The Space Show
The Space Show
The Space Show focuses on timely and important issues influencing the development of outer-space commerce, space tourism,space exploration and space development. The Space Show is committed to facilitating our becoming a space-faring nation and society with a growing and self-sustaining space-faring economy. The Space Show also focuses on other related subjects of interest to us all.
Station feed:  Created by: David Livingston |
Created on: 12 May 2005 Language: English |
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Dr. J. B. Zirker, Friday, 1-9-2010 (60.35MB; download) --
Guest: Dr. J.B. Zirker. Topics: Magnetic fields, solar magnetism, astrophysics, astronomy, telescopes. We welcomed Dr. J.B. Zirker to the program today to discuss his new book, "The Magnetic Universe: The Elusive Traces of an Invisible Force." The book is now on the One Giant Leap Foundation book website and if you buy it here, Amazon makes an important contribution to The Space Show. Here is the direct purchase URL: www.amazon.com/dp/080189302X?tag=onegialeafou-20. In our first of four segments, Dr. Zirker provided us with an overview of his book ranging from the Earth out to the Galaxies. Dr. Zirker introduced us to the magnetosphere and magnetic fields. We discussed this science from the sun to Jupiter and beyond. Toward the end of this important segment, I asked our guest if it were possible to know 100% of all the science in the world, where were we on the scale of how much science we now know. As you will hear, less than 1%! We started the second segment with a discussion on sunspots, the Little Ice Age, and the possible impact of sunspot cycles on Earth's climate changes. This is a very interesting discussion and it might surprise you as to what our guest said. Later in the segment, we talked about sunquakes and Dr. Zirker's book on the subject, "Sunquakes: Probing the Interior of the Sun." In this discussion, our guest explained the science of sunquakes and what it means to us on Earth. Dr. Zirker was also asked about the most frequent questions he receives when talking to various student groups of different grades and ages. Later in this segment, I asked about potential commercial models for this research or does it all have to be government funded. Listen to what he had to say about the developing field of prediction services. Segment three started off addressing more student questions, Mercury and the Messenger mission, and the accuracy of extrapolating from planetary studies back to Earth. We also talked about the flipping of the Earth's magnetic fields and the movie 2012. Total solar eclipses were mentioned and our guest went into some detail with his discussion of the sun's corona, solar temperatures, and the physical processes that drive these solar properties. Listeners asked about the Martian magnetic field and if it could be recreated and if so, how. The solar thermal and convection physics were explained and we fielded several questions about this science. In the fourth and last segment, we talked about telescopes, adaptive optics and mirror technology and size. We learned that the new large mirror adaptive optic telescopes like those in Hawaii are competitive with the HST. Dr. Zirker explained the interferometer to us and we talked about the economics of building large mirror Earth based telescopes as compared to launch space telescopes. As you will hear, the infrared telescopes need to be in space as we cannot see in that realm from Earth. That said, Dr. Zirker did say that with the new telescopes coming on line and being built, we would be able to explore the surface of other planets in HD right here from Earth. Toward the end of this segment, we talked about the political priority for space studies, astrophysics, science, astronomy, etc. This is an important discussion so listen to it. Our guest also left us with an excellent closing comment. Don't miss it. All of Dr. Zirker's books will soon be available at www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/books. If you have questions or comments for Dr. J. B. Zirker, please send it to me and I will forward your note to him.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:06:42 UTC
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Ed McCullough, Tuesday, 1-5-10 (62.59MB; download) -- Guest: Edward McCullough. Topics: Nuclear, advanced technology, lunar manufacturing, Mars. Ed McCullough returned for this two hour plus Space Show program. We started segment one with Ed taking us through his Navy nuclear training and his advanced technology career assignments and work. During this discussion, Ed told us about products, projects, and technologies, how they were created, funded, developed and when possible, implemented. Its a good discussion and most informative so don't miss it. We talked about how to build an RLV, what it would look like, the time frame, the costs, and this is important, its size! In our second segment which lasted for the show's duration, we started off with Ed saying that these