Guest: Michael Belfiore. Topics: Commercial space, technology and space, space innovation for the future. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Our discussion with Michael started off with Michael talking about technology innovation and specifically energy. I asked him about SSP and then we honed in on NASA. He said this time was a big turning point for NASA as it transitioned away from operating government launch vehicles to buying the services from commercial companies. Michael suggested much was on the table in this process and it was still not clear where space policy would end up. A listener asked him about a recent NY Times article about likely funding cuts for commercial crew and comments about the absence of a commercial market. You can read this article at www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/science/space/01private.html?partner=rss&emc…. Michael was also asked about returning to the Moon and the need for destinations in our space policy. We started the second segment with a continued discussion on the European Code of Conduct for Outer Space and the likely objections to it by NewSpace on the grounds it may restrict commercial space. We talked about the rules of the road for orderly space commerce, collision avoidance, debris mitigation, etc. We then moved on to human rating EELVs, Orion, Bigelow Aerospace, and SpaceX. Later, Michael was asked if NASA should evolve into a more DARPA like organization. Michael spent some time with us discussing this issue. We then talked about possible FY 11 NASA budget cuts and the progress being made by many of the NewSpace companies. Michael promoted his blog which is at www.michaelbelfiore.com. We talked about space conferences and the important conferences for NewSpace. If you have questions or comments for Michael Belfiore, please post them on The Space Show Blog URL above. You can also email Michael at http://michaelbelfiore.com/contact.
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The Space Show
