— Jason Rubin wanted to listen to someone talk about collecting space memorabilia.

A 44-year-old space history enthusiast whose interest in space memorabilia dates back about 20 years, Rubin was hoping to hear some good discussions about his chosen hobby.

"I was sitting on a beach about six months ago, bored out of my mind because I'm not a beach person, but did some searching on podcasts," he said. "I certainly love a lot of the space-related podcasts that are out there that more talk about the industry and some of the luminaries in the space world and launchers, things like that. But there was nothing specifically for space collectors."

It was then that he got the idea.

"So here I am texting Rich on the beach saying, 'Dude, we got to start something for the people out there.'" said Rubin. "This is an emotional outlet for us, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

And so was born Two Space Collectors Collecting Space (or TSCCS). "Rich" is Richard Jurek, co-author of "Marketing The Moon" and author of "The Ultimate Engineer: The Remarkable Life of NASA's Visionary Leader George M. Low," Jurek has been friends with Rubin for about as long as Rubin has been collecting space.

Jurek got the bug for pursuing astronaut autographs and artifacts at a young age.

"[I] really caught the space bug being a child of Apollo and my first memory being of a Saturn V rocket on the TV screen," says Jurek as the first episode of TSCCS begins. "Much later, actually once I had a job and had some expendable cash and could could buy these things, started acquiring checklists and maps and personal items that the astronauts took with them in space."

"For me, that became just this fascinating touch point in which I felt like I had a connection, a direct connection not only to the history, but the specific flight itself in some of my astronaut heroes," said Jurek.

Today, Jurek mostly focuses on coins and other numismatic-related space collectibles, while Rubin has focused on astronaut-certified artifacts. "Though," he admits on the podcast, "my collection has shrunk over the years because I got a house, and a couple of kids now and that's life, but my passion for the hobby has not waned one bit."

And that really comes across listening to the first hour of TSCCS. Neither Rubin nor Jurek present themselves as experts — they have guests to fulfill that role — but their shared interest in the pastime and their rapport makes for an engaging broadcast, whether you are a fellow space memorabilia collector, someone new to the hobby, or just someone curious about what, why and how someone collects space.

The first episode, which is now available on Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Podchaser and soon other popular podcast platforms, includes an interview with Steve Zarelli, "the foremost authenticator of astronaut autographs," who provides his services to multiple auction houses and dealers, as well as direct to collectors through Zarelli Space Authentication.

"The biggest myth is that his autograph is rare, or it's uncommon," says Zarelli, describing the market for first moonwalker Neil Armstrong's autograph. "No, it's not rare. I mean, he's signed literally from 1961, or, you know, since he was an X-1 pilot in the early 60s, all the way through 1994. And he signed freely through the mail ... so his autograph is in very good supply. But it's expensive, because the demand is so massive."

Rubin also shares his experience attending the recent memorial service for Gemini and Apollo astronaut Thomas Stafford, who died in March, and both he and Jurek pick out their favorite overlooked lots from the latest RR Auction space memorabilia sale, which wrapped up after the podcast was recorded on April 25.

Going forward, Rubin and Jurek plan a new installment of Two Space Collectors Collecting Space every two weeks, with one episode following a similar format to the one-hour inaugural show and then a shorter show dedicated to profiling others collecting space.

"If you like what you hear and you want to engage with us, we'd love to learn about your collection, the pieces that you have, the special items and why they're meaningful to you," said Rubin. "So if you collect space memorabilia, we're going to want to hear from you for sure."