NASA SBIR 2019 Program Solicitation

Agency:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Branch:

N/A

Program / Phase / Year:

SBIR / Phase I / 2019

Solicitation Number:

SBIR_19_P1

NOTE: The Solicitations and topics listed on this site are copies from the various SBIR agency solicitations and are not necessarily the latest and most up-to-date. For this reason, you should use the agency link listed below which will take you directly to the appropriate agency server where you can read the official version of this solicitation and download the appropriate forms and rules.

The official link for this solicitation is: https://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/solicitations

Release Date:

February 05, 2019

Open Date:

February 05, 2019

Application Due Date:

March 29, 2019

Close Date:

March 29, 2019

Available Funding Topics

The Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) strives to provide the technologies that are needed to enable exploration of the solar system, both manned and unmanned systems. Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) is a key technology to enable exploration. Whether nuclear thermal propulsion or liquid oxygen/liquid methane is chosen by Human Exploration and Operation Mission Directorate (HEOMD) as the main in-space propulsion element to transport humans, CFM will be required to store propellant for up to five years in various orbital environments. Transfer will also be required, whether to engines or other tanks (e.g., depot/aggregation), to enable the use of cryogenic propellants that have been stored. In conjunction with In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), oxygen will have to be produced, liquefied, and stored, the latter two of which are CFM functions for the surface of Mars. ISRU and CFM liquefaction drastically reduces the amount of mass that must be landed.

This subtopic seeks technologies related to cryogenic propellant (e.g., hydrogen, oxygen, methane) storage and transfer to support NASA's space exploration goals. This includes a wide range of applications, scales, and environments consistent with future NASA missions. Such missions include, but are not limited to a methane upper stage, nuclear thermal propulsion, lander propulsion, aggregation stages, and ISRU in support of the NASA exploration mission objectives. Anticipated outcome of Phase I proposals are expected to deliver proof of the proposed concept with some sort of basic testing or physical demonstration. Proposals shall include plans for a prototype and demonstration in a defined relevant environment (with relevant fluids) at the conclusion of Phase II.

Desired technology concepts are listed below in order of priority:

Broad area cooling methods for cryogenic thin-walled metallic and/or composite propellant tanks (reduced and/or zero boil-off applications): Design and integration concepts must exhibit low mass, high-heat transfer between cooling fluid and propellant in tank, high heat exchanger efficiency (>90%), and operate in reduced gravity environments (10-6 g worse case). Proposers should consider structural and pressure vessel implications of the proposed concept. If tube-on-tank cooling is proposed, concepts are solicited for reliable, low thermal resistance manufacturing and attachment of cooling tubes to propellant tanks. Target applications include liquid oxygen liquefaction system (16 g/s neon gas, 85K < T < 90K, pressure drop < 0.25 psia, 2.6m diameter, 3m tall tank) and liquid hydrogen nuclear thermal propulsion system (3.5 g/s helium gas, 20K < T < 24K, 7m diameter, 8m tall tank).
Cryogenic transfer line thermal coatings (ex. nano-structured, micro-structured, vapor deposition) for 0.5’’ to 3’’ OD tubing that can reduce the chilldown time (amount of time from room temperature to 77K) by at least 30% relative to uncoated standard stainless steel line in low-g. Coated lines should be able to maintain performance (reduction in chilldown time) after multiple (> 15) thermal cycles (room temperature to 77K and back). Proposed coatings should be oxygen compatible. Anticipated maximum allowable working pressure is 500 psia.
Lightweight all composite spherical tanks for cryogenic propellants. Spherical versus cylindrical tanks have improved thermal storage characteristics (due to reduced surface area to volume ratio), better packaging benefits (when considering engine and plumbing) and have inherently lower stresses due to geometry. While progress has been made on all-composite tanks, there is no state-of-art spherical tank designed for a target diameter range of 4-8ft, a max pressure of 500+ psig, helium permeability less than 1x10-4 sccs/m² (at 500 psi), and an operating temperature range of ambient to -320° F (LN₂); with goal of -423° F (LH₂). Proposals shall also include plans for oxygen compatibility and cryogenic LN₂ testing.
Sub-grid CFD model of the nucleate boiling process for 1-g and low-g to be implemented into commercial industry standard CFD codes. The sub-grid model should capture the nucleation and growth of bubble on a heated wall and estimate the bubble departure frequency to be implemented via Lagrangian-Eulerian or Eulerian-Eulerian approaches for tracking the phases using discrete phase modeling (DPM), volume of fluid (VOF), Level Set, or Population Balance Methods. The boiling sub-grid model should be validated against available experimental data (with a target accuracy of 40%), with emphasis on cryogenic boiling data. The sub-grid model and implementation scheme shall be a contract deliverable.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined; however, at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

The expected TRL for this project is 2 to 4.

References:

Johnson et al. “Investigation into Cryogenic Tank Insulation Systems for the Mars Surface Environment” 2018 Joint Propulsion Conference Cincinnati, OH, July, 2018. Paper.
Plachta, D., et al. "Zero Boil-Off System Testing" NASA TP 20150023073.

In-Space Electric Propulsion Component Technologies

Electric Propulsion for space applications has shown tremendous benefit to a variety of NASA, commercial, and DoD missions. The electric propulsion systems currently under development have uncovered challenges and limits to these technologies. This subtopic seeks proposals that explore uses of technologies that will provide superior performance, reduce complexity, increase reliability, and/or lower cost for high specific impulse/low mass electric propulsion systems. Proposers are expected to show an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-art (SOA) and quantitatively (not qualitatively) describe improvements over relevant SOA technologies that substantiate investment in the new technology. Proposers must also quantitatively explain the operational benefits of the new technology from the perspective of improving or enabling mission potential. Proposals outside of the scope described below shall not be considered.

These technologies of interest include:

Advanced magnetics for Hall/ion thrusters. Specifically:
- High temperature capable magnetic components (>500° C).
- 3D printing of magnetic materials.
Advanced Hall/ion cathode technologies. Experimental demonstration backed by theoretical or computational modeling are preferred. Specifically:
- Lower cost fabrication techniques for cathode assemblies.
- Advanced cathode emitter materials
- Long-life heaters for hollow cathodes made with barium oxide (BaO), lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) or other materials. In order to achieve reliable cathode ignition, barium oxide cathodes must operate at 1050 - 1200° C while the LaB6 heaters typically must operate at 1500 – 1700° C. Reproducible fabrication processes that minimize unit-to-unit variations in performance and lifetime will be critical for the practical adaptation of a new heater technology.
Advanced materials for Hall thruster systems. Specific areas of interest include:
- High emissivity (>0.6) coatings and/or surface treatments suitable for use with high-temperature (300-500° C) electric propulsion components with long operating times (>20 kh).
- High-voltage (>600 V), high-temperature harnessing capable of long-term (>20 kh) vacuum operation over temperature ranges of -100° C to 400° C.

Low-cost, high-temperature anode gas distributors capable of achieving a high degree of flow uniformity in Hall thruster discharge channels through use of innovative designs and/or fabrication techniques.

The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) needs spacecraft with more demanding propulsive performance and flexibility for more ambitious missions requiring high duty cycles, more challenging environmental conditions, and extended operation. Planetary spacecraft need the ability to rendezvous with, orbit, and conduct in-situ exploration of planets, moons, and other small bodies in the solar system. Mission priorities are outlined in the decadal surveys for each of the SMD Divisions (https://science.nasa.gov/about-us/science-strategy/decadal-surveys). Future spacecraft and constellations of spacecraft will have high-precision propulsion requirements, usually in volume-, mass-, and power-limited envelopes.

Additional electric propulsion technology innovations are also sought to enable low-cost systems for Discovery class missions, and low-power, nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) missions. The roadmap for in space propulsion technologies is covered under OCT's TA-02 In Space Propulsion.

Expected TRL for this project is 4 to 5.

Precision Low-Noise Micropropulsion for Fine Pointing of Astronomical Observatories

Future astronomical observatories are facing two critical challenges:

Advanced astrophysical and exoplanet science demand increasingly longer observing times with more precise pointing and wavefront error stability requirements.
The performance and lifetime of reaction wheels is limited.

For the first challenge, solar pressure and torque demand that space-based observatories have active, continuous control of pointing, typically using reaction wheels as the actuator, which have limited pointing performance and create large amounts of mechanical noise. Large and heavy vibration isolation stages are typically used to protect the instruments from the vibrations and jitter induced by reaction wheels. But for many new mission concepts using higher resolution detectors or coronagraphs to block starlight, vibration isolation systems struggle to achieve the necessary wavefront error stability, required to be less than 1 nanometer. New, lower-noise actuators or "active" vibration isolation technology for large deployable structures are an attractive alternative. For the second challenge, reaction wheel failure has limited the lifetime of many astronomical observatory missions. Longer-life actuators would be necessary to justify replacement of high-heritage reaction wheels.

Most micropropulsion systems are being developed for high-impulse, low-power applications as a "miniature" equivalent to existing propulsion options with just a few throttle points. However, as fine pointing actuators, mainly pushing back against solar pressure (7 µN / m²), precision microthrusters do not need to demonstrate high thrust or impulse. Instead, low thrust noise (< 1 µN/?Hz) over a continuous throttle range (5-100 µN) is necessary to replace reaction wheels. For any application including precision pointing, increased reliability and lifetime >4 years are also critical. If such propulsion systems could be developed, NASA and commercial space-based observatories would have better pointing performance without need for expensive and heavy structure for vibration isolation or the likely lifetime limitation of using reaction wheels.

Anticipated environments for these devices will be typical for L₁/L₂ or Earth-trailing orbits with similar radiation dose requirements of "deep space" or even GEO-like orbits. Thermal environment varies from mission to mission, but often the thrusters will be placed orthogonal to the plane that is generating the solar pressure, which usually means in the shade or partial shade. As an example, typical operating environment temperatures for ST-7 were 0° C - 50° C with non-operating temperatures stretching to -20° C - 75° C.

This technology is critical to the Physics of the Cosmos and Exoplanet Exploration Programs in the Astrophysics Directorate, both of which have added microthrusters for precision control on their list of high priority technologies. Example missions include Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx), which have both baselined precision microthrusters instead of reaction wheels.

Expected TRL for this project is 4 to 6.

Reactor and Fuel System

The focus is on highly stable materials for nuclear fuels and non-fuel reactor components (i.e., moderator tie tubes, etc.) that can heat hydrogen to temperatures greater than 2600K without undergoing significant dimensional deformation, cracking, or hydrogen reactions. Current technology hurdles related to ceramic metal fuels center around refractory metal processing and manufacturing (i.e., welding of refractories, refractory metal coatings, etc.). The development of refractory alloys with enhanced/targeted material properties is of key interest (i.e., tungsten or molybdenum with increased ductility, or dispersion strengthen Mo/W alloys). Current technology hurdles with carbide fuels include embedding carbide kernels with coatings in a carbide matrix with potential for total fission product containment and high fuel burn-up. Manufacturing and testing of the insulator and reflector materials is also critical to the success of an Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) reactor.

Technologies being sought include:

Low Enriched Uranium reactor fuel element designs with high temperature (> 2600K), high power density (>5 MW/L) to optimize hydrogen propellant heating.
New advanced manufacturing processes to quickly manufacture the fuel with uniform channel coatings and/or claddings that reduce fission product gas release and reactor particulates into the engines exhaust stream.

Fuels focused on Ceramic-metallic (cermet) designs:

New fuel element geometries which are easy to manufacture and coat, and better performing than the traditional prismatic fuel geometries with small through holes with coatings.
Best joining and manufacturing processes for thin-walled (0.010”) tungsten, molybdenum, and molybdenum/tungsten alloys.
Diffusion bonding/other bonding technologies for CERMET materials.
Machining processes for cooling channel formation in CERMET materials.
Uranium nitride and uranium dioxide fuel particle production methods and particle coating methods.
Development of dispersion strengthen molybdenum/tungsten alloys.
Formation of small diameter (0.100” ID) thin-walled (0.010”) molybdenum, tungsten, and molybdenum/tungsten cylindrical tubes.

Fuels focused on carbide designs:

Compatibility with high temperature hydrogen.
High thermal conductivity and other properties (e.g., ductility) needed for high power density operation (~5MW/l).
Kernel diameters, including coatings for fission product containment, which allow the fuel element to be fabricated with adequate strength for high temperature and high-power density operation.

Insulator design (e.g., of one application is for tie tubes and the other is for interface with the pressure vessel), which has very low thermal conductivity and neutron absorption, withstands high temperatures, compatible with hot hydrogen and radiation environment, and light weight.

Future mission applications for this technology include Human Missions to Mars, Science Missions to Outer Planets, and Planetary Defense. Some technologies may have applications for fission surface power systems.

Desired Deliverables for this technology would include research that could be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility during Phase I and show a path toward Phase II hardware/software demonstration with delivery of a demonstration unit or software package for NASA testing at the completion of the Phase II contract.

Phase I Deliverables - Feasibility study, including simulations and measurements, proving the proposed approach to develop a given product (TRL 2-3). Verification matrix of measurements to be performed at the end of Phase II, along with specific quantitative pass-fail ranges for each quantity listed.

Phase II Deliverables - Working engineering model of proposed product, along with full report of component and/or breadboard validation measurements, including populated verification matrix from Phase I (TRL 4-5). Opportunities and plans should also be identified and summarized for potential commercialization.

Expected TRL for this project is 2 to 5.

Ground Test Technologies

Included in this area of technology development needs are identification and application of robust materials, advanced instruments and monitoring systems capable of operating in extreme temperature, and pressure and radiation environments. Specific areas of interest include:

Devices for measurement of radiation, pressure, temperature and strain in a high temperature and radiation environment:
- Non-intrusive diagnostic technology to monitor engine exhaust for fuel element erosion/failure and release of radioactive particulates.

Future mission applications for this technology include Human Missions to Mars, Science Missions to Outer Planets, and Planetary Defense.

Desired Deliverables for this technology include research that could be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility during Phase I and show a path towards Phase II hardware/software demonstration with delivery of a demonstration unit or software package for NASA testing at the completion of the Phase II contract.

Expected TRL for this project is 2 to 5.

Engine System Design

Scope is on a range of modern technologies associated with NTP using solid core nuclear fission reactors. The baseline engines are pump fed with a thrust ~25,000 lbf and a specific impulse goal of 900 seconds (using hydrogen) and are used individually or in clusters for the spacecraft's primary propulsion system. The NTP can have multiple start-ups (>4) with cumulative run time >100 minutes in a single mission, which can last a few years. The Thrust to weight is ~3.5 without the external shield. Specific areas of interest include the following:

Subcritical LH₂ Turbopump for NTP Engine - LH₂ Turbopump design that is capable of operating in a subcritical mode over the full range of turbopump speeds for a NTP Engine. The benefit of a turbopump operating with a subcritical design is that an NTP engine with long transient start-up and shutdown durations can operate over the entire transients without encountering any resonance modes where vibration levels are high. The mass flow rate is less than 28 lbs/sec, pump exit pressure less than 2800 psia and pump inlet pressure 8-30 psia.
NTP Engine Instrumentation - Instrumentation is needed for engine control and health monitoring. Sensors must be designed to withstand a harsh NTP environment such as high temperatures, nuclear radiation composed of neutrons and gamma rays, and high vibration levels, and provide accurate measurements. Non-invasive designs for measuring neutron flux (possibly outside of reactor assembly), chamber temperature, operating pressure, and liquid hydrogen propellant flow rates over a wide range of temperatures are desired. Sensors need to operate for total run times in these harsh environments on the order of a few hours, interspersed over periods of months/years. The radiation environment adjacent to the reactor core assembly may include up to 10¹⁴ fast (>1MeV) neutrons/cm²-sec, 10¹⁵ thermal/epithermal (<1 MeV) neutrons/cm²-sec, and a gamma ray dose rate up to 10⁹ Rad(Si)/hr.

Future mission applications for this technology include Human Missions to Mars, Science Missions to Outer Planets, and Planetary Defense.

Desired Deliverables for this technology include research that could be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility during Phase I and show a path toward Phase II hardware/software demonstration with delivery of a demonstration unit or software package for NASA testing at the completion of the Phase II contract.

Expected TRL for this project is 2 to 5.

References:

Reactor and Fuel System

Solid core NTP has been identified as an advanced propulsion concept which could provide the fastest trip times with fewer SLS launches than other propulsion concepts for human missions to Mars over a variety of mission years. NTP had major technical work done between 1955-1973 as part of the Rover and Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) programs. A few other NTP programs followed including the Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (SNTP) program in the early 1990's. The NTP concept is similar to a liquid chemical propulsion system, except instead of combustion in the thrust chamber, a monopropellant is heated with a fission reactor (heat exchanger) in the thrust chamber and exposes the engine components and surrounding structures to a radiation environment.
Focus is on a range of modern technologies associated with NTP using solid core nuclear fission reactors and technologies needed to ground test the engine system and components. The engines are pump fed ~25,000 lbf with a specific impulse goal of 900 seconds (using hydrogen) and are used individually or in clusters for the spacecraft's primary propulsion system. The NTP can have multiple start-ups (>4) with cumulative run time >100 minutes in a single mission, which can last a few years. The Rover/NERVA program ground tested a variety of engine sizes, for a variety of burn durations and start-ups with the engine exhaust released to the open air. Current regulations require exhaust filtering of any radioactive noble gases and particulates. The NTP primary test requirements can have multiple start-ups (>8) with the longest single burn time ~50 minutes.

Ground Test Technologies

Solid core NTP has been identified as an advanced propulsion concept which could provide the fastest trip times with fewer SLS launches than other propulsion concepts for human missions to Mars over a variety of mission years. NTP had major technical work done between 1955-1973 as part of the Rover and Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) programs. A few other NTP programs followed including the Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (SNTP) program in the early 1990's. The NTP concept is similar to a liquid chemical propulsion system, except instead of combustion in the thrust chamber, a monopropellant is heated with a fission reactor (heat exchanger) in the thrust chamber and exposes the engine components and surrounding structures to a radiation environment.
Focus is on a range of modern technologies associated with NTP using solid core nuclear fission reactors and technologies needed to ground test the engine system and components. The engines are pump fed ~25,000 lbf with a specific impulse goal of 900 seconds (using hydrogen) and are used individually or in clusters for the spacecraft's primary propulsion system. The NTP can have multiple start-ups (>4) with cumulative run time >100 minutes in a single mission, which can last a few years. The Rover/NERVA program ground tested a variety of engine sizes, for a variety of burn durations and start-ups with the engine exhaust released to the open air. Current regulations require exhaust filtering of any radioactive noble gases and particulates. The NTP primary test requirements can have multiple start-ups (>8) with the longest single burn time ~50 minutes.

Engine System Design

Solid core NTP has been identified as an advanced propulsion concept which could provide the fastest trip times with fewer SLS launches than other propulsion concepts for human missions to Mars over a variety of mission years. NTP had major technical work done between 1955-1973 as part of the Rover and Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) programs. A few other NTP programs followed including the Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (SNTP) program in the early 1990's. The NTP concept is similar to a liquid chemical propulsion system, except instead of combustion in the thrust chamber, a monopropellant is heated with a fission reactor (heat exchanger) in the thrust chamber and exposes the engine components and surrounding structures to a radiation environment.

Photovoltaic Energy Conversion

Photovoltaic cell and blanket technologies lead to significant improvements in overall solar array performance by increasing photovoltaic cell efficiency greater than 30%, increasing array mass specific power greater than 300W/ kg, decreased stowed volume, reduced initial and recurring costs, long- term operation in radiation environments, high power arrays, and a wide range of space environmental operating conditions are solicited.

Being sought are proposals that show advances in, but not limited to, the following:

Photovoltaic cell and blanket technologies capable of low intensity, low-temperature operation applicable to outer planetary (low solar intensity) missions.
Photovoltaic cell, and blanket technologies that enhance and extend performance in lunar applications including orbital, surface, and transfer.
Solar arrays to support Extreme Environments Solar Power type missions, including long-lived, radiation tolerant, and cell and blanket technologies applicable to Jupiter missions.
Lightweight solar array technologies applicable to science missions using solar electric propulsion.

Current missions being studied require solar arrays that provide 1 to 20 kilowatts of power at 1 AU, greater than 300 watts/kilogram specific power, operation in the range of 0.7 to 3 AU, and low stowed volume.

These technologies are relevant to any space science, earth science, planetary surface, or other science mission that requires affordable high-efficiency photovoltaic power production or radioisotope heat sources for orbiters, flyby craft, landers, and rovers. Specific requirements can be found in the references listed below but include many future SMD. Specific requirements for orbiters and flybys to Outer planets include: LILT capability (>38% at 10 AU and 2), high power (>50 kW at 1 AU), low mass (3× lower than SOP), low volume (3× lower than SOP), long life (>15 years), and high reliability.

These technologies are relevant and align to any Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) or Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) missions that require affordable, high-efficiency photovoltaic power production. NASA applications for a radioisotope heat source include orbiters, flyby craft, landers, and rovers.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

Dynamic Power Conversion

For space applications where solar power is not practical, power convertors are used to convert heat to electrical power with dynamic engines combined with alternators typically providing significantly higher efficiency than current static devices. Being sought are proposals that show advances in, but not limited to, the following:

Novel Stirling, Brayton or Rankine convertors that can be integrated with one or more 250 watt-thermal General-Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules to provide high thermal-to-electric efficiency (>25%), low mass, long life (>10 yrs), and high reliability for planetary spacecraft, landers, and rovers.
Miniature dynamic power convertors that can be integrated with one or more 1 watt-thermal Radioisotope Heater Units (RHU) to provide long duration electric power for planetary smallsats and distributed instruments.
Advanced dynamic conversion components including hot-end heat exchangers, cold-end heat exchangers, regenerators/recuperators, alternators, engine controllers, heat pipes, and radiators that improve system performance, reliability, and fault tolerance.

This technology directly aligns with the Science Mission Directorate - Planetary Science Division for space power and energy storage. Investments in more mature technologies through the Radioisotope Power System Program is ongoing. This SBIR subtopic scope provides a lower TRL technology pipeline for advances in this important power capability that improves performance, reliability, and robustness.

Expected TRL for this project is 1 to 4.

