Date Aired: Thursday 17 Jul 2008
Guest: Dr. Pat Patterson returned to The Space Show to discuss this year's SmallSat conference from August 11-14 in Logan, Utah (www.smallsat.org). Dr. Patterson started out with a general description of the conference and provided us with an update with what is new from last year's conference. We then addressed the programming, specifically the keynote speak from ATK Systems, plus the panels, the audience participation programs, the award opportunities for students and much more. The student...
Date Aired: Tuesday 15 Jul 2008
Guest: Dr. Jim Logan was the guest for this Space Show program. Dr. Logan kicked off the discussion with a reality check of the body of evidence that we have accumulated during the 47 years of human space flight. He talked about two major potential showstoppers, micro/hypo gravity and radiation. As we discussed during the show, we know quite a bit about these two areas, but we do not yet have a solution for the problems they create for long-term human spaceflight or settlement. Dr. Logan...
Date Aired: Monday 14 Jul 2008
Guest: Robert Zimmerman returned for this Space Show program. In addition to our discussion, we talked about Bob's new book about Hubble, "The Universe in a Mirror," and his terrific older book, "Leaving Earth." We started the interview by discussing a recent Washington Post article in which the author suggested the ISS be used as a spaceship for going someplace interesting rather than just hanging out in LEO. Mr. Zimmerman wrote about this idea years ago in his famous book, "Leaving Earth," so...
Date Aired: Sunday 13 Jul 2008
Guests: Cathy Harper and Nino Polizzi were the guests for today's Space Show in order to discuss the upcoming DC-X Reunion which will take place in Alamogordo, New Mexico from August 17-18, 2008. You can find out more about this three day event entitled "Space Transportation for the 21st Century" by visiting its website : www.dcxproject.com/. During our discussion, Cathy not only talked about the upcoming event, registration and hotels, but we talked about the New Mexico Museum of Space History...
Date Aired: Friday 11 Jul 2008
Guest: Eva-Jane Lark was the guest for this special Space Show program. Given Eva-Jane's financial and investment expertise (see her website bio below), we began our discussion with the historic approach used to finance major exploration efforts, eventually moving forward in time and extrapolating to space. Ms. Lark has a terrific paper on this subject which I am able to send to listeners, or since it is available on the web, you might find it using Google. This paper is entitled "Investment...
Date Aired: Wednesday 09 Jul 2008
Guest: William Watson, Executive Director of The Space Frontier Foundation, was the guest for this special program to discuss the important upcoming NewSpace 2008 Conference, July 17-19, 2008 at the Doubletree Hotel, Crystal City, Virginia (please see their website www.space-frontier.org/Events/NewSpace2008/). Will went over the agenda with us as several speakers and events have now been finalized for this event. In addition, Michael Potter called in regarding the "Orphans of Apollo" program...
Date Aired: Tuesday 08 Jul 2008
Guests: Wil Simon and Matt Everingham were the guests for this Space Show program in order to discuss the upcoming NASA 2008 Regolith Excavation Challenge from August 2-3, 2008 in San Luis Obispo, CA on the campus of Cal Poli. Wil and Matt explained the competition, some of the rules, and fielded lots of listener questions ranging from He3 to telling us about the judges for the contest. You can learn more about this contest at their website: www.regolith.csewi.org/. Will and Matt talked about...
Date Aired: Monday 07 Jul 2008
Guest: Dr. Pat Hynes, Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium and the brains, energy, and beauty behind the Fourth International Symposium on Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, was the guest for this program. You can learn more about the Symposium by visiting www.ispcs.com. Dr. Hynes took us through the program and we discussed the speakers, the format of the symposium, student rates, many related topics, and networking opportunities. You will want to hear about this Symposium,...
Date Aired: Sunday 06 Jul 2008
Guests: Dr. Bryan Laubscher and Dr. Martin Lades were guests for today's Space Show to discuss the space elevator and the upcoming space elevator conference (www.spaceelevatorconference.org). We started our discussion with the basics of the space elevator concept and why at this point in time convergence is necessary for the space elevator's development. Our two guests covered these issues in some detail and then more when listeners starting asking about why we need a space elevator. Not only...
Date Aired: Friday 04 Jul 2008
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...
Date Aired: Tuesday 01 Jul 2008
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...
Date Aired: Monday 30 Jun 2008
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...
Date Aired: Monday 30 Jun 2008
Guests: ISDC 2008 Taped Interview #1 with Robert Zimmerman, Dr. Sean Casey, David Faulkner, Reda Anderson, Dr. Haym Benaroya. The first interview features Bob Zimmerman, followed by Dr. Sean Casey with important updates for the NASA SOFIA Project, then David Faulkner who is the Program Manager and CTO for Rocketplane Global. Bob Zimmerman shares his view of the Investment Summit and several important space current events that we discussed. Reda Anderson and Dr. Benaroya were with me for these...
Date Aired: Sunday 29 Jun 2008
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...
Date Aired: Friday 27 Jun 2008
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...
Date Aired: Thursday 26 Jun 2008
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...
Date Aired: Tuesday 24 Jun 2008
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...
Date Aired: Monday 23 Jun 2008
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...
Date Aired: Sunday 22 Jun 2008
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,...
Date Aired: Friday 20 Jun 2008
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...
Date Aired: Tuesday 17 Jun 2008
Guest: Homer Hickam was the guest for this special Space Show program. Mr. Hickam, author of "Rocket Boys," which was made into the acclaimed movie "October Sky," spoke with us about many topics and all of us had lots of fun while learning from someone who is, in my opinion, a true American hero. We started the discussion by asking him about his discovering two Tyrannosaurs in Montana. This took us directly to his early rocket launching days in Montana and putting Barbie dolls into space or...
Date Aired: Tuesday 17 Jun 2008
Guest: William Watson, Executive Director of the Space Frontier Foundation (SFF), was the guest for this show to discuss the upcoming NewSpace 2008 conference, July 17-19, 2008 in Washington, DC. Will went over the list of speakers and panels, noted that the conference is single track unlike many other conferences, and responded to listener questions about students, NASA participation, side trips to possibly Goddard or Wallops, and much more. We talked about space education and career...
Date Aired: Monday 16 Jun 2008
Guest: Barbara Sprungman David was the guest for this Space Show program to discuss her new book, "Kids To Space: Mission Plans, An Educator's Guide." Barbara co-authored this book with Lonnie Schorer and this book is a follow-on to Lonnie's earlier book "Kids To Space: A Space Traveler's Guide." Please listen to the earlier Space Show with Lonnie from May 19, 2006 located at: http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/496-BWB-2006-05-19.mp3 . During this discussion with Barbara David, we covered...
Date Aired: Sunday 15 Jun 2008
Guest : Andrew Thorpe, author of "The Commercial Space Station: Methods and Markets" was the guest for this Space Show program. To learn more about Andrew's books and work, please visit his website: www.maxastro.com. We began our discussion with Andrew explaining why the current ISS is not the commercial space station he talks about in his book. You will want to hear this distinction. We then discussed a series of potential markets in space including microgravity, protein crystal growth, space...
Date Aired: Friday 13 Jun 2008
Guest: Dr. Donald Rapp was the guest for this Space Show program to discuss his book, "Assessing Climate Change: Temperatures, Solar Radiation, and Heat Balance." This was a factual discussion of Earth's climate, climate change history over time, the Little Ice Age as a baseline, the hockey stick graph, and much more. Dr. Rapp takes a hard look at the climate talk and you will not want to miss what he has to say. He then defines the real problem as one of having sufficient energy for Americans...
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