June 25, 2004, Hour One: Future of Space Flight

Science Friday > Archives > 2004 > June > June 25, 2004:
Hour One: Future of Space Flight

This week SpaceShipOne, a private venture, brought a human into space and safely back to Earth. Though the flight barely skimmed the lower reaches of space, the success reinforced the idea that the craft's backers are in a good position to compete for the Ansari X Prize, a $10 million award for repeated private space launches.

The prospect of private involvement in space flight seems to be advancing on another front as well. Last week, a commission charged with examining the feasibility of President Bush's 'moon to mars' proposal released a report calling for more private involvement in space exploration -- and a change in how NASA does business. In this hour, we'll talk about the future of spaceflight, and the role of private industry in exploring space.

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Guests:
David Kestenbaum
Science Correspondent
National Public Radio
Washington, DC

Maria Zuber
Member, President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy
Head of the Department & E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Eligar Sadeh
Assistant Professor in the Space Studies Department
Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Elon Musk
Chariman and CEO
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation
El Segundo, California

This segment produced by Charles Bergquist

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Books/Articles Discussed:

Aldridge Commission Report (1.3 Mb PDF)

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)