Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.
Tags: " Falcon 9 launches, " SpaceX, "Genesis, Antares launch vehicle, Apollo 8, Ariane 5 & 6, Bigelow Aerospace, caving, commercial space, fuel depots, fusion rocket., Golden Spike, human factors for long duration spaceflight, ILS, Inspiration Mars, Iranian rockets, launch market, NASA HSF, NASA public outreach, NASA science missions, NASA Sequestration, North Korean rockets, Orbital Sciences, Proton rocket, reusable launch systems, RLV demand, RLV economics, Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Sarah Brightman & ISS, Senator Rubio, space markets, spaceports, Stratolaunch, suborbital flight., The Story of Apollo 8, Virgin Galactic powered test flights
Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Tuesday, 3-26-13
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1981-BWB-2013-03-26.mp3
Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Space news, company updates, and 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 welcomes Bob Zimmerman back for a two hour wide ranging discussion on space news, company updates, sequestration, policy, and more. Be sure to check out his blog, http://behindtheblack.com. Bob started out talking about the e-book release of his book, “Genesis, The Story of Apollo 8.” He then talked about the upcoming Falcon 9 launches, their importance and significance. Bob mentioned ILS and the Proton rocket which is having its problems causing insurance rates to rise. He said the Russians will absorb all insurance cost increases to keep Proton at a price advantage point. This opened the door to a discussion about SpaceX and price competiveness in the launch industry. Bob switched gears to the suborbitals and said we should be seeing Virgin powered tests soon. He also talked about Stratolaunch per a recent Parabolic Arc article. Bob was talking reusability and the RLV so I asked him if he was aware of economic analysis and data that was not supportive of an RLV short of a substantial increase in launch demand. Bob had much to say about this with his opinion. The RLV economic issue continued to be discussed in both segments of our program. Tim called in about it as well. We talked about Sen. Rubio and his budget amendment suggesting NASA divest itself of unused assets & use the saved money for commercial space. Bob then brought up sequestration and the announcement that NASA will be shutting down all public outreach but they will keep their PR arm going for their projects and missions. We also mentioned Sarah Brightman and both her ISS and Virgin space tourism efforts. Near the close of this segment, Inspiration Mars was discussed and as you will hear, Bob is skeptical, citing human factors & other reasons for his opinion. Larry asked about North Korean rockets and threats to the U.S. west coast. Bob said he took them seriously though their rocket was not yet ready for prime time. Bob also threw in Iranian rockets and threats and said he was more concerned about advances by Iran than N. Korea at this time.
In segment two, we talked about both the science side of NASA and the HSF side. I’m sure you will find the comparison and mission summaries of interest. John called in from Atlanta to raise yet again the question of reusability. He thought it would be enhanced with the use of orbiting fuel depots. Bob was skeptical. Don’t miss this discussion. I asked both Bob and John about Inspiration Mars, Jim emailed in a comment about Falcon 1 relative to comments being made by Bob, and we talked about the upcoming Orbital Sciences Antares launch. We got into the subject of risk taking and Bob and I talked about mining risks as well as caving risks. As Bob is an accomplished caver, he had much to say about both mining and caving. Near the end, we got a call about various spaceports in different states and spaceport commercial success so far. Bob concluded saying that we are in an unstable world which could absolutely adversely impact all aspects of space and commercial space development and progress.
Please post your comments on The Space Show blog.
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.
