Jim McDade returned to The Space Show to provide us with space news updates and interesting perspective on the top space news stories of the day. We began the discussion with an extensive review of the Space Shuttle and how Jim sees the future for the return to flight program. He believes that Shuttle will need to fly for several more years as he thinks it will have to remain in service until a CEV is available or at least within 18 months of being ready for flight. He spoke about the economic impact of Shuttle workers spread around the Gulf Coast and what the loss of many of those jobs would mean to the regional economy and the national economy. Later in the interview when asked about the Chinese space program and competitive concerns, he indicated that there is more to be concerned about regarding Chinese terrestrial competition than their space program at this time. He felt or military may be more concerned about the competitive nature of the Chinese space program than NASA or those associated with the civilian space program. Mr. McDade spoke about NASA Administrator Dr. Griffin and several of his comments about the VSE and how the program will unfold. Listeners were referred to the website he manages, www.insideksc.com for hot news and updates regarding NASA and the Kennedy Space Center. The subject of air launching rockets came up and Mr. McDade talked about air launch capabilities and answered caller questions about air launch programs. We talked about safety for the manned space flight program, robotics over the manned program, JPL interests, how Dr. Griffin has suggested JPL modify some of its mission to work on the necessary lunar hardware for RTM and more. This is an interesting news update and issues related Space Show program. Don't miss it as Jim McDade provides us with unique and valuable insights. Mr. McDade can be contacted by email for your comments and questions at moonshot@uab.edu.
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