Guest: Guillermo Sohnlein. Topics: Ocean research and commercial markets and their relationship to commercial space markets and development. 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. We welcomed back Guillermo Sohnlein to the program to discuss his new organization, OceanGate as well as the Space Angeles Network. To find out more about OceanGate, visit www.opentheoceans.com. For information about the Space Angels Network, visit www.spaceangelsnetwork.com. During our first segment, Guillermo told us about his move from the space world to OceanGate in Seattle about 18 months ago. In fact, as you will hear later in our discussion, our guest was actually introduced to the OceanGate opportunity as a result of the Space Angels Network. During our first segment, we talked about the OceanGate 5-person submarine that can dive to 936 feet, the Antipodes. Guillermo described the viewing capabilities, operating parameters, and the Coast Guard regulatory regime regarding the use of the submarine. You might find some things in common with AST and licensing spaceflight vehicles. Another discussion area was the fact that both the ocean and space have a common hostile to humans environment. In response to a question, we learned that it was more common for space folks to have an interest and work in ocean exploration rather than ocean types migrating over to having an interest in space. Toward the end of the first segment, we started talking about underwater ocean settlements and asked if they were needed as a stepping stone to space settlement. Guillermo mentioned several undersea settlement projects. One he mentioned, Atlantica, was the subject of some discussion. You can learn more about this project at www.underseacolony.com. We started the second segment with a question by Becky regarding inner and outer space as a metaphor for knowing ourselves. Guillermo thought this was a good analogy. I fielded an email question about VoIP phone lines and chat and did a short rant on the subject, then asked our guest about the similarities in the robotic versus human arguments in space and with ocean research. Regarding the oceans, our guest said there were two large categories for robotic missions, tethered which were controlled from the surface and pre-programmed remote missions. Later in this segment, we talked about commercial markets in ocean exploration and we did some comparisons with the challenges for commercial markets in space development. In the third segment, we talked about human viewing in the sub and compared it to using the submarine camera system. Due to breaking news about the Japanese nuclear accident, listener John called in to give us an update and then asked additional questions about undersea settlements. Stephen in Canada asked if there was an Overview Effect resulting from ocean exploration. For the balance of the program, we focused on The Space Angels Network. We talked about economic conditions for angel investing and our guest defined and contrasted angel investors with venture capital investors. He also talked about upcoming Space Angels Network events for accredited investors. Toward the end of the program, Guillermo said another point of commonality was the need for more global cooperation due to the costs and logistics of ocean exploration which is similar to what we are finding to be relevant for space exploration. If you have a question or comment for our guest, post it on the blog URL above. You can email Guillermo Sohnlein using g.sohnlein@spaceangelsnetwork.com or guillermo@opentheoceans.org.
Guest
The Space Show
