Please read the full summary of this Open Lines 2 hour 10 minute program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Sunday, March 12, 2017.

We welcomed David Vivancos back to the show to discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially for the space industry. During our 93 minute two segment program, Mr. Vivancos took us through a short history of AI into modern uses for the technology. In addition, we got a good look at a probable scenario for our future with AI. Some of the topics discussed included the AI history 101, the level of maturity of the industry at this time, opportunities ahead plus significant challenges for AI. We looked at applications for space access, space hardware and manufacturing, life support, exploration for both robotics and in assisting humans, plus the issues ahead for AI and employment problems. David talked about the three stages of AI development and as you will hear, we are in two of them but have not yet entered the stage when the machines are smarter than us. David talked about and stressed the importance of key algorithm development. In fact, toward the end of the program, he said that a S. Korean company had as a fully functioning with rights algorithm as a member of the Board of Directors of the company! Read the fully summary of this show at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Friday, March 10, 2017.

John Batchelor and I welcomed Dr. Philip Lubin from the University of California at Santa Barbara physics department to discuss his work with NASA and Breakthrough regarding interstellar flight. Make sure to visit Dr. Lubin's website, http://deepspace.ucsb.edu. Watch the interstellar video and use the links to learn more about his interstellar phased laser array propulsion plus the programs in place to develop interstellar flight. During our first segment of this double segment Hotel Mars program, Dr. Lubin talked about the need for a radically different propulsion system for interstellar flight. He talked about the Starlight project (see website) for using light as the propellant exhaust by shining off a reflector at the speed of light. He talked about using phased laser arrays and directed energy beams to push the spacecraft toward its destination, say Proxima B, at initial speed goals of 20-30% the speed of light. He also talked about using wafer like spacecraft which he fully described for us. Dr. Lubin talked about the exponential growth in photonics which makes this technology doable, explaining how the directed energy beams and arrays would work. He talked about timelines for development and testing which would be long given we have no such laser available today. They need a grand core laser but he said we have the components to work with today using multi-core technology which he explained in detail. In the second segment, Dr. Lubin talked about being able to send thousands of wafer like probes to the destination from either Earth, a mother ship in orbit, or even from the lunar surface. He described the wafer technology and said they could also propel something bigger such as a cubesat or eventually a human spacecraft. He talked about the requirements that would be needed to propel something as large with a huge mass would be the case with a human spacecraft. John and I asked him about using this technology for going to Mars so Dr. Lubin briefly touched on what it would mean for travel times to Mars as compared to using chemical rockets. Near the end, I asked our guest about objects flying through the directed energy beam such as birds, aircraft, etc. Dr. Lubin said they would not be able to operate the array at times of atmospheric disturbances or issues such as birds and planes and that would be part of the technology needing to be developed. You can email Mr. Batchelor or Dr. Lubin through me. Dr. Lubin can also be reached through his website above and UCSB faculty member website.

We welcomed Dr. Francis (Frank) Cucinotta to the program to discuss space radiation on humans and for humans to Mars. During the first segment of our 94 minute program, our guest introduced us to the subject plus he framed the problems for us which included galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), shielding possibilities so fa. We also talked about human simulation possibilities on Earth, mice studies from orbit, a broad range of specific cancer risks and other potential risks including those applying to the circulatory system, and cognitive issues. Cosmic rays were examined plus our guests ran numbers for us to illustrate risks for various aspects of a human Mars mission as well as being on the surface of Mars. He then showed what the numbers meant in terms of years taken off the life of the astronaut. Other first segment comments talked about standards for government astronauts as opposed to private sector astronauts. Marshall called to talk about cosmic rays and radiation from other smaller particles. Don't miss this discussion. Listeners Doug and BJohn asked a series of questions via email and Linda asked about radiation issues for a one way trip to Mars.

In the second segment we took a call from Dave in Chicago addressing several radiation and beta issues based on his nuclear submarine and power plant experience. Doug and BJohn continued sending in questions via email plus I asked Frank about the radiation standards from other space agencies such as Russia, China, and Europe. Don't miss what he said about this. We talked EVAs, clothing as shielding including material used for spacesuits. Dr. Lurio was our last caller wanting to know about Dr. Ruth Bamford's work on artificial magnetospheres. Before the program ended, I asked our guest to tell us what type of program would be needed to answer the radiation questions. He had talked about this throughout the program and had indicated that we were not going in the right direction regarding getting the data for radiation issues facing humans in space. Don't miss what he said such a R&D program would look like. Please read the entire summary of this show at www.thespaceshow.com for this program on this date, Tuesday, March 7, 2017.