References:

Photovoltaic Energy Conversion

Solar Power Technologies for Future Planetary Science Missions, found at: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/548/solar-power-technologies-for-future-planetary-science-missions/
NASA outlines New Lunar Science, Human Exploration Missions, found at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-outlines-new-lunar-science-human-exploration-missions
NASA Science Missions, found at: https://science.nasa.gov/missions-page?field_division_tid=All&field_phase_tid=3951

Dynamic Power Conversion

https://rps.nasa.gov/about-rps/overview/
Oriti, Salvatore, "Dynamic Power Convertor Development for Radioisotope Power Systems at NASA Glenn Research Center," AIAA P&E 2018, AIAA 2018-4498.
Wilson, Scott D., "NASA Low Power Stirling Convertor for Small Landers, Probes, and Rovers Operating in Darkness," AIAA P&E 2018, AIAA 2018-4499.
Wong, Wayne., "Advanced Stirling Convertor (ASC) Technology Maturation," AIAA P&E 2015, AIAA 2015-3806.

Power Electronics and Management

NASA's Planetary Science Division is working to implement a balanced portfolio within the available budget and based on a decadal survey that will continue to make exciting scientific discoveries about our solar system. This balanced suite of missions shows the need for low mass/volume power electronics and management systems and components that can operate in extreme environment for future NASA Science Missions.

Advances in electrical power technologies are required for the electrical components and systems of these future spacecraft/platforms to address program size, mass, efficiency, capacity, durability, and reliability requirements. Radioisotope power systems (RPS), Advanced Modular Power Systems (AMPS) and In-Space Electric Propulsion (ISP) are several programs of interest which would directly benefit from advancements in this technology area. These types of programs, including Mars Sample Return using Hall thrusters and power processing units, require advancements in components and control systems beyond the state-of-the-art. Of importance are expected improvements in system robustness, energy density, speed, efficiency, or wide-temperature operation (-125° C to over 450° C) with a number of thermal cycles. Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has a need for intelligent, fault-tolerant Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) technologies to efficiently manage the system power for deep space missions.

Overall technologies of interest include:

High power density/high efficiency modular power electronics and associated drivers for switching elements.
Non-traditional approaches to switching devices, such as addition of graphene and carbon nano-tubes to material.
Materials for lightweight, flexible, low voltage (less than 5 volts) power transmission.
Intelligent power management and fault-tolerant electrical components and PMAD systems.
Advanced electronic packaging for thermal control and electromagnetic shielding.

The possible programs that could benefit from this technology include AMPS, Solar Electric Propulsion, RPS, and CubeSat/NanoSat Programs.

The expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

Energy Storage

Future science missions will require advanced primary and secondary battery systems capable of operating at temperature extremes from -100° C for Titan missions to 400 to 500° C for Venus missions, and a span of -230° C to +120° C for Lunar Quest. Advancements to battery energy storage capabilities that address operation at extreme temperatures combined with high specific energy and energy density (>200 Wh/kg and >200 Wh/l) are of interest in this solicitation.

In addition to batteries, other advanced energy storage/load leveling technologies designed to the above mission requirements, such as mechanical or magnetic energy storage devices, are of interest. These technologies have the potential to minimize the size and mass of future power systems.

Research should be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility during Phase I and show a path toward a Phase II, and when possible, deliver a demonstration unit for NASA testing at the completion of the Phase II contract. Phase II emphasis should be placed on developing and demonstrating the technology under relevant test conditions. Additionally, a path should be outlined that shows how the technology could be commercialized or further developed into science-worthy systems.

The possible programs that could benefit from this technology include Solar Electric Propulsion, AMPS, RPS, and CubeSat/NanoSat Programs.

The expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

References:

Power Electronics and Management

Energy Storage

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

NASA is considering the use of kilowatt class Fission Power Systems for surface missions to the moon and Mars. This technology directly aligns with the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) roadmap for space power and energy storage and could be infused into the Kilopower Project to enhance performance or reliability. Current work in fission power systems is focused on the Kilopower project which uses a highly enriched Uranium-Molybdenum reactor core with a Beryllium oxide reflector. Depleted uranium, tungsten, and lithium hydride provide shielding of gamma rays and neutrons to the power conversion system, control electronics, payload, and habitat. Heat is removed from the core at approximately 800° C using sodium heat pipes and delivered to the power conversion system. Waste heat is removed from the power conversion system at approximately 100 to 200° C using water heat pipes coupled to aluminum or composite radiator panels. The Kilopower project targets the 1-10 kW electrical power range with most previous work focused on a demonstration of the 1 kWe design. The current solicitation is focused on innovations that enable the scaling of the 1 kWe design to 10 kWe, with a specific focus on surface power applications. Areas of interest include:

Robust, efficient, highly reliable, and long-life thermal-to-electric power conversion, controller, and PMAD technology. Power conversion can consist of multiple lower power units which could be combined to create 10 kW of electric power. Stirling, Brayton, and thermoelectric convertors that can be coupled to Kilopower reactors are of interest.
Reduction in shield mass through increased distance from core with mass effective Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) and transmission or lightweight possibly retractable booms.
Radiation shield materials selection, design, and fabrication for mixed neutron and gamma environments, with consideration for mass effectiveness, manufacturability, and cost.
Radiation tolerant electronics designed to withstand an induced radiation environment in addition to the ambient environment in space. Target dose tolerance ranges for fission power system electronics are between 1E11 to 1E13 n/cm² total neutron fluence, and between 100 kRad(Si) and 1000kRad(Si) total ionizing gamma dose.

Proposed concepts must identify, compare, and contrast advantages over key metrics pertinent to the technology concept.

The desired deliverables are primarily a prototype hardware to demonstrate concept feasibility. The appropriate research and analysis required to develop the hardware is also desired. The expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

References:

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/kilopower
Gibson, M.A., et al., "The Kilopwer Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY) Nuclear Ground Test Results and Lessons Learned," AIAA P&E 2018, AIAA-2018-4973.
Mason, Lee S., "A Comparison of Energy Conversion Technologies for Space Nuclear Power Systems," AIAA P&E 2018, AIAA-2018-4977.
Chaiken, M.F., et al., "Radiation Tolerance Testing of Electronics for Space Fission Power Systems," Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space 2018, Paper No. 24146.
Gibson, M.A., et al., "NASA's Kilopower Reactor Development and the Path to Higher Power Missions," 2017 IEEE Aerospace Conference, 4-11 March 2017, Big Sky, MT.
Mason, Lee S., et al., "A Small Fission Power System for NASA Planetary Science Missions," NASA/TM--2011-217099.

NASA is seeking innovative solutions for long duration energy storage to support Lunar surface operations, including landers, habitats, science platforms, robotic and crewed rovers, and the utilization of in-situ resources. Effective solutions require high-capacity, high-energy density, and long-life energy storage systems with very high reliability. Many of these systems will be required to provide continuous power during a 354-hour Lunar night prior to recharge via a solar array during the Lunar day. Power levels for these assets range from 500 W to 10 kW. Rovers capable of providing prolonged excursions before returning to the base will also be required. Power requirements for rovers are expected to be in the 1-3 kW range for unpressurized rovers increasing to 7-20 kW for pressurized rovers. It is anticipated that these vehicles will be refueled at the base, possibly directly re-fueled with scavenged propellants, or in-situ produced fuels, or electrically recharged via a solar array or other power technology. Technologies of interest in this solicitation are primary and regenerative fuel cells and rechargeable batteries. Technologies should be lightweight, low cost, and have service lives >5 years to survive multiple crew campaigns. Strong consideration should be given to environmental robustness for surface environments that include day/night thermal cycling, unshielded natural radiation, partial gravity, vacuum, and dust.

Advanced secondary/rechargeable batteries that go beyond lithium-ion and can safely provide >400 Wh/kg at the cell level are of interest for these missions. Secondary batteries that have 4-year shelf life and can provide >1,000 cycles at 70% depth-of-discharge are highly desirable. These secondary batteries are expected to operate safely over a temperature range of -20° C to +70° C with excellent capacity retention, comparable to room temperature operation.

Technological advances are also sought for Primary Fuel Cell (PFC) and Regenerative Fuel Cell (RFC)-based systems and sub-systems that contribute to system simplicity and improved reliability through:

Innovative, integrated system-level design concepts.
Passive ancillary components.

An example of these advances at the system level is primary and/or regenerative fuel cell systems that minimize or eliminate reactant re-circulation external to the stacks themselves. Examples at the component level include replacement of pumps and other active, motorized mechanical ancillary components with passive devices that perform the functions of both reactant management and thermal control.

Solutions are sought for PFCs using solid electrolytes in the power classes of 1 to 10 kW. Target specific power for the Lunar applications is >2,000 W/kg with an efficiency of >70% at 1,500 W/kg. PFC nominal current density is >200 mA/cm² with peak transients of >750 mA/cm². A final operational life of >10,000 hours is desired. Proposers should specify the path to meet this requirement at the system level. Reactant chemistries of interest in this solicitation are H₂/O₂ and CH₄/O₂, as well as other propellants. The ability to operate on scavenged propellants is highly desirable.

RFC systems are also of interest to meet long duration surface power energy storage needs with minimal opportunity for servicing or maintenance. PFC, water electrolyzers, and associated balance-of-plant hardware constitute a RFC system. The most direct approach to achieving mission efficiency, life, and reliability goals is to implement fuel cell, electrolysis, and RFC integrated fluid system functions through passive means and the elimination of as many ancillary and rotating components as possible. The range of energy storage of interest is 36 kW•hr(net) to >350 kW•hr(net) with a system level specific energy of > 600 Wh/kg, Target round trip efficiency is >51% (HHV) at 600 Wh/kg. Discharge power levels are anticipated to be between 100 W and 1 kW for an RFC. The final desired mission operational lifetime for the RFC is >60 cycles @ 680 hours per cycle with a service/maintenance Interval ? 5 years. Proposers should specify the path to meet the life and service requirements at the system level. RFC development should focus exclusively on proton exchange-membrane (PEM) technology utilizing pure hydrogen, oxygen, and water as reactants. Electrolyzer self-pressurization is required to meet round-trip efficiency targets. Any proposal including a full RFC system operation must identify mechanisms to managing high-pressure water quality over the mission duration and de-humidification of gases prior to storage if gases are stored beyond the controlled thermal envelope.

RFC Subsystem Requirements are as follows:

Fuel Cells

Power Levels: 100 W to 1 kW
Specific Power: >2,000 W/kg
Efficiency: >60% at 1,500 W/kg
Operational Life: >10,000 hours (Specify path to meet this requirement at the system level)
Nominal Current Density (Peak transient): 150 to 250 mA/cm² (>850 mA/cm²)
Applicable Chemistries: Solid electrolyte (non-liquid) including polymeric (ionic and anionic) and ceramic
Reactant Chemistries: pure H₂ and O₂

Electrolyzers

Production Rates: Generate sufficient reactant to support fuel cell operation with capability of >15% margin
Efficiency: >70% at 1,500 W/kg
Operational Pressure: ? 2,000 psig (sustained)
Pressure Configurations: balanced (anode ? cathode) Preference given to a design that can also operate in an unbalanced mode with a fully pressurized oxygen cavity and ambient pressure (~15 psia) hydrogen cavity.
Operational Life: >10,000 hours (Specify path to meet this requirement at the system level)
Applicable Chemistries: Solid electrolyte (non-liquid) including polymeric (ionic and anionic) capable of meeting the pressure requirement Reactant Feed Configurations: Liquid Anode Feed, Vapor cathode feed
Feedstock Chemistries: H₂O

The energy storage technologies described in this subtopic have applicability over a broad range of mobile and stationary Lunar surface systems. It is believed that Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is the relevant directorate to develop and mature this technology given its wide scope of applicability. It is anticipated that these technologies will be required to enable initial Lunar exploration and the establishment of a human presence on the moon. After appropriate development and maturation in STMD, the technology would most likely be transitioned to specific programs in Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and Science Mission Directorate (SMD) responsible for developing the individual assets for Lunar exploration. These assets include landers, unpressurized and pressurized rovers, robotic rovers, and various science platforms.

The desired deliverables would be a prototype of the types of technologies described above and/or a lunar payload package of the technology developed which can meet the size and related limitations of the lunar payload statement in the above subtopic description. The goal is to mature technologies from analytical or experimental proof-of-concept (TRL 3) to breadboard demonstration in a relevant environment (TRL 5). Research should be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility during Phase I and show a path toward a Phase II hardware demonstration, and when possible, deliver a demonstration unit for functional and environmental testing at the completion of the Phase II contract.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

References:

M.C. Guzik et alia, “Regenerative Fuel Cell Power Systems for Lunar and Martian Surface Exploration” AIAA 2017-5368, AIAA 2017 SPACE Forum, Orlando, FL
“Energy Storage Technologies for Future Planetary Science Missions”, JPL D-101146, Dec 2017
T. I. Valdez, et alia, “Regenerative Fuel Cells for Space-Rated Energy Storage” 2016 Space Power Workshop, Manhattan Beach, CA
S. Okaya, A. H. Arastu, J. Breit, “Regenerative Fuel Cell (RFC) for High Power Space System Applications”, 11TH IECEC / 2013 Joint Propulsion Conference, San Jose CA
K. M. Somerville , J. C. Lapin, and O.L. Schmidt, “Reference Avionics Architecture for Lunar Surface Systems”, NASA TM 2010-216872, Dec 2010
Santiago-Maldonado et alia, “Analysis of Water Surplus at the Lunar Outpost”, AIAA-2010-8732, AIAA SPACE 2010 Conference and Exposition, Anaheim, CA
E.R. Joyce, M.P. Snyder, and A.L. Trassare, “Design of a Versatile Regenerative Fuel Cell System for Multi-Kilowatt Applications” AIAA-2010-8710, AIAA SPACE 2010 Conference and Exposition, Anaheim, CA
K.E. Lange, M.S. Anderson, “Lunar Outpost Life Support Architecture Study Based on a High-Mobility Exploration Scenario” AIAA-2010-6237, 40th International Conference on Environmental Systems
J.E. Freeh, “Analysis of Stationary, Photovoltaic-Based Surface Power System Designs at the Lunar South Pole”, TM 2009-215506, March 2009
D.J. Bents, “Lunar Regenerative Fuel Cell (RFC) Reliability Testing for Assured Mission Success”, TM 2009-215502, February 2009
T. Polsgrove, R. Button, and D. Linne, “Altair Lunar Lander Consumables Management” AIAA 2009-6589, AIAA SPACE 2009 Conference and Exposition, Pasadena, CA

The exploration of space requires the best of the nation's technical community to provide the technologies that will enable human and robotic exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO): to establish a lunar presence, to visit asteroids, to extend human reach to Mars, and for increasingly ambitious robotic missions such as a Europa Lander. Autonomous Systems technologies provide the means of migrating mission control from Earth to spacecraft, habitats, and robotic explorers. This is enhancing for missions in the Earth-Lunar neighborhood and enabling for deep space missions. Long light-time delays, for example up to 42 minutes round-trip between Earth and Mars, require time-critical control decisions to be closed on-board autonomously, rather than through round-trip communication to Earth mission control. For robotic explorers this will be done through automation, while for human missions this will be done through astronaut-automation teaming.Long-term crewed spacecraft and habitats, such as the International Space Station, are so complex that a significant portion of the crew's time is spent keeping it operational even under nominal conditions in low-Earth orbit, while still requiring significant real-time support from Earth. The considerable challenge is to migrate the knowledge and capability embedded in current Earth mission control, with tens to hundreds of human specialists ready to provide instant knowledge, to on-board automation that teams with astronauts to autonomously manage spacecraft and habitats. For outer planet robotic explorers, the opportunity is to autonomously and rapidly respond to dynamic environments in a timely fashion.Machine learning has made spectacular advances for terrestrial applications, exceeding human capabilities in tasks such as image classification. Machine learning could become an increasingly important aspect of space exploration, from finding novel patterns in the science data transmitted from robotic spacecraft, to the operation of sustainable habitats. Machine learning and inferencing calls for new computing paradigms; for space, radiation tolerant processors will be enabling.Subtopics:In order to enable on-board autonomy, both software advances and computing advances need to be addressed.The autonomous agent subtopic addresses this challenge by soliciting proposals that leverage the growing field of cognitive computing to advance technology for deep-space autonomy.Fault management is an integral part of space missions. The fault management subtopic spans the lifecycle of fault management for space missions from design through verification and validation to operations. In the past, the predominant operational approach to detected faults has been to safe the spacecraft, and then rely on Earth mission control to determine how to proceed. New mission concepts require future spacecraft to autonomously decide how to recover from detected anomalies and continue the mission. The fault management subtopic solicits proposals that advance fault management technology across architectures, design tools, verification and validation, and operations.The sustainable habitat subtopic calls for machine learning technology in order to substantially improve diagnostic and prognostic performance for integrated systems health management. This subtopic solicits technology for long-term system health management that goes beyond short-term diagnosis technology to include advances machine learning and other prognostic technologies. Enhancing the capability of astronauts is also critical for future long-duration deep space missions.The Deep Neural Network accelerator and Neuromophic computing subtopic addresses extrapolating new terrestial computing paradigms related to machine learning to the space environment. For machine inferencing and learning computing hardware proposals, metrics related to energy expenditure per operation (e.g., multiply-add) and throughput acceleration in a space environment are especially relevant.The subtopic on swarms of space vehicles addresses technologies for control and coordination of planetary rovers, flyers, and in-space vehicles in dynamic environments. Co-ordinated swarms can provide a more robust and sensor-rich approach to space missions, allowing simultaneous recording of sensor data from dispersed vehicles and co-ordination especially in challenging environments such as cave exploration.

Novel Machine Learning Concepts for Automated Space Habitats

Methods and tools are needed that can adapt to novel, but benign configuration changes on space habitat environmental control and life support systems. They should automatically learn how to make the distinction between these nominal conditions that should not be reported and abnormal conditions that need to be reported. Where reports are needed, these are ideally delivered early to provide ample time for the system (or operators) to react to either prevent an impending fault or to prepare to take mitigating action.

Furthermore, proposed tools and techniques should be capable of carrying out adaptation and selection of conditions that need to be reported in an automated way. These tools should have the capability to:

Recognize acceptable changes.
Extract relevant features.
Establish novel threshold conditions upon which to act, either in the parameter space or probabilistically.

Methods based upon machine learning and data mining should aim to reveal latent, unknown conditions while still retaining and improving the ability to provide highly accurate alerts for known issues. However, it is recognized that the cataloguing and selection of threshold parameters to characterize abnormal conditions for known issues is a daunting task, regardless of which space they are represented in. For any given representation, such limit checks are still vulnerable to false positives (incorrectly calling a fault) as well as false negatives (missing the occurrence of a fault). Both of these types of errors need to be managed and minimized to acceptable levels while also keeping the early warning metric in mind. As such, mechanisms are needed to assure that these techniques will perform as desired relative to these metrics. For the techniques proposed, the performance targets for known faults and failures will be based upon the following specified performance metrics:

False alarm rate.
Missed detection rate.
Detection time (first time prior to the adverse event that the algorithm indicates an impending fault/failure).

Methods should also explore the trade space for Integrated Systems Health Management data and processing needs in order to provide guidance for future habitat sensor and computational resource requirements. Proposals may address specific system health management capabilities required for habitat system elements (life support systems, etc.). In addition, projects may focus on one or more relevant subsystems such as the ones previously described. The Sustainability Base is a green building test-bed whose requirements, as a low-power and low-consumable habitat, are included in those for deep space habitats. Data available includes photo-voltaic array, electrical power, grey water recycling, environmental data (temp, CO₂, etc.) and facility equipment sensors (flowrates, differential pressures, temperatures, etc.). There is also the possibility that data from deep space habitat laboratories and prototypes might become available. Specific technical areas of interest related to integrated systems health management include the following:

Machine learning and data mining techniques that are capable of learning from operations data to identify statistical anomalies that may represent previously unknown system degradations
Methods should facilitate the incorporation of human feedback on the operational significance of the statistical anomalies using techniques such as active learning
Demonstration of advanced predictive capability using machine learning or data mining methods for known system fault or failure modes, within prescribed performance constraints related to detection time and accuracy
Prognostic techniques able to predict system degradation, leading to system robustness through automated fault mitigation and improved operational effectiveness. Proposals in this area should focus on systems and components commonly found in space habitats or EVA platforms.
Innovative human-system integration methods that can convey a wealth of health and status information to mission support staff quickly and effectively, especially under off-nominal and emergency conditions.

Deliverables are expected in the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) range of of 4-6 or higher and ideally include working integrated software framework capable of direct compatibility with existing programmatic tools by the end of Phase II.

References:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-lunar-outpost-will-extend-human-presence-in-deep-space
The solution should be able to interface with software by employing the tools at the links provided below, to enable compatible programmatic interfaces:
- https://cfs.gsfc.nasa.gov/
- https://github.com/nasa/trick

This subtopic solicits intelligent autonomous agent cognitive architectures that are open, modular, and make decisions under uncertainty. It should be feasible for cognitive agents based on these architectures to be certified or licensed for use on deep space missions to act as liaisons that interact both with the mission control operators, the crew, and most if not all of the spacecraft subsystems. With such a cognitive agent that has access to all onboard data and communications, the agent could continually integrate this dynamic information and advise the crew and mission control accordingly by multiple modes of interaction including text, speech, and animated images. This agent could respond to queries and recommend to the crew courses of action and direct activities that consider all known constraints, the state of the subsystems, available resources, risk analyses, and goal priorities.

Future deep space human missions will place crews at long distances from Earth causing significant communication lag due to the light distance as well as occasional complete loss of communication with Earth. Novel capabilities for crews and ground staff will be required to manage spacecraft operations including spacecraft and systems health, crew health, maintenance, consumable management, payload management, as well as activities such as food production and recycling. Autonomous agents with cognitive architectures could interface directly with the crew as well as with the onboard systems reducing the cognitive loads on the crew as well as perform many of the tasks that would otherwise require scheduling crew time. In addition, this cognitive computing capability is necessary in many circumstances to respond to off-nominal events that overload the crew, particularly when the event limits crew activity, such as high-radiation events or loss of atmospheric pressure events requiring crew safety or sequestration.

In deep space, crews will be required to manage, plan, and execute the mission more autonomously than currently required on the International Space Station (ISS) due to more distant and longer latency ground support provided. NASA will migrate current operations functionality from the flight control room to the spacecraft to be performed by the crew and autonomous agents supervised by the crew, so the crew is not overburdened. Cognitive agents that can effectively communicate with the crew could perform tasks that would otherwise require crew time by providing assistance, operating systems, providing training, performing inspections, and providing crew consulting among other tasks.

Current typical computers agents can easily perform super-human memory recall and computation feats, but at the same time appear to be severely cognitively impaired in that they fail to recognize the values, implications, severity, reasonableness, and likelihood of the assertions they hold and how inferences can be applied. The consequence is that computer agents often fail to recognize what is obvious and important to humans, appear to be easily deceived, and fail to recognize and learn from mistakes. Thus, crew interface to such typical computer agents for the current state of the art can be burdensome.

