Guest: Andrew (Andy) Chaikin: Topics: Andy's new Folio Society Two Volume Illustrated edition of his classic "A Man On The Moon," Artemis compared to Apollo, SpaceX, Mars, NASA, returning to the Moon, the Apollo 15 anniversary and the importance of this particular mission and more.
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We welcomed Andy Chaikin back to the program to discuss his new edition of his classic, "A Man On The Moon." The new edition has been published by The Folio Society, is illustrated, has lots of pictures in it plus rare and new pictures. You can get more information about this special edition which is only available through The Folio Society by visiting www.foliosociety.com/usa/a-man-on-the-moon.html. Andy took us through the special edition, the unique photos plus the process used to find those special pictures. He also pointed out several of the rare images which are found in both Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Todd sent in the first email which focused on asking And to compare and contrast Apollo with Artemis. Andy talked about his special discussions with NASA JSC people working on the Artemis project with Apollo experience. He also told us a Max Faget story going back to Apollo. Much of what our guest said focused on the special mindset of the people associated with these mission. In fact, mindset was a major discussion point for most of the program. While discussing Artemis, Andy talked about the use of the halo orbit in getting back to the Moon with Artemis as compared to the way Apollo went to the Moon. If you have questions or comments about this, please post them on our blog for this show. During this compare and contrast discussion, Anda brought up testing and hardware behavior concerns. Comments anyone?
Listener Ellen sent in a note asking our guest if he thought we would actually establish a permanent presence on the Moon. Don't miss how our guest responded to Ellen. I suspect you might be surprised by what our guest said. In response to another question about people thinking that returning to the Moon was a waste of time and resources, Andy suggested that the Moon was the crown jewel of our solar system. Our guest then itemized three reason and justifications for returning to the Moon. Listen to the three reasons and once again, post your thoughts about them on our blog for this.
I moved the discussion to one that focused on Apollo 15 as its 50th anniversary is about upon us. Our guest pointed out that Apollo 15 was a quantum leap beyond previous Apollo missions. He cited the reasons for this including more time spent on the lunar surface, a longer overall mission, longer lunar crew explorations, the use of rovers, the science that was done plus other activities. He told great stories regarding Ed Mitchell and approaching the rim of a lunar crater. Don't miss what he said. Before moving on, he talked about an Apollo 15 celebration planned for the San Diego Air and Space Museum on June 30.
Listener Chris asked Andy what he thought of the international approach in Artemis as compared to the All America approach in Apollo. Our guest said it was good "on some levels." He talked about the international aspects making a program harder to be cancelled. He had more to say on this subject that you will want to hear as this happens to be a frequently asked question.
Larry in Dallas asked about the rise in anti-space articles, other material, rhetoric that even today seems as if it is on an increase. As part of Andy's response, our guest linked back to the JFK Rice University speech. When asked about humans going to Mars, he said it was a huge challenge. He then rattled off several of the humans to Mars challenge.
Ft. Worth John called to talk about Bezos after his New Shepherd flight. This led to Andy talking about the upcoming SpaceX Inspiration 4 orbital flight later this year. We then got a note from Tony in Pasadena asking for the real story on how the three Apollo navigation stars got their names. Andy talked about that and explained how the names were selected and what they signified.
As the program was about to end, Carl in Tucson sent in a note picking up on a recent Space Show program to ask Andy if we did Apollo and space exploration the wrong way. Andy agreed with this and gave us his reasons. This was quite the detailed response, including near the end of it a comment about needing to iterate to innovate. Don't miss it. Following this, Andy summarized some of the key points of our discussion including the new Folio Book two volume set and the Apollo 15 upcoming anniversary.
Please post your comments/questions on our blog for this show. You can reach our guest threw me or his website, www.andrewchaikin.com.
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