Jerry L. Ross, Tuesday, 4-30-13 May 1, 2013
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " SpaceX, "Spacewalker: My Journey In Space And Faith as NASA's Record-Setting Frequent Flyer, astronaut training, B1 Bomber testing., Columbia, Constellation, Dragon, faith, ISS, Jerry Ross, liquid rocket motors, MIR, Moon, NASA, on orbit construction, Orion, private space vehicles, SLS, space leadership, space policy, Space Shuttle, space vehicle testing, spacewalks, SRBs, suborbital
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Jerry L. Ross, Tuesday, 4-30-13
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1999-BWB-2013-04-30.mp3
Guest: Jerry L. Ross. Topics: “Spacewalker: My Journey In Space And Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer,” HSF safety, NASA & space policy. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information.
We welcomed retired astronaut Jerry L. Ross to our program to discuss his new book, “Spacewalker: My Journey In Space And Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer,” space policy and leadership, HSF safety, and much more. If you buy his book which I recommend, use this Amazon link as Amazon will make a donation to The Space Show/One Giant Leap Foundation: www.amazon.com/Spacewalker-Journey-Space-Record-Setting-Frequent/dp/1557536317/ref=onegiantlea20. Please visit Jerry’s website for more information, www.jerrylross.com. During the first segment of our 90 minute program, Mr. Ross spoke about the Space Shuttle & retirement, Constellation, returning to the Moon, going BLEO, the ISS, and his test flights on the B1 bomber. This led us to talking about the safety test program used by NASA, the B1, and the private spaceships. I asked if NASA was overkill in this area and if the privates would be able to engage in comprehensive flight safety testing with programs radically different from those NASA has used. You do not want to miss this discussion, especially when I asked about the complexities of the B1 as compared to a spaceship. We talked about SLS, Orion, & Inspiration Mars which Jerry supports. In response to an email from Becky, we talked about the NASA astronauts, the fact that there are more astronauts than flight opportunities, and the current situation for NASA astronauts. Our guest mentioned two year training missions and when I inquired about that time period, we learned that it included learning Russian, training with ESA, Japanese, Canadian, and Russian hardware and more. Jerry was asked if he rode on a Soyuz. He said no but was in a Soyuz and talked about his going on board MIR.
In our second segment, we started out asking him about faith which is part of the subtitle of his book. Here again our guest had much to say so listen carefully to this discussion. As Jerry was part of the team that recovered debris from the Columbia accident, I asked him about it. He told us about his experience in learning about the disaster, crew families and more. This is a first hand accounting of getting the news and working with the families and the people involved in finding the debris. Another topic discussed was on orbit construction, mainly with the private companies. Jerry talked about this at length given his work in establishing how to do it for the ISS and actually doing multiple missions making and assembling parts in space. We also talked about gender differences in these space walks. Toward the end of our discussion, space leadership came up as did missions and goals. The shuttle thermal tiles were discussed and he referenced tile damage on his Atlantis flight which was the third flight after Challenger. This was an amazing story and luck was really shining on the Atlantis crew.
If you have comments/questions, please post them on The Space Show blog.
Robert Sackheim, Monday, 4-1-13 April 2, 2013
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " Saturn V, " SpaceX, Areas 5, Ares 1, Atlas 5, Bigelow, boosters, chemical propulsion, commercial space, Constellation, cubesats, Delta 4, electric propulsion, Falcon 9. , Falcon Heavy, fuel depots, GEO orbital satellites, Golden Spike, high speed rail, human spaceflight, hybrid rocket engines, Inspiration Mars, international space venture cooperation, liquid rocket engines, lunar space elevator., NACA, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, NewSpace, North Korean rockets, nuclear propulsion, public/private partnerships, Robert Sackheim, robotic missions, rocket propulsion, Russian rocket engines, satellite propulsion, SLS, solid rocket boosters, space advocacy, Space Shuttle, space tourism, spaceports, SSP, TRW Corp.
