The Space Show

Chris and Sam talk about the documentary movie made from the recent book authored by Chris, "Alcohol In Space." Our guests had lots to say about the cultural use of alcohol so why would it not be used in space. They also talked about the use of it so far in space though that info was limited. Sam even mentioned it for use after a hard day of work in space because space is challenging and hard. We fielded many listener emails and a few calls. We also talked about the use of alcohol for analog sites along with other unique locations here on Earth. Space Settlement was an issue plus Moon and Mars. During the last part of our program we talked about the upcoming Explore Mars conference May 28-29. Part of that discussion included the three of us talking about how our advocacy has changed over the past twenty plus years and for the most part, we can see doing multiple projects, not being forced into doing just one or the other. Please read the full summary of this program when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Sunday, March 30, 2025

Courtney Stadd was back to discuss his AIAA Aerospace America Feb-March issue article re the U.S. retaining its leadership in space and why that was important. We had quite the vibrant discussion on this topic for a good portion of the program, then we turned to Courtney's ideas around the National Space Council and should it be retained or discontinued with the current administration. For both topics we had multiple email questions and comments. Additionally, we talked about the venture capital investment in space over the last decade, the still lack of markets and industry development, and our guest attempted an answer to the question of why so much money is flowing to uncertainty in terms of customers, markets, experience and such. Do not miss how Courtney responded to these questions. I thought his response was excellent. Before we ended our almost 90 minute discussion, I pointed out what seemed to be a very slow developing human spaceflight industry. Courtney had lots to say about that including the fact that we likely followed the wrong but government influenced track that led to that outcome which he hoped was starting to change, especially as space access become more affordable. Read the full summary of this program when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Friday, March 28, 2025.

John returned to The Space Show to discuss his having used four AI programs to look at the Musk-SpaceX plans for launching supply and humans to Mars between 2030-2050. John wanted to know how many launch sites would be required for the plans Musk has announced to date. During this program, John went through his questions for AI, his assumptions and he he evolved his model. We also disected each of the AI responses. With listener emails and phone calls, this was a thorough discussion but specific to the question John asked the AI with the assumptions he made. All of this was made very transparent on this program. Read the full summary when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

Space Atty Camisha Simmons was back with us to both preview her ISDC 2025 upcoming talk and to discuss her recent Space Review article which you can find on our blog. During our discussion, Camisha made a compelling case for congressional clarification regarding property rights per the Commercial Space Act of 2015. Our guest received several phone calls and multiple emails regarding potential legal conflicts once we start resource usage and more in space. Don't miss this program! Please read the full summary when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Sunday, March 23. 2025.

John and I welcomed Dr. Julian de Witt and Dr. Benjamin Rackham to the program for four segments over 36 minutes on an in-depth discussion of the Trappist 1 exoplanet system. This was a highly detailed discussion regarding the sun and all seven planets close together in this system. During the four segments we covered all aspects of the system, the use of the JWST and other preferred imaging devices. how best to research the system going forward and why we want to do that plus we talked about learning about this system means for studying exoplanets and looking for an Earth-like planet and life as we know it. Don't miss the full summary when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

Joanne Higgins was with us re her LA Made podcast, The Other Moonshot." Joanne told us the story of three Los Angeles area "unsung heroes" during the Apollo period working for North American on the project in S. California. Our show focused on the stories of Charlie, Nate and Shelby. Not only did we talk about their work on Apollo and the space program but what it was like to be men of color at that time. The story about their discovery that white engineers were paid more than they were paid (they were all engineers with stellar backgrounds and educations) was engaging. Joanne talked about how each one processed that fact and why. For Charlie for example, he was the activist of the group. When asked about their feelings about successfully going to the Moon, well, listen for their reply on that as I will let it surprise you. Our discussion with Joanne had lots of great history, culture and stories so don't miss it. This was a walk through history and we should all know it as I believe it is also important for today's considerations and understandings. Please read the full summary of this program when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, March 18, 2025.

Welcome to Open Lines for March 2025. We covered lots of topics but started out with some Space Show scheduling changes plus information regarding the upcoming probable Space Show Zoom on April 6. We covered many topics but spent most of the time on alternative plans to the Moon other than the Program of Record for Artemis using the lunar landers by SpaceX or Blue, SLS & the Gateway. We talked about the law and how much authority NASA or the President may have in modifying how we do the mission plus there was good discussion regarding the alternative plan proposed by Dr. Kothari. AJAY has discussed in ideas on TSS plus for the last time he was on, there is a PDF document that explains the details of his approach using FH and more. If you have not read that doc, please do so. Read the full summary of this program a www.thespaceshow.com when available and for this date, March 16, 2025.

John and I welcomed back Eric Berger of Ars Technica to discuss the recent Demo #8 test flight for Starship. As everyone knows by now, while the first stage was successfully landed at the pad, the Starship blew up before reaching orbit much at the same interval as Demo #7. Eric talked about the problems which have yet to be confirmed but are likely given recent propulsion system modifications. Also talked about was the wide and very dangerous debris field caused by the rocket's destruction. In response to a question, Eric said this fact would probably cause the FAA to take a close look at applicable issues regarding the debris field and not harming third parties. Possible changes and even timeline modifications were talked about. Read the full summary when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Wednesday, March 12, 2025.

