Talking Space

Episode 612: All the SpaceFest-ivities Part 1

On this episode of Talking Space, we begin our two part discussion of a recent trip to Pasadena, California for SpaceFest VI. The event features astronauts, artists, and other vendors and speakers as a way to talk about current topics in the space community and meet some of the people who made the past possible. During this part, we talk about the events leading up to the event including a tour of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a visit to Endeavour at the California Science Center. We then begin talking about the opening event with the Apollo astronaut panel. Afterwards, we talk about what was on the floor of the event, and a special birthday celebration for an astronaut.

Tune in to Part 2 to hear about the panels and discussions as well as a look at another Californai conference that happened around the same time.

Images were inserted here. To view them visit http://talkingspaceonline.com

Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Member: Gene Mikulka

Show recorded 06/06/2014

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Episode 611: That's My Shuttle

On our 200th episode of Talking Space, we welcome on decorated fighter pilot and two-time shuttle astronaut Bob Springer. We begin with his military career and his favorite planes to fly. We also talk about his time in the TOPGUN program. Then it's onto how he got from test piloting to being a space shuttle mission specialist. Then it's on to his flights, including two that never flew and the connection the flights, and Bob, had to the Challenger Disaster. The other flights included STS-29 and STS-38. Finally, we talk about his work with Boeing, the Kennedy Space Center, and his vision for the future.

Below is the STS-38 patch as described in the episode:

[An image was inserted here. To view it, visit http://talkingspaceonline.com]

A huge thank you to everybody who has helped the show grow to what it is today, allowing us to create 200 episodes!

Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman and special guest astronaut Bob Springer

Show recorded 04/17/2014

Episode 610: This, That and the Other

SpaceX launched CRS3 successfully and the Falcon 9 first stage made a zero velocity soft landing in the Atlantic. We also noticed that typical NASA news conferences vs one with SpaceX is quite different. We look forward to Orbital making their first night launch mid-June from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport with cargo to the ISS. So, were you concerned about the problem on the ISS with MDM possibly impacting the SpaceX launch? Well of course now we know SpaceX was able to launch without delays related to that problem on orbit.

LADEE's mission is complete; we know some great science was accomplished and look forward to hearing more from the team involved. NASA selects Kathryn Lueders as Commercial Crew Program Manager at KSC.

The 1 year anniversary of the signing of a lease with PaR Systems took place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Hanger N. Listen to a short recording of KSC Director Bob Cabana talking about how important this is for the future of our space program. To see more about the incredible variety of work PaR Systems does and in particular the non-destructive testing capabilities go to http://www.par.com/non-destructive-testing/

Our next episode will be our 200th. You can count on another great interview with a NASA Astronaut (and no we're not telling who it is till next week)

Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Mark Ratterman and The Spaceflight Group's Jason Rhian

Show recorded 04/22/2014

Episode 609: Mars Madness

On this episode of Talking Space, we talk with the Executive Director and co-founder of Explore Mars, Chris Carberry. In the interview, we discuss what Explore Mars is all about, and as you can guess, it has a lot to do with Mars. We begin with discussing the upcoming "Humans 2 Mars", or H2M conference coming up in Washington D.C. from April 22nd to the 24th. We then go into his thoughts on manned vs. robotic, the best way to get to Mars, and jumping off points such as the moon and the ISS. We also go into some of the STEM programs that they are participating in, and look at the future of Mars exploration.

For more on Explore Mars, visit their website http://exploremars.org/.

For more on the H2M conference, visit http://h2m2014.exploremars.org/

Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Mark Ratterman and special guest Chris Carberry from Explore Mars.

Show Recorded 4/7/2014

Episode 608: Safety of Soyuz and Sinkholes

On this episode of Talking Space, we talk about the recent Soyuz launch to the ISS, and the glitch that turned a few hour rendezvous into a two-day event. We look into what may have caused the event and look back at the classic "Era of Reliability" Russia declared at the end of the shuttle program in 2011. We then talk about a range outage that has delayed two launches until an unknown time and what it means for the future launch schedule for one of the commercial companies it affects. Next, we look at a wind measuring field finally getting a well-needed upgrade. On the second trip around the table, we talk about NASA's new spacesuit designs which the public can vote for, and how we probably wouldn't vote for any of them. Then it's on to our thoughts on some interesting comments made by Charlie Bolden and a discussion on the state of NASA. Then it's on to how NASA equipment helped predict sinkholes before they formed. For the third round, we discuss a record set by the mostly-classified X-37B and check out an award going to the Dawn spacecraft makers.

To vote for the next spacesuit design, visit http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/z2/

Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Mark Ratterman and the Spaceflight Group's Jason Rhian

Show Recorded 3/31/2014

Episode 607: Robots, Wheels and Wings

Robots, Wheels and Wings literally covers these three topics with a couple of interviews and our comments. First we cover F.I.R.S.T. as in For Inspiration And Recognition Of Science And Technology http://www.usfirst.org/ Mark went to the March 15, 2014 Orlando, FL Regional FRC Robotics Competition. Along with seeing some real #omgrobots he interviewed former FIRST Regional Chairman and former NASA KSC Media Operations Group Manager Laurel Lichtenberger (who is also a SpaceFlightInsider.com Team Member). They talked about the incredible way FIRST and High School students come together redefining what team work is all about. For a video insight into the excitement that’s FIRST check out this 2014 NY Tech Valley Regional Highlight Video http://youtu.be/_ORIt5PC8uc Next up the unique testing of one fast set of wheels at the NASA Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility with the Hennessy Venom GT http://www.venomgt.com/ We think you’ll agree that 270.49 mph is impressive.

