China

Guest: Rick Tumlinson. Topics: Space frontier development, private/public partnerships, Augustine Commission. Rick Tumlinson returned for this special two hour Space Show program. Each segment was one hour but an overriding theme went through the entire show. This theme was the need to develop the space frontier and that the private sector could do it, that the government civil space program should address space exploration from LEO and beyond, but Earth to Leo should be turned over to the private sector companies. As Rick said, NASA should buy the ride, not the rocket.

Guest: Dr. Eligar Sadeh. Topics: 2009 National Space Forum, space policy and strategic planning, space globalization, human spaceflight. Dr. Eligar Sadeh was the guest for this show to discuss the recently concluded 2009 National Space Forum which was held in Washington, DC from September 1-2, 2009. Dr. Sadeh started the first segment with an overview of the National Space Forum, a discussion of the need for space deterrent strategies, and our current lack of strategic thinking in the space arena. We both noted as did the Forum just how dependent the U.S.

Guest: Robert Zimmerman. Topics: NASA Administrator, Ares, Orion, Constellation, ISS, space policy, bats, suborbital tourism, Hubble. Bob Zimmerman returned to the Space Show for this program, leading off with a discussion about the significance of the absence of a NASA Administrator. Bob explained some of the problems this creates for our space program, especially long term as we are nearing critical decision points in several of our civil space programs. You will want to hear his comments on this subject. In addition, he had no suggestion or ideas as to the next Administrator.

Guest: Dr. Frans G. von der Dunk. Topics: space & telecom law programs, space tourism, NEO's, ITAR, space debris. First, I apologize for my rough and raspy voice as I am still recovering my cold, coughing, and virus whatever. Thanks for your patience and tolerance. Our guest tonight, Dr. Frans von der Dunk, started our discussion by describing the new University of Nebraska - Lincoln LL.M Space and Telecommunication Law program (please see http://law.uni.edu/spacelaw).

Guest: Sy Liebergot. Topics: NASA Flight Controller, space station, Return to the Moon, exploration, education. Sy Liebergot returned to The Space Show to talk about the newly released second edition of his book, "Apollo EECOM: Journey of a lifetime," published by Apogee. Sy was the lead EECOM Flight Controller throughout the Apollo manned missions and the book tells his story with lots of experiences and personal insights.

Guest: Dr. Eligar Sadeh. Topics: Contested Space Domain, space weaponization, Iran, nuclear missiles, China and the ISS, treaties, space advocacy, military space, Israel. PLEASE NOTE THAT DR. SADEH EXPRESSED VERY STRONG PERSONAL OPINIONS IN THIS DISCUSSION REGARDING IRAN, ISRAEL, NUCLEAR WEAPONS, AND SELF-DEFENSE. THESE OPINIONS ARE SOLELY THOSE OF DR. ELIGAR SADEH. DO NOT ASSUME THESE OPINIONS APPLY TO THE SPACE SHOW, THE HOST, OR ANYONE ELSE. Dr. Eligar Sadeh spoke with us about U.S. space policy in the context of contested space and cooperative space.

Guests: Brian Weeden and Ben Baseley-Walker. Topics: Secure World Foundation, space situational awareness, space weaponization & militarization, satellite defense. Brian Weeden and Ben Baseley-Walker of the Secure World Foundation presented solid information and strategies for addressing problems around space traffic management and space situational awareness. Our guests were very realistic about the topics discusse. Not only did we talk about space policy and how policy is created, we talked about space weaponization and ways to avoid it, such as the distributive satellite defense.

Guest: Taylor Dinerman. Topics: New NASA Administrator, DOD space policy, space weaponization, ITAR, Space Pearl Harbor, Obama space policy challenges, COTS, RLV. Taylor Dinerman returned to The Space Show to discuss DOD/Military space policy for 2009 and beyond. However, we started off by announcing the Obama choice for NASA Administrator, Retired AF Major General Scott Gration. Taylor spent most of the first segment discussing General Gration and what this might mean for NASA and various NASA programs including COTS.

Guest: Jeffrey Manber was the guest for this special program. We started our discussion with a walk back through history with the Mir Space Station, MirCorp, the Dennis Tito space tourism experience, Russian contracts, Energia, and much more. As Jeffrey was the man behind it all, listen to how doors were opened, how the Russians were willing to work with MirCorp to have a commercial business with the Mir Space Station and to fly Dennis Tito to Mir, then the ISS. You will hear about the three blocks that got in the way of MirCorp success.

Guest: Greg Zsidisin was the guest for this Space Show program. We began our discussion with Greg about the type of space policy to expect from the new Obama administration. We focused in on the space policy transition team as Greg was asked to give us insights into their thinking and space interests. He concluded that space policy would likely unfold more or less traditionally rather than anything out of the box.