Dwight Steven-Boniecki, Sunday, 1-30-11 January 30, 2011
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Dwight Steven-Boniecki, Sunday, 1-30-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1502-BWB-2011-01-30.mp3
Guest: Dwight Steven-Boniecki. Topics: Lunar based television and technology. Please note that 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. We welcomed Dwight Steven-Boniecki to discuss his new Apogee book, “Live TV From the Moon.” You can buy this book from the OGLF website and Amazon will make a contribution to The Space Show. Please use this URL when ordering: www.amazon.com/dp/1926592166?tag=onegialeafou-20. During our first segment, Dwight told us about his early interest in the lunar and space program when he was a young boy in Australia. His story advanced to San Diego to working in the film and TV industry and to being very curious as to how some of the Apollo lunar TV footage was made, especially when Neal Armstrong came down the ladder to the lunar surface the first time and we could see it all on live TV. During this first segment, not only does out guest tell how much of the footage and TV video was done, he talked about the help he received in researching the subject for his book. He described the early technology of doing color using the Sequential Color Converter, color wheels in the cameras, and the cameras by Westinghouse and RCA. In the second segment, we talked about the astronaut training involved to work the cameras and broadcast the TV signal back to Earth. Listeners asked about the costs for the TV equipment, training and broacast, and we talked about the debate within NASA as to broadcasting live TV from the Moon. Later in the segment, our guest received a few questions about the Hasselblad still cameras used on the Moon and we talked about their thermal protection modifications. John in Atlanta called in to talk about the Transformer movie conspiracy and the missing 21 minutes and our guest even told us how the Transformer movie came up with the 21 minute gap! We started the third segment with a listener question about the famous golf shot on the Moon and how that was broadcast for TV. Listeners asked about the potential for a lunar reality TV show and as you will hear, Dwight was not too optimistic that such a program would be a sustainable financial success. Later in the segment we talked about Skylab and the use of multiple cameras on the station. Dwight also talked about the camera mounted on the Lunar Rover. As the program neared its end, we talked about going from analog to digital and the system of cameras and color broadcasts on the Space Shuttle through the 90′s and then later. At the end of the segment, I asked about depth perception on the lunar surface as shows by a series of photographs in the book. Dwight had much to say about lunar depth perception or the absence of it so don’t miss this discussion. Our guest directed us to the website www.livetfromthemoon.com as well as www.apollohoax.net. If you want to contact our guest, you can do so through www.apollohoax.net/contact or you can send your comment or question to me and I will forward it to him. Please put your comment or question on The Space Show Bog as well, using the above URL.
Todd Neff, Friday, 1-28-11 January 29, 2011
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Todd Neff, Friday, 1-28-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1501-BWB-2011-01-28.mp3
Guest: Todd Neff. Topics: Ball Aerospace, Deep Impact, additional Discovery Class Missions. Please note that 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. We welcomed Todd Neff to the program to discuss his new book, “From Jars To The Stars: How Ball Came to Build a Comet-Hunting Machine.” This book will be on the One Giant Leap Foundation (OGLF) Amazon partners page and if you buy it using the OGLF link, Amazon makes a contribution to OGLF/The Space Show. Please see www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/books. We began our program by remembering the 25th anniversary of the Challenger accident. We then moved to topic of the day, the Deep Impact Mission, which was the subject of the new book written by our guest. Todd told us why he wanted to investigate and report on this story with Ball Aerospace and as you will hear, Todd provided us with an interesting and seldom discussed history of not only Deep Impact, but also solar pointing and more. For those of you who like space history, you will really appreciate this discussion. Todd starts around 1948 and takes us up to Deep Impact which was launched in 2005. During our second segment, Todd continued with the Ball Aerospace history and he focused on the Discovery Class Missions. He then explained why comets were such interesting targets and how Ball determined that doing Discovery Class Missions was the “sweet spot” for the company. Toward the end of this segment, we talked about the success of Deep Impact and how it was measured for the benefit of Ball Aerospace. In the third segment, we talked about offshoots of the various programs that Ball was involved in and Todd mentioned Digital Globe and Kepler along with other Discovery Class Missions. During the program listeners asked questions about the history we were discussing. Near the end of the program, Todd was asked for the method used to actually hit Temple 1. Also near the end of the program, we talked about mission creep, cost overruns, and the NASA culture. If you have comments or questions you can also email Todd Neff at todd@toddneff.com.
