Open Lines, Tuesday, 12-11-12 December 12, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " Robby the Robot., " SpaceX, "Forbidden Planet, "War of the Worlds, Batchelor Show Hotel Mars segments, EML2, Mars, Meetups, N-Prize, NANOSAT Challenge, NASA budget issues, North Korean Missile launch, Open Lines, sci-fi movies, sequestration, SLS, space economics, UFOs, X-37B, XPrize, Zubrin Mars op-ed
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Open Lines, Tuesday, 12-11-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1912-BWB-2012-12-11.mp3
Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Current events in space policy, NASA, DOD, & U.S. economic issues impacting space. 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. Welcome to our December 2012 Open Lines show. As Open Lines programs go, this was a fairly quiet program. I opened with a list of possible discussion topics and our first call dealt with one of the topics, the North Korean missile launch. Mike called in to update us on the latest with the launch and then he continued to give us updates during the program to the point of confirming orbital insertion for its satellite. He also reported a successful 3 stage rocket launch for the N. Koreans. We talked about the significance of the launch, how it surprised our intelligence services and more. We got an email from Darren in Canada telling us he liked the “passionate exchange between Zimmerman and me from the day before as that exchange was also one of the topics I suggested for discussion. After a short break, we took a call from John in Atlanta who picked up from the night before with our science fiction movie discussion. We talked more about Forbidden Planet and John referenced the original War of the Worlds movie. John also talked about the UFO subject in the context of our sci-fi movie discussion, then he referenced the op-ed by Dr. Zubrin about Mars Sample Return missions and why Dr. Zubrin was not supportive of the EML2 mission. From here, we went to the SLS subject and knowing John to be a strong supporter of the project, I asked him if he thought the project would be cancelled and when. John suggested it might be slowed down before it was cancelled outright. After another break, I mentioned the X-37B successful USAF launch and responded to two emails. One was about my Hotel Mars John Batchelor Show segments and the other asked me to explain how and why I connect the dots regarding our economic problems in the country to possible adverse impact on NASA and even in the private capital markets. This opened the door for me to do a mini rant/lecture on how I see economics and why I connect these dots. If you disagree, do post on the blog and share your information and perspective with us all. Disagreement is always wanted and respected on The Space Show. Next, Charles called in and talked about the doomed NASA Nanosat Challenge. He compared it to XPrize which he believes set the model and tone for such prizes. Charles next flung barbs at NASA, especially for the JWST, the ISS, & SLS. At one point, he said NASA was “like a beached whale!” Charles told us about Meetups in Las Vegas and on the national scene & he provided a brief update on the N-Prize contest.
If you have comments/questions about this OL program, do post them on The Space Show blog. You can reach any of the callers through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Dr. Jeff Bell, Friday, 12-9-11 December 9, 2011
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " Phobos Grunt Mission, Boeing, Commercial Crew, Cots, Dr. Jeff Bell, Falcon 9. , Federal Acquisition Rules (FAR), flyback boosters, HARP, ISS< Soyuz, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), manned Mars missions, Mars Science Lab, NASA, NASA Discovery Missions, nitrous oxide, rocket reusability, Roscosmos, Russian lunar & planetary missions, Russian Zond, Soyuz, Space Act Agreement (SAA), Space X, SpaceShip 2, suborbital tourism, TDRS Satellites, U.S. Congress & space, U.S. space policy, Virgin Galactic, X-37B
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Dr. Jeff Bell, Friday, 12-9-11
(Note: This interview aired live on 11/30/11)
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1669-BWB-2011-12-09.mp3
GuestSearch: Dr. Jeff Bell. Topics: Phobos Grunt mission, space policy, commercial crew, rocket reusability & 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. 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 . Please note that this program was recorded live on Nov. 30, 2011 and is being archived today, Dec. 9, 2011. We welcomed Dr. Jeff Bell back to the show for a wide ranging discussion on multiple topics starting with the troubled Russian Phobos Grunt Mission. This Space Show program is vintage Jeff Bell with something to say about most everything, hard hitting, critical, take no prisoners, and of course, thought provoking. Dr. Bell started our discussion talking about the Phobos-Grunt Mission. To put it in context with Russian lunar & planetary missions, he gave us a brief history of the Russian exploration program starting in 1958. This is an interesting history lesson you do not want to miss. In bringing the history current to Phobos Grunt, the problems faced by the Russian program seem a bit clearer. We then talked about some of the many space blog comments with suggestions for rescuing or saving the mission and he totally debunked them. Jeff mentioned shuttle rescues, X-37B rescues, even Virgin suborbital rescues. He also mentioned some of the conspiracy theories out there (he spent more time on them later in our discussion), finger pointing the blame for the mission problems. Next, Dr. Bell addressed the recent SpaceShipTwo drop test that was a problem and he wasted no time in stating what is wrong with the SS2 design as well as what he said was a problematic track record for the project. He also had much to say about the use of composites and fundamental design flaws. Space debris issues came up and Dr. Bell referenced USA 193. Terry called in to ask about the hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) or nitric acid on board Phobos Grunt. When we started the second segment, Dr. Bell again went over the conspiracy theories re Phobos Grunt that appeared in some news articles. One he mentioned was the HARP theory which he debunked as well as the biological warfare theory. We then talked about commercial crew and Dr. Bell said Congress does not want it to be successful and he explained why. Near the end of this discussion, Trent called in from Australia. He wanted to know at what point Jeff thought commercial crew was changing from maybe working out to going down for the count. What was the turning point for our guest? During their exchange, Jeff said that space travel was not politically important anymore, instead political pork was the priority. Trent mentioned his blog, QuantumG, http://quantumg.blogspot.com. Check it out for his comments on Space X, Commercial Crew and more. Jeff read his Space X comments and then started discussing the Space X reusability plan. As the program ended, we talked about the JWST and I asked Dr. Bell what part of the space program he liked, if any. He did have something he liked, the science and robotic missions. If you have a comment/question for Dr. Bell, please post it on the blog URL and I will make sure he sees it.