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Robert Sackheim, Monday, 4-1-13
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1986-BWB-2013-04-01.mp3
Guest: Robert (Bob) Sackheim. Topics: Commercial space, propulsion, U.S. space policy & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information.
We welcomed Robert Sackheim to the program to discuss NASA, commercial space, the current state of rocket propulsion and advancements in the field. During our first segment of this 1 hour 47 minute discussion, Mr. Sackheim talked about his background and experience at TRW, NASA MSFC, and his current consulting. I asked him several questions about the current state of rocket propulsion. Bob had much to say about this, focusing on chemical rocket propulsion, satellite propulsion, electric propulsion, and the need for nuclear propulsion. He talked about booster rockets, various rocket stages and their propulsion, rocket engines, and even SRBs. Several questions came in asking him if we had the current technology for HSF to Mars or even the Inspiration Mars flyby mission talked about so much in the recent press. Listeners wanted to know if our current levels of propulsion were up to the task. After a rather thorough propulsion discussions, Bob turned to commercial space, lowering total space mission costs, regulatory policy, and commercial spaceports. He also talked about budget issues and raised the question a few times as to why ten NASA centers were needed given their often overlapping, competitive, and duplicate work.
In our second segment, commercial space took the lead with a discussion on public/private partnerships & the belief that Americans can do anything if we set our mind to it, including space travel. Of course here the problem as we know lies in leadership and today it appears that leadership in space & other areas is sparse at best. Bob then focused on geo satellites and the increasing development and capabilities applicable to cubesats. HSF came up for discussion as did the robotic missions. You might be surprised by what our guest had to say about HSF. Other issues in this segment included the lunar space elevator, the congressional and NASA track record in canceling ongoing projects & taking lessons from history, SSP, & ways to reform & move NASA forward. Bob spoke about evolving toward the old NACA model. I asked about the impact of space advocacy from his perspective given his leadership experience and past positions in leading organizations and projects. We also asked him about space tourism and hybrid rocket engines. He had much to say about hybrids, don’t miss the discussion. Bob talked about the Falcon rockets, testing including static fire tests, and SRBs as related to the Constellation project and safety. Toward the end, our guest was asked about NewSpace, fuel depots, & cryo transfer. For closing comments, he talked about commercial space being the way to go & the path to our space future.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can reach Mr. Sackheim through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Futron Space Competitive Index 2012, Monday, 12-3-12 December 4, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " SpaceX, civil space., Cold War, commercial space, Constellation, cubesats, David Vaccaro, DOD space, Futron Corporation, Futron's 2012 Space Competitiveness Index, ITAR, Jonathan Beland, NASA, sequestration, space exploration, Space Shuttle, STEM educational programs.
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Futron Space Competitive Index 2012, Monday, 12-3-12
Guests: David Vaccaro, Jonathan Beland
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1906-BWB-2012-12-03.mp3
Guests: David Vaccaro, Jonathan Beland. Topics: The Futron 2012 Space Competitive Index (SCI). Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. We welcomed back David Vaccaro and Jonathan Beland to discuss the Futron 2012 Space Competitive Index (SCI). You can freely download the SCI Executive Summary at www.futron.com/SCI_2012.xml. The SCI provides annual statistical benchmarks, analysis, and business intelligence for both commercial and national space activities for fifteen countries, examining markers in the Government, Human Capital and sectors. Five new countries were added for the 2011 data which is used for the 2012 report. The list of countries analyzed includes the U.S, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe (all of Europe, not the individual European countries), India, Israel, Japan, Russia, S. Korea, Argentina, Australia, Iran, South Africa and the Ukraine. The five new countries added include Australia, Argentina, Iran, S. Africa, and the Ukraine. While this program was conducted using two segments, this summary is written without regard to the segments as our discussion points crossed segments throughout the program. As we started out, our guests provided us with a brief history regarding the SCI and clearly stated its purpose. Note that it is self-financed by Futron and remains completely independent of any & all pressures. Also, note that again, the U.S. remains the only country of those examined that consistently declines year by year but because our government spending is so huge and our economy, despite our problems is so huge, the U.S. remains in first place as the space industry leader of all those countries studied. Our guests told us about the benchmarks and how the SCI was constructed. They responded to lots of listener questions, including questions about why the report is not used by candidates in