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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Marc Millis, Monday, 1-17-11 (44.69MB; download) -- Guest: Marc Millis. Topics: Breakthrough propulsion, advanced technology development, interstellar travel, science and engineering development. Please note that 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 Marc Millis back to the program to discuss some of his new papers and developments dealing with advanced propulsion for space travel. Marc has two new papers to read: 1) "Progress In Revolutionary Propulsion Physics" at http://arxiv.org/abs/1101.1063. 2) "Energy, incessant obsolescence, and the first interstellar missions" at http://arxiv.org/abs/1101.1066. Be sure to visit the Tau Zero Foundation website at www.centauri-dreams.org/?page_id=2118. In our first segment, Marc talked about his new interstellar paper and that based on energy requirements, it might take between one and two centuries to be able to realize interstellar travel. He explained his theory based on energy but also talked about other ways of forecasting when interstellar travel might become a reality with each of the other ways suggesting similar time lines. Marc said that being able to realize interstellar travel was essential and was a survival imperative for humanity. We then talked about various projects that are pushing the technology window including the Japanese Project Ikaros and the Tau Zero Foundation Project Icarus. We talked about nuclear propulsion and undiscovered physics. As you will hear, Mr. Millis said the key to advancing technology was being able to ask the right question. We explored his comment in some detail. At the end of this segment, Marc talked about cultural trends in the space field and that often organizations start to develop outside the main one to fill a void. This discussion came about because he was asked if NASA should be doing breakthrough propulsion research and development and was it appropriate to spend public money on such projects. We started our second segment with a listener asking how to determine if an idea is a crackpot idea or not. Mark provided us with a range of factors to use so this is a discussion you will want to listen to and maybe even take some notes. He also told us about the famous paper, "Unskilled and Unaware of It" which as you will hear, appears to be applicable to the crackpot issue. Later in this segment, he was asked if we had the skills and abilities to back engineer an interstellar vehicle that was here on Earth. You might be surprised by Marc's answer so again, listen carefully to what he had to say. At the end of the segment, he was asked why Moore's Law cannot be applied to technology advancement and propulsion physics. Don't miss his response to this question. In the third segment, he talked about the DARPA/Ames study, the One Hundred Year Starship Study. Later, he was asked about timelines for propulsion development as compared for space projects like going to the Moon, a NEO, etc. As you will hear, we should not confuse the timeline required for a mission as compared to the timeline required for technology development. If you have comments or questions for Marc Millis, post them on The Space Show blog. You can also use the contact section on his website and reference The Space Show. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 18 Jan 2011 04:30:38 UTC
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Dr. Paul Spudis, Tony Lavoie, Sunday, 1-16-11 (48.74MB; download) -- Guests: Dr. Paul Spudis; Tony Lavoie. Topics: Their paper titled "Mission and Implementation of an Affordable Lunar Return." Please note that 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 back Dr. Paul Spudis and as a first time guest, Tony Lavoie to discuss their recently published paper, "Mission and Implementation of an Affordable Lunar Return." You can download their paper here: http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon/2010/12/can-we-afford-to-return-to-the-moon and www.spudislunarresources.com/Papers/Affordable_Lunar_Base.pdf. I urge you to read their paper before commenting on the blog or sending either guest an email. While our program unfolded in three segments, our entire discussion was focused on their program for returning to the Moon. Dr. Spudis started us out in the first segment with a history going back to Augustine when he was not satisfied with the conclusions from the committee and set out with Tony to see if they could develop a lunar return architecture that would work and fall within the NASA budget. During the first segment, our guests addressed the commercial potential of their suggested program as well as the incremental approach the program draws upon. Toward the end of the segment, we talked about timelines, both for the robotic and site exploratory missions, then followed by the human missions. We also talked about the use of telerobotics for this program as the Moon is close enough to allow for this while a NEO or Mars mission would incur substantial time delays rendering it difficult to use teleoperated robotics. In our second segment, Tony expanded the time line topic and carried it out to around year seven. We also talked about ways to assure long term congressional financing and project support. We took several listener questions including one from Marshall regarding a possible liquid core for the Moon. Spike both emailed and called in with questions about the paper, while there were several additional questions about the use of lunar water for fuel as well as for humans. Toward the end of this active listener give