visionary projects needed commercial funding. He talked about the size of SSP satellites made in modules on the Moon to an eventual size of 11 KM, then using that technology to make battleship size vehicles to go to the Martian Le Grange points from the Moon. This is a complex discussion so listen carefully. Ed addressed many of the human factors issues including radiation shielding through using large amounts of water, cosmic rays, bone loss issues, and more. In fact, the bone loss issue and radiation became a major part of this discussion with a call from listener John and email and chat questions from other listeners. Please listen carefully to this far ranging discussion, the use of new technologies, bone issues with osteoclasts and osteoblasts and possible bisphosphonate treatment. Listener Reda asked questions about going to space and having osteoporosis so listen up with this important discussion. We talked about the needed levels of gravity and everyone lamented not having the centrifuge experiments on Station to determine the amount of gravity needed to protect humans. We talked about radiation shielding with lunar regolith and much more. Ed was asked about the Delta V needed to go to a Martian Le Grange point from a lunar Le Grange Point and we got a call from listener Theron who gave us that information. You will definitely want to hear this. As you will hear, the transit times at these very low Delta V levels require about two years for a one way trip to Mars. Contrast that with a six to nine month one way trip time from Earth to Mars. Robotic technology for lunar manufacturing was discussed near the end of the show, Ed talked about mitigating the lunar dust issues for manufacturing and maintaining equipment on the Moon. At the end of the show, Ed talked about green energy, contrasting solar, wind, and nuclear. He explained what was needed for grid improvements to take new power from these various sources of possible additional energy. Visit Ed's website for more information, www.explainingthebigpicture.com. If you have a comment or question for Ed McCullough, please email him directly using the email address at the bottom of his website (edwardmccullough at rocketmail dot com)or you can send your question or comment to him through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:57:09 UTC
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Ross Tierney, Monday, 1-4-10 (56.88MB; download) -- Guest: Ross Tierney. Topics. Direct 3.0, Constellation, NASA, political process. Ross Tierney returned for this two hour program to update us with Direct 3.0 in light of the Augustine report and the upcoming announcements regarding U.S. Civil Space Policy. In our first segment, Ross brought us current with Direct 3.0 and the Augustine Commission. This is a comprehensive discussion. We also talked about work force issues and job losses in the space industry as a result of potential space policy changes. At the end of this segment, in response to a listener question, Ross estimated the R&D costs for Direct 3.0 launchers. In our second segment, Ross opened up with the probable time table to flight testing and operations depending on the actual configuration for the Direct Launcher and external tank. Heavy lift was discussed as was the political mindset of all those involved in the process. SPS was mentioned by a listener and Ross suggested it as a mission. Listen to his idea and see what you think. As we started the third and final segment which was about an hour long, Ross opened saying "In God we Trust, all others bring data!" We then talked about the Direct 3.0 relationship, if any, with ATK, Marshall Spaceflight Center and others. The issue of comparing the safety of an SRB to a liquid rocket for human spaceflight came up so you will want to hear what Ross had to say about this. Ross brought in the life cycle cost issue and talked about the NASA culture. We also talked about economic growth and opportunity through space development. I asked him questions about what he would say regarding our civil space program to hurting communities across America as a result of the economic crisis using Detroit as an example. Ross told us what he would say to Detroit Rotarians. I think you will like how he makes the case for space. We should all borrow from what Ross had to say to those in Detroit and in similar situations across America. Ross spent much time stressing the ability to work the political process and system and to understand how things happen. As he said, the best idea or technology could very well fail if there was not a political momentum behind it. Toward the end of this segment, we talked about how Direct 3.0 would impact the GAP and the compatibility with the heavy lift Jupiter and EELV or the Falcon 9. If you have a question or comment for Ross Tierney, email him at info@directlauncher.com. You can find his frequent posts on nasapaceflight.com under the screen name KRAISEE. Don't hesitate to join in the discussion.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:04:52 UTC
