Moon

Guest: Dr. Jim Vedda. Topics: Space policy and goals. We were most fortunate to have as our guest for this program, Dr. Jim Vedda. Our two hour discussion was wide ranging over many aspects of both U.S. and global space policy. In our first segment, Dr. Vedda talked about the "why" of space policy in the final chapter of the Augustine Commission Report but suggested this information relating to the goals of our space program should have been at the front of the report given its importance. This opened up our discussion on space goals being about our capability, not a destination.

Guest: Miles O'Brien. Topics: NASA Advisory Council Input, space vision, space policy, Mars. We welcomed Miles O'Brien back to The Space Show for this program. We started our initial segment congratulating Miles for becoming a member of the NASA Advisory Council. Miles then told us about his NASA meetings so far, his discussions with the Charlie Bolden, the new NASA Administrator and the focus on education and outreach as a top priority for NASA. One of the goals is to energize and educate young groups of school kids across America to the importance and future of space in their lives.

Guest: Larry Williams. Topics: Next Step In Space, Commercial Space, SpaceX, Augustine Commission. Larry Williams, the VP for Strategic Relations for SpaceX, was our guest today to discuss the newly formed commercial space organization, Next Step In Space (www.nextstepinspace.com). During Segment One, Larry provided us with the background and genesis for founding Next Step In Space and we discussed the commercial space members of the organization and the difference in ISS access and transportation versus going to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Guest: Robert Zimmerman. Topics: space policy, NASA, human spaceflight, Hubble, SpaceX, LRO. Bob Zimmerman returned to The Space Show for this news update. He started the discussion with an evaluation of current space policy based on his perception of Obama's interest in space and the delay in appointing a new NASA Administrator. We talked about the human spaceflight program, science missions, engineering research and planetary research and returning to the Moon as a priority.

Guests: Chris Carberry; Kevin Sloan. Topics: The Mars Society upcoming 12th annual conference, University Rover Challenge, humans to Mars, heavy lift vehicle. Chris Carberry, Executive Director of the Mars Society was our guest for the first hour to discuss the upcoming 12th Annual International Mars Society Convention. To learn more about the convention and The Mars Society, visit www.marssociety.org/portal/c/Conventions/2009/convention-2009-event.

Guests: Dr. Roger Launius, Andrew Johnston. Topics: space exploration, geography, Hubble, human spaceflight. Dr. Roger Launius and Andrew Johnston were the guests for this Space Show program to discuss their excellent new book, "Atlas of Space Exploration." You can find out more about this book from the One Giant Leap Foundation book website, www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/books.htm. We started our discussion by talking about ancient observatories and then observation versus exploration.

Guest: Rusty Schweickart. Topics: Planetary defense, Near Earth Objects (NEO). Former astronaut Rusty Schweickart returned to The Space Show today to update us on what is happening with efforts to develop and deploy a planetary protection policy for NEOs. Two websites you should visit for more information on this subject and to follow along with Mr. Schweickart are the Association of Space Explorers (http://www.space-explorers.org/ ) and the B612 Foundation (http://www.b612foundation.org/).

Guest: Stephen E. Doyle, Atty. Topics: Space law, space property rights, space traffic management, liability, space debris, space tourism, and much more. Stephen Doyle was our guest for today's Space Show program to discuss various aspects of space law. As it turned out, this was a very comprehensive discussion on a variety of space law issues including space traffic management, space tourism, liability issues, space property rights, the Outer Space Treaty, international contributors to space law, and so very much more. I recommend this as a must hear program.

Guest: Alfred Zaehringer. Topics: rocket science, rocket equation, Mars, chemical rockets, space tourism, low cost space access. Al Zaehringer returned to The Space Show to discuss his two books. Al was the editor of "Rocketscience: The Journal of the Detroit Rocket Society, Inc. 1947-1952," which is available from http://www.apogeebooks.com. This is a must have reference book, one of the very best of its kind.

Guest: Dan Adamo was the guest for this Space Show program to discuss his White Paper, "Revisited Virtues of Lunar Surface Rendezvous (LSR)." Mr. Adamo started out explaining the nature of the current NASA plan for returning to the Moon which requires launching on Ares 1 and then Ares V over a four day critical launch interval. Dan explained the differences with LSR as he sees it and the NASA plan, making sure that listeners understood the programs and how LSR was unique.