October 18, 2024

This Week in Space 133: Red Moon Rising

1 hour 13 minutes

This week, we're taking a broad look at the progress of America's Artemis lunar landing program, space science in general, and the challenges to Western space plans posed by a fast-rising Chinese space program. Joining us is the uniquely qualified Dr. Greg Autry--the Associate Provost for Space Commercialization and Strategy at the University of Central Florida, visiting Professor at Imperial College London, former NASA transition team member, and author of "Red Moon Rising." We'll also highlight the recent launch of SpaceX's Starship and the amazing catch of the booster by the Mechazilla Launch tower, Michael Bloomberg's recent article condemning the slow progress of the Artemis program, and this weekend's Orionids meteor shower!

Headlines:

- SpaceX's successful Starship flight test 5, featuring the Super Heavy booster's impressive catch by the "Mechazilla" tower

- Michael Bloomberg's critical op-ed on the SLS rocket and the Artemis program, highlighting delays and overspending

- The upcoming Orionids meteor shower, peaking on October 21st, 2024, and the Hunter's Moon, the biggest supermoon of the year

Main Topic - The State of the US Space Program with Greg Autry:

- Greg's lifelong passion for space was ignited by watching Apollo missions as a child; he later got involved in the commercial space industry and served on the NASA transition team in 2016

- US human spaceflight is in both the best and worst of times - there is bipartisan support for Artemis and returning to the Moon, but the program is behind schedule and over budget on almost every element

- Lack of top-level political leadership and sense of urgency compared to the Apollo era is hurting Artemis' progress; the US needs a leader willing to provide direction and funding, and hold people accountable

- Competition with China could help spur the US, but the public may not be as motivated as during the Cold War; still, it's important for the US to get back to the Moon first to initiate fair use of resources

- Artificial intelligence will play a critical role in future space operations, especially on Mars and the Moon; AI can enable more flexible and capable spacecraft

- The US needs to rebuild its aerospace manufacturing and production workforce to execute ambitious space goals; STEM education and hands-on skills are lacking

- In 10 years, Autry hopes to see a diverse on-orbit ecosystem with compatible, specialized vehicles; regular Moon missions laying the groundwork for resource extraction; and an influential space tourism industry

- He believes that a dual-track lunar architecture with both Starship and a more conventional system for redundancy would be wise; Starship is great but very complex with many potential failure points, especially in a lunar mission that requires multiple refueling flights and a crewed SLS launch in close timing

- Greg is the Associate Provost for Space Commercialization and Strategy at the University of Central Florida and is standing up new academic programs to train the next generation of commercial space workforce

- His book "Red Moon Rising" examines the history of the space industry, China's space ambitions, and the current state of play - an engaging read for anyone interested in space

Get "Red Moon Rising": https://amzn.to/3YxmJab

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Dr. Greg Autry

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