Tags: " Robby the Robot., " SpaceX, "Forbidden Planet, "Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8: The First Manned Mission to Another World", Antares, Apollo 8, Arianne 5, Arianne 6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Commercial Crew, Dragon, Dream Chaser, drones on Mars, EMLD, ESA, Falcon 9. , Golden Spike, heavy lift, ISS, James Webb Space Telescope, launch industry, lunar farside missions, manned space exploration, NASA budget cuts, NASA Mars Program, Orbital Sciences, Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, secondary payloads, sequestration, SLS, SpaceShip2, Stratolaunch, Virgin Galactic, XCOR
Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Monday, 12-10-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1911-BWB-2012-12-10.mp3
Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Apollo 8, launch industry, HSF, SLS, Mars missions, NASA budget, & 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 Bob Zimmerman back to the program to summarize space for 2012, to look forward to space activities in 2013, and as you will hear, to talk about some specific issues such as SLS and the need for heavy lift. Bob started the discussion talking about Apollo 8 as we approach Christmas 2012. He told us his famous book, “Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8: The First Manned Mission to Another World” has been released in ebook format. If you buy it on Amazon using the URL provided, Amazon will make a donation to The Space Show/OGL:
www.amazon.com/Genesis-Apollo-Mission-Another-ebook/dp/B00A1EZJ6U/ref=onegiantlea20. Bob outlined two tracks for discussion, the launch industry and manned spaceflight exploration. For the launch industry, he talked about the influence of SpaceX in lowering launch costs & what it means for other launchers in competing in pricing & market share. He also talked about negotiation issues over the continued use of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. We discussed secondary payloads, Stratolaunch, & more. The second track involving manned space exploration, Bob talked about it from the government perspective & that of the private sector. He also brought up the recent news regarding the new Golden Spike venture on which he had much to say. Our first caller was from Terry asking about the NASA Mars program, James Webb & SLS. Bob had much to say about the JWST as well as SLS, NASA astrophysics, & SLS costs. Terry wanted to know when Bob thought SLS would be cancelled. This discussion prompted more than a passionate exchange by Bob and me regarding heavy lift, rocket mission analysis, & more. We then paused for our overdue break.
Leading off the second segment, we took a call from Doug in S. California but had audio issues on his phone line. We then talked about the SpaceX mission delay to March 2013. Tim called to talk about launch rate regardless of the size of the vehicle. He also talked about Golden Spike & a potential space tug. He asked Bob about Skylon. We switched topics to get updates from Bob regarding the suborbital companies. Bob talked about Virgin Galactic & powered flight tests. He also had some things to say about Dream Chaser and XCOR. I asked Bob about using drones on Mars based on comments I’ve received from listeners. Near the end, I brought up a special film showing & lecture on the 1956 classic “Forbidden Planet” that I saw this past Saturday. We talked about the significance of this movie & Bob brought in the concept of human spirit, vision, & the desire for interplanetary travel even before the days of NASA or Sputnik. I talked about the two award winning speakers from Lucas Film regarding the movie & then the surprise visit after the film by Robby the Robot, the original Robby from the film. To end our program, Bob gave us an outline of what to look for in the first quarter of 2013 for space events.
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.
Tags: AIAA, Big Dumb Booster, citizen science, Commercial Crew, commercial space, Congressional space budgets, congressional space policy., Dragon, Dream Chaser, Falcon 9. , Falcon Heavy, heavy lift, Hubble, Kepler Space Telescope, NASA budgets, Orbital, Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, sequestration, SLS, space telescopes, suborbital, Virgin Galactic
Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Tuesday, 9-18-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1856-BWB-2012-09-18.mp3
Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Commercial crew, space policy, commercial space 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 Bob Zimmerman back to the program to discuss a variety of space news topics and issues including commercial crew, commercial space, space politics, SLS, and more. For those of you familiar with Bob Zimmerman on The Space Show, you will not be disappointed by this vintage-like Zimmerman discussion. In our first segment of this slightly more than 2 hour program, we talked about the recent congressional hearings on commercial crew safety. Bob’s response to these hearings and the commercial crew safety issues won’t surprise those of you familiar with Bob on these subjects. Bob then talked about SLS and I mentioned the NASA pamphlet/booklet they gave out at the AIAA Space 2012 showing missions and objectives for SLS and more. You can download this report at
www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/voyages-report.html. Bob also talked about NASA budgets from his perspective of needing budget cuts for the country as a whole given our $16 trillion debt. Later in the segment, we talked about some of the developing & emerging companies & their vehicles, Sierra Nevada, XCOR, Virgin, and then we talked about possible new spaceports under consideration/development. Bob then took us to the subject of sequestration which is set for Jan. 1, 2013 unless the law is reversed. Bob spent considerable time telling us why these cuts are not as bad as the media and the agencies make them out to be. See if you agree with his analysis. As the segment ended, we talked about planetary science missions with NASA in the budget context along with the budget consequences of continuing SLS.
