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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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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Colorado Space Grant Consortium, Monday, 10-18-10 (44.95MB; download) -- Guests: Chris Koehler, Shawn Carroll, Emily Logan. Topics: National Space Grant Consortium and the Colorado Space Grant Consortium. 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 our first segment, Chris Koehler introduced us to the National Space Grant Consortium program which was authorized by Congress in 1987. There are 52 Space Grant programs in the country reaching thousands of college level students across the country. Each state has its own Space Grant Consortium and spreads that program through various in-state higher educational institutions. For example, the Colorado Space Grant Consortium (COSGC) has 16 affiliates managed out of the Space Grant HQ at UC Boulder. As you will hear discussed throughout this program, both the national and the state consortiums are about students doing hands on space engineering projects. As our first segment was nearing its end, students Shawn and Emily told us about some of the programs they had participated in, the Gateway To Space class taught by Mr. Koehler, and their team work in the program citing the TeamUp example. As we started our second segment, Emily talked about her project which initially had problems and did not work but then she worked on a solution and flew the project again a few months later to great success. We talked with Emily about lessons learned and applying them to ongoing work for a successful outcome. We talked about the various programs such as RockSat. We also learned about the company, Edge of Space Sciences that provides high altitude balloon launches for academic programs and more. As we started the third and final segment, our guests got questions about FAA needed authorizations for a balloon launch and we talked about their programs switching from film cameras to digital cameras and why they use the Canon brand. I asked both Shawn and Emily for their assessment of the future for careers for graduates in aerospace given our current economic conditions and the changes underway with our national space policy and NASA. Don't miss what both Emily and Shawn had to say about their future in aerospace. We talked about studying life sciences and human factors as part of the aerospace engineering curriculum. We also talked about the mix in their studies with aviation versus pure space engineering. You might be surprised to hear what they said regarding this question. As we concluded our program, both Emily and Shawn provided us with forward looking comments about Space Grant, studying aerospace engineering, the future for the industry. If you have comments or questions for any of our guests, please post them on the blog above. You can also email them to Chris Koehler at Koehler@Colorado.edu; Emily Logan at rocksatprogram@gmail.com; and Shawn Carroll at rocksatx@gmail.com. For more information, please visit their website at http://spacegrant.colorado.edu Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:44:06 UTC
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Dean Davis, Sunday, 10-17-10 (67.16MB; download) -- Guest: Dean Davis. Topic: The future of American Human Space Flight. 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 Dean Davis, Senior Principal Scientist/Engineer and Senior Study Leader for the Boeing Advanced Phantom Works. In our first segment, Mr. Davis said that our space program was like a ship without a rudder and the flexible path from Augustine allowed us to do anything we want but in reality meant we will do nothing. Much of the first segment related back to his opening statement. He did outline his plan for what he believes our space policy should be, including a Shuttle C type of heavy lift vehicle, that we stop dismantling one of the existing shuttle launch towers and infrastructure, we continue with the external tanks and in fact use them as orbital propellant depots. He said that doing this saves lots of money, lots of time, and provided us with a 110 metric ton heavy lift vehicle. He then explained his concept in the context of benefitting the taxpayer and getting more life out of the Shuttle Main Engines (SMEs). During this initial segment, we also talked about the need for technology advancement and R&D, especially by NASA which would then be used to fully support the commercial industry in going after new markets and being profitable. As an example, he cited the possibility of government carrying on power satellite research to facilitate the SSP industry. As a result of listener questions, Dean talked about the risks inherent in relying on the Russians for rides to the ISS, citing examples from the recent past. Near the end of the first segment, a listener asked him about the space workforce and that with any new change, the status quo holds on for dear life, but in reality, change is disruptive and we have to accept that. Dean called this the flash and burn mentality and explained why from his perspective, it was and still is destructive for our nation, not just the aerospace industry. You won't want to miss what he had to say about this often heard approach to new space policy and the space workforce. Our second segment began with listener John calling in from Billings, MT talking about leadership issues with politicians and within the business community. Dr. Jurist asked Dean to prioritize what he would do were he in charge. The top three things Dean said he would address would be 1) Make sure Congress does not directly or indirectly design our rockets. 2) He would build the heavy lift rocket but would stop destroying existing infrastructure at great cost to the program and taxpayer. He would make use of existing infrastructure. His third point was to build a propulsion system that could get us to Mars within four years. Our guest also spent much time in this segment talking about the greatness of America and our capability to adapt. A listener asked him about the WIG transport and the Caspian Sea Monster along with the Hot Eagle project. Hypersonics were also discussed in this and the earlier segment. John from Atlanta called in to ask about Orion and Dragon. Toward the end of the segment, I asked Dean to answer the Ohio high school student's four questions that I brought up on the last Open Lines show. Dean and I had much to say in response to these questions. If you have comments or questions for Dean Davis, please post them on the blog address above. You can also contact Dean or send him copies of your blog post using quarkstar13@aol.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:04:27 UTC
