http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com Most recent audio podcast episodes added to our site http://www.astrospacenow.com/images/asnlogo_rss.png http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com AstroSpaceNow.com en-us Sat, 08 May 10 22:37:25 -0400 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3889 Guest: Dr. Erik Seedhouse. Topics: Astronaut training process, human spaceflight. Dr. Erik Seedhouse returned to discuss with his book, "Prepare For Launch: The Astronaut Training Process." This book is available through the One Giant Leap Foundation (OGLF) Amazon partners page and if you buy it through this URL, Amazon contributes to The Space Show/OGLF: www.amazon.com/dp/1441913491?tag=onegialeafou-20. In our first segment, Dr. Seedhouse said that all national space agencies more or less follow the same astronaut training process. He talked about the number of applicants for the Canadian Space Agency, ESA, and NASA followed by how many are actually selected by each agency. He also suggested that winning candidates spend their academic and professional careers working toward the goal of becoming an astronaut. He talked about the academic background required for pilots and crew members. You won't want to miss this discussion. Toward the end of this segment, I brought up the part of his book that focuses on making very hard decisions in the arena of spaceflight bioethics. Again, don't miss this discussion. Erik compared the decision making process to decisions made by earlier remote expeditions and sailing ventures, suggesting that in the end the mission captain will have to make the decision for bioethical issues, in conjunction with doctors on the ground, possible family members, and the crew. As Dr. Seedhouse indicated, this type of analysis and problem solving does not yet appear in formal astronaut training but will when we get closer to long duration spaceflight. In our second segment, we talked about age and other requirements for astronaut training. As it turns out, some nations have strict age guidelines which we do not have in the U.S. Dr. Seedhouse also outlined what is covered in the basic 18 month training course. I asked if emotional or psychological training was part of it and he said no because the astronauts are considered professional and don't require it. For private astronaut training such as might be used by Bigelow Aerospace, there might very well be some training in this area. Listeners asked our guest about sex in space and astronauts. This was a topic discussed on and off throughout the program. We started the third segment by talking about the period leading up to launch. He described the personal gear astronauts take with them, the family escort process, and quarantine ten days before a launch. We also talked about astronaut fear factor riding the rocket, space sickness, and more. In fact, the issue of space sickness dominated the balance of this segment and we extrapolated to what may happen with private spaceflight participants. In the final segment, we looked at future astronaut training and how such training might evolve over time. Dr. Seedhouse compared suborbital with orbital and missions beyond LEO. Artificial gravity was brought up and then Erik talked about the private astronaut market. In concluding his comments, he said that those that make it into the program and become astronauts have to have an absolute burning ambition and passion to be an astronaut. If you have comments or questions for Dr. Erik Seedhouse, please email him at DrErikSeedhouse@hotmail.com. Sat, 08 May 2010 12:14:47 -0400 astrospacenow3889 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3885 How Lunar Cycles Affect Wildlife, by Wild Ideas Sat, 08 May 2010 01:00:00 -0400 astrospacenow3885 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3886 Citizen Sky, by Slacker Astronomy Fri, 07 May 2010 01:00:00 -0400 astrospacenow3886 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3887 A long trek for starlight. Fri, 07 May 2010 01:00:00 -0400 astrospacenow3887 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3876 Right now the evening sky is adorned with three bright planets. Spotting them is a snap using this month's audio sky tour. Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (56.5MB MP3 download: running time: 5m 53s) Thu, 06 May 2010 16:11:44 -0400 astrospacenow3876 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3878 Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: nuclear rocket propulsion, VASIMR, space policy, ISS, Constellation, Ares 1. This Open Lines program was a two hour discussion with many listener phone calls and email/chat questions. As with all open lines shows, they have a mind of their own and go off in a direction that you the listeners want. During the first segment, I led with a discussion of the copyright issues for The Space Show. I summarized Space Show/One Giant Leap Foundation, Inc. policy on copyrights, unauthorized program use, unauthorized edits, etc. Please note our policy and if you have any questions or ideas, contact me. When the toll free line was opened up, our first call came from Dave who wanted to talk about the VASIMR, recent comments on it made by Dr. Zubrin when he was last on the program, and what his analysis of power generation and heat exchanger requirements were for this new technology. Dave then talked about the NERVA type of nuclear propulsion. As we started the second segment, our first caller suggested that VASIMR was simply a possible development path starting with the ISS and evolving to Mars and beyond. He then brought to our attention the announcement earlier in the day of the retirement of Congressman David Obey and what this might mean for our civil space policy given the person who might take his place as head of the House Appropriations Committee was more closely aligned with the military and this might suggest a policy continuing on with parts of Constellation and Ares 1 for the benefit of the Air Force. Our caller suggested it might be business as usual with NASA helping to cover the costs of defense department programs. Our next caller commented on thin film photo voltaic batteries and more. A caller then asked which technology represented a better path to low cost space access, Big Dumb Boosters or an RLV. My response focused on the need to develop commercial markets so there would be a reason to incur the R&D to develop either technologies or even different technologies. This opened up a discussion thread on which comes first, the rocket/technology or the markets. John from Huntsville called in to suggest a type of compromise between the booster and the RLV with a medium size heavy lift vehicle. John has been calling the show quite a bit lately to express his ideas about heavy lift and more. If you want to respond to him about his ideas and theories, he provided us with his email address which is j_hunt@mindspring.com. Callers also talked with us about recovering rockets from the ocean as part of an RLV, both SRBs and even liquid rocket motor components. As we neared the end of the show, I brought up space policy since it was not a major part of this program. In my comments I mentioned a Dr. Scott Pace interview that is worth hearing regardless of your views on space policy. Here is the URL for that interview: www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/222557. At the very end of the program, a listener asked the email question about our NASA budget operating under a continuing resolution in 2011 and if that meant Constellation would continue to be funded into 2011. I referred our listener to earlier space policy programs where this issue was addressed by people who know space policy issues and what it means to be operating under a continuing resolution. That said, I believe it does mean that Constellation is continued until the point the FY 2011 budget is passed and assuming that FY 2011 budget cancels Constellation, at that point funding for the program would cease. Please let me know if this is an incorrect analysis of what it means to operate under a continuing resolution. If you have a question for any of the listeners or callers for this show or the host, please send it to me at drspace@thespaceshow.com and I will pass it on to the person you designate. Thu, 06 May 2010 12:05:32 -0400 astrospacenow3878 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3884 May 6-13, 2010: Cor Caroli is a nice target for beginners, while the Pearl Cluster and the Leo Triplet provide nice targets for telescope owners. Thu, 06 May 2010 12:00:00 -0400 astrospacenow3884 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3882 The secret is to bang the rocks together. Thu, 06 May 2010 05:39:21 -0400 astrospacenow3882 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3868 AstronomyCast 183: History of Astronomy, Pt. 1"The Ancient Astronomers" Thu, 06 May 2010 03:19:37 -0400 astrospacenow3868 http://podcasts.astrospacenow.com/episode.php?view=3869 Warp Drive Part 2, by Renata & Damian Handzy Thu, 06 May 2010 01:00:00 -0400 astrospacenow3869