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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Rex Ridenoure, Friday, 12-10-10 (52.18MB; download) -- For the first 20 years of his career at Hughes, Lockheed, Utah State University, JPL, Microcosm, SpaceDev and BlastOff, Rex held technical leadership positions on twenty pathfinding, leading-edge space missions and projects as a spacecraft systems engineer, test conductor, mission engineer, mission planner, mission architect, project engineer and study leader. Notable missions include Viking/Mars, the Hubble Space Telescope, some of the first Shuttle-launched commercial communications satellites, Voyager/Neptune, Deep Space 1, Shuttle Get Away Special experiments, SURFSat and HGS-1. During the past ten years as a space entrepreneur at the helm of Ecliptic, the firm’s RocketCam product family has accumulated over 75 mission successes, including many Shuttle, Atlas, Delta and Minotaur launches, SpaceShipOne, LCROSS and SpaceShipTwo. Following his interests and passions, he has been a front-line contributor to and participant in a diverse set of space-project firsts and trends such as Mars landings, outer planet exploration, in-orbit servicing, mission salvage, secondary payloads, “faster-better-cheaper” lunar and asteroid missions, commercial astronaut corps, technology demo missions, planet-hunting missions, commercial lunar missions, new suborbital tourism and science vehicles and commercial habitable modules. Throughout his career he has presented, lectured and written about his project, mission and business experiences, garnering several major space industry awards along the way. His current focus is on growing Ecliptic and supporting the expanding commercialization of space. Rex earned his M.S. in Aeronautics from Caltech and B.S. in Aerospace Engineering (Cum Laude) from Iowa State University (Ames).
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 14 Dec 2010 03:11:53 UTC
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Dan Walt, Tuesday, 12-7-10 (62.31MB; download) -- Guest: Dan Walt. Topics: Federal government procurement process, NASA procurement, types of contracts, commercial 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. During this comprehensive discussion on federal government procurement, including NASA, our guest mentioned several relevant websites. Listen carefully and jot down the URLs he provided if interested. Mr. Walt referenced many of them throughout this two hour program. We started our first segment by defining procurement. In the broader sense, Dan Walt said it referred to acquisitions and much of the first segment was devoted to his explaining the process, including oversight. We also talked about the authorization and the appropriation process in terms of procurement and the bigger the target, the more likely it is that Congress focuses on that target for budget cuts - at least in normal times. At the end of this segment, Dan started getting listener questions asking about the various types of government contracts and what constitutes commercial as compared to a government project. In the second segment, Dan started the contract discussion by talking about three primary contract types, fixed contracts, time and materials, and cost plus contracts. He defined each type in detail and fielded several questions about each type. Listeners asked if the contract type defined commercial or not. You do not want to miss this discussion. As you will hear, its more likely that commercial is defined by closely behaving as a true commercial venture would behave. The more addendums, amendments and special provisions that take the contractor away from acting like an arms length commercial company, the less commercial the relationship with the government despite the type of contract being used. Listen carefully to this discussion, its important. Other issues came up such as sharing risk, uncertainty versus certainty, and Space Act Agreements. Mr. Walt said that commercial was actually defined in the FAR and he urged listeners to check out that official definition. He said it was in the FAR Part 12. Listeners inquired about the expense for company booths at conferences and who pays for them. We also talked about Contract Administration and oversight. Intellectual property was an important part of this discussion and here Mr. Walt urged companies to work with an IP attorney as this was a very complicated issue. He acknowledged that such complications pose higher cost penalties on the smaller companies. Near the end of the program, Dan introduced us to the issue of training for the government agencies, including NASA, that supervise these contracts. He said that external oversight is mostly provided by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) which is an arm of Congress. As the show ended, we talked about CR and its possible extension for a full year, Dan's personal view of the current situation with FY 11 being on CR and his view of looking ahead to FY 12. His personal view was that we would have a FY 11 budget in the February-March period but he stressed that this was purely speculative on his part. If you have questions or comments for Dan Walt, please post them on the blog URL above and send them to Dan in care of me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 08 Dec 2010 16:30:35 UTC
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Francis French, Monday, 12-6-10 (44.90MB; download) -- Guest: Francis French. Topics: human spaceflight history, STEM education, space policy, our space 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, the books that Francis talked about during this program can be found at www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/books. If you buy them from this site, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show/OGLF. During our first segment, Mr. French told us about existing and coming exhibits at he San Diego Air & Space Museum. We also talked about some of the permanent exhibits which include the Apollo 9 capsule, Moon rocks and in the aviation part of the museum, Predator drones. Francis told us about several of the educational, student, and outreach programs the museum has in place. Several listeners asked him about the students, changes he has noticed in them over the years, and their interest in STEM as well as space, also the teachers, and even the parents. Francis provided us with very interesting observations and commentary on these population subsets so don't miss what he had to say. In our second