Guest: Dr. Don Flournoy. Topics: SunSat Design Competition, Space Solar Power. 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. We welcomed Dr. Don Flournoy to the program to discuss the upcoming SunSat Design Competition (www.nss.org/news/releases/NSS_Release_20131028_SunSat.html). Information about the SunSat Design Competition, the guidelines, prizes and all the details can be found at http://sunsat.gridlab.ohio.edu/node/7. During the first segment of our 1 hour 25 minute program, Dr. Flournoy introduced us to the International SunSat Design Competition along with the concept of Space Solar Power (SSP). We talked about the competition, the role of the NSS and also the SpaceJournal which our guest edits, www.spacejournal.ohio.edu (The Online Journal of Space Communication). Specifically, Don referenced Issue 17, then later Issue 16. He talked about the need to do proper story telling in a visual format, the need to have your design be technically doable, and include a business plan. He described the top prizes of which there would be a few at $10K each. We went over design contest logistics, due dates, the guidelines which are on the above URL and more. Don then talked about the fundraising involved by the competition, the need to raise sponsorship dollars, crowd funding, and more. One listener asked if an entry could focus on the launch problem related to SSP. Yes, that was acceptable. We talked about the rectennas and he pointed us to an article about this which was posted on Issue 17. Randy wanted to know if the policy aspect could be an entry since that would be short on the technical component. Again, yes since policy and legal are clearly part of the solution to implementing SSP. Demo projects came up, especially in reference to nanosatellites and cubesats. Don told about the presentations that take place at the ISDC meeting in May. We talked about other countries interested in SSP& their role in the competition. In the second segment, we started with a call from Seth who is member of Don's Advisory Board. Seth had additional information about the competition to share with us, plus he talked about the overall educational value of the design competition and work that Don was doing with his students and the online journal. Don referenced his work with non-technical students, the need to do visualizations for the project, and the work coming out of the Grid Lab. Don told us about the course he teaches which focuses on creative visualization for science & technology plus how to use social medial. Our guest was then asked about the potential impact of a demo project and how that might change the project development timeline. Near the end of the program, Dr. Flournoy was asked about using the Moon for SSP, then he again went over the requirements for entry, including the need to include a business plan. As we were ending, a listener asked him about outreach efforts to policy makers, Congress, staffers,& others, plus their overall interest in SSP. He was also asked about his student's reaction to the competition and the overall idea of SSP. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog per above.
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