Guest: Dr. Scott Pace. Topics: Space policy, COTS, HSF safety, commercial space & more. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed Dr. Scott Pace back to the program for a comprehensive discussion on a variety of topics impacting space policy, commercial space, and both our civil and entrepreneurial space communities. We started our first segment with a summary of the AIAA-IAF Global Space Exploration Conference held last week in Washington, DC. We talked about the international make-up of the conference, the focus on budget issues, commercial space, and some of the different issues of concern to Europe, Asia, and the U.S. We also talked about the impact on the Europeans of the U.S. terminating certain space program partnerships as the Europeans do four year planning and budgeting unlike the U.S. which is year to year. Our first caller was Michael Listner about the European Code of Conduct for Outer Space. This was a comprehensive and important discussion on a subject that we are sure to hear more about over time. The U.S. may even sign on to it so I strongly suggest everyone pay attention to this issue & this discussion. We mentioned recent public comments about the Law of the Sea Treaty and looked at the potential impact of the treaty on space development should the U.S. modify or adopt a version of the treaty. Toward the end of the first segment, Jerry sent in a note asking about comments made to the Washington Post by our guest on the number of test flights that might be needed for the Falcon 9, plus the response from NASA Watch. Dr. Pace talked about HSF flight safety, rocket testing programs, and how today differs from the early days of our human spaceflight history. Risk averseness was part of our conversation. In our second segment, we talked about the rational for human spaceflight. Dr. Pace offered a geopolitical rational for HSF rather than just a capability driven program and rational. Here we talked about Asian countries emerging as space powers and participants along with what happens when we aim for Beyond LEO (BLEO) and the need to engage the new players. You will hear Dr. Pace advocate a return to the Moon several times during our program as that is a way to engage new players, plus we need to learn certain skills all over again before going BLEO. We switched topics & talked about increasing the NASA budget & treating NASA as an investment, not an expense. Dr. Pace brought our focus to what do we get for what we spend. Don't miss this discussion. We talked about commercial crew, down selecting as an option, and competition. Dr. Pace put these issues into the form of a cost-benefit analysis project to be examined based on the goals of the desired or stated policy. Again, don't miss his analysis of these issues. We also talked about the FAR and the SAA, insight, oversight, accountability, and higher costs coming from the FAR. Property rights & land claims were brought up along with space settlement issues. Listener Jim inquired about using the Dragon for BLEO missions. Scott had much to say about this potential. Toward the end, we talked about the U.S. budget deficit & what we spend on NASA, then I read a letter from two 5th grade students opposing space development & I asked Dr. Pace to provide us with his reply. We concluded our discussion with Dr. Pace honing in on the need for leadership here and abroad, along with the need for a robust economy. Please post your questions/comments on The Space Show blog. If you want to email Dr. Pace, you can send your note to me & I will forward it to him.
Guest
The Space Show
