Broadcast 1620 (Special Edition)

Guests: Dr. John Jurist, Dr. Haym Benaroya. Topics: Creating the perfect U.S. Civil Space Policy, Part 1. 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. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed Drs. Jurist & Benaroya to help design the "perfect" U.S. Civil Space Policy. Part way through the program, we realized that we would need a Part 2 so our guests will return in a few weeks to propose our Action Plan. During Part 1, we thrashed over the problems, how to deal with them, and we took listener calls & emails with their important feedback. All in all, the three of us were very satisfied with how Part 1 unfolded. We still want your feedback so post your comments & ideas on the blog. In our first hour long segment of our two our discussion, our guests along with listeners went over some of the common problems faced in designing space policy. We had a focus on connecting with the general population and at times, listeners said we were doing the same thing we said others do such as say/propose the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome. We talked about ways to break the "Ground Hog Day Loop Model. During our first segment, we talked about R&D and Dr. Jurist proposed an idea for an independent committee to oversee space and remove congress from its micromanagement, especially with technology. Listen to his proposal and let us know what you think of it. We also talked about the very long term nature of space projects, usually lasting 5-20 years or so, while Congress funds annually, not long term. Our guests suggested ways to address this problem. At one point I introduced the iPhone, consumer electronics comparison. See what our guests had to say about that one! We also talked about ways of expanding and building the economy, even in times of constrained budgets. This discussion included comparisons with space, infrastructure & entitlement program costs and benefits. As we started the second segment, Ben from New Jersey called us with the idea that the large goal should be space colonization. We had a terrific discussion with Ben and by the time I summarized his call, we had a clearer idea of how to structure the action plan. John called in from Atlanta suggesting the first step was to return to human spaceflight ASAP and preserve our HSF lead. Once this is done, the space policy follows. Each of our guests commented on John's idea and all of us had much to say about U.S. leadership and space leadership in particular. Kelly called, agreed with John Hunt and talked about commercial space customers other than NASA, plus R&D & more. We talked about investment capital and situations that encouraged private sector investment. In closing out Part 1, each guest summarized their takeaways from the discussion and agreed to be back to deliver the Action Plan (policy) we talked about throughout our discussion. Feedback is crucial, we want your comments, ideas, questions on The Space Show blog.