The John Batchelor Show, Hotel Mars, Wednesday, 5-2-12 May 3, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: : John Batchelor, Commercial Crew, commercial space, commercial space competition, congressional space policy., Falcon 9. , ISS, Jim Muncy, space policy, Space X, static test, The John Batchelor Show "Hotel Mars
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The John Batchelor Show, Hotel Mars, Wednesday, 5-2-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1767-BWB-2012-05-02.mp3
Guests: John Batchelor, Jim Muncy, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Commercial space, Congressional space policy, Falcon 9 static test. 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. Written 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. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. Our discussion topics this week for our 11 minute plus segment focused on the Falcon 9 static test and probable launch delays to the ISS. Jim discussed the delay and the need for Space X to do a thorough job in preparing for their important launch and first ever commercial rendezvous with the ISS. Next, we talked about the commercial crew space policy, what congress has done and might do regarding down selecting to one or two companies and changing the contracting format from the Space Act Agreement to the FAR. Jim explained the importance of competition in the commercial sector and discussed the commercial participants including Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, ATK , Space X, and Orbital. We talked about how competition is beneficial for NASA as well as the industry and the country.
If you want to email either John Batchelor or Jim Muncy, you can do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Monday, 4-30-12 April 30, 2012
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
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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.
