The Space Show by Dr. David Livingston

The Space Show featured Dr. Dina Weibel discussing her book “The UltraView Effect: What We Can Learn From Astronauts About Awe, Humility, and Exploring the Unknown.” Weibel, an anthropologist of religion, shared her research on astronauts’ experiences looking at stars and deep space, which she calls the “ultra-view effect” - a more existential and awe-inspiring experience compared to the tradition...

Meeting assets for The Space Show Presents Robert “Hoot” Gibson, Tuesday, 6-23-26 Quick Summary: Tonight’s Space Show program featured Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson, a former NASA astronaut and naval fighter pilot who flew five space shuttle missions and served as chief astronaut. Hoot discussed his career journey from Vietnam War combat missions in F-4 Phantom jets to becoming one of NASA’s most e...

The Space Show Presents Dr. Ryan Dowdy re ISS & Artemis Astronaut Food, May 15, 2026, Friday Quick Summary: The Space Show featured Dr. Ryan Dowdy, a former NASA ISS Food System Manager, discussing food in space and his commercial food company ReadyBar. Dowdy explained how NASA’s 20-person team in Houston produces all space food, with 60+ signatures required for each item due to government regulat...

The Space Show Presents Andrew Rush of Star Catcher, Friday, 6-1926 Quick Summary: This Space Show program featured Andrew Rush, CEO of Star Catcher, discussing their development of an orbital energy grid using power beaming technology. Andrew explained how his network of satellites would collect solar energy and transmit it via laser beams to client satellites in low Earth orbit, enabling them to...

Due to bandwidth issues, there is no Zoom video for this program. The audio is being archived here and on The Space Show website for this date, www.thespaceshow.com. The Space Show Present Manuel Cuba with The Space Show Team for a general discussion, Sunday, 6-14-26 Meeting Summary: The meeting was a space show discussion hosted by David Livingston, with participants including Manuel, Philip, Guy...

This was a Space Show program featuring Chris Carberry, co-founder and CEO of ExploreMars, discussing space policy, Mars exploration, and his new book “Future Spacefaring Society.” Chris explained that Explore Mars has always been agnostic on launch vehicle selection, supporting both SLS/Orion and Starship/Blue Origin developments while advocating for lunar missions that deliberately advance Mars...

The Space Show Presents Rick Fisher, Tuesday, June 9, 2026 Quick Summary The Space Show featured a discussion with national security consultant Rick Fisher about China’s space program and its implications for national security. Rick explained that space has become a major component of American global national security considerations, with China positioning itself either as a major antagonist or co...

Dr. Eligar Sadeh, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, #4535 Quick summary The Space Show featured a discussion with Eligar Sadeh, editor of the Journal of Astropolitics, about the recent Space Symposium in Colorado Springs and cislunar space governance. Sadeh explained how the symposium focused heavily on establishing U.S. dominance in cislunar space, particularly through the Artemis program, with emphasis on b...

The Space Show Presents Open Lines Discussion Today, Sunday, 5-3-26 Quick Summary: This meeting focused on open discussion topics in space exploration and national security. Bob shared speculation about a potential SpaceX acquisition of 200+ square miles of land in Louisiana for data centers and manufacturing facilities, though this remained unconfirmed. The group extensively discussed the Artemis...

The Space Show Presents Shubber Ali, Sunday, 4-19-26 Quick Summary: This Space Show program featured Shubber Ali, the original founder of Space Cynics, discussing his return to critiquing space industry claims and over hyping. Shubber explained how Space Cynics began in the mid-2000s as a blog focused on questioning exaggerated claims about space technology, particularly around reusable rockets an...

Bob Zimmerman, # 4594, May 26, 2026 Quick Summary: This Space Show program focused on NASA’s announcement of a restructuring plan for the Artemis lunar program led by Isaacman, which includes multiple unmanned lunar lander missions and the establishment of a lunar base by 2028. Bob detailed how NASA is relying heavily on private companies rather than building hardware internally, with contracts aw...

The Space Show Presents Paul Warley, CEO of Ascent Solar, Friday, 4-17-26 Quick Summary: The Space Show featured Paul Worley, CEO of Ascent Solar, discussing their flexible thin-film solar technology. Paul explained that their CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Sulfide) panels are lightweight, rollable, and designed to fit specific areas, offering 12.5-14% efficiency and costing $35-70 per watt compared...

Detailed Summary: SpaceX Starship Launch Discussion The group discussed SpaceX’s recent Starship launch, which John described as a partial success with significant technical challenges including an engine outage that caused the booster to deviate from its course. David praised the high-quality camera work and photography during the launch, while Dr. Sherry noted that SpaceX itself considered the m...

