John Batchelor “Hotel Mars,” Wednesday, 2-22-12 February 22, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: 11th Annual California Round Robin for Policy Debate, : John Batchelor, beaming microwave energy, electricity prices, entrepreneurial risk taking, green energy, Hotel Mars, private financing, public sector finance, space based solar power, space debris, The John Batchelor Show, The Outer Space Treaty, weapons in space
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John Batchelor “Hotel Mars,” Wednesday, 2-22-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1719-BWB-2012-02-22.mp3
Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: The 11th Annual California Round robber for policy debate. 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. Written 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. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. The topics in this 11 minute plus segment focused on the 11th annual high school California Round Robin for policy debate which was held Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 at theCollegePreparatory School inOakland,CA. I was one of four critics (not judges) asked to participate and advise the debating teams on how realistic their presentations were in terms of what is actually done regarding the subject in the space industry. The question the debaters focused on asked if theU.S. government should pay for and develop space solar power. One team took the affirmative. The other team accepted the need for space solar power but took the position that it should be paid for and developed by the private sector. High School debate rules were followed. In the coming weeks the debate audio will be uploaded to a special website for everyone to hear. When the audio is available, I will modify the archives for this program to include the URL so those of you interested in hearing it can do so. In addition to critiquing the students, each of the four of us (critics) had an opportunity to address not just the two debate teams but also the 60-70 adults in the room. We stressed the possibility of understanding, seeing, and valuing space as a possible path for solutions to many of the problems we all face today. In talking to the students after the debate, they were all open to STEM college programs, space, science, and technology careers. They were actually excited about the debate, the topic, and their future. During this segment with John Batchelor, I went into more detail about the actual debate, how they handled the multiple disciplines they talked about including engineering, technology, space issues, beaming issues, business, financial and economic issues. When the debate ended, we took questions from the students and the adults. Some of the questions dealt with space debris, microwave beaming and space weapons, the Outer Space Treaty, space liability issues, and an aging space workforce. Please post your comments regarding this John Batchelor Show segment on The Space Show Blog. If you want to email John Batchelor you can do so through me or their respective websites.
Dr. Jeff Bell, Monday, 2-20-12 February 21, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " Phobos Grunt Mission, Anatoly Zak, Bob Zubrin, Chinese Space Program, Curiosity, Delta 2 program, Dr. Jeff Bell, Dragon, EELV, Falcon, human spaceflight, ISS, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Kepler Space Telescope, Lavochkin, low cost space access, lunar settlement, Mars Polar Lander, MSL, NASA science missions, National Lab, NewSpace, Phobos 88, Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Russian management, Russian space industry, Sergei Korolev., Soyuz, Space Launch System (SLS)., Space X, Stratolaunch, ULA
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Dr. Jeff Bell, Monday, 2-20-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1717-BWB-2012-02-20.mp3
Guest: Dr. Jeff Bell. Topics: Dr. Bell’s assessment of NASA, the science missions, human spaceflight, the Russian space problems, & Phobos-Grunt conspiracy theories. 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. We welcomed Dr. Jeff Bell back to the program for his assessment of space today in theUnited States, along with the problems facing the Russian space industry and the Phobos-Grunt conspiracy theories as to why the mission failed. Those familiar with Dr. Bell and his Space Show programs will not be disappointed as this two hour plus discussion is vintage Jeff Bell. Dr. Bell started with an assessment of the problems over the last year and half or so with the Russian space industry and its management. Jeff does a good job of summarizing their history of manufacturing, technology, and engineering problems going back to the time of Sergei Korolev. He also shares with us his experiences working with the Russians on the Phobos 88 mission. He said typical characteristics of Russian missions leading to problems include being too ambitious, costly for their budgets, and the labor allocated to the projects. He suggested that we in theU.S. do the same thing and cited MSL and Curiosity as an example. He had much to say about the early Soviet Venus probes and how their data was widely discounted outside of theSoviet Union. He then said Space X might be overextending and he cited several ongoing Space X projects which might distract from their primary mission at hand which is to get Falcon and Dragon operational. Listeners asked about the Russian problems driving customers away from doing business withRussia in favor of ULA in theU.S. Here, Dr. Bell had much to say about ULA pricing, overhead costs without NASA sharing them, and more. He also mentioned what was happening to Delta 2 given the GPS system needing larger rockets as an example of the impact of government policy/spending in space industries. Dr. Bell turned to the latest Phobos-Grunt conspiracy theories for the mission failure. At the end of this segment, Dr. Bell talked about the JWST & Curiosity in terms of overly complex and costly missions.
