Broadcast 1208 (Special Edition)

Guests: Bob Dickman, Robert Wilson. Topics: AIAA Space 2009, NASA, JPL, Spitzer Space Telescope Project, space science missions. Our guests for this Space Show program included Bob Dickman, Executive Director of AIAA and Robert K. Wilson, manager of the Spitzer Space Telescope Project. Our primary focus was to discuss the upcoming AIAA Space 2009 Conference at the Pasadena Convention Center, Sept. 14-17, 2009, in Pasadena, Ca. In Segment 1, General Dickman introduced us to AIAA and the Space 2009 conference. We talked about the registration as well as some of the main features of the conference including Education Alley, the Pickering Lecture, various keynote and luncheon speakers, and the networking opportunities available at the conference. Robert Wilson spoke with us about technical aspects of the conference, the International Year of Astronomy and its relationship to Space 2009 and more. We also talked with Mr. Wilson about the Spitzer Space Telescope, space telescopes in general, and Spitzer programs at Space 2009. Mr. Wilson described the Spitzer mission to us and talked about going from cold science to warm science since the supply of the cryogenic helium was used up as planned. In Segment 2, our guests addressed Space 2009 and the Augustine Panel results. While the was no planned session or panel specifically addressing the Augustine analysis and conclusions, people doing keynotes and participating on panels are involved in the Augustine process and this information will be discussed at AIAA. Questions came in from listeners about infrared telescopes versus optical telescopes and the coloring of pictures and images we see from both types of telescopes. You don't want to miss this discussion as its most informative. Other listeners asked about the submission of papers to an AIAA conference and peer review. This year 400 out of 600 papers were accepted. Both Bob and Robert explained the process so if you are considering submitting a paper to AIAA, you will want to be aware of their requirements and the process. Toward the end of Segment 2, Bob went over the various costs for different groups for attending this conference. In addition, we talked about the benefits of becoming an AIAA member. If you are not already a member, I certainly recommend that you become one. In Segment 3, we started off with a listener question from Fargo, ND. that asked how the cost benefit of science missions was determined. The listener wanted to know how the scientists determine if a science mission was worth the costs which are hard dollars spent versus the return which usually consists of scientific information/data. Both our guests responded to this question and this is a discussion you definitely need to hear. Our guests talked about how money was spent, what part of the mission costs go to space and what part stays here on Earth for payroll, manufacturing, etc. I then inquired if there was any bad science, a science mission that flopped in terms of the information learned or returned to the scientists. Listen to the reply to this question by both of our guests. As we neared the end of the program, we talked about Space 2010, the Call for Papers and the Abstract due date. Most likely the Call for Papers will come out in October of this year with abstracts due early next year so if you are interested, its not too early to start planning your topic and research. You can get more information and register online for this conference at www.aiaa.org. If you have questions or comments you can visit the Contact page on the AIAA website, www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=293. You can also send your questions or comments to Bob Dickman at bobd@aiaa.org.