Talking Space

Episode 320 Days of Future Past

In this special episode of Talking Space, Gene Mikulka recounts his experiences during NASA's Kennedy Space Center's "Once and Future Tour" conducted for members of the media before the first launch attempt of Shuttle Endeavour on Shuttle Mission STS 134 on April 27, 2011. The first stop on the tour is a demonstration of a new LIDAR designed by a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Ball Areospace, the system is engineered to make rendezvous and docking of any new piloted or robotic spacecraft far more safer than it is today. Called the Sensor Test for Orion RelNav Risk Mitigation or STORRM for short, it is a prototype system that will be tested by Shuttle Endeavour during the STS 134 Mission. Representatives from both companies explain what STORRM is and how it will be tested. Next was a demonstration of the current Space Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit or EMU know by the rest of us as a Spacesuit. Gene was able to speak to one of the space suit engineers about how the suit is built and how it helps protect spacewalkers and is to follow for future spacesuit designs. The last stop on tour was a visit to Orbiter Processing Facility Number 2 which is usually the home of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Today Space Shuttle Discovery resides within. She is being prepared not for her next mission to the International Space Station, but for display at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center. Discovery's new mission will be that of Human Space Flight Ambasador nd her Flow Director, Stephanie Stilson, explains how Discovery is being prepared for her new role.

Episode 319:3+1=WOW

On this episode of Talking Space, Mark Ratterman interviews 3 NASA Astronauts + 1 NASA JSC Scientist. Interviews were on  April 27th and 29th, 2011 prior to the launch attempt for STS-134 on April 29th. Interviews were at the NASA KSC Press Site. Gene Mikulka contributed most of the questions Mark asked the Astronauts, Mark also ad-libbed a few during the recorded conversations. Thank you Gene, great job! A sincere Thank You to NASA, the KSC Media Services Staff and our Guests: NASA Astronaut - Dr. Michael Barratt - ISS Expedition 19/20 via Soyuz TMA-14, STS-133 NASA Astronaut - Steven Swanson - STS-117, STS-119 NASA Astronaut - Dr. Michael Foale - STS-45, STS-63, MIR 23 via STS-84/STS-86, STS-103, ISS Expedition 8 via Soyuz TMA-3 NASA JSC ISS Associate Program Scientist - Dr. Tara Ruttley Sit back, listen, enjoy, then a pop quiz - Does 3 + 1=WOW?

Episode 318: Turn to Page Talking Space of your History Books

On this episode of Talking Space, we start with the update on STS-134, the final flight of Endeavour, and its new launch date. By the way, don't miss our live launch coverage beginning on May 16th at 8:30am EDT on http://astronomy.fm! We then discuss the 50h successful Atlas V launch. We move on to SpaceX's possibility of combining two of their preparatory flights, COTS-2 and COTS-3, possibly leading them to an ISS docking sooner than later. Following that, we crack open some history books on the 50th anniversary of Alan Shepard's flight, the first American in space. The next topic became the Astronaut Hall of Fame and the amazing Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Lastly, we went on to discuss a spacesuit for sale and the recovery of the BTS-1 team, consisting of a rubber chicken (@Camilla_SDO), a teddy bear, (@AstroFuzz), and a stuffed pig (@SkyeBleu). We wish them all the best! For more information on the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, visit http://astronautscholarship.org Please note: We did have technical problems, and we realize some audio is muffled or is skipping and difficult to understand. We are aware of the problem and working to fix it. Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 5/9/2011

Episode 317: The STS-134 Scrubcast

On this episode of Talking Space, we devote the entire show to the days leading up to the scrub of the launch of the shuttle Endeavour on Friday, April 29, 2011. Mark and Gene participated in press events at the Kennedy Space Center, and we discuss tours of launch pads, astronaut interviews, and more! Listen in for some spectacular stories you can ONLY hear here! Also, stay tuned for a STS-134 clip show. To view the pictures mentioned in the show, click on the Photo Album link on our website, http://talkingspaceonline.com. Below are some teaser images. (Two images were inserted here. To view them, please visit http://talkingspaceonline.com Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 5/1/2011

Episode 316: The Space Shuttle Shuffle

On this episode, we begin with STS-134 and the Flight Readiness Review setting the launch date and time as April 29th at 3:47pm EDT. Endeavour will be launching on her final mission carrying the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) and a special payload which survived the Columbia disaster in 2003. We then move on to NASA's CCDev, or the Commercial Crew Development Agreement, and who will be getting money supporting their concepts ranging from $22 million to $92 million. Lastly, we get into a heated argument about an editorial posted online and in the New York edition of the New York Times calling the space shuttle Enterprise, which will soon be housed at the Inrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York city, a pile of garbage and a hand-me-down. The article to which is referenced from the New York Times is available online at http://nyti.ms/halISu Don't forget to tune in to http://astronomy.fm at 3pm EDT on April 29, 2011 for LIVE STS-134 launch coverage! Even if you can't make the live launch, check out the site, which replays our podcasts throughout the week, but the difference is, you can chat with other fans live in their chatroom. Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 4/24/2011

