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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Dennis Wingo; Donald Beattie, Friday, 7-4-08 (79.30MB; download) -- Guests: Dennis Wingo for the first hour followed by Donald Beattie for the second hour.
Guest : Dennis Wingo was our guest for this session of the Space Show TV program. We started the interview with a discussion on lunar commerce and why Dennis and others believe we need to develop the Moon for the benefit of us all here on Earth. We also discussed extending he life of the ISS. Dennis repeated the need for frequent access to space and the ISS, identifying some important potential markets. Pharmaceuticals was identified as one such market. You will want to hear this discussion in order to learn more about this important issue. Dennis answered the question "Do we need a new vehicle to go to the M oon?" as well as the question "What do we need for an action plan for NASA?" As it turns out, Dennis suggested that NASA needs a Plan B. We also discussed a bit about space policy and how different groups have different priorities, which should come as no surprise to space activists. Other topics we discussed included more about a NASA "Plan B," the Bigelow space station, and the need to be investing in space in order to lower the cost of energy here on Earth. You will certainly want to hear more about this issue. Continuing on the subject of the return to the Moon, we discussed space tourism, the need for known markets, the "Great Mistake of '68," and how to produce a lunar landing pad by melting lunar regolith. Dennis also brought to our attention a list of new launch vehicles coming to market over the coming years that will give us more affordable ISS access. When this happens, using the ISS as a platform for returning to the Moon and establishing lunar commerce will be not only possible but highly desirable. If you would like to contact Dennis Wingo, please do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Donald Beattie was the guest for this session of the Space Show TV programming. We started our discussion with Don taking a look at what, in his opinion, is needed for NASA to refocus and reenergize for the coming future, especially when we start out with a new administration and Congress. For those of you who have listened to Don before, you know that he has strongly suggested visits to a NEO, or even Mars, rather than returning to the Moon. While this perspective is continued in this discussion, he also explains why a focus on doing some much needed science might be the best intermediate step for NASA. We talked about the flack the VSE catching in the non-space community and the difficulty that NASA seems to have in justifying the high cost of getting to and from the Moon for each visit versus what work is actually going to be done on the Moon. You definitely want to hear what Don has to say about these issues. In the discussion, I mentioned being at conferences where it was stated that the reason for going to the Moon was to preserve NASA jobs and, as those of you who are frequent listeners to The Space Show know, I would like to see a commercial purpose for visiting the Moon and sustaining that visit by the private sector. Others supportive of the Moon first focus on it being the platform for going to Mars and that NASA is developing its outpost to support the future humans to Mars missions. This issue is discussed during this interview segment. Neither Don nor I believe the current VSE structure is sustainable or that it will lead to a permanent human lunar presence, if that is indeed a goal of the program. If you want to follow up and ask Don Beattie questions or offer comments to him, please contact him through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:32:59 UTC
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Charles Chafer, Tuesday, 7-1-08 (41.80MB; download) -- Guest : Charles Chafer, co-founder of Celestis and CEO of Space Services, Inc., returned for this Space Show program to discuss updates with Celestis. We talked about the new lunar space burial program as Celestis has formed agreements with two Google Lunar X-Prize teams, Odyssey Moon and the Astrobotic Team. There were many listener questions about both the lunar burial service as well as suborbital, orbital, deep space, and even a potential Martian and NEO burial service. As one listener brought to our attention, Celestis can fly hair samples from those who want part of themselves in space or on the Moon, you do not have to be departed to participate in these programs. We discussed space commercialization and the use of launch services supplied by launch companies rather than Celestis supplying its own launch services. You will want to hear this discussion with the listeners, myself, and Charlie. Space advocacy was discussed along with the challenges of building rockets. Charlie made a distinction in the commercial space world with companies that mostly talk, to those that attempt something, to those that are really working to produce an end product. This is another fascinating discussion you will want to hear and note. As we learned, we can now sign up for the lunar burial flight for our loved ones or for our own honorarium (our hair, remember). Visit www.celestis.com for more information about the lunar flight and all Celestis flights. Another part of this discussion that you will want to hear addresses the issue of customer service. I extrapolate from the space burial service to the suborbital space tourism business and then solicited Mr. Chafer's thoughts on the subject. Listen to what he has to say about the subject of customer service. You can contact Celestis or Charles Chafer with your comments, questions, and inquiries through their website, www.spaceservicesinc.com/contact.asp. Please mention having heard Charlie on The Space Show. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:51:28 UTC
