For Immediate Release

 

ROCKETSTAR ROBOTICS HAS NAMED DOUGLAS PACKARD CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER

 

 

CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA – April 27, 2006 – Rocketstar Robotics, an innovator in the design and manufacturer of actuators for spaceflight applications, today announced that Douglas Packard has joined the company and will act as its Chief Technical Officer.

 

When asked about his reasons for joining the Rocketstar Robotics team Mr. Packard said, “The game has been very good to me and now that I am in a place in my life where I no longer need to work I want to return the favor and be good to the game.  Rocketstar Robotics will give me the opportunity to do the kind of work I enjoy.”

 

“We are very pleased to have Mr. Packard join our team.  Doug is renowned for his contributions to the spacecraft mechanisms field and is well respected for his aerospace design expertise and experience,” said Douglas Petercsak, president, Rocketstar Robotics.  “Doug opens the door for us to broaden our product offering for the spacecraft component market.”

 

Douglas Packard received a bachelors of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.  From 1960 until 1978 he was employed by Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale California.  From 1978 until 1985 and again from 1990 to 2000 he was employed at Cal Tech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  While at JPL he was responsible for technical aspects of over a dozen major programs including the design, manufacture and test of the high gain antenna gimbal for Mars Pathfinder in nine months.

 

Mr. Packard is particularly experienced in the management of rapid development jobs with budgets of five million dollars including the capability to do conceptual design, technical proposals, cost proposals, schedules, detailed design, manufacturing, subcontracts, test plans, test equipment and test reporting.  Other areas of Mr. Packard’s expertise include:

 

  • Electromechanical Devices
  • Pyrotechnics
  • Deployable Structures
  • Pointing Control Systems
  • Fluid Dampers
  • Rotary Seals
  • Ball Bearings
  • Gears
  • Friction Drives
  • Athermal Structures
  • Radiative Coolers
  • Cryo Cooled Instruments

 

Mr. Packard has also been an engineering consultant to many well known companies including; Lockheed Missiles, Sperry Flight Systems, Able Engineering, Cal Tech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Alcon Labs.  He holds numerous patents, is responsible for multiple NASA New Technology Disclosures and was an editorial associate on Space Vehicle Mechanisms: Element of Successful Design a reference written by Peter Conley and published in 1998 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

About Rocketstar Robotics

Dedicated to providing actuators and mechanisms for spaceflight applications Rocketstar Robotics features a management and engineering team with over 70 years of experience in the design and manufacture of spacecraft motors, gearboxes, actuators and mechanisms. Rocketstar Robotics engineers have designed an unparalleled number of mechanisms for Mars applications and are experienced in an extensive range of transmission, motor, telemetry and mechanism designs.  Applications include:

 

  • Gimbals for pointing antennas, cameras and instruments
  • Solar array drives
  • Deployment actuators
  • Robotic manipulators
  • Reaction and momentum wheels
  • Filter wheels
  • Sampling systems
  • Aperture covers

 

For more information, please visit http://www.rocketstarrobotics.com.

 

PDF version here.

 

 

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