NASA Administrator

Guest: Dr. Alan Stern. Topics: NASA administration, private spaceflight, New Horizons Mission, the Last NASA Administrator. Dr. Alan Stern was our guest for this program to discuss many topics. We started our discussion with NASA given his recent position as Chief of all NASA space and Earth science missions. We talked about the his missions, how to cut costs and save money, the proper balance with the science and the human spaceflight part of NASA, the best use of the ISS, private spaceflight and NASA, and much more. We then moved on to the entrepreneurial private sector as Dr.

Guests: Mark Hopkins and Tim Bailey. Topics: ISDC 2009, NSS, space solar power, continuing education credits. Mark and Tim were our guests today to discuss the upcoming ISDC 2009 in Champions Gate near Orlando, Florida. ISDC 2009 is scheduled for May 28-31, 2009. We discussed much of the programming for the conference, even some unique programming with an Estes rocket competition, continuing education credit, tours of the Kennedy Space Center and much more. Mark also told about the keynote and main speakers which are a representation of Who's Who in space.

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: Chris Carberry. Topics: Mars Society, NASA Administrator, terraforming Mars, life on Mars, commercial missions to Mars, Mars advocacy. Chris Carberry, Executive Director of The Mars Society, was the guest today to discuss the upcoming Mars Society Conference at College Park, MD on the campus of the University of Maryland from July 30-August 2, 2009. To find out more about the conference, please visit www.marssociety.org/portal/c/Conventions/2009.

Guest: Rand Simberg was the guest for today's Space Show program. Our discussion started by mentioning that Richardson had withdrawn his name from consideration for Secretary of Commerce in the Obama administration. We talked about this for a few minutes as there were some possible space ramifications to his appointment and now with his withdrawal. We then moved on to the issue of comparing COTS and Shuttle as was done on the RocketsandSuch blog and copied over to the Space Cynics site per our discussion last week.

Guest: Jim Muncy returned for this Space Show program to discuss space policy in 2008 and its transition to 2009. We talked about the current Administrator Dr. Griffin and his efforts to remain at NASA plus what this would mean for continuing with the VSE and Aries as planned. Jim also mentioned some important public sector 2008 milestones, including the Zero G contract, the recent Cargo Resupply Services Contract, and improvements in DOD and Space Command.

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.

Guests: Leonard David was the guest for three segments of our program, followed by Barbara David joining us for the last segment. We did much forward-looking during this show given the changes taking place in government, the economy, and the space community. We talked about the incoming administration and what it might mean for space, the Space Coast of Florida, and its commitment to human space flight, the economy, viewing the Space Shuttle, and much more. Leonard reported on the recent Lunar Lander Challenge and Armadillo Aerospace at the X-Prize in Las Cruces, NM.

Guest: Ross Tierney was the guest for this in-person taped interview conducted here in Cocoa Beach on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008. This was a very hard-hitting interview with Ross about Direct 2, its technology, its likelihood of being adopted by NASA as an alternative to Ares 1, and more. I asked Ross why we should have confidence in Direct 2 when it was basically a PowerPoint presentation given that it has not yet undergone any metal bending, any development or testing. I asked why there would not be design problems with it as there are with Ares and the NASA selected hardware.

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.