Guest: Charlie Precourt. Topics: Human spaceflight, SLS-Orion, Mars, Moon, technology & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://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. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.
We welcomed Charlie Precourt back to the show to discuss SLS-Orion progress and milestones, human spaceflight, technology advancement, & much more. During our one segment 63 minute discussion, I first asked out guest about the Orbital ATK merger and business under the combined companies. We soon shifted to the SLS-Orion discussion which included information on the 5 segment solid rocket booster (SRB), tonnage to escape which our guest explained, possible missions, and opportunities that will become available as a result of having this heavy lift rocket available for missions that need the lift & high energy capacity of SLS. We talked about shorter travel times, larger payload mass & volume, plus higher energy transfer orbits using SLS as compared to an EELV. Charlies was asked about SRB safety for human spaceflight. Don't miss his comments on this issue. He talked at length about the benefits of marrying the SRB for lift out of a gravity well to liquids for propulsion once in space. Our guest provided statistics on SRB launches and uses to support what he was telling us. Charlie also talked about his Space Shuttle flight experience and the Shuttle's SME, especially when there was an SME problem on one of his shuttle flights. We talked about going BLEO and he introduced us to the concept of One Space. As a result of listener questions, our guest talked about SLS costs, its design for multiple destinations and missions, and the launch "sweet spot" that it would fill. BJohn asked if there were uses for an SRB or solid rocket motor in space. Charlie said for liftoff from a gravity well, yes, but otherwise the SPI for a solid was likely too low for in-space propulsion. I asked our guest about Orbital ATK meeting the SLS -Orion milestones and upcoming flight testing. Jeff from Tucson called in about the use of modern technology including light weight epoxy material for SRBs & other spaceflight hardware. Near the end of the program, I asked Charlie about the justification for HSF to see what he had to say about it. Don't miss his reply. We then talked about technology challenges in going to Mars, choices that were made to do the shuttle and ISS over deep space missions, and destinations that were still Earth dependent as compared to those being Earth independent such as Mars. Jack emailed in a question based on a show earlier in the week where the guest said that for putting SPS infrastructure in space, SLS was too sophisticated. What was needed was big rockets that had a 2% failure rate as that rocket would be lots cheaper than an SLS. Charlie did not specifically comment on SPS infrastructure but did take issue with the notion that it would be fine to have a rocket with a high failure rate to make it cheaper than something like SLS. Listen to how he explained this. Tell us what you think on TSS blog. As the show was about to end, a listener ask Charlie, based on his F15, Air Force, and test pilot experience, what he thought of the new F35 Joint Strike Fighter and the shortcomings of the new fighter that are reported in the press. Charlie had interesting comments about this so don't miss them.
Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog above. You can reach Charlie Precourt through The Space Show.
Guest: Dr. John Logsdon. Topics: Professor Logsdon's new book, "After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program," plus our guest responded to many space policy questions then and now. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://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. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.
We welcomed back to the show Dr. John Logsdon to discuss his new book, "After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program." During the first segment of our 90 minute discussion, Dr. Logsdon provided us with the multi-year history behind his researching and writing this book. We talked about the Space Shuttle but also the gap within NASA and parts of the space community including the advocate community between having great expectations but insufficient resources to support the great expectations. We talked about the likelihood of significant NASA budget increases in coming years and while possible, our guest said it was unlikely. President Nixon wanted space to be considered routine and NASA to compete for funding with other parts of the discretionary budget. What President Nixon set in motion is continuing through this day. Dr. Logsdon said policy normally comes from the White House but recently policy for SLS came from the Senate because they did not like what President Obama was doing. We talked about the long range impact of the Nixon space policy even through today and at one point Dr. Logsdon suggested that maybe Nixon got it right regarding American public sentiment about space. Our guest received questions about planetary science and its accomplishments and other listeners inquired about public/private partnerships. Still, our guest said that only governments really have the resources to carry out the type of space investment needed for exploration. Listeners asked about other forces of the time including the Cold War and space policy champions in leadership positions such as Tom Paine who was the NASA Administrator. Dr. Logsdon was asked how things might have been different had Hubert Humphry been elected president. Mars was also discussed, then Dr. Logsdon talked about the space shuttle history. In response to several questions, he shared his thoughts and experiences from his time spent serving on the CAIB. Another topic in this segment dealt with space advocacy. Our guest said we need advocacy to keep the dream alive until leadership makes it happen. He said talk about settlement and pioneering were mainly just words. Pioneering needed to answer two questions which he addressed before the break.