In the second segment, Jeff talked about the Newt space policy suggestions and the idea of the Moon as the 51st state. He had much to say about the ridicule in the media and was not surprised by it. He used this as an example to say reality “conflicts with the space cadet world view.” In talking about Mars missions, he said people had been conned by the Mars theory of life stories and promoters. He said that Mars and HSF were not worth it. Several listeners called in to debate Jeff on these comments but Jeff took no prisoners. He then talked about the ISS and its less than full utilization and that the entire idea of HSF had come and gone. At one point in response to a listener question/comment, Dr. Bell said that all Zubrin offered was a 60′s program! Jeff did have good things to say about the science and robotic missions, said our planet exploration would be with robots, not humans, and that we needed more missions like the Kepler Space Telescope. He repeated throughout the discussion that nothing useful has come form HSF nor would it. He offered that the basic technology was from the70′s and had not changed. He said overall interest in space had declined since Apollo. In his closing comments, he said he was still hopeful that NewSpace would decrease the launch costs as that would be a game changer.
If you have questions/comments for Dr. Jeff Bell, post them on The Space Show blog URL above.
Marsha Freeman, Friday, 2-17-12 February 18, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: African space programs, Club of Rome., Commercial Crew, commercial space, ExoMars, Glass-Steagall Act, IAC in Cape Town, ITAR, JWST, Krafft Ehricke, Marsha Freeman, NASA FY 13 budget, Obama Space, Orion, Planetary Society, SA, SLS, South African astronomy, South African radio telescopes, South African space program, STEM in Africa, Sub-Saharan African Space Program, sustainability, The Extraterrestrial Imperative
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Marsha Freeman, Friday, 2-17-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1715-BWB-2012-02-17.mp3
Guest: Marsha Freeman. Topics: FY 13 NASA budget, the recently held IAC in Cape Town& the South African space program. 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. We welcomed Marsha Freeman back to the program to share with us her analysis of the FY 13 NASA budget proposal, the recently held IAC meeting in Cape Town and what she learned about the South African space program. We started by talking about the proposed FY 13 NASA budget. Marsha was disappointed with major parts of the budget proposal. Areas that we discussed included planetary science & the ExoMars missions. She also talked about the budget being and what that meant for NASA now & in the future. Ms. Freeman then spoke about needed economic reforms to encourage investment. Jon called in during this segment to stress the need for ITAR reform. We then focused on the recently held International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Cape Town, South Africa. Not only did our guest give us a report on the IAC, but she was able to conduct interviews with the South African director of their new space agency and the Minister of Science and Technology. Minister Pandor delivered a talk at the IAC which you might want to read (www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19684:parliamentary-question-dst-international-astronautical-congress-&catid=86:parliamentary-questions&Itemid=187). Ms. Freeman talked about how South Africa was using space, science, and technology to uplift their economy. This was a very intereesting discussion which even includes their perspectives on the U.S. space program then & now. There is no doubt that this is a harsh comparison for the U.S. but I believe we should all listen and take note of how we are seen by others in the space community. I realize that what you hear does not apply to 100% of “others” and much of what was discussed was the opinion of our guest, but I urge listeners to pay attention rather than dismiss these perspectives and opinions. As the first segment drew to a close, Marsha also talked about the S. African program, what it is doing, how it is working with other African nations to use and develop space to improve all of Africa. As the segment ended, Marsha told us about the keynote made by NASA Administrator Bolden along with talks by other space agency leaders.
In the second segment, Marsha was asked about a South African astronaut and Mark Shuttleworth came up. This discussion prompted a listener email asking if Mark Shuttleworth or Elon Musk had shown any sign of trying to support the South African space program or commercial/nonprofit space activities there? Marsha was not aware of any such activities. Much of this segment was about space in Africa, not just South Africa. Later in the segment, we talked about the students present at IAC. Marsha said that quite a few of the students there actually inspired by the Space Shuttle. Toward the end, Ms. Freeman spoke about the Orion budget again called for investment oriented economic & legislative reforms in the country. As the program was ending, the issue of “sustainability” came up as it has on previous shows. I again made the offer to send the Howard Bloom speech to Yale students that he made in 2005 to anyone asking for it. I will ask Howard if I can post it as a .pdf document on the blog with this program review. If OK, I will modify the blog and website archive to point listeners to the paper.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email our guest through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Jim Funaro, Wednesday, 2-15-12 February 16, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: anthropology, Contact 2012, COTI Simulation, Cultures of the Imagination (COTI), Cute Response., Dr. Frank Drake, ET contact, First Contact, Jim Funaro, Larry Niven, NASA, religion, SETI, UFO mythology
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Jim Funaro, Wednesday, 2-15-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1714-BWB-2012-02-15.mp3
Guest: Jim Funaro. Topics: Contact Conference 2012, First Contact, human behavior. 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. To find out more about the Contact 2012 conference and for online registration, please visit http://contact-conference.org. Note that the special registration rate was extended three days for Space Show listeners but you have to mention The Space Show in your registration email to take advantage of this offer. In our first segment, our guest talked about conference logistics and registration, plus he told us about the first day which is at SETI in Mountain View, CA. This is a terrific opportunity to see the new SETI facilities, to learn firsthand about SETI and what it does, and to meet the SETI team of researchers. I asked Jim about the name of the conference as I thought it was based on Contact with an ET culture. Jim explained that the name was to symbolize ignition or spark, that is bright people sparking light and heat for enlightenment.
