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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Brian Shiro, Friday, 1-23-09 (59.56MB; download) -- Brian Shiro is a space explorer trapped inside an earth scientist's body. A seismologist by training, he is a veteran of numerous geophysical field expeditions to remote locations including Antarctica, Alaska, Canada, and various tropical Pacific islands. His diverse background includes summer jobs working in upper atmosphere physics, carbon nanotubes, satellite radar mapping, geochemistry, glaciology, and high performance computing. Brian also has experience working at three NASA centers (JSC, GSFC, and JPL) and served as the principal investigator for a Mars Geophysical Lander mission proposal to NASA in 2003. A common theme in his interests is a belief that science should improve society, and he is particularly passionate about natural disaster mitigation using space technologies. He is a marathon runner, SCUBA diver, aviation enthusiast, tree hugger, and all around extreme sport junkie. Brian is also the author of a popular blog called "Astronaut for Hire", http://brianshiro.blogspot.com/, which chronicles his journey through the astronaut application and selection process. Brian earned a B.A. with triple majors in Integrated Science, Geology, and Physics from Northwestern University in 2000 and a M.A. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis in 2002. He completed all requirements except the dissertation for a Ph.D. in planetary science from Washington University, but he left academia to accept a position as Geophysicist with NOAA at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Brian spent the summer of 2005 at the International Space University(ISU) Summer Session Program in Vancouver, Canada, where his concentration was space policy and law. The following year he gave an invited presentation on his ISU team's work involving global wildfire forecasting to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna, Austria. In 2007, he became a distance M.S. student in the University of North Dakota's Department of Space Studies and expects to complete the degree in 2010. Brian is active in the online space community and currently serves as a CapCom for the Mars Desert Research Station and Science Office for the Human Synergy Moon Project, which is vying for the Google Lunar X-PRIZE. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 24 Jan 2009 05:25:25 UTC
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Kevin Sloan, Tuesday, 1-20-09 (42.37MB; download) -- Guest: Kevin Sloan: Topics: Mars Society University Rover Challenge, engineering, Mars Society Desert Research Station (MSDR) in Utah, President Obama. We started our program tonight with a message of congratulations to President Obama and Vice-President Biden. We wished them well and success. Kevin Sloan was then asked how he got interested in Mars and the Mars Society. It's an interesting story and I suspect it's not too different than many of your stories about Mars or something else space related. We then focused in on the Mars Society URC. We learned that the Feb. 1, 2009 deadline for letting Kevin know that you have a team to participate is approaching rapidly, so if you are interested in putting together a team, let Kevin know through the website or his email address. You can go to the URC website using http://www.marssociety.org/portal/c/urc/urc-nav-page/?searchterm=rover%20challenge . Kevin talked about some of the rules, the requirement for teams to be associated with a college or other school, about the engineering challenges of building a robot, and more. One listener asked if a robot could be designed to work inside one of the 7 Sisters Lave Tubes on Mars. Listen for the reply as it might prove an interesting and challenging academic or student project. Kevin received lots of engineering questions and questions about the logistics and environment at the MSDR in Utah. Other questions dealt with the Mars Society in general and other program sponsored by The Mars Society, as well as membership. If you have questions about the URC, the Mars Society, or letting Kevin Sloan know by Feb. 1 that you have a team to enter the URC, please email him at kevin@marssociety.org . Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:45:25 UTC
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Dr. Robert Zubrin, Monday, 1-19-09 (43.96MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Robert Zubrin. Topics: Mars, Methane and life on Mars, humans to Mars, Obama space policy, Moon vs. Mars, NASA administrator, "How To Live On Mars," terraforming Mars, space solar power for Mars. Dr. Robert Zubrin was back on The Space Show to discuss his new book, "How To Live On Mars: A Trusty Guidebook To Surviving And Thriving On The Red Planet." This is a terrific book with lots of excellent space artwork and, in addition to providing important and useful information, it's very funny. This is a book you must have! You can read a great review about it on the National Space Society website, http://www.nss.org/resources/books/fiction/SF_026_howtoliveonmars.html . Bob addressed many of the subjects in the book as well as questions by listeners. We talked about Mars radiation and how to cost effectively shield for it. We spoke about going to the Moon first, then Mars or Mars first. You will want to hear what Bob had to say about going to Mars first. Terraforming was discussed throughout the show. Referring to parts of his new book discussed, we addressed Martian spacesuits, chemical rocket propulsion to Mars, U.S. space policy and inspiring STEM education by going to Mars. A listener asked Bob, if there was life on Mars, could we eat it? You will certainly want to hear his reply! We also talked about cycling spacecraft to Mars, the issue of Mars parachutes for landing large payloads on the Martian surface, and a manned Mars program to revitalize the American economy rather than the bailouts. To this degree, we speculated on what the new Administration's space policy might be and if Dr. Zubrin thought we might see a humans to Mars mission by the end of an Obama second term. Later in the show, Bob was asked if NASA should play a role in solving our energy crisis. Listen to Bob's response on this. We also talked about his flex fuel engine plan, the world economic problems as a result of the cost for oil around the globe, and more. I'm sure you will find this to be a most interesting discussion with Dr. Zubrin. