Guest: Dr. James (Jim) Vedda. Topics: Dr. Vedda's new book addressing cislunar development rather than destinations. 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. 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 welcomed Dr. Jim Vedda back to the program to discuss his new book, "Becoming Spacefarers: Rescuing America's Space Program." If you order the book using this Amazon link, Amazon will make a donation to The Space Show: www.amazon.com/Becoming-Spacefarers-James-A-Vedda/dp/1477130918/ref=oneg.... Dr. Vedda started our discussion by responding to my question about what he meant by "rescuing America's space program." This opened the way for most of the first segment to lay out the recent history of our space program and how we arrived at where we are today, Sept. 29, 2012. Issues talked about during this narrative included Obama Space, Constellation, SLS, congressional actions, partisan divides, space vision, goals, timelines, space telescopes, Orion, Earth/Moon libration points as a destination, and much more. We talked about the purposes of various missions & plans and if the stated purpose was sufficient or not for spending public money on it and carrying it out to completion. We then shifted to the Romney Presidential Campaign Space White Paper (www.scribd.com/doc/106652769/Space-Policy-White-Paper?secret_password=a0...). Dr. Vedda mentioned that space policy has not always been bipartisan & he provided examples to support his statement. We started the second segment by talking about our being in the training or initial phase of his three stages of space development. The other two phases include cislunar development followed by space settlement & expansion throughout the solar system. Dr. Vedda made the case for proximity operations in our space development program plus the need for strong public/private partnerships and when warranted, international cooperation with space projects. Later in this segment, I asked Jim to outline for us his action plan, just how he would initiate a space development program per what he outlines in the book & discussed with us. In response to my question, Jim outlined several initial steps that need to be taken to get the ball rolling. See what you think of them and let us know with your blog comments. We also talked about the general public, how Jim would make his case were he speaking at a Rotary lunch, and the best way to have a say & impact policy makers. One of our final topics included the newly proposed bill to do multi-year congressional funding of space projects, make use of a to be created space project oversight panel, and have the Administrator serve a ten year term. As you will hear, we supported the multi-year funding part of this proposed legislation. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog above. You can email Dr. Vedda through me.