political campaigns, its potential influence among those in Congress and other policy makers, and the same in other countries. We talked about the impact of space industry workforce layoffs, the termination of Constellation and the shuttle showing up in the analysis and how such events might impact the U.S. score. As you will hear, our team expects the 2012 data in the 2013 report to reflect these changes in our space program. A listener asked if the SCI tracked the growth of space advocacy in the U.S., wondering why it is growing but not that much in policy impact. Other listeners asked about the growth of cubesats, especially in the U.S. and how that was reported. Also, if ITAR was a limiting factor for the U.S. Yet another asked our guests if the SCI viewed SpaceX as commercial or government subsidized in the context of the report and its analysis. When asked about a future country watch list, we talked about Viet Nam, S. Korea, South America and Mexico. In addition to lots of questions about the U.S., we talked about space in many of the other countries, why they kept investing while the U.S. seemed to be retreating. Another issue talked about was global positive view of space, embracing more and more countries, views not always held here at home.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Both our guests gave out their Futron email addresses as the program was ending.
James Schier, Sunday, 8-5-12 August 5, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: Aries V, Augustine, Columbia accident, Commercial Crew, congressional funding, Constellation, Cots, crew stress cardiac factors, deep space missions, developing space technology, Falcon 9 Heavy, Flexible Path, future space transportation, heat shields, HSF to Mars, HSF to NEO, human factors, ISS, James Schier, lunar development, lunar ice, lunar water, Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MCPV), NASA, NASA Commercial Space Team, NASA Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT), new space hardware tests, nuclear space propulsion, Orion, Private Sector Space, Return to the Moon, space communications, Space Index Association, Space Launch System (SLS)., space medical challenges, standardized docking., U.S. space policy
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James Schier, Sunday, 8-5-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1829-BWB-2012-08-05.mp3
Dr. Jeff Bell, Tuesday, 7-10-12 July 11, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " Cold War Space Programs, " SpaceX, "Halfway To Anywhere, aerospace engineering, air breathing motors for space vehicles, asteroid mining, B612 Foundation, Constellation, DCX, domestic economy, Dr. Jeff Bell, Dragon, Falcon 9. , fuel/weight ratios, human spaceflight destinations, human spaceflight rational, Mariner 4, Mars, nuclear propulsion, Pan Starrs Panoramic Survey Telescope, PhD programs & oversupply, Planetary Resources, Project Speed, ramjets, rocket engines, science fiction, scramjets, SLS, Space Shuttle, space shuttle conspiracy & the USSR, space telescopes, space vision, Sputnik Panic, V2, Venus, X30 National Aerospace Plane, X33
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Dr. Jeff Bell, Tuesday, 7-10-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1811-BWB-2012-07-10.mp3
Guest: Dr. Jeff Bell. Topics: Vintage Jeff Bell. We discussed a wide range of space history and current space projects from Dr. Bell’s perspective. 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 the return of Dr. Jeff Bell to The Space Show. This 2.5 hour marathon discussion with Dr. Bell was classic Jeff Bell with space history, his analysis of current projects, new space ideas, NASA, Congress and well, you name it. Dr. Bell had lots to say about many topics and for those of you familiar with Dr. Bell & his analysis, I promise you, you will not be disappointed with this discussion. Those of you new to Dr. Bell, hold onto your seat! Jeff started off with the cold war space history, X-33, and DCX. In doing so, he offered up his critique of the classic space book by G. Harry Stine, “Halfway To Anywhere: Achieving America’s Destiny In Space.” As to be expected, Dr. Bell provided a very hard hitting, factual, and critical analysis of these topics & the book. We also talked about the new company in Florida, Project Speed, and air breathing engines for space vehicles. Dr. Bell spent some time on this analysis including scramjets, ramjets and the National Aerospace Plane. When asked to confirm that little progress was being made from his perspective re space vehicles & even aviation, he cited the current military games going on in Hawaii, referencing the planes being used by the Air Force, Navy, & other military services, all to illustrate by example the points he was making. He put out the fire on nuclear propulsion based on economics & costs, & then in discussing human spaceflight (HSF), like so many others, he said the rational for it was difficult justify to Congress & the taxpayers. A listener asked Jeff he was biased in his analysis. Jeff said he was unbiased in his examination of the facts. This issue surfaced again later during our program. We then talked about a Washington Post article saying that our science field was over populated by excessive PhDs that cannot find work in their discipline (www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-pushes-for-more-scientists-but-the-jobs-arent-there/2012/07/07/gJQAZJpQUW_story.html?hpid=z1). This prompted listeners to reply and John made some excellent points about science PhDs that Jeff missed.
