A Hollister scientist said a contract from NASA to develop a
propellant for the space shuttle has the potential of adding more
than a million dollars to the local economy.
A Hollister scientist said a contract from NASA to develop a propellant for the space shuttle has the potential of adding more than a million dollars to the local economy.
Bill Colburn is now ready to experiment with the jelly-like propellant substance with funds from NASA’s Small Business Incentive contract.
Colburn teamed with Don Platt, president of Micro-Aerospace Solutions of Melbourne, Fla., for the initial research before making the proposal to NASA.
“Together we’re developing the motor and wanted a propellant that would not spread in the shuttle bay,” Colburn said. “We submitted the proposal to NASA last year and received the contract on Jan. 14.”
Colburn pointed out that the components of the propellant would be blended at a remote site in the Mojave Desert.
“We’ll add the ignition material and propellant only when we are ready to launch,” he said.
If successful, the experiment will represent a significant space achievement in propellant safety.
“Existing propellants could explode or generate toxic fumes if struck by a micro-meteorite,” Colburn said. “Ours would not spread in the shuttle bay.”
The next phase is developing full-scale testing and launching a rocket with the propellant. If the experiments are successful, Colburn will submit the results to NASA by July 14.
“Then, if NASA approves it, the final phase will be production,” he said. “Cost of materials, rentals and labor would bring the local economy upwards of a million dollars in revenue.”
Colburn has impressive credentials in rocket research. When he was 10, he and two other local youths – Barney Bernstein and Gary Sheldon – launched history’s first sugar-based rocket in the Hollister River bed.
He also was a member of the entire Apollo Lunar Project and his name is among those inscribed on the Apollo Monument in Titusville, Fla.
In the past four years, Colburn and other members of his Hollister Space Project have made eight launches in the desert, one rising to 10,000 feet.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said, “but the prospects are good and the incentive to add to space technology is a great one.”