and take with our two guests, Jerry asked about the Moon having an increased value due to recent exploration and discoveries. You do not want to miss what our guests had to say about this. In fact, as you will hear from our guests, this increased lunar value with the discovery of water and more provides a significant part of the rational and the economics to return to the Moon. At the end of this segment, our guests fielded a heavy lift question. As you will hear, the paper suggests moderate heavy lift at approximately 65 metric tons. While the analysis was not made, the suspicion was that without heavy lift the mission costs would be higher. In our third segment, we continued with listener questions and calls on a range of subjects related to the paper. John inquired about reusability and engines. Tim inquired about nuclear propulsion & a liquid oxygen and aluminum powder as the propellant. I then asked Paul and Tony for their implementation plan for their program. We concluded the program with a discussion of the value of this plan and returning to the Moon for us to become space fairing, not just to quickly go to a destination and return as we did with Apollo. The plan is about making Cis-lunar space affordable and routine so we can continue expanding our presence in space. We talked about space development as a wealth building tool and investing in space development and not treating it as an expense. Post your comments and questions for our guests on The Space Show blog at the URL above. Dr. Spudis has a website, www.spudislunarresources.com & a blog @ http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon. Guest email addresses are on the title page of their paper. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 17 Jan 2011 04:29:29 UTC
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Dr. John S. Lewis, Friday, 1-14-11 (44.02MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. John S. Lewis. Topics: China's space program, He3, fusion, the Moon, and more. Please note that 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. In our fist segment, Dr. Lewis began discussing the Chinese space program which was discussed in depth during the entire interview. One of the questions asked him was about China's possible membership in the ISS partnership. Don't miss his response but also note what he said about the Khrushchev Principle. In response to other listener questions, Dr. Lewis described the difference between urban and rural China as to space awareness and education. There were also listener questions pertaining to "Mining The Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets," the famous book written by our guest. By the way, this book is available on the OGLF Amazon partners page. If you buy it using www.amazon.com/dp/0201328194?tag=onegialeafou-20, Amazon will make a contribution to OGLF/The Space Show. Listener Chris called in from Argentina and asked Dr. Lewis about faith and religion and how it had impacted his science and work. Our second segment started with a discussion on space resources and finding a market. For example, Dr. Lewis said we would not be returning hydrocarbons to Earth. Later, he talked about the Chinese program being a great source of national pride as was the Apollo program to the United States. Our discussion move to He3 on the Moon but as you will hear, we talked about it quite a bit during the balance of the interview. Dr. Lewis talked about He3 on the Moon, the outer planets, and fielded a question about it on Mars. During this discussion, he did say without fusion energy, He3 did not have that much value. That said, Dr. Lewis reported on the status of developing fusion energy using the ITER as an example and said progress was being made. Another thing Dr. Lewis pointed out was that to extract one ton of He3 on the Moon, you need to process 100 million tons of lunar regolith. As you will hear him say, we need to develop a very small test program to see if we can even process He3 from the regolith. Note what he said about the harsh conditions and environment that one will have to work in for both men and equipment to process He3. Toward the end of the second segment, a listener asked him for a comparison of the Indian lunar program with the Chinese program. Our third segment started with a question about He3 on Mars. You will hear Dr. Lewis explain why this is a non-starter. Charles called in to discuss the D-T model for fusion. Mark inquired some more about NEOs and co-orbitals and asked Dr. Lewis for his favorites for development. The Japanese program was discussed with Dr. Lewis saying it was a very serious program. The 2011 Chinese lunar schedule was mentioned with the approaching launch of Shenzhou VIII. Toward the end of our program, Dr. Lewis told us about his upcoming science fiction books, a few of which will be released this year. Check out www.johnslewis.com for more information about the topics we discussed today and the works and blog of Dr. Lewis. If you have comments or questions for Dr. John Lewis, please post them on The Space Show blog. You can also post comments and questions for Dr. Lewis on his website. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 15 Jan 2011 18:06:33 UTC