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John Powell, Monday, 6-30-08 (53.03MB; download) -- Guest : John Powell was with us for this Space Show program to discuss his new book published by Apogee, "Floating To Space: The Airship To Orbit Program." John discussed airships to space, from the basic airships to the more advanced airships that he is planning on building in the future. We discussed altitude, density, shockwaves, and much more. John also spent considerable time on the economics of this potential spaceflight system, so make sure you hear this part of the program. He talked about upcoming launches and more PongSat opportunities. Visit his website for more information about flying a PongSat mission, www.jpaerospace.com/. While visiting the JP Aerospace website, check out the pictures and information about their different company projects. If you have questions or comments for John Powell and their airship program, please email him at jpowell@jpaerospace.com.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:50:26 UTC
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Dr. Seth Shostak, Sunday, 6-29-08 (39.88MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute (www.seti.org), was the guest for this Space Show program. We started our discussion with updates about SETI programs and the searches for ET signals. This led into our discussion of the Arecibo Radio Telescope, which is located in Puerto Rico and may be closed by the NSF for budget/financial reasons. We discussed this potential closure, the funds it takes to operate the telescope, its continued uses and what it might mean to the scientific community to be without it. Don't miss this discussion. Seth also talked about the Allen Array in Hat Creek, CA, even visiting the array. We spoke about the amount of energy and antenna size needed to pick up signals from Earth and how far such signals would have traveled by now for an advanced civilization to reach, hear, or see us, and then communicate or even travel here. A listener, in checking out the SETI Institute website, asked about their "Adopt a Scientist" program and Seth described it in detail. Perhaps this will interest you as will becoming a member of the SETI Institute. Early in the show, Seth took a question from a listener about his preference for being supported by a government program versus the private sector as SETI is now private. You might be surprised at Seth's response. Yet another listener, following up on our Arecibo discussion, asked to compare Arecibo to the VLA in Socorro, NM or other radio telescope arrays. This too is most interesting, especially as Dr. Shostak talks about the size difference from one to another. In asking Dr. Shostak when confirmation of another civilization might actually take place, the timeline is about 2030 and you will want to listen to know why. Also, you will find out that bookies in the UK are giving 100::1 odds of finding life on another planet though Seth says that number needs to get to 10::1 to be really interesting. Seth has an outstanding wager on finding advanced life, a cup of coffee from Starbucks. Listen to this program to see what you have to do to win this wager and by when. In response to a listener's question, we also discussed SETI@Home and if it has proven to be useful. You will want to hear what he has to say about this. A discussion about Pluto and the IAU was also held so if this is a topic that interests you, you will certainly find Seth's comments relevant. Toward the end of the program, I asked Seth about educational outreach for SETI for both school kids as well as adults. He actively speaks to both groups and this type of outreach is very important. We also talked about SETI political support and success in talking to members of Congress. Again, a must listen to discussion. You can send follow up email questions or comments to Dr. Seth Shostak at Seth@seti.org or you can find lots of people to contact with your questions just by visiting www.seti.org.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:19:41 UTC
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David Hoerr, Friday, 6-27-08 (69.50MB; download) -- Guest: David Hoerr, co-author of "The Rocket Company," was the guest for this Space Show program. We started our discussion on the topic of Point A to Point B suborbital transportation as David had written a thoughtful piece on the subject in The Space Review on May 5, 2008. Please see: www.thespacereview.com/article/1118/1. David received lots of listener questions about the military version of Point A to Point B suborbital transportation, commercial versions, the market for such versions, and the advances needed in technology. At one point, Mr. Hoerr made it clear that it might be easier to scale down an orbital RLV for this Point A to Point B hypothetical mission rather than trying to build a suborbital vehicle to do it. This was because the vehicle has to reach about 80 or 85% orbital velocity to do the mission so given thermal and other needs, it might be easier to simply scale back from the orbital vehicle. This prompted a discussion on RLV economics which you won't want to miss. Other topics were discussed including inspiring and motivating students, the ESAS architecture for returning to the Moon, and what Mr. Hoerr would do were he the U.S. Government space guru in charge of everything. If you have comments or questions for David Hoerr, please send to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will promptly forward them to him.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:36:32 UTC
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Brian Mosdell; Bill Dowdell; Jon Cowart, Thursday, 6-26-08 (80.91MB; download) -- Guests: Brian Mosdell, followed by Bill Dowdell and Jon Cowart.
