Thespaceshow's Blog

Matt Bille, Tuesday, 8-30-11 August 31, 2011

Matt Bille, Tuesday, 8-30-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1614-BWB-2011-08-30.mp3

Guest:  Mat Bille.  Topics:  The SmallSat evolution, microsats, and cubesats now and in the future and the relevance to us all.   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.  The Small Sat Conference PPT presentation and paper by Mr. Bille and his co-authors will be posted on The Space Show blog at the end of this write up.  We welcomed Matt Bille back to the program to discuss his Small Sat presentation entitled “Distant Horizons: SmallSat Evolution in the Mid-To-Far Term.  We started our first segment with Mr. Bille offering a general definition of a microsat at about 100 kilograms or less. We talked about new uses for microsats, exoplanet exploration, even the possibility of a wider and more commercially valuable personal satellite industry.  Also in this segment, we talked about the interest in microsats at the student level, even down to the high school level.  Our guest said microsats were now on everybody’s radar when in the past, that was not so.  We talked about the history of the microsat industry and what our guest and his co-authors suggested in their presentation as a rebirth of the industry with waves of interest.  Mr. Bille took a listener question about microsat orbits saying most are used in LEO but beyond LEO uses are emerging.  Much was said about launch availability and launching as a secondary payload.  A question also came in regarding the use of composites in the satellite manufacturing process. Additionally, Matt pointed out how even the large satellite manufacturing companies were getting involved with microsats and offered us several examples of this to illustrate his point.  At the end of this segment, we asked about international interest in microsats and how that has and is changing. In our second segment, we talked about what is causing so much interest and attention from organizations that earlier on were not paying attention to this industry. Our guest focused on DOD as an example of just such an agency given that microsats can offer Earth imaging of about 1.5 meters resolution. Dwayne called in to discuss Operationally Responsive (ORS) Space and microsats.  He pointed out the increasing value of UAVs and possible competition to microsats, and that their is even an interest in a stealth UAV.  Later in the segment, we talked about thermal control and structural issues plus microsat swarms.  A listener expressed concern about small satellites being used as weapons by more and more people having low cost space access.  We talked about using the satellites for debris mitigation and our guest suggested where microsats might be on into 2020 and 2030.  In our final segment, we talked about the DARPA 100-Year Starship Symposium as Mr. Billie is part of the organizational committee panel. The website for this DARPA program for more information is www.100yss.org.  Our guest had much to say about this program and our future which is what the DARPA study attempts to address. You definitely want to hear this discussion and if you can attend the event in Orlando from Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2011.  Post your comments and questions on the blog URL above.

Matt’s Small Sat Conference Presentations are below:

“Distant Horizonz: SmallSat Evolution In The Mid-To-Far Term” by Bille, Kolodziejski, Hunsaker

Small Sat 2011 Power Point Preseentation (This PPT is in the PPTX format)

Dr. Vadim Rygalov, Brian Enke, Dr. John Jurist: Webinar Panel Discussion on Life Support Needs For A Deep Space/Mars Mission, 8-29-11 August 29, 2011

Dr. Vadim Rygalov, Brian Enke, Dr. John Jurist: Webinar Panel Discussion on Life Support Needs For A Deep Space/Mars Mission,  8-29-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1613-BWB-2011-08-29.mp3

