Guest: Dennis Wingo. Topics: Space policy & budgets, commercial space & entrepreneurism, wealth creation. 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. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. We welcomed back Dennis Wingo for this 90 minute discussion regarding space policy, budgets, commercial space, space entrepreneurism, cubesats, ISS, and much more. In our first segment, Dennis discussed his recent article, "NASA Will Face Solomon's Choice in 2014" posted on Oct. 2, 2013 at http://spaceref.com/missions-and-programs/nasa/nasa-will-face-solomons-…. In this article and in our discussion, our guest focused on the probability of NASA budget cuts in the current environment and the probable impact upon the agency. Thus, NASA or Congress might find that they have to make a Solomon like choice for program funding between SLS/Orion or the ISS. Listeners wanted to know if cutting commercial crew would give NASA sufficient funding for the other two programs. The short answer was no but listen to the full explanation provided by our guest. Dennis then talked about both SLS and ISS and the commercial & entrepreneurial future now developing with ISS with small satellites and space start-ups. Referencing recent comments by Dr. Griffin, Dennis said in a perfect world with wise political leadership, we would be funding all sorts of space development projects as they create wealth, open the doors for businessmen and women with abundant opportunities and so much more but for the past 40 years he said we have not had wise political leadership. Instead. rather than investing in our future, politicians have invested in buying votes. He talked about this issue throughout the balance of our program. Dennis mentioned he was doing tonight's program aboard the icebreaker Maritol docked at Pier 50 in the SF Bay. The Maritol has become a hacker space and business incubator for small satellite and related space businesses. In the second segment, he went into more detail about the Maritol and the eviction threat it is facing from the SF Port. He also talked about GEO being a huge market but very costly which is why the focus is now on small satellites and developing profitable, cost effective businesses and models. In our second segment, Tim called with several SLS, ISS, and 3 D printing questions, including asking how much mass was needed to build a Moon base. We then talked about capital acquisition and the characteristics of ventures funded by Silicon Valley venture capital financiers. Dennis said the timing was now right and we should adopt the zero g zero tax bill, and that we should be implementing the JOBS Act Title II which allows for crowdfunding investment. Read about it at http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/23/crowdfunding-with-jobs-act-title-ii-t…. John called in to express his views on the Solomon's Choice options, then we talked some more about the Maritol docked at Pier 50. Here are some articles about it: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/startups-aboard-icebreaker-s… (this article talks about its possible eviction & has a link to the petition you can sign to keep the Maritol in the Bay); www.forbes.com/sites/rakeshsharma/2013/10/07/a-ship-a-couple-of-startup…; and here are some pictures of the icebreaker, www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/The-Icelandic-Cargo-Ship-Maritol-12727438…. As you will hear, it is important to sign the petition to keep this space business incubator in the SF Bay. Post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Check out the Dennis Wingo blog at www.denniswingo.wordpress.com.
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