff Awards" on page 151. Here, Derek issued awards to the heroes of each chapter in his book. He then received a listener question asking about the frequent comparisons of the space tourism industry to the days of barnstorming and also the DC3 era of flight. He got another question asking him if anyone on one of his Smithsonian docent tours ever challenged him our having gone to the Moon. As you will hear, Derek has never had that happen but the Smithsonian trains the docents to respond to that question. See what you think of that training to enable a response to someone saying we never visited the Moon. You can learn much more about space tourism and the subjects discussed today from Derek Webber's website. Please post your comments on the blog URL and send them to Derek at dwspace@aol.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:59:51 UTC
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Chris Carberry, Artemis Westenberg, Monday, 11-8-10 (45.79MB; download) -- Guests: Chris Carberry, Artemis Westenberg. Topics: Explore Mars, Inc. projects and humans to Mars programs. 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 back Chris Carberry, Executive Director of Explore Mars, Inc. and Ms. Artemis Westenberg who is the President and a Director of Explore Mars, Inc. We started our first segment with Chris bringing us up to date on Explore Mars programs since he was on several months ago introducing us to the new organization. You can find out more about all of these programs by visiting their website, www.exploremars.org. The first project discussed was the Mars Educational Challenge, a program in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association and The Planetary Society. This program challenges science educators in the U.S. to create Mars related curricula and support materials for students. We also asked Artemis about the support for human Mars missions in the Netherlands and across Europe. Another program our guests talked about involved programs to discuss how best to use the ISS to advance humans to Mars missions. The organization wants to expand these meetings to Europe and other key space fairing countries. Many questions came up regarding space policy and the direction the U.S. may be taking with regards to Mars missions. International cooperation and efforts were stressed by both guests throughout the program. Other topics discussed in this segment included closed loop environmental systems, Mars analog bases, and insitu resource utilization. Toward the end of this segment, Chris and Artemis told us about the Mars Exploration Magazine which will be made available off their website. In the second segment, our guests got a question about a human mission to Phobos rather than Mars. This came up many times through the balance of the program as it related to excitement, student and general population inspiration, even private sector involvement in a Mars mission. Don't miss what our guests had to say about the idea of humans to Phobos before or instead of putting humans on Mars. A Little Rock listener asked for more information about the Explore Mars Agriculture Workshop which our guests described in detail. In the third and final segment of the program, we began our discussion by talking about the Mars Talk program. This program will consist of interviews with people in the Mars community to help facilitate interest and activity in Mars missions. Our guests also stressed the volunteer network Explore Mars works with and needs. Listeners were invited to inquire about volunteering and being involved with Explore Mars, Inc. In this segment, we discussed in some detail the ISRU Challenge which offers a $50,000 prize . Listeners also wanted to know about using nuclear propulsion to get to Mars fasters and several questions came in about Mars analog stations which Artemis fielded on behalf of the listeners. Toward the end of the show, we talked about the possibility of finding life on Mars and what this would mean for Mars human missions. We ended the discussion with both our guests suggesting meaningful ways for listeners to advocate on behalf of human Mars missions. You will definitely want to hear their suggestions. If you have questions or comments for our guests, please post them on the blog URL above. You can also send them to carberry@exploremars.org, artemis@exploremars.org or drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:51:50 UTC
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Leonard David, Mark Mayfield, Sunday, 11-7-10 (73.28MB; download) -- Guests: Leonard David, Mark Mayfield. Topics: Human spaceflight history, commercial space, NASA policy. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Mark Mayfield's book, "The Spaceflight Vault: A History Of NASA's Manned Missions," is available from the One Giant Leap Foundation website as an Amazon partner. If you buy the book from OGLF, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show. Please use www.amazon.com/dp/0794830463?tag=onegialeafou-20. In our first segment, Mark started off by telling us about his book which is unique among space books, especially given the inserts and interactive approach so very well done in this book. I loved it and strongly recommend it for everyone. You will hear me say several times during the show that this book is a terrific holiday present idea for your favorite space cadet or even yourself. Mark Mayfield's book is exceptional! Leonard joined in with similar praise for the book and then we started talking about our space future. The three of us came to a consensus that the space future is at this time, unknown. Of course one does not have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out but as you hear the discussion unfold, you will get the inside story on the details behind our unknown future in space. Leonard talked