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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David Hook, Monday, 12-27-10 (46.33MB; download) -- Guest: David Hook. Topics: General aviation security, suborbital tourism security, the FAA and TSA. We welcomed David Hook back to the show to discuss updates and trends with aviation security, specifically general aviation and the upcoming suborbital space tourism. 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 discussion with the John and Martha King story at the Santa Barbara, California airport. You can read a brief description of this story at www.examiner.com/dc-in-washington-dc/guidelines-developed-after-respected-aviation-members-held-at-gunpoint. The guidelines mentioned by our guest and in the article can be found at http://download.aopa.org/epilot/2010/101015kings.pdf. David does do a good job of providing the background to this story, why it happened, and the nature of the problem. As you will hear, we got a call from Dr. Jurist who asked David if this problem was related to the issue of the FAA being unable to account for 119,00 general aviation aircraft due to questionable N numbers and registration issues. There are 357,000 such aircraft registered in the U.S. so this is a significant problem. David spent some time discussing this problem and what it means for aircraft and overall air security. Mr. Hook also explained the difference between a security vulnerability and a threat. We received some questions about expanding TSA security measures to trains and busses as well as suborbital space tourism. David had much to say about the vulnerability of ground transportation and their overall threat capacity as compared to an aircraft, even a general aviation aircraft. As we started the second segment, Mr. Hook updated us about trends and directions security may take regarding suborbital space tourism flights. As you will hear, David suggests that its likely that there will be at least some security regulations for such flights. Mr. Hook was asked about the recent pilot incident with cell phone videos on YouTube of the security areas at SFO in which he depicted TSA vulnerabilities. This took us into a discussion about Flight Deck Officers, Air Marshalls, and weapons on board an aircraft. David received questions from listeners, especially the one from Trent in Australia with his poll about flying were there no TSA in place, asking if people would still get on the plane. David then went into a discussion about his own personal methods of establishing for his benefit that there was good security on the plane. Listen to what he said was his methodology. With respect to what David told us he does on each flight, he sent the following article to me after the show which seemed to suggest doing exactly what Dave said he did regarding looking people square in the eye. Check this out: www.wfaa.com/news/local/Airport-security-Is-there-a-better-way-112530474.html. Toward the end of our program, we talked about what constituted ideal airport security and mitigating security risks. While I am sure you will find this discussion interesting, ultimately as you will hear, security stems from people, not equipment or electronics. If you have questions or comments for David Hook, please post them on the blog URL above. You can also email David at david.hook@spaceflightsecurity.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 28 Dec 2010 17:52:37 UTC
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Dr. Stan Rosen, Sunday, 12-26-10 (55.78MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Stan Rosen. Topics: Using space to improve life on Earth and revolutionary space applications. 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 nearly two hour discussion, Dr. Rosen referred to his Power Point presentation, "Potentially Revolutionary Space Applications" which you can find posted on The Space Show blog above under the title "Dr. Stan Rosen Presentation Material For Sunday, 12-26-10." At the same location, you will also find his Ad Astra Spring 2009 article, "How Space Can Improve Life On Earth." I urge all of you to have opened his Power Point presentation as you listen to this program as Dr. Rosen takes us through his listing of potentially revolutionary space applications and we discuss most of them during our discussion. During his introductory comments, Dr. Rosen described the differences between space applications as compared to space spinoffs so that we would not confuse the two topics. Dr. Rosen received many listener questions about policy, influencing Congress, policy makers, and the general public regarding the potential economic and wealth building value of space development. As you will hear, he was asking for ideas and suggestions on how we in the space industry, including the space enthusiasts, can do a better job of getting our understanding of space across to those that enact policy and make investments. We also talked about the role of public and private partnerships in becoming space fairing. In addition to discussing the space applications, we talked about the leadership role the U.S. has played in the past regarding satellites, rocket launches, and other space activities. As you will hear, Dr. Rosen discussed how we have lost our lead in some of these areas and how we are being seriously challenged in other areas as other nations become space-fairing and seem to view space differently than we do. One of the many important observations Dr. Rosen provided us had to do with how we might utilize the Moon and lunar resources. Here, Dr. Rosen was talking about the half a degree lunar platform that can provide unique Earth and near-Earth space observations. The half a degree angle results in very high resolution, plus these capabilities would be human tended on the lunar surface driving further needs for our astronaut corp along with economic launches. Later in the second segment, Stan fielded a question asking about the time line for this economic development and he said it was already underway. You do not want to miss this discussion. Other issues that came up included heavy lift and the question of focusing on a destination or something else. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions for Dr. Stan Rosen, please post them on The Space Show blog URL above and you can email them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to Dr. Rosen. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:13:20 UTC
