| Broadcast
907 (Special Edition) |  Listen to the show! | | Aired on March 11th, 2008 | | Guest: Dr. Roger Launius |
| Dr. Roger Launius returned as the guest to The Space Show for this important, interesting, and fun program. We started our discussion asking if NASA itself might find that it is an artifact worthy of being collected by the Air and Space Museum. While this was a tongue-in-cheek question, it took us right to the point about the future for the VSE, NASA programming, its budget, and its programming. Don't miss his response! Listeners asked Dr. Launius several questions about the Smithsonian, their collection, tours, even tours to the undisplayed items. One listener asked about space art in the museum, such as by Alan Bean and other well-known space artists. Again, don't miss this discussion as Dr. Launius explained to us a bit of the inner workings at the Air and Space Museum as to what items are deemed collectable, how an item is chosen to represent history, and more. This is a fascinating look behind the scenes at the Smithsonian. Next, we discussed the VSE and manned vs. human space exploration. Dr. Launius referenced his new book along with co-author Dr. Howard McCurdy and published earlier this year, "Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel." One listener asked if robots could do what human can do on the Moon or on Mars, or even inspire and motivate others. Don't miss what he had to say about this important issue! As part of this discussion, Dr. Launius mentioned the need for new activities for humans to do in space that justified the high dollar cost and the risk. He said that we definitely needed to lower the cost of space access in order to make human spaceflight more valuable. When asked about the possibility of a commercial silver bullet as the driver for human spaceflight, he admitted that he did not know what it was. We did talk about space tourism and, like many of us, Roger wants to go to space too. We also talked about the human work on the shuttle and the ISS. This is an important discussion that you will not want to miss. Later in the show, a listener from Austin asked about the development of a space cadet wax museum. This was a first for both Roger and me, but I immediately received much email in support of the idea. As we tossed the idea around for a few minutes, we liked it. Let us know what you think of such an idea after you hear this discussion. Also in the last segment of the show a listener asked what the Smithsonian was doing for outreach to Generation Y, a group we have been talking about often in recent shows. You will want to hear what he has to say about outreach. Dr. Launius was also asked how he thought NASA would fare in the next administration. One thing he did say was he suspected there would be an increase in NASA activities for Earth science. However, he was not sure if new funding would be given NASA or if the existing NASA budget is simply divided up differently. If you have questions or comments for Dr. Launius, you can send them to him at launiusr@si.edu.
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| About our guest... |
Dr. Roger Launius
Roger D. Launius is senior curator in the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Between 1990 and 2002 he served as chief historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A graduate of Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, he received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in 1982. He has written or edited more than twenty books on aerospace history, including Robots in Space: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008); Societal Impact of Spaceflight (NASA SP-2007-4801, 2007); Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight (NASA SP-2006-4702, 2006); Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars (Smithsonian Books, 2003), which received the AIAA’s history manuscript prize; Reconsidering a Century of Flight (University of North Carolina Press, 2003); To Reach the High Frontier: A History of U.S. Launch Vehicles (University Press of Kentucky, 2002); Imagining Space: Achievements, Possibilities, Projections, 1950-2050 (Chronicle Books, 2001); Reconsidering Sputnik: Forty Years Since the Soviet Satellite (Harwood Academic, 2000); Innovation and the Development of Flight (Texas A&M University Press, 1999); Frontiers of Space Exploration (Greenwood Press, 1998, rev. ed. 2004); Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership (University of Illinois Press, 1997); and NASA: A History of the U.S. Civil Space Program (Krieger Publishing Co., 1994, rev. ed. 2001). He served as a consultant to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003 and presented the prestigious Harmon Memorial Lecture on the history of national security space policy at the United States Air Force Academy in 2006. He is frequently consulted by the electronic and print media for his views on space issues, and has been a guest commentator on National Public Radio and all the major television network news programs.
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