Broadcast 1342 (Special Edition)

Guest: Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto. Topics: Space Access conference, ISDC, Yuri's Night, suborbital flight, Astronauts For Hire. Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto returned to discuss several subjects including a review of the recently concluded Space Access Society conference, Yuri's Night celebrations, the upcoming Space Investment Summit and the ISDC, plus the newly formed group Astronauts For Hire (www.astronauts4hire.org). In our first segment, Veronica summarized the recently concluded Space Access Society Conference and told us about Yuri's Night parties and how to find one near you by visiting www.yurisnight.net. The Space Access focus was on suborbital spaceflight and she summarized many of the presenters and their talks including John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace and others. Veronica mentioned many of the opportunities developing from suborbital spaceflight which she said was finally coming into its own. The NASA CRuSR program was mentioned, space tourism was mentioned and more. Toward the end of this segment, I asked her for a quick update on her LRO camera project. Veronica suggested we check out the photos at http://lroc.sese.asu.edu. As we started the second segment, Veronica described the upcoming ISDC which will be in Chicago from May 27-31. For ISDC information, visit http://isdc.nss.org/2010. Veronica went through the list of both keynote and main speakers, the programming, and she also talked about the Space Investment Summit 8 which will take place the day before ISDC on May 26, also in Chicago. In our third segment, Veronica told us about the new organization that she and others formed, Astronauts For Hire (see www.astronauts4hire.org). As you will hear, these participants have formed a group that will be specially trained to tend to upcoming scientific suborbital payloads. She described the training they will go through to be qualified for the tasks, the types of payloads that will be launched on the suborbital flights, and how others can apply to be an Astronaut For Hire. This is a truly creative business concept that you will want to pay careful attention to now and as it develops along with the suborbital industry. Several times during this discussion, Veronica talked about the public support for upcoming human spaceflight and referred to the suborbital programs as the People's Space Program. If you have comments or questions for Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto regarding this program or Astronauts For Hire, please send your note to her at veronica.zabala@astronauts4hire.org. She can also be contacted through her Facebook site and Twitter.