jump to navigation

About the Program

The Space Show Classroom was conceived by Space Show Host David Livingston along with guidance from the One Giant Leap Foundation (OGLF) Board Members and other interested parties. After years of hosting the program, it became obvious that a basic course explaining some fundamentals about space development, engineering, commercialization, and policy would be beneficial given the basic and obvious lack of knowledge in major areas, even with graduate students, due to overly specialized university programs. After discussions with Dr. John Jurist and Dr. Jim Logan, a course syllabus was developed for this unique Space Show series of programs.

Each Space Show Classroom program will be identified as a Classroom program in the newsletters and the archives by indicating “Classroom” just before listing the name for the guest on each show. Most Classroom programs will be co-hosted with both Dr. Logan and Dr. Jurist, along with a special guest who brings specific expertise to the panel discussion regarding the current topic. The tentative goal will be to do at least two Classroom programs per month, although some flexibility must be maintained regarding the order of the programs given scheduling issues for the co-hosts as well as for the invited guest/expert. All Classroom programs are panel discussions. For the listeners, there are some rules that will apply only for the Classroom programs.

1. Listener calls, email, and chat questions need to be succinct and tightly focused on the current program topic.

2. Callers will be limited to one question or comment and limited to being on the line for just a few minutes. Callers will not be permitted to monopolize a segment or engage in a lengthy discussion with panel members as significant material must be covered during each program.

3. A special Space Show Online Classroom blog is being created to host presentation material from the co-hosts and guests. It will also afford listeners a chance to discuss the program and Classroom contents. This blog is not for regular Space Show programs and any regular Space Show program comments posted are subject to removal. The URL for this online classroom blog is https://spaceshowclassroom.wordpress.com/. The uploading of presentation materials to this blog will be announced in advance of Classroom programs. Such announcements will be made on regular Space Show programs.

Unlike a regular graduate course, there is no academic credit, attendance, no grading, no homework or assigned reading. These panel discussions are designed to be educational, and informative for interested participants. For those listeners who want something more, you are encouraged to write a paper on a Classroom related subject/topic following AIAA publication standards as listed on the AIAA website. No paper will be accepted unless it follows these standards, including endnotes, references, citations, bibliography, etc. A specially chosen team will read these papers and for any paper receiving a grade of A from the team, you will be invited to present your paper on The Space Show as a Space Show guest and the author will be introduced to some publication sources where to see if the paper can be published. You should consider your paper to be on the order of a conference paper so it should be about 12 pages including the notes and bibliography.

The Space Show Classroom looks forward to your participation in this program. The full program agenda can be found on the Feb. 2, 2010 introduction Space Show program and posted under that date on the Online Classroom blog.