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Taylor Dinerman, Sunday, 1-3-10 (52.75MB; download) -- Guest: Taylor Dinerman. Topics: NASA and commercial space; Climategate, China, SSP, space policy. Taylor Dinerman returned for the first program of 2010 which went almost two hours. In segment one, Mr. Dinerman talked about the coming NASA space policy announcement and programs. He suggested there might be a coming "train wreck." Listen to his analysis in this important discussion. Taylor talked about Constellation, politics, the coming 2010 congressional elections, and possible budget fights. Toward the end of the segment, Direct 3.0 was mentioned as was the GAP without American human spaceflight, and the options for using commercial launchers and space companies. In segment two, listener Charles brought up the small is better approach vis a vis Microlaunchers and this turned out to be an off and on again discussion during the rest of the program with other listeners participating. Taylor talked about the importance of heavy lift, then he switched to the Climategate scandal and what it means for NASA Earth Sciences. Listen carefully to this segment, it addresses NASA cultural biases as did the Columbia report, and see what you think. Taylor called for independent investigation to look for cultural bias in the Earth Sciences part of NASA and predicted long term damage to NASA if such independent reviews are not undertaken. The Wright Brothers and their motivation returned front and center, the development of the wind tunnel was mentioned, as was the need for serendipity because one never knows where something good or paradigm changing might come from though one should not plan on this approach. Space Solar Power was then brought up as was the need to tweak our capitalistic economic and investment system. You do not want to miss this discussion and what our guest had to say about economics, our systems, our failures, and our potential. As we started the third and final segment, Taylor was asked about space tourism. As you will hear, he is very bullish on it and talked about the competition between Virgin Galactic and XCOR. He also mentioned the science payload missions for suborbital spaceflights as being extremely important and very exciting. We then switched to talking about China and its space policy. You will hear that their military hinders western cooperation with the Chinese space program. India was just the opposite as Taylor stressed it being a democracy and in many ways, cooperative with our own policy. We talked about the Indian human spaceflight plans and much more. Toward the end of the program, we talked about the GAP, keeping shuttle flying longer, and the importance of our space work force, not just it being a jobs program. Taylor told us how other nations value and treat their space workforce so you definitely want to hear this discussion. If you have comments or questions for Taylor Dinerman, please send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to Mr. Dinerman. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:17:55 UTC
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Tom Olson, Tuesday, 12-29-09 (58.36MB; download) -- Guest: Tom Olson. Topics: Summary of 2009 and a look forward to 2010 for space development. Tom Olson returned for our annual summary of space 2009 and our anticipation for what might be ahead for us all for space development in 2010. In our first segment of this two hour program, Tom highlighted Virgin Galactic and Space Ship 2. He also talked about the upcoming launch for Falcon 9 and the fact that Falcon 1 had a successful commercial launch earlier this year. He highlighted Augustine, the business plan competition at NewSpace 2009 and the Space Investment Summits. He spent some time going over the Solaren and PGE SSP deal, all from a perspective you have heard before on this show. A listener asked about the need for a killer app for human spaceflight and the subject of the killer app was discussed in detail. We talked about the Augustine Commission suggestions as well as issues around space advocacy civility which is a topic that has been addressed on recent programs by many guests and listeners. In our second segment, NewSpace was discussed in terms of it starting to show some profitability for some of its components. The issues of what happens if Virgin or space tourism goes the way of the Concorde came up and Tom boldly examined this possibility and what it would mean for the industry and space development. A listener asked him if he would invest in any NewSpace or launch vehicle company. He said no but listen to his full explanation. See if you agree. When asked about progress being made with the Space Investment Summits and the business plan competitions, he said he thought so but the jury was still out regarding deal flow. He told us the next Space Investment Summit would be in Chicago the day before ISDC starts in May 2010. When Mr. Olson was asked to look forward for NASA, he suggested that the agency would simply "muddle