We are joined by Morgan and Lee Grant Irons for a discussion of everything you wanted to know about the intricacies of terraforming and more.

Morgan is a Soil and Crop Sciences Ph.D. candidate in the Lehmann Lab at Cornell University, where her research focuses on microbial-adhesion mechanisms and organo-mineral, organo-organic interactions in soil aggregates and their effects on soil organic carbon sequestration under Earth gravity and microgravity.

Lee Grant Irons is a scientist and engineer, with experience in the fields and industries of space plasma and computational physics, nuclear power design and operations, radioactive and hazardous waste management, environmental remediation, and large-scale engineering and construction projects. As the Executive Director of the non-profit Norfolk Institute, he is working on the existential challenges of human sustainability on Earth and in space.

In part 1 of our interview, we’ll get acquainted with these researchers, define what terraforming is—and which planets Morgan and Lee would choose to terraform first,

And then discuss recent experiments Morgan sent up on the International Space Station and on a suborbital Blue Origin spaceflight.

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Additional links of interest related to our interview with Morgan and Lee Grant Irons:

Link to the paper referred to during the interview: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2021.789563/abstract

Morgan's social media where you can follow her research:

Instagram: astroecologist

Twitter: @Astroeco_Morgan

Facebook: www.facebook.com/astroeco.morgan/

Research Gate profile links for even more supplemental material related to the podcast:

www.researchgate.net/profile/Lee-Irons

www.researchgate.net/profile/Morgan-Irons

Norfolk Institute: www.norfolkinstitute.org

Welcome to Space 3D and the conclusion of our interview with space historian and policy analyst Dwayne Day.

Day is a senior program officer for the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, where he has served as a study director on studies concerning NASA's aeronautics flight research capabilities, the planetary exploration program, the size of the astronaut corps, the threat of asteroids striking Earth, NASA workforce skills, radiation hazards to astronauts on long duration spaceflights, U.S. Air Force astrodynamics standards, and other projects. He previously served as a program officer on the Space Studies Board and served as an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He has also written extensively on the history of American satellite reconnaissance.

In this episode, we focus on two fascinating stories about the intersection of Skylab with the National Reconnaissance Office... and wrap things up with the question we’ve all wanted to ask: has all this work with declassified history ever resulted in a midnight visit from some Men in Black?

Welcome to Space 3D and part 2 of our wide-ranging interview with space historian and policy analyst Dwayne Day.

Day is a senior program officer for the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, where he has served as a study director on studies concerning NASA's aeronautics flight research capabilities, the planetary exploration program, the size of the astronaut corps, the threat of asteroids striking Earth, NASA workforce skills, radiation hazards to astronauts on long duration spaceflights, U.S. Air Force astrodynamics standards, and other projects. He previously served as a program officer on the Space Studies Board and served as an investigator for the  Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He has also written extensively on the history of American satellite reconnaissance.

In this episode, Dwayne dashes our childhood fantasies about Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle and UFOs, but then we get to the story we’ve all been waiting for: The Origin Story of Boris the Space Chimp. We then conclude with Dwayne’s thoughts on some of his priorities for the future, including finishing a plethora of manuscripts, and delving into some alt-history speculation in the spirit of our favorite Apple TV show, For All Mankind.

Over our next few episodes, co-hosts Emily Carney and Eleanor O’Rangers had the opportunity to interview space historian and policy analyst Dwayne A. Day.

Day is a senior program officer for the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, where he has served as a study director on studies concerning NASA's aeronautics flight research capabilities, the planetary exploration program, the size of the astronaut corps, the threat of asteroids striking Earth, NASA workforce skills, radiation hazards to astronauts on long duration spaceflights, U.S. Air Force astrodynamics standards, and other projects. He previously served as a program officer on the Space Studies Board and served as an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He has also written extensively on the history of American satellite reconnaissance.

In Part 1 of our interview, we’ll discuss how Dwayne became interested in satellite reconnaissance, the process of intelligence declassification in the United States, and the value that first-hand accounts of individuals who previously worked in declassified programs brings to his historical research in this area.