Declan O’Donnell, Tuesday, 1-25-11 January 26, 2011
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Declan O’Donnell, Tuesday, 1-25-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1500-BWB-2011-01-25.mp3
Guest: Declan O’Donnell. Topics: United Societies In Space (USIS), commercial space, treaty law, changing the law. Please note that 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. Note that this is Space Show number 1,500! We welcomed back Declan O’Donnell for updates with the USIS organization, The Buzz Aldrin Library, and commercial space legal issues based on the United Nations Treaties. We started our first segment with Declan telling us about the recent Boulder conference that both Buzz and he attended that addressed suborbital flight and suborbital flight training for the people wanting to participate in space tourism. He said there appears to be lots of people interested in the space experience as well as going to space and that so far from his perspective, money was not much of a roadblock, if at all. Declan then switched to discussing USIS. In this discussion, he put for the idea of the Space Development Authority as the way to accomplish the best legal regime to promote, manage, and develop commercial space. He cited two examples for the authority model, the TVA and the Chunnel Authority. Declan suggested that we create the Space Development Authority which would eventually be managed and funded separately from governments. At this point in our discussion, Declan talked about potential legal challenges to commercial space based on the benefit sharing language in the U.N. treaties, specifically in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST). Declan told us about his having recently spoken about potential legal challenges to commercial space at a recent NASA meeting in Hawaii. Listen to what he had to say about this meeting and the reaction of those in attendance. This is an important discussion, listen carefully, and post comments to the blog as to what you think about the potential problem Declan points out. As we started our second segment, our guest went on to say that Article 11 of the Moon Treaty provided the solution to this problem. In addition to the Moon Treaty clause, Declan talked about the procedure for changing the law using the IAF to validate the concept that space can be inhabited and developed for people now and his IAF suggestion and procedure offered the legal proof needed based on the Moon Treaty clause. Listeners asked Declan why we don’t just withdraw from the OST and since the U.S. has not signed the Moon Treaty, why is it even applicable to us. Don’t miss his important answers to these questions. Other issues and listener questions that came up dealt with legal challenges, what courts would have jurisdiction and here, you will hear Declan say that any federal court in the U.S. would have jurisdiction and that such a case if and when it comes up will eventually go to the Supreme Court because of its wide ranging importance. Near the end of the program, Declan described a new USIS program underway with Boy Scout packs, the Aerospace Venture Club. We also talked about the forthcoming issue of the USIS publication, Space Governance. As you will hear, I offered to send to interested listeners a recent USIS email containing many of the documents Declan discussed during the show. If you are interested in this email, please send your request to drspace@thespaceshow.com. If you have comments or questions for Declan O’Donnell, please post them on The Space Show Blog per the above URL. Declan also invited listeners to join in with USIS. His email address is djopc@qwestoffice.net. Declan can also be reached at 1-800-633-2828. His fax number is 1-303-666-8595.
Dr. Paul Hardersen, Monday, 1-24-11 January 24, 2011
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Dr. Paul Hardersen, Monday, 1-24-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1499-BWB-2011-01-24.mp3
Guest: Dr. Paul Hardersen. Topics: The North Dakota Space Studies Department and UND Observatory. Please note that 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. Dr. Hardersen returned to The Space Show to update us on the UND Observatory and the new fundraising campaign for the observatory system. Visit http://observatory.space.edu/default.aspx for additional information on the observatory system. Also visit http://observatory.space.edu/donations/default.aspx for information on their new fund raising program, $120K in 12 Months: Bringing the stars to North Dakota. Dr. Hardersen described the observatory facilities and talked about the type of telescopes used, how students can access and control the telescopes over the internet from member colleges, and how the buildings cannot be heated due to the impact of heat on the lenses. As a result of this, the observatory is usually closed during most of the winter. Dr. Hardersen explained how students use the observatory and how it fits into the Space Studies curriculum for both on campus and distance students. This is a short half our discussion so if you want more information about the observatory or the Space Studies Program, please email Paul at hardersen@space.edu. You can also post a comment or question on The Space Blog URL listed above.
Marc Millis, Monday, 1-17-11 January 17, 2011
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Marc Millis, Monday, 1-17-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1497-BWB-2011-01-17.mp3
Guest: Marc Millis. Topics: Breakthrough propulsion, advanced technology development, interstellar travel, science and engineering development. Please note that 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. We welcomed Marc Millis back to the program to discuss some of his new papers and developments dealing with advanced propulsion for space travel. Marc has two new papers to read: 1) “Progress In Revolutionary Propulsion Physics” at http://arxiv.org/abs/1101.1063. 2) “Energy, incessant obsolescence, and the first interstellar missions” at http://arxiv.org/abs/1101.1066. Be sure to visit the Tau Zero Foundation website at www.centauri-dreams.org/?page_id=2118. In our first segment, Marc talked about his new interstellar paper and that based on energy requirements, it might take between one and two centuries to be able to realize interstellar travel. He explained his theory based on energy but also talked about other ways of forecasting when interstellar travel might become a reality with each of the other ways suggesting similar time lines. Marc said that being able to realize interstellar travel was essential and was a survival imperative for humanity. We then talked about various projects that are pushing the technology window including the Japanese Project Ikaros and the Tau Zero Foundation Project Icarus. We talked about nuclear propulsion and undiscovered physics. As you will hear, Mr. Millis said the key to advancing technology was being able to ask the right question. We explored his comment in some detail. At the end of this segment, Marc talked about cultural trends in the space field and that often organizations start to develop outside the main one to fill a void. This discussion came about because he was asked if NASA should be doing breakthrough propulsion research and development and was it appropriate to spend public money on such projects. We started our second segment with a listener asking how to determine if an idea is a crackpot idea or not. Mark provided us with a range of factors to use so this is a discussion you will want to listen to and maybe even take some notes. He also told us about the famous paper, “Unskilled and Unaware of It” which as you will hear, appears to be applicable to the crackpot issue. Later in this segment, he was asked if we had the skills and abilities to back engineer an interstellar vehicle that was here on Earth. You might be surprised by Marc’s answer so again, listen carefully to what he had to say. At the end of the segment, he was asked why Moore’s Law cannot be applied to technology advancement and propulsion physics. Don’t miss his response to this question. In the third segment, he talked about the DARPA/Ames study, the One Hundred Year Starship Study. Later, he was asked about timelines for propulsion development as compared for space projects like going to the Moon, a NEO, etc. As you will hear, we should not confuse the timeline required for a mission as compared to the timeline required for technology development. If you have comments or questions for Marc Millis, post them on The Space Show blog. You can also use the contact section on his website and reference The Space Show.