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Robert (Bob) Zimmmerman, Friday, 12-24-10 (67.79MB; download) -- Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Apollo 8 Genesis Christmas eve flight around the Moon 42 years ago, 2010 in review, 2011 forecast. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. For more information, visit Bob's blog, Behindtheblack at http://behindtheblack.com. We started our program by remembering the Apollo 8 flight which flew around the Moon 42 years ago today. Christmas evening back then the Apollo 8 astronauts read from Genesis and Bob told us that story and how it was decided to read from Genesis. Our discussion transitioned into the 2010 space policy debate and Bob summarized it, talked about SpaceX and the commercial/private space companies filling the void caused by the confusion and intended changes in our civil space policy. Bob was comprehensive in his comments and definitely took the point of view of new commercial opportunities arising from the problems with the government program. Our callers talked about the NASA budget cuts, heavy lift, the likelihood of heavy lift being cut, and more. Bob also talked about getting the U.S. budget under control even if that meant cutting back on the NASA budget. I asked Bob to comment on the new NASA Sun-Climate Research Center, and we talked about new House committee chairmen being representative of traditional aerospace and that potential impact on commercial space development. We ended this segment with a call from Dr. Lurio continuing the budget discussion, plus Charles commented on the "Gadot" rocket. The possible merger inside NASA of the Human Spaceflight and Operations Directorates was discussed by both Charles and Bob. You can read about this possible merger at www.spacenews.com/civil/101221-nasa-merge-directorates.html. Listen to his comments for clarification. In our second segment we started looking forward into the future in 2011. Bob suggested that the Kepler Space Telescope (KST) would start giving us planetary information for Earth-like planets in February and said this might be the science discovery of the year. He said the astrophysics budget for 2011 was dismal, we talked about the NASA arsenic life form story about which Bob had much to say. A listener asked Bob what he thought about NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. Don't miss what Bob said in response to this listener question. Towards the end of the program, we returned to budget control issues and ITAR reform with Bob saying that the innovation would be forthcoming from the private sector, not from the government. We ended our discussion with a bat fungus update which was not encouraging if you are one of the fungus susceptible bats as species extinction may be in progress. If you have questions for Bob Zimmerman, please post them on the blog URL above and you can email Bob at zimmerman at nasw dot org. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 25 Dec 2010 03:43:47 UTC
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Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards, Tuesday, 12-21-10 (49.47MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards. Topics: Moon Express, Singularity University, ISU, commercial 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 Dr. Bob Richards back to the program. As we started our first segment, I asked Dr. Richards about his work & exchange of ideas with Dr. Carl Sagan. Bob not only told us about working with Carl, but also with Arthur C. Clark & Gerard. K. O'Neill. We next talked to Dr. Richards about his new activities since he was last a guest on the program in January 2008. Bob talked about his work in starting the Google Lunar X Prize entry Odyssey Moon and his departure to seize on a new opportunity in putting together Moon Express, another Google Lunar X Prize contestant. Moon Express was one of six companies selected by NASA in their Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) program and one of the three named to receive $500,000 upon completion of the successful testing of a critical component needed for landing on the Moon. Bob spent some time explaining the ILDD program and awards which are given only upon success. We then switched gears to talk about Silicon Valley, CA as the center for commercial space activities. Dr. Richards was asked several questions about the Singularity University which is located at NASA Ames. Near the end of this segment, Gary called in to ask about ISRU development, specifically on the Moon and then closed his comments by asking about the feasibility of one way trips to Mars. In the second segment, we talked about the revised deadlines for the Google Lunar X Prize and deadlines for Moon Express. We learned that Moon Express hopes to be able to do its critical component test as part of the NASA ILDD by this summer if not sooner. To learn more about Moon Express, visit their website at www.moonexpress.com. You can also visit the website for the Singularity University at http://singularityu.org. Later in this segment, our attention turned to the Singularity University. Bob said that most of the students were not space enthusiasts and based on their online stats for their students, only about 4% of the students were interested in space before the program. He then talked about the structure of their program, the example of their grand challenge on space, "Boldly