The Space Show
The Space Show
The Space Show focuses on timely and important issues influencing the development of outer-space commerce, space tourism,space exploration and space development. The Space Show is committed to facilitating our becoming a space-faring nation and society with a growing and self-sustaining space-faring economy. The Space Show also focuses on other related subjects of interest to us all.
Station feed:  Created by: David Livingston |
Created on: 12 May 2005 Language: English |
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Dr. John Brandenburg, Friday, 6-3-11 (61.63MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. John Brandenburg. Topics: Life on Mars. 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. To purchase Dr. Brandenburg's new book, "Life and Death On Mars," please do so through the OGLF Amazon Partners link at www.amazon.com/dp/1935487361?tag=onegialeafou-20. In the first of two segments in this two hour interview, Dr. Brandenburg said that having found microfossils in the CI meteorites as reported in the work of Dr. Richard Hoover in the Journal of Cosmology, past life on Mars is confirmed and this is the now the period of our experiencing the Second Copernican Revolution. Most of the first segment focused on past life on Mars, what it means, what groups oppose this conclusion and why. Here Dr. Brandenburg talked about political and social agendas that adversely impact the disclosure of life elsewhere in the universe. Later, we talked about the upcoming Mars Science Lab (MSL) experiment, methane vents, Viking, and more. Dr. Brandenburg did say that Mars was geothermally completely dead and then put this science in the context of STEM education and why space and science are so important for inspiring students to do the hard STEM work. He also said our space program was steeped in geopolitics and talked about the global impact of our space shuttles and the U.S. space program. John received several listener questions about the Martian biosphere and he talked about Mars once having had an ocean. He suggested the Mars climate system collapsed around 500 million years ago. In reference to the biosphere, he talked about the Lyot impact crater. In the second segment we talked about terreforming Mars and using Phobos as a main base to explore Mars. The issue of a manned flight to Mars came up and our guest took on several spirited questions in an intense debate from listeners revolving around human factors issues and the ability to land a large payload on Mars. I referenced an earlier Space Show program on the payload landing issue with a program from Nov. 13, 2009 with Drs. Braun and Manning as guests (http://archived.thespaceshow.com/shows/1256-BWB-2009-11-13.mp3). As Dr. Brandenburg was discussing Martian colonization, listeners asked him if Martian gravity was suitable for sustaining functional human life. Don't miss what our guest had to say about this and other life support issues for humans going to and living on Mars. Toward the end of the program, we talked about the Xenon 129 and natural nuclear reactors on Earth and probably on Mars. As our interview was ending, Dr. Brandenburg outlined what he suggested as the best path for a manned Mars mission, he talked about the Tidus Bodes Law and the Quantum Gem Gravity Theory. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Brandenburg, post them on the blog URL above. Dr. Brandenburg can be emailed using spaceranger137@yahoo.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:33:21 UTC
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Dr. Tom Matula, Tuesday, 5-31-11 (62.49MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Tom Matula. Topics: Space commerce, closing the commercial space business case. 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 our friend Dr. Thomas Matula back to the show to talk about commercial space develop now and in the future, with or without the support of NASA. Dr. Matula will definitely stir the pot with some of his comments and conclusions regarding commercial space development and the current state of the industry. We started off with Tom suggesting that we do not have commercial space just because of a fix priced contract or a Space Act Agreement. The government is the customer, the primary source of money and government needs and specs are driving the industry at this time. He said over and over again during our two hour program that the challenge for the commercial companies is to be able to resist being overwhelmed and taken over by the government to be just another government contracting company. He suggested this happened to Orbital and when pushed for an example of a company from any business or industry that withstood the changes forced on them through government money and oversight, he could not think of even one example. This was based on a question I asked him near the end of the program. Listeners asked him about the space tourism market as a driver and he had much to say about this throughout our discussion. In terms of public/private partnerships, early in the show he talked about COMSAT and that type of model, comparing it what is happening now in the industry. I think you will find his COMSAT comparison most interesting as it does differ from the developing commercial industry of today. Other topics discussed included lunar mining and here Tom suggested it would be robots that commercially open the Moon, not people. As you will hear him say throughout the discussion, commercial will prove to include a small number of people supporting robotic money making opportunities on the Moon and elsewhere in space. He said real commercial will only happen when the projects serve the markets and needs