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Mary Roach, Tuesday, 1-11-11 (32.35MB; download) -- Guest: Mary Roach. Topics: Her book "Stiff" and a discussion of human cadaver scientific testing and its history with human spaceflight. Please note that 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. Noted author Mary Roach returned to the show to discuss her book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers." This book is available on the One Giant Leap Foundation Amazon Partners page at www.amazon.com/dp/0393324826?tag=onegialeafou-20. When you purchase the book through OGLF, Amazon contributes to The Space Show. During this one hour program with Ms. Roach, we not only talked about the scientific impact and usage of human cadavers, we talked about cadaver usage in the space program. Though limited, such research was used in Apollo capsule splashdown tests and in other areas. As you will hear, Mary, with her customary wit and humor, takes us through the various ways cadavers are used for scientific study and the impact these tests have had on safety that impacts all of us. Some of the chapters of Stiff that we focused on had to do with head research as well as what was learned from the TWA 800 plane accident. We were able to extrapolate much of this discussion to human spaceflight safety but as you will hear, for a variety of reasons, some of the safety studies, especially for race cars and automobile accidents don't transfer well to space because of need for severe restraint for safety which is not practical or possible for spaceflight passengers. One of the issues Mary told us about was the concept for how to return a body to Earth from Mars or another space location. Drawing on the Swedish burial system known as Promession to reduce the mass of the body, Mary described the plan on the show. You can read comments about this at http://deathreferencedesk.org/2010/09/12/prepare-for-death-and-follow-me-into-outer-space. Ms. Roach identified the system as the Body Back System. Our topics for tonight's show are seldom talked about let alone on a program primarily dealing with space issues. Despite this, the subject is interesting and has relevance for space issues. If you have questions or comments for Mary Roach, please post them on the blog URL above. You can email Mary through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:47:37 UTC
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Dr. George Sowers, Monday, 1-10-11 (44.03MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. George Sowers. Topics: EELV for human rating, commercial space topics, space policy issues. Please note that 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. In our first segment, Dr. Sowers began with an assessment and description of the Atlas rocket & its role over the years, then moving to discussions with Bigelow and commercial crew with NASA re CCDEV. We talked about what would be required for human rating an EELV and then we talked about the testing program that would be used for such the new systems. Dr. Sowers explained this process in some detail so make sure you listen carefully to this segment. We talked about launches from Vandenberg as well as the Cape to the ISS and even beyond the ISS. I asked Dr. Sowers about the launch price increases I have been mentioning on air that were mentioned at the recent AGU conference in San Francisco. He explained this matter in some detailed. Here, we talked about the NASA Launch Services (NLS) and the new NLS 2. As you will hear, the price increase story is correct but Dr. Sowers cleared up lots of confusion surrounding the issue. As the segment ended, we talked about launch service being treated as a commodity. Don't miss what Dr. Sowers said about this. Our second segment started with a more detailed description of what Dr. Sowers meant by referencing our industrial base. As you will hear, this is a concise and excellent overview of our aerospace industry as of now. I then asked Dr. Sowers for his take on what constituted commercial space. We had a comprehensive discussion about this, including the types of contracts used, the nature of the customer, space markets, and more. A listener suggested that SpaceX was more commercial than ULA because of some misunderstandings of the origins of EELV so don't miss what Dr. Sowers had to say about this matter as ULA and EELV are absolutely commercial. Another topic that came up was the perceived but incorrect competition with Orion and CCDEV. CCDEV is really about going to LEO and the ISS. Orion is being built for beyond LEO and the ISS. He said it was a false competition. We then talked about the private sector capabilities for doing safe and reliable human spaceflight to the ISS. Not a problem but listen to the discussion. Later in the segment, space tourism came up as a subject followed by a listener asking about reusability. Toward the end of the program, I asked about new commercial markets and business opportunities arising form the commercial space policy debate in 2010. I wanted to know if our guest was seeing new opportunities coming to the forefront, even if just in the Power Point format. Here, Dr. Sowers referred back to Bigelow as the most real near-term opportunity. Please post your comments and questions on The Space Show Blog URL above. If you want to send a comment or question to our guest, please do so through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:03:35 UTC