We wind up this episode talking about wings thanks to our interview with John Godfrey, Owner of The Shuttle Landing Experience in Titusville, FL http://theshuttlelandingexperience.com/index.html John flies guests on any and all of three levels of tours seeing the Shuttle Landing Facility from the air like our Space Shuttle crews did time after time on their landings at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility. Hear about the Level 1, 2 and 3 Flights you can take when you’re visiting the Central Florida area.

Host this week Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Member: Mark Ratterman
Special Guests: Laurel Lichtenberger  from our partner The Spaceflight Group http://spaceflightinsider.com/ and John Godfrey from The Shuttle Landing Experience http://theshuttlelandingexperience.com/index.html

Show Recorded 03/23/2014

Episode 606: Exploring the "Cosmos"

On this episode of Talking Space, we return from a long hiatus to recap some of the space news of the last few weeks that was important to us. We begin with a look at the 2015 NASA Budget proposal and what that means for some NASA programs and what we think of the cuts and gains. Next, we talk about the ISS, including the release of a record 33 CubeSats and the return of the Expedition 37/38 crew from the station. On our second trip around the table, we discuss some launches, including GPS 2F-5 which involved a lot of possums, and the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission or GPM which launched from Japan. On our final trip around the table, we talk about raining iron on a brown dwarf, and lastly review the first episode of the Cosmos reboot, Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

We want to hear from you about Cosmos. Send us your thoughts via email tomailbag@talkingspaceonline.com, tweet us @talkingspace, or post it on our Facebook wall atfacebook.com/talkingspace

Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Mark Ratterman and the Spaceflight Group's Jason Rhian

Episode 605: From To and About Space

On this episode Sawyer and Mark cover a wide variety of topics and catch up on some news we promised to share like the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture from October 2013 titled “The Chelyabinsk Meteor: Can We Survive a Bigger Impact?” http://youtu.be/Y-e6xyUZLLs   Another video to check out is one from the NASA YouTube channel titled “2013 Astronaut Class Talks STEM at Smithsonian Air and Space Museum” Don’t miss what Astronaut Candidate Anne McClain (@Astroannimal on twitter) has to say about believing in yourself. The link to the video takes you to 36:38 with Leland Melvin speaking, then Anne McClain. http://youtu.be/7-iCm9S53Jo?t=36m38s 

What would Google want with a NASA hanger at Moffett Federal  Airfield? #NASA continues to connect with participants with a first ever Photo #NASASocial at Goddard SpaceFlight Center.  Remember to keep up with NASASocial news at http://www.nasa.gov/connect The Great Moonbuggy Race has transitioned to something new, read more about The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. It’s coming up at the US Space and Rocket Center April 10-14 2014 Learn more at http://www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge/home/index.html#.Uvrmsfnw8VU

How about 16 Cubesat’s from 9 states selected by NASA to fly from 2015-2017. Our new topic (maybe first of its type for Talking Space) is numismatist. If you are one then you already know about the collectable coin celebrating the European Space Agency and 50 years of space cooperation. They are a limited edition run from 500 to 10,000 coins depending on denomination. Leland Melvin announces his retirement and Sawyer shares a quick interview with him from an event back in July 2012. President and COO of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell was recently appointed to the FAA Management Advisory Council. The Astronaut Hall of Fame has selected two astronauts for induction in 2014. Congratulations to Jerry Ross and Shannon Lucid.

Winding up this show is an interview with RocketSTEM Executive Director and Founder, Chase Clark. Here are the links for your convenience to vote for RocketSTEM at the FedEx web site. Your vote supports them in the competition to receive  a $25,000 small business grant from FedEx. Please vote daily through Feb 23.

http://www.rocketstem.org/

https://www.facebook.com/RocketSTEM

http://smallbusinessgrant.fedex.com/Gallery/Detail/7163199e-1591-4b95-9dce-18edc7725104

Episode 604: TDRS from a Spaceflight Insider

On this episode of Talking Space, we welcome The Spaceflight Group's Jason Rhian to discuss his trip to see TDRS-L launch. Along with talking about the launch and TDRS-L, we discuss some other experiences he had while at the Kennedy Space Center including some insider information on Dreamchaser as well as a "look" at Orion. We wrap things up with a happier look at NASA's Remembrance Week.

For more on The Spaceflight Group, visit http://spaceflightinsider.com and follow them on Twitter@SpaceflightGrp and like them on Facebook 

Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Member: Gene Mikulka with special guest Jason Rhian of The Spaceflight Group

Show Recorded 1/27/2014

Episode 603: Rousing Rosetta

On this episode of Talking Space, the ship runs a little light, as Gene and Sawyer start with the wake-up of Rosetta after 31 months of hibernation, and we talk about the ambitious goals this mission has set. We then talk about the newest approved NASA budget and is it really a "hip hip hooray" like some are saying? We then start round two with a look at ESA's service module for Orion and rumors of a possible delay. We give the facts and weigh in our thoughts. We finish off with an interesting topic and one almost certain to cause debate: Should NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center have been renamed after Neil Armstrong, and should any others be renamed. We finish off with a special segment from Mark who interviewed ULA TDRS-L Mission Integrator Bryan Bauerlin.

Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Member: Gene Mikulka with Mark Ratterman and his guest ULA TDRS-L Mission Integrator Bryan Bauerlin 

Show Recorded 1/20/2014