In our second segment, Bob continued talking about SLS along with heavy lift, including the proposed Falcon Heavy. Listeners began emailing and calling with comments about space politics, policy, and heavy lift as compared to smaller rockets doing the same mission. I then provided everyone with a glimpse of our planned rocket building webinar set for Oct. 28 and talked about how one costs out and plans a rocket for the mission at hand as you cannot just say heavy lift bad, smaller rockets good or something similar. I provided a quick and very simple overview of the process used in doing this type of analysis and trade study (running the numbers). If this interests you, don’t miss our Oct. 28th webinar on this entire process. We are using an interactive spreadsheet so you can design your own rocket and mission and compare it to any other rocket with known parameters. I suspect I was not completely convincing regarding heavy lift as compared to smaller lift rockets and the mission planning process but listen and see what you think about the discussion. As the discussion continued, one of the points I was making about matching the rocket to the mission seemed to get attention. Also, I made it clear this was not about bad and good. Let us know your thoughts by posting them on the blog. Later in the segment, Bob talked extensively about the private sector being preferable to the government doing things related to space. We also talked about space telescopes, Cis-lunar development and more. We concluded with Bob pointing out what is still ahead for space during the balance of the year and with the developing companies.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. If you want to email Bob, you can do so through me or through his excellent blog, Behind The Black (
http://behindtheblack.com).
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.
Tags: " SpaceX, Apollo 8, AT&T, B612 asteroid project, bats, Boeing CTS 100, budget sequestration, Cern, Chinese space docking, citizen science projects, climate change, culture on the space frontier, Delta IV Heavy, Dragon Capsule, Dream Chaser, East Coast 2012 heat wave, East Coast power grid outages, electromagnetic pulse (EMP)., Falcon 9 reusability, Falcon 9. , FAR, global warming, government vs. private space, Higgs boson, Lox paraffin hybrid rocket motor/fuel, Mars one, Orbital Sciences Cygnus/Antares, Orion capsule, particle physics, Planetary Resources, public/private partnerships, Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Russian space program, SAA, Skylon, space shuttles, suborbital flights, Telstar 1, white nose fungus
Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Tuesday, 7-3-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1807-BWB-2012-07-03.mp3
Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Recent space news and announced projects. 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 Bob Zimmerman back to the show. Check out his blog at www.behindtheblack.com. We started off our first long segment (90 minutes) by mentioning the 50th anniversary of Telstar 1, the death of our friend, Al Zaehringer, AT&T and our early space program, plus the word coming from CERN that they may have found the Higgs-Boson particle. I then asked Bob to comment on the global warming statements being made about the current East Coast heat wave, followed by comments by Newt about the power grid outages and a taste of what an EMP would be like. We then turned to space and Bob talked about the recent success with Dragon and Falcon 9. He then talked about government space programs as compared to private programs. Throughout our 135 minute discussion, he reiterated his opposition to space programs, making it clear that he does not want a “program” and why. Let us know on the blog if you agree with him. Bob suggested we were in a period of space revolution and that it would be very exciting over the next five years. He talked about SpaceX compared to the Russians and the Chinese. He did say we were in competition with them for control of space and this led us to a discussion about culture and the space frontier. We talked about recently announced projects, Planetary Resources, Mars One, and one by the B612 Foundation. He thought B612 was the only real one of the three. Terry called from Texas to discuss using an Orion for a LEO mission, the Falcon Heavy for a Moon mission, Delta IV heavy and SLS. Jerry called in from Florida and among our topics were frontier development, the Oregon Trail, the CERN reactor in Switzerland rather than in Texas, and more. No space programs per Bob’s preferences again came up. Let us know your thoughts about these issues on the blog. As the segment ended, Bob was asked about Skylon which was the subject of yesterday’s program.
Tim’s call started our second segment & he asked about a lox paraffin hybrid rocket motor. We also talked about the space shuttle & its capabilities. While Bob praised aspects of shuttle, he said the program was a failure. I did not agree with him but listen and let us know what you think regarding this issue. Note that as the program ended, Martin sent us info on the hybrid motor mentioned earlier by Tim so check out www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9erCLJ5KVg as Brian Cantwell delivered a presentation at Stanford on the state of the art of hybrid rockets. Bob then updated us on the bat situation with the white nose fungus. As our program ended, Bob talked about upcoming events starting with Orbital’s Cygnus/Antares debut, Dream Chaser and other competitors. He had some brief comments about the suborbital industry and citizen science projects and concluded by saying we were no longer in a holding pattern re commercial space.
