Science Friday - What will the next era of human spaceflight look like?

This is a very good program - Science Friday always is, would that more of NPR be like this!

This week marks the anniversaries of two deadly shuttle accidents: the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster 20 years ago, and the destruction of Columbia in 2003. The shuttle, slated to fly again in May, is due for retirement in 2010.

In this hour of Science Friday, Ira and guests talk about the future. What will the next era of human spaceflight look like? And what roles will government and private industry play in that future?

Guests:
Tom Jones
Former NASA Astronaut
Author, "Sky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir" (2006, Smithsonian Books)
Fairfax, Virginia

Elon Musk
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX)
El Segundo, California

Rick Tumlinson
Co-Founder
Space Frontier Foundation
Editor, "Return To The Moon" (Apogee Books, 2005) North Hollywood, California

George Whitesides
Executive Director
National Space Society
Washington, DC

Archived Audio:
RealAudio format
Windows Media format
mp3 download

Update: Dario from Los Gatos, California ... thanks for calling in and asking about the space elevator. George I'm biased but I think you had the right balance of enthusiasm and realism.