http://vimeo.com/channels/238180 - Webinar Video

Guests;  Dr. John Jurist, Brian Enke, Dr. Vadim Rygalov.  Topics: This is a webinar discussion concerning the comprehensive human factors requirements for a manned deep space or Mars mission. 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.   In addition, on the blog post, you will find a PPT by Dr. Rygalov & one submitted by Brian Enke so refer to them during the discussion.  We welcomed Drs. Jurist & Rygalov and Brian Enke back to the show for this two hour panel discussion focusing on the life support needed for safely conducting a manned mission to deep space/Mars. In our fist segment, after panel member opening statements, we zeroed in on the issue of radiation.  This topic consumed most of the first segment.  We talked about the types of radiation astronauts will experience, the difference between LEO and beyond LEO radiation, methods for shielding today and in the future, lifetime doses for radiation workers (astronauts) & the general population, plus the possibility of a  private group disregarding the regs & laws to do a Mars flight regardless of radiation crew issues.  Our guests pointed out the essentials needed to understand the radiation issue in full, including the mass of the crew vehicle & the flight time to & from the destination.  Each of our panel members had lots to say on radiation and the subsets of information we discussed in this segment .As we started the second hour, microgravity issues were our focus, starting with artificial gravity and a long arm centrifuge using a tether.  Dr. Rygalov spent considerable time talking about what happened with the person who has been in space the longest of anyone, Cosmonaut and medical doctor,  Dr. Valeri Polyakov. As a medical doctor who knew how to protect himself in space, his routine was unique, but to this day he still has problems from his 438 days on orbit.  We talked about partial gravity, how to do artificial gravity, spin rates, but also what to do while on the surface of Mars as that will be 0.38 of Earth’s 1 gravity with no centrifuge.  We also addressed mental and psycho-social issues. Dr. Rygalov took us through the four phases of time & conditions leading to mental breakdown needing constant Earth intervention as a requirement. Dr. Rygalov was asked to compare this to the Chilean miners trapped underground last year. Don’t miss what he had to say about this. Crew size was the next topic & our guests had much to say on this issue with behavioral & clique issues heavily influenced by crew size.. Martian & lunar dust issues came up briefly.  Many critical aspects of manned mission to Mars were not discussed because of the lack of time. One example would be  the stability of Life Support technologies & equipment remaining stable, including hardware, bio-regenerative life support materials, etc. Also, most consumable supplies are only usable up to about 6 months or 1/3 of a Martian trip..  Post comments on the blog above.  If you want to contact either of our panel members, do so through me.

CriticalHumanFactorsLongDurationSpaceFkight by Dr. Vadim Rygalov

Mars Mission Radiation Dose/Shielding Summary By Cary Zeitlin (Brian Enke is using this slide presentation with his permission).  This Power Point is in the PPTX format.

Josh Hopkins, Sunday, 8-28-11 August 29, 2011

Josh Hopkins, Sunday, 8-28-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1612-BWB-2011-08-28.mp3

Guest:  Josh Hopkins.  Topics:  Mission planning, design for crew hardware for deep space missions.  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 Josh Hopkins back to The Space Show for this special webinar broadcast.  Note: for video streaming we used Adobe Encoder Live & we believe it failed to record the video.  At this time, we only have the traditional Space Show audio for archiving. If we recover the video recording, we will  archive the video URL along with the audio URL for this program.  This program with Josh Hopkins is very important.  Josh took us from the theoretical regarding the primary human factors issues including radiation, bone loss, muscle atrophy, and mental/psycho-social issues, and told us how they were designing & building the Orion crew capsule referred to as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) for deep space.  In our first segment, Josh introduced us to mission planning, both for near term and longer term missions & the differences in the planning process. Here, he is referred us to www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/Orion/humanexplore/SteppingStonesBrochure-FINAL.pdf for their outline of Human Exploration Stepping Stones.  Check out their main website for even more information:  www.lockheedmartin.com/products/Orion/humanexploration.html.  We talked about NEO mission planning for a 5-7 month mission using an Open Loop Environmental Systems.  From here, he briefly outlined the radiation risks & the related mission planning:  Trapped particles in the Van Allen Belts,  Solar Flares, Cosmic Rays.  He described how they use calculation paths to model radiation of each type in each part of the crew capsule & how they design to protect & shield the crew from the radiation risks. I asked Josh how they plan, design, & build in protections against the problems associated with microgravity. We learned about “trades” that need to be designed for as there are microgravity requirements that are contradictory with radiation requirements.  Josh spoke to these contradictions. Also in this segment, much was said about closed loop environmental systems re a Mars mission. One way to avoid recycling, its mass, & costs would be to use lots of mass for a Mars mission.  The crew would take more supplies & materials with them.  He explained all the trades in doing these evaluations.  I asked if this scenario negated smaller rockets/ propellant depots. This was a comprehensive discussion. In the second hour a caller focused on nuclear submarine analogs. This led to my asking about gender issues for planning & operation in the subs as compared to the capsule. We also talked about the mental issues in this segment, crew planning & development around these issues, plus the trades with microgravity and radiation. Another listener asked about Demron for shielding & antioxidants to combat radiation damage.  Josh talked about issues re the size of space for crew repairs, health concerns, even spacesuit egress & repairs.  We talked about Orion being built to operate in a depressurized state.  Crew communications with each other as well as with Earth for longer missions were discussed. We discussed artificial gravity. Final topics included Orion time line to operations, Apollo crew volume compared to Orion’s, capsule vs. lifting body, reentry speeds from Mars & risk factors with a fast return speed. Post your comments on the blog URL above.  If you want to email Josh Hopkins, send it to me & I will forward it.

