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. Stuart Eves, Friday, 7-3-09 (61.46MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Stuart Eves. Topics: Surrey Satellite Technology, LTD., smallsats, Moon, technology directions, U.S. growing market. Dr. Stuart Eves was our returning guest for this Space Show program to update us and discuss Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd. missions and programs. Dr. Eves discussed five main areas with us: 1) the new SST office in Denver and the pursuit of business in the U.S.; 2) current SST missions; 3) technologies for small satellites and how this changes the ways we use them; 4) opportunities for small sats to be more cost-effective; 5) Surrey ambitions for sats beyond Earth orbit such as the Moon Lite program. We discussed these topics and subjects in some detail plus the listener questions took us into some new areas. For example, we had a question about the Surrey plan to work with White Knight 2 and to make GPS satellites for the European Galileo GPS array. Don't miss what Stuart had to say about these ventures. ITAR was a big topic given Surrey is in the UK and they now have a U. S. office. You will want to hear this discussion as it provides a good example of ITAR rules and compliance as Surrey the parent in the UK is also now in a Denver office. I also urge you to listen to the international ventures that Surrey is involved in and think how challenging such projects might be for a U.S. company given the current ITAR protocol. Dr. Eves took us to new territory as well by talking about stand alone devices and satellites that increasingly talk to each other and do on board data processing. These technologies are going to revolutionize how we use and apply satellites and develop the space industry. Stuart described their Moon Lite program which is really interesting. I hope they get their funding for the project. Stuart was asked what Surrey is doing to mitigate creating space debris when one of their satellites reaches the end of its life. As you will hear, Surrey is on the cutting edge of mitigation development and technology. Listen to how Surrey avoids regulation creep, something that really hampers American space projects. This was and is an action packed two hour discussion that you do not want to miss. If you have any questions or comments for Dr. Stuart Eves, you can email him directly at s.eves@sstl.co.uk.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:29:51 UTC
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Experimental Sounding Rocket Assoc. Tuesday, 6-30-09 (38.75MB; download) -- Guests: Dr. Paul Mueller, Adam Vore, David Stechmann. Topics: rocket competition, college teams, aerospace engineering, building rockets. Dr. Mueller returned for this Space Show program to update us on the recent intercollegiate rocket engineering competition for the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) recently held in Utah. With him on the show were the first and second place team captains, Adam Vore from Cal State Long Beach and David Stechmann from the University of Washington. Adam was with us for the first half of the show and David was with us for the second half of the show. Both Adam and David told us about their respective entries but more to the point, they discussed how they built and tested their rockets and the components, what it was like getting it all ready to fly in the competition, the problems they encountered and the solutions to those problems. Their stories were compelling, inspiring, and totally fun! To win the competition, the winner had to get the closest to 10,000 feet but also there were oral and written papers involved, not just the flight score. Please check the ESRA website for the papers and videos from the competition. The URL is http://soundingrocket.org. If you have questions or comments for our guests, please email them as follows: Dr. Paul Mueller: paul.mueller.iii@gmail.com; Adam Vore: vegandiver@gmail.com; David Stechmann: dstech@u.washington.edu. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:51:38 UTC
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James Pura and Ryan McLinko, Monday, 6-29-09 (41.69MB; download) -- Guests: James Pura and Ryan McLinko. Topics: NewSpace 2009, lunar opportunities, Kool-Aid, NASA Ames. Our guests, James Pura and Ryan McLinko are the co-chairs of the upcoming NewSpace 2009 conference to be held July 17-20 at NASA Ames in Mountain View, Ca. For more information about NewSpace 2009, please visit http://newspace2009.spacefrontier.org. James and Ryan went through some of the featured programming and keynote speakers. We talked about the $5,000 Heinlein Prize that will be given to the winner of the business plan competition. We also talked about the Black Tie Gala Event and Banquet the last night of the conference, July 20, also the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. Some of the programming that was mentioned in detail during the show addressed the space elevator, space solar power, commercial lunar opportunities, the networking that will be available, point to point suborbital transportation, and Teachers in Space. Both James and Ryan also talked about the online registration, the conference hotel and the special conference rate, the programming with the ISU Summer Session attendees, and more. In the last segment of the show, I asked both guests how they discovered and got interested in the Space Frontier Foundation. This discussion led to asking them if they thought being a member of SFF and space advocacy organization helped them in their space career options, was a negative, or was neutral. This sparked a very interesting and creative discussion, don't miss it. If you have NewSpace 2009 conference questions, you can use the NewSpace 2009 website at http://newspace2009.spacefrontier.org/contacts.php. Not only can you find the email and phone information for our guests James and Ryan, you can contact other key people with SFF. If you have a specific question or comment for James Pura and Ryan McLinko, you can email them at james.pura@spacefrontier.org and ryan.mclinko@spacefrontier.org.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:52:24 UTC
