China

Guest: Dr. David Livingston hosted an Open Lines Space Show program for this election night special program. The first segment featured my personal thoughts, opinions, and analysis regarding space solar power (SSP). If you want to know what I really think about SSP, listen to what I have to say about it. As this was election night, we talked some with the listeners about the election, about how space might fair with the new administration and Congress, and what U.S. space policy might be like in coming years.

Guests: Professor Joanne Gabrynowicz, Director of the National Center for Remote Sensing, Air and Space Law, along with students Jason Crook, Erik Lundin, Rebecca Beckett, Nathan Wilson, and Nick Welly, were the guests for this two hour Space Show program focusing on this excellent space law center. The students joined the discussion at various times during the program as we discussed space environmental issues, military space and policy, China, and the need for an interdisciplinary focus for space studies of all kind.

Guest: Dr. Marshall Kaplan was our guest for today's show. We started our discussion with an introduction to his teaching, training, and education company, Launchspace (Please see http//www.launchspace.com/ ). We talked about his upcoming classes, Space Principles and Space Vehicle Mechanisms, plus other courses offered. Dr. Kaplan told us about the market for these courses, who teaches them, and many of the topics taught. In addition to talking about Launchspace, we talked about U.S. space policy, its importance, the risks it faces, and more.

Guest: Dr. Nader Elhefnawy had his debut appearance on The Space Show today in order to discuss his recent Space Review articles. Please check out http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1220/1 and http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1199/1. Our discussion was wide-ranging with excellent listener questions challenging our guest and his theories/perceptions or, in some cases, agreeing with our guest.

Guest: Dr. Patrick Collins was our very special guest for this 1,000th Space Show program! Dr. Collins joined us from Japan as he was also the very first Space Show guest on June 13, 2001. We started our discussion with a type of report card for space tourism in 2001 and now in 2008. We both went through a list of milestones, accomplishments, events, and developments in order to ascertain the level of progress made in developing space tourism over the past seven years. Dr.

Guest: Homer Hickam was the guest for this special Space Show program. Mr. Hickam, author of "Rocket Boys," which was made into the acclaimed movie "October Sky," spoke with us about many topics and all of us had lots of fun while learning from someone who is, in my opinion, a true American hero. We started the discussion by asking him about his discovering two Tyrannosaurs in Montana. This took us directly to his early rocket launching days in Montana and putting Barbie dolls into space or near space. You have to hear this discussion to believe it.

Guest: Lt. Col. Carol Welsch, USAF, returned for this special Space Show program. We started our discussion on the subject of last year's Chinese ASAT test as this subject was the focus of Col. Welsch's thesis at the US Air Force War College at Maxwell AFB, AL. As soon as her thesis is published, she will let me know and I will announce it on the show. During this program, we discussed some of the Colonel's findings and conclusions regarding intent, the scope of the Chinese ASAT program, plus many other factors.

Guest: General James B. Armor, USAF (Ret) was the guest for this program. General Armor discussed his policy recommendation that now is the time to create a special Space Corps within the Air Force. This position is explained in detail in Astropolitics, Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2007, pages 273-288, in his article entitled "It is Time to Create a United States Air Force Space Corps." I highly recommend that you read this article as it's excellent and Gen.

Guest: Per Wimmer. Per Wimmer of Wimmer Space and Wimmer Financial was the guest for this Space Show program. During the first segment, we discussed basic business requirements for entrepreneurial space businesses and start-up companies to follow when seeking venture capital or other financing. Mr. Wimmer grouped these requirements into three main areas focusing on: making early returns for the business and establishing cash flow, quality management teams, and a quality market analysis.

Theresa Hitchens, Executive Director of the World Security Institute's Center for Defense Information, was the guest for this Space Show program. We started our interview by asking Ms. Hitchens about the recent U.S. shoot-down of its ailing satellite and considering this event from the perspective on U.S. space policy and how others around the world see us as a nation. Don't miss this important discussion. We then discussed U.S. space policy now and for the future by looking at space weapons, ASAT policy, national defense, budgets, and more. Ms.