Dr. Leroy Chiao, Friday, 8-26-11 August 27, 2011

Dr. Leroy Chiao, Friday, 8-26-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1611-BWB-2011-08-26.mp3

Guest:  Dr. Leroy Chiao.  Topics:  National Space Biomedical Research Institute, long duration human spaceflight issues, space policy.  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 warmly welcomed Dr. Leroy Chiao, former NASA Astronaut, member of the Augustine Commission, and researcher and Chair of the User Panel with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) on the Rice University Campus in Houston.  Visit the NSBRI website for more information on their programs, research, participants, and goals: www.nsbri.org.  Dr. Chiao began our discussion with an overview of the NSBRI User Panel which helps NSBRI focus on high-yield research areas leading to effective strategies to enhance mission success & improve crew health.  Dr. Chiao identified User Panel members and the seven NSBRI research areas.  We talked about NASA funding, U.S. universities & research institutions, and international cooperation.  Dr. Chiao was asked about microgravity issues & progress in the field in the absence of a variable gravity research station on orbit.  Our guest had some interesting research & facts on this issue to share with us so don’t miss them.  He was asked by another listener about medical researchers and research just for the sake of research instead of being geared to flying missions.  We talked about distributive research, the Russians on the ISS, the Mars 500 Study, & his visit to the Chinese space center.  A listener brought up one way missions to Mars & our guest had much to say on this topic.  This is an important & comprehensive discussion so again, don’t miss it.  Also in this first segment, Dr. Chiao told us about his ISS mission and food rationing, plus we talked extensively about space radiation, followed by exercise programs with the Russians & the U.S. astronauts and how they differed from each other. Space tourism came up as did spaceflight participants.  The first topic in our second segment included a question from Clark in Sand Diego regarding astronauts as radiation workers.  We talked about lifetime radiation levels at length, Mars and lunar missions & ISS long duration missions, all in the context of radiation which Dr. Chiao listed as the top challenge/priority for long duration human spaceflight.  The idea of using older people for manned deep space missions was presented as a way to mitigate radiation issues.  We then talked about the issue of using older people & what that really meant.  This discussion opened the way for our discussion of an ISS medical event & the treatment for such an event, including space surgery which is non-existent at this time, & a fast emergency return to Earth. The issue of comparing long term human spaceflight to early American and European explorations like Lewis and Clark and the Shackleton Expedition.  Dr. Chiao clearly stated why human spaceflight cannot be easily compared to these early explorations.  Listen & see what you think.  I agree with Dr. Chiao & have said so on air many times.  Dr. Chiao told us about the new NSBRI facilities at Rice, then we talked about using SRBs for human spaceflight.  Leroy had much to say about SRBs and liquids.  Don’t miss this important discussion, it may surprise you. Space suits were also discussed & at the end of the program, we talked about the shuttle retirement, U.S. space leadership, & space policy. Leroy was also a strong advocate for China becoming an ISS partner.  If you have comments or questions for Dr. Leroy Chiao, post them on the blog.  If you want do email him, do so through me.

Dr. John Deaton, Tuesday, 8-23-11 August 23, 2011

Dr. John Deaton, Tuesday, 8-23-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1610-BWB-2011-08-23.mp3

Guest:  Dr. John Deaton.  Topics:  Human Factors for Mars, Mars habitat living experiences, the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS).  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. John Deaton to the program to discuss human factors, manned Mars missions, and Mars simulation habitat experiences with MDRS of the Mars Society.  During our first segment of this two hour program, we talked about some of the basics regarding a possible three year manned Mars mission. Our guest talked extensively about crew selection criteria and the process that might be used to select a Martian crew.  Later in this discussion, we got a listener question asking our guest about one way trips to Mars.  Dr. Deaton had much to say about a one way trip and was not in favor of the idea. This is a discussion you do not want to miss.  We started the second segment talking about the simulation habitat crew and the crew’s background.  We talked about the experiments each crew member had, including a food experiment that dictated what the habitat participants ate for the two weeks they were at the MDRS.  Dr. Deaton described the physical living conditions, sleeping arrangements, shower facilities, even the bathroom infrastructure which broke down on his mission.  The habitat workdays proved very long and the crew was often going until midnight with their work.  Dr. Deaton described the EVA experience with spacesuits and the use of ATVs.  A medical issue developed with our guest and he talked about lessons learned from that incident and experience to what might happen on an actual Mars mission and how best to prepare for such things.  We then received a call from Tim in Huntsville wanting to question our guest about his selfish comment regarding one way Mars trips.  This turned out to be an interesting discussion with Tim and Dr. Deaton, even addressing radiation and other human factors issues with Tim drawing parallels to the early ocean exploration voyages from hundreds of years ago.  This prompted one of my rants on reality versus fantasy, then we moved on to mixed gender crews and coping with human nature on a manned Mars trip.  This too was an interesting discussion you do not want to miss.  We then had a call from another John in Florida regarding human factors issues, radiation and astronauts as radiation workers.  Our caller shared his teaching experiences from U. S Space Camp with us and more.  We also talked about muscle deterioration and I mentioned our October 2010 show with Dr. Fitts on his NASA study about that specific issue.  If you have comments or questions for Dr. Deaton, post them on the blog URL above.  You can email Dr. Deaton at jdeaton@fit.edu.

