We welcomed Nancy Atkinson back to the show to discuss her new book, "Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos." During our 98 minute program, Nancy told us how she was commissioned by the publisher to write this book, then how she selected the ten robotic planetary missions to include in the book. In doing her research, she traveled to the key people involved with each mission for interviews. The missions included in the book were New Horizons, Curiosity, Hubble, Dawn, Kepler, Cassini-Huygens, The Solar Dynamics Observatory, MRO, and LRO> Nancy included a chapter about missions being planned and concluded the book with and Epilogue: Why Explore Space. While talking about these missions, our guest relayed to us many of the behind the scenes stories she was told by those in charge of the missions. This is a book you will certainly want to get for your family and you and as a gift. Read the full summary of this show at www.thespaceshow.com for this program this date, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016.

The Space Show welcomed Davide Sivolella to discuss his terrific book, "To Orbit and Back Again: How the Space Shuttle Flew in Space." I was assisted with the interview by Dr. John Jurist. During our 1 hour 51 minute program, Davide took us through the Space Shuttle systems using detail, seldom known or discussed facts and more as his nearly 500 page book, which took two years to write, is the best ever and most complete operating manual for the shuttle. Even shuttle astronauts say they wish they had this book when flying the shuttle as it was better than other manual or guide they have. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this program on this date, Monday, Dec. 12, 2016.

Welcome to our 2 hour 18 minute Open Lines program. During our program, we took three phone calls. The first was from Dave who wanted to talk about nuclear rockets and the nuclear museum in Las Vegas with a Nerva nuclear rocket engine on display. Dave got several listener email questions and comments during his call. In the second segment, Dr. Jurist called in to continue talking about nuclear rockets, large chemical rockets, acoustic rocket signatures, and Mars travel times given Dave talked about the need for a nuclear rocket for going beyond the Moon. He was asked about the Mars travel times put forth by Elon Musk for his big rocket and when John called, I asked him about those travel times as well. John also fielded listener questions via email. Our last caller was Jerry who called in from Florida. He addressed a question that was asked to John regarding the differences in the way Musk and SpaceX see what is possible as compared to others, using the same science and performance information, come up as being skeptical. Don't miss what Jerry said about these differences. Jerry also talked about rocket speeds, the use of a parabolic orbit to Mars and space happenings along the Space Coast in Florida. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016.

Welcome to Hotel Mars. Tonight, John Batchelor and I focused on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) with Dr. Joel Green. This was a double segment Hotel Mars program. Dr. Green had many interesting things to say about the telescope, the mirror, the testing process and much more. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this program on this date, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016.

We welcomed Jim Muncy back to the show to discuss the potential space policy in the new Trump administration. During our one segment 96 minute show, Jim talked about the Trump space transition team, statements that some of them have had made during the campaign and more recently, and what this may suggest for a Trump space policy. Jim was quick to point out that it was probable our space policy would be broader than just NASA as he highlighted not only the DOD space activities, but how both the Department of Transportation and the Department of Commerce might play an important role in our new space policy. Jim responded to many questions about the Moon vs. Mars, China, public private partnerships, and much more. Read the full summary for this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016.

We welcomed back Barry Levin for the second part of his series on the 4th Industrial Revolution and advanced manufacturing for the space industry and even broader society oriented benefits. During our two hour three minute discussion, Barry summarized his first program and then started talking about 3D printing. You will note he prepared several documents and two videos which hs posted on Dropbox. You can find this information in the comments section of this archived show. Barry also talked about using desktop and individual like 3D pinters and learning these systems to deal with the displaced employment by labor saving methods related to the 4th Industrial Revolution. This was an major theme that was discussed through both segments of our program. Barry believed that by doing eduction differently, eventually the problem of lost jobs and displaced labor will be resolved. Listen for his ideas on education and let us know what you think since they revolve around 3D printing but much more. We also talked about advanced manufacturing in the aerospace industry, Apollo legacy issues and much more. Listeners called and send Barry emails with their questions and concerns regarding what he was talking about. Please read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this program on this date, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016.

We welcomed Ms. Susanne Peters to the show from German. During our 1 hour53 minute program, our guest talked about space debris problems in LEO and other orbits. We talked about policy, debris mitigation ideas and why nothing gets tested or put in place. We also looked at the cost benefit analysis of doing something and discussed the fact that there was little incentive to spend money to mitigate against this risk at this time. Listen to the discussion to understand why. In the second segment, Ms. Peters talked about the German astronaut contest to have a woman astronaut. She explained the contest, told us she was entered and she was still in the running but the competition was closing in on the final rounds. She explained why Germany wanted to have a woman astronaut, why she wanted to go to space and then said she would fly on any vehicle, government or commercial. Real the full summary of this program on our website at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Friday, Dec. 2, 2016

We welcomed back Mark Whittington to our 1 hour 40 minute discussion on what the Trump presidency may mean for US space policy and programs. Mark was very bullish that "we will get space back on the right road." We talked about policy, key players, potential NASA administrator choices, ORion, SLS, returning to the Moon, ARM, Mars missions, public private partnerships and cooperation with other national space agencies. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016

We welcomed Lt. Col. Pete Garretson back to the program to discuss the national space policy for the future and the Global Trends document which in his opinion should have a focus on commercial space development and much more. During our 1 hour 40 minute program, Pete spelled out the details behind his ideas and talked about the need for having a very big vision. He then focused on space solar power, explaining why this is something we should pursue. We also talked about both the Chinese and the Japanese pursuing development of funded SSP programs. We talked about the need for US leadership and rules plus the most likely economic growth from pursuing commercial space big vision projects including SSP and space resource mining and development. Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this program on this date, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016.

John Batchelor and I welcomed back Anatoly Zak (www.russianspaceweb.com) to update us on the possible partnership with Boeing and Roscosmos to build two orbiting lunar space stations when the ISS is shut down. There is also talk of expanding the partnership to all the ISS members. Anatoly said there would not be additional costs, it would likely just continue the same is if the ISS were still functioning. We also talked about the purposes of these two lunar space stations and the hard choices that Russia may have to make due to their own budget concerns regarding having their own LEO space station once the ISS is shut down or this international partnership for the lunar orbiting space stations. Read the full summary at www.thespaceshow.com for this program on this date, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016.