of people on Earth. As our discussion evolved, he talked about starting small and scaling up. Later in the program, Tom made it clear that taking government money was very risky and he urged commercial space businesses to seek markets elsewhere. When challenged for markets today, he said they had to find them because the risk of being overwhelmed by the government world was very very high. In the second segment, we talked about visionary business leadership and management. When a listener asked him for a time line and the priorities for developing a commercial space industry, he said 15-20 years and that first, markets with Earth value had to be found and exploited and then a working business model had to be developed. He repeated his call for commercial companies to look for other markets, not the government. Earlier in the program, Tony sent in an article which I partially read about a San Francisco businessman paying $100K to bright kids to work on their dream project and not go to college. You can read about this at http://ww2.ajcmobile.com/autojuice/?targetUrl=http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/tech-mogul-pays-bright-961292.html. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Tom Matula, post them on blog URL above. You can also email him through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:49:21 UTC
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Marimikel Charrier, Monday, 5-30-11 (47.68MB; download) -- Guest: Marimikel Charrier. Topics: New Space 2011 Conference hosted by the Space Frontier Foundation. 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. Follow along with this discussion by visiting the New Space 2011 website, http://newspace2011.spacefrontier.org. Our guest started off the discussion with an overview of the New Space conferences bringing us up to date with what is planned for this year's conference which will be held at NASA Ames July 28-31, 2011. The conference hotel will be the Doubletree in San Jose, CA near the San Jose airport and as you will hear, there will be ride shares to and from the hotel to NASA Ames. Marimikel took us through the daily agenda of the conference. Rather than going through the agenda, you can follow along by calling up the agenda from the New Space website, http://newspace2011.spacefrontier.org/agenda. Some of the highlights she mentioned included the initial keynote talk by Lori Garver of NASA. We also talked about the business plan competition for this year. As far as conference registration goes, there is a conference price change as the early bird price is only good through June 15. Furthermore, there is yet another price for buying admission at the door. Note also that all meals are extra including the Gala Banquet which is on Saturday evening at the Doubletree, July 30. Other registration points to remember include the block rate at the Doubletree but to get the rate, you should make your reservation early. Online registration can be carried out at https://newspace2011.spacefrontier.org/registration. During our discussion, Marimikel was asked several questions about the Space Frontier Foundation, membership, and its overall programming goals and objectives. In this context, she mentioned the Tweet-Up they have planned, the conference networking, a mystery VIP dinner event, the Gala and Awards program Saturday evening, and the young persons networking and social dinner. Later in the program, listeners asked for the best way to get to the Doubletree if using either the Oakland or the San Francisco airports. Marimikel also took us through the conference sponsors and talked about sponsorship and other forms of support including voluntary support for the Foundation. Please post your comments and questions on the blog URL above. You can also email Marimikel about the conference using press@spacefrontier.org. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 31 May 2011 16:41:30 UTC
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John Spencer, Sunday, 5-29-11 (43.70MB; download) -- Guest: John Spencer. Topics: Space Tourism Society and space tourism development. 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. For more information on the Space Tourism Society, visit their website at www.spacetourismsociety.org. In our first segment, John started out with an overview and the history of the Space Tourism Society (STS). For those of you not familiar with it, what happened ten years ago when Dennis Tito became the first space tourist flying on a Soyuz to the ISS, you will find this short history to be most interesting. John then talked with us about the space tourism experience right here on Earth and cited many examples, some of which he has created through his design and architectural services and business plans. He said that space tourism had less to do with space and more to do with adventure travel. A listener asked him about the acceptance of space tourism today by NASA as compared to ten years ago when Tito was the first. John had much to say about this, talking about the old NASA astronauts as compared to the new NASA astronauts and potential future combined private and government astronaut missions. In our second segment, John discussed a humans to Mars mission as talked about by Dr. Zubrin and John was asked if he thought space tourism would be part of the first human mission to Mars. John had much to say about this and then talked about what he believes should be the grand vision for the human Mars mission. Don't miss what he had to say and his grand vision description. When asked for a time line for humans to Mars per his concept, he said the actual trip to Mars would not be as important to us all as the process that would unfold that