Guest: Dr. Clay Moltz. Topics: Space Governance, Lunar Governance, space policy. We welcomed to the show Dr. Clay Moltz from the Dept. of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School. If you are interested in downloading and reading the paper we discussed during the show, you will find it at www.au.af.mil/au/ssq/2009/fall/moltz.pdf. In our first segment, we led with the successful launch of the top secret Air Force X37 and the possibility that it might be a space weapons system. We also talked about why articles on this issue were coming out of Australia as well as other places. I believe you will find this to be a very interesting discussion. We then talked about lunar governance and our guest said we were not well prepared regardless of who goes first to the Moon and regardless of it being a commercial company or a government project. In this discussion, Dr. Moltz talked about the Antarctica treaty, the Outer Space Treaty (OST) and the Moon Treaty. The Law of the Sea Treaty was also referenced. As we started our second segment, I asked if each space destination would require a different set of governance standards. For example, how different would Mars governance be from lunar governance? We talked about the track record of US behavior in space and then took a look at the space behavior of other space fairing nations. The issue of space debris came up and Dr. Moltz told us about the 1960's Project West Ford. The subjects of nuclear power and nuclear rockets came up and our guest had some very interesting things to say about nuclear and space. This discussion then took us to the bigger question of space security. Dr. Moltz talked about DOD space guidelines, and the proposed space treaty by China and Russia which the US has not been supportive of to date. He explained some of the problems with it and then talked some more about the Law of the Sea Treaty which he believes we should have signed. In the third segment, we again focused on orbital debris. As a result of Marshal's question, Dr. Moltz defined space debris. If the item can be maneuvered, it would not be considered space debris. He also talked about the Chinese ASAT test and potential Chinese debris liability. We spent a major part of this segment talking about polluting the space environment and the efforts underway to avoid doing this. In the fourth and final segment, we addressed the US space vision. We asked Dr. Moltz if the VSE was dead and our guest summarized recent US space vision history. We talked about the Chinese vision and the role of the military with China. Toward the end of the program, our guest outlined probable components of the developing new US space vision which he believes will include a focus on commercial space, entrepreneurial development, international cooperation and partnership, and the modernization of ITAR. Before the program ended, I asked Dr. Moltz about nuclear proliferation and its potential impact on space development and if political sanctions against another nation actually work. You will want to hear what he had to say in response to both of these questions. If you have a question or comment for Dr. Clay Moltz, please forward it to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will send it to Dr. Moltz.
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