Cassini

Guest: Emily Lakdawalla. Topics: We discussed planetary science missions, the outer and inner planets, Ceres, icy moons, and more. 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.

Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. Linda Spilker, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Cassini, Saturn, Titan, Rhea. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written 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.

Aired on January 2nd, 2013

Guest: Dr. Jason Cassibry. Topics: A technical description and the potential of fusion propulsion. 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.

Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: NASA FY13 budget & space policy. White Nose Syndrome bat update. 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.

Guest: Dr. Ralph McNutt: American spacecraft and plutonium power sources, Mercury, Messenger, Cassini. We welcomed Dr. Ralph McNutt of the Applied Physics Lab to the program. We started our first segment with a discussion of the use of Plutonium 238 as a power source for American spacecraft, asking the questions about why there appears to be so much resistance to anything nuclear in space by broad groups of concerned people. As you will hear, Dr. McNutt said that by using Plutonium 238, we were and are able to do things in space with various missions that we could not do otherwise. Dr.

Guest: Alan Boyle. Topics: Pluto, solar system planets, space tourism. Alan Boyle returned as a guest to discuss his new book, "The Case For Pluto: How A Little Planet Made A Big Difference." This book is available as an Amazon partner on the One Giant Leap Foundation (OGLF) website, www.amazon.com/dp/0470505443?tag=onegialeafou-20. If you order it from this OGLF Amazon link, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show/OGLF. During our first segment, Mr.

Guest: Norman J. Gerstein was the guest for this special Space Show program. Mr. Gerstein was deeply involved in Rover/NERVA and we discussed these programs in detail. He was part of the KIWI-TNT team and involved in the cleanup by picking up the debris with a wheelbarrow and tongs. Norm described these programs in detail along with the nuclear rocket which we compared to chemical rockets. Norm made it very clear that one needs a mission to do these programs. Another way of saying it, is to make sure there is a need. Since there was no need (no mission), the programs were cancelled.

Dr. Kevin Grazier joined The Space Show guest family today to discuss Saturn, the Cassini Mission, planetary science, science advising for television and lots more. The interview began with an update on new information coming from Cassini and then Dr. Grazier responded to a series of listener questions regarding the importance of Iapetus and the findings to date for the moon.