We’ll conclude with his thoughts as a historian on how the Apple TV show, For All Mankind, has carefully crafted their alternative history tale.

This is the conclusion of our interview with physicist and space radiation expert Jeff Chancellor.

Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Louisiana State University with research interests in applications of how heavy ion radiation interacts with soft and condensed matter for ground-based analogs, manned spaceflight vehicle structure, shielding, and clinical healthcare.

Part 3 of our interview starts with a discussion of options for radiation shielding of astronauts during interplanetary travel and while on the surface of either the moon or Mars. We’ll discuss how certain radiation risks may vary according to the solar cycle--- and then we’ll transition to radiation event risk prediction…. Which at best, is an evolving and still somewhat unpredictable discipline. We’ll learn about how NASA’s tolerance for radiation risk is evolving, particularly in relation to short-term risks to crew, and we’ll conclude with a few more provocative questions for Jeff.

If you are interested in reading the open-access review on space radiation that he and his colleagues have just published, check out the April 27, 2021 issue of Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part C, pages 113-128 for the article entitled, “Everything you wanted to know about space radiation but were afraid to ask.”

Co-hosts Tom Hill and Eleanor O’Rangers continue their interview with physicist and space radiation expert Jeff Chancellor in this podcast episode.

Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Louisiana State University with research interests in applications of how heavy ion radiation interacts with soft and condensed matter for ground-based analogs, manned spaceflight vehicle structure, shielding, and clinical healthcare.

During part 2 of our interview, we’ll discuss the specific risks posed by space radiation to space explorers, starting with defining the types of radiation that concern us in space exploration. We’ll delve into the particulars of risks specific to the lunar and Martian surface and conclude with beginning to explore issues pertaining to radiation shielding, which can be summed up simply as: easier said than done.

In this Space 3D episode, co-hosts Eleanor O'Rangers and Tom Hill had the opportunity to interview physicist and space radiation expert Jeff Chancellor.

Jeff is an Assistant Professofr of Physics at Louisiana State University, with research interests in applications of how heavy ion radiation interacts with soft and condensed matter for ground-based analogs, manned spaceflight vehicle structure, shielding, and clinical healthcare.

During part 1 of our interview, we’ll get to know Jeff Chancellor a bit better, including how he got interested in space radiation research. We’ll share some mutual admiration For All Mankind, including "nerding" out on a recent season 2 episode involving his favorite topic, and then we’ll get back to learning about Jeff’s involvement in the Red Bull Stratos mission, his patents in the space radiation field, and whether any of the monitoring hardware he has helped to develop has flown in space. We’ll ask whether Jeff had any words of wisdom on space radiation for his wife, Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, prior to her flight to the International Space Station, and we’ll end with defining the difference between the terms space radiation and space weather. Continuing in part 2 of our interview, we’ll begin to explore the specific risks posed by space radiation to space explorers.

Welcome to Space 3D and the conclusion of our interview with co-host, Emily Carney, about the life and times of futurist Gerard K. O’Neill.

In this episode, we discuss O’Neill’s enduring legacy and how the upstarts of commercial space, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, are helping to realize his prescient vision of space settlement for the masses.

Co-hosts Eleanor O’Rangers and Tom Hill continue their interview of fellow co-host Emily Carney about Gerard K. O’Neill, theoretical physicist and space futurist who she has written about in her National Space Society blogs. First, we’ll discuss O’Neill’s entrepreneurial ventures into space solar power and pioneering work in GPS that lead to the launch of Geostar satellites. Then, we’ll conclude the episode with a transition to the origins of the Space Studies Institute and L5 Society.

In our next series of episodes, co-hosts Eleanor O’Rangers and Tom Hill had the opportunity to interview their fellow co-host Emily Carney about Gerard K O’Neill, theoretical physicist and space futurist who she has written about in her National Space Society blogs. In Part 1 of our interview, we’ll discuss what sparked Emily’s interest in GKO, and then we’ll explore O’Neill’s protracted journey to space settlement stardom.