Guest: Henry Vanderbilt. Topics: Space Access Society, Space Access Conference, commercial space. 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. For more information about the topics of today's program, visit www.space-access.org. If you are needing to make Grace Inn reservations in Phoenix, visit www.graceinn.com. For questions or comments about the conference or our discussion with Henry Vanderbilt, please use space.access@space-access.org. During our first segment, we opened up with our guest saying that progress was being made toward developing commercial space and moving toward lower space access costs, but we were still not at the finish line which would be represented by radically cheaper space transportation. Henry took us through the list of conference speakers which can be found on the Space Access website above. He highlighted a few of the discussion topics including propellant depots, CCDEV 2 applicants, and the NASA Technology Roadmap among many others. He mentioned the Grace Inn which is again the conference hotel in Phoenix. Advance registration is by mail, paying at the door or using a credit card at the door results in a higher fee. As we began taking listener questions, there were several about space policy coverage at the conference and the differences in Senate as compared to House space policy. Several times during our discussion, our guest talked about making needed NASA policy types of reforms. Toward the end of the first segment, the heavy lift rocket subject came up. Henry had much to say about this so don't miss this discussion. In the second segment, we talked about astronaut safety as an issue facing the commercial spaceflight industry. Here again, our guest had much to say on this subject that you will want to consider. Expendable versus reusable rockets were discussed in the context of astronaut safety as was the business bottom line. As the second segment was nearing its end, listener Larry asked as question about the need for destinations and timelines and the fact that they were dropped for the administration's policy. Henry pointed out that they require a pinning down of technologies which means there are no resources deployed to advancing technologies. Again, do not miss this discussion. During the final segment, we discussed more aspects of the conference including its strong international component and the bloggers that are going to be there to blog and cover the conference. Kathy in Salt Lake City asked if Space Access was a NewSpace Conference but as you will hear Henry say, its broader than only NewSpace. For the balance of our segment, Henry talked about the conference facilities, highlighting more of those attending and speaking. If you have a comment or question for Henry, please post it on the blog URL above as well as sending it to Henry Vanderbilt per the above email address.
Guest
The Space Show
