Broadcast 2002 (Special Edition)

Guests: Hu Davis & William (Bill) Ketchum. Topics: Space infrastructure, SSP, SLS, Falcon Heavy, reusability, space policy and U.S. space leadership. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. We welcomed Hu Davis and Bill Ketchum to the program to discuss the need for space infrastructure development, SSP, and a space leadership policy by the United States. In the first segment of our 91 minute program, we talked about the need for space infrastructure development, reusable rockets, and space solar power. Our guest Hu Davis has a Power Point presentation on SSP that will be uploaded to The Space Show blog summary so don't forget to check it out on the blog. I will also upload to the blog Bill Ketchum's pdf paper, "What Will America Do In Space Now?" We discussed the history of various space infrastructure studies and efforts and the same for SSP studies, pointing out how new technologies, engineering methodologies, and sophisticated manufacturing have made many projects cost effective today when that was not the case years ago. Our guests fielded several questions from listeners about the SSP business case, reusability and the SLS compared to the Falcon Heavy. Doug asked about the use of in space resources & our guests suggested that for SSP for example, using in space resources could account for 90% SSP components. Questions were asked about the land cost and the use of rectennas. In our second segment, we talked about nuclear propulsion and tax/economic subsidies to our current terrestrial energy industry which make it harder to develop SSP. We talked about the problem and the lack of viability for SLS. Questions came in regarding on orbit propellant transfer and cryogenic transfer development. As our program was ending, our guests talked about space education outreach, persuading congressional leaders and the public to support space infrastructure development, SSP , and more. Please post your comments/questions for our guests on The Space Show blog and I will make sure they know about them. You can email either of our guests through me at Drspace@thespaceshow.com.