In segment two, we talked about the ISS and Shuttle having consumed the HSF budget and now the ISS does that with about $3 billion per year. Using the shuttle for national defense and security during the Nixon years was also a discussion topic as Nixon liked national security issues. Dr. Logsdon had much to say about the shuttle's use by the military and for national security. You might be surprised by what you hear. As for human spaceflight, Dr. Logsdon referred her to the NRC Pathways Study which we have discussed many times on The Space Show. More questions came in regarding space advocacy which he said pushes the boundaries of realism and needs to be balanced between sober reality and pure fantasy. Tony emailed us to ask about SLS/Orion, private space over NASA, and Elon Musk and his Mars settlement plans. A question came in about being motivated by the Chinese space program. For closing remarks, Dr. Logsdon addressed the Nixon space policy and program legacy which still influences us today.
Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog above. You can reach Dr. Logsdon through me. When purchasing his book through Amazon, please use the OGLF Amazon link on the website and all archive programs as Amazon will then contribute a percentage of the sale price to The Space Show. Thank you.
Guest: Michael Soluri. Topics: Hubble Repair Mission STS-125 as portrayed in his book, "Infinite Worlds.," NASA & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://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. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See http://www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.
We welcomed author and photographer Michael Soluri to the show to discuss his behind the scenes documentary work for STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope repair mission and his book, "infinite Worlds." During the first segment of our 90 minute discussion, Michael provided us with the background on how he was able to go inside NASA, be with the STS-125 crew, and photographically document all aspects of the final Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission. His book "Infinite Worlds" is truly a behind the scenes photographic documentation of this mission, a must have book as you will hear me say throughout the program. Remember, if you buy it through TSS/OGLF Amazon portal detailed on all archived programs and both websites, Amazon makes a contribution to TSS.OGLF. Listeners asked Michael many questions about the STS-125 crew regarding risk, safety, the rescue mission that was on the pad ready to go and more. Michael also told us about asking the veteran crew members about the quality of light in space so better space pictures could be made. This led to a workshop where Michael helped the crew in looking at things in space differently to get better and different pictures. Michael talked about the support he got from Goddard, seeing the training in the Hi Bay clean room and even meeting and talking with the crew families. We talked about the initial mission cancellation, then the reinstatement by Mike Griffin. Michael also worked in his early documentation work on the New Horizons mission to Pluto, a mission he is still documenting as we await the July 2015 arrival at the planet. He was also asked about the James Webb Space Telescope and if he thought it might take up and continue in our culture as much as Hubble has been a part of our culture.
In the second segment, we talked about on orbit servicing and the essay in his book by the father of on orbit servicing, Frank Cepollina. Michael then told about the Hubble tools and how unique and artistic they were being all rounded with features designed for use when wearing a pressure glove in space, not for use here on Earth. He also told us about being able to photograph the tools in the Hi Bay which he did as objects of art. Later on in the segment, we talked about the end of the space shuttle, the modern capsules replacing it from SpaceX and the other companies, and the difference with a transportation system which is what is being developed today and the space system which has been lost due to the shuttle retirement. Michael was asked by another listener about the space entrepreneurs. He has not had contact with them but says they are different from earlier space venture participants as they are all about business and making money and the business types don talk about "poetry." Our guest was asked about NASA public outreach and inspiration and for the most part he said that we had to do that for space, not NASA. We need to be persistent, to inspire, to be passionate. He said not expect those within the organization to do it. The taxpayers themselves need to do it. Michael offered us interesting concluding comments and thoughts so don't miss what he had to say.
Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog. You can reach Michael Soluri through me or his website, http://www.michaelsoluri.com.
Guest: Greg Cecil. Topics: STEM for Middle School students, human spaceflight, Mars & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://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. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See http://www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.