Brian Mosdell is the Director of Florida Launch Operations for SpaceX. We started this discussion with a brief overview and history of SpaceX, its objectives, launch vehicles, and their launch services/market that they will likely provide. We also talked about the upcoming Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launches scheduled for this year. In response to my question having visited Space X in California, Mr. Mosdell explained "friction welding" to us, told us more about the manufacturing process being used for the Falcon 9, what it takes to "man rate" a rocket, and he provided a comparison between the Falcon 9 and the Delta heavy EELV. You don't want to miss this discussion! Brian digressed a bit and told us a little about his personal history and how he became involved in this field and what he likes best about working in the space industry. Don't miss this discussion! Getting back to SpaceX, Brian told us about the upcoming demolition of a launch tower and a listener asked about selling the debris on EBay or in some other forum as a souvenir. Don't miss Brian's reply as it may surprise you. Regarding the upcoming debut of the Falcon 9, we discussed how many launches would be required before the Falcon 9 would be a success and deemed commercially available to the market. Here, Brian talked about the Merlin 1c rocket engine, the impact of a successful launch on the market, the volume of the Falcon 9 launches, the difficulties of getting the launches approved, and much more. We extensively discussed the current launch costs and the market drivers which would bring the launch cost down to a reasonable level. If you have questions or comments for Mr. Mosdell, please email me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to him. Please be patient for your reply, as he is presently in Kwajalein working to ready the Falcon 1 for its upcoming launch.
Bill Dowdell and Jon Cowart, both of NASA, were our guests for the second hour of this Space Show TV program. In the first half of the show, we spoke to Bill Dowdell, the Deputy Director of ISS and Spacecraft Processing, while the second half hour was spent with Jon Cowart, the Ares I-X Ground Systems Senior Project Manager. Mr. Dowdell started our discussion by telling us how he transitioned from working with the Shuttle to working with the ISS. Because the question of "Why Space?" is always asked, Bill told us why specifically the ISS was relevant to today's world. You will want to hear what he has to say regarding this issue as it's important. Mr. Dowdell gave us his best estimate for the ISS's physical state and if it can survive past its projected retirement date. This question led us an interesting discussion about what wears out in space, how NASA prepares for a launch to the ISS, how the Shuttle retirement will impact the completion of the ISS, and what type of training one needs to work for NASA on these projects. We also talked about the environmental impact of a Shuttle launch, and much more. One question led Bill to tell us about removing alligators from the hardware. Don't miss this true story. We ended our segment with Bill Dowdell telling us what he would like the American people to know about the ISS and its potential.
Jon Cowart is the man in charge for the Ares I-X launch test. Since Jon had a strong background and work experience with spacesuits, we started our discussion with a comparison of on-orbit spacesuits and launch suits. I relayed an experience of mine being in a spacesuit helmet and how claustrophobic it was. Jon suggested that perhaps claustrophobic individuals may not want to join the astronaut corps and even cited other experiences, which could be much more stressing than claustrophobia. We then moved on to the Ares I-X launch test, the difference between the I-X and the actual Ares 1, including the current upper "dummy" stage, the importance of the tumble motion for parach Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:14:52 UTC
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Greg Meholic, Tuesday, 6-24-08 (52.48MB; download) -- Guest : Greg Meholic was the guest for this Space Show program. Greg specializes in advanced space propulsion concepts for interstellar travel. As a member of the AIAA Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion Technical Committee and as the chair of the Future Flight sessions at the Joint Propulsion Conferences, Mr. Meholic was especially qualified to guide us through some very out-of-the-box and quite advanced propulsion possibilities. This was an in-depth discussion, but Greg was quite successful in breaking down complex theories and relationships so it was relatively easy to follow and understand all parts of the discussion. During the program, he referred to a set of presentation slides which he used for a recent AIAA Los Angeles luncheon. These slides can be found at www.aiaa-la.org/flyers/Adv%20Space%20Propulsion%20for%20Interstellar%20Travel%20-%20GMeholic%20042408.pdf. In addition, he has other presentation slides that he can send to you if you are interested. Contact him at his email address at the end of this write-up or you can request them from me. In total, these slide presentations are about 10 MB so make sure your email program will allow you to receive these files. When sending your request to Mr. Meholic, make sure you reference The Space Show in your subject line. During our discussion, Greg was asked why the large aerospace companies do not substantially engage in this type of R&D. You will find his response to be important as it also applies to space tourism and other issues that are much closer to reality at this time than the advanced propulsion theories. Another listener asked about a start-up rocket company today, and if it should be built upon the advanced theories or traditional chemical rockets. As you will hear from Greg, the advanced theories are still theories and not commercial at this time. We also talked about the global effort for R&D in this area. In this context, Greg mentioned researchers in Austria, Portugal, and other nations as well as in this country. His comments about ITAR restrictions were very interesting because, as it turns out, this work is mostly public domain and falls outside ITAR, so international collaboration is frequent and important. As for the advanced propulsion theories we discussed, you must listen to this program. Greg spoke a lot about the Tri-Space Model which is gaining some support. We also talked about other models being studied for advanced propulsion, how they work, what they mean for space traveling passengers, and much more. If you want to send a question or comment to Greg Meholic or request his slide presentations, contact him at orionstar2209@yahoo.com. Greg Meholic will be returning to The Space Show to continue this advanced discussion on advanced propulsion concepts, theories, and practicalities. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:39:47 UTC
