public space program

Guest: Dr. Michael (Mike) Griffin. Topics: This interview is a comprehensive space policy & program discussion with our former NASA Administrator. 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. Mike Griffin to the program, our 11th NASA Administrator from 2005-2009. This program was also co-hosted with Dr.

Guests: Richard Garriott and Starr Long were the guests for this very special Space Show program. Mr. Garriott was with us from Star City, Russia where he is currently training for his Soyuz launch to the ISS on Oct. 12, 2008. Starr Long joined us from Seattle, Washington. During this program, Mr. Garriott explained why he wanted to go to space and the ISS, his experiments that he will be performing, and his interactive participant program for those of us here, Operation Immortality (please visit www.operationimmortality for more information).

Dr. Tom Matula returned to The Space Show for this program. Dr. Matula has a specialty in private spaceports so we began the discussion talking about spaceports in New Mexico and elsewhere. Dr. Matula addressed financing and market issues, political risks, orbital and suborbital destinations, and more. He provided us with a comprehensive analysis of the developing spaceport industry, the markets for the spaceports and the likely timing and commercial success of various spaceports under development or consideration.

Dr. Alan Binder returned as the guest for this Space Show program. Alan began the interview with updates and clarification regarding his Lunar Prospector project. This developed into a discussion about NASA and the public space program and how best to get into space. Alan believes the private sector is most suited for the job, would like to see NASA become like a DARPA and is strongly supportive of the entrepreneurial space community. He is less supportive of the large aerospace industry and he tells why. Based on his own work and experiences, Dr.