Guest: Dr. Robert (Bob) Zubrin. Topics: NASA, the Mars Program, Dr. Zubrin's new book, "Merchants of Despair." You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright.

Guest: Dr. Jeff Bell. Topics: Space Shuttle retirement, safety, and mythology. U.S. space policy, NASA, U.S. Congress. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright.

Guest: Jim Muncy returned for this Space Show program to discuss space policy in 2008 and its transition to 2009. We talked about the current Administrator Dr. Griffin and his efforts to remain at NASA plus what this would mean for continuing with the VSE and Aries as planned. Jim also mentioned some important public sector 2008 milestones, including the Zero G contract, the recent Cargo Resupply Services Contract, and improvements in DOD and Space Command.

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.