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Dr. Gordon Shepherd, Monday, 6-23-08 (38.71MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Gordon Shepherd, co-author of "Canada's Fifty Years in Space: The COSPAR Anniversary," was the guest for this Space Show program. We talked about the start of the Canadian space program dating back to Canadian space science in 1925. The story is fascinating and, as you will hear throughout this program, the Canadian space program has been an important contributor regarding how space benefits us in our lives and by making us all safer. We also talked some space science with Professor Shepherd, specifically with auroral physics, solar storms in Canada, SOHO, and the Red Line Photometer on the ISIS-II satellite. Listeners asked lots of questions, including one at the end of the show which asked Dr. Shepherd to compare and contrast the Canadian program to similar programs in other countries. You will want to hear the programs used to compare and contrast with the Canadian program. Other listener questions inquired about the Canadian space budget as compared to the NASA budget. Yet another question dealt with the Canadian astronaut program and still another listener asked about Canadian rockets. A question on the possible militarization of space came in as well. This is an outstanding book that I strongly recommend for those of you interested in space science and history. If you have comments or questions for Dr. Shepherd, please direct them to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to him.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:19:46 UTC
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Gene Meyers of The Space Island Group, Sunday, 6-22-08 (53.04MB; download) -- Guest : Gene Meyers, CEO of the Space Island Group (www.spaceislandgroup.com), was the guest for this Space Show program. We started our interview with Gene providing us with background and updates for both a historical overview of Space Island, plus an update with its current activities. Most of the overview addressed the Space Island Group's plan to use shuttle external tanks for a space station or other commercial purposes. The current project for the company involves space solar power, building the satellites, beaming the power back to Earth to the grid, and delivering power over the entire planet, especially to nations that do not have electrical power readily available. There were many listener questions about using external tanks, wet versus dry launch, SSP and its economics, the hardware needed, the required launches, and more. Gene discussed financing obstacles and issues, congressional policy, public support and the interest for SSP in Asia, specifically India and China. One listener brought up the idea of using inflatable structures rather than aluminium external tanks. Listen to how Gene plans the use of both in his mission. Commercial markets and industries were also discussed and, as you will hear, Gene has been and is in contact with many on the commercial side space development for potential support in Space Island Group projects. You can learn more about the Space Island Group and its projects by visiting its website above. You might also consider sharing this interview and Gene's Space Island Group project with people you know in the energy and environmental fields, related blogs or websites as the energy and environmental components of SSP is very promising, reusable and certainly green. Remember also that there is a Discussion Board for your use at the Space Show FaceBook site. If you have a follow up comment or question for Gene Meyers, please send it to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward it to him.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:24:02 UTC
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Greg Zsidisin, Friday, 6-20-08 (55.70MB; download) -- Guest: Greg Zsidisin returned for this Space Show program to discuss the SpaceContest.org site and the program for winning $1,000 with the best 3 minute YouTube space video of why support the human space program. You can get the rules and all the needed information for entering this contest at the website, www.spacecontest.org. Greg responded to several listener questions about the contest rules and format, so if you are thinking of entering, make sure you listen to the added information provided by Greg. We also talked about why return to the Moon, the cost/benefit ratio, and more. You certainly will want to hear this discussion. Later in the program, we discussed communicating our message to people through audio as well as TV/video. This came up when a listener, along with Greg, asked about The Space Show TV shows recently concluded in Cape Canaveral. This is a conversation worth hearing, for sure. Greg also brought us current with what we know about the presidential candidates' space policy and the presentation each candidate made through their representatives at the recently held ISDC conference in Washington, DC. If you have questions or comments for Greg about this show or the contest, please contact him at www.spacecontest.org and gregnjny@yahoo.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:17:06 UTC
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