would engage and involve people all over the world. Later in the segment, John was asked about the compatibility of space tourism with military and national security space. John had much to say about this too and then talked about the need for a future type of Coast Guard in space, the Space Guard. The balance of the second segment dealt with a need for a Space Guard. In our final segment, John talked with us about creativity and the need to bring in and embrace creativity and participation from other disciplines rather than only the space related disciplines. Questions about the comparison of yachting to space tourism came up and John talked about the super yacht model for space tourism and his early design work on the Freedom Space Station which evolved into the ISS. As we concluded our discussion, John looked to the future, both near term and 5 years out and said that the planned lunar flyby with a modified Soyuz by Space Adventures will be a breakthrough event. If you have comments or questions for John Spencer, please post them on the blog URL above. You can email John through the website at www.spacetourismsociety.org/Space_Tourism_Society/Contact.html and the listed email address, jssdesign@aol.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 30 May 2011 18:16:18 UTC
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Pat Norris, Friday, 5-27-11 (43.67MB; download) -- Guest: Pat Norris. Topics: Earth imaging and observation satellites, benefits, risks, and dangers. 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. You can purchase “Watching Earth from Space: How Surveillance Helps Us – and Harms Us” by using the OGLF link with Amazon. Remember, if you purchase the book through OGLF, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show. Use www.amazon.com/dp/1441969373/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=onegialeafou-20. In our first segment, Mr. Norris provided us with a brief overview of imaging and observation satellites, starting with a short history of spy satellites. Much of this discussion focused on resolution and what was state of the art for the military but far different for commercial satellites. For example, in the commercial world, the early resolution was 15-20 meters while the military was using resolutions many magnitudes greater. As our discussion evolved, we started getting into the politics of observation satellites and the initial pace of technological development which our guest said did not benefit from Moore’s Law. Pat then talked about some of the uses aside from the military including deforestation detection and analysis, temperature monitoring, ocean information and more. In our second segment, we started talking about some of the potential harm that can result from imaging satellites. On the military side, because more than 20 nations have imaging satellites with more having the capability all the time, our enemies and adversaries have pretty much the same information we have and so when early on our military and intelligence units had an advantage, that is no longer the case. On the civilian side, we talked about privacy issues and how such information can be used from putting us on black lists and more. Don’t miss this discussion. Pat also mentioned that in more recent years due to the high cost of developing national security imaging satellites and the fact that the civilian resolution is exceptional, the military has taken to buying commercial rather than developing their own satellites. Mr. Norris had much to say on this subject. We also talked about it in the context of developing commercial markets for these products and services. Later in the segment he talked about new and future trends including the use of radar imaging satellites. In our third and final segment, we talked about new agricultural uses and how during the Cold War we used the spy satellites to determine how much wheat was being grown in any given year in the USSR as that could impact wheat supply and prices around the globe. Enforcement of political policy was discussed with the EU as an example. One of the listener questions inquired about troop movements being revealed by journalists getting their own satellite feed or buying commercial images of a specific area. We concluded our discussion with our guest suggesting we need to be vigilant to protect our privacy and maximize the best uses for imaging satellites. Post your comments and questions for Pat Norris on the blog URL above. You can email Mr. Norris at pat.norris@logica.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 28 May 2011 15:36:57 UTC
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Kevin Sloan, Thursday, 5-26-11 (44.58MB; download) -- Guest: Kevin Sloan. Topic: Mars Society’s University Rover Challenge (URC). 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 back Kevin Sloan who is the Director of the Mars Society University Rover Challenge (http://urc.marssociety.org/home). During the first segment, Kevin provided us with an introduction and the background to the Mars Society URC as we have many new listeners who might not be familiar with this fine program. He told us about the teams and the international component to the URC, including the fact this year there are three teams competing from Poland. In response to questions asked him about the growth of the URC, Kevin mentioned that there had been year to year growth for the competition and for 2011 there are more teams competing than there were last year. Kevin went over some of the rules and the tasks that the rovers must be able to do. You can find out more about the rules and read about the tasks that Kevin talked about at http://urc.marssociety.org/home/requirements-guidelines.
