Guest: Lt. Col. Pete Garretson (USAF);  Topics:  National Space Policy, Global Trends, National Intelligence Council, SSP, big space project visions.  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 Lt. Col. Pete Garretson back to the show to discuss his two recent articles per below:

1.  The Space Review:  A National Space Policy For This Century, Nov. 7, 2016:  www.thespacereview.com/article/3099/1.

2.  "Guess What Could Be Totally Missing From the New U.S. President's Intel Briefing: Oh, just the entire outer-space thing."  See  https://warisboring.com/guess-what-could-be-totally-missing-from-the-new-u-s-presidents-intel-briefing-9ce4881643e5. 

The first segment of our 1 hour 42 minute program focused on these two articles so I strongly suggest reading them before listening to the interview.  Much of what we talked about in this segment dealt with possible changes to the National Space Policy to effect a change in focus toward commercial space economic development, space settlement policies, deep space mining policies and more.  The same was said about Pete's other article which focused on the Global Trends 2030 document published by the National Intelligence Council.  He talked about this group totally missing space and asking the question if the next edition of Global Trends to be published in Dec. 2016 will finally address important space economic possibilities including very big space projects that can drive economic development.  This was a comprehensive discussion so I urge you not to miss it. 

Listeners had many email questions for our guest.  George asked what the significance was for commercial space development for the nation.  You definitely want to hear what Peter said in response to this question.  Competition for leaderships among space nations was also part of our discussion.  In addition, the economic development stemming from big vision space projects such as space solar power development and deep space resource development were major themes in this segment and for the balance of the program.  Don't miss what our guest said when asked how these ideas become policy.

Much more was said in the firsts segment, including how these big projects might get financed.  When asked about wealth individuals doing their own SSP project, Pete talked about the interest in the UAE funding such a venture.  Pete then focused our attention on the D3 SSP project.  Visit http://d3ssp.org for more informatio

In the second segment, our guest told us about the Space Horizons elective course at the Air University which has been designed to task students to thinking about space economic development via big projects like SSP.  Much was said on this topic that you will find of interest.  In addition, we talked about lunar and Mars economic settlement development policy.  One listener asked our guest what the students due upon graduation since there really were no space projects or ventures for them to latch onto given their new "expertise."  Our guest had much to say about the role of a military officer and how this type of broad vision and economic development training could be applied across a large platform opportunities. 

Karen sent in a question asking if space infrastructure development might be part of a Trump administration infrastructure spending and development bill.  About all that Pete could say was that he hoped so but it was way too early to have any information on something like this.  He suggested concerned listeners make their opinions on this known to the new administration.  After our show ended, listener John in Freemont sent us this URL for use in sending suggestions to the Trump administration:  https://apply.ptt.gov/yourstory/secur/weakhttps.jsp?l=1

Cislunar transportation came up as a competing infrastructure development project compared to SSP.  Don't miss what our guest had to say about cislunar space transportation development.  In short, he supported it and felt was part of the overall needed space infrastructure development.  Before the segment ended, we talked about doing a demo SSP project, U.S. regaining the leadership in SSP development, and how the rules get set for space based upon the leadership involved in space development.

Please post your comments/questions on the blog which is part of this archived program on TSS website.  Note that additional topics were discussed before the program ended.  Please visit the website for our guest, www.petergarretson.com.  You can contact our guest through me or through his websit