The Space Show Presents Virtual Moon With Manny Pimenta & Philippe van Nedervelde Quick Summary: This was a Space Show program featuring Manny Pimenta and Philip van Nedervelde presenting their Virtual Moon project, which aims to create a digital twin of the lunar surface for immersive virtual reality experiences. Manny explained that Virtual Moon began as Lunar Explorer over 20 years ago but was...

The Space Show Presents ISDC 2026 with Rod Pyle, Aggie Kobrin & Dr. Pascal Lee, Tuesday, 5-12-26 Quick Summary: The Space Show hosted a discussion about the upcoming ISDC (International Space Development Conference) in McLean, Virginia, featuring Aggie Kobrin, Rod Pyle, Pascal Lee, Sherry Bell, and select members of The Space Show Wisdom Team. The participants discussed the conference’s location,...

The Space Show Presents Gary Barnhard, Friday, May 8, 2026 Quick Summary: The Space Show discussed space data centers with Gary Barnard, who explained the engineering challenges and potential solutions for placing data centers in space. Gary emphasized the importance of treating space data centers as combined heat and power problems rather than just power generation issues and highlighted how Spac...

Hotel Mars for Wednesday, April 15, 2026 John and I welcomed Phil Swan and Joe Pistritto to discuss the Artemis II launch, all of the remaining Artemis program launches and needed tech to reach goals on time. We talked about SLS, the landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin, time lines, human spaceflight safety, Orion, the heat shield issues and more. Joe talked about lunar mass drivers and potential l...

The Space Show Presents Author & James Van Laak re his book “To See Far - Conflict and Cooperation on the Space Frontier” from Tuesday, April 14, 2026 Quick Summary: This was a West Coast Space Show program hosted by David Livingston featuring author Jim Van Laak, who discussed his book “To See Far: Conflict and Cooperation on the Space Frontier.” Jim shared his experiences working on the Internat...

Open Lines for The Space Show for Sunday, 4-12-26 4529 Quick summary: The meeting was an open lines discussion on the West Coast Sunday Noon Space Show, focusing primarily on NASA’s Artemis II mission and its implications. Participants discussed the mission’s success, media coverage, technical challenges, and future lunar exploration plans. The group examined concerns about the heat shield, SLS ro...

Quick Summary: The Space Show hosted science journalist Rahul Rao to discuss his new book on nanotechnology, focusing on applications in space and other fields. Rao explained that while humans have been using nanoscale materials for centuries, the field as we know it began developing after World War II, with significant breakthroughs in the 1980s and 1990s including the discovery of carbon nanotub...

John Batchelor, Dr. Haym Benaroya and I detailed engineering lunar settlements, focusing on rigid structures, inflatables, and lava tube cities. He explains the challenges of utilizing local regolith while protecting astronauts from radiation and toxic dust. Haym also addressed the psychological and physiological stresses of low gravity, including bone mass loss. He outlined the importance of crew...

The Space Show featured a discussion with Dr. Robert Zubrin about NASA’s Artemis program and Mars exploration plans. Dr. Zubrin criticized the current Artemis architecture as incoherent, comparing it unfavorably to Apollo’s purpose-driven approach, and proposed a “Starship plus Starboat” configuration for both lunar and Mars missions. He expressed concern about proposed cuts to NASA’s space scienc...

The Space Show Presents David Eicher, 4525, 4-3-26 Quick Summary: This Space Show discussion featuring David Eicher, editor emeritus of Astronomy Magazine, who shared insights about the current state and future of astronomy, space exploration, and scientific discovery. The conversation covered the rapid pace of astronomical discoveries in recent decades, challenges posed by satellite light polluti...

Hotel Mars, April 1, 2026, Space Show Broadcast 4524 NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission and the New Lunar Frontier kicks off with a successful Artemis 2 launch to orbit the Moon and return successfully to Earth. Our guests, Douglas Messier, details the upcoming Artemis 2 mission which will be the first crewed flight to the moon since 1972 plus as it swings around the moon, the orbit it uses will take it fur...

The Space Show Presents Dr. Joel Sercel of TransAstra, Sunday, 3-29-26 Quick Summary: The Space Show featured an interview with Dr. Joel Sercel, CEO of TransAstra, who discussed his company’s mission to harvest asteroid resources for space industrialization. Dr. Sercel explained TransAstra’s four key technical challenges: detect, capture, move, and process asteroid materials, and described their p...