Stay," and the fact that it turned out to be oversubscribed with 30% to 40% of their 80 students participating in the challenge. Bob was asked several questions about the teaching methodology that produced such astounding results so he spent some time talking with us about the Singularity University approach to teaching and their students. Dr. Lurio then called to further clarify the awards in the NASA ILDD program. Bob was asked about his possible move to the Silicon Valley and becoming a full time U.S. resident. This sparked a discussion about the U.S. and the Valley as the center for entrepreneurism, especially space entrepreneurism, as well as the center for commercial space activities. The subject of aerospace industry trends came up and we talked about the shifts from traditional aerospace to commercial space and the private companies. Toward the end of the program, John in Atlanta called in to question the real progress the changes in space policy represented given we were letting go of the Shuttle and in a way, returning to 1960's and 1970s type technology. At the end of the program, Elliott sent in a note asking for more information about Bob's departure from Odyssey Moon and for a comparison of the Isle of Man with Silicon Valley. In his closing comments, Dr. Richards brought us full circle to the start of the interview so don't miss what he had to say. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Bob Richards, please post them on the blog URL above. You can also forward them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will send them to him. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:34:15 UTC
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Dr. Al Koller, Monday, 12-20-10 (51.96MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Al Koller. Topics: Space workforce certification, space policy and leadership. 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. Al Koller to the program to discuss SpaceTEC, his company that provides space workforce training and certification. Find out more about the SpacTEC National Resource Center for Aerospace Technical Education by visiting www.spacetec.org. To download the video talked about on the program currently being aired on Direct TV, please use www.spacetec.org/videos.htm. To download the article I mentioned by Eliot Pulham, CEO of The Space Foundation, please visit http://newsletters.spacefoundation.org/spacewatch/articles/id/698. In our first segment, Dr. Koller began our discussion by honoring the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo 8 launch countdown and the Apollo 8 mission and astronauts. This discussion was followed by Dr. Koller's introduction of SpaceTEC and our learning about training and certifying aerospace workers. Dr. Koller described the program, how SpaceTEC designs the certification programs in partnership with government, industry, and academia so that those earning the certification are can do aerospace workers. He provided several examples of the certification training including composite work on the new Boeing Dreamliner passenger jet as well as programs geared toward Spaceport America in New Mexico. Later in this first segment, we started discussing our space program and the state of space policy in the country today. Our guest had much to say on this topic and I could not resist jumping in with my own thoughts on the state of our space program and corresponding space policy. As you will hear, we both commented on the current situation which has produced lots of unknowns, budget and program uncertainties, and even bickering and confusion within the space community. Trent from Australia wrote in to say that Augustine had put forth the goals of the program but Dr. Koller had a different take on Augustine and I suggested that what unfolded after Augustine had watered down any Augustine goals only to leave us in a wait and see status with more unknowns than knowns. Both Dr. Koller and I had much to say about this so do listen carefully and let us know what you think. As we started the second segment, Dr. Koller talked about how aviation and space were now blending together or starting to merge and how this trend was impacting the SpaceTEC educational and certification programs. Demand was now being created for a new class of aerospace technology worker, the "supertec." He predicted that a growing area for certification would be in the rules and regulations governing human spaceflight for 2012 and beyond. In responding to listener questions, Al talked about the space worker training in other countries. As you will hear, many use more engineers than we do so technical worker training or certification programs are not as common as here in the U.S. You don't want to miss his assessment of educational and worker training opportunities in China, Europe, and Russia. Other industrial areas discussed for advancing worker certification state of the art programs focused on the automotive industry sparked by a listener question, space tourism, and research and technology areas. Our guest provided us with some examples including the Liquid Air Back Pack and using KSC facilities as a commercial test center. In his closing comments, Dr. Koller had one wish which was to infuse middle and high school students with a STEM education to provide them with expanding opportunities via space and other disciplines. If you have a comment or question for Dr. Al Koller, please post it on the blog URL above. You can also email him at alkoller@gmail.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:18:57 UTC