This subtopic seeks proposals for effective cognitive architectures that can start to provide autonomous computer agents the common-sense humans take for granted amongst ourselves. Likely such agents would maintain some type of prioritized probabilistic belief network that they continually update based on evidence and inference in order to make decisions and respond to queries that take into account the assessed risks of the assertions they believe to be true.

Due to the complexity of such systems and the need for them to be continually updated, the architecture is required to be modular such that modules can dynamically be added, removed, and enhanced. Such a cognitive architecture is consistent with that proposed by Prof. Marvin Minsky in "The Society of Mind", 1988. The cognitive architecture is required to be capable of supporting multiple processes executing on multiple processors to be able to a meet the expected computational loads as well as be robust to processor failure.

An effective cognitive architecture would be capable of integrating a wide variety of artificial intelligence modules depending on mission requirements. The following modules provide capabilities useful for a wide variety of spacecraft cognitive agents:

Goal manager: enables the simultaneous execution of multiple goals, e.g., keep crew safe, get tasks A and B done
Planner/scheduler: creates and updates plans and schedules that accomplish tasks
Smart executive: robustly executes high-level plans on schedule by coordinated commanding of multiple subsystems
Sensor processing: separating signal from noise in sensor data, extracting and compressing useful information
Actuator controllers: low-level commanding of subsystems that change the environment, support feed-forward control
Skill/behavior manager: the coordination of multiple actuator controllers, e.g., manipulation activities
Internal/external communication manager: coordinates information exchanges with humans and other agents
Intra-spacecraft path planner/trajectory generator: develops 3D movement plans for humans and machines
Internal/external resource manager: controls the use of resources such as memory, power, and consumables.
Image recognition manager: manages extracting information from images
Image generation manager: dynamically creating images to convey information to humans, e.g., charts, animations
Declarative knowledge/rule manager: ensures that the system's declarative knowledge is consistent and updated
Risk manager: assesses the uncertainty and severity of held assertions and the implication of actions or inaction
Value manager: assess the importance humans place on goals, assertions, activities, etc.
Symbol manager: create and use symbols created by humans and other agents to effectively convey information
Script manager: create and update command sequences to reduce computation required to perform tasks
Explanatory story manager: increase human communication effectiveness through stories and analogies
Model manager: create and update models of itself, humans, other systems, and the environment
System health manager: maintains overall system health, performs diagnoses and prognoses
Crew health manager: monitors crew health, alerts crew to imminent threats
Communication signal manager: maintains health of communication paths, develops contingencies
State estimator: maintains a consistent state of the models it manages for itself and its world
Attention manager: manages its processing power to prevent overloading itself
Security manager: monitors and prevents threats to itself, humans, and systems it manages
Internal simulators: simulates plan execution under various conditions prior to actual plan execution

Cognitive architectures capable of being certified for crew support on spacecraft are required to be open to NASA with interfaces open to NASA partners who develop modules that integrate with the agent, in contrast to proprietary black-box agents. A cognitive agent suitable to provide crew support on spacecraft may be suitable for a wide variety of Earth applications, but the converse is not true requiring this NASA investment.

Proposals should emphasize analysis and demonstration of the feasibility of various configurations, capabilities, and limitations of a cognitive architecture suitable for crew support on deep space missions. The software engineering of a cognitive architecture is to be documented and demonstrated by implementing a prototype goal-directed software agent that interacts as an intermediary/liaison between simulated spacecraft systems and humans.

For Phase I, a preliminary cognitive architecture, preliminary feasibility study, and a detailed plan to develop a comprehensive cognitive architecture feasibility study are expected. A preliminary demonstration prototype of the proposed cognitive architecture is highly encouraged.

For Phase II, the Phase I proposed detailed feasibility study plan is executed generating a comprehensive cognitive architecture, comprehensive feasibility study report including design artifacts such as SysML/UML diagrams, a demonstration of an extended prototype of an agent that instantiates the architecture interacting with a spacecraft simulator and humans executing a plausible HEOMD design reference mission beyond cislunar orbit (e.g., Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Mission: https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/373665main_NASA-SP-2009-566.pdf), and a detailed plan to develop a comprehensive cognitive architecture feasibility study suitable for proposing to organizations interested in funding this flight capability is expected. A Phase II prototype suitable for a compelling flight experiment on the ISS is encouraged.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-5.

References:

IBM (Watson), Apple (Siri), Microsoft (Cortana), and Amazon (Alexa) are just a few of the companies developing intelligent autonomous agents. However, they generally are proprietary and would not meet the requirements for spacecraft software that could potentially put the crew and mission at risk. There is a need to provide cognitive computing for systems like Robonaut.

A survey of cognitive architectures https://arxiv.org/pdf/1610.08602.pdf. Conferences that include cognitive architecture papers include IJCAI, AAAI, as well as the ongoing CogArch series of workshops.

Machine Inferencing and Neuromorphic Capabilities

The Deep Neural Net and Neuromorphic Processors for In-Space Autonomy and Cognition subtopic is focused on computing advances for the space environment based on neurological models in contrast to von Neumann architectures. Deep neural net and neuromorphic processors can enable a spacecraft to sense, adapt, act and potentially learn from its experiences and from the unknown environment without needing a ground mission operations team. Neuromorphic processing will enable NASA to meet growing demands for applying artificial intelligence and machine inferencing and learning algorithms on board a spacecraft that is energy efficient. These demands include enabling on-board cognitive systems to improve mission communication and data processing capabilities, provide sensory processing onboard to optimize communication bandwidth and latency, enhance computing performance, and reduce memory requirements. Additionally, deep neural net and neuromorphic processors show promise for minimizing power requirements that traditional computing architectures now struggle to meet in space applications.

The goal of this subtopic is to develop deep neural net and neuromorphic processing hardware, software, algorithms, architectures, simulators, and techniques as an enabling capability for autonomy in the space environment. Additional areas of interest for research and/or technology development include:

Deep neural net and neuromorphic processing approaches to enhance data processing, computing performance, and memory conservation.
Spiking neural net algorithms that learn from the environment and improve operations.
New brain-inspired chips and breakthroughs in machine understanding and intelligence.
Novel memristor, MRAM, and other radiation tolerant devices that can be incorporated in neuromorphic processors which show promise for space applications.

This subtopic seeks innovations focusing on low size, weight, and power (SWaP) processing suitable for CubeSat operations or direct integration with sensors in the harsh space environment. Focusing on SWaP-constrained platforms opens the potential for applying neuromorphic processors in spacecraft control situations traditionally reserved for power-hungry general-purpose processors. This technology will allow for increased speed, energy efficiency, and higher performance for computing in unknown and uncharacterized space environments.

Phase I will emphasize research aspects for technical feasibility and show a path towards a Phase II proposal. Phase I deliverables include concept of operations of the research topic, simulations and preliminary results. Early development and delivery of prototype hardware/software is encouraged.

Phase II will emphasize hardware and/or software development with delivery of specific hardware and/or software products for NASA targeting demonstration operations on a CubeSat platform. Phase II deliverables include a working prototype of the proposed product and/or software, along with documentation and tools necessary for NASA to use the product and/or modify and use the software. Hardware products should include both layout and simulation. Sample chips – from device level on up – are encouraged. Software products shall include source for government use. Proposed prototypes shall demonstrate a path towards a CubeSat mission. Proposals should include a strategy for tolerance to radiation and other adverse aspects of the space environment.

Background, State of the Art, and References

The current state-of-the-art (SOA) for in-space processing is the High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) processor being developed by Boeing for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The HPSC, called the Chiplet, contains 8 general purpose processing cores in a dual quad-core configuration; initial hardware delivery is expected by December 2020. In a submission to the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Game Changing Development (GCD) program, the highest computational capability required by current typical space mission is 35-70 GFLOPS (billion floating-point operations per second).

The current SOA does not address the capabilities required for artificial intelligence and machine inferencing and learning applications in the space environment. These applications require significant amounts of multiply and accumulate operations, in addition to a substantial amount of memory to store data and retain intermediate states in a neural network computation. Terrestrially, these operations require general-purpose graphics processing units (GP-GPUs), which are capable of TFLOPS (10¹²) -- approximately 3 orders of magnitude above the anticipated capabilities of the HPSC.

Neuromorphic processing offers the potential to bridge this gap through novel hardware approaches. Existing research in the area shows neuromorphic processors to be up to 1000 times more energy efficient than GP-GPUs in artificial intelligence applications. Obviously, the true performance depends on the application, but nevertheless neuromorphic processing has demonstrated characteristics that make it well adapted to the power-constrained space environment.

Neuromorphic computing is a technology to tackle the explosion in computing performance and memory requirements to meet growing demands for artificial intelligence and machine learning. While the commercial market for these processors is in its infancy, there is a growing community of small businesses that have been funded by Air Force and Department of Energy grants toward development of neuromorphic capabilities. These companies continue to make great strides in neuromorphic processor technology including new devices such as memristors. This subtopic would put NASA in a position to join its partners in the DoD and DoE to enable a research area that shows tremendous application for space.

The Cognitive Communications Project, through the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program, is one potential customer of work from this subtopic area. Neuromorphic processors are a key enabler to the cognitive radio and system architecture envisioned by this project. As communications become more complex, cognition and automation will play a larger role to mitigate complexity and reduce operations costs. Machine learning will choose radio configurations, adjust for impairments and failures. Neuromorphic processors will address the power requirements that traditional computing architectures now struggle to meet.

The expected TRL for proposals is 4-6.

References:

Several reference papers that have been published at the Cognitive Communications for Aerospace Applications (CCAA) workshop are available at: http://ieee-ccaa.com.
A survey paper on neuromorphic computing and neural networks in hardware: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1705.06963
References for deep neural network and neuromorphic computing can be found in IEEE, ACM, and conference archives such as NIPS and ICONS (International Conference on Neuromorphic Systems).

Development, Design, and Implementation of Fault Management Technologies

NASA’s science program has well over 100 spacecraft in operation, formulation, or development, generating science data accessible to researchers everywhere. As science missions are given increasingly complex goals, often on compressed timetables, and have more pressure to reduce operations costs, system autonomy must increase in response. Fault Management (FM) is one of the key components of system autonomy.

FM consists of operational mitigations of spacecraft failures and is implemented with spacecraft hardware and on-board autonomous software that controls hardware, software, and information redundancy, in concert with ground-based software and operations procedures. Despite a wealth of lessons learned from past missions, spacecraft failures are still not uncommon, and reuse of FM approaches is very limited, illustrating that advancements are needed in FM Design Tools, FM Visualization Tools, FM Operations Approaches, FM Verification and Validation Tools, and FM Design Architectures.

The specific objectives of this subtopic are to improve FM technologies and approaches, as follows:

Improve predictability of FM system complexity and estimates of development and operations costs
Enable cost-effective FM design architectures and operations
Determine completeness and appropriateness of FM designs and implementations
Decrease the labor and time required to develop and test FM models and algorithms
Improve visualization of the full FM design across hardware, software, and operations procedures
Determine extent of testing required to verify FM, particularly where model-based, and estimate the potential risk resulting from incomplete coverage
Increase data integrity between multi-discipline tools
Standardize metrics and calculations across FM, SE, S&MA and operations disciplines
Increase reliability of FM systems

Specific technology advancements in the areas listed below are needed to improve the capability of fielded FM systems. Guidance for development can be found in the NASA FM Handbook:

FM Design Tools - System modeling and analysis significantly contributes to the quality of FM design, and may prove decisive in trades of new vs. traditional FM approaches. However, the difficulty in translating system design information into system models often impacts modeling and analysis accuracy. Examples of enabling techniques and tools are automated modeling systems, spacecraft modeling libraries, expedited algorithm development, sensor placement analyses, and system model tool integration.
FM Visualization Tools - FM systems incorporate hardware, software, and operations mechanisms. The ability to visualize the full FM system and the contribution of each component to protecting mission functions and assets is critical to assessing the completeness and appropriateness of the FM design to the mission attributes (mission type, risk posture, operations concept, etc.). Fault trees and state transition diagrams are examples of visualization tools that contribute to visualization of the full FM design.
FM Operations Approaches - Typical FM processes attempt to preserve the asset in the event of detected anomalies by safing the vehicle and relying on mission operations to determine how to proceed. However, many new mission concepts require greater autonomy – for example, riding out failures or autonomously restarting system behavior in order to complete science objectives that require timely operations. Future spacecraft must be able to make decisions about how to recover from failures or degradations and continue the mission. FM designs must enable flexible operations that can integrate on-board decision-making with input from mission operations.
FM Verification and Validation Tools - Along with difficulties in system engineering, the challenge of V&V’ing new FM technologies has been a significant barrier to infusion in flight projects. As complexity of spacecraft and systems increases, the testing required to verify and validate FM implementations can become prohibitively resource intensive without new approaches. Automated test case development, false positive/false negative test tools, model verification and validation tools, and test coverage risk assessments are examples of contributing technologies.
FM Design Architectures - FM capabilities may be implemented through numerous system, hardware, and software architecture solutions. The FM architecture trade space includes options such as embedding within the flight control software or deployment as independent onboard software; on-board versus ground-based capabilities; centralized or distributed FM functions; sensor suite implications; integration of multiple FM techniques; innovative software FM architectures implemented on flight processors or on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs); and execution in real-time or off-line analysis post-operations. Alternative architecture choices such as model-based approaches could help control FM system complexity and cost and could offer solutions to transparency, verifiability, and completeness challenges.
Multi-discipline FM Interoperation - FM designers, Systems Engineering, Safety and Mission Assurance, and Operations all perform analyses and assessments of system reliability, failure modes and effects, sensor coverage, failure probabilities, anomaly detection and response, contingency operations, etc. These analyses are highly sensitive to inconsistencies and misinterpretations of multi-discipline data, resulting in higher costs to resolve disconnects in data and analyses, or even reducing mission success due to failure modes that were overlooked. Solutions that address data integrity, identification of metrics, and standardization of data products, techniques and analyses will reduce cost and failures.

Expected outcomes are better estimation and control of FM complexity and development costs, improved FM designs, and accelerated advancement of FM tools and techniques.

FM technologies are applicable to all Science Mission Directorate (SMD) missions, with particular emphasis on medium to large missions as these have much lower tolerance for risk, representing substantial potential benefit. A few examples are provided below, although these may be generalized to a broad class of missions:

Europa Exploration (Clipper and Lander) - Provide on-board capability to detect and correct radiation-induced execution errors. Provide reliable reasoning capability to restart observations after interruptions without requiring ground in-the-loop. Provide MBSE tools to model and analyze FM capabilities in support of design trades, V&V of FM capabilities, and coordinated development with flight software.
Mars Exploration (Rovers and Sample Return) - Provide on-board capability for systems checkout, enabling mobility after environmentally-induced anomalies (e.g., unexpected terrain interaction). Improve reliability of complex activities (e.g., drilling and sample capture, capsule pickup and remote launch).
Search for Extrasolar Planets (Observation) - Provide sufficient system reliability through on-board detection, reasoning, and response to enable long-period, stable observations. Provide on-board or on-ground analysis capabilities to predict system response and optimize observation schedule. Enable reliable operations while out of direct contact (e.g., deliberately occluded from Earth to reduce photon, thermal, and radio frequency background).

It is intended that proposed efforts conduct an initial proof of concept, after which successful efforts would be considered for follow-on funding by SMD missions as risk-reduction and infusion activities. Research should be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility and NASA relevance during Phase I and show a path toward a Phase II prototype demonstration.

Accordingly, the Final Report should thoroughly document the innovation, its status at the end of the effort, and as much objective evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses as is practical. The report should include a description of the approach, foundational concepts and operating theory, mathematical basis, and requirements for application. Results should include strengths and weaknesses found, measured performance in tests where possible.

Additional deliverables may significantly clarify the value and feasibility of the innovation. These deliverables should be planned to demonstrate retirement of development risk, increasing maturity, and targeted applications of particular interest. While the wide range of innovations precludes a specific list, some possible deliverables are listed below:

For innovations that are algorithmic in nature, this could include development code or prototype applications, demonstrations of capability, and results of algorithm stress-testing.
For innovations that are procedural in nature, this may include sample artifacts such as workflows, model prototypes and schema, functional diagrams, example or tutorial applications.
Where a suitable test problem can be found, documentation of the test problem and a report on test results, illustrating the nature of the innovation in a quantifiable and reproducible way. Test reports should discuss maturation of the technology, implementation difficulties encountered and overcome, results and interpretation.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-4.

References:

NASA Fault Management Handbook (https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/636372main_NASA-HDBK-1002_Draft.pdf)
Talks presented at the 2012 FM Workshop:
- https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oce/documents/2012_fm_workshop.html
- https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/637595main_day_1-brian_muirhead.pdf
NASA Technical Memorandum "Introduction to System Health Engineering and Management for Aerospace (ISHEM)” (https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20060003929.pdf)
Johnson, S. (ed), System Health Mangement with Aerospace Applications, Wiley, 2011 (https://www.wiley.com/en-us/System+Health+Management%3A+with+Aerospace+Applications-p-9781119998730)

"This focus area includes development of robotic systems technologies (hardware and software) to improve the exploration of space. Robots can perform tasks to assist and off-load work from astronauts. Robots may perform this work before, in support of, or after humans. Ground controllers and astronauts will remotely operate robots using a range of control modes, over multiple spatial ranges (shared-space, line of sight, in orbit, and interplanetary) and with a range of time-delay and communications bandwidth. Technology is needed for robotic systems to improve transport of crew, instruments, and payloads on planetary surfaces, on and around small bodies, and in-space. This includes hazard detection, sensing/perception, active suspension, grappling/anchoring, legged locomotion, robot navigation, end-effectors, propulsion, and user interfaces.In the coming decades, robotic systems will continue to change the way space is explored. Robots will be used in all mission phases: as independent explorers operating in environments too distant or hostile for humans, as precursor systems operating before crewed missions, as crew helpers working alongside and supporting humans, and as caretakers of assets left behind. As humans continue to work and live in space, they will increasingly rely on intelligent and versatile robots to perform mundane activities, freeing human and ground control teams to tend to more challenging tasks that call for human cognition and judgment.Innovative robot technologies provides a critical capability for space exploration. Multiple forms of mobility, manipulation and human-robot interaction offer great promise in exploring planetary bodies for science investigations and to support human missions. Enhancements and potentially new forms of robotic systems can be realized through advances in component technologies, such as actuation and structures (e.g. 3D printing). Mobility provides a critical capability for space exploration. Multiple forms of mobility offer great promise in exploring planetary bodies for science investigations and to support human missions. Manipulation provides a critical capability for positioning crew members and instruments in space and on planetary bodies, it allows for the handling of tools, interfaces, and materials not specifically designed for robots, and it provides a capability for drilling, extracting, handling and processing samples of multiple forms and scales. This increases the range of beneficial tasks robots can perform and allows for improved efficiency of operations across mission scenarios. Manipulation is important for human missions, human precursor missions, and unmanned science missions.Sampling, sample handling, transport, and distribution to instruments, or instrument placement directly on in-place rock or regolith, is important for robotic missions to locales too distant or dangerous for human exploration.Future space missions may rely on co-located and distributed teams of humans and robots that have complementary capabilities. Tasks that are considered ""dull, dirty, or dangerous"" can be transferred to robots, thus relieving human crew members to perform more complex tasks or those requiring real-time modifications due to contingencies. Additionally, due to the limited number of astronauts anticipated to crew planetary exploration missions, as well as their constrained schedules, ground control will need to remotely supervise and assist robots using time-delayed and limited bandwidth communications.Advanced methods of human-robot interaction over time delay will enable more productive robotic exploration of the more distant reaches of the solar system.This includes improved visualization of alternative future states of the robot and the terrain, as well as intuitive means of communicating the intent of the human to the robotic system."

Technologies for robotic mobility, manipulation, and sampling are needed to enable access to sites of interest and acquisition and handling of samples for in-situ analysis or return to Earth from planets and small bodies including Earth's moon, Mars, Venus, comets, asteroids, and planetary moons.

Mobility technologies are needed to enable access to steep and rough terrain for planetary bodies where gravity dominates, such as Earth’s moon and Mars. Wheeled, legged, and aerial solutions are of interest. Technologies to enable surface mobility on small bodies such as through rolling, walking, and hopping are of interest. Ice penetration technologies reaching more than 1 km depth and enabling access to subsurface oceans are desired. Such technologies could include drills, melt-probes, and hybrid approaches. Manipulation technologies are needed to deploy sampling tools to the surface and transfer samples to in-situ instruments and sample storage containers, as well as hermetic sealing of sample chambers. Sample acquisition tools are needed to acquire samples on planetary and small bodies through soft and hard materials, including ice. Minimization of mass and ability to work reliably in the harsh mission environment are important characteristics for the tools. Design for planetary protection and contamination control is important for sample acquisition and handling systems.

Component technologies for low-mass and low-power systems tolerant to the in-situ environment, e.g., temperature, radiation, and dust, are of particular interest. Technical feasibility should be demonstrated during Phase I and a full capability unit of at least Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 should be delivered in Phase II. Proposals should show an understanding of relevant science needs and engineering constraints and present a feasible plan to fully develop a technology and infuse it into a NASA program. Specific areas of interest include the following:

Mobility and sampling systems for planets, small bodies, and moons.
Near subsurface sampling tools.
Deep drill systems such as to enable access to subsurface oceans.
Low mass/power vision systems and processing capabilities that enable fast surface traverse.
Electro-mechanical connectors enabling tool change-out in dirty environments.
Tethers and tether play-out and retrieval systems.
Miniaturized flight motor controllers.
Sample handling technologies that minimize cross contamination and preserve mechanical integrity of samples.

NASA continues to explore the solar system and future missions will perform in-situ exploration of solar system bodies. These missions could have mobility systems to access locations of scientific interest, manipulators for assembly and deployment of instruments and tools, and sampling systems to acquire and transfer samples. Technologies from this subtopic could be utilized in these future missions.

Proposers should also note a related subtopic exists that is focused solely on lunar robotic missions (see Z5.05, "Enabling Rover Technologies for Lunar Missions", under the Space Technology Mission Directorate). With NASA's present emphasis on lunar exploration, Z5.05 is provided to help develop innovative lunar rover technologies for in-situ resource utilization and for developing more capable and/or lower cost lunar robots.

References:

Improve the Capability or Performance of Intra-Vehicular Activity Robots

To support human exploration beyond Earth orbit, NASA is preparing to develop the Gateway, which will be an orbiting facility near the Moon. This facility would serve as a starting point for missions to cis-lunar space and beyond. This facility could enable assembly and servicing of telescopes and deep-space exploration vehicles. This facility could also be used as a platform for astrophysics, Earth observation, heliophysics, and lunar science.

