Tom Olson, Monday, 12-31-12 January 1, 2013
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " Neil Armstrong, " SpaceX, 3 D Printing, Arianne 5, Atlas 5, Boeing CST 100, Chinese Space Program, CubeSat, Curiosity, cyber warfare, Dragon, economics, EML2 missions, entrepreneurial space, ESA, Falcon 9. , Falcon Heavy, Golden Spike, human spaceflight, IAC in Beijing, ISDC, ISS, ITAR modification, Japanese space program, Jesco von Puttkamer, liability laws, lunar base, Mars one, Messenger, MSL, NASA budget, NewSpace Business Plan Competition, North Korean space program, NSS, on orbit fuel depots, Planetary Resources, Reda Anderson, Russian launchers, sequestration, SLS, space capsules, Space Review for 2012, space robotics, Space Settlement Act of 1988, space settlement policy, space shuttles, Spaceport America, Stratolaunch, suborbital flights, Tom Olson, ULA, Virgin, Warp Drive, winged spacecraft, XCOR
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Tom Olson, Monday, 12-31-12
2012 Year End Review & Analysis for Space Development
Guest: Tom Olson. Topics: The year 2012 is reviewed from the space perspective and we look forward to space development in 2013. 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 Tom Olson for his annual Space Show year in review analysis with a look forward to 2013 for space development. We started our discussion by remembering those in our space community that are no longer with us. We specifically mentioned three dear friends though we know that others have also left us. Our program was dedicated to Neil Armstrong, Jesco von Puttkamer, and Reda Anderson. We certainly miss our friends but space development marches on like everything else in life. A few of the early issues Tom brought up in the 2012 annual overview of space included the Falcon 9 launches and Dragon missions. He also talked about ISDC and birthing of Dragon during the keynote by NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. While on the subject of SpaceX and its mission to the ISS, Paul sent in a question asking if SpaceX dropping out of the Stratolauncher project indicated that perhaps they had “bitten off more than they could chew.” Tom and I have no inside information about SpaceX and Stratolaunch but we both thought that Paul’s comment was reasonable as SpaceX is certainly busy enough with game changing projects & technology. Cubesats were discussed given their rise in popularity and importance in 2012. It seems as if their potential is more than on the rise! Cubesat growth also cuts across many diverse space industry segments and niche markets. Bev asked about the future of 3-D printing and its potential impact on future human spaceflight (HSF). 3-D printing is certainly experiencing space industry growth & there will soon be a small 3-D printer on the ISS. Heavy lift came up and much was said about the Falcon Heavy and SLS, both looking back over 2012 & forward to 2013.
In our second segment, I asked if fuel depots would evolve from the Power Point & rhetoric stage to something more tangible in 2013. We talked about depots as many of the projects announced in 2012 use depot technology to enable their plan. Tom talked about warp drive becoming more possible due to the 2012 work of Dr. Sonny White. Dr. White will be a guest on The Space Show Friday, January 4, 2013. Tom next brought up NASA budget issues & possible cuts. He talked about science mission cuts, the JWST, and on the HSF side, SLS eating up much of the budget with commercial crew still needing funding. I asked Tom how he thought space advocacy made out during 2012. Mixed was a one word summary of this discussion. Next, we talked about space settlement being made part of the U.S. space policy in 2013. Tom went over the pros & cons surrounding this effort. Doug called in about space settlement & I referred him to earlier programs with Steve Wolfe who authored the Space Settlement Act of 1988 which is part of public law. Tom said space settlement was SLS dependent & that makes the potential policy controversial to many space enthusiasts since many oppose SLS. Tom said 2012 was a good year for new commercial space grandiose missions such as Golden Spike, Planetary Resources, Mars One, a lunar base, Shackleton Energy, even EML2 missions. He kept asking the questions regarding objectives, who pays, the reasons for the missions, and more. He said most of these missions rely on some form of large launcher, either the Falcon Heavy SLS. Tom talked about ITAR reform that has been signed by both houses of Congress & is applicable to the U.S. satellite industry. Human rating of the Atlas came up for a 2012 progress report, then Dave in San Antonio inquired about cyber warfare & the space industry in 2012 & the future. 2012 marked the year the space shuttles went on display in museums & Tom talked about the Russian space program investments for modernization over the coming decade. He also talked about other national space programs. Near the end of our program, we brought up the Spaceport America liability issue & the risks facing the New Mexico spaceport. Tom updated us for 2013 on the NewSpace Business Plan Competition & his work with the Exodus Group for space business consulting.
Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email Tom through drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Tom Olson, Sunday, 9-23-12 September 24, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: Business Plan Competition, Commercial Crew, commercial space, DC Angel Investors., Exodus Consulting Group, ITAR, Kickstarter., Mars solar sats, space scalable, Tom Olson
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Tom Olson, Sunday, 9-23-12
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. Tom Olson returned as our guest to introduce us to the new Exodus Consulting Group (see
http://exodus-consulting.com
). In our first hour long segment, Tom introduced us to Exodus and the concept known as space scalable. He gave several examples of what was meant by space scalable, including referencing some of the contestants/winners in the last New Space Business Plan Competition. Tom also talked about the ISS and investor requirements for the more traditional types of space investments as compared to the considerations meeting the space scalable definition. In this discussion, Tom explained why the space scalable approach makes so much sense. See if you agree with him and let us know on the blog. The subject of space solar power and power sats at Mars came up with caller Marshall. Tom and I remained skeptical about closing a business case for SSP but Tom did offer to review SSP business plans if you send them to him. Please use inquiries@exodus-consulting.com. There was some discussion about Tom’s drilling ideas on Mars.