Dr. Paul Spudis, Tony Lavoie, Sunday, 1-16-11 January 16, 2011
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Dr. Paul Spudis, Tony Lavoie, Sunday, 1-16-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1496-BWB-2011-01-16.mp3
Guests: Dr. Paul Spudis; Tony Lavoie. Topics: Their paper titled “Mission and Implementation of an Affordable Lunar Return.” Please note that 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. We welcomed back Dr. Paul Spudis and as a first time guest, Tony Lavoie to discuss their recently published paper, “Mission and Implementation of an Affordable Lunar Return.” You can download their paper here: http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon/2010/12/can-we-afford-to-return-to-the-moon and www.spudislunarresources.com/Papers/Affordable_Lunar_Base.pdf. I urge you to read their paper before commenting on the blog or sending either guest an email. While our program unfolded in three segments, our entire discussion was focused on their program for returning to the Moon. Dr. Spudis started us out in the first segment with a history going back to Augustine when he was not satisfied with the conclusions from the committee and set out with Tony to see if they could develop a lunar return architecture that would work and fall within the NASA budget. During the first segment, our guests addressed the commercial potential of their suggested program as well as the incremental approach the program draws upon. Toward the end of the segment, we talked about timelines, both for the robotic and site exploratory missions, then followed by the human missions. We also talked about the use of telerobotics for this program as the Moon is close enough to allow for this while a NEO or Mars mission would incur substantial time delays rendering it difficult to use teleoperated robotics. In our second segment, Tony expanded the time line topic and carried it out to around year seven. We also talked about ways to assure long term congressional financing and project support. We took several listener questions including one from Marshall regarding a possible liquid core for the Moon. Spike both emailed and called in with questions about the paper, while there were several additional questions about the use of lunar water for fuel as well as for humans. Toward the end of this active listener give and take with our two guests, Jerry asked about the Moon having an increased value due to recent exploration and discoveries. You do not want to miss what our guests had to say about this. In fact, as you will hear from our guests, this increased lunar value with the discovery of water and more provides a significant part of the rational and the economics to return to the Moon. At the end of this segment, our guests fielded a heavy lift question. As you will hear, the paper suggests moderate heavy lift at approximately 65 metric tons. While the analysis was not made, the suspicion was that without heavy lift the mission costs would be higher. In our third segment, we continued with listener questions and calls on a range of subjects related to the paper. John inquired about reusability and engines. Tim inquired about nuclear propulsion & a liquid oxygen and aluminum powder as the propellant. I then asked Paul and Tony for their implementation plan for their program. We concluded the program with a discussion of the value of this plan and returning to the Moon for us to become space fairing, not just to quickly go to a destination and return as we did with Apollo. The plan is about making Cis-lunar space affordable and routine so we can continue expanding our presence in space. We talked about space development as a wealth building tool and investing in space development and not treating it as an expense. Post your comments and questions for our guests on The Space Show blog at the URL above. Dr. Spudis has a website, www.spudislunarresources.com & a blog @ http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon. Guest email addresses are on the title page of their paper.
Dr. John S. Lewis, Friday, 1-14-11 January 15, 2011
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Dr. John S. Lewis, Friday, 1-14-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1495-BWB-2011-01-14.mp3
Guest: Dr. John S. Lewis. Topics: China’s space program, He3, fusion, the Moon, and more. Please note that 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. In our fist segment, Dr. Lewis began discussing the Chinese space program which was discussed in depth during the entire interview. One of the questions asked him was about China’s possible membership in the ISS partnership. Don’t miss his response but also note what he said about the Khrushchev Principle. In response to other listener questions, Dr. Lewis described the difference between urban and rural China as to space awareness and education. There were also listener questions pertaining to “Mining The Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets,” the famous book written by our guest. By the way, this book is available on the OGLF Amazon partners page. If you buy it using www.amazon.com/dp/0201328194?tag=onegialeafou-20, Amazon will make a contribution to OGLF/The Space Show. Listener Chris called in from Argentina and asked Dr. Lewis about faith and religion and how it had impacted his science and work. Our second segment started with a discussion on space resources and finding a market. For example, Dr. Lewis said we would not be returning hydrocarbons to Earth. Later, he talked about the Chinese program being a great source of national pride as was the Apollo program to the United States. Our discussion move to He3 on the Moon but as you will hear, we talked about it quite a bit during the balance of the interview. Dr. Lewis talked about He3 on the Moon, the outer planets, and fielded a question about it on Mars. During this discussion, he did say without fusion energy, He3 did not have that much value. That said, Dr. Lewis reported on the status of developing fusion energy using the ITER as an example and said progress was being made. Another thing Dr. Lewis pointed out was that to extract one ton of He3 on the Moon, you need to process 100 million tons of lunar regolith. As you will hear him say, we need to develop a very small test program to see if we can even process He3 from the regolith. Note what he said about the harsh conditions and environment that one will have to work in for both men and equipment to process He3. Toward the end of the second segment, a listener asked him for a comparison of the Indian lunar program with the Chinese program. Our third segment started with a question about He3 on Mars. You will hear Dr. Lewis explain why this is a non-starter. Charles called in to discuss the D-T model for fusion. Mark inquired some more about NEOs and co-orbitals and asked Dr. Lewis for his favorites for development. The Japanese program was discussed with Dr. Lewis saying it was a very serious program. The 2011 Chinese lunar schedule was mentioned with the approaching launch of Shenzhou VIII. Toward the end of our program, Dr. Lewis told us about his upcoming science fiction books, a few of which will be released this year. Check out www.johnslewis.com for more information about the topics we discussed today and the works and blog of Dr. Lewis. If you have comments or questions for Dr. John Lewis, please post them on The Space Show blog. You can also post comments and questions for Dr. Lewis on his website.