about his growing up in the San Diego area, rocket town, to the noise of Atlas engines being tested and more. He, like the rest of us, thought we would have a different space program than what we have. Mark suggested that people were frustrated with the lack of direction and Leonard even offered that many people feel "betrayed." Our guests said that on the positive side, the international space community is gearing up and making great strides forward. It may not be the US that leads us into space in the future but both said we are going forward, even if other nations lead the way. Commercial space came up and our guests said it still needs to be proven but they held very high regard for proven vehicles such as Atlas and Delta. SS2 and Sir Richard Branson came up and our guests talked about the contribution of Virgin to the movement. Mark has a section in his book on SS2 and Virgin as well. As we started the second and final segment of this 2 hour 25 minute discussion, we talked about external events that could come about that have the potential to both jump start the US human spaceflight program or destroy it. You do not want to miss the wildcards that our guests pointed out as being out there that could impact our space program in either direction. Leonard brought up SETI and Project Dorothy and Mark talked about how political our program has become. Several listener questions asked about the shuttle program and its pending retirement. Don't miss what Leonard and Mark had to say about shuttle, its capabilities, and its retirement. Our guests were asked about heavy lift and jobs were introduced into this discussion. New technology was talked about including electromagnetic launch. I asked about private R&D as compared to government financed R&D. Our guests thought joint participation in public private partnerships were the way to go. Near the end of the program, I asked them for a rating of their optimism for a five year period. Some final questions about innovation and Technical Readiness Levels (TRL) came up and both our guests said that our government cannot just walk away from space. We concluded by saying there were terrific opportunities developing and we all hoped that America would be properly positioned to take advantage of them. You can post your comments and questions on the blog URL above and also by sending them to Leonard David at newsspace@aol.com. Mark Mayfield can be reached at markmayfield@mmpublishinginc.com. You can also send your comments to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to our guests. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:21:07 UTC
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Gregory Cecil, Wednesday, 11-3-10 (67.00MB; download) -- Guest: Gregory Cecil. Topics: Space Shuttle, NASA space policy. 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 welcomes for the first time to the program Greg Cecil who took early retirement during the first round of layoffs at KSC regarding the Space Shuttle. You can learn more about Greg, his shuttle work, and his blog by visiting www.rv-103.com. In our fist of two segments, Greg talked about his work on the shuttles and mentioned that Discovery was his favorite one to work on. I asked him why and we talked about the subtle differences in the various ships. He worked on the thermal protection system (TPS), which he also described. In fact, he received phone calls later in the show from his former employees actually working at the time on the TPS for Shuttle Atlantis and telling him how much he was missed by his fellow employees. Greg was asked about the need to retire the shuttles and were they safe to continue flying. Don't miss his reply. Greg talked about how they have been updated and improved and how they are reworked after each mission. A caller asked him what he liked and disliked most about working shuttle. He said he liked being part of something bigger than himself, something good for the country and humanity. He disliked the politics, both external and the internal NASA politics. He was then asked for his advice for the next generation of aerospace engineers coming up through the system. He had much to say including urging people not to let go of their dreams, be flexible, be politically active, always keep learning, and more. Don't miss this discussion. Another listener asked how we can improve the public's education about shuttle and space. Much was said on this topic by the caller, Greg, and myself. Greg received many questions about Constellation, COTS, EELV, and Falcon 9. We also talked at length about the transition to commercial launchers. These were important discussions from the perspective of someone who really knows the shuttle program. As for transitioning to commercial launchers, Greg suggested it might take longer than anticipated, perhaps a decade or so, and be more costly than people think. He said converting an EELV to human spaceflight is not without challenges but can be done. In the second segment, we talked about the impact of the recent election on the Florida space regions. Since Greg talked about the jobs and that it was a big factor in who won in Brevard County, I asked him about NASA being nothing more than a jobs program. I also asked him about commercial launchers and crew from the NewSpace perspective and the idea that NASA has faltered and cannot/should not be in charge of human space flight. Don't miss what Greg had to say about these issues from his unique perspective and set of experiences. Ares 1 and Constellation came up as topics in this segment and our caller from Australia pointed out the destructiveness of NASA in-house civil wars and NASA people speaking out against their own program while employed by NASA. Both the caller and Greg said that such behavior on the part of NASA employees was very destructive and should not be tolerated. Most of this conversation was in response to moonlighting engineers that helped or worked on the Direct program in complete anonymity while on the payroll of the taxpayer. We finished the show by my asking Greg for any alligator stories from KSC. Be careful what you ask for, we got some good gator stories from Greg that you will want to hear. If you have a question or comment for Greg Cecil, please post it on the blog above and you can send it to him at rocketman@rv-103.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:35:32 UTC
