Robert Richard on the Space Show with Tidbits on Phoenix, Canada in Space etc.

"Robert Richards was the guest for this Space Show program. We began talking about the upcoming NASA Phoenix mission to Mars as Bob's company, Optech, Inc. in Canada, had a Mars weather station on board. We talked about various aspects of the mission and the weather station, from how it was built, to having backup hardware in case of a launch disaster, to doing Martian missions and more. This discussion led to yet another discussion about the importance of the manned space program for the Moon and eventually to Mars as compared to science, robotic and delayed manned missions. Bob provided listeners with quality answers to their questions on these subjects and its a discussion you will definitely want to hear. One listener asked Bob if taking government money for space in Canada has a stigma attached as it does in some quarters of the commercial space community in the States. Bob's answer is most interesting. During the second segment, we asked Bob about the International Space University. If you are interested in this school or know people who might be, please tell them about it. This is not only a first rate academic institution in France, but its totally space directed and focused. Check it out at www.isunet.edu. In the final segment, we spoke about New Space, space commerce and a possible space race to the Moon or elsewhere. Bob talked about the new space race which would have the private sector going to the Moon. This led to a discussion of economic drivers and for tomorrow. During the show we spoke about reaching younger and more diverse segments of the population to tell the space story and to get people interested in space. We talked about space needing to be relevant to the people, not a government program."