Guest : Greg Meholic was the guest for this Space Show program. Greg specializes in advanced space propulsion concepts for interstellar travel. As a member of the AIAA Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion Technical Committee and as the chair of the Future Flight sessions at the Joint Propulsion Conferences, Mr. Meholic was especially qualified to guide us through some very out-of-the-box and quite advanced propulsion possibilities. This was an in-depth discussion, but Greg was quite successful in breaking down complex theories and relationships so it was relatively easy to follow and understand all parts of the discussion. During the program, he referred to a set of presentation slides which he used for a recent AIAA Los Angeles luncheon. These slides can be found at www.aiaa-la.org/flyers/Adv%20Space%20Propulsion%20for%20Interstellar%20…. In addition, he has other presentation slides that he can send to you if you are interested. Contact him at his email address at the end of this write-up or you can request them from me. In total, these slide presentations are about 10 MB so make sure your email program will allow you to receive these files. When sending your request to Mr. Meholic, make sure you reference The Space Show in your subject line. During our discussion, Greg was asked why the large aerospace companies do not substantially engage in this type of R&D. You will find his response to be important as it also applies to space tourism and other issues that are much closer to reality at this time than the advanced propulsion theories. Another listener asked about a start-up rocket company today, and if it should be built upon the advanced theories or traditional chemical rockets. As you will hear from Greg, the advanced theories are still theories and not commercial at this time. We also talked about the global effort for R&D in this area. In this context, Greg mentioned researchers in Austria, Portugal, and other nations as well as in this country. His comments about ITAR restrictions were very interesting because, as it turns out, this work is mostly public domain and falls outside ITAR, so international collaboration is frequent and important. As for the advanced propulsion theories we discussed, you must listen to this program. Greg spoke a lot about the Tri-Space Model which is gaining some support. We also talked about other models being studied for advanced propulsion, how they work, what they mean for space traveling passengers, and much more. If you want to send a question or comment to Greg Meholic or request his slide presentations, contact him at orionstar2209@yahoo.com. Greg Meholic will be returning to The Space Show to continue this advanced discussion on advanced propulsion concepts, theories, and practicalities
Guest
The Space Show
