Guest: Dr. Erik Seedhouse; Erik discussed both his new XCOR book which was mainly about the Lynx and his microgravity & vision impairment text book. Please direct all comments and questions regarding specific Space Show programs & guest(s) to the Space Show blog which is part of archived program on our website, www.thespaceshow.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. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.
We welcomed back Dr. Erik Seedhouse to discuss his new book about XCOR and the Lynx space vehicle plus later on in the program he discussed microgravity and vision programs. During the first segment of our 1 hour 42 minute program, Erik mainly spoke about his XCOR book in light of the news that XCOR was suspending their work on the Lynx vehicle. Erik talked about that plus he spoke to many of the assets of the Lynx had they gotten it to work. He also spoke about the XCOR plans to focus on the competition to build the ULA engine .
Later in the segment, Erik had much to say about the suborbital industry in general, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. Like everyone else, he wondered when they would start revenue flights. He seemed to be most excited about the potential offered by Blue Origin. I asked him about European suborbital possibilities such as Swiss Space Systems (S3). He took some listener questions that wondered if another company might attempt to buy Lynx from XCOR to finish it.
In the second segment, we switched to the microgravity and vision impairment issues per his text book, "Microgravity and Vision Impairments in Astronauts." Erik explained the nature of the vision problem, talked about why it impacted men, and the results of studies so far though they all operate with very small sample sizes.
Other microgravity issues were discussed. One listener waned to know if the bone loss and muscle issues resulting from exposure to microgravity had been resolved. Erik said no but listen to all of what he said on this topic. Artificial gravity was discussed plus the need for on orbit centrifuge studies. Erik was asked about all female crews but he said women have more radiation issues than men. This opened the door for a discussion about radiation issues and shielding.
Doug emailed in questions about radiation shielding and referenced a recent paper by Adamo and Logan re water for shielding in their Aquarius paper (http://pnwaiaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/0800_Adamo_Aquarius.pdf). Doug posted some material about this on the blog. Later in the segment, our guest spoke about other issues including life support systems, the lack of a closed loop life support system, and possible future genetic engineering to counter the harmful effects of long duration spaceflight. Toward the end of the program, our guest talked about the early human explorations possibly being harder than going to Mars.
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