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Robert Zubrin, please send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to Bob. Check out his book as I consider it a must read. For more information on his book, visit http://www.marssociety.org/portal/Members/schnarff/HowToLiveOnMarsNewsletter/ . Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:03:03 UTC
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Dr. John Jurist, Sunday, 1-18-09 (52.31MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. John Jurist: Topics: Marine Corps SUSTAIN Project, winged suborbital vehicle, suborbital tourism, point to point space transportation, US Space Policy, and UND Space Studies. Dr. John Jurist joined us to talk about the Marine Corps SUSTAIN project, which wants to be able to deliver a fully equipped Marine squad anywhere in the world within two hours. Dr. Jurist talked about some of the ways this would be possible, the physics, orbital dynamics, engineering, and costs involved in such a project, as well as the type of space policy that would be needed to see such a program developed. Questions came in about SUSTAIN being a space weapon and there was quite a discussion about weapons in space, including side arms on the Soyuz, shuttle and the ISS. Thanks to several listeners, we found out that side arms are aboard the Soyuz, although we do not know about the shuttle or the ISS. I suggested that such weapons would likely be opposed by most people, even in a survival kit for use back on Earth. If you have comments about this one way or the other, let us know. In addition , Dr. Jurist also talked about the energy needed to do a SUSTAIN mission, suborbital tourism vehicles and winged suborbital vehicles. You will want to hear what he has to say about these various vehicle types, their capabilities, and their mission profiles. Toward the end of the show, he was asked about the UND Space Studies program being a good base for a career in space medicine. Dr. Jurist talked about space medicine programs in general and we discussed multidisciplinary space studies programs and the space policy reports calling on an improvement in space leadership, management, and organization which opens the doors to a good space studies program which addresses the areas that the reports highlight as a need for the nation. If you have any questions or comments for Dr. Jurist regarding SUSTAIN or other discussion topics on this show, please send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to him. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:13:51 UTC
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Dr. Rosaly Lopes, Friday, 1-16-09 (70.09MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Rosaly Lopes. Topics: Volcanoes on Earth and throughout the solar system, lava, plate tectonics, dangerous experiences, comparing Titan, Mars, Io, Venus, & Earth. Dr. Lopes discussed both terrestrial and solar system volcanoes and volcanic processes with us for this show. As author of "The Volcano Adventure Guide," we learned much about Earth volcanoes and even visiting them as adventure tourists. Listeners asked lots of questions about visiting volcanoes, safety, the type of gear needed to visit an active volcano and even underwater volcanoes, so you will find this discussion most interesting. As we looked out into the solar system, we talked about volcanoes on Mars, Titan, Io, Venus, lava tubes on the Moon, and the mission on its way to Pluto. Listeners asked about CO2 volcanic emissions, toxic gasses, ash, hot lava, and more. Dr. Lopes discussed plate tectonics, seismic activity, and famous volcanic eruptions and explosions on Earth such as Krakatoa and Tambora in 1815. As you will hear, there appears to be some significant interest to tour and visit volcanoes, so we spent time discussing being a volcano tourist. Sounds like fun and I hope that Dr. Lopes leads a tourist group. Perhaps this is for Incredible Adventures to consider! Jane, how about it? But the solar system discussion of volcanic activity, the type of volcanoes, the planetary geology, geysers, how to discover a volcano on another world, and more was like being in a high end graduate level class on the subject that was fun, informative, and incredibly interesting. This is a must hear educational program . For your comments or questions for Dr. Rosaly Lopes, please send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to her. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:09:13 UTC