In the second segment, we talked about the Cultures of the Imagination program referred to as the COTI Simulation. Jim explained the program in details, talked about the two teams, a human team and an alien team, and how they operate during the conference. On the final day of the conference, the afternoon session is devoted to First Contact between the humans and the aliens. Noted Science Fiction author Larry Niven is the person in charge of the simulation and the troubleshooter for the simulation.
In our third and final segment, we went over the hotel logistics and the room rate, the banquet for Saturday night and its cost, plus the keynote speaker which is Dr. Frank Drake. Later in this final segment, Blake asked if most members of the Contact organization thought that there was ET life or if contact had been made with humans. You might be surprised by Jim’s answer. This subject took us into a discussion about the anthropology perspective for ETs and UFOs around the world. Jim said people want to believe and that may be a simple but viable explanation. He also talked about people’s imagination and what is known as the Cute Response. You don’t want to miss this discussion. Jim returned to the subject of the conference as our program ended. He stressed that it was a warm, friendly, networking, and participatory conference for everyone.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email Jim Funaro regarding Contact 2012 at jafunaro@cabrillo.edu.
John Batchelor “Hotel Mars,” Wednesday, 2-1512 February 16, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: : John Batchelor, DOD NOAA Weather Satellite Program., ExoMars program, human spaceflight, James Webb Space Telescope, John Batchelor Show, Marcia Smith, NASA Commercial Crew, NASA FY 13 budget, Office of Responsive Space, Orion, planetary science budget, science budget, SLS, Space Test Program, SpacePolicyOnline.com
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John Batchelor “Hotel Mars,” Wednesday, 2-15-12
John Batchelor, Marcia Smith, Dr. David Livingston
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1713-BWB-2012-02-15.mp3
Guests: John Batchelor, Marcia Smith, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: NASA FY 13 Budget Review. 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. Written 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. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. The topics in this 11 minute plus segment focused on the NASA $17.7 billion part of President Obama’s FY 13 budget. Ms. Smith started out with an overview of the NASA budget. Following the brief overview, we looked at some of the key areas such as planetary missions including the ExoMars missions planned for 2016 and 2018 with ESA. We talked about commercial crew and human spaceflight and what congress might do with the proposed $830 million. John asked Marcia about the James Webb Space Telescope, SLS and Orion. I inquired about the cancellation on the DOD side of both the Space Test Program (STP) and the Office of Responsive Space. If you recall from previous Space Show discussions, the STP has been the main provider for academic CubeSat launches as secondary payloads on various other missions. As we heard, some of the CubeSat launches will be transferred to NASA programs. For more NASA budget information, check the posts on www.spacepolicyonline.com. In addition, Ms. Smith will be a guest for a full Space Show program on Monday, Feb. 27 to discuss the NASA FY 13 budget in detail. Please post your comments regarding this John Batchelor Show segment on The Space Show Blog. If you want to email either John Batchelor or Marcia Smith, you can do so through me or their respective websites.
Dr. James Dewar, Sunday, 2-12-12 February 12, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " nuclear propulsion to LEO, " Saturn V, "The Nuclear Rocket: Making Our Planet Green, air launch, C5A, Dr. James (Jim) Dewar, Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), heavy lift, high explosive (HE), highly enhanced uranium (HEU), hydrogen fuel, ion energy, ISP, NASA, NERVA, nuclear reprocessing, nuclear rocket economics, nuclear rocket testing, nuclear thermal rocket (NRT), nuclear thermal rocket test stands, Peaceful and Prosperous, Plutonium, Project Bifrost, public private partnerships, pulse cooling, reentry vehicle (RV), solid core, space policy, Thorium, Tungsten fuel, U233, U235, U239, Vasimr
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Dr. James Dewar, Sunday, 2-12-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1711-BWB-2012-02-12.mp3
NUCLEAR THERMAL ROCKETS
Guest: Dr. James (Jim) A. Dewar. Topics: Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR), changing paradigms to use the NTR from Earth launch, nuclear economics. 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. We welcomed Dr. Dewar back to The Space Show to further discuss the Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) and his paradigm changing approach to use the NTR to launch from Earth rather than using it only in space. During this nearly 2.5 hour discussion, Dr. Dewar makes the case for the NTR based on probable economics, the previous history associated with NERVA, and the assumed benefits flowing to private companies engaged in public private partnerships along the lines Dr. Dewar described. In the first segment, Dr. Dewar started out describing the existing barriers to using the NTR to LEO rather than only in space, plus he referred us to his 29 page introductory paper which is available on The Space Show blog for your download and review. During this segment, we fielded many listener emails and calls wanting to discuss the NTR ISP, possible fuels, testing, and legal issues impacting the use of the nuclear rocket. Michael called and talked about the discussions for a new treaty, the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) and how that would adversely impact using the NTR. Dr. Dewar talked about treaty issues over the years and suggested that treaties are not that easy to establish in this era while suggesting that they could also be modified. Near the end of the first segment, questions about thorium came up as did questions about additional commercial uses for the nuclear engine here on Earth.