through." He was asked about Spaceport America and its potential commercial success and their development of the runways now underway. He had much to say about this project and spaceports in general so make sure you hear his comments. As we started our third and final segment, Tom mentioned a German scientific paper stating that global warming violated the first and second law of thermodynamics. Here is the URL that describes the paper and contains the link to the actual paper: www.climategate.com/german-physicists-trash-global-warming-theory. I thank Tom for sending this to us. The subject of the trillion dollar asteroid came up in the context of some business plans Tom and others have recently seen regarding this idea as a commercial venture. Tom puts forth the arguments against this idea as a commercial success. See what you think about what he had to say. We talked about long term space missions and the enabling technologies that would be needed to help us realize such missions. Tom strongly suggests that investing in nanotechnology and enabling technologies may well prove more viable and profitable than any actual space investment over the near to intermediate term. You won't want to miss this discussion. Tom made several references to the global economic problems and meltdown and its impact on space projects and development. Toward the end of the show we talked about Masten winning the LLC and wondered aloud about what might be next for LLC technology. When Tom was asked for his closing comments or pearls of wisdom to close out 2009, he said "play nicer in 2010!" If you have any comments or questions for Tom Olson, please send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will send them to him. For all Space Show listeners, a very Happy New Year to you and the best for a terrific 2010! Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:26:28 UTC
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Dr. John Logsdon, Monday, 12-28-09 (41.04MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. John Logsdon. Topics: U.S. space policy, Augustine Commission, JFK and more. Dr. John Logsdon, founder and former director of the Space Policy Institute was our guest for this program. In our first segment, Dr. Logsdon discussed the times in our history where our space policy was at a crossroads, starting with the transition from President Eisenhower to President Kennedy, then to the post-Columbia period and the VSE. This led to a discussion about the disconnect within the space community and the general public along with the variety of ways that people get information today, and the choices that we now have compared to what was available during the Apollo era. As this segment ended, we talked about the space advocacy community and space policy. Our discussion focused on the need for this community to stop the infighting to become more effective. This is a conversation you will certainly want to hear. In the second segment, Dr. Logsdon shared his views with us as to the pending space policy as a result of the Augustine Commission. We also talked about NewSpace and the entrepreneurial space effort. Our guest suggested that at some point this community will need to put forth results rather than rhetoric. Don't miss all of what Dr. Logsdon had to say on this important topic. We also talked about the Augustine recommendation for $3 billion of added funding for NASA. Dr. Logsdon explained how this additional funding was to be allocated and he cleared up misconceptions about this issue. Listener Dwayne called in to ask if Augustine had exceeded its statement of task and if it lacked focus. You will want to hear what Dr. Logsdon had to say about these two issues. In the third and final segment, a listener asked about referencing numbers when talking about NASA. For example, suggesting NASA expenditures result in a 5::1 return to the taxpayer for every dollar spent on space. We were cautioned against doing this because of the difficulty in verifying these econometric conclusions. Another listener asked about the AST and the possibility of it being a drag on the ability of space companies to attract investment dollars. This resulted in an interesting discussion on stability and the role of the AST in support of space businesses. Toward the end of this segment, Dr. Logsdon told us about the book he was writing on JFK and space policy. This proved to be a very interesting part of today's show and he certainly got us excited about his book. I took advantage of this topic to ask about various things that we read or are told about JFK and space, including the Bay of Pigs fiasco as the reason why he announced the lunar program. We also talked about public opinion during Apollo and later during Apollo 13 given what was going on in Viet Nam. Toward the end of the program, our guest was asked about space tourism. Dr. Logsdon said it was like upside down bungee jumping and that it was hard to see it becoming a commercial success over the long haul. We also talked about his observations of Space Policy Institute students over time and if they remained in the space industry for their careers. Our program concluded with a brief discussion of the importance of the issue of orbital debris and optimism for the next decade of space development. If you have a comment or question for Dr. John Logsdon, please send it to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it to him.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:02:10 UTC