We welcomed Greg Cecil back to the program for this 1 hour 37 minute discussion. During our first segment, Greg summarized his space shuttle experience when working on the thermal protection system at KSC, talked about keeping in touch with former shuttle employees and letting us know that in his opinion, shuttle was retired too early. After the shuttle program was closed down, Greg began consulting and teaching science to middle school students. He talked about the difference in a public inner city school as compared to teaching in a private school. His observations are important, especially about parent involvement & support in the student's education. Greg devised space related projects for the students & created scientific experiments to fly with the J.P. Aerospace high altitude balloon flights. Greg described some of the experiments and the benefits in working with John Powell of J.P. Aerospace. We talked about the impact of the flights and making the payloads. I asked if the impact will remain with them as they go through school, possibly in selecting a space or science education and career. Greg also attended the recent Explore Mars Humans2Mars Conference and here he offered us many valuable observations. Listen to what he had to say about NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden's talk, then later the talk given by NewSpace advocate and co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation, Rick Tumlinson. The differences between the two talks and approaches led to Greg's conversion to being a NewSpace proponent. Greg talked about SpaceX and suggested it was risky for any one company to be the face of NewSpace, either intentionally or by chance.
In the second segment, Greg talked about the movie, "I want To Be An Astronaut." Doug emailed in a comment based on our first segment discussion given Greg's comment about NASA budgets being tight & being a show stopper for grandiose HSF missions such as those to Mars & as reported in the NRC Pathways HSF study. Greg responded to Doug, then I let got with one of my infamous rants directed not just at Doug but we space enthusiasts in general for having lousy communication skills. In this instance, my rant was about Doug focusing on technology and never ever making the case for the WHY or the need to do what he suggested in his question. Greg then spoke to the importance of knowing your customer, congressman, market, and effectively communicating the WHY & the NEED. Later, after the rant and aftermath of the volcanic eruption, Greg spoke to how best to approach members of congress and state legislatures. We then talked about the RD-180 engine, SLS, & HSF spaceships. As our discussion was ending, Greg pointed out the risks associated with putting all our HSF eggs in one basket and one company. He closed by saying never give up plus he provided his email address at the end of the show.
Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog. You can reach Greg through me or the address he gave out on air as the show was ending.
Guest: Franklin (Frank) Van Rensselaer, Jr. Topics: Schafer Corp Aerospace & Strategic Business Development, commercial space, markets, capital. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://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. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See http://www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.
We welcomed Frank Van Rensselear to the program to discuss Schafer Corp and various commercial space topics and issues. Our program was an hour long so we had only one segment. We started our discussion with by talking with our guest about his experience as an Apollo Flight Controller and he described his position as The Booster. He shared some of his experiences with us, especially for Apollo 8 and Apollo 12 which was hit by lightening shortly after launch. Frank was also on the job through Skylab and the ASTP. Listen and enjoy the history. We then jumped into his experiences in commercial space and his having developed over $300 million in new business when he was with the Harris Corporation. Our guest was asked about the newly released NRC Pathways Human Spaceflight Study and he said he basically agreed with it in that we do not have enough money, we can't do meaningful and inspiring projects, and overall he suggested this was demeaning to the country. We talked for several minutes about tight budget issues for NASA and the way congress and the American people set priorities which do not seem to include human spaceflight. I suggested this is a choice & asked how we get policy and budget pros within the system to make different choices in support of HSF. Frank was asked if Constellation had not been cancelled if we would be in a similar position today with our dependency on Russia and related issues. He did not think so but listen to his full response. We talked about the RD-180 engine and the likelihood that congress will appropriate funds to make a U.S. replacement engine. This brought up the need for such an engine if we have Delta and soon will have Falcon 9 which still gives us two independent launchers for high value national security payloads. Frank had lots to say on this subject, on SpaceX and ULA, along with the importance of these national security satellites and launches. John in Tucson emailed him about SLS on which our guest also had much to say. But as long as we are focused on tight budget issues, the program has been & will be disappointing. Again, you don't want to miss all of his comments on this issue. Military space was a discussion topic as was public opinion suggesting space is not that relevant any more. We talked about Inspiration Mars being able to inspire but we both doubted it would happen. Tony called in to ask about reusability & why the space shuttle was compromised and reusability taken out. In the end, our guest suggested that reusability would be key to our space future. Next, we talked about Schafer Corp and its activities. We learned that they consult and work with several NewSpace companies and they are hiring but typically they go for experienced engineers, not fresh out college grads. I asked Frank for his perspective on the recently announced Google purchase of Skybox Imaging for $500 million. This too was a most interesting discussion you do not want to miss. Other topics during our program included billionaire space investors, suborbital tourism, space settlement, and commercial space growth by sectors. Here we talked markets, needed infrastructure and capital acquisition for lunar projects and the like. Our guest talked about the need for government sponsored infrastructure in advance of lunar commercial projects and suggested only government was capable of footing the bill for the needed infrastructure. He said raising the actual capital was a challenge and that at this time, it would really be uphill for lunar ventures. In his concluding remarks, he said he was bullish for commercial space and private space companies and that going commercial was a good thing as it has & will bring in fresh ideas & projects. His final question was about 3D printing for space.
Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog. You can reach our guest through the Schafer Corp website, http://www.schafercorp.com or me.
Guests: John Batchelor, Pablo de Leon, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: We discussed the HSF capsules dating back to the Vostok through Dragon Rider. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written 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 do not permit the commercial use of any Space Show program or part thereof, nor do we permit Space Show programs to be edited, placed on YouTube, or other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted in news articles, papers, academic & research work but must be cited or referenced in the proper citation format. Contact Dr. Livingston for questions about our copyright and trademark policies which we do enforce.This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. Remember, your Amazon Purchases Can Help Support The Space Show/OGLF (www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm). For those of you listening to archives on live365.com & rating the programs, please email me the reasons for your rating. This will definitely help improve Space Show programming. Thank you.
We welcomed to Hotel Mars Pablo de Leon to discuss HSF capsules from Vostok to Dragon Rider. We discussed the capsule design, why we are still using them, how they were out of favor at one time and are now in favor, plus the future for capsules for human spaceflight. We talked about the thrusters on the Soyuz plus what Dragon Rider is planning to use, plus electronics and computer advancements along with environmental advancements being used in the new capsules. Pablo also discussed alternatives to capsules that we have attempted to develop over the years but without success.
Guest: Lee Hutchinson. Topics: The possible Columbia Space Shuttle rescue mission. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://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. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.
We welcomed Lee Hutchinson to the program to discuss his recent article, "The audacious rescue plan that might have saved space shuttle Columbia" which you can read at http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/02/the-audacious-rescue-plan-that-might-have-saved-space-shuttle-columbia. Note that Mr. Hutchinson said he found the possible rescue plan spelled out in the CAIB report in seldom discussed Appendix D13 of the report. In questioning Lee, we also learned that the plan did not exist real time with Columbia but was actually requested as part of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's work. In the first segment of our 1 hour 28 minute program, our guest told us why he wrote the article and how he noticed the possible rescue plan back when he was tasked with reviewing the CAIB Report. During this segment, our guest described all parts of the plan and we discussed the likelihood of it having worked had it been implemented. Lee also discussed probable & significant timing issues with parts of the rescue plan making it unlikely to have been implemented had it been a real time plan under consideration. It was dependent upon too many things happening precisely on time and schedule, something that was not always possible with shuttle launches. Lee also went over the specific crew training issues that would have been required, plus issues in using EVA suits and getting them to and from Columbia for the astronauts to use. Listeners asked many questions including questions about NASA management at the time, risk averseness, & the NASA culture. Lee was asked about the comments & feedback he received from writing his article. As the segment ended, Mr. Hutchinson discussed plane change maneuvers and the significance of the orbital inclination of Columbia and the ISS.
In the second segment, a Cleveland listener ask for Lee's thoughts on SLS-Orion. Lee & I talked about this & the NASA culture plus the need for heavy lift assuming there are missions for it. He was asked if the shuttle could fly without pilots, then we went back to SLS. He also told us about his interest in the redesign of the F1 engine. You can read his articles on the F1 here: http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-monstrous-f-1-moon-rocket-back-to-life; http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/new-f-1b-rocket-engine-upgrades-apollo-era-deisgn-with-1-8m-lbs-of-thrust. Lee received several email questions regarding the foam strike on Columbia & foam modification efforts. He was also asked about the shuttle repair kit which was carried on subsequent shuttle flights. Benny asked if a 3D printer on board could have made the materials to repair the Columbia damage.
Please post your comments/questions on TSS Blog above. You can reach Lee Hutchinson through me or the Arstechnica.com site.