Fight for Space has reached out to over 50 space industry professionals to tell this story. A selection of the individuals featured in the film are listed below.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Astrophysicist / Author / Director of the Hayden Planetarium
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist and science educator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.
Rick Tumlinson
Space Frontier Foundation Founder
Rick Tumlinson is the co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation and a space activist. He has testified on space-related topics before the U.S. Congress six times since 1995. He is also the founder of Deep Space Industries, an asteroid mining company.
Bill Nye
Mechanical Engineer / Educator / The Science Guy
Popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, Bill is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist. He is best known as the host of the children’s science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998) and for his many subsequent appearances in popular media as a science educator. He currently serves as the CEO of the Planetary Society, a space advocacy organization.
John Logsdon
Space Historian / Author
John Logsdon is former Director of the Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University. Logsdon was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He is a current member of the NASA Advisory Council.
Logsdon is author of The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest, and the general editor of the eight-volume series Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program. Dr. Logsdon is the author most recently of John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon
Michio Kaku
Theoretical Physicist / Professor
Michio Kaku is an American communicator and popularizer of science, futurist, theoretical physicist, and Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at the City College of New York. He has written several books about physics and related topics, has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film, and writes extensive online blogs and articles.
Marcia S. Smith
Space Journalist
Marcia S. Smith is the founder and editor of SpacePolicyOnline.com and President of Space and Technology Policy Group, LLC (SpaceTech). Previously she was Director of the Space Studies Board and of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board at the U.S. National Research Council (2006-2009) and Executive Director of the U.S. National Commission on Space (1985-1986).
Gene Kranz
Flight Director – NASA
Eugene Francis “Gene” Kranz is a retired NASA Flight Director and manager. Kranz served as a Flight Director, the successor to NASA founding Flight Director Chris Kraft, during the Gemini and Apollo programs. He is also noted for his trademark close-cut flattop hairstyle, and the wearing of dapper white “mission” vests (waistcoats), of different styles and materials. Kranz remains a prominent and colorful figure in the history of U.S. manned space exploration.
Jim Lovell
NASA Astronaut
Lovell is a former NASA astronaut and a retired captain in the United States Navy, most famous as the commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which suffered a critical failure en route to the Moon. Lovell was also the command module pilot of Apollo 8, the first Apollo mission to enter lunar orbit. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, the first of only three people to fly to the Moon twice, and the only one to have flown there twice without making a landing. Lovell was also the first person to fly in space four times.
Robert Zubrin
Astronautical Engineer / Author / Mars Direct Designer
Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct in the early 1990s, a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission.
Story Musgrave
Astronaut – NASA
Franklin Story Musgrave (born August 19, 1935) is an American physician and a retired NASA astronaut. Musgrave was selected as a scientist-astronaut by NASA in August 1967. Musgrave has spent a total of 1281 hours 59 minutes, 22 seconds in space.
Musgrave is the only astronaut to have flown missions on all five Space Shuttles. He retired from NASA in 1997.
Leroy Chiao
NASA Astronaut / Special Advisor – Human Spaceflight at the Space Foundation
Leroy Chiao is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. Leroy Chiao flew on three shuttle flights, and was the commander of Expedition 10, where he lived on board the International Space Station from October 13, 2004 to April 24, 2005. Leroy was a member of the Augustine Committee and was named Special Advisor for Human Spaceflight at the Space Foundation in 2012.
Jim Muncy
Space Policy Consultant
Commercial Space Advocate & Founder of PoliSpace, an independent space policy consultancy. Former Congressional & White House staff member.
Pamela L. Gay
Astronomer
Pamela L. Gay is an American astronomer, educator, podcaster, and writer, best known for her work in astronomical podcasting and citizen science astronomy projects. She works as an assistant research professor at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Her research interests include analysis of astronomy data, as well as examination of the impact of citizen science initiatives.
Lawrence Krauss
Theoretical Physicist/Cosmologist – Arizona State University
Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and director of its Origins Project. He is known as an advocate of the public understanding of science, of public policy based on sound empirical data, of scientific skepticism and of science education and works to reduce the impact of superstition and religious dogma in pop culture.
James Vedda
Senior Policy Analyst – Aerospace Corporation
He is the author of Choice, Not Fate: Shaping a Sustainable Future in the Space Age and Becoming Spacefarers: Rescuing America’s Space Program. He has an M.S. in science and technology policy from George Washington University and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Florida.
Dennis Wingo
CEO – Skycorp Inc
Dennis Wingo is a space entrepreneur and CEO of Skycorp Inc. Dennis was one of the founders of the I-SEE3 Reboot Project.
Dale D. Myers
Deputy Administrator – NASA
Associate Administrator for Manned Spaceflight – NASA
Dale D. Myers served as Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight at NASA. Dale D. Myers was NASA Deputy Administrator from 1986 to 1989. Myers is an accomplished aerospace engineer and worked for many years at North American Aviation and Rockwell on various Aerospace projects including Apollo spacecraft hardware.
John Vilja
Vice President of Strategy, Innovation & Growth at Aerojet Rocketdyne
John is a Vice President at Rocketdyene. He leads the Future Programs, Marketing & Strategy, and Mergers and Acquisition activities at the leading liquid rocket engine manufacturer.
Jeff Bingham
US Senate Staff
Jeff Bingham has served as Chief of Staff in the US Senate, a consultant for the Space Exploration Initiative, the Legislative Coordinator for the International Space Station Program and supported the Bush-Cheney NASA Transition Team. From May 2001 to May 2002, he served as Acting Associate Administrator, then Associate Administrator of NASA. In April, 2005, he assumed the position of Majority Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Science and Space of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Mr. Bingham retired from the Senate at the end of August 2013.
Jeff Greason
Founder – XCOR Aerospace
Jeff Greason is a founder of XCOR Aerospace, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, was the team lead at Rotary Rocket for engine development, and previously worked at Intel.
In May 2009 Greason was named a member of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee, an independent review requested by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on May 7, 2009.
Mark Sirangelo
Corporate Vice President – Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems
Mr. Sirangelo leads Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems, a producer of satellites, space transportation vehicles, propulsion systems and space sub-systems. Mr. Sirangelo was formerly the Chairman & CEO of SpaceDev, Inc., prior to its merging with SNC.
Dwight Chapin
Special Assistant to President Richard M. Nixon
Dwight Chapin was Special Assistant to the President (1969–71), and then Deputy Assistant (1971–73). He was the the appointments secretary responsible for scheduling presidential activities, appointments, and travel.
Dana Rohrabacher
Congressman
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher was chairman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics from 1997 to January 2005 and has been active on space-related issues since. He is the U.S. Representative for California’s 46th congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. Rohrabacher’s district covers the areas of Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Avalon, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills Estates as well as portions of Long Beach, Westminster, Santa Ana and San Pedro.
Lamar Smith
Congressman
Lamar Seeligson Smith (born November 19, 1947) is the U.S. Representative (Republican) for Texas’s 21st congressional district, serving since 1987. The district includes most of the wealthier sections of San Antonio and Austin, as well as some of the Texas Hill Country. Smith currently serves as chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology for the 113th Congress, having replaced Ralph Hall.
Interviewees
Fight for Space has reached out to over 50 space industry professionals to tell this story. A selection of the individuals featured in the film are listed below.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Astrophysicist / Author / Director of the Hayden Planetarium
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist and science educator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.
Rick Tumlinson
Space Frontier Foundation Founder
Rick Tumlinson is the co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation and a space activist. He has testified on space-related topics before the U.S. Congress six times since 1995. He is also the founder of Deep Space Industries, an asteroid mining company.
Bill Nye
Mechanical Engineer / Educator / The Science Guy
Popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, Bill is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist. He is best known as the host of the children’s science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998) and for his many subsequent appearances in popular media as a science educator. He currently serves as the CEO of the Planetary Society, a space advocacy organization.
John Logsdon
Space Historian / Author
John Logsdon is former Director of the Space Policy Institute at The George Washington University. Logsdon was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He is a current member of the NASA Advisory Council.
Logsdon is author of The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest, and the general editor of the eight-volume series Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program. Dr. Logsdon is the author most recently of John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon
Michio Kaku
Theoretical Physicist / Professor
Michio Kaku is an American communicator and popularizer of science, futurist, theoretical physicist, and Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at the City College of New York. He has written several books about physics and related topics, has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film, and writes extensive online blogs and articles.
Marcia S. Smith
Space Journalist
Marcia S. Smith is the founder and editor of SpacePolicyOnline.com and President of Space and Technology Policy Group, LLC (SpaceTech). Previously she was Director of the Space Studies Board and of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board at the U.S. National Research Council (2006-2009) and Executive Director of the U.S. National Commission on Space (1985-1986).
Gene Kranz
Flight Director – NASA
Eugene Francis “Gene” Kranz is a retired NASA Flight Director and manager. Kranz served as a Flight Director, the successor to NASA founding Flight Director Chris Kraft, during the Gemini and Apollo programs. He is also noted for his trademark close-cut flattop hairstyle, and the wearing of dapper white “mission” vests (waistcoats), of different styles and materials. Kranz remains a prominent and colorful figure in the history of U.S. manned space exploration.
Jim Lovell
NASA Astronaut
Lovell is a former NASA astronaut and a retired captain in the United States Navy, most famous as the commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which suffered a critical failure en route to the Moon. Lovell was also the command module pilot of Apollo 8, the first Apollo mission to enter lunar orbit. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, the first of only three people to fly to the Moon twice, and the only one to have flown there twice without making a landing. Lovell was also the first person to fly in space four times.
Robert Zubrin
Astronautical Engineer / Author / Mars Direct Designer
Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct in the early 1990s, a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission.
Story Musgrave
Astronaut – NASA
Franklin Story Musgrave (born August 19, 1935) is an American physician and a retired NASA astronaut. Musgrave was selected as a scientist-astronaut by NASA in August 1967. Musgrave has spent a total of 1281 hours 59 minutes, 22 seconds in space.
Musgrave is the only astronaut to have flown missions on all five Space Shuttles. He retired from NASA in 1997.
Leroy Chiao
NASA Astronaut / Special Advisor – Human Spaceflight at the Space Foundation
Leroy Chiao is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. Leroy Chiao flew on three shuttle flights, and was the commander of Expedition 10, where he lived on board the International Space Station from October 13, 2004 to April 24, 2005. Leroy was a member of the Augustine Committee and was named Special Advisor for Human Spaceflight at the Space Foundation in 2012.
Jim Muncy
Space Policy Consultant
Commercial Space Advocate & Founder of PoliSpace, an independent space policy consultancy. Former Congressional & White House staff member.
Pamela L. Gay
Astronomer
Pamela L. Gay is an American astronomer, educator, podcaster, and writer, best known for her work in astronomical podcasting and citizen science astronomy projects. She works as an assistant research professor at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Her research interests include analysis of astronomy data, as well as examination of the impact of citizen science initiatives.
Lawrence Krauss
Theoretical Physicist/Cosmologist – Arizona State University
Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and director of its Origins Project. He is known as an advocate of the public understanding of science, of public policy based on sound empirical data, of scientific skepticism and of science education and works to reduce the impact of superstition and religious dogma in pop culture.
James Vedda
Senior Policy Analyst – Aerospace Corporation
He is the author of Choice, Not Fate: Shaping a Sustainable Future in the Space Age and Becoming Spacefarers: Rescuing America’s Space Program. He has an M.S. in science and technology policy from George Washington University and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Florida.
Dennis Wingo
CEO – Skycorp Inc
Dennis Wingo is a space entrepreneur and CEO of Skycorp Inc. Dennis was one of the founders of the I-SEE3 Reboot Project.
Dale D. Myers
Deputy Administrator – NASA
Associate Administrator for Manned Spaceflight – NASA
Dale D. Myers served as Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight at NASA. Dale D. Myers was NASA Deputy Administrator from 1986 to 1989. Myers is an accomplished aerospace engineer and worked for many years at North American Aviation and Rockwell on various Aerospace projects including Apollo spacecraft hardware.
John Vilja
Vice President of Strategy, Innovation & Growth at Aerojet Rocketdyne
John is a Vice President at Rocketdyene. He leads the Future Programs, Marketing & Strategy, and Mergers and Acquisition activities at the leading liquid rocket engine manufacturer.
Jeff Bingham
US Senate Staff
Jeff Bingham has served as Chief of Staff in the US Senate, a consultant for the Space Exploration Initiative, the Legislative Coordinator for the International Space Station Program and supported the Bush-Cheney NASA Transition Team. From May 2001 to May 2002, he served as Acting Associate Administrator, then Associate Administrator of NASA. In April, 2005, he assumed the position of Majority Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Science and Space of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Mr. Bingham retired from the Senate at the end of August 2013.
Jeff Greason
Founder – XCOR Aerospace
Jeff Greason is a founder of XCOR Aerospace, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, was the team lead at Rotary Rocket for engine development, and previously worked at Intel.
In May 2009 Greason was named a member of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee, an independent review requested by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on May 7, 2009.
Mark Sirangelo
Corporate Vice President – Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems
Mr. Sirangelo leads Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems, a producer of satellites, space transportation vehicles, propulsion systems and space sub-systems. Mr. Sirangelo was formerly the Chairman & CEO of SpaceDev, Inc., prior to its merging with SNC.
Dwight Chapin
Special Assistant to President Richard M. Nixon
Dwight Chapin was Special Assistant to the President (1969–71), and then Deputy Assistant (1971–73). He was the the appointments secretary responsible for scheduling presidential activities, appointments, and travel.
Dana Rohrabacher
Congressman
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher was chairman of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics from 1997 to January 2005 and has been active on space-related issues since. He is the U.S. Representative for California’s 46th congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party. Rohrabacher’s district covers the areas of Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Avalon, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills Estates as well as portions of Long Beach, Westminster, Santa Ana and San Pedro.
Lamar Smith
Congressman
Lamar Seeligson Smith (born November 19, 1947) is the U.S. Representative (Republican) for Texas’s 21st congressional district, serving since 1987. The district includes most of the wealthier sections of San Antonio and Austin, as well as some of the Texas Hill Country. Smith currently serves as chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology for the 113th Congress, having replaced Ralph Hall.