In contrast to the International Space Station (ISS), which is continuously manned, the Gateway is expected to only be intermittently occupied by humans – perhaps only 1 month per year. Consequently, there is a significant need for the Gateway to have autonomous capabilities for performing payload operations and spacecraft caretaking, particularly when astronauts are not present. Intra-Vehicular Activity (IVA) robots can potentially perform a wide variety of tasks including systems inspection, monitoring, diagnostics and repair, logistics and consumables stowage, exploration capability testing, aggregation of robotically returned destination surface samples, and science measurements and ops.

The objective of this subtopic, therefore, is to develop technologies that can improve the capability or performance of IVA robots to perform payload operations and spacecraft caretaking. Proposals are specifically sought to create technologies that can be integrated and tested with the NASA Astrobee or Robonaut 2 robots in the following areas:

Sensors and perception systems for interior environment monitoring, inspection, modeling and navigation;
Robotic tools for manipulating logistics and stowage;
Operational subsystems that enable extended robot operations (power systems, efficient propulsion, etc.), increase robot autonomy (planning, scheduling, and task execution), or improve human-robot teaming (software architecture, remote operations methods, etc).

The desired deliverables are prototype components or subsystems. Proposals must describe how the technology will make a significant improvement over the current state of the art, rather than just an incremental enhancement, for a specific IVA robot application.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 4-5.

References:

https://www.nasa.gov/astrobee
https://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov
J. Crusan, et al. 2018. "Deep space gateway concept: Extending human presence into cislunar space", In Proceedings of IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, M
M. Bualat, et al. 2018. "Astrobee: A new tool for ISS operations". In Proceedings of
AIAA SpaceOps, Marseille, France.
T. Fong, et al. 2013. "Smart SPHERES: a telerobotic free-flyer for intravehicular activities in space". In Proceedings of AIAA Space 2013, San Diego, CA.
M. Diftler, et al. 2011. "Robonaut 2 - The first humanoid robot in space". In Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Shanghai, China.

Enabling Rover Technologies for Lunar Missions

The objective of this subtopic is to innovate lunar rover technologies that will enable in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and exploration missions. In particular, this subtopic will develop ideas, subsystems components, software tools, and prototypes that contribute to more capable and/or lower-cost lunar robots for these missions.

A potential lunar ISRU application is the prospecting, characterization, and collection of volatiles that could be processed to produce oxygen, fuel, etc. Recent remote sensing measurements, modeling, and data from the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) indicates that there may be an abundance of volatiles (e.g., hydrogen) near the lunar poles. However, the distribution of the volatiles at and under the surface is unknown. This subtopic seeks new robotic technologies to support ISRU activities. This does not include new ISRU payload and/or excavation technologies, which are solicited under the "Lunar Resources - Volatiles" and "Extraction of Oxygen from Lunar Regolith" subtopics. Additionally, lunar power technologies are solicited in the sub-topic titled "Long Duration Lunar Energy Storage and Discharge."

The expected environment at the lunar poles involves all the challenges observed during the Apollo mission (thermal extremes, vacuum, radiation, abrasive dust, electrostatic dust) plus the addition of low sun angles, potentially less consolidated regolith, and permanently shadowed regions with temperatures as low as 40K. This subtopic seeks new technology to address these challenges.

Phase I success involves technical feasibility demonstration through analysis, prototyping, proof-of-concept, or testing. Phase II success will advance Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to a level of 4-5. Of specific interest are:

Mobility architectures, including novel mobility mechanisms and lunar dust tolerant mechanisms
Cryo-capable actuators capable of operating at extremely cold temperatures (in environments as cold as -230° C). Preferably solutions will not include heaters as they significantly increase the power draw for normal operations during the lunar day. Novel materials capable of maintaining metallurgical properties at cryogenic temperatures will be considered. Also desired are cryo actuators featuring dust tolerances and the ability to operate at high temperatures as well (approaching 150° C).
Magnetic gearing applications for space. NASA and others are developing relatively low ratio (less than 25:1 per stage) concentric magnetic gearing for aeronautics applications. Space applications demand high speed-reduction ratio (often more than 1000:1) and high specific torque (>50 Nm/kg), operation in environmental temperatures down to -230° C (40K), operation in low-atmosphere or hard vacuum, with high reliability and energy efficiency. Phase I work would include identifying the most suitable magnetic gear topologies to meet these space application needs, defining the technology development challenges including thermal and structural issues, advancing the most critical aspects of the technology, and producing a low-fidelity prototype to prove the feasibility of the concept(s).
Perception systems and algorithms with a path toward flight for the lunar surface capable of operating in the harsh lighting conditions that might include high dynamic range, shadowed regions, low angle illumination, and opposition effects
Lunar regolith terramechanical modeling tools and simulations, especially tools that integration with existing commercial and open source robotic analysis and simulation tools
Rover embedding and entrapment detection and escape approaches including slip monitoring, regolith sensing/modeling, low ground pressure wheels and soft soil tolerant mobility architectures

Example deliverables coming from a successful Phase II within this subtopic, might including some of the following:

Designs of cryo-capable or dust tolerant mechanisms motor controllers with test data and prototypes
Prototype rovers or scale versions of prototype rovers showing novel mobility architecture for escaping entrapment in regolith
Software algorithms including demonstrating slip detection or image processing in harsh lunar lighting conditions
Software packages either standalone or integrated with commercially available or open-source robotic simulation packages (preferred)
NASA is also interested in technologies demonstrations that could serve as payloads on commercial landers at the end of Phase II

For all the above, it is desired to have been demonstrated in, or have a clear path to operating in, the lunar environment. NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

This SBIR subtopic resides within the Science and Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) as a vehicle for development of technology objectives. It is expected that successful projects would infuse technology into either the STMD Game Changing Development (GCD) or Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) programs. Technology could also be infused into joint efforts involving STMD's partners (other mission directorates, other government agencies, and the commercial sector). Flights for these technology missions could be supported on small commercial lunar landers (Science Mission Directorate) or possibly mid-size NASA lunar landers (Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate).

Potential customers:

Autonomy and robotics
Robotic ISRU missions
Payloads for Commercial Lunar Payload Services landers
Commercial vendors
Future prospecting/mining operations

References:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063310003065
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19720013192.pdf
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/lunar_sourcebook/pdf/Chapter03.pdf
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=46b23a8f2c06da6ac08e1d1d2ae97d35&tab=core&_cview=0
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/survivethenight2018/, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasas-exploration-campaign-back-to-the-moon-and-on-to-mars and https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/nasa-exploration-campaign.jpg
Information on NASA's interest in landers that might host the rovers and rover technology demonstrations can be found at the following:
- https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-seeks-ideas-to-advance-toward-human-class-lunar-landers
- https://govtribe.com/project/lunar-surface-transportation-capability-request-for-information-rfi
See reference about magnetic gearing references below:
- Tlali, P. M., Wang, R-J., and Gerber, S., “Magnetic gear technologies: A review,” 2014 Intl. Conference on Electrical Machines, p. 544-550, Berlin, Germany, Sept. 2 – 5, 2014.
- Justin J. Scheidler, Vivake M. Asnani, and Thomas F. Tallerico, “Overview of NASA’s Magnetic Gears Research,” presented at the AIAA / IEEE Electric Aircraft Technology Symposium, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 12 – 13, 2018.
- Vivake M. Asnani, Justin J. Scheidler, and Thomas F. Tallerico, “Magnetic Gearing Research at NASA,” presented at the 74th Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society, Phoenix, AZ, May 14 – 17 2018.
- Aaron D. Anderson and Vivake M. Asnani, "Concentric Magnetic Gearing - State of the Art and Empirical Trends", NASA TM, in-press.

Free-space optical communications technologies

Free-space Long Range Optical Communications subtopic seeks innovative technologies in free-space optical communications for pushing future data volume returns from space missions in multiple domains: >100 gigabit/s cis-lunar (Earth or lunar orbit to ground), >10 gigabit/s Earth-sun L₁ and L₂, >1 gigabit/s per AU-squared deep space, and >1 Gbit/s planetary lander to orbiter. Additionally, innovative technologies for improving efficiency, reliability, robustness, and longevity of state-of-the-art laser communication systems are also sought.

Proposals are sought in the following specific areas (TRL 2-3 Phase I for maturation to TRL 3-5 in Phase II):

Flight Laser Transceivers

Low-mass, high-effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) laser transceivers with:

30 to 50 cm clear aperture diameter telescopes for laser communications.
Targeted mass of opto-mechanical assembly per aperture area, less than 100 kg/square-meter
Cumulative wave-front error and transmission loss not to exceed 2-dB.
Advanced thermal designs with allowable flight temperatures of the optics and structure, at least -20° C to 50° C operational range
Stray light design for 3-degrees from edge of sun operations and surviving direct sun-pointing of

Transceivers fitting above characteristics should support robust link acquisition tracking and pointing characteristics, including point-ahead implementation from space, for beacon assisted and/or beaconless architectures:

Pointing loss allocations not to exceed 1 dB (pointing errors associated loss of irradiance at target less than 20%)
Receive field-of-view of at least 1 milliradian radius, for beacon assisted operations
Beaconless pointing subsystems for operations beyond 3 A.U.
Assume integrated spacecraft micro-vibration angular disturbance of 150 micro-radians (<0.1 Hz to ~500 Hz)
Low complexity small footprint laser transceivers for bi-directional optical links, >1 -10 Gbit/second, at a nominal link range of 1000-5000 km, for planetary lander/rover to orbiter and/or space-to-space cross links

Flight Laser Transmitters, Receivers and Sensors

High-gigabit/s laser transmitters:

1550 nm wavelength
Space qualifiable laser and optical components
High rate 10-100 Gb/s for cis-lunar
1 Gb/s for deep-space
Integrated hardware with embedded software/firmware for innovative coding/modulation/interleaving schemes

High peak-to-average power laser transmitters for regular or augmented M-ary PPM modulation with M=4,8,16,32, 64, 128, 256 operating at NIR wavelengths, preferably 1550 nm with average powers from 5 – 50 W:

Sub-nanosecond pulse
Low pulse jitter
Long lifetime and reliability operating in space environment (> 5 and as long as 20 years)
High modulation and polarization extinction ratio with 1-10 GHz linewidth

Space qualifiable wavelength division multiplexing transmitters and amplifiers with 4 to 20 channels and average output power > 20W per channel; peak-to-average power ratios >200; >10 Gb/s channel modulation capability:

>20% wall-plug efficiency (DC-to-optical, including support electronics). Describe approach for stated efficiency of space qualifiable lasers. Multi-watt Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA), or alternatives, with high gain bandwidth (> 30nm, 0.5 dB flatness) concepts will be considered.
Radiation tolerance better than 50 Krad is required, (including resilience to photo-darkening).

Space qualifiable high-speed receivers and low light level sensitive acquisition, tracking, pointing, detectors and detector arrays:

NIR wavelengths, 1064nm, 1550 nm
Supporting low irradiance (~ fW/m2 to pW/m2) detection
Low sub-nanosecond timing jitter and fast rise time
Novel hybridization of optics and electronic readout schemes with built-in pre-processing capability
Characteristics compatible with supporting time-of-flight or other means of processing laser communication signals for high precision range and range rate measurements
Tolerant to space radiation effects, total dose > 50 krad, displacement damage and single event effects

Novel technologies and accessories

Narrow Band Pass Optical Filters:

Space qualifiable, sub-nanometer to nanometer, noise equivalent bandwidth with ~90% throughput, large spectral range out-of-band blocking (~ 40 dB)
NIR wavelengths from 1064 – 1550 nm region, with high transmission through Earth’s atmosphere
Reliable tuning over limited range

Novel integrated photonics applications for space with objective of reducing size, weight and power of modulators, improved integration of opto-electronics and efficient coupling to traditional discrete optics

Concepts for offering redundancy to laser transmitters in space:

Optical fiber routing of high average powers (10’s of watts) and high peak powers (1-10 kW)
Redundancy in actuators and optical components

Ground Assets for Optical Communication

Large aperture receivers for faint optical communication signals from deep space, subsystem technologies:

Demonstrate innovative subsystem technologies for >10 m diameter deep space ground collector
Capable of operating to within 3° of solar limb
Better than 10 microradian spot size (excluding atmospheric seeing contribution)
Desire demonstration of low-cost primary mirror segment fabrication to meet a cost goal of less than $35K per square meter
Low-cost techniques for segment alignment and control, including daytime operations.

1550 nm sensitive photon counting detector arrays compatible with large aperture ground collectors:

Integrated time tagging readout electronics for >5 gigaphotons/s incident rate
Time resolution <50 ps 1-sigma
Highest possible single photon detection efficiency, at least 50% at highest incident rate,
Total detector active area > 0.3 to 1 mm²
Integrated dark rate < 3 megacount/s.

Cryogenic optical filters:

Operate at 40K with sub-nanometer noise equivalent bandwidths
1550 nm spectral region, transmission losses < 0.5 dB, clear aperture
>35 mm, and acceptance angle >40 milliradians with out-of-band rejection of >65 dB from 0.4 to 5 micrometers

Multi-kilowatt laser transmitters for use as ground beacon and uplink laser transmitters:

Near infrared wavelengths in 1.0 or 1.55 micrometer spectral region
Capable of modulating with narrow nanosecond with sub-nanosecond rise times
Low timing jitter and stable operation
High speed real-time signal processing of serially concatenated pulse position modulation operating at a few bits per photon with user interface outputs

For all technologies lowest cost for small volume production (5 to 20 units) is a driver. Research must convincingly prove technical feasibility (proof-of-concept) during Phase I, ideally with hardware deliverables that can be tested to validate performance claims, with a clear path to demonstrating and delivering functional hardware meeting all objectives and specifications in Phase II.

A number of FSOC related NASA projects are ongoing with launch expected in the 2019-2022 time frame. The Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD) is an earth-to-geostationary satellite relay demonstration to launch in late 2019. The Illuma -T Project will extend the relay demonstration to include a LEO node on the ISS in 2021. In 2022 the EM-2 Optical to Orion (O2O) demonstration will transmit data from the Orion crewed capsule as it travels to the Moon and back. In 2022 the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) Project technology demonstration will be hosted by the Psyche Mission spacecraft extending FSOC links to astronomical unit distances.

These missions are being funded by NASA's STMD/TDM Program and HEOMD/SCaN Program.

References:

Don Cornwell, "NASA's optical communications program for 2015 and beyond," SPIE Proceedings, 9354, 2015
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/lcrd/index.html
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/opticalcommunications/illuma-t
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-laser-communications-to-provide-orion-faster-connections
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/dsoc/index.html

Advanced Techniques for Trajectory Optimization

NASA is planning and proposing increasingly ambitious missions such as crewed and robotic missions in cislunar space, multiple small body (comet/asteroid) rendezvous/flyby missions, outer planet moon tours, Lagrange point missions, and small body sample return using low thrust propulsion (including solar sails). Trajectory design for these complex missions can take weeks or months to generate a single reference trajectory. This subtopic seeks new techniques and tools to speed up and improve the trajectory design and optimization process to allow mission designers to more fully explore trade spaces and more quickly respond to changes in the mission. See Reference 1 for NASA Technical Area (TA) roadmaps (https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/2015_nasa_technology_roadmaps_ta_5_communication_and_navigation_final.pdf):

Low-thrust trajectory optimization in a multi-body dynamical environment (TA 5.4.2.1)
Advanced deep-space trajectory design techniques. (TA 5.4.2.7) and rapid trajectory design near small bodies (TA 5.4.5.1)
Tools and techniques for orbit/trajectory design for distributed space missions including constellations and formations (TA 11.2.6)
Tools and techniques for orbit/trajectory design using dynamical systems theory for Earth-Moon and cislunar missions.

Autonomous Onboard Navigation, Guidance and Control

Future NASA missions require precision landing, rendezvous, formation flying, cooperative robotics, proximity operations (e.g., servicing and assembly), non-cooperative object capture, and coordinated platform operations in Earth orbit, cislunar space, libration orbits, and deep space. These missions require a high degree of autonomy. The subtopic seeks advancements in autonomous navigation and maneuvering technologies for applications in Earth orbit, lunar, cislunar, libration, and deep space to reduce dependence on ground-based tracking, orbit determination, and maneuver planning. See Reference 1 for NASA Technical Area (TA) roadmaps:

Advanced autonomous navigation techniques including devices and systems that support significant advances in independence from Earth supervision while minimizing spacecraft burden by requiring low power and minimal mass and volume (TA 5.4.2.4, TA 5.4.2.6, TA 5.4.2.8).
Onboard trajectory planning and optimization algorithms, for real-time mission re-sequencing, on-board computation of large divert maneuvers (TA 5.4.2.3, TA 5.4.2.5, TA 5.4.2.6, TA 9.2.6) primitive body/lunar proximity operations and pinpoint landing (TA 5.4.6.1), including the concept of robust onboard trajectory planning and optimization algorithms that account for system uncertainty (i.e., navigation errors, maneuver execution errors, etc.).
Onboard relative and proximity navigation (TA 5.4.4) multi-platform relative navigation (relative position, velocity and attitude or pose) which support cooperative and collaborative space operations including satellite servicing and in-space assembly.
Rendezvous targeting (TA 4.6.2.1) Proximity Operations/Capture/ Docking Guidance (TA 4.6.2.2)
Advanced filtering techniques (TA 5.4.2.4) that address rendezvous and proximity operations as a multi-sensor, multi-target tracking problem; handle non-Gaussian uncertainty; or incorporate multiple-model estimation.
Vision processing algorithms (TA 5.4.3.2) to extract the maximum amount of information from images used for optical navigation.

Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis (CARA)

The U.S. Space Surveillance Network currently tracks more than 22,000 objects larger than 10 centimeters and the number of object in orbit is steadily increasing which causes an increasing threat to human spaceflight and robotic missions in the near-Earth environment. The NASA Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis (CARA) team identifies close approaches (conjunctions) between NASA satellites and other space objects, determines the risk posed by those events, and plans and executes risk mitigation strategies, including collision avoidance maneuvers to protect space assets and humans in Earth orbit. The ability to perform CARA more accurately and rapidly will improve space safety for all near-Earth operations, improve operational support by providing more accurate and longer-term collision predictions and reduce propellant usage for collision avoidance maneuvers. This subtopic seeks innovative technologies to improve the CARA process including (see Reference 1 for NASA Technical Area (TA) roadmaps).:

Faster and more accurate methods of detecting close approaches and conjunctions (TA 5.7.1) and computing probability of collision (TA 11.3.6).
Techniques for improving state and covariance characterization and propagation (TA 5.7.2.1, TA 11.3.6), including improved modeling of non-gravitational force effects, Gaussian mixture models, differential algebra, polynomial chaos expansions, etc.
Techniques for estimation of object characteristics (TA 5.7.2) relevant to accurate orbit propagation such as ballistic coefficient, attitude or attitude profile, mass, configuration, and maneuvers from available radiometric, photometric and/or astrometric data.
Event evolution prediction methods, models and algorithms with improved ability to predict orbit characteristics for single and ensemble risk assessment, especially using artificial intelligence/machine learning (TA 5.5.3).

Proposals that leverage state-of-the-art software already developed by NASA, or that can optionally integrate with those packages, such as the General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT), Copernicus, Evolutionary Mission Trajectory Generator (EMTG), Mission Analysis Low-Thrust Optimization (MALTO), Mission Analysis, Operations, and Navigation Toolkit Environment (MONTE), Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS), and Optimal Trajectories by Implicit Simulation (OTIS), or other available software tools are encouraged. Proposers who contemplate licensing NASA technologies are highly encouraged to coordinate with the appropriate NASA technology transfer offices prior to submission of their proposals.

Phase I research should be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility, with preliminary software being delivered for NASA testing, as well as show a plan towards Phase II integration. For proposals that include hardware development, delivery of a prototype under the Phase I contract is preferred, but not necessary. Phase II new technology development efforts shall deliver components at the TRL 5-6 level with mature algorithms and software components complete and preliminary integration and testing in an operational environment.

References:

NASA Space Technology Roadmaps (2015) : https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/home/roadmaps/index.html
General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT): http://gmatcentral.org/display/GW/GMAT+Wiki+Home
Evolutionary Mission Trajectory Generator (EMTG): https://software.nasa.gov/software/GSC-16824-1
Copernicus: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/copernicus/index.html
Optimal Trajectories by Implicit Simulation: http://otis.grc.nasa.gov/
Mission Analysis Low-Thrust Optimization (MALTO): https://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/SSPO/ISPTProg/LTTT/
Mission Analysis, Operations, and Navigation Toolkit Environment (MONTE): https://montepy.jpl.nasa.gov/
Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS), (https://software.nasa.gov/software/GSC-14687-1), (https://goo.gl/TbVZ7G)
Navigator GPS Receiver (http://itpo.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/gsc_14793_1_navigator.pdf)
NavCube (https://goo.gl/bdobb9)
NASA Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis (CARA) Office: https://satellitesafety.gsfc.nasa.gov/cara.html
NASA Orbital Debris Program Office: https://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/
Newman, Lauri, K., "The NASA robotic conjunction assessment process: Overview and operational experiences," Acta Astronautica, Vol. 66, Issues 7-8, Apr-May 2010, pp. 1253-1261, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576509004913.
Newman, Lauri K., et al. "Evolution and Implementation of the NASA Robotic Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis Concept of Operations." (2014). https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150000159
Newman, Lauri K., and Matthew D. Hejduk. "NASA Conjunction Assessment Organizational Approach and the Associated Determination of Screening Volume Sizes." (2015). https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150011461

Revolutionary Concepts

NASA seeks revolutionary, transformational communications technologies that emphasize not only dramatic reduction in system size, mass, and power but also dramatic implementation and operational cost savings while improving overall communications architecture performance, including security. The proposer is expected to identify new ideas, create novel solutions and execute feasibility demonstrations. For example, there is interest in exploiting the demarcation between quantum and classical communications, specifically quantum coherent transport devices as opposed to ballistic transport devices. Emphasis for this subtopic is on the far-term (?10yrs.) insofar as mission insertion and commercialization but it is expected that the proposer proves fundamental feasibility via prototyping within the normal scope of the SBIR program. The transformational communications technology development will focus research in the following areas:

Systems optimized for energy efficiency (information bits per unit energy)
Advanced materials; smart materials; electronics embedded in structures; functional materials; graphene-based electronics/detectors
Technologies that address flexible, scalable digital/optical core processing topologies to support both RF and optical communications in a single terminal
Nanoelectronics and nanomagnetics; quantum logic gates; single electron computing; superconducting devices; technologies to leapfrog Moore’s law.
Quantum communications, methods for probing quantum phenomenon, methods for exploiting exotic aspects of quantum theory.
Human/machine and brain-machine interfacing; the convergence of electronic engineering and bio-engineering; neural signal interfacing.
Integrated photonic circuit quantum memory.

