Guest: Mike Simmons. Topics: Astronomers Without Borders, telescopes and astronomy as part of our culture and in international relations. 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 Mike Simmons to the program, Founder and president of Astronomers Without Borders (http://astronomerswithoutborders.org). During our 61 minute discussion, Mr. Simmons started out by introducing us to Astronomers Without Borders and visits to Iran and Iraq. He talked about astronomy as a cultural connection among nations and peoples, especially with young and well educated people around the world. We discussed the organization and total eclipse tours, trips, and other astro tourism projects. He mentioned the organization's Monthly Hangout which is a Google Plus monthly meeting with guests which you can find on YouTube. Our guest talked about the Mt. Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles and several listeners asked him about visiting the famous observatory. The same for Mt. Palomar which is still in use and also in S. California. Joe asked about the best age to introduce children to astronomy. Mike then told us about telescopes and pointed us to basic telescopes his organization sells for those interested. See http://store.astronomerswithoutborders.org. Listeners asked Mike about their participation in Uwingu programs, specifically the Beam Me to Mars program. We learned that the organization has been a beneficiary of Uwingu grants. Listeners asked about night viewing, light pollution and dark skies programs. Paul sent in a question inquiring about astronomy and the connection to space exploration & development which are major themes for The Space Show. This provoked an interesting discussion with our guest. Near the end of our discussion, Mike talked about astronomy in the arts including astro crafts, astro poetry, space artists, and more. Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog. You can reach Mike through the email address he gave on air, his website, or me.