Dr. Paul Spudis, Sunday, 6-24-12 June 24, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " space politics, American space leadership, Chinese Space Program, Cislunar space, Commercial Crew, commercial space, critical mass, developing space capabilities, DOD space, Dr. Paul Spudis, Earth-Moon L2, international cooperation, lunar ice, lunar lava tubes, lunar water, NASA, NASA budget, NewSpace, orbital fuel depots, Orion, PR-Stunt space missions, Return to the Moon, risk averseness., rocket equation, Shackleton crater, SLS, space media, space policy, space property rights, space race, Space Shuttle, space tourism
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Dr. Paul Spudis, Sunday, 6-24-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1803-BWB-2012-06-24.mp3
Guest: Dr. Paul Spudis. Topics: Return to the Moon, lunar ice & water, space policy, NASA space program. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, https://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 Dr. Paul Spudis back to the program. Visit his website and blog for additional information, www.spudislunarresources.com & http://globs.airspacemag.com/moon. We started out by discussing a new report claiming that there is a low amount of water ice at Shackleton crater on the Moon. Dr. Spudis explained this study/report and introduced other data points indicating the low amount of water theory is not a valid conclusion. This discussion led to questions about science & media reporting and how best for the public to follow up on a story to not be mislead. I asked Paul about the influence of such articles on policy makers and congressional staffers as well as those outside the U.S., citing the Chinese space program as an example. I also asked our guest if we were in a space race with China. Dr. Spudis had much to say about this issue. We talked about why American space leadership on the space frontier is important. See if you agree with what our guest had to say on this important subject. Dr. Spudis then talked about the difference with a PR stunt type of mission as compared to a mission which developed & enabled capabilities to move us forward in space development, exploration, and economics. This brought up a June 20, 2012 Space News op-ed (http://spacenews.com/commentaries/120618-administration-legacy-nasa.html) by Frank Van Rensselaer, What Will Be This Administration’s Legacy for NASA? This then led to a discussion about our not having a space vision direction or strategy for our civil space policy. Much was said about this with callers and email questions during the balance of the first segment and throughout the second segment. Our guest made a point of saying we need to ask what the purpose of the mission is, what are the goals, and what is the value of the mission? These are important questions to always ask about what we are doing with our civil space missions. This is an important discussion so do listen closely to what Dr. Spudis had to say. NASA budget issues were part of this discussion with Dr. Spudis making the case that money was and is not really the issue. Instead, its the politics of how we choose to spend tax payer money.
In the second segment, Marshall called to ask about lunar lava tubes and water, along with the need for lunar rovers. Don’t miss what Paul had to say about these topics. Paul was asked about his cislunar economic plans and he talked about NewSpace given the question he received from Wayne in Las Vegas asking him if he was in conflict with NewSpace. Later, Crystal from Tulsa emailed Paul with a question about space property rights. Paul said this was extremely important so do listen to the complete discussion on this topic. More was said about NASA budget issues & making sure taxpayers get something back for what they spend on space. Andrew sent in an email addressing the technology development problems going back decades with military airplanes & large engineering projects. Near the end of our two hour program, Dr. Spudis mentioned the tyranny of the rocket equation and what this means for space access and costs. We also talked about on orbit fuel depots. Reaching a critical mass for making a difference in space policy was our last discussion topic.
If you have a comment/question for Dr. Spudis, please post it on The Space Show blog.
Henry Vanderbilt, Thursday, 3-22-12 March 23, 2012
Posted by The Space Show in Uncategorized.Tags: " space politics, Beyond Low Earth Orbit, commercial space, FAA AST, Google Lunar X-Prize, Henry Vanderbilt, IPO, ISS, low cost space access, Mars, Moon, NASA budget, NASA Chief Technology Office, orbital fuel depots, Orion, Space Access Society, space advocacy, space entrepreneurs, Space Launch System, space policy, space tourism, suborbital research
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Henry Vanderbilt, Thursday, 3-22-12
http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1740-BWB-2012-03-22.mp3
Guest: Henry Vanderbilt. Topics: Space Access Society Conference, Phoenix, ArizonaApril 12-14, 2012. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, https://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 back Henry Vanderbilt to the program to discuss the upcoming Space Access Society Conference, April 12-14, 2012 to be held at the Grace Inn in Phoenix, Arizona. For the conference agenda, registration and full hotel information, visit www.space-access.org. During the first part of our initial segment, Henry provided us with an historical overview of not only the development and evolution of the Space Access Society meetings and conference, but also his own personal work in the space arena leading up to his excellent space activism of today which focuses on the space transportation issue. This is a comprehensive look at activities that have brought space exploration and development to today since about 1986. While Henry has been a frequent Space Show guest, this is perhaps the most detailed look we have had from him regarding his space evolution and the rise in importance of the Space Access Society (SAS). Later in this nearly hour long segment and until our break, Henry highlighted many of the speakers that will be at the conference. You can see the full list and the three day agenda at www.space-access.org/updates/sa12info.html.
In our second segment, we talked about more of the speakers but mainly focused on those that would address policy and budget issues as not all of the SAS speakers are on the business/entrepreneurial side of space development. Some of the highlights included the NASA Chief Technology Office, ULA, policies for going beyond LEO, and advocacy on issues supported by SAS. As part of this discussion, we talked about SLS, ISS, Space X, depots, and budgetary pressures on NASA and key members of congress.
If you have comments/questions, please post them on The Space Show blog URL. If you have questions for Henry about SAS, you can email him at space.access@space-access.org.