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Open Lines, Monday, 11-1-10 (61.01MB; download) -- Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Balloon launch, laws of physics and aerospace engineering, China space policy, NASA policy. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. This was a two hour Open Lines program divided into two segments. During our first segment, I put forth potential discussion topics including Space Show funding issues, U.S. space policy and China per a recent WSJ article, "Adrift In Space: US, China Joint Initiative Stalls," the temporary halt to using chat on the program, and my initial thoughts about the Space Studies Institute Conference held this past weekend at NASA Ames. I then introduced a topic which seemed to be the dominant one for the show as it was based on an email I received this morning from Steve about his idea to do "Earth's First self launching, recyclable telecommunications satellite TELECOMSAT GAIA TWO. I read the information on air that Steve sent me and then listeners took a crack at Steve's idea as everyone thought the laws of physics, sound engineering rules and more were being ignored by Steve in his idea. Check it out at http://telecomsatgaiatwo.blogspot.com. Dr. Jurist was the first caller and he spent a considerable amount of time discussing the physics of balloon launches, balloons going to space, atmospheric drag and other issues Steve's idea appears to draw from based on the information available to us. Most listeners thought Steve's idea was nuts but as the discussion continued, the focus seemed more on the need to have some sort of engineering and scientific education to at least understand the basics. Steve was listening to the discussion, could not call in, but he did offer some insights about being an out of the box thinker and you will hear me read his comments on air. See what you think about his concept and the discussion. We started the second segment with an email comment from Tony regarding ISS drag at its altitude. Kelly then phoned in to talk about how in general it seems that space enthusiasts ignore the laws of physics for their dream or hope wish list set of items. He then talked about the need for space infrastructure and the related costs which are often more of a show stopper than the actual cost of the rocket. He suggested that Steve look at the comprehensive costs involved in his project to get clear idea of its total costs, aside from the fact that Kelly also thought the laws of physics and sound aerospace engineering were being ignored in this balloon Gaia Two concept. The subject of Sea Dragon came up as a result of some questions from Tony and I agreed to see if Bill Sprague would be a guest on the show to discuss this famous project. Tim in Huntsville called in to tell us about a congressional race in the Fifth Congressional District which includes MSFC and is addressing space issues, specifically aerospace jobs, the POR, and more. Tim also suggested that researchers, scientists, and others working out of the box still need to be grounded in a real scientific and engineering foundation. If you have any questions or comments pertaining to any of the callers or regarding the Telecomsat Gaia Two venture, please post them on the blog using the URL above. You can also send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to the person you designate. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:18:56 UTC
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Debra Facktor Lepore, Sunday, 10-31-10 (53.76MB; download) -- Guest: Debra Facktor Lepore. Topics: Space entrepreneurism, business lessons learned with space businesses. 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 started our first segment with Ms. Lepore telling us about DFL Space LLC and the Stevens Institute of Technology School of Systems and Enterprises. Our first listener question came in soon, asking Debra for her thoughts on space businesses in today's economic climate and what she would be telling her consulting clients given current economic conditions and space industry uncertainties Shortly after Debra responded to that question, John from Montana called in to ask about startup launch companies and relevant business practices. This was a very interesting give and take discussion with our guest outlining several key points and factors for business success including being sure to match personal passion with the daily effort and making sure the entire business team working on the venture is the very best that can be put together for the project. Debra identified other important aspects as well as part of this discussion and she introduced us to the term accidental entrepreneurism. Toward the end of this segment, we talked about the organization Women in Aerospace and the recent awards given out in Washington, DC. As we started the second segment, we talked about the diverse makeup of Women in Aerospace and how it is expanding into foreign arenas starting with Europe and Canada. I then asked Debra to talk about her lessons learned from her space entrepreneurial executive positions, a talk she gave at the recent AIAA meeting in Anaheim, California. In talking about her lessons learned from her diverse experiences, she talked about her work at