Broadcast 2792 Doug Messier

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • The Space Foundation Conference

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The Space Foundation Conference

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Guest:  Doug Messier:  Topics:  Current big space news & industry stores, big stories of 2016 and more.  Please direct all comments and questions regarding specific Space Show programs & guest(s) to the Space Show blog which is part of archived program on our website, www.thespaceshow.com.   Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.

We welcomed back Doug Messier of Parabolic Arc for a discussion of current space news and industry stories.  Note that there were cell phone audio issues throughout this program.  I do apologize for this but I cannot control cell phone quality.  My choice then becomes to cancel the show on the spot or do the best possible with bad audio.  I urge future guests and listeners to use a quality phone line with The Space Show.  During the first segment of our 1 hour 46 minute program, we talked about the Falcon 9 accident investigation, related Falcon 9 delays, Falcon Heavy delays and scheduling and commercial crew delays for both the Boeing CST 100 and SpaceX. 

Our next topic focused on the Musk Mars talk from Mexico at the end of September. Doug had many questions about the Musk Mars plans. He talked about most of them in this segment, raising issues and questions.  One big question he had pertained to what the people would do when they got to Mars.  He also wanted to know about the life support plans as did I.  In talking about public-private funding efforts, Doug mentioned his reluctance to see tax dollars go for some of the potential costs.  Don't miss all of what was said about funding humans to Mars missions as it was a thorough discussion of a complex topic.  Part of this discussion focused on space settlement issues, a topic Doug also expresses concerns about. 

We talked about the NASA Roadmap To Mars, SLS and Orion.  Some of this discussion focused on possible competition for congressional funding with the SpaceX Mars plans.  As long as SLS and Orion continue to be funded, we both thought it seemed unlikely that there would be significant government funding the for SpaceX Mars hardware and plans.  Overall, Doug remained optimistic but said timelines for Mars by SpaceX and NASA were probably not that realistic.

In the second segment, I asked Doug about the UN buying seats for member nations on the Dream Chaser.  Doug addressed this issue saying the flight(s) might take place between 2019-2024.  We talked about the rockets of choice for the Dream Chaser, then Doug talked about work on the SpaceX Dragon Lab which is still listed among SpaceX plans but he was unsure if it was still being pursued. 

Another topic was XCOR, then Masten Space Systems and a Stratolaunch update.  I also asked Doug about Sea Launch starting up again offering possible comsat launch competition.  Doug had much to say about all of these topics.

A listener asked him about ongoing Virgin Galactic ticket sales.  This gave Doug an opening to talk about Virgin Galactic, SpaceShipTwo and their new flight testing program.  We also talked about Blue Origin ticket sales and their timelines.  These discussions opened the door for a short discussion on the viability of the space tourism market potential.  Listner Karen asked about possible market saturation given the large numbers of heavy lift rockets now being made or planned. 

Near the end of the show, Alex asked Doug for his thoughts on the biggest and most important space news and industry stories of 2016.  Doug listed several stories.  See if you agree and let us know with your blog comments.  He added the Rosetta mission and Juno to the list and we talked about the ESA Schiaparelli mission due to land on Mars on Oct. 19.  Before the program ended, we talked about Swiss Space and Reaction Engines in the UK.  The final story was about Firefly Space Systems and their financial problems with the potential demise of the company.

Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog for this program on our website.  You can reach Doug through www.parabolicarc.com or me.

 

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10 Oct 2016 Douglas Messier
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  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • The Space Foundation Conference

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  • The Space Foundation Conference

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