I'm We are about to resume our voyage into the cosmos.

That, at least, is the idea.

There is a strong chance that, in the next few years, American astronauts will leave low Earth orbit for the first time in half a century.

There is a decent chance that, later this decade, they will return to the moon.

A few years after that, they might even reach Mars.

NASA is slowly emerging from its lengthy post-apollo

doldrums. A pair of billionaire-backed new entrance in the private sector are making technological

breakthroughs. Even better, they are driving down costs. It is an exciting time, both for the American space industry in particular,

and for human space exploration writ large. But there are also many challenges. Some are

legal or regulatory, as we discussed in our last episode. Some are logistical, some are financial.

For America, there is, above all, the question of whether we have the will to succeed.

Does the United States still have what it takes to lead the world into space?

Do we still have the right stuff?

This is the Tech Policy Podcast.

I'm Corbyn Barthold.

I'm joined today by perhaps the foremost space industry watcher of them all,

Eric Berger, the senior space editor at Ars Technica.

Delighted also to be joined once again by Tech Freedom's in-house space expert,

Bresh off his testimony yesterday before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,

the one and only Jim Dunstan.

Eric, Jim, welcome. Thank you. Thanks, Garman. Great to be back. I will be asking the

really super nerdy questions here today, I'm sure. Well, you were fantastic in front of Congress.

...