Guest:  Dr. Madhu Thangalevu;  Topics: Creating a U.S. Cabinet Level Dept. of Space, government as the regulator and more.  Please direct all comments and questions regarding specific Space Show programs & guest(s) to the Space Show blog which is part of archived program on our website, www.thespaceshow.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.

We welcomed back Dr. Madhu Thangalevu to discuss the need for creating a cabinet level Dept. of Space with the new incoming administration.  Our guest talked about several related topics as well. During the first segment of our 1 hour 50 minute discussion, our guest made and presented his case for the creation of a cabinet level Department of Space.  Most of the first segment was devoted to his reasoning for the creation of the Dept. of Space and the need for the presidential candidates to talk space and tell us their bold space vision plans.  Dr. Thangalevu submitted a few articles to help make his case.  Please check out www.spacedaily.com/reports/A_US_Department_of_Space_999.html, http://spacenews.com/us-department-space, plus a Word document written by our guest that I will post as a comment to the blog.  Also in this segment, our guest promoted the idea of strong and essential government leadership with appropriate regulation. He got some listener pushback on this issue, especially from Bob in San Diego.

In the second segment, our guest continued promoting the idea of a Dept. of Space plus we talked budgets and economics regarding his goal of funding the new department with $60 billion per year.  Our guest talked about planetary defense as a needed part of the activities of the new Dept. of Space, plus he addressed new development in laser technology.  Madhu then commented that it was time for the ISS to become a self-sustaining entity.  I pushed him to find out if this new department would have veto power over private missions to Mars or force NASA to go to the Moons of Mars rather than the surface of Mars.  I cited other examples as well to find out the limits of the new department's regulatory reach.

Listener Alex asked him for his plan of action for developing the Dept. of Space.  He said it should come from the president down regrading the broad and grand vision of the president. I then asked Madhu about his recent talk at Chapman University on the 3 D printing of food.  You can read an article about this in the Chapman Panther Newspaper, www.thepantheronline.com/news/lecture-shows-3-d-printed-food-way-becoming-reality.  Madhu also talked about precision gene editing and the CRISPR Genome Editing Program.

As the program was ending, our guest promoted his USC Fall AST 527 studio class which he said this year will examine analogs and simulators for long duration spaceflight.  Please post your comments/questions in the comments section of this archived program on TSS website.  You can reach our guest through me or his USC faculty website.