Guest: Dr. John Logsdon. Topics: Professor Logsdon's new book, "After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program," plus our guest responded to many space policy questions then and now. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.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. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience. We welcomed back to the show Dr. John Logsdon to discuss his new book, "After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program." During the first segment of our 90 minute discussion, Dr. Logsdon provided us with the multi-year history behind his researching and writing this book. We talked about the Space Shuttle but also the gap within NASA and parts of the space community including the advocate community between having great expectations but insufficient resources to support the great expectations. We talked about the likelihood of significant NASA budget increases in coming years and while possible, our guest said it was unlikely. President Nixon wanted space to be considered routine and NASA to compete for funding with other parts of the discretionary budget. What President Nixon set in motion is continuing through this day. Dr. Logsdon said policy normally comes from the White House but recently policy for SLS came from the Senate because they did not like what President Obama was doing. We talked about the long range impact of the Nixon space policy even through today and at one point Dr. Logsdon suggested that maybe Nixon got it right regarding American public sentiment about space. Our guest received questions about planetary science and its accomplishments and other listeners inquired about public/private partnerships. Still, our guest said that only governments really have the resources to carry out the type of space investment needed for exploration. Listeners asked about other forces of the time including the Cold War and space policy champions in leadership positions such as Tom Paine who was the NASA Administrator. Dr. Logsdon was asked how things might have been different had Hubert Humphry been elected president. Mars was also discussed, then Dr. Logsdon talked about the space shuttle history. In response to several questions, he shared his thoughts and experiences from his time spent serving on the CAIB. Another topic in this segment dealt with space advocacy. Our guest said we need advocacy to keep the dream alive until leadership makes it happen. He said talk about settlement and pioneering were mainly just words. Pioneering needed to answer two questions which he addressed before the break. In segment two, we talked about the ISS and Shuttle having consumed the HSF budget and now the ISS does that with about $3 billion per year. Using the shuttle for national defense and security during the Nixon years was also a discussion topic as Nixon liked national security issues. Dr. Logsdon had much to say about the shuttle's use by the military and for national security. You might be surprised by what you hear. As for human spaceflight, Dr. Logsdon referred her to the NRC Pathways Study which we have discussed many times on The Space Show. More questions came in regarding space advocacy which he said pushes the boundaries of realism and needs to be balanced between sober reality and pure fantasy. Tony emailed us to ask about SLS/Orion, private space over NASA, and Elon Musk and his Mars settlement plans. A question came in about being motivated by the Chinese space program. For closing remarks, Dr. Logsdon addressed the Nixon space policy and program legacy which still influences us today. Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog above. You can reach Dr. Logsdon through me. When purchasing his book through Amazon, please use the OGLF Amazon link on the website and all archive programs as Amazon will then contribute a percentage of the sale price to The Space Show. Thank you.
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