If you have comments/questions, please post them on our blog.
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.
Tags: asteroid mining, Commercial Crew, commercial markets, customary international law, down select, Dragon, Earth imaging, Falcon 9. , Federal Acquisition Rules (FAR), Moon Treaty, Outer Space Treaty, Planetary Resources, property rights, Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, SLS, Space Act Agreement, space telescopes, Space X, static test, U.S. congress
Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Monday, 4-30-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1764-BWB-2012-04-30.mp3
Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Space X static test, Congress & commercial crew, Planetary Resources & space property rights. 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 Bob Zimmerman back to the program to discuss today’s Falcon 9 static test, Congress & commercial crew, and the Planetary Resources announcements of last week. Visit Bob’s website for more information, http://behindtheblack.com. During the first segment, Bob talked about congress and its proposed treatment of commercial crew including down selecting the companies, reducing funding, and moving to the FAR instead of remaining with the Space Act Agreement. Bob got lots of questions about markets in space and why commercial companies need government money in the first place. In this segment, we also talked about the Falcon 9 static test today and its relevance for congress. Bob targeted SLS for discussion. As you will hear, there was not much support for SLS among those of us listening to today’s program.
In the second segment, we talked about the Planetary Resources venture announced last week. Part of our focus was on the 9″ space telescope, its likely uses and resolution. We talked about it for asteroid finding and Earth imaging – with serious reservations. Bob suggested that the real business for the company was in selling the space telescopes to customers wanting that product or service as the mining was still a decade or so out into the future. In talking about the telescope, we discussed pointing, stability, resolution, being placed on the Moon, and less than ideal light coming from the asteroids. In talking about space telescopes, we discussed Hubble and the JWST. In other space news updates, Bob talked about Orbital moving Antares to the pad for its testing and there is an article on his blog about it being seriously over budget: www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/orbital-sciences-development-costs-increase-371291. Another topic we discussed was the Chinese political system and its turmoil, also its economy and how this might impact their space program. Bob had much to say about this as well as India and its space program which he said might prove to be the dark horse in space development. Toward the end of this 2 hour 8 minute program, Michael Listner called in to talk about legal issues for Planetary Resources in their resource extraction stage of development, plus property rights, the Outer Space Treaty and even the impact of the Moon Treaty. Bob and Michael had a spirited debate about these issues, including the potential influence of the Moon Treaty and international customary law which Bob completely dismissed. Michael has an excellent article on the subject at www.spacesafetymagazine.com/2012/04/26/commercial-space-leap-earth-orbit-legal-implications/.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can reach Bob Zimmerman through his website.
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.
Tags: Antares rocket, astronomy budget, bats, Cassini, climate change, Commercial Crew budget, Curiosity, Dragon, Electro-magnetic pulse, ESA budget, EuroMars, Falcon 9. , Higgs boson, human spaceflight, James Webb Space Telescope, Kepler Space Telescope, Large Hadron Collider, LightSquared and GPS, Mars, Mars Extended Missions, Mars Next Decade, MSL, NASA budget, NASA FY 13 budget, New Horizons Mission, Orbital, Orion, planetary science missions budget, Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, science research budget, SLS, Space Act Agreement, Space X, sun spots, the Moon, U.S. congress, Vega rocket, white nose syndrome
Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Monday, 2-13-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1712-BWB-2012-02-13.mp3
Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: NASA FY13 budget & space policy. White Nose Syndrome bat update. 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 Bob Zimmerman back to the program for his preliminary analysis of the NASA portion of the FY13 budget just released by the White House. You can obtain more information about Mr. Zimmerman and the issues he writes about at his blog, http://behindtheblack.com. Bob also provided an analysis of the NASA budget at http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/a-transitional-budget. Bob started out by saying the NASA part of the budget was flat. That said, he also said the Mars and planetary programs faced serious cuts. He pointed out that missions in progress were still being funded, new missions such as the EuroMars missions were being scrapped though in the case of Mars, a new program was being created, the Mars Next Decade Program. Bob went on to say the astronomy budget was being squeezed to finish the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) which has its own line item in the budget. The JWST was decimating the astronomy budget. He pointed out that the Kepler Space Telescope (KST) was being zeroed out in another year or so after it has completed its primary mission. Turning to manned space, Bob described it as contradictory. Commercial Crew would receive $830 million but of course congress may change that. Also, SLS and Orion continue getting around $3 billion. Bob talked about the flight plan for SLS & Orion and like many others, predicted the program would ultimately be cancelled. Bob received lots of listener questions by email & phone addressing topics including a nuclear rocket, Mars Direct, DOD space funding issues, and the PR value for NASA for the HSF program. Bob then suggested that history has shown that if the HSF program suffers, all of NASA suffers and pointed out that is happening now. Later, Marshall called to suggest that ESA might not be able to fund their part of the Mars programs due to European economic problems. Bob speculated that our cutting participation may actually have been in anticipation of this to avoid problems down the road because of the European economic woes. At the end of this segment, we talked about the successful European Vega rocket launch.