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Open Lines, Sunday, 1-9-11 (70.86MB; download) -- Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Space policy, commercial space, the Moon's core, north pole movement, heavy lift and more. Please note that 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. This Open Lines program was about 135 minutes divided into two segments. I put forth several discussion topic suggestions including the Discovery Shuttle tank cracks, the Chinese stealth fighter, NASA's research suggesting that the Moon has an Earth-like core, layoffs taking place in the Huntsville area, issues regarding The Space Show Blog, and issues of civility with the space policy debate and stakeholders. Our first caller Sal wanted to talk about the movement of the North Pole and other related matters. Sal was followed by Kelly talking about Orion, commercial crew, and space markets. These discussions filled up the first segment. In the second segment, Marshall called in from Dallas to respond to the comments by Sal regarding the north pole. Marshall brought in the use of GPS for better navigation and suggested GPS was negating the three definitions commonly used for the north pole. Later, Tim in Huntsville called in to respond to my comment about the possible need for a destination with a fixed time table to have an effective civil space policy. Tim was advocating cheap access to space and I asked him how to achieve that goal. We then had a discussion about markets versus costs, the Field of Dreams scenario, and what we both might expect in the way of the space program moving toward low cost space access. Our discussion included our perspectives on emerging markets coming to the forefront as a result of the space policy and commercial space debate we saw take place last year. John from Atlanta then dialed in to talk some more about heavy lift and I kept asking him what it would be used for and we got into a discussion about possible funding cuts, the authorization bill ,and what the appropriators might do. We talked about Orion, Dragon, and what Boeing might do for a commercial crewed capsule. Toward the end of the program, we took another call from Kelly to discuss Congress and its micromanagement of NASA through the budget. Kelly thinks Congress may micromanage the funding going to NASA and I am more of the school that NASA will figure out its priorities within its budget and make the allocations. We also talked some more about the Chinese stealth fighter as well as stealth planes from other countries. Kelly thought that this international push toward stealth fighters might result in the U.S. going for a new fighter aircraft and rebuilding that segment of our industry. Our final call was from Sal to clarify what he was saying about black holes at the center of the Earth. If you have a question or comment, please post it on the blog. If you want to send a note to any of the callers, send it to me and I will forward it to the person of your choice. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 10 Jan 2011 04:53:56 UTC
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Jim Lewis, Friday, 1-7-11 (44.48MB; download) -- Guest: Jim Lewis. Topics: Deep Space Communications and Virtual Teleportation, a new business venture. Please note that 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. Check www.deepspacecom.net for more information. You can read more about virtual teleportation at http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20101209/bs_prweb/prweb4878054_1. In our first segment, Jim introduced us to the Deep Space Communication Network he set up to send messages to space, including many Space Show messages over the years. He then discussed their new project, virtual teleportation. There is an EBay auction for the project so if interested, search EBay for Virtual Teleportation into Space. Jim took us through the process of being able to virtually teleport a person into space, including all the medical, historical, and psychological profiling done to make sure the DNA is supplemented by sufficient data to reassemble the person by an advanced intelligence, assuming such ET intelligence exists. He also mentioned that the data was being securely stored here on Earth for 30 years. Jim explained the make up of the $40,000 price for this service as it does entail many participants to make sure the message can be sent to deep space. Listeners asked Jim about family packages, doing this for pets, and more. He said they were open and flexible as this was very new for them too. It is being test marketed using an EBay auction. Charles called in to ask about transmissions using laser diode rather than RF and this brought up a discussion of transmitting off Earth. As you will hear, since the transmissions use RF, there is not much to be gained by doing it off Earth. We also talked about the power range of the transmissions, the fact that they travel about 4-5 light years, and that its estimated that it will take about twenty minutes to transmit the virtual teleportation data. In our second segment, we inquired about possible ITAR regulations and ideas for broadening the market appeal for those interested in doing virtual teleportation. We then switched topics for a health condition of the space coast since Jim is located at the Cape. He gave us a good summary of what was going on along the Space Coast, including shuttle, Falcon 9, commercial space, and layoffs. Later in the segment, Alice asked if there was anyway to get feedback once the signal was transmitted. Unfortunately, once its transmitted, there is no feedback or information as to what happens to it. I asked Jim about his space documentary TV making and if that business was changing or declining given the condition of the economy and the space industry. As you will hear, there appears to be a lessening of interest among the public and the networks for space programming. If you have questions or comments about the virtual teleportation, deep space messages, or anything else discussed, please post them on The Space Show blog. You can also email Jim Lewis at jlewis@cciflorida.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:11:41 UTC