Download the .pdf document, then scroll down to section 3 for the description of the tasks. Listeners asked about coming to the MDRS near Hanksville, UT to see the contest but as you will hear, unfortunately there are no visitor facilities. The Mars Society should have this year’s results of the competition posted to the website by Sunday, June 5. In our second segment, we talked about the sponsorship for the URC and its funding. Kevin also explained that there was a cap on the cost of the rovers for each team but that the teams had to raise their own money for travel to and from Utah. We learned that there is an audit process to assure no team goes over the cap. Another listener asked about repairs and on site servicing if a rover needed work to complete its tasks. Kevin said this happens but it does not stop the clock for the rover team as each team is assigned a specific time limit to complete each task. When the contest ends on Saturday, all team members and participants in the contest celebrate with a BBQ banquet. As we started the third and final segment, questions came in regarding the materials used in the rovers and the typical power supply which Kevin said consisted of batteries. He said a few years ago a gasoline engine was used by one team but because of that, they passed rules about using gasoline engines in the future. Kevin got many questions about the background of team members, wondering if they were already space cadets, Mars enthusiasts, or robotic engineers minus the space connection. Don’t miss what he had to say about this. Near the end of our discussion, Kevin was asked about gender mix and possible DARPA or other agency sponsorship for the future. If you have comments or questions for Kevin Sloan, post them on the blog URL above. You can also email Kevin at Kevin@marssociety.org.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Fri, 27 May 2011 04:04:00 UTC
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Elizabeth Howell, Sunday, 5-22-11 (45.62MB; download) -- Guest: Elizabeth Howell. Topics: Why study space studies, space careers, space from a Canadian perspective. 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 Elizabeth Howell to the program. Ms. Howell is a graduate student in the UND Space Studies program and was an exceptional student in my class this past semester. Elizabeth spoke to us about why students study space subjects, career issues, the Canadian space program, perspectives on the U.S. program, New Space, graduate school and more. Elizabeth started the discussion with a brief summary of her early interest in the space program which eventually took her to enroll in the UND graduate Space Studies program. She also talked about her interest and career in journalism which we referred to often during our discussion, especially regarding space journalism. Part of our early discussion focused on an article Elizabeth wrote which is posted on her website titled "7 things my M.Sc. Space Studies is teaching me (www.pars3c.com/2011/02/02/7-things-my-m-sc-space-studies-is-teaching-me). Elizabeth took us through each of her seven things which as you will hear, can easily apply to graduate school studies in general. After our discussion of the seven things, listeners started asking questions, including one on due diligence, how her peers regard the impact of space on their lives, and what is likely to be the best area for a space career. In the second segment, Elizabeth was asked about the feedback she gets from one of her space articles as compared to one of her general science, business, or tech articles. In addition, she talked about the need to connect the space story to something relevant to the audience, specifically when writing for the Ottawa Business Journal (OBJ) and addressing business issues. Space X was discussed from a Canadian perspective, as was New Space and space advocacy. I asked Elizabeth about the subject of human spaceflight in Canada and we learned that there is more of a focus on astronomy. Don't miss what she had to say on this subject. Still another listener asked about the costs of the Space Studies program and the curriculum for a typical grad student. One of the things you will hear our guest say is that given today's economy and career situation, its best to not be too specialized as one may need to fall back on various capabilities to find work. Being too specialized may lead to unemployment. I recommend you visit these websites relating to this discussion: www.obj.ca to follow Elizabeth's articles, www.pars3c.com for her space information, and her professional website at www.elizabethhowell.ca. If you have comments or questions for Elizabeth Howell, post them on the blog URL above. You can contact Ms. Howell through her professional website. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sun, 22 May 2011 23:51:58 UTC
