#241 Frank Eichstadt - Chief Architect at Orion Span
Today we are talking to Frank, the Chief Architect at Orion Span. And we discuss his experiences from working in aerospace over the last 4 decades, leadership lessons from working with astronauts, and what living in space will look like.
All of this, right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
About Frank:
Over a career spanning four decades, Frank has provided conceptual development, detailed design and engineering for award winning commercial and NASA space flight projects including the first robot to operate alongside astronauts aboard an orbiting spacecraft (Charlotte on STS-63), primary payloads flown aboard the Space Shuttle, and a commercial module on the Russian segment of the International Space Station (Spacehab's Enterprise module). Frank’s work is evident in several major components of the International Space Station. Frank‘s appreciation for the space flight environment benefits from several hours of valuable zero-g and hypo-g exposure accumulated as a principal investigator and test engineer aboard NASA’s KC-135 parabolic flight aircraft. His experience includes creative coordination of multinational/multidisciplinary teams to achieve complex projects on time and below budget.
About Orion Span:
The advent of commercial human spaceflight will be a defining period in human history. It will mark the beginning of humanity's expansion into the solar system. To enable this expansion, various destinations need to exist. Orion Span is developing a next generation space station platform to address this need. We are re-imagining space station design from the ground up, making it simpler and much more affordable to build, and operate. Unlike custom-made one-of-a-kind modules that have been used on the International Space Station, our modular architecture can be configured in many different ways to support various missions. From pure research, to manufacturing, logistics, and tourism. Our first space station will be Aurora Station - a multipurpose platform for Low Earth Orbit designed to be used by governments, industry, and private citizen astronauts.