The Space Madness Podcast

Space Madness host Jeff interviews Chris Moore, CEO of Spin Launch, about the company’s centrifuge-based launch system and its shift back toward kinetic launch technology after separating from Meridian Space. Moore explains the engineering lessons behind suborbital tests and outlines potential uses in hypersonic testing and lunar logistics, including a proposed two-kilometer lunar tether.

Earth has continents, plate tectonics and water. The Moon has a thick crust and almost no water. Mars has had water but no granite and no plate tectonics. Something is missing from the textbook story, and meteoriticist Dr. Nicholas Castle explains what.Host Jeff Nosanov talks with Nick, a geologist who studies meteorites and works on the Mars Curiosity Rover team. Nick argues that the three best-studied rocky worlds in our neighborhood break the rules we thought we knew. One famous paper on Earth's origins is titled "No Water, No Granites, No Oceans, No Continents." Then the Moon and Mars show up and complicate it.

In this episode, Jimmy Lin of Perigee Advisory discusses the evolving landscape of space commercialization, the importance of building a sustainable space economy, and the opportunities and challenges in space infrastructure, satellite technology, and regional development.

In this episode, Bets Arce from Earthrise VC shares her journey from SpaceX to venture capital, exploring the future of private space investments, the importance of failure in space missions, and the emerging markets in space technology. We discuss Bets' journey from SpaceX to venture capital, the importance of failure and psychological safety in space missions, emerging markets in space technology including lunar rovers and space stations, the role of government and private sector in space exploration, and investment strategies in space startups and technology.

Bill Stone knew exploration was his calling as a teen watching the moon landings. He would go on to become a world leading caver pushing the limits of human exploration even beyond what NASA astronauts perform. Explore the incredible world of cave exploration, human endurance, and the parallels to space missions. Discover the complexities of underground expeditions, advanced technology, and the mindset required for extreme environments.  

In this episode we dive into the captivating world of cave exploration with Gilly Elor, a physicist and explorer from Stone Aerospace. Gilly’s projects not only push the boundaries of technological innovation but also take us to the most remote and challenging environments on Earth. Next up she extends this spirit of exploration to the moon with her new NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts project, LUX. 

In this episode, Brandon Williamson discusses his innovative work on Vaxon Space, exploring the challenges and opportunities of VERY low Earth orbit propulsion, space environment sensing, and the future of satellite technology. We discuss the fascinating and dynamic environment at very low altitudes and how that creates novel challenges and opportunities for propulsion and long term operation. Of particular interest is how much the earth's atmosphere varies in density and even altitude in this region, and how we are ready to start operating spacecraft there. Brandon and I also connect over how each of our space careers were inspired by our grandfathers, which is a nice touch I really appreciate.  

After 70 episodes we have heard a lot of stories of leadership ranging from changing one's personal situations, to national leadership on Mars exploration. In this episode we highlight familiar and emerging themes of leadership from a wide variety of space exploration journeys.

I'm always happy to share unconventional journeys to space exploration, and this story goes hard! Julian Ragland shares his unconventional journey from Middle Eastern history to cybersecurity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, highlighting the intersection of space assets and cybersecurity, and exploring future opportunities in aerospace and intelligence.

Today's episode spotlights Ref Bari, a Brown University physics student who I think is a future leader to watch. He's already quite a leader at the university level, having herded the necessary cats to develop and submit a NIAC proposal! This is tough enough from a NASA center where these things happen routinely, but Ref made it happen as a student at a University where advanced space mission concepts are not an everyday thing. We talk about how he achieved that, navigating various team, institutional, and schedule challenges. Keep an eye on this guy!