Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: We discussed a variety of topics dealing with all aspects of space commerce to the economy, and launch options. 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. During this two hour program, we discussed a wide range of topics dealing with space policy, commercial space, EELV, Bigelow Aerospace, its doubling its space in Las Vegas and its plans for the Florida Space Coast, SpaceX and the Falcon 9, ATK and their new venture with Astrium to develop the Liberty Rocket for CCDev 2 competition and more. As we started our discussion, I went through a list of 14 discussion topics for this program and then during our discussion with callers, added two or three more items to the discussion list. I was a bit disappointed that nobody wanted to discuss the EU's Draft Code of Behavior for Outer Space or our new National Security Space Strategy but as you will hear, there was lots of interest in discussing NASA, the budget, Bigelow Aerospace and Space X plans with the Falcon 9, plus the new announcement by ATK regarding their CCDev 2 entry with Astrium, the Liberty Rocket. Perhaps the most controversial call came from Charles who is now in Las Vegas rather than Mojave, CA. Charles was asked about laser launch possibilities and he threw lots of cold water on the laser. He also was very critical of both NASA and Bigelow Aerospace and in fact suggested that because Bigelow was not developing his own transportation system, his venture would likely be unsuccessful. I argued against what Charles was saying and still believe Charles is off the deep end both with how he sees NASA and certainly how he views Bigelow Aerospace. A few listeners sent in emails saying about the same thing I just said. Trent from Australia was our first caller and he focused in on several of the discussion items I had mentioned, including stating he had been caught off guard by the ATK announcement. I think many of us were caught off guard by their announcement which went out yesterday morning. We also talked about the Competitive Space Task Force press announcement I had received and as the show ended, Trent sent this YouTube clip to me saying that it was shown at their press briefing, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h_d6YVA1Kg. I want to find out more about this organization, possibly even have Rand and some of the others as guests to discuss their plans and goals. John from Atlanta called in, we had a follow up discussion on nuclear propulsion and some of the comments made on the Sunday Space Show, specifically about the U.S. becoming irrelevant with space policy with Asian countries. John also mentioned the letter by three members of the House wanting to redirect NASA Earth Imaging money to human spaceflight. Then John brought up the A-12 project as an example of cancelled projects and that started a mini discussion with John in Billings that continued by email after the show ended. For those interested in this project, let me know and I will send you some of the email links and information provided by both our listeners on this project as John in Billings provided John in Atlanta with some reference links and point clarifications on this project. If you have questions or comments for any of the callers or participants in tonight's show, first, post them on the blog URL above. You can also send them to me and I will forward them to the person of your choice.
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The Space Show