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OPEN LINES, Sunday, 12-27-09 (66.75MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. David Livingston and Open Lines. Topics: fusion, SSP, Green Energy, webcam for Space Show, Lunar Base. Today was a two hour Open Lines program. As soon as the program introduction was completed for the first segment, John Sved called from Germany to discuss fusion and his company, NSD-Fusion (see www.nsd-fusion.com). John spoke with us about Industrial Neutron Generators and his company activities. This discussion included a review of the potential for HE3 on the Moon, RLVs, Ariane 6, Skylon, fusion energy, and the newly forming British National Space Agency. In Segment Two, we received a listener chat question about the PGE and Solaren SSP deal. Since I am a PG&E rate payer and customer, I spoke about the green energy options that are coming our way through the Marin Clean Energy (www.marincleanenergy.info) that PG&E is resisting and that many feel are without economic merit. We discuss how staying with PG&E, going light green or dark green plays into one scenario for green energy and SSP in California. This can be applied directly to the SSP deal since California is supposed to be making the effort to replace about 30% of its current energy usage with green, renewable energy. This discussion took up the entire second segment, addressed ideas and issues with the North American power grid with a phone call from Stephen in Canada, plus lots of email and chat listeners. Paying more for subsidized green energy that is not economic was not on the shopping list of those that participated in this segment. The business case issue for SSP also came up again, as it does every time SSP is discussed on The Space Show. For those of you that might be curious, it still has not been made! As this segment ended, we talked about a correspondence between Daniel in Australia and comments Bob Zimmerman made on his last show regarding cooperation versus competition in terms of space policy, using the ISS as the focal point and model. I read the correspondence between Daniel and Bob on air. See what you think of this issue for lunar bases. I'll be happy to forward any comments you have on this issue to both Daniel and Bob. In our third and final segment which took us to a 2 hour 15 minute program, Charles Pooley of Microlaunchers called to tell us that 2010 would be the year for Microlaunchers. Listen to his plan. He then talked about N Prize, and the Google Lunar X Prize where he suggested all was not good down on the farm. Listen to his comments carefully. For those of you that want to contact Charles Pooley, you can do so through me or by emailing him at ckpooley@microlaunchers.com. For all other comments and questions regarding This Space Show Open Lines program, please let me hear from you at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:14:54 UTC
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Tom Ligon and Michael Simon, Tuesday, 12-22-09 (55.18MB; download) -- Guests: Tom Ligon; Michael Simon. Topics: Polywell fusion, fusion, space propulsion. Tom Ligon returned to The Space Show and we welcomed Michael Simon to update us on the Dr. Bussard fusion program with Polywell Fusion and more. We started our first segment with an overview of Dr. Bussard's fusion work.. Our gusts brought us current with the status of the EMC2 Fusion Development Corporation and explained Polywell Fusion, the concept of using Proton Boron-11 (PB-11) fuel, along with the idea of using HE3 on the Moon. Our second segment led off with a call from Jack inquiring about the fusion work by Dr. George Miley at the University of Ill as well as a timeline for the applied research demonstrator. Tom and Simon then described as much as they could about the contracts and funding for Polywell Fusion and the use of PB-11. Much of what is known is classified so our briefing was a general update. Jack also inquired about a possible hybrid with fission and fusion reactors. As listener Jack attended the launch of the Ares 1X test flight, he shared with us what he saw and his perceptions of that launch. As we neared the end of the second segment, the issue of climate change and the need for fusion cam up as did peak oil. Regardless of one's position or thoughts on climate change, it makes total sense and should be an objective of us all to move toward clean and powerful fusion energy, not just for our terrestrial power needs, but for the differences it would make in space access and propulsion. In our third and final segment which was extended, our guests talked about the