Guest: Howard Bloom; Topics: Multiple space topics with a focus on Musk and SpaceX, state of the world with nuclear threats, Putin, China and totalitarianism, returning to the Moon, Mars, Artemis, Starship and much more.
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We welcomed Howard Bloom back to the program for a different kind of Space Show discussion for 93 minutes. Howard started out saying that commercial space and in fact all of space is about Elon Musk and SpaceX. He spent about 20 plus minutes explaining this to us but he also went back and forth about Musk and SpaceX throughout the entire discussion, relating them both to some of the larger topics of the program. Be sure to listen to all of the first part to understand why Howard was saying space was all about Musk and then later, he suggested that the fate of space, not just commercial space, was on the shoulders of Elon. However, quickly this early part of the discussion evolved into a detailed and very long discussion about the war in Ukraine and Putin's true goals and objectives. Howard said that becoming the global leader across the board was a Putin goal but that he was hell bent on getting back the countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc. He strongly suggested that Putin's use of nuclear weapons was highly probable as it fit with his world plan and that he was on record saying he could and would take the losses but the west would not. He said the three primary target cities were NYC, London and Washington, DC and that he would more or less take over the U.S. Be sure to listen to Howard's exact wording on this because what Howard said was important. Of the 93 minutes Howard was with us, Russia, nuclear war, the Ukraine and our leadership and response to Russia and then China were at least half of those minutes. Rather than to try to summarize all the points Howard was making, regardless of your being in support of what he was saying or not, you need to carefully listen to Howard, understand why he was saying it and what his sources were for his information. Response options were also talked about.
From this point forward in our discussion, it became challenging to summarize what was said. The war and nuclear talk remained vivid for the entire discussion. Howard made many very positive comments about President Biden, his leadership and accomplishments, plus his having 40 years or so government experience to help him deal with these challenges and problems. I did not challenge Howard on any of his commentary or Biden perspectives and neither did any listeners. When you hear the program, remember we would like to hear from you so do post your comments about these issues and what Howard was saying on our blog. Remember civility if you disagree with him. That said, I do want to share a few of the additional high points that came up, mainly through listener questions.
Todd brought up the fact that Howard was mainly focusing on launching companies. He asked for Howard to comment on the entrepreneurs working with various satellites, comsats, and other segments of the space industry. Howard applauded these industries and said they were important and that the entrepreneurs working on them were very important to space. He then jumped to the concept of emergent properties and told us a story for illustrative purposes about the 1848 U.S. and Mexico treaty where Mexico gave up 55% of its territory which is today parts of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and most of Arizona and Colorado. Parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming were also included in the treaty. Listen to what he said happened when the government sent explorers to check out California and some of the other territory, reporting back how useless the land was. Then consider what is has become over time. Howard suggested this would probably be the case with early space explorers but that over time, space would be a huge resource for Earth.
Howard also talked about survivability and how fragile we and things are right now. He talked about the existence of existential risks for us but that space offered solutions. Don't miss this part of the discussion. Howard went on to talk about the potential for Starship and the number of people it could carry to the Moon or Mars, how it could serve as an early day lunar habitat, then he compared it to the capability of SLS and Orion. Guess on the model of his preference.
Near the end of the program, Howard was asked about other tech being developed for space and appearing for commentary in his famous newsletter. Space Solar Power was mentioned and Howard said it would be a game changer. Listen to what he said about it and the goal of net zero but the refusal of the environmental movement and some political leaders to embrace it which seemed to be a huge contradiction. He said SSP was technically there because we have been beaming power back from space since 1962 with Telstar. Don't miss his story on this one. As we were drawing to a close, Peter asked him for his thoughts on our educational system given we have such low international standards compared to most nations. Howard much to say but also that he does not follow it, that education was not area of expertise though he still did share some of this thoughts on the subject with us. This too would make for a good comment from you on our blog. Howard concluded his space remarks with three summary game changing points: SSP, O'Neil colonies in low equatorial orbit, and space settlement. He spoke to the need for Musk to have security and to protect himself from death threats. He said his loss to humanity would be very damaging and he told us why he thought that so don't miss what he had to say.
Please post your comments/questions on this blog. You can reach Howard through me or any of the organizations he mentioned in his program summary plus he did give out one of his email addresses on air.
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