The research should be conducted to demonstrate theoretical and technical feasibility during the Phase I and Phase II development cycles and be able to demonstrate an evolutionary path to insertion within approximately 10 years. Delivery of a prototype of the most critically enabling element of the technology for NASA testing at the completion of the Phase II contract is expected.

Phase I deliverables shall include a final report describing theoretical analysis and prototyping concepts. The technology should have eventual commercialization potential. For Phase II consideration, the final report should include a detailed path towards Phase II prototype hardware.

The expected TRL for this project is 2 to 4.

NASA is seeking cutting-edge technology to keep the U.S. at the forefront of information and communications technology. For example, NASA Space Technology Roadmap TA 05 identifies quantum communications as a critical area. China launched the world’s first quantum satellite in 2016 (the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) satellite). A fleet of quantum-enabled craft is likely to follow. Groups from Canada, Japan, Italy and Singapore also have plans for quantum space experiments and this competition represents a new space race.

References:

NASA Space Technology Roadmaps (2015) : https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/home/roadmaps/index.html
"The Quantum Communications Space Race: A Review of Quantum Key Distribution Initiatives from Around the World," E. Katz, NASA TM 219760 (2018).
https://sbir.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/Presentation15_CharlesNiederhaus.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/675092main_SCaN_ADD_Executive_Summary.pdf

Cognitive Capabilities

NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program seeks innovative approaches to increase mission science data return, improve resource efficiencies for both SCaN customers and networks, and ensure resilience in the unpredictable space environment. The Cognitive Communication subtopic focuses on advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and signal and data processing including:

Adaptive, autonomous, and cognitive link technologies to improve mission communication capabilities.
Networking technologies to move data through and among network nodes in a more efficient and intelligent manner, including on-board processing of data packets.
System-wide approaches to optimize scheduling of network relay satellites and ground stations to balance utilization and reach maximum data transfer potential.

A cognitive system is envisioned to sense, detect, adapt, and learn from its experiences and environment to optimize the communications capabilities for the user mission satellite or network infrastructure. Goals of this capability are to improve communications capability and efficiency, mitigate channel impairments, and reduce operations complexity and costs through intelligent and autonomous communications and data handling.

The overall goal is to perform research and/or technology development to optimize space communication links, networks, and system-wide resource scheduling. Specific focus areas include:

Flexible communication platforms, modules, and/or antennas that include novel signal processing technology [e.g., graphics processing units - GPUs - for space applications, neuromorphic approaches, phased array antennas with integrated processing for interference mitigation].
Wideband sensing and communications for S-, X-, and Ka-bands, coupled with machine learning algorithms that learn from the environment [e.g., learning channel impairments, spectrum sharing in noisy environments].
On-board processing technology and decentralized networking techniques to enable data switching, routing, storage, and scheduling on a spacecraft [e.g., routing based on quality of service and data flow-specific requirements such as latency].
Other innovative, related areas of interest.

This subtopic seeks innovations that address the unique needs of NASA's data communication requirements for the space environment, specifically focusing on low size, weight, power, and cost applications suitable for small satellite or cubesat operations. Proposed systems should highlight advancements to provide the needed communications capability while minimizing on-board resources such as power consumption and thermal dissipation. Proposals should consider how the technology can mature into a successful demonstration using one or several cubesat platforms.

Phase I will emphasize research aspects for technical feasibility, infusion potential into space operations, clear and achievable benefits (e.g., 2x-5x increase in throughput, 25-50% reduction in power, improved quality of service or efficiency, reduction in operations costs), and show a path towards a Phase II proposal. Phase I Deliverables include feasibility and concept of operations of the research topic, simulations and measurements, validation of the proposed approach to develop a given product (TRL 3-4), and a plan for further development of the specific capabilities or products to be performed in Phase II. Early development and delivery of prototype hardware/software is encouraged.

Phase II will emphasize hardware/software development with delivery of specific hardware or software product for NASA targeting demonstration operations on a cubesat platform. Phase II deliverables include a working prototype or engineering model of the proposed product/platform or software, along with documentation of development, capabilities, and measurements (showing specific improvement metrics), documents and tools as necessary for NASA to modify and use the cognitive software capability or hardware component(s). Proposed prototypes shall demonstrate a path towards a flight-capable cubesat platform. Opportunities and plans should also be identified and summarized for potential commercialization or NASA infusion. Software applications and platform/infrastructure deliverables for SDR platforms shall be compliant with the latest NASA standard for software defined radios, the Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS), NASA-STD-4009 and NASA-HNBK-4009.

Cognitive networks and operations are a key goal of the HEOMD SCaN Program communications plan, including the SCaN Next Generation Architecture. As communications and networks become more complex, cognition and automation will play a larger role to mitigate complexity and reduce operations costs. Machine learning will configure networks, choose radio configurations, adjust for impairments and failures, and monitor short and long-term performance for improvements. SCaN has invested in Phase III CRP SBIR contracts and stands ready for additional investments. STMD recently awarded two Early Career Faculty grants to study topics related to Cognitive Communication including distributed network routing and blockchain-based data processing.

The SCaN Cognitive Communications project intends to fly a multi-cubesat mission in the early 2020s. This mission is intended to demonstrate research results obtained both internally and resulting from prior SBIR awards. Results from this subtopic would be candidates for this initial mission or future demonstrations.

Related Subtopic Areas

The focus of this subtopic is the application of advanced processing power to communication systems, especially for cubesats and small satellites. Development of the requisite processors and low-cost radiation hardening techniques is best suited to the Z8 topic area, particularly Z8.03 (Low Cost Radiation Hardened Integrated Circuit Technology). Development of neuromorphic processors and related enhanced processing capability to enable cognitive algorithms in general spacecraft applications is best suited to the H6 topic area, particularly H6.22 (Neuromorphic Processors for In-Space Autonomy and Cognition).

References:

Several reference papers that have been published through the Cognitive Communications Project include:

"Implementation of a Space Communications Cognitive Engine" https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20180002166
"Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning-based Deep Neural Networks for Cognitive Space Communications" https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170009153
"Assessment of Cognitive Communications Interest Areas for NASA Needs and Benefits" https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170009386
"Architecture for Cognitive Networking within NASAs Future Space Communications Infrastructure" https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170001295
"Modulation Classification of Satellite Communication Signals Using Cumulants and Neural Networks" https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170006541
Results of the Cognitive Communications for Aerospace Applications workshop are available at: http://ieee-ccaa.com/ccaaw-summary/

Guidance, Navigation and Control

NASA seeks innovative, groundbreaking, and high impact developments in spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control technologies in support of future science and exploration mission requirements. This subtopic covers mission enabling technologies that have significant Size, Weight and Power, Cost, and Performance (SWaP-CP) improvements over the state-of-the-art COTS in the areas of Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control Systems, Absolute and Relative Navigation Systems, and Pointing Control Systems, and Radiation-Hardened GN&C Hardware.

Component technology developments are sought for the range of flight sensors, actuators, and associated algorithms and software required to provide these improved capabilities. Technologies that apply to most spacecraft platform sizes will be considered.

Advances in the following areas are sought:

Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control Systems: Sensors and actuators that enable <0.1 arcsecond level pointing knowledge and arcsecond level control capabilities for large space telescopes, with improvements in size, weight, and power requirements.
Absolute and Relative Navigation Systems: Autonomous onboard flight navigation sensors and algorithms incorporating both spaceborne and ground-based absolute and relative measurements. For relative navigation, machine vision technologies apply. Special considerations will be given to relative navigation sensors enabling precision formation flying, astrometric alignment of a formation of vehicles, robotic servicing and sample return capabilities, and other GN&C techniques for enabling the collection of distributed science measurements. In addition, flight sensors and algorithms that support onboard terrain relative navigation are of interest.
Pointing Control Systems: Mechanisms that enable milli-arcsecond class pointing performance on any spaceborne pointing platforms. Active and passive vibration isolation systems, innovative actuation feedback, or any such technology that can be used to enable other areas within this subtopic applies.
Radiation-Hardened Hardware: GN&C sensors that could operate in a high radiation environment, such as the Jovian environment.
Fast light Gyroscopes and Accelerometers: In conventional ring laser gyros, precision increases with cavity size and measurement time. Fast-light media, however, can be used to increase gyro precision without having to increase size or decrease measurement frequency, thereby increasing the time for standalone spacecraft navigation. (The increased precision also opens up new science possibilities such as measurements of fundamental physical constants, improving the sensitivity-bandwidth product for gravity wave detection, and tests of general relativity.) Prototype fast-light gyros are sought that can be implemented in a compact rugged design that is tolerant to variations in temperature and G-conditions, with the ultimate goal of demonstrating decreased angular random walk.

Phase I research should be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility as well as show a plan towards Phase II integration and component/prototype testing in a relevant environment. Phase II technology development efforts shall deliver component/prototype at the TRL 5-6 level consistent with NASA SBIR/STTR Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Descriptions. Delivery of final documentation, test plans, and test results are required. Delivery of a hardware component/prototype under the Phase II contract is preferred.

Proposals should show an understanding of one or more relevant science or exploration needs and present a feasible plan to fully develop a technology and infuse it into a NASA program.

This subtopic is for all mission enabling Guidance, Navigation, and Control technology in support of SMD missions and future mission concepts. Proposal for the development of hardware, software, and/or algorithm are all welcome. The specific applications could range from cubesat/smallsat, to ISS payload, to any flagship missions.

Relevance to NASA

Science areas: Heliophysics, Earth Science, Astrophysics, and Planetary Missions Capability requirement areas:

Spacecraft GN&C Sensors – optical, RF, inertial, and advanced concepts for onboard sensing of spacecraft attitude and orbit states
Spacecraft GN&C Estimation and Control Algorithms – Innovative concepts for onboard algorithms for attitude/orbit determination and control for single spacecraft, spacecraft rendezvous and docking, and spacecraft formations.

References:

2017 NASA Strategic Technology Investment Plan: https://go.usa.gov/xU7sE
2015 NASA Technology Roadmaps: https://go.usa.gov/xU7sy

"The Life Support and Habitation Systems Focus Area seeks key capabilities and technology needs encompassing a diverse set of engineering and scientific disciplines, all which provide technology solutions that enable extended human presence away from Earth, in deep space and on planetary surfaces, such as Moon and Mars.The focus is on those mission systems and elements that directly support astronaut crews, such as Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Systems and Radiation Protection, as well as systems engineering approaches that enable vehicle and system integration.Environmental Control and Life Support Systems encompass process technologies, equipment and monitoring functions necessary to provide and maintain a livable environment within the pressurized cabin of crewed spacecraft, including environmental monitoring, water recycling, waste management and resource recovery. For future crewed missions beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO) and into the solar system, regular resupply of consumables and emergency or quick-return options will not be feasible. Technologies are of interest that enable long-duration, safe and sustainable deep-space human exploration. Special emphasis is placed on developing technologies that will fill existing gaps, reduce requirements for consumables and other resources, including mass, power, volume and crew time, and which will increase safety and reliability with respect to the state-of-the-art. Because spacecraft may not be tended by crew for long periods, systems must be operable after long periods of dormancy or absence of crew.As we consider human missions beyond earth, new technologies must be compatible with attributes of the environments we encounter, including partial gravity, atmospheric pressure and composition, space radiation, and presence of planetary dust.Portable Life Support System (PLSS) components that require space vacuum, may not operate in the weak carbon dioxide atmosphere on Mars. For astronauts to walk once again on a distant planetary surface, an effective boot must be incorporated into the design of the exploration space suit’s pressure garment. Outside of the protection of the Earth’s magnetosphere, radiation in deep space will be a challenge.Electronic systems, including processors for high performance computing and power converters, for avionics within spacecraft cabins and space suits, will need to be radiation hardened or otherwise tolerant to the radiation environment.There is a wealth of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware that could potentially be used, but only if tested for tolerance to these environments.The current collaborative environment between government, commercial and international sectors will result in the distributed development of human spacecraft elements and systems for human missions of the future, such as Gateway. Their integration may benefit from advances in model based systems engineering approaches.Please refer to the description and references of each subtopic for further detail to guide development of proposals."

This subtopic has two areas of scope. The primary area of emphasis is water recovery and stabilization of human metabolic waste (feces). The secondary scope seeks robust flow meters for effluent gas measurement from waste processors.

Water Recovery and Stabilization of Human Metabolic Waste (Feces)

Human solid waste (feces) contains ~75% water by mass that is currently not recovered on ISS. Feces are collected and stored in relatively impermeable containers for short term storage (1-3 months) and disposed of in departing logistics vehicles. Quantified, this represents approximately 170 g per crew member per day of recoverable water, which translates to 0.68 kg per day for a crew of 4 and can total as much as 680 kg for a 1,000-day long duration human exploration mission. In addition to water recovery, stabilization of feces is a critical gap for long duration human planetary exploration missions to Moon and Mars. Water removal is a first step in stabilization and has the potential to decrease odor control technology mass. Technologies are requested to recover water and stabilize feces for use on long duration human exploration missions to Moon and Mars.

Simplified, low temperature, and robust methods for recovery of water from human solid metabolic waste are sought. Low temperature (<110 C) is desired to reduce the release of volatile organic compounds, avoid organic compound oxidation to CO and CO₂ and their subsequent treatment prior to return to the cabin air. The range of technologies can include air drying, vacuum drying, freeze drying and alternative low energy methods. The cost for recovering fecal water, in terms of mass, power, volume and crew time equivalents must not outweigh mass savings obtained by its recovery. Drying and stabilization of feces can reduce odor generation and prevent microbial proliferation if the water activity level is less than 0.6. Technologies must be able to recover >80% of the water content. Captured water should have minimal free gas and be suitable for eventual delivery to a waste water tank. Purification of the water is not requested because it will be processed by downstream treatment systems. However, the chemical constituents of the recovered water must be characterized. Technologies must be able to accommodate a wide range of condensable and non-condensable mass flow rates as the feces are processed and dried. Water recovery should be accommodated directly or with an assumed regenerative heat exchanger to recover energy prior to phase separation (as necessary). Systems must be capable of microgravity and/or planetary surface operation (moon or Mars) for 1 to 18 months at a time, with 11 to 18-month periods of dormancy, and with minimal crew maintenance. Compatibility with existing waste collection hardware is of interest. Planned fecal waste collection (Universal Waste Management System - UWMS) consists of individual defecations and hygiene wipes collected in gas permeable bags. 15-25 individual bags are contained in rigid containers that are changed out every 2-3 days.

It is highly desirable that on-demand manufacturing (i.e., additive manufacturing and post finishing) be considered for consumable or maintenance items. Technologies must consider accumulation of organics and microbial proliferation between normal waste processing cycles and extended dormancy and any change in performance should be characterized. Evolved gases during processing may require treatment and could consider absorbers and or materials (membranes) that prevent the transmission of volatile organic carbon. Thermal and power efficiency must be addressed. It is desirable that rigid UWMS canisters be reusable to reduce logistical resupply mass. Alternatives to the rigid UWMS canister are acceptable if it does not require significant changes of UWMS operations. It is desirable that the processed fecal material and associated wipes and bags occupy less volume than the preprocessed state. Information on UWMS can be found at: Logistics Reduction: Universal Waste Management System (LR-UWMS): https://techport.nasa.gov/view/93128.

Long Life Robust Flow Meters for Effluent Gases from Waste Processors

Currently human space exploration life support waste management systems have need for a robust mass flow measurement method in mixed water vapor and hydrocarbon gas flows that are produced from processing trash and waste streams. Thermal processing of trash and waste will evolve a ‘dirty’ gas flow comprised of large number of complex organic and non-organic gaseous mixtures with a high water vapor content. Mass flow measurement can be used for process control of the heating of the waste or as a non-condensable gas flow control device for a vehicle vacuum system. Current gas flow measurement systems do not operate well in a dirty gaseous stream for the operating conditions required on long duration missions such as to Mars. Gaseous compounds deposit on downstream process tubing and sensors with surface temperature and pressure conditions that are favorable to condensation. Over time, deposits can render sensors inaccurate or inoperative. Such effluents will include but are not limited to time-variant mixture of air, water vapor, gaseous organic and inorganic components, entrained liquids and sticky compounds that appear as precipitates. Information on trash processing and effluent characteristics are provided in the following reference: NextSTEP F: Logistics Reduction in Space by Trash Compaction and Processing System (TCPS): https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep/trash.

The proposed flow sensor technologies will operate in a range of conditions depending on the trash processing application. Sensors should be capable of operation over the range of 6-55 kPa, temperature ranges of 15-180 C, and 0.001-2.0 g/min. The sensor will be exposed to high relative humidity and saturated water vapor conditions, and to volatile organic gases. The sensor will be monitoring flow in fluid passages from 3-20 mm. It is desired that proposed technologies have low pressure drop, contaminant tolerant surfaces, and long-term operation between calibrations. The accuracy of the proposed technology across the range of operation conditions should be defined in the proposal.

For both areas of scope, hardware attributes should include robust design, low volume and compact size, low mass, reduced or zero requirements for crew time, and minimized consumable mass. Phase I Deliverables - Reports demonstrating proof of concept, test data from proof of concept studies, concepts and designs for Phase II. Phase I tasks should answer critical questions focused on reducing development risk prior to entering Phase II. Phase II Deliverables - Delivery of technologically mature components/subsystems that demonstrate performance over the range of expected spacecraft conditions. Prototypes must be full scale unless physical verification in 1-g is not possible. Robustness must be demonstrated with long term operation and with periods of intermittent dormancy. System should incorporate safety margins and design features to provide safe operation upon delivery to a NASA facility.

The expected TRL for these scopes is 2 to 4.

References:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA Technology Roadmaps, TA 6: Human Health, Life Support, and Habitation Systems (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Draft, May 2015, www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/2015_nasa_technology_roadmaps_ta_6_human_health_ life_support_habitation.pdf).
Miriam Sargusingh, Molly Anderson, Jay Perry, Robyn Gatens, James Broyan, Ariel Macatangay, Walter Schneider and Nikzad Toomarian "Development and Maturation for Exploration: 2017 to 2018 Overview", 48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Paper ICES-2018-182 https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu-ir/bitstream/handle/2346/74153/ICES_2018_182.pdf
Logistics Reduction: Universal Waste Management System (LR-UWMS): https://techport.nasa.gov/view/93128
Advanced Exploration Systems Program, Life Support Systems Project: https://www.nasa.gov/content/life-support-systems
NextSTEP F: Logistics Reduction in Space by Trash Compaction and Processing System (TCPS): https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep/trash
Fisher, John W. and Lee, Jeffrey M. "Space Mission Utility and Requirements for a Heat Melt Compactor", 46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Paper ICES-2016-377 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20160008947.pdf
Lee, Jeffrey M., Fisher, John W. and Pace, Gregory "Heat Melt Compactor Development Progress", 47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Paper ICES-2017-267 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170011317.pdf
John P. Wetzel, Robert J. Surdyk, Joe Klopotic and Krishnaswamy K. Rangan "Heat Melt Compactor Test Unit", 48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Paper ICES-2017-267 https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu-ir/bitstream/handle/2346/74255/ICES_2018_318.pdf

This subtopic has two areas of scope. The primary area of emphasis is non-gene based microbial monitoring technologies. The secondary scope is alternative methods and agents for microbial control in potable water systems.

Spacecraft Microbial Monitoring for Long Duration Human Missions

With the advent of molecular methods, emphasis is now being placed on nucleic acids to rapidly detect microorganisms. However, automation for these systems is still in development and the time from sample collection to result output is not instantaneous. Recent advancements in the field of metabolomics have potential to substitute (or augment) current gene-based microbial detection technologies. NASA is soliciting non-gene based microbial detection technologies and systems that target microbial metabolites and which quantify the microbial burden of surfaces, air, and water inside future long-duration deep space habitats.

Airborne Contamination

Future human spacecraft such as Gateway and Mars vehicles may be uncrewed between missions. Crew could be absent from the vehicle for periods that could last up to 1 to 3 years. Before crews can return, these environments must be verified prior to crew return. Novel methods that have the potential to enable remote autonomous microbial monitoring are sought, which do not require manual sample collection, preparation or processing.

Potable Water

A simple integrated, microbial sensor system that enables sample collection, processing, and detection of microbes or microbial activity in a spacecraft potable water supply is sought. A system that is fully-automated and which could be integrated within a spacecraft's water processing system as an in-line detector is preferred. Such a system could be used to monitor microbial burden in the water supply during both uncrewed and crewed operations.

Habitat Surfaces

Future habitats for human habitation of cis-lunar space, such as Gateway, are expected to be crew tended only 1 to 3 months at a time and then left unoccupied for many months between missions. When the crew returns to occupy the habitat they will want to quickly, efficiently, and accurately assess the microbial status of the habitat surfaces. A microbial assessment / monitoring system or hand-held device that requires little to no consumables is sought.

Alternative Sanitation Agents for Potable Water

For water recovery during human exploration missions, NASA ensures compliance with microbial requirements by initially disinfecting the process water and removing organic content that serves as nutrients for microbial growth. In addition, a biocide is added to the potable water as further mitigation against microbial growth. For the Shuttle and International Space Station programs, NASA used iodine as the biocide. However, iodine can create health issues for the crew and thus has to be removed from the potable water prior to crew consumption. This approach is undesirable for future missions and thus NASA is pursuing new sanitation agents and methods for spacecraft potable water.

The use of silver at biocidal concentrations of 0.05 – 0.4 mg/L is under consideration, but dosing and maintenance in potable water systems have not been satisfactorily worked out. Alternative biocides may be available. NASA seeks a biocide that provides effective microbial control at a given concentration, can be reasonably added to the process water, is acceptable for long term storage prior to use, can be consumed by the crew for long duration without undesirable side effects, and is compatible with typical materials used in potable water systems such as Teflon, Viton, 316 L SS, Inconel 718, and Titanium.

Phase I Deliverables - Reports demonstrating proof of concept, test data from proof of concept studies, concepts and designs for Phase II. Phase I tasks should answer critical questions focused on reducing development risk prior to entering Phase II. The expected TRL for these scopes is 2 to 4.

Phase II Deliverables - Delivery of technologically mature components/subsystems that demonstrate performance over the range of expected spacecraft conditions. Prototypes must be full scale. Robustness must be demonstrated with long term operation and with periods of intermittent dormancy. Systems and chemical agents should incorporate safety and design features to provide safe operation upon delivery to a NASA facility.

