Space Access '11: SpeedUp - Bob Steinke

Bob does his work at the Frontier Astronautics silo.  Frontier Astronautics had a presentation right before this one, so you can find more information about them by checking other sites covering this conference.  He's working on  hybrid engine, the Laramie Rose Lunar Lander Challenge vehicle, and a new product.

The hybrid engine is intended to be a simple, highly reliable upper stage engine.  He did static fires, design of a subscale motor, and some design work on  full scale motor.  Bob talked about a test where a hydrogen peroxide failure happened.

 Next Bob discussed the Laramie Rose, which was for the Lunar Lander Challenge.  That competition is over, but Bob still wants to fly the Laramie Rose.  Lots of the hardware work is done.  On March 27, he did a plugs-out static fire.  He thinks the hardware could fly, but the software isn't ready.  He expects to do tether testing this summer.  He got an FAA/AST class 2 amateur flight authorization last week.  The neighbor at Frontier has an airport which complicates the process.  He's now familiar with the FAA process, so later rounds should go smoother.  He's looking at doing a ~10 second hover.

He's working with Osa Fitch of Luna City Enterprises and Joe Lee of Open Source Launch Vehicle.  Both are presenting at the conference.  See other sites covering the conference for more details on them.

Bob gave a detailed presentation on a new product, a "Non-Pyro Valve Actuator".