In the second longer segment, we talked about winning over the public and the media. Charles Pooley called in with a set of questions and we talked about reentry vehicles, highly enriched uranium, and more. Jim described a Titan missile accident in Arkansas as an example of the safety controls even in a very large explosion. Another listener asked about cooling and Jim told us about pulse cooling. Dr. Dewar’s air launch idea was brought up again by another caller andMarshall sent in an email inquiring about the nuclear engine replacing coal in our terrestrial power plants to make electricity. I asked Dr. Dewar about risk assessment for the nuclear rocket and reprocessing given terrorism, etc. He said the reprocessed material would be carefully guarded but also weighed against the environmental risks associated with burying waste, burning it, or even dumping waste in the ocean. Dr. Dewar was asked about using the nuclear rocket only in space rather than attempting to use it to launch from Earth. He compared using it only in space to the Pony Express. Don’t miss his full response in replying to this question. Later in this segment, I asked Jim for his first step in advancing the NTR. He said the first step was to get people talking about the subject. Tom called in and also wondered how to get people to rally to the cause. Near the end of the program, Jim talked some more about potential economic benefits along with secondary commercial products such as heat pipes. As our program was ending ion engines came up as did Vasimr.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. If you want to contact Dr. Dewar, send your note to me for forwarding.
To download and read Dr. Dewar’s paper, see below:
A Technical and Economic Introduction to Nuclear Rockets
A Technical Note on Nuclear Rockets-1
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Dr. David Kipping, Friday, 2-10-12 February 10, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: Dr. David Kipping, Earth-like planets, Exomoons, Exoplanets, Goldilocks zone, habitable zone, Hubble Space Telescope, human spaceflight, infrared bands, interstellar travel, James Webb Space Telescope, Kepler public data, Kepler Space Telescope (KST), KST Field of View, nanosatellite swarms, planehunters.org, planet wobble, Pulsars, spectroscopy, STEM, Transit technique for planet finding
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Dr. David Kipping, Friday, 2-10-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1709-BWB-2012-02-10.mp3
Guest: Dr. David Kipping. Topics: Searching for Exomoons and Exoplanets with Kepler Space Telescope (KST). 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. We welcomed Dr. David Kipping to the program to discuss the search for Exomoons and Exoplanets. The primary tool for these searches is the Kepler Space Telescope (KST). We talked about the methods used to search for the exomoons, mainly planet transits. Later in our discussion we talked about the other methods including detecting wobbles and using pulsars. Another discussion issue was the fixed field of view for the KST (about 10 degrees) and the benefit of having multiple KSTs to look at different and broader fields of view of the sky. Dr. Kipping was asked several questions about finding exomoons in the habitable zone (Goldilocks zone). We also discussed the randomness of targets and the small number that are actually in the field of view from Earth. Charles in an email brought up spectroscopy in the searches.
In the second segment, we started out discussing pulsars and their role in these searches. Dr. Kipping went into some detail to explain to us the radiation pulses and how they can be interpreted in the exoplanet/moon searches. As you will hear, pulsars are not likely to be located in the Goldilocks zone but Dr. Kipping did give us an idea of the best targets for a visit were we to have interstellar space travel. Later we talked about the JWST and infrared searches along with the potential the JWST brings to astronomy. This discussion took into account the NASA budget, competition with the science missions and human spaceflight, and making hard choices for this or that funding. Our guest took some listener questions about nanosatellites and swarms of mini-KSTs. Dr. Kipping had much to say about this idea, including that it was a good one. Another issue covered was the international effort in these searches. I asked our guest about amateurs and planet searches. He told us about an interactive website, www.planethunters.org plus other programs that involved non-professionals in the searches. Near the end of the program, Dr. Kipping discussed the differences with the KST public data and private data.
Please post your comments on The Space Show blog. If you want to send a note to Dr. Kipping, please do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