James (Jim) Muncy, Sunday, 8-21-11 August 22, 2011

James (Jim) Muncy, Sunday, 8-21-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1609-BWB-2011-08-21.mp3

Guest:  James (Jim) Muncy.  Topics:  NASA space policy, commercial crew, commercial space, space policy.  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 back Jim Muncy to talk about new and important development in space policy and the move to commercial launchers and hardware.  We do want your feedback so do post your comments, questions, & thoughts regarding our discussion on the blog URL above. We want to hear from you.  You can also email our guest or me.  If you do email Jim, please copy me on the note as feedback with our guests is important for The Space Show.  In our first hour long segment of a two hour discussion, Mr. Muncy started out talking about space policy, the Space Launch System (SLS), various senators and NASA centers, all comprising a comprehensive and timely overview of the current status of important space policy issues facing today’s space program.  We also talked about the probable move away from the SAA to the FAR. Jim suggested that at least if they follow the FAR, they should use Part 12 regarding Commercial Procurement as the burden on the companies will be somewhat less and hopefully more manageable.  Space policy, NASA oversight, Congress, and who controls what between the government and the private companies were the dominant topics discussed in detail during this segment. Jim had much to say, explained issues very clearly and as I said above, we want to know your thoughts & comments regarding this discussion.  Also in our first segment, we talked about the U.S & global economic situation and we related it to Congress and the NASA budget.  Near the end of the segment, Jim was asked about dual use space technology with the DOD. Here, he talked about ATK’s segmented SRBs for NASA and SRBs used for ICBMs.  Jim had much to say about SRBs for human space flight, mostly on the economic issues, comparing them with liquid rocket alternatives such as EELV & Falcon 9.  You do not want to miss this discussion as he also applied the information directly to the SLS, offering a way to make it more useful & economic.  Our second segment started with Tim’s question about Space X & others taking government money and being assimilated into the NASA culture. Jim had much to say about this, don’t miss it.  Marshall asked who really made the policy decisions & this too initiated an important discussion.  We spoke a lot about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), NASA budgets, & the NASA science projects methodology leading to delays & cost overruns.  Our next topic was the proposed cut in the commercial crew budget by the House.  In the remaining time, we talked more about SRBs, what makes a viable NASA project/mission, & more.  In conclusion, Jim said we needed a different space policy & NASA purpose.  Space needs to cease being seen as a luxury. Instead, it has to connect to us to be relevant. Don’t miss his words of wisdom.  Jim’s email address is james.muncy@polispace.com.  Please use the blog URL as well.

Professor Joanne Gabrynowicz, Friday, 8-19-11 August 20, 2011

Professor Joanne Gabrynowicz, Friday, 8-19-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1608-BWB-2011-08-19.mp3