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Dr. Leik Myrabo, Friday, 10-15-10 (45.18MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Leik Myrabo. Topics: Beamed energy propulsion. We welcomed back to the program Dr. Leik Myrabo for updates and new information regarding his work in the area of beamed energy propulsion with his company, Lightcraft Technologies, Inc. (www.lightcrafttechnologies.com). Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshowoutsidethebox.blogspot.com. In our first segment, Leik brought us current on his activities since he was last on The Space Show on August 28, 2009. He told us about the Umea Institute of Design project in Sweden involving 33 students and 11 teams in a design project to look at replacing jet fuel driven aircraft with beamed energy craft in the future. We talked about an upcoming BBC-Nova series, The World of Invention, and he told us about the high power laser experiments at the Laboratory of Aerothermodynamics and Hypersonics, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. In this discussion, Dr. Myrabo was specific about the lasers, their power, and energy usage. He received questions about the Brazilian lab, and demos using beamed energy for commercial markets for micro to nano-satellites. Later in this segment, we talked about beamed energy work in China, its relationship to space solar power work, and even the potential of being useful for space debris mitigation. As we started the second segment, Anthony in the UK asked about safety issues and Leik share with us the safety protocols when working with the lasers. Our guest was asked if beamed propulsion was an attraction for students to study and we asked how his academic peers regarded this cutting edge work. Dr. Myrabo had much to say about both of these topics so don't miss this discussion. Later in this segment, we asked him to define the millimeter-wave laser as several listeners were emailing me for an explanation of it. After Leik explained the millimeter-wave laser, he was asked about applications for beamed energy for the space elevator project. Here he had much to say so don't miss this part of our discussion. I also asked our guest how weather sensitive the lasers were and we learned that atmospheric conditions were very important. Its even why placing a laser on the top of a mountain makes sense. Near the end of this segment, the subject of the laser or any form of beamed energy as a space weapon came up. Leik told us about the Laser Clearing House in the U.S. and also said that as this field develops, there would have to be an international regulatory regime for laser usage but that we were a long way from that point right now. He explained why such a regulator regime would be necessary so again, don't miss what he had to say on this very important subject. In our third and final segment, we fielded a question from the UK asking about UK and ESA laser research. Leik then told us about the upcoming international symposium in April 2011 in Germany. He was asked about adapting military lasers to commercial beamed energy propulsion and about competing and alternative forms of beamed energy that are in the mix. We also talked about beamed energy beyond LEO as the show was drawing to a close. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Leik Myrabo, please post them on the blog URL and you can send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com to be forwarded to Dr. Myrabo. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:52:00 UTC
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Open Lines, Wednesday, 10-13-10 (60.31MB; download) -- Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: NASA and China space policy, human space flight, space policy overview. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshowoutsidethebox.blogspot.com. In our first segment, I put out some topics for general discussion during the show including information about NASA having an interest in returning to the Moon, a BBC report about a multi-nation effort to build a small spaceship, launch it from the ISS, then fly around the Moon. I also talked about an interview I am doing for a high school senior regarding a special project this student is undertaking. I read the four questions the student asked me about and suggested those interested reply to the student’s questions on the blog URL above and in the show. These four questions were discussed throughout this Open Lines program. Our first caller Jack wanted to discuss the NASA Administrator’s trip to China and why that was a good thing. Jack had much to say about the Bolden trip and why we should be talking and working with China, especially with regards to standardization of hardware to serve all nations in times of space emergencies. Jack talked some about the recent Congressional authorization bill and the CR. Before he left the line, I asked him for his forward looking view of things to come over the next few decades. Don’t miss his perspective. In the second segment, I read an email question asking me for my opinion to a question asked of Dr. Mendell the night before which was do I believe NASA can actually build a heavy lift rocket. I agreed with most everything Dr. Mendell said on the show and said its really an issue of being able to sustain policy and funding over a long time rather than an engineering or manufacturing question. John from Atlanta called in to respond to the Ohio high school senior and his four questions. John talked about the evolution of humanity into human space flight, the discovery aspect, and the space entrepreneurism component of moving out into space. John also talked about propellant depots and offered up an idea for fuel transfer using the second stage of the rocket. Perhaps some of you will be able to offer John quality comments on his idea using the blog. As we started the third segment of the program, our friend Charles in Mojave called in. He is still moving to Las Vegas. Charles provided us with his usual and customary insights, including the statement that NASA was like a “beached whale.” He talked about the space entrepreneurs and the risk they take by working with NASA in terms of their being assimilated. Andrew from Tucson then called in to talk about the high school senior’s questions. I asked him about the Tucson and U of A astronomy community and their thoughts on the space policy debate While he said human space flight did not directly impact their work, he noted that the astronomy community had been in recession for at least five years and he talked about the impact it has had on astronomy. Our next caller was Mark from Huntsville who is a NASA contractor. Mark shared his perspective on all things space from his Huntsville and contractor perch and had many interesting and relevant things to say so please listen carefully. Mark also attended the recent FAA-COMSTAC meeting in Washington, DC and he gave us a summary overview of the meeting and presentations. If you have questions or comments for any of the participants in today’s Open Lines show, please post them on the blog and email them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. I will forward your comments to the person of interest.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:15:42 UTC
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