commercial potential of Polywell and the fact that there was no patent on the Polywell. Don't miss this discussion. Throughout the show and particularly in this segment, we fielded several questions from John about using HE3, the problems related to using PB-11 as a fuel, SSP, and other fusion issues. Our guests thought that if PB-11 could be confirmed, it would probably be so cost effective and abundant that it would render these other power ideas and HE3 unnecessary. The issue of fusion funding came up and as you will hear, more than $10 billion has been invested in traditional fusion and many millions have been invested in alternative fusion such as the Polywell. This led to a discussion about the tokomaks, their usefulness and contribution to the fusion efforts so far, and how research money is spent on fusion. Several of the smaller fusion efforts were mentioned and our guests said that the success of any one of them stands to change humanity and while everyone hopes for their effort to be successful, the success of any of these methods would be a huge step forward. The nuclear rocket came up for discussion and Tom talked about the pioneering work on the nuclear rocket by Dr. Bussard. A Denver listener emailed in a question about extraordinary claims and rhetoric needing extraordinary proof and this became an important part of our discussion, not just for fusion but for science, climate issues, politics, healthcare, etc. I asked the question again that I ask on air all the time and that is how can we the people avoid the spin, the rhetoric, the misleading hype because we don't have the time to do due diligence on every single thing. If you have a solution to this problem, let us hear from you. Toward the end of the segment, a listener asked about WB 8 and 8.1 being built to use PB-11. By the way, we learned that WB stands for Wiffle Ball and you will want to hear this explanation. There are several websites to check out for more information on this subject: www.askmar.com.fusion.html; www.talk-polywell.org; www.emc2fusion.org; http://iecfusiontech.blogspot.com and www.tomligon.com. To contact Tom Ligon and Michael Simon, use www.tomligon.com/Contact.html for Tom and for Simon, use msimon6808 at yahoo d*t com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:04:59 UTC
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Dr. William Rowe, Monday, 12-21-09 (47.90MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. William Rowe. Topics: Special medical and human factors issues and solutions for long duration spaceflight and settlement. Dr. William Rowe returned to The Space Show to update us on some of his new research regarding spaceflight and kidney, cardiovascular, and other health issues regarding very long duration spaceflight and/or settlement. In segment one, Dr. Rowe introduced us to the issue of kidney risk. While some of what you hear may be a bit of a medical and technical discussion, make sure you listen carefully to what Dr. Rowe tells us. These are factors that have the potential to impact our going out into space to Mars and other destinations. This is important information. Other medical issues in this segment came up regarding the cardiovascular and stress test issues for former astronaut James Irwin. Dr. Rowe introduced us to the role of magnesium and the difficulty in delivering it to astronauts in space. In this context, he also drew important analogies for us to the Bushmen of the Kalahari. Pharmaceuticals were introduced as was the problem of malabsorption. As we launched the second segment, Dr. Rowe told us more about the important role of magnesium and why its a crucial issue for long duration spaceflight. Bill suggested we visit his website for some of his papers, research, and Letters to the Editor. Please visit www.femsinspace.com. Click on the flashing NEW sign or go direct to www.dovepress.com/potential-renovascular-hypertension-space-missions-and-the-role-of-mag-peer-reviewed-article-IJNRD. You will find many interesting articles and research papers on Bill's webpage. Later in this segment, Dr. Rowe began talking about gene therapy and vascular disease. He also talked about the difficulty in getting his researched published in space journals and in NASA quarters, but he gets published frequently in reviewed medical journals. Listeners asked Dr. Rowe several questions including applying what Dr. Rowe was talking about to much shorter suborbital tourist flights. Dr. Rowe stressed the importance of understanding the spaceflight risk for those that have hypertension. As we started the third and final segment, we returned to the subject of gene therapy and viral vectors. Listen to what Bill has to say about gene therapy as a possible solution to some of these serious medical challenges and note the time line he is talking about. Note his timeline for humans being able to go Mars. Do you agree with him? As we neared the end of the program, we spoke about the issue of obesity and spaceflight. Here, Dr. Rowe said that its a double threat for the astronaut or spaceflight