Broadcast 2155 (Special Edition)

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • space settlement progress

  • The Space Foundation Conference

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The Space Foundation Conference

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Guest: Tom Olson. Topics: The year 2013 in review for all things space. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.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 Tom Olson back to the show for his 2013 space year in review. Note that this program was pre-recorded on Dec. 19, 2013 for play today, Dec. 31, 2013. During the first segment of our two hour program, Tom began the review by talking about the Chinese lunar lander now on the Moon. He expressed concern that Russian and the U.S. may be left behind though we did talk about the private U.S. lunar missions working on getting back to the Moon ASAP. Tom next talked about NewSpace successes during the year, the successful completion of the COTS program with both the Orbital and SpaceX launchers taking supplies to the ISS. Tom suggested commercial crew was on time for 2017 and that SpaceX was making good progress with Grasshopper and potential reusability. He talked about controversy over Pad 39A evelopment, the recent Dream Chaser accident, and the emergency of commercial markets for the ISS with CASIS and Nanoracks. Before this segment ended, Tom talked about the impact of sequestration and space politics for the industry as a whole, then he addressed SLS. As the segment was about to end, he named a few of the 2013 busts including NASA Redirect Mission, Inspiration Mars, and Mars One. In our second segment, we talked about space advocacy during the year and the success of the 2013 NewSpace Business Plan Competition. Space settlement was discussed and as was NewSpace outreach, including congressional outreach. Tom talked about progress with the suborbital companies and Virgin Galactic. This took him to the space tourism topic and the 2014 planned Virgin Galactic operational flights. Our guest was asked about the regulatory issues in 2013 and what he thought they would be like for 2014. For the most part, he predicted no change. We talked about financing space ventures and capital acquisition for 2013 as well as start-ups and space entrepreneurs. He also mentioned Armadillo Aerospace going dark during the year and mentioned the risks to the emerging commercial industry if funds become scarce or hard to obtain. Though this was a pre-recorded show, there were some advance email questions for Tom. One near the end of the program asked him about plans to do anything with his Colony Fund program. Tom said it was a great idea but 12-15 years ahead of its time and may someday be brought back to life. That said, he reminded us that the Colony Fund did advance the space scalable strategy. Before our discussion ended, Tom updated us on the activities of Walt Anderson and his new ventures. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can reach Tom through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.

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31 Dec 2013 Thomas A. Olson
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  • space settlement progress

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • The Space Foundation Conference

  • helix-space the space show sponsor

  • The Space Foundation Conference