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Open Lines, Sunday, 12-19-10 (62.84MB; download) -- Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: SSP, Heavy lift rockets, electric cars, energy, NASA FY 11 budget. 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 our final Open Lines program for 2010. At two hours, you will find this show to be loaded with controversial statements & discussion points. During the first segment, Atlanta John called to talk about the budget for FY 11, heavy lift, the ISS, Orion, Dragon, & our space program. He predicted that we would see an across the board budget cut including one for NASA but he said it was a guess. We talked about heavy lift and what it might be used for based on our understanding of what might be our civil space program. Marshall then called to talk about electric cars as during the opening discussion points, I talked about an SSP email group note about Space X helping to make the business case for SSP by radically lowering launch costs and driving up electricity prices as more people buy a Tesla electric car. We extrapolated the email's specific comments about Space X to the industry in general and I said that if the only way SSP can be competitive is to drive up electricity prices either through policy or by high demand for electric cars when the grid cannot today supply the added electricity, then you still do not have a competitive business, just a policy to achieve a certain outcome. Marshall had much to say about the state of our grid, especially in the larger cities and he also talked about having liquid fuels available to support electric cars for freeway usage. He talked about rectenna sizes and using salt flats for their locations. In the second segment, the green energy and electric car discussion took over with Dave calling in to talk about nuclear power, the cost for electricity, and the development of new nuclear power plants. As Dave works in the nuclear power industry, he does know what he is talking about. He then applied parts of his discussion to SSP and electric cars and as you will hear, the numbers are not there. Dave went on to talk about human spaceflight capsules versus lifting bodies. He had much to say about these two designs and concluded his discussion saying SpaceX was significantly ahead of other companies in development of human spaceflight hardware. Andrew from Tucson emailed his comments about energy, electric cars, and SSP and commented how he loved coal so much he wanted it for Christmas. He then sent in his mailing address and asked listeners to send him chunks of coal for a Christmas present. I assumed he was kidding and that he really did not want to get chunks of coal in the mail but a note he sent me after the show say he would video his opening any coal presents and put the video on YouTube. I know we space cadets can be a bit over the top but we may be going out of 2010 way over the top with Andrew's wish list for Santa. Tim from Huntsville called in to advocate a radically different type of energy policy for the U.S. and I seconded the need for such a policy. He then listed several sources of energy and provided us with the amount of energy each kind was capable of producing. We talked about the fact that electric cars can hardly be green when they require electricity that largely comes form burning coal in this country. Tim also talked about heavy lift. Many do believe we need heavy lift but I continually here from very well informed people that heavy lift is not essential when we have on orbit propellant depots. The Space Show plans on addressing this issue in a panel discussion for 2011. If you have questions or comments about this show, post them on The Space Show blog URL above. If you want to send a note to any of the callers or those sending in an email, tell me who and send the note to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it on your behalf. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:07:01 UTC
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Brian Weeden, Friday, 12-17-10 (62.63MB; download) -- Guest: Brian Weeden. Topics: Space debris and space traffic management. 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 Brian Weeden back to The Space Show to discuss the latest on space debris mitigation and space traffic management. We started by Brian describing the current space debris situation and why its a mounting problem. He talked about the need to move objects in space away from potential collisions, including the ISS, and relatively new efforts by the Air Force in tracking as much of the debris as possible and notifying owners of possible collisions by using conjunction assessments.. He explained how this was done and the probability factor in reporting it. Brian introduced us to the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) and what it does. For more information on this, visit their website at www.iadc-online.org/index.cgi. We learned that there was a significant effort underway to engage China in space debris discussions and actions which is why the 2010 Beijing Orbital Debris Mitigation Workshop was held in China. Toward the end of this segment, we started taking questions and Greg inquired about salvaging boosters and dead satellites as a commercial venture. This sparked a discussion on the absence of space salvage law, ownership liability under the UN treaties, and other complicating issues pertaining to what Greg was asking about. In the second long segment, we began by discussing space tethers as a mitigation tool. Also discussed were space lasers as well as other possible methods for dealing with the debris problem. As you will hear, dealing with the smaller debris is very different from dealing with the large debris. Cost estimates for debris removal as well as time lines were discussed. So were the NASA and DARPA efforts in this area. The subject of a recent Rand Institute report on the issue calling for a superfund to be created to pay for and mitigate the debris was the subject of much discussion. You can read about this superfund idea at www.space.com/news/space-junk-threat-superfund-sites-101214.html. Later in this segment, we talked about GEO allocation slots and the process, then a listener asked about the Air Force training program for their airmen to work in this area. Brian explained qualitative training and how its done. Near the end of the program, a listener referenced a Classroom program regarding space traffic management and docking at an orbital propellant depot. Brian had much to say about this so don't miss the discussion. In summarizing, he suggested the next step in the process would be debris mitigation demo flights and he thought that might happen within 5 years. If you have comments or questions for Brian Weeden, please post them on The Space Show blog at the URL above. You can also email Brian at bweeden@swfound.org. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:46:40 UTC
