Broadcast 200 (Special Edition)

Manny Pimenta, the guest on The Space Show for this 200th program, is a member of the Board of Directors and an Advocate for The Space Frontier Foundation. He is in charge of organizing the upcoming, very important Return to the Moon Conference to be held in July in Las Vegas, NV. We discussed the need for this conference as well as for returning to the Moon. Mr. Pimenta answered several questions challenging the need to do anything in space versus the needs here on Earth, and he addressed one questioner who wanted to know if she would fit in at the conference given her thoughts that we did not go to the Moon and should not be spending money on space. Both the response by Mr. Pimenta and then myself made it clear the person was welcome and encouraged to be at the conference, but also that she needed to be responsible for her own level of knowlege and awareness about these issues. Manny discussed the potential election year impact of space policy, including the Bush policy program for returning to the Moon and going on to Mars. We also talked about the importance of quality space advocating and how to be do a better job at it than what is sometimes done within the greater space advocate community. Mr. Pimenta will be returning to the Space Show as the Return to the Moon conference draws nearer as this is an important conference.