ANSER, Kistler Aerospace, and at AirLaunch LLC. You definitely want to hear what she had to say about her experiences with these very famous organizations, both in terms of the projects that were underway as well as the business, management, marketing, and financial aspects of the companies. We addressed government contracting, contract termination fees, milestone performance requirements, and the need for cash flow early on in the venture as everything required cash. Tim called in wanting to know what happened to the Kistler hardware. Kelly sent in a note asking if AirLaunch had considered human space flight, and John from Montana commented about the challenges in storing hardware and keeping it in good shape, even operating condition. John in Atlanta called in near the end of the show to ask technical questions, 2nd stage and propellant questions and more. Near the end of the program, a listener asked if ITAR played a role or impacted Kistler in a damaging way. At the end of the program, a Boston listener asked about relevant or compatible business experience to the space venture being pursued. Debra had much to say on this issue so do listen carefully. If you have comments or questions for Debra Facktor Lepore, please post them on the blog and you can send them to Debra at info@DFLspace.com. Make sure to reference Space Show in the subject line. You can also send your comments for Debra to me and I will forward them to her. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 01 Nov 2010 02:22:58 UTC
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Pablo De Leon, Irene Schneider, Friday, 10-29-10 (21.64MB; download) -- Guests: Pablo De Leon, Irene Schneider. Topics: UND Space Studies programs, Lunar analog base project, space radiation, NDX 2 prototype planetary space suit. This interviewed was taped on Wednesday, Oct. 27th in the lounge of the Hilton Garden Inn which is connected to the UND Space Studies Department. This interview was the only interview I did while at UND this week as the planned walking tour program of the Space Studies Observatory was cancelled due to heavy rains and wind. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. In addition, you can follow the work and projects of Irene Schneider at http://ihrenesenterprises.com and www.ireneschneider.net. You can check out Pablo De Leon's UND Space Suit Laboratory at www.human.space.edu. Our discussion started out with Pablo giving us updates on what he has been doing and changes within the Space Studies Department since he last appeared on The Space Show. Pablo also attended the recent IAF in Prague and he told us about the event, some of the meetings, topics, and shared his impressions of this important conference with us. We then focused on some of his newer projects including the NDX-2 rear entry planetary space suit that he and his team are working on as part of the lunar analog base project his team is doing in conjunction with NASA and others. Irene Schneider was at UND Space Studies this week as Irene is the radiation consultant for the team on this important project. Pablo then introduced us to Irene who has also been a guest on The Space Show several times and she talked about her work in the lunar analog base project as well as radiation issues. Irene was at the Personal Space Flight Symposium in Las Cruces and she gave us a first hand report on the symposium which as you will hear, was an excellent program. Irene introduced us to her new space consulting business, IHRENES ENTERPRISES LLC, focusing on space radiation and mission tailored analysis. Please visit her business website as the URL can be found above in this summary. Toward the end of our 45 minute discussion, I asked both Pablo and Irene to comment on the reasons why there is what I call a "reality gap" with some in the aerospace engineering fields with regard to human factors, specifically radiation issues for long duration space flight, bone loss and muscle atrophy problems, and psychological issues. This question came up because of some of the student discussions I had while at the Space Studies department this week as well as feedback I always get from listeners to this program. I think you will find what each of our guests had to say on this matter to be extremely interesting. If you have a comment or question about this discussion or for either of guests, be sure to post it on the blog URL above. Both Irene and Pablo can be reached through their respective website addresses above. You can also forward email to each guest through me at drspace@thepsaceshow.com. The preferred method is to post on the blog and when I receive the blog notification, I will forward it to both our guests so they will be sure to see your comment or question.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 29 Oct 2010 20:47:03 UTC
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Jason Andrews, Friday, 10-22-10 (45.57MB; download) -- Guest: Jason Andrews. Topics: Andrews Space, SpaceFlight Services, secondary launch payloads 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. Additionally, you can find out more about the topics discussed during today's program at both www.andrews-space.com and www.spaceflightservices.com. While our program was divided into three segments, our overriding discussion topics carried over through all segments of the program. We started our interview with Mr. Andrews providing us with an update for Andrews Space since Andrews Space was last featured on The Space Show in January 2008. As you will hear, there has been a significant new focus toward nanospacecraft and to this end, Jason has formed a new company, SpaceFlight Services, which brokers secondary payload space on launches with excess capacity. Much of today's discussion centered on this business with Jason explaining the commercial business model