Hardware attributes should include robust design, low volume and compact size, low mass, reduced or zero requirements for crew time, and minimized consumable mass. For example, typical ISS Express Rack instruments have a volume of 64 L and a mass of 30 kg; a reasonable goal for this subtopic would be 10 L and 10 kg for an autonomous instrument; closer to 1 L for a hand-held device.

References:

Pierson, D., Botkin, D. J., Bruce, R. J., Castro, V. A., Smith, M. J., Oubre, C. M., Ott, C. M., “Microbial Monitoring of the International Space Station,” in Environmental Monitoring: A Comprehensive Handbook, edited by J. Moldenhauer, DHI Publishing: River Grove, IL., 2012, pp. 1-27.
A list of targeted abiotic contaminants for environmental monitoring can be found at "Spacecraft Water Exposure Guidelines for Selected Waterborne Contaminants" located at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/exposure-guidelines-smacs-swegs
Li, Wenyan, Calle, Luz, Hanford, Anthony, Stambaugh, Imelda and Callahan, Michael "Investigation of Silver Biocide as a Disinfection Technology for Spacecraft – An Early Literature Review", 48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Paper ICES-2018-82 https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu-ir/bitstream/handle/2346/74083/ICES_2018_82.pdf

The current Extra-Vehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) on International Space Station (ISS) has a limited life span. NASA plans to continue using the current EMU/spacesuit for the life of ISS. Future missions being contemplated will also need a new spacesuit to meet the technology objectives. With the anticipation of a replacement suit for ISS or other future mission, the plan for an Exploration EMU (xEMU) is underway. As part of the xEMU, an Exploration Portable Life Support Subsystem (xPLSS) is currently being developed, integrated, and tested in house at JSC. Technology gaps remain for the xPLSS especially for deep space and surface missions. The first focus area is for small, radiation hardening (Rad-Hard), isolated direct current (DC) to DC (DC/DC) converters with an efficiency of greater than 80 percent (%) which would be helpful in low-earth orbit as well as deep space. The second focus area is for a boost compressor to enable the xPLSS pressure swing adsorption (PSA) carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O) removal system to function in a partial atmosphere which exists on Mars. The boost compressor would be helpful in a surface mission to Mars. Based on these xPLSS technology gaps, the two focus areas are specifically detailed below for the SBIR 2019 solicitation cycle:

Small, Rad-Hard, Isolated DC/DC Converters With an Efficiency of >80%

For spacesuit life support systems, there are a number of small point of load applications such as smart instruments, controllers, etc. that require small, low power output, isolated DC/DC converters. With derating and the limited offering available from existing catalog parts, the available efficiency is often much lower than the rated efficiencies advertised for the part of 70-80% as the converter losses become a larger part of the overall output dropping the realized efficiencies below 65%. Develop a converter family with the following attributes:

Power output families: 500mW, 1W, 2W, 5W:
- The Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical (EEE) and Mechanical Parts Management and Implementation Plan for Space Station requires derating depending on the implementation that can range from 0.5-0.75 permissible of rated power output
Input voltage: 34VDC max, 28VDC nominal
Output voltages: Variable set by resistor with 1.5-15 VDC range minimum
Regulation accuracy < 1%
Converter efficiencies: >80% after EEE derating
Total dose: >30 krad (Si)
Single Event Latch (SEL) immune to 60 MeV-cm²/mg
Single Event Upset (SEU) errors less than 10^-2 events/2000 hrs operating time
Overcurrent protection, set by a resistor
Over-temperature protection – shutdown
Under-voltage lockout
Soft-start, set by capacitor
Packages: hermetically sealed flatpacks
Options: programmable switching frequency, set by a resistor

Boost Compressor to Enable xPLSS Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) CO₂/H₂O Removal Function in Partial Atmosphere

The state of the art with respect to continuously regenerable carbon dioxide (CO₂)/water (H₂O) removal functions small enough to deploy in a spacesuit life support system is the amine swingbed using pressure swing adsorption. The current xPLSS system design planned for xEMU Demonstration on ISS will function in 1-2 torr condition. However, the current xPLSS amine swingbed system cannot function in the martian environment. Therefore, develop a boost compressor that can meet the following basic performance goals in a partial environment:

Outlet Pressure: 0.2-9 torr
Robust outlet pressure tolerance: System integration via pressure switches and valving can preclude outlet pressures higher than the 9 torr listed above. However, a concept with tolerance of pressures up to 15.2 psia would greatly simplify the integration and potentially produce a more reliable system.
Inlet Pressure: 5 psia down to 0.1 torr
Robust inlet pressure: System integration via pressure switches and valving can preclude inlet pressures higher than the 5 psia listed above. However, a concept with tolerance of pressures up to 19.5 psia would greatly simplify the integration and potentially produce a more reliable system.
Effective pumping Speed > 600 lpm
Constituents in the flow: oxygen (nearly 100% at initial opening of the bed), CO₂, H₂O, ammonia (NH₃) Motivation from 28VDC (nominal) input BLDC Stepper motor
Structure born vibration needs to be minimized
Conduction cooling for waste heat
Operational life > 5000 hours

Phase I products: By the end of Phase I, it would be beneficial to have a concept design for infusion into the xPLSS. Testing of the concept is desired at this Phase.

Phase II products: By the end of Phase II, a prototype ready for system-level testing in the xPLSS or in a representative loop of the xPLSS is desired.

The xPLSS Subtopic is relevant to the xEMU Project, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD), International Space Station, and Gateway for space suit development. More focused development beyond SBIR could come through Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).

The transition from the current Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) to a new Exploration EMU (xEMU) for deep-space missions will necessitate a relevant demonstration of critical life support capabilities including scarring for upgrades to a full xEMU functionality. As the strategy for human space exploration beyond low-Earth Orbit (LEO) progresses, the plan for an Exploration xEMU flight demonstration suit on ISS in the mid-2020s will offer flexibility and adaptability to accommodate several potential outcomes. The progressive development, integration, and testing to prepare for a flight demonstration unit will enable a technical path to the current EMU replacement or a deep-space exploration Extravehicular Activity space suit or both.

The expected TRL for this project is 2 to 4.

Surface Space Suit Boot

This subtopic is searching for concepts and technologies to be incorporated into future prototypes of a space suit boot for a space suit that will walk on a planetary surface. Figure 1 (see https://www.nasa.gov/suitup ’EVA Boot SBIR Figures’) communicates the rough terrain that astronauts will encounter and will be expected to traverse.

The Phase I effort may focus on a particular challenge of the design in order to mature that concept or technology to progress to a Phase II effort. Test data and detailed design or 3-D models are acceptable results from Phase I. The Phase I final report also must indicate how the Phase I effort allows for successful implementation in the Phase II effort. Expected TRL is from 2 to 5.

The expectation for the Phase II effort is that a functional boot prototype will be created, tested at pressurized conditions, and delivered. As stated above, the results from Phase I are expected to provide confidence that the technology or design can be carried into a Phase II resulting in a boot prototype delivery. A functional boot prototype from Phase II would need to meet the following requirements:

Carry pressure load of suit pressurized to 8 psi:
- Indicates that a load path must be incorporated into the design and proven to carry the pressure load
- Indicates that the entire structure can be pressurized to 16 psi without failing
Provide mobility at the ankle:
- No less than 40° of flexion (toes toward shin; 0° position to be used as the reference is foot flat on the floor with the leg 90° to the foot), and 20° extension (pointed toes)
Provide boot sole flexibility when pressurized equivalent to that of an Air Force jump boot, sturdy hiking boot, or work boot:
- This requirement has not yet been quantified, but subjectively the boot sole must function in a similar manner to these soles.
Indicate ability to meet boot cycle life:
- The vendor shall not be required to test the boot to the anticipated cycle life of 800,000 steps, unless that is the primary requirement being addressed by the proposal.
- All Phase II boot designs delivered shall be delivered with test and/or analysis data that provides evidence/rationale for being able to meet the cycle life requirement over a reasonable development effort (1-3 years).
Provide information to assure the design will function in an environment with surface temperatures of the Lunar Surface: -180 to 210° F
While surface boots will need to operate in a dust environment, dust mitigation methods are currently being developed under separate efforts and is not the focus of this topic. However, a discussion of why the design/technology/materials are expected to perform in a dust environment shall be expected in the proposal.

Space suit walking boot continues to be a challenge. Integrating the high performance of hiking boots into a pressurized garment creates challenges of its own and are beyond those of a typical boot. While all hiking boots need to provide good fit and to be durable for thousands to hundreds of thousands of walking steps over rough terrain, meeting these requirements for a boot that is inflated to 8 pounds per square inch of pressure introduces new aspects to the challenge. Each of these challenges that can be addressed are described below:

Boot-to-foot integration

The boot is integral with the knee of the pressure garment in order to close the air retention layer function for the leg, the diameter of the ankle opening is matched to that of the knee which creates a challenge for good fit at the ankle. Additionally, the integration of the boot to knee of the suit means that the boot is donned when it is connected to the leg. Therefore, these two drivers make donning a space suit boot similar to stepping into galoshes. However, when walking, the foot must be well integrated with the boot in order to avoid injury to the foot and maintain walking stability and control. Mitigating slipping of the heel in the boot has been the focus of several efforts. Below is a brief summary of boot-to-foot integration concepts that have been investigated previously:

Boot indexing concepts:
- Straps:
  - Strap over the arch of the foot has been helpful:
    - See Figure 2 (see https://www.nasa.gov/suitup 'EVA Boot SBIR Figures')
  - Thickness, location, and tenacity of closure method are all critical design factors
- Magnets:
  - Did not work well:
    - Attached to Liquid Cooling Garment (= Footed longjohns worn under the suit) bootie
  - Slippage; magnets not powerful enough resulted in heel lift:
    - Comfort can also be an issue due to a hard object under the heel
  - Could be worth looking at again with an overboot concept and/or electromagnets
- Heel clip (overboot):
  - Developed for the AX-5 prototype space suit, however test data has not been located, if it exists:
    - See Figure 3 (see https://www.nasa.gov/suitup 'EVA Boot SBIR Figures')
  - Could be worth looking at again
- Air bladders:
  - Reebok Pumps-style – Implementation of repeated attempts has been problematic:
    - Location of bladders
    - Shape of bladders
    - Pressurization system complexity and reliability
    - Achieving acceptable pressure
- Boa lacing:
  - Z-2 added heel lace in addition to dorsum lace, which was helpful, but did not completely resolve heel slippage issue:
    - See Figure 4 (see https://www.nasa.gov/suitup 'EVA Boot SBIR Figures')
- Other ideas:
  - Vacuum pack forming to grab ankle using ambient vacuum
  - Power Strap (ski boots)

Boot design concepts that, in addition to performing its function of pressure retention/providing pressure to the foot, also allows for ease of don/doff and provides excellent and comfortable foot-to-boot integration are sought.

Boot material durability

Looking forward to long-duration exploration missions, the materials of the boot will be exposed to rough terrain over hundreds of thousands of walking cycles. Boot sole and boot upper materials are being sought for durability and flexibility in the rough environment and extreme temperatures of the space environment. In addition to being durable, the boot sole material also needs to serve as a functional boot sole when incorporated in a pressure garment, which means that the sole cannot allow the pressurization to modify its shape. For example, past materials that have been investigated have allowed the boot sole to become convex or rocker-shaped indicating that the boot sole material was too flexible. Similarly, boot sole materials that are too stiff so as not to allow natural gait have also been rejected.

The Phase I effort proposals shall be expected to address one or more aspects of these challenges in an innovative way.

This project could enable sustained Lunar surface EVAs as part of a human lunar program. More focused development beyond SBIR could come through Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).

References

Ross, Amy, Joseph Kosmo, Nikolay Moiseyev, Anatoly Stoklitsky. "Comparative Space Suit Boot Test." 32nd ICES. SAE. July 2002, San Antonio, TX: SAE, 2002.
Ross, Amy, Richard Rhodes, Shane McFarland. “NASA’s Advanced Extra-vehicular Activity2 Space Suit Pressure Garment 2018 Status and Development Plan.” 48th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES). July 2018, Albuquerque, New Mexico: ICES-2018-273.
Ross, Amy, Richard Rhodes, David Graziosi, Bobby Jones, Ryan Lee, Bazle Haque, John W. Gillespie, Jr. “Z-2 Prototype Space Suit Development.” 44th ICES. July 2014, Tucson, AZ: NTRS JSC-CN-31290.
Ross, Amy. ‘Z-1 Prototype Space Suit Testing Summary.” 43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES). American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). July 2013, Vail, CO: AIAA, 2013: NTRS JSC-CN-28415.

As NASA looks to develop a cis-lunar infrastructure, starting with components like the Gateway, there will be considerable interest in partnerships with a wide variety of communities. Building from the success of the international partnerships for ISS, space agencies from multiple governments are looking for roles on the Gateway. The rapidly growing commercial space industry is also likely to seek roles in supporting this infrastructure. All of these potential partners will have their own design capabilities, their own development processes, and internal constituencies to support. Enabling disparate systems built in different locations by different owners to all work cohesively together will require a significant upgrade to NASA’s core systems engineering toolset.

Model Based Systems Engineering holds considerable promise for facilitating this type of distributed development process, but we need to significantly improve and expand the engineering support infrastructure to enable the systems we will need for lunar exploration. Methodologies that support integration amongst tools and exchange of information between multidisciplinary artifacts are important development opportunities. The definition of interface standards and tools that enable inspection of distributed models across domains are very important. Tools or systems that allow models to be shared across development environments and trace the resulting systems back to contributions from multiple partners are also of high interest. SysML related tools are relevant to this subtopic, but need to address distributed development, multi-disciplinary system development, and the engineering of interfaces between subsystems built by different communities from requirements through testing, verification, and validation.

Model Based Systems Engineering for distributed development is relevant to all Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) missions, and of timely interest for Gateway development. Over the next 3 to 5 years, there will be considerable opportunity for small business contributions to be matured and integrated into the engineering support infrastructure as Gateway evolves from concept to development program.

During Phase I, research should be conducted to demonstrate methodologies and tools that support distributed multi-disciplinary development efforts, their technical feasibility, and NASA relevance.

Phase I proposals should clearly indicate how the research will go beyond state of the art engineering practices. Prototypes are strongly encouraged and could take several forms such as augmentations/plugins to existing SySML tools. Phase II deliverables should include at a minimum demonstration of a prototype tool or methodology on a small system(s) that is representative or analog of a portion of lunar infrastructure, and documentation with source for NASA to explore use of the tool. The expected TRL for this project is 5 to 7.

References:

References documenting current State of Practice within NASA - proposals shall address technology advances beyond state of practice:

NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance: Model-Based Mission Assurance https://sma.nasa.gov/sma-disciplines/model-based-mission-assurance
NASA Engineering and Safety Academy: Systems Engineering https://nescacademy.nasa.gov/category/3/sub/17
NASA/SP-2016-6105/SUPPL/Vol 2: Expanded Guidance for NASA Systems Engineering. Volume 2: Crosscutting Topics, Special Topics, and Appendices. Section 8.2 Model Based Systems Engineering https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170007239

General References for Model-Based System Engineering for Distributed Development, and relevant NASA Missions:

Papers where MBSE was implemented as a pathfinder on a NASA project:

Modeling to Mars: a NASA Model Based Systems Engineering Pathfinder Effort https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170009110
Using A Model-Based Systems Engineering Approach for Exploration Medical System Development https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170008864
Using Model-Based Systems Engineering to Provide Artifacts for NASA Project Life-Cycle and Technical Reviews https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170008864

Forward-looking documents describing challenges and opportunities for using MBSE at NASA:

NASA/TM-2017-219633, M-1435: Digital Model-Based Engineering: Expectations, Prerequisites, and Challenges of Infusion https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170006995
Research Challenges in Modeling & Simulation for Engineering Complex Systems http://trainingsystems.org/publications/Research-Challenges-in-Modeling-and-Simulation-for-Engineering-Complex-Systems.pdf

Space radiation is a significant obstacle to sending humans on long duration missions beyond low earth orbit. NASA is concerned with the health risks to astronauts following exposures to galactic cosmic rays (GCR), the high-energy particles found outside Earth’s atmosphere. Astronaut health risks from space radiation exposure are categorized into cancer, late and early central nervous systems (CNS) effects, and degenerative risks, which include cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and premature aging.

This subtopic is for development of biological countermeasures that can target common pathways (e.g., inflammation) across aging, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration in order to minimize or prevent adverse health effects from space radiation. Drugs that target senolytic agents for anti-aging are the emphasis of this solicitation. The proposed project should focus on repurposing of technology and compounds for NASA applications. Expected TRL for this project is 5 to 8.

In Phase I of the project, the company should test radioprotectors or mitigators using protons or other charged particles at doses simulating exposure to space radiation. This testing can be done with cell models at the location of choice. Deliverables for the Phase I will be data generated from this exposure with the radioprotector selected. After contract award, due to the nature of this research, the contractor should immediately coordinate with their technical monitor for any special considerations for testing. In Phase II of the project, we would expect the company to expand testing radioprotectors or mitigators with combinations of different particles and energies that simulate the space radiation environment.

This subtopic seeks technology development that benefits the Space Radiation Element of the NASA Human Research Program (HRP). Biomedical countermeasures are needed for all of the space radiation risks. Anti-aging drugs are relevant to cancer, degenerative tissue damage and CNS damage.

References:

The following references discuss the different health effects NASA has identified in regard to space radiation exposure:

Evidence report on central nervous systems effects - https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/evidence/reports/CNS.pdf.
Evidence report on degenerative tissue effects - https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/evidence/reports/Degen.pdf.
Evidence report on carcinogenesis - https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/evidence/reports/Cancer.pdf.

Human exploration missions beyond low earth orbit (LEO) require a variety of medical interventions to address planned and un-planned operations. One intervention involves the delivery of medical grade oxygen, specifically during Advanced Life Support (ALS) protocols. NASA currently uses a pneumatic, portable ventilator where rate and volume can be independently controlled and oxygen is supplied via pressurized tanks on the Space Station. Computational models show that, when operating the device, the addition of oxygen into the close vehicle environment via enriched exhalation and/or blow-by quickly violates NASA Flight Rules to NOT exceed greater than 30% oxygen concentration. The Flight Rule was put in place to minimize the likelihood of a fire on NASA vehicles. Specifically, within 20-30 minutes on the International Space Station, a localized high percentage oxygen bubble forms around the patient and within 12 hours the entire cabin exceeds NASA Flight Rules regarding oxygen concentration. These limitations significantly impair NASA's ability to respond to ALS events and only worsen as vehicle volumes become smaller for the Orion Program, Commercial Crew Program, and future Exploration Programs (like Gateway).

NASA requires new technologies that will enable the delivery of medical grade oxygen while reducing/eliminating elevated oxygen concentration levels in the cabin atmosphere. Specifically, NASA seeks technologies/methods to reduce enriched oxygen exhalation and/or reduce oxygen blow-by. Examples of technology developments can include, but are not limited to, improved oxygen delivery (e.g., mask) design, improved ventilator modes, and/or shaped ventilator output (e.g., oxygen leading with air following).

For the above technology, research should, at a minimum, be conducted to analyze technical feasibility during Phase I and show a path toward Phase II demonstration and/or prototype hardware/process.

This technology would reduce the mass/volume/power required to deliver medical oxygen to a sick or injured astronaut and simultaneously reduce the spaceflight cabin fire hazard risk. It supports NASA's Human Research Program Exploration Medical Capabilities, the ISS Health Maintenance System, and the Commercial Crew Program.

References:

Human exploration missions beyond low earth orbit (LEO) require physiologic monitoring of the crew. Currently, NASA employs a wide variety of commercial off the shelf (COTS) crew-worn biosensors and devices that provide minutes to hours of high quality physiologic information. All these devices require mass, volume, power, and crew time to operate, each of which will be in short supply during missions beyond LEO. Additionally, existing technologies typically do not provide continuous physiologic monitoring and instead require either electrode replacement, battery replacement or some other constraint that limits the operation of the technology. The exploration vehicle, however, will already provide a variety of technologies that could potentially be used to extrapolate human physiologic data in a continuous manner that does not require additional mass, volume, power, and/or crew time to operate. Examples of technology embedded within the vehicle include, but are not limited to, high quality video and audio, wireless networks, radio frequency identification, and other electromagnetic (EM) sources/detectors.

NASA requires new technologies that will exploit vehicle infrastructure to continuously monitor the crew’s physiologic parameters without crew intervention. Ideally, these solutions should not require additional mass, volume, power, and/or crew time and should leverage an existing capability already being provided by the vehicle. However, NASA is amenable to incorporating novel and innovative technologies that could be added to the vehicle or the crew. Examples of technology developments can include, but are not limited to, heart and respiration rate detection via HD video, temperature detection via infrared camera, or stress detection via voice analysis.

Phase I Deliverable - Conceptual prototype of a monitoring device/algorithm and final report detailing the conceptual prototype and hardware/software development plans.

Phase II Deliverable - Completed monitoring device/algorithm, and final report on the development, testing, and validation of the tool.

The expected TRL for this project is 2 to 4.

This technology would reduce the mass/volume/power required to execute physiological monitoring and supports NASA's Human Research Program Exploration Medical Capabilities, the ISS Health Maintenance System, and the Commercial Crew Program.

References:

NASA has a strong interest in technologies that enable In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), where commodities such as propellant and breathing air are made from lunar materials to enable exploration beyond low earth orbit. Several categories of technologies related to the extraction of oxygen from lunar regolith are sought in the following subtopic. These include solar concentrator technologies, molten oxide electrolysis, and beneficiation/size sorting.

Solar Concentrator Technologies for Oxygen Extraction and In-Situ Construction

Solar concentrators have been used to successfully demonstrate multiple ISRU technologies including hydrogen and carbothermal reduction, sintering of surfaces pads, and production of blocks for construction. Terrestrial state of the art solar concentrators are heavy, not designed for easy packaging/shipping and assembly/installation, and can be maintained and cleaned on a periodic basis to maintain performance. For in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) space applications, NASA is interested in solar concentrators that are able to be packaged into small volumes, are light weight, easily deployed and set up, can autonomously track the sun, and can perform self-cleaning operations to remove accumulated dust. Materials, components, and systems that would be necessary for the proposed technology must be able to operate on the lunar surface: up to 110 C (230 F) during sunlit periods and survive temperatures down to -170 C (-274 F) during periods of darkness. Systems must also be able to operate for at least one year with a goal of 5 years. Each of the following specific areas of technology interest may be developed as a standalone technology, but proposals that address multiple areas are encouraged.