In segment two, Bob talked about new information regarding sun spots and climate per a recently reviewed paper. Check out the story at http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/the-link-between-sunspots-and-climate. We also talked about the 2012 plan proposed by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in its search for Higgs boson. Listeners brought up the nuclear rocket, the Cassini mission in the budget, and more on JWST. Bob also reported some new developments with LightSquared, the FCC, and GPS issues. Tim called in with questions about the sun and an electro magnetic pulse (EMP). As the program ended, I asked Bob for another update on the White Nose Syndrome which has killed lots of bats in the northeast. Bob closed by saying the upcoming Falcon 9 & Dragon launch plus the Orbital Antares launch may prove to be the most important events of the year. He said they were risky ventures, especially the Antares launch and program.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email Bob through me or from his website, Behind The Black.
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.
Tags: air launch, bats, Chinese Space Program, Commercial Crew, Commercial Next Gen Shuttle-Capable vehicle project, Cots, Earth-like planets, Falcon 9. , Federal Acquisition Rules (FAR), government space programs, habitable zone, Kepler Space Telescope, Kevin Holleran, NASA, NASA Commercial Crew Program Near-Term Strategy Discussion, Orbital Sciences Antares, Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Russian space program, saving the Space Shuttle, SETI, Space Act Agreement (SAA), Space Launch System (SLS)., space policy, Space X, Stratolaunch, Telstar & ATT, white nose syndrome
Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Wednesday, 12-21-11
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1676-BWB-2011-12-21.mp3
Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Space Act Agreement, private compared to government space, Kepler planet discovery, bats. 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. Merry Christmas to all of you from The Space Show. We welcomed Bob Zimmerman back to the show for policy, news, and bat updates. Make sure you visit his blog for interesting and timely news and posts, http://behindtheblack.com. We started our two hour discussion with Bob saying that NASA reverting back to using the SAA instead of the FAR was perhaps the most significant moment in space since the Apollo landings. Listen to his explanation which he talked about multiple times during the program. Do you agree? In talking about the SAA, we also talked about the new NASA budget of $406 million for crew, including the amounts already allocated, leaving about $100 million less for the companies. We talked about the need to have launch competition with at least two companies. In addition, since NASA will “certify” the private HSF vehicles, we talked about what that might be like and the continued control over the companies by NASA. As you will hear over and over again, Bob does not look favorably on government space programs and believes the future is to be found within the private sector. Do you agree with Bob? Another point Bob made in discussing the SAA was that it probably sounded the death knell for SLS. Again, listen to what he had to say on this subject. Kelly called in and sent us information about another effort to commercialize the remaining two space shuttles. We talked about this and similar plans in detail. The new Stratolaunch concept came up and Bob got a few questions about air launch and the performance gain from doing an air launch. Our discussion closed in the management team involved in the project as being a “dream team.” In the second segment, we talked about the new Earth-like planet discoveries by the Kepler Space Telescope, including two in the habitable zone. Later, we talked about human rating the Atlas and Delta rockets, and the DOD-ULA deal which may not happen. Listeners asked Bob about the Russian space program in light of Phobos-Grunt, about SETI, and even possible one way missions to Mars. Alistair asked about the possible impact on US policy makers if China was about to go to the Moon & establish a lunar base. Later we talked about Telstar, ATT, airmail, and space politics.. We concluded with a bat update on White Nose Syndrome. Bob suggested three areas to look for in 2012: the Falcon 9 launch, the test flight of Antares, and Virgin Galactic SS2 engine tests and flights. Please post your comments and questions on The Space Show blog URL above.