Tom Olson, Dr. John Jurist, Friday, 6-22-12 June 22, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: asteroid mining, commercial space, Dr. John Jurist, Kool Aid, media reporting, Space Cynics, space economics, space fantasy, space markets, space new media., space solar power, Tom Olson, Walking Eagle Award
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Tom Olson, Dr. John Jurist, Friday, 6-22-12
Guests: Tom Olson, Dr. John Jurist. Topics: The return to life of the Space Cynic blog,
http://spacecynic.wordpress.com
. 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 Tom Olson and Dr. John Jurist to discuss our plans to reactivate the Space Cynic blog,
http://spacecynic.wordpress.com
. Tom started our Space Show discussion with an historical overview of why the Space Cynic blog was created by Shubber Ali and the three of us. We talked about some of the past programs, themes we wrote about, the goal of the blog, and the Walking Eagle Award. We mostly focused on the business side of issues, the engineering, human factors, and other issues that can make or break any venture, including a space venture. We each mentioned some examples that highlight the themes we respectively focused on with the blog, including asteroid mining and space solar power. We also talked about themes we have in common with one another. Each of us mentioned some new themes we are interested in once the blog becomes active again, probably by September at the latest. A new feature of the rebirth of the Cynics blog will be the opportunity to be a guest Space Cynic blogger. Details on this will soon be posted on the Space Cynic blog but we did mention of few of the obvious guidelines during our discussion. We also talked about making comments on the blog and opening up the Walking Eagle Award to a blog reader nomination process. Note that I will archive this program on Space Cynics as well as The Space Show blog but do understand that The Space Show has no formal relationship to Space Cynics other than as an individual, I am one of the four space cynic contributors. We welcome your feedback on bringing the Space Cynic blog back to active life. Post your comments on either blog or both of them.
If you want to email either of the guests on this show or space cynic founder Shubber Ali, you can do so through me and I will forward your email to the person of your choice.
Tom Olson, Tuesday, 12-27-11 December 28, 2011
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: 50th anniversary of spaceflight, Antares, Bigelow Aerospace, biotechnology, Business Plan Competition, Dawn, Elon Musk, Exodus Consulting, Falcon 9. , Falcon Heavy, ISDC, ISS, Kepler Space Telescope, lunar space elevator., Mars, nanotechnology, NASA, NASA budget, Orbital, Soyuz, Space Act Agreement, space advocacy, space elevator, Space Frontier Foundation, Space Launch System (SLS)., Space Shuttle, space workforce issues, Space X, Stratolaunch, suborbital vehicles, Tom Olson, Vesta, Virgin Galactic drop test, XCOR, Yuri's Night
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Tom Olson, Tuesday, 12-27-11
Guest: Tom Olson. Topics: The year 2011 in review regarding all space 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. 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 Tom Olson back to the show for his annual yearly summary of space events. We had much to cover in this 105 minute program. Tom started out reminding us that 2011 was the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight. He told us about the banner year for Yuri’s Night parties around the globe celebrating this important milestone and specifically about the even he attended in New Your City. Next, he pointed out the recent National Press Club talk given by Elon Musk on going to Mars and building the rockets to take us there, plus his recent New Scientist interview which you can read in full on the Mars Society website. Tom commented that the sky was actually falling in 2011 with two large junk satellites coming back to Earth. We also talked about the return of Phobos Grunt to earth probably in early to mid-January 2012. One of the big events we discussed for 2011 was the retirement of the shuttle. This led us to discussing the recent Chinese space rendezvous and the fact that China is now the number two launching country behind Russia having overtaken the U.S. this year. Planetary missions were part of our year in review with Vesta and Dawn, the Kepler Space Telescope, MSL with Curiosity. New Horizons continued its journey to Pluto and Explorer 1 continued beyond our solar system. Tom talked about SLS and the ORION MPC Vehicle, plus the James Webb Space Telescope and its cost issues in the context of its impact on the NASA budget. Soyuz rocket problems along with all the Russian rocket failures this year were fair game for our discussion. I asked Tom what he thought of the idea of SLS as a place holder for skill sets and technology until our space program improves. Don’t miss his answer. He brought up Virgin Galactic’s drop tests this year, especially the last one where trouble showed up. Making news for 2011 were NASA and space industry workforce layoffs and the successful Falcon 9 and Dragon launch. At the end of the first segment, Bigelow Aerospace was in our spotlight. In segment two, Tom led off with XCOR news, Terry called wondering about CCDEV3 and Tom suggested program winners! Don’t miss his prediction. He also was asked to predict the cancellation year for SLS. Don’t miss this prediction as well. We talked about the upcoming New Space Business Plan Competition for 2012, the prizes which are the largest ever, and the timing. If this interests you, make sure to stay tuned for more information. Later in the segment we began a summary of our discussion and 2011. Tom was asked about the space elevator and the Lunar Space Elevator. We wrapped up our discussion talking about growth in the space conferences even in the tough economic year of 2011. Post your comments and questions on The Space Show blog URL above.
