Space 3D Podcast

by Eleanor O'Rangers

Season 6

Season 6, Episode 6: Tales of the Space Shuttle up close with Travis Thompson, Part 3

This is part 3 and the conclusion of our interview with Travis Thompson.Travis Thompson was the former Orbital Vehicle Close-Out Lead—or OVCC—for the space shuttle at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Travis and his team assisted astronauts into the launch vehicle and were the last humans to physically be in contact with the crew prior to launch.Travis has plenty of stories to tell as I hope you appreciated from the first 2 installments of his interview!In the conclusion to our interview, Travis continues to delight us with his Shuttle stories. Be sure to listen for his recollection of Ellison Onizuka and John Young, along with a few other entertaining anecdotes. Please kindly note that we recorded our interview with Travis via phone, so the audio quality is not pristine. However, we have done our best to clean it up, so we appreciate your indulgence while listening.

S6 · E6

Jun 26, 2023

14:17

Season 6, Episode 5: Pancosmorio Theory: A Continued Conversation with Lee Grant Irons, Part 3

We had the pleasure of meeting with Lee Grant Irons and his daughter, Morgan Irons, during Season 5 of the Space 3D podcast. We’ve invited Lee Grant back this season to continue our discussion. This is part 3 and the conclusion of our latest interview.Lee Grant Irons is a scientist and engineer, with experience in the fields and industries of space plasma and computational physics, nuclear power design and operations, radioactive and hazardous waste management, environmental remediation, and large-scale engineering and construction projects.In this episode, cohosts Tom Hill and Eleanor O’Rangers continue learning about the key elements of Pancosmorio Theory put forth in Lee’s article recently published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences entitled, Frontiers | Pancosmorio (world limit) theory of the sustainability of human migration and settlement in space (frontiersin.org).Briefly, Pancosmorio Theory draws on ecological thermodynamics theory and the methodology of abductive reasoning to consider the consequences of humans leaving Earth’s life-sustaining regenerative systems behind. The paper argues that human growth beyond Earth will be limited by the absence of these systems and the implications of leaving them behind.While the prospect of what lies ahead for humankind in establishing a permanent presence in space is daunting, Lee’s paper lays the groundwork for defining the prerequisite foundation for that bootstrapped settlement to flourish.

S6 · E5

Apr 25, 2023

29:47

Season 6, Episode 4: Pancosmorio Theory- A Continued Conversation with Lee Grant Irons, part 2

We had the pleasure of meeting with Lee Grant Irons and his daughter, Morgan Irons, during Season 5 of the Space 3D podcast. We’ve invited Lee Grant back this season to continue our discussion. This is part 2 of our latest interview.Lee Grant Irons is a scientist and engineer, with experience in the fields and industries of space plasma and computational physics, nuclear power design and operations, radioactive and hazardous waste management, environmental remediation, and large-scale engineering and construction projects.In this episode, cohosts Tom Hill and Eleanor O’Rangers begin to delve into the foundational elements of Pancosmorio Theory with Lee, who just published an article on this subject with his daughter, Morgan Irons: Frontiers | Pancosmorio (world limit) theory of the sustainability of human migration and settlement in space (frontiersin.org)Briefly, Pancosmorio Theory draws on ecological thermodynamics theory and the methodology of abductive reasoning to consider the consequences of humans leaving Earth’s life-sustaining regenerative systems behind. The paper argues that human growth beyond Earth will be limited by the absence of these systems and the implications of leaving them behind.While this episode ends on what might be perceived as a bit of a pessimistic tone regarding the future of space settlement, we promise that there is a more positive message when we air part 3 of our interview, so make sure to tune in to that!

S6 · E4

Apr 23, 2023

30:03

Season 6, Episode 3: The Norfolk Institute- A Continued Conversation with Lee Grant Irons, part 1

We had the pleasure of meeting with Lee Grant Irons and his daughter, Morgan Irons, during Season 5 of the Space 3D podcast. We’ve invited Lee Grant back this season to continue our discussion. This is part 1 of our latest interview.Lee Grant Irons is a scientist and engineer, with experience in the fields and industries of space plasma and computational physics, nuclear power design and operations, radioactive and hazardous waste management, environmental remediation, and large-scale engineering and construction projects.In this episode, cohosts Tom Hill and Eleanor O’Rangers get an update on Morgan Irons’ continued work on soil aggregates and their effects on soil organic carbon sequestration under Earth gravity and microgravity. Then, we transition to a discussion of Lee’s role as Executive Director of the non-profit Norfolk Institute (Research in Human Resiliency | Norfolk Institute) where he helping to foster funding for various projects focused on the existential challenges of human sustainability on Earth and in space. We will also preview Lee’s latest publication on Pancosmorio Theory, which we’ll explore in detail in part 2 of this interview.

S6 · E3

Apr 22, 2023

23:45

Season 6, Episode 2: Tales of the Space Shuttle up close with Travis Thompson, Part 2

Recently, we were honored to speak to Travis Thompson. Travis Thompson was the former Orbital Vehicle Close-Out Crew Lead—or OVCC Lead—for the Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Travis and his team assisted astronauts into the launch vehicle and were the last humans to physically be in contact with the crew prior to launch.Travis has plenty of stories to tell, and we are excited to bring them to you!In Part 2 of our interview, Travis beings to share some memories from the shuttle program, including his favorite astronauts, how Lake Ochoa got its name, and the Columbia tragedy.Please kindly note that we recorded our interview with Travis via phone, so the audio quality is not pristine. However, we have done our best to clean it up, so we appreciate your indulgence when listening.

