Guest: James C. Bennett. Topics: Reforming the U.S space program by establishing Space Guard modeled on the U. S. Coast Guard. 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. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed James (Jim) Bennett to the program to discuss his concept for reforming NASA and our space program with the formation of Space Guard modeled on the U.S. Coast Guard. I urge everyone to read the definitive article written by Mr. Bennett, " Proposing a Coast Guard for Space" (see www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/proposing-a-coast-guard-for-space). We started our first segment with Mr. Bennett outlining the history and reasons that brought him to advocate for Space Guard. He took us from the early days of the space program up to and including federal procurement and the need to separate space transportation services from the procurement side of things. He explained why the Space Guard idea was modeled on the U.S. Coast Guard and he even suggested how to start the new Space Guard by taking in the unwanted programs from other parts of the government dealing with space including NASA, the FAA, and DOD. He said that the Space Guard idea had roots in an article on the subject by then USAF Lt. Col. Cynthia A.S. McKinley which was published in Aerospace Power Journal in 2000, titled "The Guardians of Space: Organizing America's Space Assets for the Twenty-First Century," www.airpower.au.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj00/spr00/mckinley.htm. In our second segment, we continued discussing procurement issues and we started taking listener questions. One listener asked about winners and losers in shifting to a Space Guard organizational program. I also asked our guest for implementation suggestions which he outlined in the most basic of ways, in addition to suggesting the next steps including networking and a study or analysis of what programs should initially be part of Space Guard. As you will hear, he is interested in building a base of support and interest for Space Guard so if this does interest you, email me or post on the blog and I will pass on your information and thoughts to our guest. We talked about applying lessons learned from our space experience to have a more efficient and productive program with Space Guard but Jim did say we do not have to wait for technology advancement to start on this. A listener asked about commercial and New Space and what these communities might think of Space Guard. Perry asked about using Navy or other military ranks and the difference in having Space Guard people as officers of the U.S. versus being an employee. Here, our guest had some important observations to offer us. In addition, he said we had too sure to not relocate offices and when people transferred over to Space Guard, salaries, ranks, benefits, etc. remained constant and were transferred as well. We talked about R&D for NASA including X vehicles and putting other functions of NASA inside the Space Guard organization. Joan got the last question, asking if it would not be better to have a cabinet level Space Department rather than Space Guard. Jim said no so don't miss his explanation. If you have a comment, question, or interest in Space Guard per this discussion, please post on the blog URL above. Emails to Jim Bennett can be sent to me via drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will forward them to him.
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