Dr. Jim Wertz, CEO of Microcosm, Inc., returned to complete his discussion started last Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. We started the interview with a thorough discussion of why the U.S. government is not funding Scorpious and at times not even following the recommendations of the reports the government commenced. This comprehensive discussion not only included Scorpius, it addressed responsive space, the Darpa/Falcon project, and both the politics and engineering necessary to make these programs successful. We discussed how an entrepreneurial company such as Microcosm can successfully undertake a program like this while a lager and more traditional aerospace company would have difficulties in such a program. As part of this discussion, we hit on industry and company culture, corporate fiduciary and ROI obligations, the size of companies and how they must invest and spend on R&D given their size, and related business issues. Later in the program, Dr. Wertz talked about low cost lunar colonies, the ISS, economic opportunities with the Moon, why the Moon over Mars and near-Earth asteroids, and finally, how to engage in the political system to make a difference and help influence our elected representatives for constructive and productive space policy. In response to questions, he talked about the space programs of other nations and their challenges as compared to ours. Toward the end of the program, a listener inquired as to why the private sector (listener here implies civilian) sector can't bypass NASA, the DOD, the government space programs and just go to the Moon, go to orbit, etc. on their own. Dr. Wertz said there was no doubt many businessmen and women that would like to be able to do that but suggested they were not yet ready in terms of financing, business planning, etc. We also discussed the Kool-Aid mentality among segments of the space community, everything from the advocate side of the community to even those in government, the large industry and NASA. You will not want to miss this discussion which is the completion of our 4 hour interview with Dr. Wertz.. Also, we have 5 CDs re implementing Responsive Space to still give away and the book give away options are still available as described on air and in the Friday archives. Visit the Microcosm website at www.microcosminc.com and the bookstore website at www.astrobooks.com. Dr. Wertz can be contacted at jwertz@smad.com. I urge you to listen to this program!
Guest
The Space Show