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Mark Canepa, Sunday, 6-28-09 (55.39MB; download) -- Guest: Mark Canepa. Topics: Modern high-power rocketry, Tripoli, NAR, rocket motors, insurance liability, space & rocketry. Mark Canepa, author of "Modern High-Power Rocketry 2" was the guest today to discuss not only his book but participating in high power rocketry. His book is available through the One Giant Leap Foundation website through the Amazon participation program. For order and book information, please visit www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/books.htm. Scroll down to Mark's book. Mark started our discussion by defining high powered rocketry as anything using an H rocket motor or higher. A-G motors are considered the smaller, entry level rocket motors. Mark went through some of the rules for both Tripoli and NAR, the two organizations that supervise and certify people who want to fly high powered rockets. I'm sure you will find this to be an interesting discussion. We also talked about the foreign participants that fly their rockets in the these large national and regional rocket events and how they get their rockets, engines and fuels to the United States. Listen to how its done as it might surprise you. In talking about his book, Mark explained that it takes a reader through Level One Certification to Level Three and much more regarding building rocket engines and the entire rocket, altimeters, and fuel. A listener brought the NAR TEAM America Rocket Challenge Program (TARC), a program which may interest you and your high school of choice. The TARC website is www.rocketcontest.org/index.cfm. You can contact our guest Mark Canepa and learn more about his rocket photography, his rocketry books and high-powered rocketry by visiting his website at www.modernhpr.com. You can also email your comments and questions to him at moparmbc@aol.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:13:40 UTC
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Gary Hudson, Friday, 6-26-09 (60.27MB; download) -- Guest: Gary Hudson: Topics: Risk taking, launch vehicles, flight safety test program, space tourism. We started our discussion with guest Gary Hudson regarding the COTS program, the Augustine Panel, and Unfunded Space Act Agreements. Gary described why he believes that COTS should be a more competitive and open process. You definitely want to hear what he has to say. This discussion led to an exchange with listeners as well as the host regarding the way in which bad engineering projects continue to grow, get funding, and be implemented. His target in this discussion was Ares 1 which he characterized as one of the worst launch vehicles made. We talked about the existing billions already invested in Ares 1 and the fallacy of the sunk cost theory. Listeners asked about walking away from sunk costs and one listener asked Gary if he would have been able to walk away from Rotary Rocket and its corresponding sunk costs. You do not want to miss this important discussion. Gary cited a book, "The Tender Ship" by Arthur Squires as an example of how a bad engineering project continues on to fruition. I'm sure you will find this story applicable and very interesting. Gary also brought us current on the status of both T/Space and Air LaunchLLC. Gary Hudson brings great experience to the discussion in running and managing a space business and working with the government and we all need to listen and learn from him. Toward the end of the show, I asked Gary what he thought the ideal flight safety program for a suborbital space vehicle should consist of in terms of flight tests, etc. Its a detailed discussion but he suggested the company have three vehicles and make from 50-150 flights testing different aspects of the flight profile. Later in this discussion he called for dozens of powered flights. See what you think of his comments about flight safety and spaceflight participant risk taking. Many additional topics were addressed on this program so listen carefully. If you want to send a comment or question to Gary Hudson, please do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it to him.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:24:53 UTC
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Robert Zimmerman, Tuesday, 6-23-09 (53.34MB; download) -- Guest: Robert Zimmerman. Topics: space policy, NASA, human spaceflight, Hubble, SpaceX, LRO. Bob Zimmerman returned to The Space Show for this news update. He started the discussion with an evaluation of current space policy based on his perception of Obama's interest in space and the delay in appointing a new NASA Administrator. We talked about the human spaceflight program, science missions, engineering research and planetary research and returning to the Moon as a priority. Bob told us about his limited but positive personal experience with the designated NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden, Jr. He also gave us his impression of the current Augustine Panel hearings and what he expects from them when the panel concludes its work and issues its report by the end of August 2009. Bottom line to Bob, he expects more and more delays in deciding what our space program will be and what it will look like. We also talked about various space telescopes being planned and in operation, not just from the U.S. but form Europe as well. He went into some detail about the recent Hubble repair mission. Bob brought us current with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and as a result of a listener question, explained the orbital dynamics of its planned four orbital loops to finally impact the Moon. Bob fielded many questions about NASA, the budget process, Congress and its funding of NASA. Bob also gave his view of what would be unfolding in space for the rest of the year and the near future. For example, he thinks Shuttle will be extended and all manufacturing lines that have been cancelled will be started up again. This is in response to the gap that exists and the need to rely on space transportation to Station from other nations. Listen to his comments and see what you think. If you have questions or comments for Bob Zimmerman, you can find his email address through his website, http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3cxxp/zimbib.htm or you can forward it to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:58:09 UTC