In our second segment, we started off with space visions, including the one from this program, followed by a discussion of the “Sputnik Panic” following theUSSR launch of Sputnik. We both had much to say about this event & its aftermath. Returning to the HSF rational, Jeff said there were two main problems with it. First, the very high cost. Second, the is no place to go that does not require massive technology & support to sustain life. He spent some time elaborating on this & responding to listener comments. Next up, Planetary Resources, asteroid mining, space telescopes, & Earth imaging. Dr. Bell took no prisoners in sharing his analysis with us. He did talk about several serious projects including the B612 project & Pan Starrs. As the program was ending, Dr. Bell had many positive things to say about the recently completed SpaceX Dragon & Falcon 9 flight, & the pork as he called it, SLS. Dr. Bell was very strong & clear in his support for SpaceX and their accomplishments.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog URL above.
Open Lines, Sunday, 7-1-12 July 1, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " SpaceX, Air, and Space Law, Apollo 12 Precision Lunar Landing, Ares I, Commercial Crew, Constellation, Cots, Dragon, Falcon 9. , human spaceflight, human spaceflight infrastructure, International Space University (ISU) Summer Session, ISU Space and Media Panel., Kennedy Space Center, N-Prize, NASA, NASA budget, NASA legacy, NASA Nanosat Challenge, National Center for Remote Sensing, Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston, SLS, Space Shuttle Endeavour
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Open Lines, Sunday, 7-1-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1805-BWB-2012-07-01.mp3
Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: A wide range of space related topics over a 2.5 hour Space Show 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. Our initial discussion topic during our hour long first segment was with Charles Pooley who called in to talk about the NASA Nanosat Challenge and the website, http://challenge.gov/NASA/49-nano-satellite-launch-challenge. Charles was hoping listeners might have more information about this program. If you do, please post your comments on the blog. We also talked about the N-Prize and Charles described the basics of this program. Peter Platzer of Do It Yourself Space called in from Mtn. View, CA to talk about Do It Yourself Space, Nanosatisfi and their Kickstarter project. Websites to visit to learn more about what Peter shared with us include http://diyinspace.com and www.nanosatisfi.com. If you want to contact Peter about this project, you can email him at peter@nanosatisfi.com. As you will hear, this is an innovative build your own satellite venture designed to engage everyone in space activities. Our next caller was Frank Van Rensselaer, author of the recent Space News op-ed, What Will Be This Administration’s Legacy for NASA?, http://spacenews.com/commentaries/120618-administration-legacy-nasa.html. Frank talked about the NASA legacy, I tied in my KSC tour and what I saw in terms of the take down of so much of our HSF infrastructure, the shuttles, etc. I asked Frank about NASA budget and funding issues, the role of Congress, OMB and the OSTP. We also talked about commercial space, its importance moving forward for the future and robust civil and commercial space programs. I questioned Frank on differing views as to what our space policy should be, including perspectives contrary to his own. I believe this is a most interesting 20 plus minute conversation.