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Taylor Dinerman, Tuesday, 1-13-09 (52.60MB; download) -- Guest: Taylor Dinerman. Topics: New NASA Administrator, DOD space policy, space weaponization, ITAR, Space Pearl Harbor, Obama space policy challenges, COTS, RLV. Taylor Dinerman returned to The Space Show to discuss DOD/Military space policy for 2009 and beyond. However, we started off by announcing the Obama choice for NASA Administrator, Retired AF Major General Scott Gration. Taylor spent most of the first segment discussing General Gration and what this might mean for NASA and various NASA programs including COTS. Since General Gration does not appear to have a space background, Taylor speculated about Constellation and other important NASA programs. You will want to hear what he had to say about this new choice to lead NASA. Taylor then shifted our focus to space militarization and weaponization. He said that space would be militarized, even weaponized, and that there may someday be battles fought in space, not necessarily by the US, Russia, or China. He suggested that this might happen between nations such as India and Pakistan. You will want to listen to his of comments on this subject. When I pushed for other policy options, he did not seem to think that there were other options to a future that included space weaponization. Other topics included our policy with Poland over missiles and interceptors and the disagreements with Russia, real challenges in policy that will face the new Obama presidency, and what these possible policy tests might mean. Space solar power was discussed as a possible space weapon, but he did not think the microwave beam was an issue. If laser beam technology were to be used, he thought it could possible lead to a dual use item including a space weapon. You will want to hear what he had to say on this subject. A listener asked him to extrapolate about the large number of Hamas rockets fired into Israel since 2005 and if this had any significance for the claim that a large number of rocket launches was needed to lower the cost of space access. Taylor refuted any comparison of commercial rocket launches with the thousands of Hamas rockets launched into Israel, he explained the difference with these military weapons versus an actual space rocket launch, and then suggested that an increase in the launch rate was not the way to lower space access costs. Here he suggested the development and use of the RLV to lower space access costs. In the last segment of the show he was asked about ITAR and he elaborated on the difficulties in controlling the exports of technology and making sure such technology does not land in the hands of our enemies. He said what so many others have said and that is that ITAR is a war against our own commercial space efforts and reform was strongly needed. Near the end of the show, he was asked about the concept of a space Pearl Harbor first suggested in the Rumsfeld Commission Report of 2001. Listen to what he has to say about this type of event happening to US space assets. He pointed out where progress had been made in the Commission recommendations and where little or no progress had been made and why. If you have questions or comments for Taylor Dinerman, please send them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to him. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:08:19 UTC
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LTG(Ret) Edward Anderson, Monday, 1-12-09 (41.62MB; download) -- Guest: LTG(Ret) Edward Anderson. Topics: National Security Space, Management, Leadership, space policy, commercial, economic, technology based space. General Ed Anderson spoke to us today about the National Security Space Report to Congress from the Independent Assessment Panel Report. Gen. Anderson delivered a keynote talk on this subject at the AIAA Space 2008 meeting and you can find that specific slideshow at http://www.aiaa.org/documents/industry/presentations/Anderson_AIAA%20Brief.ppt#256,1,Leadershipational/ . We started the discussion by asking Gen. Anderson to define "National Security Space." From there, General Anderson provided us with the bottom line of the panel's report upfront and then we went into the conclusions and the methodology of the report. There was no preconceived agenda, the panel members went where the information and research took them. This is a very comprehensive policy discussion on many important topics so it's an absolute must hear show, even if you are outside the United States. Briefly, space has become more vital to our military, our intelligence community, and our commercial community, but we are not evolving with innovation, our hardware is aging and money is being used to support legacy hardware rather than to support innovation. Our organizational, management, and leadership has not kept us with the importance and usage of space and this is becoming critical. Several recommendations were made to resolve these problems, all starting from the office of the President of the United States down. You will want to hear these recommendations. Listeners asked lots of questions about ITAR, education, the volunteer military, entrepreneurial space and its relationship to this panel's work, Congress, how to sell this to the general public and much more. We also discussed the subject of space weapons and the weaponization of space. You will definitely want to hear what Gen. Anderson had to say about this topic and competition for space. If you want to send LTG(Ret) Edward Anderson a question or comment, please do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it to him.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:24:55 UTC