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Chris Carberry & Kevin Sloan, Monday, 6-22-09 (45.31MB; download) --
Guests: Chris Carberry; Kevin Sloan. Topics: The Mars Society upcoming 12th annual conference, University Rover Challenge, humans to Mars, heavy lift vehicle. Chris Carberry, Executive Director of the Mars Society was our guest for the first hour to discuss the upcoming 12th Annual International Mars Society Convention. To learn more about the convention and The Mars Society, visit www.marssociety.org/portal/c/Conventions/2009/convention-2009-event. Chris not only went through the list of keynote speakers but we talked about the Mars Blitz to lobby members of Congress, taking a tour of Goddard Spaceflight Center, and more. We also talked about FMARS at Devon Island and the MDRS program. Some of the highlights for the convention include programs on the space telescopes, Saturn, radiation and more. The list of keynote speakers and topics can be found at www.marssociety.org/portal/c/Conventions/2009. During the last segment of the program, Kevin Sloan returned as our guest to give us the results of the University Rover Challenge (URC). The team that won the Challenge was York University in Canada and they won $1,000. York University team members and their rover will be at the Mars Society Convention so those attending can see it in operation. Visit www.marssociety.org/portal/c/urc for more information on the URC and the other universities that placed in the contest. Videos and pictures of the teams and robots are on the website so check them out. To win, a rover team had to successfully undertake four missions and score the most points: 1)Extremophile Search Task - Search for signs of life in the remote, barren terrain of MDRS; 2) Construction Task - Rover must venture out to a loose equipment panel, and secure it to its structure by tightening several loose bolts; 3) Site Survey Task - Rover to spot several distant markers and provide their exact coordinates; 4) Emergency Navigation Task - A distressed astronaut has gone down while walking back to the Hab so the rover must find your colleague and deliver emergency supplies before it's too late. Listen to Kevin explain how the rovers carried out these tasks. Also, a listener asked about a JPL rover doing these challenges. You do not want to miss Kevin's comments about the JPL rover and this challenge. If you have questions or comments for Chris Carberry about the Mars Society, the convention or any of his comments, please email him at carberry@marssociety.org. If you have questions or comments about the URC or for Kevin Sloan, please contact him at kevin@marssociety.org. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:49:28 UTC
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Julie Jiru & Vicki Belleau, Sunday, 6-21-09 (48.63MB; download) -- Guests: Julie Jiru and Vicki Ann Belleau. Topics: space and telecom law, University of Nebraska Space & Telecom Law LL.M program, commercial and civil space. Julie Jiru and Vicki Ann Belleau were with us on today's Space Show program as they were part of the first ever class for the newly formed Space & Telecom Law Center with the University of Nebraska Law School in Lincoln, NE. Julie and Vicki talked about the program, its focus, classes offered, leading professors and guest speakers, plus conferences that they attended as part of their program. Both guests also received questions about space law ranging from being able to find a career in a space law field to how its being applied in cutting edge fields such a space debris mitigation, planetary defense, space tourism, informed consent and more. You can learn more about the University of Nebraska graduate law program by visiting the website at http://spaceandtelecomlaw.unl.edu/home. One very interesting thing we learned came about as a result of a listener question about how space law might end up treating personal spaceflight participants. Our guests brought up the possibility that the Rescue Treaty may not apply because its for government astronauts, not civilian tourists. Common sense and humanity would likely cause a nation to do all that was possible to rescue a downed personal spaceflight participant but unlike rescuing a government astronaut covered by the treaty, the civilian spaceflight participant or family might end up getting billed for the rescue services. This is all very new legal theory but civilians are not covered by the treaty so its unknown just how this treaty would be applied to an emergency situation by the country doing the rescue. Listen to this discussion and see what you think. I cannot imagine a country not helping to rescue a downed spacecraft and its occupants, government or private, but charging private sector occupants for the rescue is something I never thought about. Questions were asked about charging people who are rescued by the Coast Guard, CAP, and state and federal agencies but we did not come to a conclusion on this issue on the show. Other topics of discussion dealt with ITAR and even the amateur space cadet being subject to ITAR rules and regulations. Listen to Andrew's question on this subject. We also talked about the allocation of both frequencies and space for geo orbits to all nations, not just the main space fairing nations. Another listener asked if a country was able to extend sovereignty to a geo orbit overhead. The answer was no but the country is responsible for its space assets in GEO. We talked about space debris, mitigation and responsibility and learned that the topic along with planetary defense is now part of space law curriculum. We also learned that there are job opportunities for the specialty in space law and in fact the specialty helps one getting a job with an aerospace company though the legal work may all be terrestrial. This is an interesting glimpse of space law through the eyes of present day space law graduates and practicing attorneys. If you have comments or questions for our guests Julie Jiru or Vicki Ann Belleau, please send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to both attorneys. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:16:46 UTC