In the second segment, we led off with a call from John in Atlanta who talked about SLS as a placeholder program, the ISS, Commercial Crew, and human rating the Delta and possibly the Atlas. After John’s call, Kelly called in to talk about SpaceX from his perspective which is different than the perspective most of us have regarding SpaceX, the Falcon 9 and Dragon. See what you think of what Kelly had to say and post your comments on The Space Show blog. I’m sure many of you will want to challenge or disagree with Kelly. Have at it but please, keep it civil. While Kelly was talking, Jim sent in an email saying “Wow! Kelly seems to be living in a different dimension than the rest of us. I wonder what Kelly thinks about the Falcon Heavy?” Later, Terry emailed us about Sen. Hutchinson, her retirement, and the SLS. He also asked about the possibility of life for the ISS after 2020. Toward the end of the program, Terry called to address his concerns. Since we talked about economic issues and good programs being cut when an economy is weak, I read a sad announcement about the funding & program cancellation for the outstanding Center for Remote Sensing, Air, and Space Law at Ole Miss Law School. I hope to address the quality of this excellent Center in a future Space Show program. As the show ended, I went over the upcoming week’s schedule and that I would be discussing my Florida Space Coast trip in some detail on this week’s Friday morning program.
If you have comments/questions, post them on the blog. If you want to email one of the callers, send your note to me and I will forward it to the person of your choice.
Todd Halvorson, Friday, 5-18-12 May 18, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: Antares, Ares 1, Ares 1X test flight, ATK, Cape Canaveral, Cecil Field, Constellation, Cots, deep space taxi, down selecting, Dr. Mike Griffin, Elon Musk, Falcon 9. , Florida, Florida Today, instantaneous launch window, ISS, Mars Science Lab, NASA budget, NewSpace, old space, Orbital Sciences, Planetary Resources, Return to the Moon, Space Act Agreement, space coast economy, space exploration, Space Launch System (SLS)., space telescope, Space X, spaceports, SRBs, Stratolaunch, Todd Halverson, traditional aerospace, U.S. congress, ULA
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Todd Halvorson, Friday, 5-18-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1777-BWB-2012-05-18.mp3
Guest: Todd Halvorson. Topics: Upcoming Falcon 9 & Dragon launch, Floridaspace policy, NASA & more. 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 Todd Halvorson, senior aerospace reporter for FLORIDA TODAY & USA TODAY to the show. During our first segment, we mostly discussed the upcoming Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Saturday early morning, May 19 2012. Note that Florida Today is having special coverage and programming starting at 3:30 AM EDT. To tune in, visit www.floridatoday.com. Todd detailed the coverage at the start of our next segment. Also in the initial segment, we talked about Congress, commercial crew, down selecting, the Space Act Agreement, and theU.S. human spaceflight program, such that it is a program. Also mentioned was the SLS program along with Orion, then I asked about the space coast economy per the recent 60 Minutes segment last month. Todd had much to say about the 60 Minutes Segment, especially the visuals they used. Don’t miss it. Listener Jane asked about the differences in policy ideas between NewSpace and the old space crowd, especially the very well known astronauts who are most vocal in support of a more traditional NASA program. Todd had much to say about this and we talked about the future NASA as either a space tax service or an organization that explores BLEO. Another topic of interest dealt with the Chinese space program and going to the Moon. Our listener asked if Chinese space plans might start a space competition with theU.S. We then talked about the FY 13 budget for NASA and the possibility of doubling NASA’s budget as proposed by Dr. Tyson. As the segment ended, we discussed Planetary Resources and sought Todd’s perspective on what has been made public so far.