We welcomed back Laura Montgomery, atty for an action packed discussion on her policy and law wish list for space this year and for the new administration. We talked about two key items on her wish list. The first was for her to see an Executive Order issuing clarification for Article 6 of the OST. She explained the matter at hand and its an important and necessary event needing to happen on her wish list. In addition, we talked about space property rights. Here, Laura suggested we see if we can apply our terrestrial Adverse Possession laws to the Moon/space. For sure you don't want to miss this discussion which took place near the end of our program. We had two callers and several email listener questions. Please read the full summary of this program when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Friday, March 14, 2025.

Dr. Kothari was with us to discuss the recent congressional hearing on Artemis and return to the Moon programs as he attended the hearing. You can find the hearing on YouTube if you want to watch. Ajay reported on the two guests, the need for a sustainable program, then he talked about his own ideas for a sustainable program to the Moon using Falcon Heavy. Our guest has put his information on our blog for this show so do check it out, including his PDF on returning humans to the Moon. We got several questions and calls, some which inquired about the process to get ideas before the policy makers. Please read the full summary of this program when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Tuesday, March 11, 2025.

We welcomed back to the show noted space attorney Wayne White. Be sure to read his papers posted on the blog regarding his work on space property rights. Property right were a main topic for our discussion with Wayne putting forth a way to achieve them. He constantly referred to his previous Space Pioneer Act for related topics plus methos to employ property rights - legally. Wayne received many emails from listeners plus a few detailed phone calls regarding his property rights ideas. I even responded to one caller with one of my classic rants given the nature of his question. Please read the full summary of this show when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date Sunday, March 9, 2025.

Dr. Martin Elvis returned to discuss the need and his plan to protect essential science locations on the Moon. His recent paper on the subject is on our blog. We talked about voluntary adherence to rules that might be put forth, mandatory, and the wishes of the astronomy community. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Friday, March 7, 2025.

Doug Messier was the guest talking about the commercial lunar landers landing on the Moon and about to land on the Moon. Doug talked with us about each one, their missions, the experiments on board, their launchers and the role NASA played with each one, if any. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com when it becomes available for this date, Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

Doug Messier returned to discuss the current landers that recently put down on the Moon plus one landing in a few days and then a few months from now. We talked about their respective missions, hardware, rovers and the advances they made to enable their successful lunar landings. Doug updated us on Starship and their upcoming flight plus we talked about other launchers including Rocket Labs and Blue Origin. Multiple additional short topics made their way to our discussion. Read the full summary of this show when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Tuesday, March 5, 2025.

Joe returned with updates on spin and AG. We talked about why NASA does not research this field and what that may suggest about NASA's thoughts on humans BLEO. We had several long lasting calls on various topics. Joe talked about his research per the paper uploaded to our blog for this program. Please read the full summary when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Sunday, March 2, 2025.

John and I welcomed back Dr. Harold Connolly to discuss the most recent findings from the sample return from steroid Bennu. We are learning much from these samples about our early solar system. Read the full summary when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.

We welcomed Charlie Chafer back to the program for Celestis updates, new missions they offer as memorial spaceflights, lunar missions concerns, potential Mars missions, their deep space mission and more. We talked payloads, rideshare, more and more lunar missions, launch reliability and some on the funeral and cremation side of the business. I do apologize for the poor audio with this program. Read the full summary when it becomes available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025.

Bob was welcomed back to the show and immediately began talking about possible NASA layoffs, the new administrator and his confirmation and how the layoffs would be beneficial given his view of NASA not being efficient in what it does. The cancellation of SLS came up and between layoffs, NASA, the new administrator, the possible termination of SLS and the timing of such a cancellation, that covered most of the program. Near the end, a caller asked about the asteroid being talked about as possibly hitting Earth in 2032. Both the caller and Bob were critical of NASA and the science community for not doing anything I directed both to hear the recent Feb. 14 program with Dr. Ed Lu of the B612 Foundation for the facts rather than their speculation. Both the caller and Jerry from GA said they would listen to the program and provide feedback on what they hear with that interview. Please post your comments on our blog for this show. If the asteroid issue is of interest to you, listen to the Feb. 14th program with Dr. Ed Lu. Your comments on that discussion are welcome. Please read the full comments on this show when they appear at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Feb. 18, 2025.

Dr. Matula was back with us to discuss his Space Review article, posted on our blog for this program, focusing on his biological argument in favor of space settlement. We spent considerable time on this subject which included space food agriculture, farming in space, testing ideas and methods here on earth and more. Space communications were also part of the show, talking about narrow beam communication. Tom talked about the work the Texas Space Commission was and is doing plus the new MBA program at his university for space commerce. The program is all online and contact Tom for more info. He provided us with info on his email address. Read the full summary of this program when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Sunday, Feb. 16,2025.

Eric Berger was our guest to discuss Artemis, SLS up or down for the future, the Boeing Starliner, Starship, alternate Artemis plans plus in Part 2 Eric was asked about the future for Russian Roscosmos, Russian military space, their ILS project and Russian spacesuit development. Read the full summary when available at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.