Nuclear power

Guest: Dave Ketchledge. Topics: Nuclear power reactors, facts, radiation & issues related to the Fukushima accident, plus space nuclear propulsion. 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.

Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: SSP, Heavy lift rockets, electric cars, energy, NASA FY 11 budget. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. This was our final Open Lines program for 2010. At two hours, you will find this show to be loaded with controversial statements & discussion points.

Guest: Dr. Ralph McNutt: American spacecraft and plutonium power sources, Mercury, Messenger, Cassini. We welcomed Dr. Ralph McNutt of the Applied Physics Lab to the program. We started our first segment with a discussion of the use of Plutonium 238 as a power source for American spacecraft, asking the questions about why there appears to be so much resistance to anything nuclear in space by broad groups of concerned people. As you will hear, Dr. McNutt said that by using Plutonium 238, we were and are able to do things in space with various missions that we could not do otherwise. Dr.

Guest: Marc Millis. Topics: Breakthrough propulsion, fusion energy, incomplete physics, far out theories and research. Marc Millis returned to the program to discuss breakthrough and far out propulsion ideas. Find out more about his work and his organization Tau Zero Foundation by visiting www.tauzero.aero. In our first segment, Mr. Millis told us about the cancellation of the NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project which he once headed. This is a fascinating story, don't miss it.

Guest: Dr. Jordin Kare. Topics: Laser launch, power beaming, space elevator, laser weapons, Mockingbird. Dr. Kare returned to The Space Show for updates with laser launch systems and more. We learned about the beam module approach and his work to win the NASA Climber Challenge through his company LaserMotive (www.lasermotive.com). We also discussed heat exchanger propulsion and the use of different materials for the exchanger such as Silicon Carbide. As a result of listener questions, we discussed the laser for use with the space elevator and Dr.

Guest: Norman J. Gerstein was the guest for this special Space Show program. Mr. Gerstein was deeply involved in Rover/NERVA and we discussed these programs in detail. He was part of the KIWI-TNT team and involved in the cleanup by picking up the debris with a wheelbarrow and tongs. Norm described these programs in detail along with the nuclear rocket which we compared to chemical rockets. Norm made it very clear that one needs a mission to do these programs. Another way of saying it, is to make sure there is a need. Since there was no need (no mission), the programs were cancelled.

Guest: Jim Greenhaw, team leader of the Tech Ranch team in the recent Lunar Regolith Challenge, was our guest for today's show. Jim's team was the first place winner in this year's Lunar Regolith Challenge held a few weeks ago at Cal Poly University. We talked extensively about his robot and you can see it and follow our discussion by going to http://www.techranch.com/tornado/photos/. We explored the robotic construction, what other teams did, how he came up with design and much more.

Guest: Dr. Dennis Bushnell, Chief Scientist at NASA Langley Research Center, was the guest for today's program. We began our discussion talking about the advancements in revolutionary technology needed for a manned mission to Mars. Dr. Bushnell has a published paper on this subject, titled "Advanced-to-Revolutionary Technology Options for Humans-Mars," which I will send as a Word document if you email me and request it. Based on this paper and the first part of our discussion, Dr.

Guest: Dr. John Jurist was the guest on this program to discuss his hypothesis as to why space cadets behave as they do. His paper, "Dorky Space Cadets: An Hypothesis," can be found on the Space Cynics site as of March 13, 2008, http://spacecynic.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/ . Click on the link provided to Space Cynics and scroll down to his article starting with "Dorky." During our discussion today, Dr. Jurist explained how he created the hypothesis and what types of research, tools and methodologies he used to formulate his theory.

Guest: Dr. Phil Chapman. Dr. Phil Chapman returned for this special Space Show program dedicated to the memory of Sir Arthur C. Clarke who passed away today. As it turned out, Dr. Chapman knew Sir Arthur, so for the first part of the program, we talked about Arthur Clarke and Phil shared his experiences with him with us. If you have not yet seen it, Arthur Clarke recorded a video for his "Last Message To Earth" recorded on his 90th birthday this past December.