Episode 315: AMS-02 Ready Willing and Able

On this episode, we talk about AMS-02. We discuss the history, cost, some basics of the instrument, how it is installed and activated. We include audio from several NASA Briefings on AMS-02 from the following: Prof Samuel Ting, AMS Principal Investigator from MIT Trent Martin, NASA AMS Program Manager from JSC Mark Kelly, Commander of STS-134 Our own Talking Space - Mark Ratterman brings first hand information from three NASA media events at KSC and an up close picture of AMS in the Space Station Processing Facility

AMS-02 the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer has been dubbed the Hubble Telescope of cosmic rays

For further information check out: http://www.ams02.org/ and http://ams.nasa.gov/

For the AMS02 Briefing Materials: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts134/news/ams02_032411.html For video of the AMS-02 Briefing at JSC http://youtu.be/MxPnAMLDmKY Hosts this week: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 04/21/2011

Episode 314: The Shuttle's Final Frontier...A Museum

On this episode, we invite back Elizabeth Howell as we talk about last week's decision to place shuttles in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Los Angeles, California; Chantilly, Virginia/Washington DC; and New York City, New York. We talk about a press conference with Assistant Administrator of the Office of Strategic Infrastructure, Houston being upset about not getting a shuttle, and out opinion on their locations. Thank you as well to James Cook, Scott Orshan, and @Aries419 for sending us your input. We then discuss the allocation of Endeavour's Canadarm to a lucky Canadian institution and predict where it might go. Lastly, we talk about a story which fooled Mark a few weeks ago, but makes for some entertainment this episode. Be sure to check out Elizabeth Howell at the Ottawa Business Journal by visiting http://obj.ca and at her own site, Pars3c, at http://pars3c.com Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman, and special guest Elizabeth Howell Show Recorded - 4/17/2011

Episode 313: 30 Years of STS-1 Beautiful Vehicle

On this episode, we discuss the postponement of the STS-134 launch which we briefly mentioned last week. We also talk about some debris which avoided the ISS, sending its crew to safety onboard their Soyuz. We continue with our correct speculations last week about the SpaceX announcement of the Falcon Heavy. Following that, we move onto some big anniversaries, including the 30th anniversary of STS-1 and the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's 1st flight aboard Vostok-1. We speculate where the shuttles will go once they retire, and then reveal the announcement of where they'll go. Be sure to listen to find out their final resting places. We end with our reflections of 50 years in space and what Gagarin's flight meant to us. Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 4/10/2011

Episode 312: Space Flight Gives You Wiiings

On this episode of Talking Space, Sawyer returns from his two week absence. We start with Mark's adventures covering the upcoming STS-134 Space Shuttle mission at the Kennedy Space Center and learn more about the crew, the payload, and the preparaitons for this mission. Next we move on to discuss the first images returned from a spacecraft orbiting Mercury. We talk about what we believed would be the Falcon 9 Heavy rocket announcement, and it turns out, as of April 5th, the announcement of the vehicle was made. We were right on the money! Find out about it in the show. We move on to the lack of signal from our rover friend Spirit and discuss the retirement of Burt Rutan. We then move onto NASA's song contest, and finally discuss how NASA and Victoria's Secret come together. To vote in NASA's song contest, please visit: https://songcontest.nasa.gov Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman Show Recorded - 4/3/2011 *Note: Two images were inserted here. To view these images, please visit http://talkingspaceonline.com

Episode 311 - The State of Affairs

This week we share the microphone with Frank Morring Jr., Senior Editor at AVIATION WEEK, and a journalist for 35 years, specializing in aerospace for the over 20 years. Frank joined AVIATION WEEK in 1989 as a defense/space reporter and senior space technology editor. In 2007 he was named deputy managing editor/space, responsible for coordinating space coverage across all bureaus and publications. Frank began his career working for his hometown daily in Huntsville, Alabama, and moved to Washington in 1979 as correspondent for the Birmingham Post-Herald. He later covered the Cold War Pentagon for Scripps-Howard News Service. Frank received a degree in comparative literature from Dartmouth College. Read Frank's articles at http://www.aviationweek.com/ Host This week: Gina Herlihy, Panelists: Mark Ratterman & Gene Mikulka