Called The Space Show on April 20th

I started listening to The Space Show around December of last year, when I started running and training consistently and got my iPod Shuffle. Listening to the show rather than to music has two benefits for me. One is the lack of beat in a talk show compared to music, which may or may not fit my running cadence. The main benefit, however, is the amazing variety of subjects and space related issues that are discussed in the show. Space solar power, books about space topics, space policy, conferences, commercial space - the list goes on and on. The discussed topics cover a huge gamut for anyone who is interested in space, including the past and future of human space exploration.

The guests in the show vary from students involved in space organizations to NASA past and present key employees to people from the new commercial space industry. Agree or not with their opinions, David gives them an objective stage to voice them, and provides his own unique perspective, not as a technical person (though by now he has accumulated a lot of knowledge and he is at least "street-smart" on everything-space). In addition to the guests, David has a toll-free line and encourages the listeners to call in and ask questions.

I've been exchanging e-mail messages with David Livingston for a while about a variety of subjects. I was hesitant initially, but David has proved to be more responsive than I would expect from a one-man-show such as his. He will entertain any idea and take the time to try and help or explain, and is very diligent in his efforts to remove personal accusations and name calling from everything he, callers or people who e-mail him say.

Usually the show has a guest or two which provide specific context and theme to the show, and on most shows the current space-events (such as the brewing budget) also come up. On April 20th David did what he calls an open-lines show - there's no guest in particular and anything goes, as long as it is space related. It was a good opportunity for me to call in and discuss the most exciting project I've ever been involved in, Astronauts4Hire. We ended up talking about numerous subjects, including the Israeli Independence Day which was that same Tuesday, and how it comes in stark contrast right after Memorial Day. Our talk about Astronauts4Hire revolved around our mission to be prepared for and facilitate suborbital research with training, payload specialists and accessibility to all involved in this budding industry.

You can listen to the show (1347) here:



It was a very enjoyable experience and I hope I did service to my fellow Astronauts4Hire members. I didn't get to share my story of how I got into being a lean, mean space advocate training machine, so there will have to be a next time.