participant in that not only will the problems of obesity be pronounced in spaceflight, so will the problems of spaceflight that Bill has been discussing on this show. Here he talked about insulin and other problems. As the show was winding down, I asked about age as a factor. How disgusting to learn that past 30 years of age we have some serious issues that are impacted by spaceflight. Listen to what Dr. Rowe had to say about the age issue. He even presented a short summary of a plan on how to groom and train Mars bound astronauts from about age 13. Do any of you think such a program would be possible in our culture even if medically and scientifically warranted? At the end of the show, Bill provided us with the example of the cave dwelling troglobite. You must hear this story . Listen to the question Bill asks us all, are we really that different in nature than the troglobite? If you have a question or comment for Dr. William Rowe, you can reach him through his website above by clicking on the Contact button near the bottom of his home page. The direct email address is drrowe@femsinspace.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:45:52 UTC
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Capt. Sarah Ford, Dr. John Jurist, Sunday, 12-20-09 (49.32MB; download) -- Guests: Capt. Sarah Ford; Dr. John Jurist. Topics: High-Altitude skydiving, bailout from space, space tourism, astronauts. U.S. Air Force Captain Sarah Ford and Dr. John Jurist were our guests today regarding Capt. Ford's thesis for graduating with an MAS from the Space Studies program at UND in Grand Forks, ND. Dr. Jurist was her Adjunct Faculty Advisor for this project. In segment one, Captain Ford explained the subject of her research and the focus on why even look into the problem of high-altitude bailouts, sport space skydiving, and emergency ejection from a spaceship, either government or private. My first question dealt with the impact of a person's body shape and weight on the forces to be encountered in such a jump. You might be surprised with how our guests responded to this question. This led us to discussing drag and the two positions Capt. Ford researched in her paper, the tucked or cannon ball position and the more common skydiving position. Pay attention to the forces that are applied to the person in each position and the green safety zone for a jump using one or the other position. We also talked about the training that a private spaceflight participant might have to go through regarding such an ejection or bailout and as you will hear, its clearly best to avoid having to get out of the vehicle. Both Dr. Jurist and Capt. Ford then talked at length about the Capt. Joe Kittinger jump from about 103,000 feet to test a new Air Force pressure suit. You will find the facts around Captain Kittinger's jump to be most interesting as well as the application of lessons learned to the issue of spaceflight. As we started our second segment, Sarah talked about the famous SR-71 breakup and the pilots coming down from approximately 79,000 feet. One pilot did not make it but Bill Weaver did so listen to the story. Sarah then talked with us about the facts surrounding Columbia at 177,000 feet and Mach 14.4. The destructive events included rapid and extreme depressurization resulting in the astronauts not have enough conscious time to get their suits operational before losing consciousness. The dynamic forces were too great for the restraint systems as they were inadequate to protect them under the conditions associated with the vehicle breakup. In addition, the cold temperature was way outside the operating zone for their spacesuits. When asked for the best corrective solution for these problems, both Sarah and John said to make sure the heat shield was operational. This is an important discussion as it talks about space suits, dynamic forces, restraints, and since some of this was addressed as part of the SUSTAIN Conference Dr. Jurist and I attended this past February, much of our discussion is also applicable to space tourism, even suborbital space tourism. As we began our third segment, the famous Kittinger comment that he did not recommend people try to beat his record for safety reasons was discussed. Dr. Jurist also mentioned three Air Force key people that paved the way for our human spaceflight program, Dr. (Col.). John Paul Stapp, Capt. Joe Kittinger, and Dr. David Simons. During this segment, Sarah talked about her academic program at UND Space Studies, her research and work on this project, and her future journal and publication plans. Toward the end of the program, you will hear important recommendations for future research and study on this subject for all space activities including private, civil, and military. If you have questions or comments for Capt. Sarah Ford and Dr. John Jurist, you can send comments for Sara to John or me. For Dr. Jurist, use JMSpace@aol.com and for me use drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:30:29 UTC
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