The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:

1 Monday, Dec. 17, 2018: 2-3:30 pm PST (4-5:30 pm CST, 5-6:30 pm EST): We welcome back Professor Madhu Thangavelu along with two of his students – Ivan Figueroa and Alexander Sullivan – to discuss the latest USC Space Design Workshop. See the Upcoming Show Menu on our website home page for details.

2. Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018: 7-8:30 pm PST (9-10:30 pm CST; 10-11:30 pm EST): We welcome back Christopher Richins, CEO of the commercial satellite ground station services company RBC Signals.

3. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018: Hotel Mars. See Upcoming Show Menu and the website newsletter for details. Hotel Mars is pre-recorded by John Batchelor. It is archived on The Space Show site after John posts it on his website.

4. Friday, Dec. 21, 2018: 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am -1 pm CST; 12:30-2 pm EST): We welcome back noted space attorney Laura Montgomery to the show.

5. Sunday, December 23, 2018: 12-1:30 pm PST, (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 pm CST): We offer our final Open Lines program for the year. All callers are welcome. So are all space, science, STEM, and STEAM calls. Please give us a call and let us know your thoughts on the space year 2018 and what you think will happen in the space year 2019.

See also:
* The Space Show on Vimeo – webinar videos
* The Space Show’s Blog – summaries of interviews.
* The Space Show Classroom Blog – tutorial programs

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

Some recent programs::

** Sun, 12/16/2018 – Space lawyer Michael Listner discussed various space law and regulation issues.

** Fri, 12/14/2018 – Former NASA chief technologist Dr. Robert Braun spoke about “Colorado and the University of Colorado space, science, engineering and human spaceflight development opportunities, Mars EDL, advanced propulsion and more”.

** Tue, 12/11/2018 – 19:00 – Dr. Christopher Morrison discussed space radiation health issues.

http://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/3236-BWB-2018-12-11.mp3

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest:

• Moon missions:
  • NASA chief says US within 10 years of continuous manned presence on moon | TheHill
  • Moon exploration could pose diplomacy dilemma, says NASA chief | TheHill
  • Trump’s Moon Man – POLITICO
  • Moon exploration is back in fashion as nations vie in space race – Nature.com
• NASA/Commercial partnerships
  • NASA selects nine companies for commercial lunar lander program – SpaceNews.com
  • NASA Announces New Partnerships for Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery | NASA
• NASA planetary space:
  • After the Success of InSight, It’s Time for NASA to Commit to Mars Sample Return | The Planetary Society
• Space regulation
  • Retired 45th Space Wing commander Monteith to lead FAA’s commercial space office – Florida Today
  • U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao Appoints Monteith to FAA Associate Administrator for Commercial Space – FAA
• US military space:
  • Trump going for full-blown Space Force, White House memo reveals – POLITICO
  • White House Seeks Alternatives to Independent Space Force – Defense One
  • It’s down to the wire for Space Force legislative proposal – SpaceNews.com
  • Pentagon procurement chief endorses Space Force – SpaceNews.com
• Asian space:
  • Asia’s space sale | The Interpreter
• Canadian space:
  • Will Canada boldly join the next-generation space station project? – The Globe and Mail
• Chinese space:
  • China set to launch first-ever spacecraft to the far side of the Moon – Nature.com
  • Yuanwang 7 space tracking ship sets sail to support launch of Chang’e-4 lunar far side mission – gbtimes.com
• Japanese space:
  • Japan’s QZSS service now officially available – GPS World
• Luxembourgian space:
  • Luxembourg breaking barriers in space, commerce – Luxembourg Times
• Russian space:
  • Russian space program in ‘crisis’ as David Saint-Jacques set to blast off – CBC News
  • Moon exploration program to be implemented by 2040 — Russian space agency – TASS
  • Russian space agency earns $225.5 mln from astronauts’ delivery to orbital outpost – TASS
• UK space:
  • UK will not use EU’s Galileo for defence, key infrastructure post-Brexit – May | Reuters
  • Brexit: UK to build own satellite system after May rules out using EU’s Galileo project – Sky.com
  • UK plans for satellite navigation system in doubt after Brexit – Sky.com
  • UK may never recover £1.2bn invested in EU Galileo satellite system | Politics | The Guardian
• Policy resources:
  • News & Resources | The Aerospace Corporation

Webcasts:

** Property Rights – Rand Simberg – 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention

** A Political History of the Human Mission to Mars Goal in the U.S.  –  Lou Friedman  (Emeritus, The Planetary Society) – FISO

** Heritage Management: Preservation and Property on the Moon  – Michelle Hanlon , Center for Remote Sensing, Air & Space Law at the University of Mississippi, For All Moonkind – FISO

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Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest:

• Space settlement:
  • Small steps for space settlement – The Space Review
  • NSS Space Ambassadors and The Future of Human Space Exploration Presentation – National Space Society
  • Commentary: Woke NASA scientists think ‘exploration’ is ‘problematic’, oppose Mars missions | TheBlaze
• Space law:
  • Mars: A case study in space law – The Space Review
• US military space:
  • Op-ed | Real talk and real solutions to real space threats – SpaceNews.com
  • Training the Space Force: How the Military Will Prepare for Future Battles – National Defense Magazine
  • Air Force Commander: Strategy to fight China in the Pacific brings greater attention to space – SpaceNews.com
  • Editorial: Trump wants a Space Force. But he hasn’t articulated why it’s needed. | Editorial | stltoday.com
• Australian space:
  • The Woman Putting Australia Into Space – The New York Times
• Chinese space:
  • China’s $9 Billion Space Plan to Challenge the Dominance of GPS – Bloomberg
• Ethiopian space:
  • China to help launch Ethiopia’s first satellite in 2019 — Quartz Africa
• Russian space:
  • There are no Russians there… – The Space Review
• UK space:
  • The ESA Would Not Like A Divorce With The UK Space Program – Forbes.com
  • Bid to bring spaceport to Scotland under threat due to crofters’ dispute | HeraldScotland

Webcasts:

** The Space Show – Sun, 11/25/2018 – Sarah Cruddas, a British space journalist, TV presenter and children’s author, talked about the Space For Humanity program that aims to enable several “non-astronauts to travel to the edge of space” on suborbital rocket flights. This segment was followed by an open lines program led by David Livingston.

** We Know Where the 2020 Rover Will Look for Martian Life | The Planetary Society

NASA announced on November 19th that the multi-billion dollar 2020 Mars rover will land in Jezero crater, where it will begin the search for the signature of past life. The selection process took five years, and Briony Horgan of Purdue University was part of it all. She joins us to talk about this exciting and enticing target on the Red Planet. Planetary Society Senior Editor Emily Lakdawalla prepares us for the much more imminent Mars landing of InSight. Orion in the northern hemisphere’s night sky can only mean winter is coming. Just ahead of it is a new What’s Up segment from Bruce and Mat.

http://dcs.megaphone.fm/PPY2769282174.mp3?key=c5f6d5f0e69786c0f4b7d52185a8b001&listener=938a13a1-2802-4836-a951-0ebe7d83fa1c

** Why a lunar base is better than LOP-G – Dr. Robert Zubrin -21st Annual Mars Society Convention – A talk given in August but posted this week on the The Mars Society YouTube channel along with several other presentation videos from the meeting.

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Einstein’s Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes