"Rocket-Powered Go-Kart" - H.Rose is leaning on a 10 MPH speed limit sign, behind the 'Rocket-Powered Go-Kart which reached speeds of approximately 35 MPH.
After joining Pioneer in September 2003 she worked as a research scientist on the NASA Phase II SBIR Methane to Aromatics on Mars (METAMARS) project as a Laboratory Scientist, helping to run the prototype system and helped design testing regimens to optimize performance of the unit. In lab work during the Phase II we demonstrated that methane produced on Mars could be transformed with complete selectivity into benzene, thereby reducing the hydrogen importation requirements for Mars in-situ propellant production plants by a factor of 4.
Using the Mars in-situ process experience from the Phase II METAMARS project in mid February 2004 she worked on the Phase I Mars Aqueous Processing System (MAPS) project as Lead Laboratory Scientist, helping design, coordinate and implement all laboratory work done during Phase I. There she helped demonstrate a closed-loop process selectively extracting and then recovering constituents from soils using acids and bases, on Mars the emphasis being on production of useful materials such as iron, silica, alumina, magnesia, silica, and concrete; and, on the moon placing emphasis on production of oxygen. She also worked as a research scientist on the Phase II of the MAPS project(Jan2005-Feb2007), training new team members and aiding in the continuation of the extractions process from the phase I work this time focusing on Lunar stimulant.
During 2005 and 2006 she was also a research scientist on the Lift Gas Cracker (LGC) phase II program (being conducted for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) working on; laboratory testing, data acquisition, and data analysis. [During the LGC Phase I program Pioneer Astronautics designed, fabricated, and tested of a methanol reformer including integrated combustion and heat exchange systems. The portable Lift Gas Cracker was used to inflate a stratospheric research balloon that carried smaller zero-pressure test balloons and a suite of telemetry and temperature instruments to 100,000 feet.] During Phase II, technologies to increase the duration of stratospheric research balloon flight were investigated and developed and a flight unit was built and tested. On February 8, 2006 a stratospheric test of the flight unit was tested and shown to successfully inflate a test balloon, thus increasing the altitude of the unit.
She aided in the fabrication, design analysis and alterations; data acquisition and analysis; lab testing, and both low and high altitude field tests for the Stratospheric Deployment Parafoil.
She has participated in the data acquisition, testing and data analysis for projects including Carbon Monoxide Silicate Reduction System, Lunar Sulfur Capture System and Nitrous Oxide Propulsion System. She has also participated in the electrical build up (or re-build) and implementation for test rigs on projects including Lunar Soil Particle Separator, and RWGS - Private Design Study.
Mrs. Rose completed a partial rework of the 300-liter vacuum chamber, including cleaning, new electrical pass-throughs, vacuum testing, and the creation of a user guide to the chamber from basic use to maintenance issues and logs. This re-work of the chamber created six reliable electrical passthroughs, cut the total pump down time of the chamber in half and increased the total vacuum available in the chamber. The user guide insures that maintenance and overall performance of the chamber can be monitored from project to project.
Since joining the Pioneer Astronautics team in 2003 she has also worked on data acquisition systems for nearly all Pioneer projects. Either taking the lead or assisting in the design, purchase, creation, implementation, or debugging steps for various projects data acquisition. Pioneer mainly relies upon either National Instruments - LabVIEW or Azeotech's DAQFactory programs for data aquisition.
Heather Rose graduated from the University of Denver in June 2003 with a BA in Physics and a minor in Astrophysics. In the fall of 2000 she was chosen for an internship with Equinox Interscience in Pinecliffe, Colorado. There she accelerated the construction of a battery-housing unit for the University of Denver's Mt. Evans Meyer-Womble Observatory, completed company fundamental operational and safety training on milling equipment, and assisted the machining lead in basic maintenance and operation of milling equipment for various engineering and astronomy projects. During the summer of 2001 she was selected to participate in the Onyx Environmental Services Summer Internship program running at that time in Port Arthur, Texas. There she helped edit, update, and complete a customer service packet ahead of schedule. She was also able to assist the environmental department in compiling, editing, and completing government documentation and compliance reports. From June-August of 2003 she worked at Design Net Engineering supported laboratory technicians, the Test and Integration Team, and assisted the Analysis Lead on the Low Temperature Micro-gravity Physics Facility (LTMPF) project for the International Space Station.
Mrs. Rose has been an avid amateur Astronomer since 1992, having been in the Astronomical Society of Southeast Texas (a division of the Astronomical League) for ten years, and has won several national awards for her achievements and educational outreach in Astronomy including:
She has ten years of deeply involved experience in astronomy and space educational, and has visited countless schools, conventions, malls, and parks for Astronomy and space outreach. She has also worked with many outreach organizations such as the Challenger Center, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Houston Museum of Natural Science, George Observatory, and the Astronomical League.