Mary Roach, Tuesday, 1-11-11 January 12, 2011
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Mary Roach, Tuesday, 1-11-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1494-BWB-2011-01-11.mp3
Guest: Mary Roach. Topics: Her book “Stiff” and a discussion of human cadaver scientific testing and its history with human spaceflight. Please note that 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. Noted author Mary Roach returned to the show to discuss her book “Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.” This book is available on the One Giant Leap Foundation Amazon Partners page at www.amazon.com/dp/0393324826?tag=onegialeafou-20. When you purchase the book through OGLF, Amazon contributes to The Space Show. During this one hour program with Ms. Roach, we not only talked about the scientific impact and usage of human cadavers, we talked about cadaver usage in the space program. Though limited, such research was used in Apollo capsule splashdown tests and in other areas. As you will hear, Mary, with her customary wit and humor, takes us through the various ways cadavers are used for scientific study and the impact these tests have had on safety that impacts all of us. Some of the chapters of Stiff that we focused on had to do with head research as well as what was learned from the TWA 800 plane accident. We were able to extrapolate much of this discussion to human spaceflight safety but as you will hear, for a variety of reasons, some of the safety studies, especially for race cars and automobile accidents don’t transfer well to space because of need for severe restraint for safety which is not practical or possible for spaceflight passengers. One of the issues Mary told us about was the concept for how to return a body to Earth from Mars or another space location. Drawing on the Swedish burial system known as Promession to reduce the mass of the body, Mary described the plan on the show. You can read comments about this at http://deathreferencedesk.org/2010/09/12/prepare-for-death-and-follow-me-into-outer-space. Ms. Roach identified the system as the Body Back System. Our topics for tonight’s show are seldom talked about let alone on a program primarily dealing with space issues. Despite this, the subject is interesting and has relevance for space issues. If you have questions or comments for Mary Roach, please post them on the blog URL above. You can email Mary through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Dr. George Sowers, Monday, 1-10-11 January 11, 2011
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Dr. George Sowers, Monday, 1-10-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1493-BWB-2011-01-10.mp3
Guest: Dr. George Sowers. Topics: EELV for human rating, commercial space topics, space policy issues. Please note that 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. In our first segment, Dr. Sowers began with an assessment and description of the Atlas rocket & its role over the years, then moving to discussions with Bigelow and commercial crew with NASA re CCDEV. We talked about what would be required for human rating an EELV and then we talked about the testing program that would be used for such the new systems. Dr. Sowers explained this process in some detail so make sure you listen carefully to this segment. We talked about launches from Vandenberg as well as the Cape to the ISS and even beyond the ISS. I asked Dr. Sowers about the launch price increases I have been mentioning on air that were mentioned at the recent AGU conference in San Francisco. He explained this matter in some detailed. Here, we talked about the NASA Launch Services (NLS) and the new NLS 2. As you will hear, the price increase story is correct but Dr. Sowers cleared up lots of confusion surrounding the issue. As the segment ended, we talked about launch service being treated as a commodity. Don’t miss what Dr. Sowers said about this. Our second segment started with a more detailed description of what Dr. Sowers meant by referencing our industrial base. As you will hear, this is a concise and excellent overview of our aerospace industry as of now. I then asked Dr. Sowers for his take on what constituted commercial space. We had a comprehensive discussion about this, including the types of contracts used, the nature of the customer, space markets, and more. A listener suggested