segment, he talked about his three books of which he is the co-author. These books included "In The Shadow Of The Moon," "Into That Silent Sea," and "Falling To Earth." All three of these books are being placed on the One Giant Leap Foundation Amazon partners book page per the above URL. Francis told us about each book, not just in terms of the book contents, but the behind the scenes stories and facts we seldom if ever hear about. The same for the space missions and the people who carried them out. As we continued talking about the stories that made up our early human spaceflight program, we talked about testing programs and risks then and now. You will both appreciate and enjoy this look at an important part of our history. In the third segment, Francis was asked to tell us more about Al Worden and "Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon" which will be released in the summer of 2011 but can be pre-ordered at this time. Francis not only told us about Al Worden and why he was and is so special, but he also talked about former Astronaut Donn Eisele. Toward the end of the show, listener Tony sent in a note asking if either space solar power or space tourism could be a driver for better STEM education. You can learn more about the San Diego Air & Space Museum from their website, www.sandiegoairandspace.org. Please post your questions and comments for Francis French on the blog URL above. You can also send them to Francis using www.sandiegoairandspace.org/includes/php/email_composer.php. Make sure you reference Francis French & The Space Show in your email. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:30:53 UTC
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Open Lines, Sunday, 12-5-10 (60.31MB; download) -- Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: High school student space interview, Proton-M rocket launch, NASA Arsenic life form announcement, Outer Space Treaty models, space property rights, Whistleblowing and MRAPs. 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 the early part of the first segment, I listed numerous discussion topics for today's program, but only a few of the topics were picked up by listeners for discussion. Our initial caller was Andrew in Tucson who called in as a follow up to some of his more recent comments about property rights, the OST, and models such as Svalbard in Norway and the 1920 Spitsbergen Treaty. We are planning a more comprehensive program with Andrew to explore these models for space development but listen and see what you think. Check out these websites for more information on this subject: www.aeco.no/MicrosoftWord-TheSvalbardTreaty.pdf.pdf; www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/1925/10.html. After Andrew's call, Dave Hook called in to talk about the plight facing Space Show friend and guest Franz Gayl. Franz was a whistleblower re MRAP vehicles needed to save lives in our current wars and is facing reprisals for his actions. You need to hear this story as Dave tells it and later as Franz tells us as he called in to our show. Franz was then joined by Dr. Jurist. You can read about the case in this Washington Post article: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111903475.html. In addition to talking about Franz and the MRAPs, we brought everyone current on the status of the SUSTAIN Technology Roadmap. Its still possible that this roadmap will be published and released. If and when that happens, you will find out about on the program and we will be sure to tell everyone where to find a copy of the roadmap. The second segment began with the call by Franz so listen carefully to what he had to say. Since it appeared from our discussion that going after a person's security clearance was a way around the Whistleblower Act, we talked about this on air. Franz told us there was a petition for people to sign, the Whistleblower Protection Letter. If this interests you, check out the petition and pass it along to your friends: www.change.org/petitions/view/pass_whistleblower_protection_in_lame_duck. As we started the third segment, we took some calls about the arsenic life form story per the NASA PR statement and as you will hear, our callers did not think much of the story. We took some calls about the high student interview I did about space development and its importance with several listeners answering some of the questions, specifically #9 and #10. See what you think of the listener answers. Shortly after the show ended, the student emailed me with this comment: "Thank you very much for the recommendation of the paper and the talk show. It was extremely helpful, especially with the responses from question 9. I guess that question was a little biased, I didn't really word that one too well to stay neutral. My paper was supposed to show people from both points of view, and I think question 9 was more supportive of the other side of the argument. Otherwise thanks very much. I appreciate you taking your time answering my interview questions." Toward the end of the program, Marshall called in to talk about SSP and the high school student interview. If you have questions or comments for any of the participants contributing to this program, send them to me and I will forward your email to the person you designate. Don't forget to post your comments and question the blog URL above. Those interested in downloading the National Academies Press report I mentioned on air regarding the student questions, visit www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11820.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 06 Dec 2010 04:39:47 UTC