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Kerry Scarlott, Tuesday, 12-14-10 (49.07MB; download) -- Guest: Kerry Scarlott. Topics: ITAR and ITAR reform efforts. 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 Kerry Scarlott for a comprehensive discussion on ITAR and the reform efforts underway to modernize the ITAR regime, especially for commercial space technology and products. In our first segment, Mr. Scarlott provided us with an expanded overview of export control in the United States. He talked about the three areas of export control including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and embargo & sanction programs administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) We focused in on ITAR which is very broad and involves the Depts. of State, Commerce, and Defense. This is an excellent discussion and overview of the ITAR and related regulations bringing us current to this point in time. Our guest distinguished sensitive military and battlefield technologies needing national security protection from less sensitive products that can be manufactured in other countries as many nations have similar technology capabilities to the U.S. A few of the sensitive items he mentioned were night vision devices and UAVs. Mr. Scarlott provided us with examples pertaining to parts going into a commercial satellite, including foreign made satellites and then the foreign satellite becomes subject to U.S. ITAR regulations. As we ended this segment, we fielded a question from a UK listener about allies of the United States being discriminated against and we talked about the Canadian exemptions to the ITAR. In the second segment, Mr. Scarlott talked about the ITAR today and the efforts to modify or reform it. Several of the ideas he talked about are in a paper which he co-authored, "U.S. Export Control Reform - What does it mean for you? This paper can be downloaded from his website at www.goulstonstorrs.com/NewsEvents/Advisories?find=40002. Among the ideas on the table are to combine the two control lists administered by the Departments of Commerce and State into one list, and to tier the risk associated with various technologies. Tier 1 would be the products and technologies that pose the most risk to national security if in the wrong hands, Tier 2 would cover products and technologies of moderate security risk, and Tier 3 would be cover products and technologies with the least security risk. As for the administration of the new control list, it is unclear at this point if that will be the responsibility of the State Department, the Commerce Department, or a newly created agency. We also talked about the politics of Congress in ITAR reform and the two schools of thought. These two schools represent the perspective of needing more and tighter national security as opposed to removing restrictions in favor of encouraging exports and domestic job growth. Later in this segment, we talked about the geopolitical risks associated with technology and the risk of technology espionage both in the United States and with our allies as this draws into question the very nature of being able to protect important technologies. In the final segment, we talked some more about ITAR in other countries but as you will hear, the U.S. has the most restrictive regime. Kerry discussed how companies, big or small, navigate ITAR. He explained how vague the rules are and compared the situation to the EAR which is quite evolved and detailed. Later Kerry brought up the case of the 72 year old Univ. of Tennessee professor convicted of an ITAR criminal act and sentenced to two years in prison. See www.djacobsonlaw.com/2009/07/tennessee-professor-sentenced-to-48.html for details. If you have comments or questions for Kerry Scarlott, please post them on The Space Show blog URL above. You can also email Mr. Scarlott at kscarlott@goulstonstorrs.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:57:02 UTC
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Jon Goff, Monday, 12-13-10 (57.53MB; download) -- Guest: Jonathan Goff. Topics: Altius Space Machines, propellant depots, Sticky Boom SBIR and more. http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. We welcomed back Jon Goff to talk with us about his new company, Altius Space Machines in Louisville, Colorado. We started our discussion with Jon with his telling us about Altius and two of the major contracts his company has started working on regarding a nanosat launcher upper stage and another project with ULA. He went on to talk about The Sticky Boom SBIR which Altius won and what this means for space development, rendezvous and docking and more. Make sure you listen to this discussion as it represents a potential game changing technology. At the end of the first segment, Jon talked about the reasons for his departure from Masten Space Systems. In our second segment, we started off with a call from Dave regarding debris capture in LEO and the projects Jon discussed in the first segment. Several listeners sent in multiple question emails. Colin wanted to know more about the NanoSat Launch Vehicle Contest, how working at Masten prepared him for his own company, & tips on starting a company w/o deep pockets. Chris in Argentina wanted to know about vapor lock and safety issues regarding orbital propellant