Broadcast 1773 (Special Edition)

Guests: Randa and Rod Milliron; Olav Zipser. Topics: Interorbital Systems update, Olav Zipser & freeflying rocket ejection. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We welcomed back Randa and Rod Milliron for updates with their company, Interorbital Systems (IOS). Visit their website at http://interorbital.com. During our first hour long segment, our guests provided us with a current overview of IOS, their rockets and their static and flight testing upcoming program. We talked about their sea launch plans, their rocket fuel which is white fuming nitric acid with turpentine/furfuryl alcohol, and their TubeSat and newly added CubeSat personal satellite kits available on their website. We learned more about their modular rocket plans along with both suborbital and orbital plans for the company. Listeners asked lots of questions about their modular rocket system, ocean launch, their choice of fuel, and the high altitude jump from their rocket planned by Olav Zipser. In the last segment of the program, Olav joined us for a detailed discussion about his plans so more about that later in this summary. We talked about the personal satellite kits and I asked if they were user friendly in terms of building them. As we learned, they do require expertise and thus are a terrific learning tool for students as well as others, crossing over many disciplines from soldering to software programming. If you or a group are interested in these kits, contact Randa/Rod for more information through their website. Some listeners asked our guests technical questions about their guidance system plans and their rocket pressure fed system. In the second segment, Olav Zipser joined us. For more information about Olav and his freeflying astronaut program which he created, visit his website at www.freeflyastronaut.com. His freeflying program which he invented for skydiving allows him to use his body as a type of "lifting body" (he cannot go up) in that he can change his positions, movements, angles, etc. to actually "fly" during his skydive. For jumping from the IOS rocket at about 40 KM (25 miles), he intends to practice the jumps from various altitudes working up to his main jump altitude in which he hopes to break the record set by Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger decades ago. Olav fielded several questions about how he intended to exit from the rocket, stabilize himself against spin, handle human supersonic flight including going into and out of supersonic flight. Olav had much to say about the need for a custom designed space suit to allow him to safely do his jump. He also explained why he was working with the Russians on this space suit design. As you will hear, flexibility is crucial to the type of space suit he requires for this jump. At the end of our discussion, Olav said that his suit design and what he learns from his jump should allow a safe emergency crew exit even for an unconscious person, giving the person a fighting chance for survival. Our program ended with a brief summary of thoughts offered by Randa and Ron, their plans to attend the CubeSat workshop which is part of SmallSat each year, plus they left us with a worthy closing statement you will want to hear. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog.