February 1, 2004: Space Exploration - Robert Zimmerman
Podcast: The Art Bell ArchivePublished On: Wed Jul 23 2025
Description: Art Bell opens with the Super Bowl aftermath, spending considerable time on the Janet Jackson halftime incident and CBS's apology before turning to serious news about Iraq intelligence failures and the spreading bird flu in Southeast Asia. He continues pushing the Woods Hole climate change story, noting the near-total silence from major U.S. networks despite its scientific credibility. Callers discuss Sean David Morton's incorrect Super Bowl prediction from the previous night and share stories ranging from a cat that rescues stray animals to a man with a mysterious briefcase of Pentagon documents.Robert Zimmerman joins to discuss the U.S. space program on the first anniversary of the Columbia disaster. He reveals that engineers at NASA knew about the foam strike damage but were overruled by management, echoing the same bureaucratic culture that caused the Challenger tragedy. Zimmerman explains that the Russian half of the International Space Station operates as a fully independent, self-sustaining system with closed water and oxygen recycling, while the American half cannot function without Russian support.The conversation covers the Mars rovers' early discoveries of smoothed cobblestones and exposed bedrock suggesting water activity. Zimmerman argues passionately for space exploration as essential to the human spirit, notes that NASA forbids American astronauts from eating plants grown in Russian greenhouse experiments aboard the station, and shares the spiritual impact of Apollo 8 on its crew.
The note was deleted
The note was saved
Your message was sent