that SpaceX was more commercial than ULA because of some misunderstandings of the origins of EELV so don’t miss what Dr. Sowers had to say about this matter as ULA and EELV are absolutely commercial. Another topic that came up was the perceived but incorrect competition with Orion and CCDEV. CCDEV is really about going to LEO and the ISS. Orion is being built for beyond LEO and the ISS. He said it was a false competition. We then talked about the private sector capabilities for doing safe and reliable human spaceflight to the ISS. Not a problem but listen to the discussion. Later in the segment, space tourism came up as a subject followed by a listener asking about reusability. Toward the end of the program, I asked about new commercial markets and business opportunities arising form the commercial space policy debate in 2010. I wanted to know if our guest was seeing new opportunities coming to the forefront, even if just in the Power Point format. Here, Dr. Sowers referred back to Bigelow as the most real near-term opportunity. Please post your comments and questions on The Space Show Blog URL above. If you want to send a comment or question to our guest, please do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Open Lines, Sunday, 1-9-11 January 9, 2011
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Open Lines, Sunday, 1-9-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1492-BWB-2011-01-09.mp3
Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Space policy, commercial space, the Moon’s core, north pole movement, heavy lift and more. Please note that 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. This Open Lines program was about 135 minutes divided into two segments. I put forth several discussion topic suggestions including the Discovery Shuttle tank cracks, the Chinese stealth fighter, NASA’s research suggesting that the Moon has an Earth-like core, layoffs taking place in the Huntsville area, issues regarding The Space Show Blog, and issues of civility with the space policy debate and stakeholders. Our first caller Sal wanted to talk about the movement of the North Pole and other related matters. Sal was followed by Kelly talking about Orion, commercial crew, and space markets. These discussions filled up the first segment. In the second segment, Marshall called in from Dallas to respond to the comments by Sal regarding the north pole. Marshall brought in the use of GPS for better navigation and suggested GPS was negating the three definitions commonly used for the north pole. Later, Tim in Huntsville called in to respond to my comment about the possible need for a destination with a fixed time table to have an effective civil space policy. Tim was advocating cheap access to space and I asked him how to achieve that goal. We then had a discussion about markets versus costs, the Field of Dreams scenario, and what we both might expect in the way of the space program moving toward low cost space access. Our discussion included our perspectives on emerging markets coming to the forefront as a result of the space policy and commercial space debate we saw take place last year. John from Atlanta then dialed in to talk some more about heavy lift and I kept asking him what it would be used for and we got into a discussion about possible funding cuts, the authorization bill ,and what the appropriators might do. We talked about Orion, Dragon, and what Boeing might do for a commercial crewed capsule. Toward the end of the program, we took another call from Kelly to discuss Congress and its micromanagement of NASA through the budget. Kelly thinks Congress may micromanage the funding going to NASA and I am more of the school that NASA will figure out its priorities within its budget and make the allocations. We also talked some more about the Chinese stealth fighter as well as stealth planes from other countries. Kelly thought that this international push toward stealth fighters might result in the U.S. going for a new fighter aircraft and rebuilding that segment of our industry. Our final call was from Sal to clarify what he was saying about black holes at the center of the Earth. If you have a question or comment, please post it on the blog. If you want to send a note to any of the callers, send it to me and I will forward it to the person of your choice. To email me, use drspace@thespaceshow.com.