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Tom Olson on ISDC 2011, Friday, 5-20-11 (38.21MB; download) -- Guest: Tom Olson: Topics: Tom provided us with a review of the Space Investment Summit 9 (SIS) and of ISDC 2011 as he attended both in Huntsville. 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 & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We started our one hour discussion with Tom by summarizing the Space Investment Summit 9 which was on May 18, 2011 just prior to ISDC. Tom went over some of the highlights of all day conference and focuses in on the panel regarding "Keys to Entrepreneurial success" and the main keynote by Tim Pickens. Due to listener questions, he addressed U.S. economic issues and what was said about commercial space investment at the SIS. The presentations and discussions will likely be posted on the SIS website so do check it out at http://spaceinvestmentsummit.com. We then switched gears to talking about ISDC which runs through Sunday, May 22, 2011 (see http://isdc.nss.org/2011). Tom zeroed in on the Business Track as that is where he made his presentation. He talked about Space X, resupply with the Dragon which must be new for each and every mission, thus giving rise to DragonLab using the recycled Dragon capsules the government won't use. He talked about the need to have space/technology driven businesses doing profitable things today that can scale up to space commerce projects as markets evolve. We talked about gov. regulation and used sport scuba diving and diving certification programs as a possible model for the evolution of human spaceflight regulations. Tom also told us about a talk by Dr. Bruce Cordell on the industry growth and cycles using Maslow Windows. We are currently working to get Dr. Cordell to talk about this as a guest on The Space Show. Tom addressed the makeup of those attending ISDC in the context of a question he was asked on the Cynics Space Show 10th Anniversary program. He mentioned the strong international component to ISDC as well as youth which he said included college students and Gen Y. Other issues Tom address involved using the ISS for beyond LEO travel, SSP, and the space elevator. He also talked about The Foundry which he said was an incubator project started in Huntsville and associated with the Space Frontier Foundation. Toward the end of the discussion, Tom told us about the Business Plan Competition to be held this year at the New Space Conference hosted by the Space Frontier Foundation. The Space Show is focusing on the New Space Conference with its May 30th program. If you have questions or comments about this program, please post them on the blog URL above. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 21 May 2011 16:10:28 UTC
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Gary Hudson, Tuesday, 5-17-11 (60.03MB; download) -- Guest: Gary Hudson. Topics: Commercial space, COTS/CCDEV program, investment, demo flights, taking federal money. 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. We welcomed Gary Hudson back to the program to discuss the presentations he made at the recent Space Access Conference. You can find his Power Point presentations on the blog entry for this program at the above URL. We started out with a discussion about Gary's "It's A Trap!" presentation. For the first part of this hour long segment, Gary went over the history of COTS and the efforts he undertook via t/Space to have New Space represented as an industrial consortium for a one time only infusion of federal money for a demo flight. The intention of the demo flight was to prove the New Space industry and to jump start it to be able to stand on its own for obtaining commercial investment and to compete with traditional aerospace. This is a comprehensive discussion you do not want to miss. During this discussion, Gary explained why the requirement to have "skin in the game" was a counter-productive and limiting COTS et al requirement. Related discussion topics included Dr. Mike Griffin as NASA Administrator, and the role and balance of government oversight and regulation with federal money. Later in the segment, Gary summarized the program's major mistakes including the "skin in the game" requirement, focusing on cargo rather than crews, making the ISS the initial destination, and allowing paper milestones such as meetings rather than hardware milestones. Toward the end of the first segment, I brought up fragility issues when working with the government because the odds are the program you are working on will be cancelled. Gary promised us a story about this issue upon return from our break. We started