Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Space news events and updates on a variety of current topics. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://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 Bob Zimmerman to discuss current and hot topics happening in space at this time. During the first segment of our 2 hour 6 minute discussion, Bob asked me about the recent Bay Area-NAPA earthquake on Sunday morning, August 24, then we switched over to space topics starting with SpaceX and the Falcon 9R test launch explosion. Next, Bob talked about the failure of the ESA Galileo GPS launch involving the Soyuz-Arianne. Several questions came up regarding the ESA GPS system. We also talked about other regional GPS systems. Bob moved us to the launch failure (booster rocket) for the Air Force Hypersonic vehicle, then to the decision by Sea Launch to take a break. Bob had much to say about the Sea Launch partnership now involving mostly Russia and the Ukraine. Russia and the ISS came up and here Bob also had much to say, including going over the news that Russia may now be interested in extending the life of the ISS. Bob suggested some important Russian reasons for wanting to do this, see what you think. The Atlas RD-180 rocket engine came up for discussion as did the upcoming NASA down select for commercial crew with Dream Chaser, SpaceX, and Boeing with their CST 100. Next up was SLS which I permitted to be discussed for a while, including a call by SLS John in Ft. Worth, then I stopped it and said that SLS was a beaten to death topic on the show and that listeners and I were sick of it. I said no more SLS talk unless there was something new on one side or the other of the SLS issue. At one point I even assigned SLS John a new topic to research and call in about. Let us know with your blog comments, are you sick of SLS discussions on TSS? Do you want to keep hearing them or not? Luis emailed in about having GPS redundancy and backup systems re the European system as an example. Bob had specific ideas about this but thought the better route would be to be able to quickly replace a lost or destroyed satellite. As the segment neared its end, Joe asked about CST and Falcon 9/Heavy & Bob had more to say about ISS modules & Doug asked a series of questions about the benefits of extending ISS to 2028. Don't miss Bob's response. In the second segment, Joe asked about small sats taking over market share from the previous big satellites. Bob provided an interesting short discussion on this topic. SLS John called back about the Falcon Heavy flying and then somehow the discussion focused in on presidential candidates and their space policy in upcoming elections. After a short non-partisan review of what Bob thought might unfold depending on which party wins in November, we moved on to Rosetta and 67 P. Bob talked about the lander and the landing sites. Tim called in to talk about a proposal announced for space debris tracking with Lockheed and Electro Optic Systems in Australia (see www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2014/august/0825-ss-electr...). Also discussed was nuclear propulsion, the Space Fence, then we got emails about fusion energy progress. Near the end of the program, Bob talked about Curiosity, some of the electrical issues with using the on board drill, and of course the tire problem. As the show was about to end, Kirk emailed about the recent Chinese ASAT test and Bob suggested we look for an end of the year Dragon abort test, another Falcon 9 flight and more flight tests, and the Rosetta landing on 67 P scheduled for November. Please post your comments/questions on TSS Blog above. You can email Bob through me or his address through his blog, http://behindtheblack.com.