Talking Space

Episode 203: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

In this episode, we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of what has happened this week in space. We talk about some comments NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said at a safety meeting. also discussed is a Rasmussen poll released showing a decline in public interested in NASA and funding its programs. We also discuss the fallout of the bag of cocaine discovered inside Discovery's hangar at the Kennedy Space Center. Along with that, we answer your questions, and thanks to @racshot653 and Russ Dale (@flight0001) for submitting your questions and comments. Don't forget that we have a new Facebook page. Be sure to become a fan and check us out there. You can access it at http://bit.ly/7Hzfm7 Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein.  Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, and Mark Ratterman. Announcer: Russ Dale (@flight0001), Theme Composed by:Todd Cecilio (@negativereturn). Also a very special thanks to Jen Scheer (@flyingjenny) for designing the amazing Talking Space logo. Of course, a special thanks to you, the listener, for making this podcast a success and bringing us to our second season! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to our new email, talkingspaceonline@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/talkingspace and be sure now to become a fan of us at our new Facebook page. Become a fan at http://bit.ly/7Hzfm7 Show Recorded - Sunday, 1/17/2010

Episode 202: Model Styrofoam Planets on the Ceiling or in Space?

In this first round-table discussion of 2010, we discuss a large amount of topics going around in the short time that the new year has been with us. We discuss Charlie Bolden's speech at the AAS, and that's not meant as a dirty word, that is the American Astronomical Society. We also talk about the launch of STS-130 which probably won't be February 7th anymore. We then lead in to the possibility of the shuttle not finishing its flights by December 2010 and Spirit's Martian woes as it celebrates its 7th birthday stuck on a rock. We then discuss Kepler's findings of 5 exoplanets in its 6 weeks of operation and a patch contest to commemorate the shuttle program. For the information discussed in the podcast relating to the patch contest, check out the link on collectSPACE and you can vote for your favorite. Also, be sure to check out the new Young Astronomers website at http://ya.astroleague.org Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein.  Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, and Mark Ratterman. Announcer: Russ Dale (@flight001), Theme Composed by:Todd Cecilio (@negativereturn). Also a very special thanks to Jen Scheer (@flyingjenny) for designing the amazing Talking Space logo. Of course, a special thanks to you, the listener, for making this podcast a success and bringing us to our second season! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to our new email, talkingspaceonline@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/talkingspace Show Recorded - Sundayday, 1/10/2010

Episode 201: Can You @SPOTScott? We Did

To kick off our 2nd season of shows, we invite 5-time shuttle astronaut and the only astronaut to summit Mount Everest Dr. Scott Parazynski on the show. We discuss with Dr. Parazynski his climb to the summit along with his spaceflights including STS-120, in which he performed an unplanned spacewalk to repair a damaged solar array which was the difference in the continuation of the ISS construction as planned or a devastating setback to the program. We also discuss the television show on Discovery Channel titled "Everest: Beyond the Limit" which documented his record-setting climb. To keep up with Dr. Scott Parazynski, be sure to follow him on Twitter as @SPOTScott and also visit his website http://www.parazynski.com. For more on Challenger Centers for Space Science Education, visit http://challenger.org. Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein.  Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman and special guest Scott Parazynski. Announcer: Russ Dale (@flight001), Theme Composed by:Todd Cecilio (@negativereturn). Also a very special thanks to Jen Scheer (@flyingjenny) for designing the amazing Talking Space logo. Of course, a special thanks to you, the listener, for making this podcast a success and bringing us to our second season! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to spacetweeppodcast@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/talkingspace Show Recorded - Tuesday, 12/29/2009

Episode 112: I Can Talk for Miles and Miles with Miles

In our last interview of the inaugural season of Talking Space, we welcome on a person who is celebrating the release of the inaugural episode of their video podcast. We welcome on Miles O'Brien, former CNN reporter, who now does launch commentary for http://spaceflightnow.com and also now has his own video podcast titled "This Week in Space". We discuss his new show with him along with his goal of the show, the difficulties, and we also compare with him the differences in this and making a show compared to his nearly 17 year career with CNN and also discuss of events that went on during that time. To watch to "This Week in Space" with Miles O'Brien, you can visit http://spaceflightnow.com where the video is embedded. You can also watch it and subscribe to it on the SpaceflightNow YouTube Channel. It is also available on iTunes at http://bit.ly/72ghQO. For more information on Miles or to watch the episodes on his blog, visit http://milesobrien.com Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein.  Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman and special guest Miles O'Brien. Announcer: Russ Dale, Theme Composed by:Todd Cecilio. Special thanks to all of the members of the Space Tweep Society (http://spacetweepsociety.org ) and the folks at Spacevidcast (http://spacevidcast.com) for their support! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to spacetweeppodcast@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/talkingspace Show Recorded - Tuesday, 12/22/2009into Wednesday, 12/23/2009

Episode 111: HLV: How Low-Budget the Vehicle?

