Dr. Roger Launius, Friday, 11-30-12 December 1, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " NASA Aeronautics Book Series, " SpaceX, "Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space, ballistic reentry, capsules, Dr. Roger Launius, Earth Science Missions, Gerard O'Neill, giggle factor, heavy lift, human spaceflight, magical thinking, Mars winged vehicles, NASA budget, NASA spinoffs, Orbital, RLVs, sequestration, SLS, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, space infrastructure, space policy, space radiation, space settlement, Space Shuttle, spaceplane fantasies, suborbital, Utopian Thinking with space, V2, winged space vehicles
1 comment so far
Dr. Roger Launius, Friday, 11-30-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1904-BWB-2012-11-30.mp3
Guest: Dr. Roger Launius. Topics: “Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space” by Dr. Launius, space policy issues, magical thinking. 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 welcomes Dr. Roger Launius back to the program to discuss his latest book, “Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space” which is a free download at www.nasa.gov/pdf/695726main_ComingHome-ebook.pdf. During our first segment, our guest provided us with a short history of resolving challenges with reentry from space with human spaceflight. We discussed winged vehicles and capsules from a historical, practical, and engineering perspective. We also talked about DOD influence and the advantages as well as disadvantages of both types of space vehicles. One listener question asked about winged vehicles evolving from suborbital to orbital HSF. Terry called in with ballistic reentry questions about the V2 rocket & we mentioned museum locations where people can see a complete V2 on display. Another listener wanted to know if there were any winged vehicle concepts for Mars. Here, our guest talked about some science fiction examples but nothing for real on the drawing board. Our guest then introduced us to magical thinking and we talked about reality in space exploration as compared to fantasy. As this segment was ending, we talked about RLVs and reentry issues.
In our second segment, we started off talking about the NASA budget and the potential impact of sequestration. Our guest said human spaceflight is the biggest challenge and in fact at one point he said we were just one banana peel away from losing HSF! This was in the context of access to the ISS with only the Soyuz and how fragile the access was until we had multiple ways of getting to the station. We then discussed risk and some of the issues raised on this subject by other Space Show guests that believe we need more risk to advance human spaceflight. Risk was also discussed in the context of hypothetical ISS recue missions with HSF vehicles not yet ready for prime time. We also talked about the value and purpose of HSF, including should settlement really be the purpose of it. We had a lengthy discussion on this subject. Both Roger and I suggested the purpose of HSF is a challenge, can be illusive, and is probably something larger and broader than space settlement. Don’t miss his explanation behind his thinking. We also talked about spinoffs as a reason for HSF, the we addressed the lack of needed infrastructure, radiation issues, etc. Toward the end, we took some questions about SLS and heavy lift. Jane asked our guest about the visitors to the Air and SpaceMuseum at the Smithsonian & if Roger could infer an increase or decline in the interest in space by the visitors or if the visitors had an awareness of the challenges facing NASA and HSF.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email Dr. Launius through me.
Dr. Roger Launius, Friday, 12-2-11 December 3, 2011
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " Phobos Grunt Mission, Apollo lunar historical sites, Bringer of War, Discovery Space Shuttle, Dr. Roger Launius, Enola Gay, Enterprise Space Shuttle, Gustav Holst "The Planets, human spaceflight, Kuiper Belt, Mars, Mars Flyby Mission, Mars in popular culture, National Air And Space Museum, New Horizons, one way manned Mars missions, Pluto, Plutonium 238, RTG, Russian & U.S. space workforce issues, Smithsonian Institution, space tourism, Sputnik, STEM educational issues.
add a comment
Dr. Roger Launius, Friday, 12-2-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1664-BWB-2011-12-02.mp3
Guest: Dr. Roger Launius. Topics: National Air & Space Museum at the Smithsonian, Mars in our culture, Russian & U.S. Mars 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. The Space Show/OGLF is now engaged in its annual fundraising drive. Please see & act upon our appeal at http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/space-show-2011-fundraising-campaign. We welcomed back Dr. Roger Launius to the program. His blog which we talked about during the interview can be seen at http://launiusr.wordpress.com. We started our discussion with the mention of his recent blog post, “The Lure of the Red Planet: Early Flyby Missions to Mars.” Dr. Launius went through a short history of Soviet/Russian attempts to go to Mars as well as those of the U.S. in recent years. His blog article contains a more comprehensive listing of these missions and is a good resource for this information. We talked about private enterprise doing Mars missions and our guest said the business case would have to close for that to happen and that we were not there yet. I asked about cultural drivers concerning our interest in Mars. I also inquired about the symphony by Gustav Holtz, “The Planets” and his “Mars, Bringer of War.” Dr. Launius talked about Mars in our culture going back to H.G. Wells, others in the early 1900′s, science fiction literature, as well as early astronomy. Another of his blog posts we explored was his comparison of Sputnik to 9/11 as there were parallels and similarities. Don’t miss this interesting discussion. In our second segment, we talked about the Smithsonian getting the Discovery Space Shuttle, its eventual display, and the disposition of Enterprise which is currently at the Smithsonian. Dr. Launius explained how they will display Discovery to preserve it as close to a real time flying shuttle as possible for historical purposes. We learned that visitors will not be able to walk through it. He does explain the display plans in full, plus he talks about getting the shuttle from KSC to the museum near Dulles Airport and then getting Enterprise to New York as it is to be displayed at the Intrepid Museum. Roger received listener questions about the display of the Enola Gay B-29 which is at the Smithsonian as well as SpaceShipOne. Listeners also asked for his thoughts on Phobos-Grunt and its loss. Our guest pointed out it was the 5th loss of a Russian mission in a year, pointing to some definite problems in the Russian space industry. Some of the problems he described regarding the Russian space industry sounded similar to what is happening with our own space workforce. Commercial space and the private sector came up for discussion with Roger saying that a big difference is that private enterprise will operate their vehicles, not the government. Dr. Launius was asked about space tourism and if it was possible to evaluate any type of market based on visits and comments to the SpaceShipOne exhibit. We talked about STEM educational issues, protecting the Apollo lunar landing sites as historical sites, Pluto in the Smithsonian & the New Horizons Mission. As our program ended, we talked about Plutonium 238 and RTGs for space missions., And a listener wanted to know about the plausibility of one way manned Mars missions. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog URL above.