Guest:  Professor Joanne Gabrynowicz.  Topics:  The new Title 51 of the U.S. Code (USC), space law issues.  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.  There are several websites referenced during this discussion that you will want to access:  http://rescommunis.wordpress.com; www.spacelaw.olemiss.edu; www.spacelaw.olemiss.edu/jsl/index.html. To download the Journal of Space Law edition referenced by our guest containing the new Title 51 of the USC, use www.spacelaw.olemiss.edu/jsl/pdfs/back-issues/jsl-37-1.pdf.  We welcomed back to the program Professor Joanne Gabrynowicz, Director of the Space Law Center at the University of Mississippi.  We started our discussion with Professor Gabrynowicz telling us about the new Title 51 of the USC.  As you will hear, this is the first organizational change to the USC is about 83 years as Title 51 places all space law (other than specialty laws with DOD, ITAR, etc) in one place under the newly created Title 51. Our guest spent most of the first segment explaining this process, the USC, and what it means to the profession to have space law organized in Title 51.  We also talked about the chapters, subchapters, subtitles, and categories.  Professor Gabrynowicz made it clear that the law has not changed. Instead, the new Title 51 is an organizational change making it much easier to find essential items.  As you will hear, the Ole Miss Journal of Space Law has printed the Title 51 in full and is freely available on their website by using the link provided above.  As this segment drew to a close, we talked about laws, regulations, and policy and the differences in them, citing the SAA and FAR upcoming changes as examples.  In our second segment, the professor was asked if one could infer that with Title 51, space law had reached a new level of importance. The simple answer was yes.  Next, a question came up about the 2012 moratorium on regulation that expires at the end of next year with the ACT President Bush signed into law in 2004.  While it is impossible to know what Congress will do with it at this time, you still want to hear this discussion.  A listener also asked about the current news item re Mr. Thiel’s group to build libertarian islands in international waters to escape from laws and regulations (www.ibtimes.com/articles/201027/20110820/paypal-facebook-peter-thiel-artificial-islands-libertarian-law-less-regulation-free-moral-code-googl.htm).  Our guest had much to say about U.S. citizenship, the types of jurisdiction citizens are subject to and even the issue of renouncing citizenship.  We also talked about the remote sensing law and maximum probable loss considerations.  We also talked about space property rights.  Several questions were asked about non-attorneys understanding the law, especially as applicable to business start ups.  Again, don’t miss this discussion.  In the final segment, our guest mentioned the Future of Commercial Space Law & Regulation event. Visit the event’s website to listen to the talks and presentations made:  www.spacelaw.olemiss.edu/events/past/commercial-space-law.html. Post your comments and questions on The Space Show blog URL above.  Use the Contact pages on the websites to contact the Space Law Center and Professor Gabrynowicz.  Put The Space Show in the subject line.

Open Lines, Tuesday, 8-16-11 August 17, 2011

Open Lines, Tuesday, 8-16-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1607-BWB-2011-08-16.mp3

Guest:  Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston.  Topics:  Rachel Maddow statement, capitalism, company profits, space policy, Small Sat, STEM education.  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.  Specific to this Open Lines discussion, we primarily talked about the recent statement by MSNBC Anchor Rachel Maddow. You can read her quote here:  http://graceyu.tumblr.com/post/7949433063/we-didnt-put-a-man-on-the-moon-because-some.  I made it clear that we had to avoid partisan politics and that we were not going to praise or bash Ms. Maddow.  Several listeners came right up to the line in their disagreement with her and a few times I had to pull back saying we were not going after her or her ideology. We had lots of calls and emails regarding her comments and almost all of them took strong issue with what Ms. Maddow said.  Many listeners went into a discussion of defining a profit (I shared experiences on that re one of my graduate classes and a public multiple choice test), as well as strongly advocating capitalism in the marketplace.  I did mention that Ms. Maddow seems genuinely enthusiastic and supportive of space based on the video clips a listener sent me from her show, but that her focus seemed to be on big government space programs.  Ms. Maddow, her staff, along with someone from MSNBC were invited to appear on the program last night or to email in a clarification.  I also asked to hear from listeners supporting her statement but neither took place.  We had a good discussion space visionary leadership, something Ms. Maddow commented on in her statement.  Other topics that we talked about included the Small Sat conference, some of what I learned about secondary payload capacity and concerns about the quantity of satellites ready to fly to get in on the now available flights.  We also talked about my having met brilliant high school students at Small Sat working on cube sats with the peapod and being mentored by those from NASA and joining forces with college programs.  The NASA people are volunteering their services so talk about altruism, there is much of it today in both the public and private space program.  We also talked about doing away with the Space Act Agreement (SAA) in favor of some form of the FAR to more closely regulate and control commercial crew, etc.  I mentioned an article sent me by a listener where the new director of the Russian space program said they had focused way too much on human spaceflight. Read the article here:  www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-russia-space-chief-focus-missions.html.  Finally, I mentioned the second Afghanistan article by recent guest Darren Rhyne:  www.dau.mil/pubscats/ATL%20Docs/July-Aug11/DATL%20July-Aug11.pdf.  One last thing and that is that the recent economic statements by Dr. Paul Krugman came up regarding the benefits of a possible fake ET attack on Earth in order to have an economic recovery. I took this as a joke & kidded around with Dr. Krugman’s comments as I had also read them.  This did give me a chance to promote a very cool movie out now, “Cowboys and Aliens.”  If you have not yet seen it, do see it. I’m pretty sure you will enjoy it.  If you have comments or questions about this program, post them on the blog URL above.