S6 · E2

Apr 17, 2023

25:06

Season 6, Episode 1: Tales of the Space Shuttle up close with Travis Thompson, Part 1

This is the kickoff to our Season 6 of the Space 3D podcast and we were honored to speak to Travis Thompson, which will span the next several episode installments.Travis Thompson was the former Space Shuttle close-out lead at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Travis and his team assisted astronauts into the launch vehicle and were the last humans to physically be in contact with the crew prior to launch.More about Space Shuttle close-out: NASA - Closing the HatchTravis has plenty of stories to tell, and we are excited to bring them to you!In Part 1 of our interview, we get acquainted with Travis, starting with how he wound up working for NASA and how he eventually assumed his primary position as launch pad close-out lead.Please kindly note that we recorded our interview with Travis via phone, so the audio quality is not pristine. However, we have done our best to clean it up so we appreciate your indulgence when listening.

S6 · E1

Mar 19, 2023

19:27

Season 5

Season 5, Episode 14: Taking a spin: Talking about the history of the Johnsville Centrifuge, Part 4

We recently had the opportunity to interview individuals who conducted research, operated, or who served as research volunteers on the old Johnsville Centrifuge—aka the Dynamic Flight Simulator—which was located on the now closed Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Why, you may ask, is Space 3D talking centrifuges? Well, there is a space connection! NASA used the Johnsville Centrifuge for training X-15, Project Mercury, Project Gemini and Apollo astronauts-- and a handful of Space Shuttle pilots! In the conclusion of our series on the Johnsville Centrifuge, we’ll discuss researcher gratitude for volunteers willing to endure some not-so-pleasant things while riding in the centrifuge. We’ll also discuss ensuring volunteer safety during acceleration exposures on the centrifuge, and we’ll round robin with funny stories recalled from working on the centrifuge research projects. Finally, we’ll briefly recall an interesting experiment on near-death experiences that made our interviewees TV stars in several documentaries.

S5 · E14

Sep 18, 2022

13:53

Season 5, Episode 13: Taking a spin: Talking about the history of the Johnsville Centrifuge, Part 3

We recently had the opportunity to interview individuals who conducted research, operated, or who served as research volunteers on the old Johnsville Centrifuge—aka the Dynamic Flight Simulator—which was located on the now closed Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Why, you may ask, is Space 3D talking centrifuges? Well, there is a space connection! NASA used the Johnsville Centrifuge for training X-15, Project Mercury, Project Gemini and Apollo astronauts-- and a handful of Space Shuttle pilots! In Part 3 of our interview, we’ll continue our discussion on the Johnsville Centrifuge by delving into the work done with female test subjects to evaluate their G tolerance. Much of this work was done as a prerequisite to female jet pilots entering active duty. We’ll also discuss some other programs, including important work on validating instrumentation exposed to high G, verifying the feasibility of night vision goggle removal from pilots’ helmets prior to aircraft ejection, and creating and validating contingencies for pilots and copilots who entered into a flat-spin in the F-14 Tomcat. Then we’ll delve into how centrifuge test subjects were monitored (mostly non-invasively!), whether anyone got sick riding the centrifuge—and whether any deaths have occurred during centrifuge research through the years.

S5 · E13

Sep 6, 2022

24:46

Season 5, Episode 12: Taking a spin: Talking about the history of the Johnsville Centrifuge, Part 2

Welcome to Space 3D! We recently had the opportunity to interview individuals who conducted research, operated, or who served as research volunteers on the old Johnsville Centrifuge—aka the Dynamic Flight Simulator—which was located on the now closed Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Why, you may ask, is Space 3D talking centrifuges? Well, there is a space connection! NASA used the Johnsville Centrifuge for training X-15, Project Mercury, Project Gemini and Apollo astronauts-- and a handful of Space Shuttle pilots! In Part 2 of our interview, human factors researcher Barry Shender will discuss what acceleration- or G- induced loss of consciousness is, what the human tolerance is to G before losing consciousness, and how it was measured in the Johnsville centrifuge. Once again, we’ll also hear some first-hand accounts of what it was like to experience G in the centrifuge from human research subjects Linda Lips and Steve Cloak. Finally, we’ll discuss some of the many research accomplishments that helped us to better understand the effects of acceleration on the human body – all of which were conducted at the Johnsville Centrifuge.

S5 · E12

Aug 30, 2022

18:51

Season 5, Episode 11: Taking a spin: Talking about the history of the Johnsville Centrifuge, Part 1

During our next few episodes to round out Season 5, we had the opportunity to interview individuals who conducted research, operated, or who served as research volunteers on the old Johnsville Centrifuge—aka the Dynamic Flight Simulator—which was located on the now closed Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Why, you may ask, is Space 3D talking centrifuges? Well, there is a space connection! NASA used the Johnsville Centrifuge for training X-15, Project Mercury, Project Gemini and Apollo astronauts-- and a handful of Space Shuttle pilots! In Part 1 of our interview, we’ll hear from human factors researcher Barry Shender, who will provide a broad overview of the history of the Johnsville Centrifuge as well as the primary purpose for conducting acceleration work. Then, John Yannaccone will provide some additional background on the operation of the centrifuge and why it was built in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Then, we’ll hear from Steve Cloak, Linda Frattone, and Linda Lips on their experiences with riding the centrifuge as human research subjects.

S5 · E11

Jul 21, 2022

17:42

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