and even explaining how this model supports their entry into the Google Lunar X Prize Contest, Rocket City Space Pioneers (www.rocketcityspacepioneers.com). Jason also took us through the nanosat/cubesat hardware programs for commercial space applications, talked about the technology for secondary payloads using the ESPA ring, and much more. He received several listener calls and questions, largely focusing on the nanosat constellations he was describing, debris mitigation for such small satellite constellations, orbital details, and even competition his company might be facing from international businesses along with others in the U.S. going after the same market. Jason was asked about our new direction in space policy, we talked about retiring the shuttle, the GAP, continuing with external tank manufacturing, and the risks facing Space X and the developing commercial industry. Also discussed were the regulations in place that apply to a secondary payload and here Jason explained the process quite well, both from the perspective of the launching company and the party wanting to launch a secondary payload. As the reseller of the launch excess capacity, Jason explained how they work within the regulatory environment to assist their customers with compliance and the launching company. As you will hear, safety is primary and this includes safety to the launch vehicle and primary payload. We talked about getting usable payloads to the surface of the Moon and Jason pointed us to several of the pages of detailed information on the SpaceFlight Services website. This program proved to be a comprehensive discussion of these topics, commercial space business models, and more. If you have questions or comments for Jason Andrews, please post them on the blog above. You can also send them to info@andrews-space.com by putting Jason Andres on The Space Show in the subject line. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:36:12 UTC
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Dr. Robert Fitts, Tuesday, 10-19-10 (47.85MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Robert Fitts. Topic: "Prolonged Space Flight and Human Muscles." We welcomed Dr. Robert Fitts to the program to discuss his new research on astronaut muscle atrophy as a result of space flight. The full title of the study for which he was the P.I. is "Prolonged Space Flight-Induced Alternations in the Structure and Function of Human Skeletal Muscle Fibres." The study was published in the Journal of Physiology, Vol. 588, pp. 3567-3592 in the September 2010 edition. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. During our first segment, Dr. Fitts told us about the origins of the study and we summarized his conclusions in that high resistance devises and an improved astronaut diet may be able to reduce muscle atrophy in space to about 10% from its current levels. In discussing this, we learned that Russian cosmonauts using a treadmill seem to have better results than American astronauts using a stationary bike. Dr. Fitts suggested that high resistance equipment and exercises be used, especially for the legs at a level of 80% the peak load for the person. Dr. Fitts talked about other forms of exercise including isometrics and why they were not so desirable for use in space. He also suggested that while American astronauts do very well with the bike for cardiovascular exercise, they would do better to do high resistance leg exercises for a shorter time but more frequently during the day. In the second segment, Dr. Rowe called in with questions about the work of Kaare Rodahl who years ago suggested that astronauts might have to do exercise for 15 minutes out of each waking hour. Dr. Fitts suggested that exercise routines, equipment, and diet were far better today so he doubted that astronauts would be spending that much time exercising, but he again said that their study suggests shorter periods of exercise more frequently during the day. We talked about bed rest studies in this segment and Joe from Houston called in with several questions about astronaut back pain. In the context of Joe's questions, Dr. Fitts talked about the iRED and aRED exercise devices on the ISS. Don't miss this discussion. Several questions came in about artificial gravity and Mars gravity as well as questions about the effectiveness of astronauts wearing the Penguin support space clothing. As you will hear, the suit turned out to be less than effective as it was not load bearing on muscles. At the end of this segment, the issue of bringing up new equipment to the ISS came up given the retirement of the shuttle. Don't miss what Dr. Fitts had to say about this. In our third and final segment, Terry called in and wanted to know about muscle loss on the way to Mars. Dr. Fitts suggested that most of the muscle loss takes place early on in the mission, perhaps in the first thirty days. Questions about using drugs to treat the problem were addressed and Dr. Fitts said he hoped we don't have to go there for solutions. Listen to this discussion to hear why he said that. Barbara in Tucson changed the direction of the questions when she asked our guests about the impact on the science and research given his earlier comments about not being able to get hardware or experiments up to the ISS due to the shuttle's retirement. Don't miss this discussion. In fact, we expanded this discussion by asking Dr. Fitts to assess the future for this type of research and the impact of new policy directions on students. You don't want to miss what Dr. Fitts had to say about students and the future. If you have comments or questions for Dr. Fitts, please post them on the blog above and send them to me and I will forward them to our guest. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:49:49 UTC
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