depots, Andrew inquired about the likelihood of an entrepreneur developing a class of liquid rocket engines in the 300 sec ISP range in a garage type amateur machine shop, and Tony inquired if Altius would one day compete with SpaceX. Toward the end of this long segment, Tom wanted to know about the Google Lunar XPRIZE contestants and opportunities. During this segment, reusability came up and we talked about starting small and incrementally ramping up. Jon talked about many of the lessons learned from working at Masten and mentioned that it was much harder to get hardware to fly than to develop a paper rocket. Other discussion topics included Microreentry and Microdelivery vehicles as well as rocket and spacecraft rapid prototyping. Later in this segment, we talked about advancements in propulsion technology that might take us away from chemical rockets. Jon said that there was still much to be squeezed out of chemical rockets, that with new manifesting technologies and other developments, we could still improve on chemical rocket costs. During this segment, Jon took the time to discuss his lunar exploration philosophy and to clarify his position on that. Trent called from Australia to talk more about the variable gravity research station that Jon talked about and to echo the need for such a tool in orbit if we are to take space settlement seriously. Jon has two blogs which you can follow. The Altius Space Machines blog is at http://blog.altius-space.com. Selenian Boondocks is at http://selenianboondocks.com. For your comments and questions for Jon Goff regarding this program, please post them on The Space Show Blog at http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. You can also post your comments on Jon's blogs and you can email Jon through his blogs or by sending your note to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it to Jon. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:48:38 UTC
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Dr. Sean Casey, Sunday, 12-12-10 (46.15MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Sean Casey. Topics: SOFIA project, airborne telescopes, ground based telescopes and infrared solar system research. 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 Dr. Sean Casey to update us on SOFIA which is about to become fully operational. To learn more about SOFIA, its research and presentation opportunities. and even employment opportunities (SOFIA is hiring), please visit www.sofia.usra.edu. In addition, Dr. Casey has a site where you can explore much of what he talked about today and much more. Please visit www.slideshare.net/scasey1960. During our first segment, Dr. Casey reintroduced us to SOFIA as much progress has been made with the project since he was last on The Space Show. He explained the characteristics of infrared solar system research, temperature ranges, problems with water vapor in the atmosphere and ground based telescopes, even in Hawaii and Chile on the tops of very high mountains such as the Atacama Telescope Project and Observatory and Mauna Key Observatories. He talked about the great research obtained from the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory over that project's 20 years so for those of you wondering about the science that stems from these great projects, listen carefully so you can fully understand the contributions to science and humanity stemming from these projects and their researchers. Dr. Casey explained the international partnership with Germany and the U.S., specifically NASA and the German Space Agency regarding SOFIA, the basing of the aircraft at Palmdale, CA, and the types of missions SOFIA will undertake. He explained the Boeing 747 SP modifications and testing program and why the observing would take place at altitudes around 41,000. We started the second segment talking about SOFIA employment opportunities and then Dr. Casey explained the flight and mission planning for SOFIA research flights. We talked about daylight observing as compared to nighttime observing and then Sean received a question about the stability of funding for SOFIA given so many uncertainties with NASA funding at this time. Later in this segment, Dr. Casey took an email question from Barbara in Portland, Or. asking about the relationship of SOFIA with the general public and inquiring as to the cost benefits of the project for the American tax payer. Dr. Casey carefully explained the research platform qualities of SOFIA and how this research is used not just by NASA, but in other mission work throughout our system. This then took us to the subject of SOFIA public and educational outreach. Make sure you check out this information on the SOFIA website. Sean was asked about a typical SOFIA mission and he said from takeoff to landing they were around ten hours. As we started the third segment of the program, Dr. Case outlined future plans for SOFIA through 2013-15. He said the basic science would be completed in 2011 with about seven hours of mission flight time. 2012 would see the finishing of the instruments and the observatory equipment and 2013-15 would see a ramping up of using the SOFIA platform for about 960- science hours per year. Toward the end of the program, a question came in about using the NewSpace suborbital space tourism vehicles for human tended research opportunities and as you will hear, Dr. Casey was very excited and optimistic about these emerging possibilities. He also answered a question often asked on the program about the need for a human tended experiment as compared to a sounding rocket experiment. See what you think of this response. I like it! For your questions and comments about this program, subject and for Dr. Sean Casey, please post them on the blog URL above. You can also email Dr. Sean Casey at scasey@sofia.usra.edu. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 14 Dec 2010 03:21:18 UTC
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