Guest: Brian Shiro. Topics: Astronauts 4 Hire, NOAA, & Next Gen Suborbital Researchers Conference. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. We welcomed Brian Shiro back to the program for Astronauts 4 Hire (A4H) updates, NOAA information, plus information regarding the Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) underway in Broomfield, Colorado. During the first segment of our one hour 27 minute program, Brian introduced us to the A4H organization, its basic categories of membership, and the demographics of its members which can also be found at www.astronauts4hire.org/p/the-a4h.html. For more information and contact information regarding A4H, make sure you visit their main website page, www.astronauts4hire.org. We spent lots of time with Brian discussing flight parameters, astronaut training, and mission operations. Listeners asked Brian lots of questions via email, including about A4H being prepared for orbital flight, not just suborbital flight. We talked about the international participation, possible ITAR issues and considerations, then wondered if the high level of academic and professional level of membership deters membership or participation from those without the advanced degrees. We learned that A4H makes use of three different training centers from flight training all the way to survival training. A listener wanted to know about specific mission training or prep prior to an A4H person managing an actual flight experiment. A medical school student wanted to know if experiments were supervised, reviewed, and controlled or would people wanting to fly an experiment just pay their money and go. This proved to be an interesting discussion. In our second segment, we talked about space tourism, more about the NSRC 2013 Conference, then I asked Brian about the role of space assets in the NOAA Tsunami Warning Center work. Brian had much to say about the role of space resources so don't miss this discussion. We talked about the methods for predicting tsunami warnings using not only space resources but ocean devices. We also talked about how an earthquake might deform a part of the ocean bottom and how that leads to a tsunami. Later, Jane emailed in a question about the NOAA space program and we learned it’s the third largest space program in the U.S., but bigger than most other national space programs. Near the end of the program we talked about possible A4H & NASA missions as well as A4H operational missions such as manning a Bigelow space station. Doug called in to inquire about an experimental suborbital research program using a live subject-a finger monkey. Brian was happy to help out with such an experiment. This is a very interesting idea, see what you think of it. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can reach Brian through the A4H website or through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
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