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Robert Talmage, Sunday, 1-11-09 (44.32MB; download) -- Guest: Robert Talmage. Topics: Emergency escape module for aviation and rockets and ballistic recovery systems. Mr. Talmage discussed his safe, economical, and versatile emergency escape module for general aviation as well as rockets and space vehicles, using parachutes, gliding, and other mechanisms. You can contact Robert and he will send you his AIAA paper entitled "A Safe, Economical and Versatile Space Flight Test Vehicle." You can also find out more about his ideas and project at his website, http://www.taascompany.com , http://spacefellowship.com/News/?p=7711 , and http://spacefellowship.com/News/?p=7616 . During this discussion, we talked about the Ballistic Parachute System (BRS) already in use for small general aviation aircraft, how it works, its limitations, and its applications. We also talked about the military escape systems that have been used in the past and how Robert's idea differs from these earlier ideas. Robert explained how an emergency escape module could be used for rockets and space vehicles and even suborbital space tourism vehicles. We discussed the weight and cost penalties for such a system, but in the context of possibly better end use ticket sales if passengers thought the vehicle was safer with such an emergency system built into it. As one listener pointed out, it would be necessary to design a plan from scratch with this type of module built into it rather than attempting to modify an existing plane. However, as you will read in his paper and hear on the show, he does have a plan to obtain a Lear or something similar, modify it for a demonstrator flight and make it an ongoing test vehicle. There were many other listener questions, even some asking about skydiving records, supersonic ejection in military aircraft, and the skydiving altitude record and balloon jump by Joe Kittinger. Robert Talmage invites your questions and comments about the emergency escape module to rtalmage@taascompany.com. Don't forget to request his AIAA paper which he delivered in 2008. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:25:51 UTC
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Mike Snead, Friday, 1-9-09 (59.73MB; download) -- Guest: Mike Snead was our Space Show guest today to discuss his recently released energy study, "The End of Easy Energy and What to Do About it." To get your copy of this report, visit http://www.mikesnead.net/ and click on the SSP white paper link on the left side of the page. During our discussion, Mike took us step by step through his research, analysis, and conclusions regarding energy issues facing our nation and the world between now and the end of this century. He shows how we will be running out of various types of energy later this century and he makes the case for the utilization of all forms of energy plus starting an R&D program to develop space solar power. He received lots of listener questions, some very challenging to his thesis. SSP was discussed in the context of R&D for fusion and other forms of energy. We talked about land use, wind energy, and terrestrial solar power instead of space solar power. One of the issues brought to the attention of Mike was the possible environmental damage to the atmosphere with massive numbers of rocket launches. This is a discussion you will want to hear. The same goes for the discussions throughout the show about fusion, terrestrial solar power, and space solar power. Later in the program, we discussed our energy grid and its deteriorating condition. Mike acknowledged the poor condition of our grid and that it needs to be improved regardless of the source of any new energy flowing into it, but his report does not address grid infrastructure. This is an important program for us all to hear. Mike Snead also has a blog where you can comment on the report or his appearance on The Space Show at http://spacefaringamerica.net/ . If you have comments or questions for Mike about this show or his paper, please email him at jamesmsnead@aol.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:06:05 UTC
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Dr. Jim Bell, Tuesday, 1-6-09 (45.64MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Jim Bell was our guest for this Space Show program. Among the many topics discussed on the show, we talked about his new book, "3 D Mars" which is widely available and offers unique 3 D views of the Martian planet. Dr. Bell spoke also about one of his earlier books, "Postcards from Mars." We talked about the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity as he has been part of the rover team since the start, the Phoenix Lander, and Mars Express. Regarding Spirit and Opportunity, we noted that the 5th anniversary of Spirit was just observed. Dr. Bell told us what the most important discoveries have been to date for each rover and also what if any the disappointments have been. You will want to hear this discussion about each rover and its contribution to science. A listener asked Dr. Bell about the exploded planets theory and the Cydonia region of Mars. Again, a most interesting discussion you will not want to miss. We talked about planetary science, planetary and terrestrial geology, Venus, terraforming Mars, and much more. Later in the program, we discussed spinoff and intangible benefits for space exploration and for spending the money to go to the Moon and Mars. As Dr. Bell is President of the Planetary Society, we talked at length about their roadmap to Mars, going to the Moon, strategies, time tables, the budget, and all matters related to the Moon Mars effort including the shuttle retirement and the Constellation program with Ares 1 and Ares V. Toward the end of the program a listener asked Dr. Bell how we could make space more of a bonding tool for global progress and harmony, even reaching those that are outside most advances today or choosing to live in some past time frame and culture. We talked about this at length and while we both recognize the importance and need for what the listener was talking about, finding the way to do it remains challenging. You can contact Dr. Jim Bell with your comments or questions by using jfb8@cornell.edu. As he said on air, be patient in waiting or expecting a reply as he receives lots of email and he may be slow in responding to you. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:08:21 UTC
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