In the second segment, Todd went into detail about the Florida Today broadcast for the Falcon 9 launch. Terry called in to ask about the ISS GPS issue and then we asked Todd to describe what happens when Dragon gets to the vicinity of the ISS. The process goes on through Wednesday morning. Another listener asked for Todd’s analysis of the space program over his 25 year history of reporting space news. Our next topic honed in so the suborbital companies in Mojave, space tourism, and suborbital research. This discussion included spaceports inFlorida,California,Virginia,New Mexico and elsewhere. As our program was nearing its end, we talked about Constellation, Ares 1, SRBs, Dr. Mike Griffin, SLS, and civility. In his closing comments, Todd again said we should have a space program that explores and is not a space taxi service.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email Todd through the Florida Today website.
Doug Messier, Tuesday, 4-12-12 April 18, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: Ares V, Atlas, CCDEV3, Centaur, China and the ISS, Constellation, Delta, Douglas Messier, Dragon, Dream Chaser, Falcon 9. , global warming & NASA scientists, ISS, Lynx, Mojave Air and Spaceport, NASA, ParabolicArc.com Space Access Society conference, RLV technology, SLS, Soyuz, space policy, Space Studies Institute, Space X, suborbital, ULA, Virgin drop tests, XCOR
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Doug Messier, Tuesday, 4-12-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1754-BWB-2012-04-17.mp3
Guest: DouglasMessier. Topics: Parabolic Arc & space news, SAS conference, suborbitals, and more. 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 Doug Messier who is the Managing Editor of www.parabolicarc.com which is an excellent space news and information blog. We started our discussion with Doug seeking his thoughts on the recently held Space Access Society Conference in Phoenix, AZ last weekend. Doug told us what he thought were the highlights of the conference and referenced comments made by Jim Muncy several times during our discussion. We talked about the coming Space X launch at the end of this month, some about SSP satellites, and other company plans discussed at the conference. Doug fielded a few listener questions about interviewing people in the space industry, especially NewSpace, wanting to know what he does when he is given obvious spin by the person being interviewed.
In the second 45 minute segment, Doug took questions about Shuttle Discovery flying one more time around the Cape on the 747 on its way to Dulles Airport and the Smithsonian Museum. Also mentioned were the reported comments of former Discovery astronaut Dr. Anna Fisher to a boy watching the shuttle on the 747 advising him to “Study Russian.” He talked about the transition from shuttle to whatever comes next and both of us commented that the transition seemed mismanaged. Another listener asked him about human rating the Atlas and Delta and he said it was underway. A listener wanted to know if the 2012 first quarter had presented him with any surprises regarding space. John in Atlanta called in for a comprehensive discussion from SRB usage to a mini shuttle, Dream Chaser, separate vehicles for cargo and crew, first stage recovery for reusability, and more. Doug talked some more about the XCOR Lynx, possible Russian plans to enlarge the Soyuz, and he took a question on possible Chinese ISS missions. Ron from Queens called in with Dream Chaser and Stratolaunch questions. Doug talked about the Mojave Air and Spaceport and we learned that the Mojave group had offered some consulting to Spaceport America in New Mexico but it had been rejected. This brought up a discussion about crosswinds and other runway issues at Spaceport America. I repeated some of the news I talked about last year which was published in both the print and online edition of the Albuquerque Journal. One of the articles on this from 1/16/11 is at www.abqjournal.com/news/state/1623176state01-16-11.htm but you may need to be a subscriber to view this article. Terry inquired about CCDEV3 (we know it has a new name) and was hoping at least 2-3 companies would be selected. Doug, Terry, and I agreed that competition was important. Tim called from Huntsville & we got distracted by his questions about the 50 NASA astronauts writing a letter challenging NASA science on global warming & the NASA response. This discussion was more about civility rather than global warming. Also, there were some garbled words in the recording in this segment so I had to delete what could not be understood. You will find three such edits in this particular discussion & I do apologize for this. There is about 2 seconds of silence with each edit. Near the end, Terry sent us the link to a SpacePolicyOnline.com article about the Senate subcommittee adding more money to the Mars program and cutting about $305 million from commercial crew. See www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/senate-subcommittee-adds-100-million-for-mars-missions for details.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog URL above.