In this final episode of 2009, the panel discusses the recent rumors regarding a meeting with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and President Barack Obama about the future of NASA, and the possible scrapping of the Ares-1 for a Heavy Lift Vehicle, or HLV. We also discuss some comments made by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D. California) regarding her dislike for human space flight. Warning, if you have something in your hand while listening, be careful. You may throw something when you hear these comments! Then, since it's not only the end of the year, but also the end of the decade, we discuss our favorite topics related to space in 2009 as well as our favorite space-related stories of the first decade of the 21st Century. Hosts this week: Sawyer Rosenstein.  Panel Members: Gina Herlihy, Gene Mikulka and, Mark Ratterman. Announcer: Russ Dale, Theme Composed by:Todd Cecilio. Special thanks to all of the members of the Space Tweep Society (http://spacetweepsociety.org ) and the folks at Spacevidcast (http://spacevidcast.com) for their support! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to spacetweeppodcast@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/talkingspace Show Recorded - Monday, 12/21/2009

Episode 110: Dr. Tom Jones Goes 'Sky Walking'

In this very special episode of the Talking Space Podcast, we have author and four-time space shuttle astronaut Dr. Tom Jones. With Dr. Jones we discuss his books Sky Walking, Planetology: Unlocking The Secrets of the Solar System, and Hell Hawks! along with his view on where NASA is going and much more! A special thank you to Dr. Jones also for coming on to participate in this interview and giving his insight. For more information on Tom Jones, visit his website at http://astronauttomjones.com and follow him on Twitter as @TomJones_Astro. To purchase his books from Amazon, either Sky Walking, Planetology, or Hell Hawks! just click on the name of the book and it will open a new window where you can purchase them. Hosts this week: Sawyer Rosenstein and Gina Herlihy. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman, and special guest Dr. Tom Jones. Announcer: Russ Dale , Space Tweep Theme Composed by: Todd Cecilio. Special thanks to all of the members of the Space Tweep Society (http://spacetweepsociety.org )  The folks at Spacevidcast (http://www.spacevidcast.com) for their support! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to spacetweeppodcast@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/talkingspace! Show Recorded - Monday, 12/14/2009

Episode 109: A 'Bake Sale for NASA' Invaded by Crickets!

In this exciting episode, special guest @CraftLass joins us on our panel as we discuss plenty of public involvement in space. We talk about the Ares I-X test flight results congress talking about Cosntellation in a discussion of safety, and some probe and rover difficulties happening on Mars. We then interview @CraftLass who wrote a song titled "Bake Sale for NASA" discussing saving NASA and getting the public more involved. For more information on her, the song, or where you can download the song, visit http://craftlass.com Ares I-X Report: The .pdf regarding the Ares 1-X test flight as discussed on the podcast can be viewed here: http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/409037main_AresI-X_PF_Report.pdf Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman, and special guest @CraftLass. Announcer: Russ Dale , Space Tweep Theme Composed by: Todd Cecilio. Special thanks to all of the members of the Space Tweep Society (http://spacetweepsociety.org )  The folks at Spacevidcast (http://www.spacevidcast.com) for their support! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to spacetweeppodcast@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/talkingspace! Show Recorded - Sunday, 12/6/2009

Episode 108: Is NASA All STS or S.O.S.?

In this episode, the panel discusses the very successful mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-129, especially since our very own Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman were at the launch of the shuttle before its almost 11 day mission. We then discuss congress and their letter-writing campaign to persuade US Presiden Barak Obama to support NASA. We then discuss ways of preserving and saving NASA as the conversation gets interesting. For those interested, the two websites listed for the "Save NASA" strategies (as listed in the podcast) are: www.savespace.us and www.savenasa.ning.com and be sure to check those out! Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman, Gina Herlihy. Announcer: Russ Dale , Space Tweep Theme Composed by: Todd Cecilio. Special thanks to all of the members of the Space Tweep Society (http://spacetweepsociety.org )  The folks at Spacevidcast (http://www.spacevidcast.com) for their support! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to spacetweeppodcast@gmail.com! Show Recorded - Sunday, 11/29/2000

Episode 107: Tweet-up, Up, and Away!

In this episode, we devote the entire episode to the STS-129 NASA Launch Tweet-up, and took a look at a different aspect than most people that viewed the tweetup...at the actual event. Our very own Gene Mikulka and Mark Ratterman were one of the lucky 100 that were able to get in to the event. We discuss some of the guest speakers and the times that we had, as well as major thank yous and acknowledgements of those that were there and helped to make the event so great. Not only that, but we discuss the three major features of the event: 1. The Use of Twitter 2. The intersting guests and surprises 3. Oh yeah! The shuttle launch! Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman, Gina Herlihy. Announcer: Russ Dale , Space Tweep Theme Composed by: Todd Cecilio. Special thanks to all of the members of the Space Tweep Society (http://spacetweepsociety.org )  The folks at Spacevidcast (http://www.spacevidcast.com) for their support! Remember to email us with questions or comments as text OR an .mp3. Send it to spacetweeppodcast@gmail.com! Show Recorded - Friday, 11/22/2009

Episode: 106 Meet, Greet, and Tweet

On this episode, we are happy to welcome back our panelist Gene, who was plagued by a nasty side effect that has been called "The Kermit" as your voice sounds like a frog. Our main topic is the large discovery that was recently made of "significant amounts" of water being discovered on our nearest in-space neighbor, the moon. Along with that, we discuss NASA's attempts to Free Spirit from its current location and see if they can get it working or if it's in its final resting place. Plus, Gina discusses an amazing event involving astronauts for a scholarship, and the STS-129 NASA Launch Tweetup at the Kennedy Space Center. Also (as noted when you listen to the podcast) the link to more information on the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation can be found at http://www.astronautscholarship.org/ Host this week: Sawyer Rosenstein. Panel Members: Gene Mikulka, Mark Ratterman, Gina Herlihy. Announcer: Russ Dale , Space Tweep Theme Composed by: Todd Cecilio. Special thanks to all of the members of the Space Tweep Society (http://spacetweepsociety.org )  The folks at Spacevidcast (http://www.spacevidcast.com), & Andy Gruswitz at the Apple Store in Rockaway NJ   for their support! Show Recorded - Friday, 10/13/2009