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Dr. Roger Launius & Andrew Johnston, Friday, 6-19-09 (56.61MB; download) -- Guests: Dr. Roger Launius, Andrew Johnston. Topics: space exploration, geography, Hubble, human spaceflight. Dr. Roger Launius and Andrew Johnston were the guests for this Space Show program to discuss their excellent new book, "Atlas of Space Exploration." You can find out more about this book from the One Giant Leap Foundation book website, www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/books.htm. We started our discussion by talking about ancient observatories and then observation versus exploration. This produced a lively exchange with several listener generated questions. Our author guests took us through the book which as you will hear is an outstanding reference and informational book with amazing pictures or graphs on every single pages. As you will throughout this show, the graphs and pictures are unique and very important. Pay particular attention to some of the geopolitical and historical graphs and charts as well as photos that were signaled out. At times during this program we went off on tangents to discuss our current space program. We wondered out loud if the U.S. would go back to the Moon and when, and we talked about human lunar programs for other nations. I think you will find the comments about the Chinese space program to be most interesting. Another part of our discussion focused on NASA programs that sparked inspiration and motivation. Here, we talked about the Apollo era programs, Hubble, Shuttle, and the ISS. One listener thought Hubble might reign supreme but both the guests and I centered on Apollo. I referenced several informal Space Show surveys pointing to our earlier lunar efforts. What do you think were or are the most inspirational of NASA programs? When discussing human space flight and the need for a killer application to make it worth the cost and risk, Dr. Launius said there were five reasons for going into space in this order: 1) scientific purposes; 2) national security; 3) economic purposes; 4) national prestige; 5) to get off this planet to become a multi-planet species. Do you agree or disagree with these five reasons? If you want to contact either Dr. Launius or Andrew Johnston, do so as follows: LauniusR@si.edu; johnstona@si.edu. As always, you can send your question or comment to both or either guest through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:36:57 UTC
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Tim Pickens, Thursday, 6-18-09 (43.67MB; download) -- Guest: Tim Pickens. Topics: Orion Propulsion, Inc, rockets, commercial space, NewSpace, business models and risks. Tim Pickens, President of Orion Propulsion, Inc. in Huntsville, AL was the guest for today's Space Show program. Tim started the discussion by updating us on some of the Orion project which can be found on their website at www.orionpropulsion.com. Of the projects discussed, we spent most of our time on the Bigelow Aerospace Sundancer program and the Boeing Ares 1 first and second stage RCS. Tim was asked to discuss his business model and to what he attributes his success given so many other NewSpace companies have more difficulty with their challenges than does Orion. Listen to what Tim has to say about Orion's business goals and action plan. This led to a discussion about a possible small rocket manufacturing consortium plan but getting the various companies to talk with each other and participate has been and remains a challenge. In response to listener questions about our going to the Moon and the technology being designed by NASA as a repeat from the Apollo era, he pointed out many technology advances that make the design and hardware needed nothing like what was used when we went to the Moon the first time. Listen to his descriptions of the hardware, fuel, and technology needed for our current lunar visitation plans. Tim was asked several questions about NASA but eventually it came down to the ultimate issue which revolves around congressional support and funding. Make sure you hear what Tim said about this. Do you concur? Since NASA is funded by congress and the programs need congressional support, I agree with this being the ultimate issue. The only thing I might add and maybe it should share the title with the ultimate issue is we need to be as certain as possible that what NASA designs and builds is cost-effective, works, viable, quality, etc. Later in the show a listener asked Tim about his ISDC 2009 green comments for the aerospace industry. Tim elaborated on this issue and I chimed in as well. For the most part, because of what is happening in the country politically, environmentally, trend-wise, etc, for any business to ignore environmental and green concerns, even the space and launch industries, they do so at their own peril. As I said during the show, for a start up to not plan for environmental costs, regulations, etc, then perhaps they don't deserve to be in business. It is not an issue of what the businessman or woman believes, its an issue of the reality of doing business in modern times. Environmental concerns are legitimate and here to stay, the impute costs to businesses of all kinds, and we need to guard as much as possible against that which is unfounded and rediculous. But it would be stupid of businessmen and women to not be concerned about the complete environment that they choose to operate and work in as they develop their business. At the end of the program, Tim was asked for his "Pearls of Wisdom" comment or concluding remark. He said "not having funding is no excuse for not doing something!" How true that is and that is why I am repeating it here in this program description. How often do we allow a problem, even a significant one like not having funding, to just stop us cold in our tracks. As Tim said, do something, build something, but there is no excuse for doing nothing. Many other topics were discussed including high powered amateur rocketry, the Huntsville business climate and more. If you have a question or comment for Tim Pickens, you can email him at tpickens@orionpropulsion.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 19 Jun 2009 03:12:44 UTC
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