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Constance Adams, Friday, 12-3-10 (43.43MB; download) -- Guest: Constance Adams. Topics: Life support systems, space education, investment in space & technology. 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 to the show Constance Adams to discuss space architecture, closed loop life support systems, space policy and technology, and space investment. As we started our first segment, Ms. Adams said we were getting closer to true closed life support systems. She then provided us with a quick overview and summary of where we are today with developing such systems. Our conversation then changed to the issue of how we sustain and fund great projects. A great project is a project that may take 20-30 years to complete. The question we kept asking during the show as well as on other Space Show programs was how do we fund and sustain these long term projects given the short term focus by Congress, our elected officials as well as the American general public. Constance then told us about a recent Los Angeles Times article about the upcoming reductions faced by the NASA Astronaut Corp. We talked about the economic problems but agreed that space and technology need continued investment, even an increase in investment, not cut backs as are being discussed. Listen to this complete discussion and let us know what you think or suggest as a solution. As we started the second segment, we picked up with the same theme and said it was wrong headed to eliminate or reduce technology and space investment and programs. Ms. Adams wondered about the impact this would have on our youth who still have the dream and want to study but then have no outlet or a greatly reduced outlet for their career paths. Listener Tim called in suggesting that people in power want to reduce the status of America in these fields. We talked about space internationalization as well in this segment. Ms. Adams mentioned that it was the space entrepreneurs that were now carrying the ball for our space program and that they were keeping the dream alive for our future. She thought that space development was a national security issue, something we have talked about many times on this show. In our third segment, we received listener emails about the attitude of government toward space development and talked some more about space investment, economic growth and space for wealth building for the nation and our future. Ms. Adams mentioned the changes in our economy over time that have adversely impacted space industrialization such as the fact that businesses no longer do long term investment and R&D. The X-37B project came up several times and we talked about NASA giving it to the Air Force and the possibility that the Air Force might decide to share it with NASA. We received listener questions about life support systems, specifically the ECLSS. Toward the end of the program, Constance was asked about Mars habitats and how space habitats were being sized for human spaceflight. If you have questions or comments for Constance Adams, please post them on The Space Show blog listed above. You can also email them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to Constance. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 04 Dec 2010 18:11:05 UTC
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Dr. J. Richard Gott, Tuesday, 11-30-10 (71.45MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. J. Richard Gott. Topics: Cosmology, Mars colonization & the Copernican Principle, time travel possibilities. 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. J. Richard Gott to this two hour plus program. Dr. Gott's book, "Sizing Up the Universe: The Cosmos in Perspective," is available on the OGLF book page at http://www.amazon.com/dp/1426206518?tag=onegialeafou-20. This book will be make a great holiday gift so do consider it. Remember, if you buy it from the OGLF Amazon link above, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show. In addition, you can read an excellent New York Times article about Dr. Gott's Copernican Principle at www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/science/17tier.html. In our first long segment, Dr. Gott began our discussion by taking us through his new book which has many unique features in it. Its the universe in perspective as he has scaled it starting with lunar footprints. Not only did Dr. Gott take us through the book, the maps, the scaled photographs, the Sloan Great Wall of Galaxies, he talked about the visible universe and this took us into the Theory of Inflation and even a discussion on the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life. This then provided us with the introduction to the Copernican Principle and the theory that we on Earth are not special, therefore its likely that other possible intelligent life in the galaxy is not special. Most of the rest of our program was focused on the Copernican Principle, the urgency to commence space colonization on Mars, and the fact that our space program may end up being very short lived. Listeners called in and used email to ask Dr. Gott questions about being special or not and the Copernican Principle, to challenge, try to understand, and to disagree with Dr. Gott. At one point I told Dr. Gott that we have a hard time getting our arms around the possibility that we are not special and that perhaps other intelligent life in the galaxy is stuck on their planet as we seem to be stuck on ours. Several listeners joked about ET having a similar Congress to us, having funding cut, etc. but as you will hear, getting off our planet is hard to do, not just because of the technology, but because of the costs involved, the economics, and the political will which Dr. Gott said was the real barrier. At one point, I transported Dr. Gott to a congressional hearing and told him to state his case of urgency for Mars colonization now. Do you think he convinced Congress to fund our space program with a Mars colonization focus to it? Other topics came up during the first segment including inflation theory, relativity, interstellar travel, the age of our space program and its possible expected remaining life, and the survival of the species theory for space colonization and why humans need to be on two planets. In our second segment, Dr. Gott was challenged by Trent who brought up some of Dr. Gott's critics, including rebuttals by Carlton M. Caves. See what you think of this discussion. Dr. Gott responded to questions about SETI and explained why it was a low cost, worthwhile program with a big expected value potential payoff. In response to John's comment about the life expectancy of a ten year old, Dr. Gott showed us how the Copernican Principle predicted his life to be a minimum of a quarter of a year to a maximum of 390 years. He then applied the Principle to my age and if he is right, The Space Show has a chance of being around a long time. Toward the end of the discussion, Dr. Gott took us into the realm of time travel, both into the future and the past. You might be surprised by this discussion. Don't miss his closing comments and Pearls of Wisdom. For your questions and comments, post them on the blog URL above. You can also email them to Dr. Gott at jrg@astro.princeton.edu. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:42:09 UTC
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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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