Lightweight Mirrors/Lenses - Proposals must clearly state the estimated W/kg for the proposed technology. Phase I efforts, if prototyped, can be demonstrated at any scale, but must be scalable up to 26 kW of reflected solar energy assuming an incoming solar flux of 1000 W/m². Phase II deliverables include prototype(s) that must be deployed and supported in Earth 1-g (without wind loads) but should include design recommendations for mass reductions for lunar gravity (1/6-g) deployment. Proposals should address the following attributes: high reflectivity, low coefficient of thermal expansion, strength, mass, reliability and cost.

Dust Repellent Mirrors/Lenses - Dust particles that cling to the surface of a mirror or lens will degrade the performance of a solar concentrator. Proposals must demonstrate a scalable means to remove or repel dust from mirrors and/or lenses without the use of consumables.

Efficient transmission of energy for oxygen/metal extraction - While the solar concentrator will need to move to track the sun, reactors requiring direct thermal energy for oxygen extraction will be in a fixed position and orientation. Concentrated sunlight must be able to be directed to a single or multiple spots to effectively heat or melt the regolith. Options, such as adjustable mirrors and fiber optics, must be included in the proposed development effort as well as the expected transition losses from collection to point delivery. For carbothermal reduction, surface temperatures of >1600° C are required.

Sintering end effector - Concepts must produce a focal point temperature of 1050° C for the purpose of sintering lunar regolith with a fiber optic interface efficiency of greater than 90%.

Molten Oxide Electrolysis

This particular method of oxygen extraction has the potential to provide relatively high yields of oxygen per mass of regolith. Proposals must specify the expected wear and replacement rate of Anodes/Cathodes. Proposals must also specify the expected loss and replacement of any additives such as flux or ionic liquids. Phase I demonstrations may be any scale. Phase II demonstrations should be scalable up to 1.6 kg/hr oxygen. Multiple units are acceptable if required but need to be specified. Specify which metals will be extracted during oxygen removal and how the metals will be separated and captured.

Beneficiation/Size Sorting

Mineral beneficiation and size sorting systems can greatly improve the effectiveness of oxygen extraction techniques such as hydrogen reduction. Proposals should demonstrate a means to remove particles larger than 1 mm and increase the concentration of minerals such as FeO, Fe₂O₃ and FeTiO₃. Phase I demonstrations can be at any scale, but Phase II demonstrations should be scalable up to 80 kg/hr of bulk regolith at the inlet of the device.

Relevance to NASA

Each of these technologies are considered key for ISRU processing. There is currently an ISRU project being funded by AES/STMD, and the last time NASA was focused on lunar ISRU, solar concentrators were used for multiple applications, and both molten oxide electrolysis and beneficiation of minerals was being demonstrated at a small scale.

References:

Solar Concentrator Technologies for Oxygen Extraction and In-Situ Construction

Gordon, P. E., Colozza, A. J., Hepp, A. F., Heller, R. S., Gustafson, R., Stern, T., & Nakamura, T. (2011). Thermal energy for lunar in-situ resource utilization: technical challenges and technology opportunities.
Nakamura, T., & Smith, B. (2011, January). Solar thermal system for lunar ISRU applications: development and field operation at Mauna Kea, HI. In 49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition (p. 433).
Gustafson, R., White, B., Fidler, M., & Muscatello, A. (2010). Demonstrating the solar carbothermal reduction of lunar regolith to produce oxygen. In 48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition (p. 1163).

Molten Oxide Electrolysis

Sibille, L., Sadoway, D. R., Sirk, A., Tripathy, P., Melendez, O., Standish, E., ... & Poizeau, S. (2009). Production of Oxygen from Lunar Regolith using Molten Oxide Electrolysis.
Vai, A., Yurko, J., Wang, D. H., & Sadoway, D. (2010). Molten oxide electrolysis for lunar oxygen generation using in-situ resources. Minerals, Metals and Materials Society/AIME, 420 Commonwealth Dr., P. O. Box 430 Warrendale PA 15086 USA. [np]. 14-18 Feb.
Sibille, L., & Dominguez, J. (2012, January). Joule-heated molten regolith electrolysis reactor concepts for oxygen and metals production on the moon and mars. In 50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition (p. 639).
Sibille, L., Sadoway, D., Sirk, A., Tripathy, P., Melendez, O., Standish, E., ... & Poizeau, S. (2009). Recent advances in scale-up development of molten regolith electrolysis for oxygen production in support of a lunar base. In 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including The New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition (p. 659).

Beneficiation/Size Sorting

Trigwell, S., Captain, J., Weis, K., & Quinn, J. (2012). Electrostatic Beneficiation of Lunar Regolith: Applications in In-Situ Resource Utilization. Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 26(1), 30-36.

Whereas the Moon was once thought to be dry, more recent discoveries indicate that there are a variety of resources that exist on the Moon in an embedded or frozen state in the regolith. When acquired and exposed to higher temperatures and vacuum, these resources will change state into the vapor phase and are known as volatiles. Examples are polar water ice and other polar volatiles, or hydrogen and helium-3 embedded in the regolith grains by the sun.

Lunar volatiles are a meaningful first focus area for a space exploration strategy because:

Use of local space resources, including lunar volatiles; for propellant production, life support, radiation shielding, growing plants, industrial processes, etc. will improve the sustainability of human space exploration.
Technologies and methods for accessing lunar volatiles are relevant to potential future Mars resource utilization.
Volatiles are of great interest to the science community and provide clues to help understand the solar wind, comets, and the history of the inner solar system.

NASA is interested in this proposal solicitation for small payloads up to 15 kg in mass which are needed to characterize and map lunar volatile resources, which will enable their inclusion in a future lunar ISRU strategy, as listed in selective NASA Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKG) below. These payloads may be delivered to the surface of the Moon on a small commercial lunar lander and could be stationary on the lander, mobile on a mobility device, or it may itself be mobile and/or deployable. Impactors and other devices that are used or released in lunar orbit are not within the scope of this solicitation.

All proposals need to identify the state-of-the-art of applicable technologies and processes and Technology Readiness Level (TRL) expected at the end of Phase I, with a credible development plan. The Phase I proposal shall also indicate the type of lunar surface assets, interfaces and commodities that are required to carry and support the payload. By the end of Phase I, feasibility of the proposed payload technology should be established with a notional payload packaging concept and evidence that the payload is feasible. If a Phase II is awarded, then further development of the payload technologies and payload packaging shall be required, including a payload prototype delivered to NASA at the end of the two-year project with a goal of achieving TRL 6.

Due to the fact that frozen lunar volatiles primarily exist in, or near, permanently shadowed regions (PSR), if the prototype hardware proposed will need to operate under lunar vacuum conditions in PSR, it will either need to be designed to operate and be tested at extremely low temperatures (down to 40 K) or include estimates on thermal management and power to operate under these temperatures. Other proposals for finding and characterizing frozen buried volatiles near PSR's are also in scope, as well as mining hydrogen and helium volatiles embedded in the regolith. Methods to collect the volatiles without significant loss to sublimation are of high interest. Proposals must include plans for the design and test of critical or high-risk attributes associated with the proposed technology that enable its eventual use as flight hardware. At the end of Phase II, successful payload designs will be considered for funding applied to a commercial lunar lander flight in a potential Phase III award.

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of feasibility, mass, power, volume, and complexity. All proposals shall identify the SKG(s) from the list below that will be met. Payloads with a proposed mass of greater than 15 kg will not be considered in this subtopic.

The following information is only provided so that proposers understand the context and purpose of the small payloads being solicited for a robotic lunar landing mission.

Recent data from NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) missions indicate that as much as 20% of the material kicked up by the LCROSS impact was volatiles, including water, methane, ammonia, hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The instruments also discovered relatively large amounts of light metals such as sodium, mercury and possibly even silver.

The following criteria are relevant to this SBIR solicitation, as reported by the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG):

Significant uncertainties remain regarding to the distribution of volatiles at the 10 to 100 m resolution scales accessible to near term orbital missions. Data and models are clear that volatiles are distributed unevenly at this scale and mission success scenarios should accommodate this likelihood. We also found that a range of new orbital missions and science support activities could reduce this risk by improving both the empirical data upon which site selections are based, and the scientific understanding of polar volatile evolution. Regarding landed experiments, there are several key measurements-- such as compositional variation and soil geotechnical and thermal properties--within the capabilities of small near-term missions that would greatly improve the understanding of polar volatiles; obtaining any of the needed quantities would benefit subsequent missions.

There are sufficient data to support near-term landing site selections – Enhanced hydrogen is widespread across the polar regions and is sometimes concentrated in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). Data show that average annual surface temperatures below 110K are also widespread, including both PSRs and areas sometimes illuminated. This characteristic allows preservation of shallow buried ice for geologic time. LCROSS demonstrated hydrogen and water do occur at shallow depths at the LCROSS target site PSR. However, arguments derived from lunar surface processes suggest volatiles will be distributed irregularly and high-water abundance observed by LCROSS was not consistent with the regional H abundance indicating sampling of a local concentration.

The expected patchy nature of hydrogen distributions constitutes significant risk to missions requiring detection and sampling of hydrogen. Higher resolution definitive hydrogen data would reduce this risk.

LEAG Volatiles Specific Action Team (SAT) Landed Measurements Finding #1

Small near-term missions can provide critical data to resolve important unknowns regarding polar volatile science and resource utilization:

Lateral and vertical distribution of volatiles
Chemical phases that contain volatile elements
Geotechnical and thermal properties of polar soils
Mobility of volatiles and associated timescale(s)
Landed experiments obtaining any of the important quantities are of great science and exploration value.

LEAG Volatiles Specific Action Team (SAT) Landed Measurements Finding #2

Early characterization of the variation in volatile abundance at ISRU and scientifically relevant spatial scales would greatly benefit all future missions:

Current understanding of the spatial variation of volatile abundance at the scale of landers and small rovers is a major uncertainty. This ignorance is a strong inhibitor for the use of static landers
Several studies suggest that near surface volatiles will be very unevenly distributed due to the impact process and other mechanisms
A small rover traversing several hundred meters could characterize the variation in volatiles at this scale with simple instrumentation. A rover traverse of several hundred meters to several kilometres is required. The minimum distance for ground truthing is 20 km. Minimum distance to confirm if there are volatiles present is likely to be ~1 km.
This would provide ground-truth for orbital volatile measurements by beginning to close the gap in scales.

LEAG Volatiles Specific Action Team (SAT) Landed Measurements Finding #3

The physical and chemical forms of abundant volatile elements are critical to understanding the resource and its origins:

Early measurements should include unambiguous determination of the chemical phase of volatiles present to a depth of one or more meters
Measurements should not be restricted to the detection of water, but include other volatile species
Profiling is desirable, but a bulk analysis would be of very high value.
It is necessary to measure the isotopic composition of volatile elements. Both with respect to fundamental volatile science and with respect to assessing quantitatively potential landing-induced contamination of the surface materials.

LEAG Volatiles Specific Action Team (SAT) Landed Measurements Finding #4

Successful exploitation of in-situ resources requires knowledge of the physical (geotechnical) and thermal properties of polar regolith in addition to the volatile abundance:

The utility of a resource is highly dependent on the cost of extraction that is in turn dependent on the physical and chemical state of the volatile and its refractory matrix
The ISRU community should develop specific measurement objectives for geotechnical and temperature dependent properties
Thermal analysis of polar soils such as differential scanning calorimetry would greatly enhance the ability to develop ISRU regolith processing strategies, even in a volatile poor polar target
Thermal analysis can also be made sensitive to volatiles found in the LCROSS plume that could cause significant concerns for contamination and degradation of ISRU hardware including H₂S, Hg, and Na.
Physical and thermal properties of polar regolith should be measured. The potential effect of some volatile compounds such as Hg and Na on instrument degradation should be quantified.

LEAG Volatiles Specific Action Team (SAT) Landed Measurements Finding #8

In addition to ISRU goals, landed experiments should include measurements of current volatile flux to aid understanding volatile transport mechanism:

Apollo surface experiments revealed a dynamic exosphere and produced a lengthy list of potential volatile atmospheric species
Measurements might include:
Pressure
Atmospheric species
Flux directions
Measurements at PSR contacts to measure the volatile flux into cold traps

The relevant lunar Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKG’s) for this subtopic are listed below:

I-C. Regolith 2: Quality/ quantity/distribution/form of H species and other volatiles in mare and highlands regolith (requires robotic precursor missions).
Robotic in-situ measurements of volatiles and organics on the lunar surface and eventual sample return of “pristine” samples. Enables prospecting for lunar resources and ISRU. Feeds forward to Near Earth Asteroids (NEA)-Mars. Relevant to the Planetary Science Decadal survey.
I-D-1. Composition/quantity/distribution/form of water/H species and other volatiles associated with lunar cold traps. Required “ground truth” in-situ measurement within permanently shadowed lunar craters or other sites identified using LRO data. Technology development required for operating in extreme environments. Enables prospecting of lunar resources and ISRU. Relevant to Planetary Science Decadal survey.
I-D-3 Subsection c: Geotechnical characteristics of cold traps
Landed missions to understand regolith densities with depth, cohesiveness, grain sizes, slopes, blockiness, association and effects of entrained volatiles.
I-D-7 Subsection g: Concentration of water and other volatiles species with depth 1-2 m scales
Polar cold traps are likely less than ~2 Ga, so only the upper 2-3 m of regolith are likely to be volatile-rich.
I-D-9 Subsection I: mineralogical, elemental, molecular, isotopic make up of volatiles
Water and other exotic volatile species are present; must know species and concentrations.
I-D-10 Subsection j: Physical nature of volatile species (e.g., pure concentrations, inter-granular, globular)
Range of occurrences of volatiles; pure deposits (radar), mixtures of ice/dirt (LCROSS), H₂-rich soils (neutron).
I-E. Composition/volume/distribution/form of pyroclastic/dark mantle deposits and characteristics of associated volatiles.
Required robotic exploration of deposits and sample return. Enables prospecting for lunar resources and ISRU.
Relevant to Planetary Science Decadal survey.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

References:

"NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) (http://nasascience.nasa.gov/) encompasses research in the areas of Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics and Planetary Science. The National Academy of Science has provided NASA with recently updated Decadal surveys that are useful to identify technologies that are of interest to the above science divisions. Those documents are available at the following locations:Astrophysics - http://sites.nationalacademies.org/bpa/BPA_049810 (link is external).Planetary - http://sites.nationalacademies.org/ssb/completedprojects/ssb_065878 (link is external).Earth Science - http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/decadal-surveys/.Heliophysics the 2014 technology roadmap can be downloaded here: http://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/.A major objective of SMD instrument development programs is to implement science measurement capabilities with smaller or more affordable spacecraft so development programs can meet multiple mission needs and therefore make the best use of limited resources. The rapid development of small, low-cost remote sensing and in situ instruments is essential to achieving this objective. For Earth Science needs, in particular, the subtopics reflect a focus on instrument development for airborne and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms. Astrophysics has a critical need for sensitive detector arrays with imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetric capabilities, which can be demonstrated on ground, airborne, balloon, or suborbital rocket instruments. Heliophysics, which focuses on measurements of the sun and its interaction with the Earth and the other planets in the solar system, needs a significant reduction in the size, mass, power, and cost for instruments to fly on smaller spacecraft. Planetary Science has a critical need for miniaturized instruments with in situ sensors that can be deployed on surface landers, rovers, and airborne platforms. For the 2018 program year, we are restructuring the Sensors, Detectors and Instruments Topic, adding new, rotating out, and retiring some of the subtopics. Please read each subtopic of interest carefully. We continue to emphasize Ocean Worlds and solicit development of in situ instrument technologies and components to advance the maturity of science instruments focused on the detection of evidence of life, especially extant of life, in the Ocean Worlds.The microwave technologies subtopic was split last year into two subtopics one focused on active microwave remote sensing and the second on passive systems such as radiometers and microwave spectrometers.A key objective of this SBIR topic is to develop and demonstrate instrument component and subsystem technologies that reduce the risk, cost, size, and development time of SMD observing instruments and to enable new measurements. Proposals are sought for development of components, subsystems and systems that can be used in planned missions or a current technology program. Research should be conducted to demonstrate feasibility during Phase I and show a path towards a Phase II prototype demonstration. The following subtopics are concomitant with these objectives and are organized by technology."

NASA recognizes the potential of lidar technology in meeting many of its science objectives by providing new capabilities or offering enhancements over current measurements of atmospheric and topographic parameters from ground, airborne, and space-based platforms. To meet NASA’s requirements for remote sensing from space, advances are needed in state-of-the-art lidar technology with an emphasis on compactness, efficiency, reliability, lifetime, and high performance. Innovative lidar subsystem and component technologies that directly address the measurement of atmospheric constituents and surface topography of the Earth, Mars, the Moon, and other planetary bodies will be considered under this subtopic. Compact, high-efficiency lidar instruments for deployment on unconventional platforms, such as balloon, small sat, and CubeSat are also considered and encouraged.

Proposals must show relevance to the development of lidar instruments that can be used for NASA science-focused measurements or to support current technology programs. Meeting science needs leads to four primary instrument types:

Backscatter - Measures beam reflection from aerosols to retrieve the opacity of a gas.
Ranging - Measures the return beam’s time-of-flight to retrieve distance.
Doppler - Measures wavelength changes in the return beam to retrieve relative velocity.
Differential absorption - Measures attenuation of two different return beams (one centered on a spectral line of interest) to retrieve concentration of a trace gas.

The proposed subtopic addresses many missions programs, and project identified by the Science Mission Directorate including:

Aerosols - missions ongoing and planned include ACE (Aerosols/Clouds/Ecosystems), PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystems), and MESCAL (Monitoring the Evolving State of Clouds and Aerosols).
Greenhouse Gases - missions planned include sensing of carbon dioxide and methane. The ASCENDS (Active Sensing of CO₂ Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons) mission was recommended by the Decadal Survey.
Ice Elevation - missions ongoing and planned include ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite), as well as aircraft-based projects such as IceBridge.
Terrestrial Ecosystem Structure - missions ongoing and planned include GEDI (Global Ecosystems Dynamics Investigation). Ocean sensing applications are also of interest to NASA.
Atmospheric Winds - missions planned include 3D-Winds, as recommended by the Decadal Survey. Lidar wind measurements in the Mars atmosphere are also under study in the MARLI (Mars Lidar for Global Climate Measurements from Orbit) program.
Planetary Topography - altimetry similar to Earth applications is being planned for planetary bodies such as Titan and Europa.
Automated Landing, Hazard Avoidance, and Docking - technology development is called for under programs and missions such as ALHAT (Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology), COBALT (COoperative Blending of Autonomous Landing Technologies), and Kodiak.

Phase I research should demonstrate technical feasibility and show a path toward a Phase II prototype unit. Phase II prototypes should be capable of laboratory demonstration and preferably suitable for operation in the field from a ground-based station, an aircraft platform, or any science platform amply defended by the proposer.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-6.

References:

NASA missions are aligned with the National Research Council's decadal surveys, with the latest survey published in 2018 under the title "Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation from Space" (http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DEPS/esas2017/index.htm).
NASA lidar applications and technology needs for Earth Science are also summarized in the report "NASA ESTO Lidar Technologies Investment Strategy: 2016 Decadal Update" (https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20180002566).
Conference proceeding on NASA lidar interests in earth science, exploration, and aeronautics can be found at the Technical Interchange Meeting on Active Optical Systems (https://www.nasa.gov/nesc/tim-active-optical-systems).

1 Watt G-band (167-175 GHz) Solid State Power Amplifier for Remote Sensing Radars

Development of 1 Watt G-band (167-175 GHz) Solid State Power Amplifier for Remote Sensing Radars. Future Cloud, water and precipitation missions require higher frequency electronics, with small form factors and high power added efficiencies (PAE). Solid state amplifiers that meet high efficiency (>20 % PAE) and have small form factors would be suitable for SmallSats, enabling single satellite missions, such as RainCube, and would enable future swarm techniques.

Relevance to NASA

Cloud, water and precipitation measurements Increase capability of measurements to smaller particles, and enabling much more compact instruments.

The desired deliverables are design and simulation of potential amplifiers meeting the 1 Watt G-band (167-175 GHz) with 20% PAE. The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-4.

Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) Non-Contact Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Antenna

Development of UWB (ultra-wideband) non-contact GPR (ground penetrating radar) antenna for terrestrial and planetary mobility (aka rover or drone) platforms. Antenna designed to be mounted under rovers and other autonomous vehicles. Planar, or other low-profile antenna desired for easy accommodation onto the underside of a drone or rover. Frequency of operation 120 MHz - 2 GHz, linearly polarized, 3 dB beamwidth > 90°, 50 Ohm input, optimized to couple into ice/regolith (er = 1.7 to 3.1) at a standoff distance of 10-20 cm.

Relevance to NASA

Future Earth and planetary science small payload missions.

The desired deliverables are mechanical drawing of antenna, with electromagnetic analysis (such as HFSS) of the antenna performance. The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-4.

GPS (Global Positioning System) Denied Timing Synchronization

Development of solutions to GPS-denied multi-static radar timing synchronization. This would enable multi-platform instruments to share timing, which is enabling for GPS denied environments, which could be for planetary science or GPS hostile locations on Earth (such as subsurface). Desire to wirelessly distribute a synchronized PPS and/or 10 MHz clock in a GPS-denied environment between multiple radar units with <0.5 ns accuracy. Perform in specification at distances of up to 5 km. Synchronization hardware should be low mass (<1 kg), low power (<1 W), small size (<5x5x10 cm). Should have a path to flight qualification to be used for lunar and planetary science.

Relevance to NASA

Future Earth and planetary science small payload missions.

The desired deliverables are design and analysis of potential solutions, for which realizable hardware exists or is plausibly able to be developed with current technology. The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-4.

V Band Switch (65-70 GHz)

Currently funded RTD to build technology for developing a pressure sensing absorption radar at V-band is in need for a wideband switch operating over 65-70 GHz range. This technology if developed will allow airborne demonstration of first ever remote measurement of surface pressure that helps better predict path and strength of hurricanes.

Relevance to NASA

Surface Pressure Sensing Absorption Radar using V-band.

The desired deliverables are:

V-band SPDT switch
Frequency: 65-70 GHz
Insertion Loss< 0.5dB
Isolation>35dB
Should be able to handle 2W of input power
Compact, light weight

References:

1 Watt G-band (167-175 GHz) Solid State Power Amplifier for Remote Sensing Radars:

NASA employs passive microwave and millimeter-wave instruments for a wide range of remote sensing applications from measurements of the Earth's surface and atmosphere to cosmic background emission. Proposals are sought for the development of innovative technology to support future science and exploration missions MHz to THz sensors. Technology innovations should either enhance measurement capabilities (e.g., improve spatial, temporal, or spectral resolution, or improve calibration accuracy) or ease implementation in spaceborne missions (e.g., reduce size, weight, or power, improve reliability, or lower cost). Specific technology innovations of interest are listed below, however other concepts will be entertained.