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Douglas Messier, Tuesday, 1-4-11 (48.95MB; download) -- Guest: Douglas Messier. Topics: ParabolicArc.com, space news reporting, space 201 and 2011 events. Please note that 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. For more information, visit www.parabolicarc.com. In our first segment, Doug briefly outlined some of his news sources and what he does to be able to report extremely current and often ground breaking news. After this discussion, he was asked for his choice of the best story for 2010 and he talked about the runway dedication for Spaceport America and Branson's flight to the runway from Las Cruces to open the runway. You will both enjoy and appreciate this story. We then talked about the new governor of New Mexico and possible spaceport audits and personnel changes. Another topic was Obamaspace and Doug said he thought it was about 80% right on. While a fan of commercial and NewSpace, he said it still suffers from limited commercial flight and simply too few flights, often requiring members of congress to have a leap of faith in the industry. Space workforce jobs then entered our discussion and since Doug is also in California, I spent some time asking him about the California national as well as state legislative officials and their views on space and their support of the California space industry. As you will hear, its not like what goes on in other states with a stronger human spaceflight presence such as Florida, Alabama, and Texas. Doug then talked about the shifts taking place in the industry and geographically due to the rise in commercial space activity. In the second segment, we talked about the NASA CRuSR program, COTS, and CCDEV. Doug was asked about the likelihood of 2011 being the year for a SpaceX IPO. You won't want to miss what he said about that. Space tourism came up and Doug was asked to tell us how the industry has changed over the past twenty years that he has been covering space news and exploration topics. During this discussion, Doug summarized what many of the space tourism suborbital companies were doing and their progress plus expectations for this new year. In our third segment, we talked about writing scripts for Star Trek as Doug had pitched a few scripts to several of the Star Trek franchise TV shows. He shared his experiences with us and explained the process for doing this. He then told us about visiting several of the Star Trek sets and meeting a few of the cast members from the different programs. Later in this segment, we spent additional time talking about CCDEV, NASA's commercial crew development program. We then moved on to talking about EELV human rating conversions and Doug said he had a post on the subject on his blog at www.parabolicarc.com/?s=human+rating+certification. Toward the end of the program, Brenda asked about changes over the past two decades in the public perception of space development and exploration. At the end of the show, Doug listed three areas of expectations for grand events for 2011. Listen and see if you agree with him. If you have a comment or question for Doug Messier, please post it on the blog URL above. You can email him at 21stcenturycomm@gmail.com. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:16:24 UTC
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Dr. Christopher McKay, Monday, 1-3-11 (50.22MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Christopher (Chris) McKay. Topics: Mars, astrobiology, planetary exploration, Moon bases, search for life. Please note that 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 back Dr. Chris McKay of NASA Ames discuss Mars, lunar bases, the possibility of organics and even life on Mars, and humans to Mars missions. We started our first segment by talking about Constellation as Dr. McKay was the deputy program scientist for Constellation. As you will hear, as one program closes, other doors open. We then talked about the upcoming Mars Science Lab (MSL) mission scheduled to launch in November 2011 and the efforts to restudy the possibility of organics in the Martian soil and the possibility of molecules given updates since the Viking missions. With the discovery of perchlorates in the Martian soil and Viking having probably destroyed organics, scientists are excited about the coming results expected from MSL. Dr. McKay even rated the likelihood of finding organics on Mars as well as actually confirming life on Mars. You don't want to miss his comments on this. We then discussed why humans should go to Mars. Listen carefully to this discussion. Listener Darrell wanted to know about the use of heavy lift in exploring Mars and more. As you will hear, to go to the Moon to stay and on to Mars, heavy lift would be important for Martian exploration & settlement. Listen carefully to what Dr. McKay had to say about heavy lift. Later in this segment, Chris from Argentina asked about his differences with the Zubrin Mars Direct program. Dr. McKay said he was less concerned with how fast we get to Mars as he was with being able to stay. Again, do you do not want to miss this discussion. Several times during our discussion, Dr. McKay talked about the South Pole/Antarctic model for both lunar and Martian research outposts. Our second segment kicked off with Chris calling us from Argentina with questions about terreforming Mars. Here, Dr. McKay had much to say about what we should do with terreforming if life was discovered on Mars. Other topics in this segment included Titan, human missions to NEOs, ISRU development, Moon bases and even human missions to Mercury. Near the end of the program, we asked Dr. McKay to comment on the recent Mono Lake arsenic life form announcements by NASA. Don't miss what he had to say about this science. I also asked our guest to outline the program he would undertake were he in charge of our civil space program. Dr. McKay mentioned three things including a human mission to a NEO, sample return missions from Mars, and setting up a longer term research base on the Moon to be able to do long term research on Mars. Dr. McKay was asked how to make the space case he was talking about to the American people and to Congress. What do you think of his suggestions? Near the end, a caller asked about the economics of the vision and plan Dr. McKay was discussing. We talked about economic growth and Chris suggested focusing in on a Moon base with a budget to not exceed 25% of the NASA budget and to force development of lower costs for doing these programs. He even referenced applying Moore's Law to space development to lower the cost of space access and development, not just the cost of space hardware. Trent called in to discuss the nature and duration of planning, specifically long term planning. At the end of the program, I asked Dr. McKay to describe for us the differences in the Arctic and the Antarctic. Don't miss this added discussion. If you have a question or comment for Dr. Chris McKay, please post it on the blog URL above. You can also email Chris at chris.mckay@nasa.gov. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:47:11 UTC
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Dr. Greg Baiden, Sunday, 1-2-11 (47.70MB; download) -- Guest: Dr. Greg Baiden. Topics: Mining the Moon/NEO. You are invited to comment, ask questions, & discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, & any discussion must be applicable to Space Show programming. Visit Dr. Baiden's website, www.penguinasi.com/industrial. In our first segment, Dr. Baiden introduced telerobotic and automated mining and said that mining the Moon would be easier than mining a NEO. He talked about mining lunar water as an example. What was needed would be to have customers & he suggested LEO to service both human spaceflight and GEO traffic using fuel storage depots. For NEOs to be a possibility, he said we would need 100% robotic capability and we are not there yet. He also suggested the market would have to be larger than the ISS needs. We discussed what should come first, the market or the capability to mine lunar water and get it to LEO. We talked about how such a project would be done and he suggested public/private partnerships. Later in the show, due to policy and regulatory issues, he suggested that the private sector would probably have the best chance of doing this as they would not be so regulatory bound as government. Other issues discussed with listeners dealt with power for the lunar mining equipment, all of the space transport needs from launch to landing on the Moon to launching from the Moon to rendezvousing with the orbital depot. Greg explained that on Earth in low cost labor markets like China, the trend was moving to automated mining, mostly to move the humans away from operations for safety reasons. He talked about mining under water as relevant to the Moon because of the ability to simulate lunar gravity. At the end of this segment, we started talking about repair capabilities and logistically being able to deal with mining consumables, mainly steel. In the second segment, we talked about underground mining and avoiding strip mining. Sandra emailed in about hurting the lunar environment and this opened a short discussion on lunar and space environmental issues. I cut the discussion short for reasons you will hear on air & I hope this does not become an out of proportion blog topic. That said, Greg had some important things to say on this issue given his vast experience in the industry. We should all take note of his wisdom. Later in this segment, Greg identified the four initial piece of equipment he would send to the Moon and we talked about having the equipment fixed in one spot or being movable to different locations on the Moon. As this segment ended, our discussion addressed nuclear power for the lunar mining equipment and policy which both Greg and I suggested would be far more of a challenge than the financing, technology, and engineering. In our final segment, we asked Greg how international mining companies dealt with the myriad of regulations from different nations given they operate in countries around the world. He said what was needed was a land clause and for space this would be a resolution to the property rights issue. The real estate issue for space mining would have to have a resolution for mining to be successful. He said the first party to do it would have a far easier time of it than subsequent companies. Don't miss his comments on this important issue. I asked Dr. Baiden about the treaties and he said they were probably insufficient for commercial mining operations. We also talked about the concept of benefit sharing for all humanity. At the end, he was asked about mining Platinum Group Metals (PGM) from the Moon. As for a plausible time line, if the policy part of this process went smoothly, perhaps we could stat some sort of operations within ten to twenty years. His last question was about the probable cause of the Chile mining accident a few months ago. Post questions & comments on the blog & send them to me for forwarding. Selected by: David Livingston [ stations ], Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:32:16 UTC
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