We welcomed back Dr. Mike McCulloch from Plymouth University in the UK to discuss his analysis of EmDrive and the reacent peer reviewed paper from Eagleworks Lab which was published late last year in the journal Propulsion. Mike explained how EmDrive most likely works and why he thinks it gets energy from a new source. He said he was not sure that it violated conservation of momentum. His discussion was technical plus he put forth both sides of many of the arguments. Later, he took a call from Dr. Jurist and you don't want to miss that discussion as Dr. Jurist was highly skeptical. Near the end of the show Mike talked about LENR and galaxies without the need for dark matter in their explanations. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Monday, March 6, 2017.

We welcomed Chris Carberry of Explore Mars back to the show to discuss the upcoming Explore Mars Humans2Mars even set for early May of this year. In addition, we talked about why we should go to Mars, issues about the Moon or Mars, TRLs, and much more. Get more information from the Explore Mars website at http://www.exploremars.org. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Sunday, March 5, 2017

We welcomed Dr. Sean Casey back to The Space Show to discuss the Silicon Valley Space Center, the Moon Watcher program, the New York Center for Space Entrepreneurship plus both NewSpace and the emerging commercial space industry. Not only dis Dr. Casey explain these programs in detail over our 92 minute discussion, we talked space investment, commercial space role models for making money, policy, the Google Lunar XPrize, and the probable role the Moon will play in the coming years and decades for the space economy. Included in this was more about cislunar development and including some aspects of space infrastructure in any new federal infrastructure bill that may be passed into law by Congress. Please read the full summary for this show at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Friday, March 3, 2017.

We welcomed Kim Holder of www.moonwards.com back to the show for updates and new information regarding the Moonwards virtual lunar plan. During our two segment 1 hour 50 minute program, Kim talked about the new direction and clarity as a result of her Moonwards revisions, plus she carefully outlined and explained her goals with Moonwards. For example, we learned that it was not meant to be a real lunar development or settlement plan. Instead, she wants to reach the general public because she believes the general public, with more space awareness and knowledge, specifically for the Moon, can and will influence policy to make the best kind of lunar development possible. She differentiated herself from other space advocates & policy makers with their own lunar plans because Moonwards is about education. For now, she is continuing to develop the Moonwards concept and program and is reaching out to people with various types of expertise to help her continue to develop and polish the site before rolling it out to the general public. There are many ways people can help so if you are interested in volunteering, contact Kim through her website or using the email address she gave out on air. Later in the program and for much of the second segment, Kim talked about our not being ready for going back to the Moon because she sees it as a necessary international effort uniting countries and people around the world. She does not see the return to the Moon as an effort by any one country, be it Russia, the U.S., China, or any other nation state. We spent lots of time discussing this with my comments, caller Tim's comments, and several listener emails. Please read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017.

We welcomed Brother Guy Consolmagno, Director of the Vatican Observatory to the show. During our 88 minute discussion, we talked about science, religion, faith, God, astronomy, humans in space, space settlement, planetary protection, the Moon, Mars, resource utilization, space commerce, and the nature of our belief in God. As you will hear, Brother Guy is both a traditional scientist and a Jesuit who was recently made the Director of the Vatican Observatory. Among the many topics discussed were the telescopes in the Vatican observatories outside of Rome and Tucson. The telescope history was fascinating, especially when talking about the new technology for making mirrors at the University of Arizona. Dr. Brother Guy was asked about scientists and having faith in God. This was a very interesting discussion early in our interview. Another big topic was extraterrestrials and sentient life in the context of faith and religion. Please read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this program on this date, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017.

Welcome to this 2 hour 3 minute fascinating discussion without a break with Dr. Paul Spudis. We started with a tribute to our friend and associate Bill Mellberg who has been fighting a severe illness. Retired Moonwalker Jack Schmitt called in to also talk about Bill. Later, Bill sent us an email which I read on air. As for Paul's space discussion, first, we had lots of listener phone calls and emails. Paul covered many topics from water on the Moon, why go to the Moon, the best places to go once we are on the Moon, the Moon vs. Mars debate, the need to include lunar and cislunar work in the upcoming infrastructure bill (assuming such a bill does come to pass), cislunar development and so much more. We talked policy, geopolitics, engineering, space settlement issues, you name it. This was an impressive and comprehensive discussion which you do not want to miss. Paul responded to all listener email questions and phone calls in detail. Read the full summary at www.thespaceshow.com for this program on this date, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017.