Hubble

Guests:  Darin Noel, Ton Whitman; Topics:  Engineering perspectives regarding the design and making of JWST and comparisons to other space telescopes.

Guest:  Dr. Jason Kalirai; Topics: Space based telescopes with a focus on Hubble, JWST & WFIRST plus exoplanets, searching for life, ground based telescopes, telescope software, technology & operation. 

Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. Jason Kalirai, Dr. David Livingston.  Topics:  WFIRST space telescope project and mission.  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.

Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. Jeff Coughlin, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Kepler mission false positives for finding exoplanets. 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.

Guest: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman. Topics: Commercial crew, space policy, commercial space and more. 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: Bruce Damer was with us to discuss virtual reality and 3D simulation for space. To learn more, visit his websites: www.digitalspace.com , www.digitalspaces.net , and www.damer.com/ . The discussion began with some comments about our current economic crisis in the United States and what it might mean for the civil as well as the private space program.

Guest: Robert Zimmerman returned for this Space Show program. In addition to our discussion, we talked about Bob's new book about Hubble, "The Universe in a Mirror," and his terrific older book, "Leaving Earth." We started the interview by discussing a recent Washington Post article in which the author suggested the ISS be used as a spaceship for going someplace interesting rather than just hanging out in LEO. Mr. Zimmerman wrote about this idea years ago in his famous book, "Leaving Earth," so we talked about the feasibility of actually doing something like this with the station.

Robert Zimmerman returned for this Space Show program. With some sarcastic humor and serious commentary, Bob Zimmerman spent much time during this program connecting the dots to a future successful space program to a resolution of many of the global political and economic threats facing the U.S. and the free world. No doubt many listeners will disagree with Mr. Zimmerman's political assessment of issues facing America and how they might impact space development but Mr. Zimmerman is clearly not the first to express these concerns nor he is the first to do so in the context of space policy.

Robert Zimmerman returned for this Space Show program. We began the interview with Robert updating us on the latest Falcon I launch plans with SpaceX. We then got into a management issue discussion with SpaceX compared to NASA and other companies. Robert talked about Hubble, mentioned his new book on Hubble, we talked about negative and positive journalism and fear, both with the Iraqi war as well as the space program. Robert updated us on what to watch for re the shuttle returning to flight, the vision program and more.

Father George Coyne was the special guest for this Space Show program. WE began the interview by finding out astronomy and the Catholic church, why their interest, its origins, and their observatory in Italy as well as in Tucson. I personally found the history and origins to be fascinating, going back to the need to make adjustments in the calendar. You will certainly want to hear this discussion. We then shifted focus and talked about telescopes, not just in Tucson, but worldwide.