the second segment with a listener question wondering if Gary would advise against doing business with NASA and if we should be focusing energies on setting up shop in orbit to open up opportunities. Gary said he WAS NOT in any way advising against doing business with NASA and he did think there were starting to be orbital opportunities with Bigelow Aerospace leading the way. He went on to say that doing business with the government was challenging and it remained to be seen if the companies would be "captured" by NASA or the government in the process. He did define what he meant by saying "captured." Before moving on to additional questions, I asked Gary to tell us the story he mentioned at the end of the first segment about cancelled government programs. His story had to do with the need to get federal gov. program cancellation insurance and what the company had to do to get it and the premium cost which was around 13% of the project cost. Next, Bill asked a few questions about Rotary Rocket financing and technology which Gary answered and Mark from Scotland asked a series of questions that you will find interesting. In this context, Gary discussed being vertically integrated as compared to using outside contractors. In his program concluding remarks, Gary said he was very optimistic that we will prevail with robust space development as it represents a big part of the hope for the future. If you have comments or questions, post them on the blog. If you want to email Gary Hudson, send your note to drspace@thespaceshow.com and I'll forward it to Gary. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 18 May 2011 17:50:49 UTC
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Mark Holderman, Monday,5-16-11 (59.22MB; download) -- Guest: Mark Holderman. Topics: Nautilus X exploration spacecraft, NASA, ISS centrifuge, space policy & space workforce 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. We welcomed Mark Holderman to the program to discuss Nautilus X and workforce issues. His Power Point & a video on Nautilus X will be posted under this archived write up on the blog so be sure to check them both out. As Mr. Holderman worked for the CIA, I started the interview by asking him about his "spook" days with the Agency as related to space. After his brief summary as, in his own words, a "spook enabler," he told us about the Nautilus X project, his design team, how and why he designed it. He also talked about the eventual lack of interest in the project from NASA. For most of the hour long first segment, we talked about Nautilus, its mass and volume, how to launch it, and was heavy lift needed or not, plus the centrifuge that he designed to be part of Nautilus or even part of the ISS. We spent a considerable amount of time discussing the importance of the centrifuge if we ever expect to go beyond LEO. I asked about the reasons for NASA management not making the centrifuge or a variable gravity research station a NASA priority project. Our discussion about Nautilus was comprehensive as Mark was the designer of the project and he shared with us how he came up with the design and the fact that he based it on what he said was the most successful spacecraft ever made and flown, the LEM. Don't miss this discussion. Our guest fielded many listener questions about Nautilus and specifically about the centrifuge and artificial gravity. It appears that favorite questions of listeners to ask guests talking about this subject deal with showers and toilets in an artificial gravity environment. Today was no exception so we learned that in the structure Mark designed, toilets would work normally but the shower would only be partially normal. In our second segment, we focused on the space workforce issues of the day and Mark talked about the problems facing the aerospace engineering community today and the uncertain continuation of this community with ongoing college students. He suggested enrollments were going to drop off because of the lack of career opportunities in the field for students upon graduating. We talked about commercial space providing new jobs and opportunities and Mark talked about timelines for some of these changes to take place and get rooted in the industry. I asked him about his job search experience since he was required to take early retirement from NASA JSC. As you will hear him say, the opportunities in the aerospace industry today are few and far between. If you have questions for Mark Holderman, especially after reviewing his Nautilus X Power Point and video, please post them on the blog URL above. You can also email Mark at captnemo55@gmail.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 17 May 2011 02:01:09 UTC
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