Pluto

Guest: Dr. David H. DeVorkin. Topics: Astronomy and the Smithsonian Institution. 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. We welcomed Dr. David DeVorkin to the program. Dr. DeVorkin is the Senior Curator, Division of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum which is part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Guest: Dr. Alan Stern. Topics: Pluto, Kuiper Belt, New Horizons, commercial space, commercial suborbital research. Please note that you are invited to comment, ask questions, and rate this program on the new Space Show blog, http://thespaceshowoutsidethebox.blogspot.com. We welcomed back Dr. Alan Stern to the program. As Dr.

Guests: Dr. Alan Stern, Dr. John Pojman. Topics: Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research. We welcome Dr. Stern and Dr. Pojman to this program.

Guest: Alan Boyle. Topics: Pluto, solar system planets, space tourism. Alan Boyle returned as a guest to discuss his new book, "The Case For Pluto: How A Little Planet Made A Big Difference." This book is available as an Amazon partner on the One Giant Leap Foundation (OGLF) website, www.amazon.com/dp/0470505443?tag=onegialeafou-20. If you order it from this OGLF Amazon link, Amazon makes a contribution to The Space Show/OGLF. During our first segment, Mr.

Guest: Dr. Matt Colborn. Topics: space art and illustration, science fiction, Space Cynics, NewSpace critiques & solutions. Dr. Matt Colborn joined us from the UK for this Space Show program. If you recall, Dr. Colborn posed a question on Space Cynics a few months past regarding the Cynics criticizing NewSpace without offering solutions to the problems they cited. The Cynics responded to Matt's comment by putting up on Cynics responses and The Space Show has featured programs focused on those responses.

Guest: Dr. Alan Stern. Topics: NASA administration, private spaceflight, New Horizons Mission, the Last NASA Administrator. Dr. Alan Stern was our guest for this program to discuss many topics. We started our discussion with NASA given his recent position as Chief of all NASA space and Earth science missions. We talked about the his missions, how to cut costs and save money, the proper balance with the science and the human spaceflight part of NASA, the best use of the ISS, private spaceflight and NASA, and much more. We then moved on to the entrepreneurial private sector as Dr.

Guest: Dr. Rosaly Lopes. Topics: Volcanoes on Earth and throughout the solar system, lava, plate tectonics, dangerous experiences, comparing Titan, Mars, Io, Venus, & Earth. Dr. Lopes discussed both terrestrial and solar system volcanoes and volcanic processes with us for this show. As author of "The Volcano Adventure Guide," we learned much about Earth volcanoes and even visiting them as adventure tourists.

Guest: Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute (www.seti.org), was the guest for this Space Show program. We started our discussion with updates about SETI programs and the searches for ET signals. This led into our discussion of the Arecibo Radio Telescope, which is located in Puerto Rico and may be closed by the NSF for budget/financial reasons. We discussed this potential closure, the funds it takes to operate the telescope, its continued uses and what it might mean to the scientific community to be without it.

Dr. Alan Stern, the Executive Director of the Southwest Research Institute Space Science and Engineering Division in Boulder, CO was the guest for the first hour of this program. Dr. Stern began the discussion by talking about Pluto, the importance of dwarf planets and the science involved in discovering and understanding these planetary bodies. This led to a detailed discussion of the recent International Astronomical Union's (IAU) decision to change the definition of planets to exclude Pluto and other dwarf planets in our solar system and elsewhere. Dr.

David Moore was the guest for this program which explores the relationship between space and science fiction. During the discussion, Mr. Moore talked about myths that connect sci-fi with space and the marketing of space through sci-fi which can often lead to expectations based on fantasy and then disappointment. He talked about space as a frontier and the frontier's place in science fiction writing. As a result of listener questions, he connected dots with space exploration and science fiction. We talked about space and science fiction in Europe as well as Russia.