Small Sat 2011 Interviews, Monday, 8-15-11 August 15, 2011

Small Sat 2011 Interviews, Monday, 8-15-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1606-BWB-2011-08-15.mp3

Guests:  Paul Lithgow & Stanley Kennedy, Jr.; Fred Slane; Pam Esquinca.  Topics:  These are three separate Small Sat interviews covering aerospace engineering, telecommunications, standards, and the new SMAD text & reference book.  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.   There are three separate interviews for this particular program running one right after the other.  You will find about a ten second dead air gap between interviews and then the next discussion starts.  We start off with Paul Lithgow and Stanley Kennedy, Jr. updating us on the activities of Comtech AeroAstro and as you will hear, much has happened since Paul was a guest from Small Sat last year.  New programs have started and we talked extensively about student interns as well as business planning in these uncertain times with diminishing budgets.  Following the Comtech AeroAstro segment, we talked with former Space Show guest Fred Slane regarding the adoption of standards for the space industry.  Adopting standards can be very important for moving forward with space development so don’t miss this discussion.  Fred was a guest on the program June 21 of last year.  Our final segment was with Pam Esquinca who runs the Microcosm bookstore, www.astrobooks.com.  Pam took us through the new book, “Space Mission Engineering: The New SMAD,” explained and highlighted the differences in the new version as compared to the older version.  We also talked about the educator package for teachers, the authors and reviewers and then as people came up to the counter to look at the book, I asked a few of them to share their impressions of The New SMAD with us.  There was some loud background noise due to the fact that there was a break underway so some of the comments by those both buying and interested in the book were hard to hear due to the loud break chatter and noise.  That said, you can certainly come up with an understanding of the very strong and positive impression this book has and is making on those that see and check it out.  The website for the book is http://astrobooks.com/spacemissionengineeringthenewsmadsme-smadwertzeverettpuschellavailablespring2011softcover.aspx.  Post your comments or questions about these discussions on the blog URL above. If you want to email any of those interviewed, send your note to me and I will forward it to the person of your choice.

Kent Rominger, ATK Liberty Launch Vehicle, Sunday, 8-14-11 August 14, 2011

Kent Rominger, ATK Liberty Launch Vehicle, Sunday, 8-14-11

http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1605-BWB-2011-08-14.mp3

Guest: Kent Rominger.  Topics:  The ATK Liberty Launch Vehicle, human spaceflight development and safety issues.  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 Kent Rominger of ATK Aerospace Systems and the Program Manager for the Liberty Launch Vehicle to the program.  Co-hosting with me on the technical side of things was Dr. John Jurist.  As Dr. Jurist and I were in Logan, Utah for the 25th Annual Small Sat Conference, we arranged to sit down with Mr. Rominger at ATK offices in Promontory, UT to talk about the Liberty Launch Vehicle. We thank Trina Patterson, Director of Media Relations at ATK for her assistance in setting up this interview.  During our hour long discussion, Mr. Rominger introduced us to the Liberty Launch Vehicle with the European Astrium second stage.  We talked about the ITAR issues working with Astrium and spent some time discussing the pros and cons of using a solid rocket booster (SRB) for human spaceflight (HSF) over a liquid rocket motor.  Many people in various segments of the space community believe that SRBs are not safe for HSF so Dr. Jurist and I explored this issue in depth with our guest.  Listen carefully, you might be surprised to hear what Kent had to say about this and the data he referenced in support of his statements.  We talked about the need for heavy lift, the use of a Space Act Agreement (SAA) rather than the Federal Acquisition Rules (FAR), and commercial as compared to public financing of launch vehicles and space hardware.  Kent, having been a Navy fighter pilot, a Space Shuttle commander on several missions, had much to say about flight and vehicle safety.  We talked about escape and ejection and why solid rocket motors are the preferred device for ejection seats.  Since this interview, I have seen an August 12, 2011 press story reporting that NASA is considering testing a liquid rocket engine for the MPCV escape system (www.examiner.com/dc-in-washington-dc/nasa-considers-liquid-rocket-engine-for-mpcv-escape-system). We also spent considerable time going over the economics and the business case for Liberty, its market and potential customers, comparing its payload of 44,000 lbs. to LEO with competing rockets.  If you have comments or questions about this discussion, post them on the blog URL above.  If you want to email Mr. Rominger, send it to me and I will forward it to him over at ATK.