Ultra-Compact Radiometer

An ultra-compact radiometer of either a switching or pseudo-correlation architecture with internal calibration sources is needed. Designs with operating frequencies at the conventional passive microwave bands of 36.6 GHz (priority), 18.65 GHz, and 23.8 GHz enabling dual-polarization inputs. Interfaces include waveguide input, control, and digital data output. Ideal design features enable subsystems of multiple (10's of) integrated units to be efficiently realized.

This technology, in conjunction with deployable antenna technology, would enable traditional Earth land and ocean radiometry with significantly reduced instrument size, making it suitable for CubeSat or SmallSat platforms.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 4-5.

Compact, scalable, 3D routing of LO, IF and DC signals for focal plane arrays at room and cryogenic temperatures

Compact, scalable, 3D routing of LO, IF and DC signals for focal plane arrays at room and cryogenic temperatures. A single routing block should perform the following functions: Accept 32 IF inputs, 16 LO inputs and 160 DC inputs, on one side of the routing block. Input interfaces to IF, LO and DC should facilitate blind-mating (e.g., push-on connectors). At the output, all IF signals should be concentrated into no more than 4 connectors (using e.g., multi-core coaxial connectors). The 16 LO input connections should be internally combined into a single connector at the output. All DC signals should be concentrated into no more than 4 connectors at the output. All output signals connectors should be on the opposite side of the routing block to the inputs. The LO should be able to route signals up to 60 GHz and the IF up to 12 GHz with max. 8dB loss at LO and package of 4”x 4”x 4”. This routing block should be scalable by forming close-packing arrays of such blocks to arbitrary sizes.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-4.

Photonic Integrated Circuits for Microwave Remote Sensing Systems

Photonic Integrated Circuits are an emerging technology for passive microwave remote sensing. NASA is looking for photonic integrated circuits for utilization in processing microwave signals in spectrometers, beam forming arrays, correlation arrays and other active or passive microwave instruments. Small businesses are encouraged to identify, propose, and utilize designs where PIC technology would be most beneficial for a microwave remote sensing instrument subsystem.

PICs may enable significantly increased bandwidth of Earth viewing, astrophysics, and planetary science missions. In particular, this may allow for increased bandwidth or resolution receivers, with applications such as hyperspectral radiometry.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-5.

Low power RFI mitigating receiver back ends for broad band microwave radiometers

NASA requires a low power, low mass, low volume, and low data rate RFI mitigating receiver back-end that can be incorporated into existing and future radiometer designs. The system should be able to channelize up to 1 GHz with 16 sub bands and be able to identify RFI contamination using tools such as kurtosis.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-5.

Miniature W-band Diplexer

As NASA seeks to develop broadband and array microwave radiometer technology, there is a need for miniaturized diplexers to separate W-band signals from Ka-band and lower frequency signals. Specifically, a diplexer unit that separates and passes the frequency bands allocated to and traditionally used for passive sensing is needed. A successful design has features enabling integration into subsystems including other supporting elements such as broadband antenna array elements and MMIC LNA's.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 4-5.

Low power, compact lasers for THZ time domain and frequency domain spectroscopy

NASA is developing a compact broadband THz spectrometer based on asynchronous optical sampling time domain spectroscopy (TDS). Erbium femtosecond lasers with low volume, low mass and low power are required. The lasers are to use 1550 nm erbium technology with pulse width < 100 fs and repetition rate of 80-100 MHz. The lasers should operate with single mode-lock state, high stability and low amplitude and phase noise. The fiber coupled output power should be > 100 mW.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-3.

References:

J. T. Good, , D. B. Holland, , I. A. Finneran, P. B. Carroll, M. J. Kelley, and G. A. Blake, "A decade-spanning high-resolution asynchronous optical sampling terahertz timedomain and frequency comb spectrometer", Review of Scientific Instruments 86, 103107 (2015).
T. Yasui, E. Saneyoshi, and T. Araki, “Asynchronous optical sampling terahertz time domain spectroscopy for ultrahigh spectral resolution and rapid data acquisition,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 87(6), 061101 (2005).
T. Yasui, M. Nose, A. Ihara, K. Kawamoto, S. Yokoyama, H. Inaba, K. Minoshima, and T. Araki, “Fiber-based, hybrid terahertz spectrometer using dual fiber combs,” Opt. Lett. 35(10), 1689–1691 (2010).

Sensor and Detector Technologies for Visible, IR, Far-IR, and Submillimeter

NASA is seeking new technologies or improvements to existing technologies to meet the detector needs of future missions, as described in the most recent decadal surveys:

Earth science - (http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11820.html)
Planetary science - (http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10432.html)
Astronomy and astrophysics - (http://www.nap.edu/books/0309070317/html/)

Sensor and detector technologies operating in the visible range are not being solicited this year.

Low-power and low-cost digital readout integrated circuits (DROICs):

In pixel digital readout integrated circuit (DROIC) for high dynamic range infrared imaging and spectral imaging (10-60 Hz operation) focal plane arrays to circumvent the limitations in charge well capacity, by using in-pixel digital counters that can provide orders of magnitude larger effective well depth, thereby affording longer integration times. Longer integration times provide improved signal-to-noise ratio and/or higher operating temperature, which reduces cooler capacity, resulting in savings in size, weight, power and cost.
High speed (> 1KHz full frame) shallow well (LSB between 32 – 128 electrons), integrate-while-read mode, with global shutter, 2-color bias-switchable focal planes with DROIC are required for high speed applications such as Fourier transform spectrometers. One color must be responsive to the solar spectrum and the other color must be responsive to thermal emission spectrum, with linear e-APD in both colors.

Low Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) novel spectrometers:

Compact low size, weight, and power (SWaP) novel spectrometers for space applications. This could include the conventional high-performance spectrometers based on dispersive elements, Fourier transform spectrometers, tilted grating concepts, etc. Furthermore, an integrated optics based low SWaP spectrometer also applicable to CubeSat and SmallSAt applications.

MKID/TES Readout:

Compact, low power, ASICs for readout of Kinetic Inductance Detector (KID) arrays each with a low operating power and capable of operation at both room temperature and cryogenic temperatures to perform one of the following functions: 8192 point FFT processor with 5 bits of depth using a polyphase oversampling or a Hanning window. Input format would be SERDES (2-4Gsamples/sec) and output format USB2.0 or similar and Power <=2W. >10bit ADC at >1GHz sampling rate with >2000 bands, ~5kHz bandwidth, power <0.3W. Of particular interest are SQUID based systems with a first stage operating at sub-Kelvin temperatures and compatible with 32X40 detector array format.
Low power, low noise, cryogenic multiplexed readout for large format two-dimensional bolometer arrays with 1000 or more pixels, operating at 65-350 mK. We require a superconducting readout capable of reading two Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) per pixel within a 1 mm-square spacing. The wafer-scale readout of interest will be capable of being indium-bump bonded directly to two dimensional arrays of membrane bolometers, after the application of indium-bumps possibly at another facility. We require row and column readout with very low crosstalk, low read noise, and low detector Noise Equivalent Power degradation.

Lidar Detectors:

Single photon (Geiger-mode) avalanche photodiode detector array technology for high-speed, imaging or non-imaging lidar applications. Detector array should be 32x32 or larger, demonstrating scalability to 256x256 or larger to cover 2x10¹² photon/s dynamic range, with crosstalk and after pulsing probability < 2%, photon detection probability > 50% @ 532nm, and dark count rate < 10Hz per pixel at non-cryogenic temperatures, and radiation tolerance for 5 year low earth orbit mission. Detector should be compatible with hybridization techniques allowing connection to readout integrated circuit. Future missions and applications include the Aerosols Lidar Mission called for by the 2017 Decadal Survey for Earth Science, planetary surface mapping, vegetation, and trace gas lidar.
Space qualify a commercial 2k x 2k polarization camera for a solar coronograph for low Earth orbit and Earth-Sun Lagrange point environments.

IR and Far-IR/Submillimeter-wave Detector Technologies:

Tunable IR Detector: Development of an un-cooled broadband photon detector with average QE>50% over the spectral range from 3um to 50um. The Detectivity D* must be greater than 5x109. The detector may have electrically tunable spectral range.

Novel Materials and Devices: New or improved technologies leading to measurement of trace atmospheric species (e.g., CO, CH₄, N₂O) or broadband energy balance in the IR and far-IR from geostationary and low-Earth orbital platforms. Of particular interest are new direct detectors or heterodyne detectors technologies made using high temperature superconducting films (YBCO, MgB₂) or engineered semiconductor materials, especially 2Dimensional Electron Gas (2DEG) and Quantum Wells (QW). Candidate missions are thermal imaging, LANDSAT Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS), Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO), BOReal Ecosystem Atmosphere Study (BOREAS), Methane Trace Gas Sounder or other infrared earth observing missions.

Array Receivers: Development of a robust wafer level packaging/integration technology that will allow high-frequency capable interconnects and allow two dissimilar substrates (i.e., Silicon and GaAs) to be aligned and mechanically 'welded' together. Specially develop ball grid and/or Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology that can support submillimeter-wave (frequency above 300 GHz) arrays.

Receiver Components: Local Oscillators capable of spectral coverage 2-5 THz; Output power up to >2 mW; Frequency agility with > 1GHz near chosen THz frequency; Continuous phase-locking ability over the THz tunable range with <100 kHz line width. Both solid-state (low parasitic Schottky diodes) as well as Quantum Cascade Lasers (for f>2 THz) will be needed. Components and devices such as mixers, isolators, and orthomode transducers, working in the THz range, that enable future heterodyne array receivers are also desired. GaN based power amplifiers at frequencies above 100 GHz and with PAE> 25% are also needed. ASIC based SoC solutions are needed for heterodyne receiver backends. ASICs capable of binning >6GHz intermediate frequency bandwidth into 0.1-0.5 MHz channels with low power dissipation <0.5W would be needed for array receivers. Low-power Low Noise Amplifiers(LNA) with 15-20 dB Gain and <5 Kelvin Noise over the 4-8 GHz bandwidth must be demonstrated while operating linearly and biasing at 200uW or less. The P1dB and OIP3 data should be collected at different biases to recommend gain and gain stages at temperatures from 4 Kelvin to 300K. An intermediate set point of particular interest is 20 Kelvin.

Relevance to NASA

Future short-wave, mid-wave, and long-wave infrared Earth science and planetary science missions all require detectors that are sensitive, broadband, and require low-power for operation.
Future Astrophysics instruments require cryogenic detectors that are super sensitive, broadband, and provide imaging capability (multi-pixel).
Aerosol spaceborne lidar as identified by 2017 decadal survey. Reduces uncertainty about climate forcing in aerosol-cloud interactions and ocean ecosystem carbon dioxide uptake. Additional applications in planetary surface mapping, vegetation, and trace gas lidar.
Earth Radiation Budget measurement per 2007 decadal survey Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) Tier-1 designation. To maintain the continuous radiation budget measurement for climate modeling and better understand radiative forcings.
Astrophysical missions such as Origins Space Telescope (OST) will need IR and Far-IR detector and related technologies.
LANDSAT Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS), Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO), BOReal Ecosystem Atmosphere Study (BOREAS), Methane Trace Gas Sounder or other infrared earth observing missions

Current Science missions utilizing two-dimensional, large-format cryogenic readout circuits:

HAWC + (High Resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Upgrade) for SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy)
PIPER (Primordial Inflation Polarization Experiment), Balloon-borne

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-4.

Two-Dimensional Cryogenic Readout for Far IR Bolometers

Low power, low noise, cryogenic multiplexed readout for large format two-dimensional bolometer arrays with 1000 or more pixels, operating at 65-350 mK. We require a superconducting readout capable of reading two Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) per pixel within a 1 mm-square spacing. The wafer-scale readout of interest will be capable of being indium-bump bonded directly to two dimensional arrays of membrane bolometers, after the application of indium-bumps possibly at another facility. We require row and column readout with very low crosstalk, low read noise, and low detector Noise Equivalent Power degradation.

Current Science missions utilizing two-dimensional, large-format cryogenic readout circuits:

HAWC + (High Resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Upgrade) for SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy)
PIPER (Primordial Inflation Polarization Experiment), Balloon-borne

Future missions requiring two-TES per pixel readout with two-dimensional cryogenic circuits:

PIPER Dual Polarization Upgrade
PICO (Probe of Inflation and Cosmic Origins, a Probe-class Cosmic Microwave Background mission concept

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 4-5.

Sub-milliWatt amplifiers enabling multiplexed readout systems (MRS)

Sub-milliWatt amplifiers enabling multiplexed readout systems (MRS) in the 4-8 GHz bandwidth are needed to maintain the thermal stability of Focal Plane Array and Origins Space Telescope(OST) instruments Origins Survey Spectrometer (OSS) microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) and Far-infrared Imager and Polarimeter (FIP) and Lynx Telescope X-ray Microcalorimeter using microwave SQUID multiplexers.

Another bandwidth 0.5-8.5 GHz, would also be useful for Heterodyne Receiver for OST (HERO). Other NASA systems in the Space Geodesy Project (SGP) would be interested in bandwidths up to 2-14 GHz. All these systems include a comb generator coupled in periodically to calibrate out system drifts. A 30 dB coupler is being baselined.

Regardless of bandwidth or thermal dissipation requirements (both OST and Lynx instruments have tight self-heating requirements), the linearity of these amplifiers over the bandwidth is critical. With 200 microWatt power dissipation up to optimal biasing, we seek devices' P1dB and OIP3 data characterized at these low biases and packaging that provides matching circuits and calibration coupling at set temperatures from 4 Kelvin (~200uW biases) up to 300 Kelvin (nominal biases). We need to trade off Gain Flatness and Gain stages, with Noise Temperature that's achievable without upsetting the thermal stability and isolation of the overall telescope.

The dual objectives of controlling self-heating and optimizing linearity and noise temperature maintenance, trading off gain and gain stages is not unique (e.g., SGP), but NASA's OST and Lynx missions drive the state-of-the-art technology to new levels that other NASA programs and industry can benefit from.

15-20 dB Gain and <5 Kelvin Noise over the 4-8 GHz bandwidth must be demonstrated while operating linearly, biasing at 200uW (e.g., Vd=0.09V, Id=2.2mA) or less. The P1dB and OIP3 data should be collected at different biases to recommend gain and gain stages at temperatures from 4 Kelvin to 300K. An intermediate set point of particular interest is 20 Kelvin.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-4.

References:

Sensor and Detector Technologies for Visible, IR, Far-IR, and Submillimeter

Meixner, M. et al., “Overview of the Origins Space telescope: science drivers to observatory requirements,” Proc. SPIE 10698 (2018).
Leisawitz, D. et al., “The Origins Space telescope: mission concept overview,” Proc. SPIE 10698 (2018).
Allan, L. N., East, N. J., Mooney, J.T., Sandin, C., “Materials for large far-IR telescope mirrors,” Proc. SPIE 10698, Paper 10698-58 (2018).
Dipierro, M. et al., “The Origins Space telescope cryogenic-thermal architecture,” Proc. SPIE 10698, Paper 10698-44 (2018).
Sakon, I., et al., “The mid-infrared imager/spectrometer/coronagraph instrument (MISC) for the Origins Space Telescope,” Proc. SPIE 10698, Paper 10698-42 (2018).
Staguhn, J. G., et al., “Origins Space Telescope: the far infrared imager and polarimeter FIP,” Proc. SPIE 10698, Paper 10698-45 (2018).
Risacher, C. et al., “The upGREAT 1.9 THz multi-pixel high resolution spectrometer for the SOFIA Observatory,” A&A 595, A34 (2016). How about TST paper?
Goldsmith, P., Sub--Millimeter Heterodyne Focal-Plane Arrays for High-Resolution Astronomical Spectroscopy,'' Goldsmith, P. 2017, The Radio Science Bulletin, 362, 53.
Performance of Backshort-Under-Grid Kilopixel TES arrays for HAWC+", DOI 10.1007/s10909-016-1509-9
Characterization of Kilopixel TES detector arrays for PIPER", Bibliographic link: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018AAS...23115219D
A Time Domain SQUID Multiplexing System for Large Format TES Arrays": PDF download link: http://ws680.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=30767

Two-Dimensional Cryogenic Readout for Far IR Bolometers

"Performance of Backshort-Under-Grid Kilopixel TES arrays for HAWC+", DOI 10.1007/s10909-016-1509-9
"Characterization of Kilopixel TES detector arrays for PIPER", Bibliographic link: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018AAS...23115219D
"A Time Domain SQUID Multiplexing System for Large Format TES Arrays": PDF download link:
http://ws680.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=30767

Sub-milliWatt amplifiers enabling multiplexed readout systems (MRS)

Mellberg, A., et al, “InP HEMT-Based,Cryogenic, Wideband LNAs for 4-8 GHz operating at very low DC Power”, https://zapdf.com/inp-hemt-based-cryogenic-wideband-lnas-for-4-8-ghz-operating.html
Montazeri, S. et al, “A Sub-milliwatt 4-8 GHz SiGe Cryogenic Low Noise Amplifier, https://zapdf.com/a-sub-milliwatt-4x20138-ghz-sige-cryogenic-low-noise-amplifi.html
“Ultra-Low-Power Cryogenic SiGe Low-Noise Amplifiers: Theory and Demonstration”, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 64, NO. 1, JANUARY 2016.
Schleeh, J. et al, “Ultralow-Power Cryogenic InP HEMT With Minimum Noise Temperature of 1 K at 6 GHz”, IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS, VOL. 33, NO. 5, MAY 2012.

Detectors

This subtopic covers detector requirements for a broad range of wavelengths from UV through to gamma ray for applications in Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Science. Requirements across the board are for greater numbers of readout pixels, lower power, faster readout rates, greater quantum efficiency, single photon counting, and enhanced energy resolution.

The proposed efforts must be directly linked to a requirement for a NASA mission. These include Explorers, Discovery, Cosmic Origins, Physics of the Cosmos, Solar-Terrestrial Probes, Vision Missions, and Earth Science Decadal Survey missions. Proposals should reference current NASA missions and mission concepts where relevant. Specific technology areas are:

Solid-state single photon counting radiation tolerant detectors in CCD or CMOS architecture for astrophysics, heliophysics, and planetary missions.
Large area array, low noise, high efficiency CMOS, potentially in 3D stacked technology for the very large focal plane arrays of large aperture telescopes as well for heliophysics and planetary science measurements.
Significant improvement in wide band gap semiconductor materials, such as AlGaN, ZnMgO and SiC, individual detectors, and detector arrays for operation at room temperature for astrophysics missions and planetary science composition measurements.
Highly integrated, low noise (< 300 electrons rms with interconnects), low power (< 100 uW/channel) mixed signal ASIC readout electronics as well as charge amplifier ASIC readouts with tunable capacitive inputs to match detector pixel capacitance. See needs of National Research Council's Earth Science Decadal Survey (NRC, 2007).
Visible-blind SiC Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) for EUV photon counting are required. The APDs must show a linear mode gain >10E6 at a breakdown reverse voltage between 80 and 100V. The APD's must demonstrate detection capability of better than 6 photons/pixel/s down to 135nm wavelength. See needs of National Research Council's Earth Science Decadal Survey (NRC, 2007): Tropospheric ozone.
Visible-blind UV and EUV detectors with small pixels, large format, photon-counting sensitivity and detectivity, low voltage and power requirements.
Large area (3 m²) photon counting near-UV detectors with 3 mm pixels and able to count at 10 MHz. Array with high active area fraction (>85%), 0.5 megapixels and readout less than 1 mW/channel. Imaging from low-Earth orbit of air fluorescence will require the development of high sensitivity and efficiency detection of 300-400 nm UV photons to measure signals at the few photon (single photo-electron) level. A secondary goal minimizes the sensitivity to photons with a wavelength greater than 400 nm. High electronic gain (10E4 to 10E6), low noise, fast time response (<10 ns), minimal dead time (<5% dead time at 10 ns response time), high segmentation with low dead area (<20% nominal, <5% goal), and the ability to tailor pixel size to match that dictated by the imaging optics. Optical designs under consideration dictate a pixel size ranging from approximately 2 x 2 mm² to 10 x 10 mm². Focal plane mass must be minimized (2g/cm² goal). Individual pixel readout is required. The entire focal plane detector can be formed from smaller, individual sub-arrays.
Neutral density filter for hard x-rays (> 1 keV) to provide attenuation by a factor of 10 to 1000 or more. The filter must provide broad attenuation across a broad energy range (from 1 keV to ~100 keV or more) with a flat attenuation profile of better than 20%.
Solar X-ray detectors with small independent pixels (< 250 ¼m) and fast read-out (>10,000 count/s/pixel) over an energy range from < 5 keV to 300 keV.
Supporting technologies that would help enable X-ray Surveyor mission that requires the development of X-ray microcalorimeter arrays with much larger field of view, ~105-106 pixels, of pitch ~ 25-100 um, and ways to read out the signals. For example, modular superconducting magnetic shielding is sought that can be extended to enclose a full-scale focal plane array. All joints between segments of the shielding enclosure must also be superconducting.
Improved long-wavelength blocking filters are needed for large-area, x-ray microcalorimeters. Filters with supporting grids are sought that, in addition to increasing filter strength, also enhance EMI shielding (1 - 10 GHz) and thermal uniformity for decontamination heating. X-ray transmission of greater than 80% at 600 eV per filter is sought, with infrared transmissions less than 0.01% and ultraviolet transmission of less than 5% per filter. Means of producing filter diameters as large as 10 cm should be considered.

NASA flagship missions under study are LUVOIR, HabEx, Lynx, New Frontier-IO:

The desired deliverables are results of tests and analysis of designs and/or prototype hardware. The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-5.

References:

While the size distribution of matter in space that ranges from large-scale (planets – moons – asteroids – dust) objects is quite well characterized down to micron-sized dust particles, below that there is a significant, largely unobserved gap down to single ions/electrons/ENAs. To cover the observational gap between 10-6m and 10-10m in particle size that includes nano-dust and molecules in space, new technology investment is needed. Advanced sensors for the detection of elementary particles (atoms, molecules and their ions) and electric and magnetic fields in space and associated instrument technologies are often critical for enabling transformational science from the study of the sun's outer corona, to the solar wind, to the trapped radiation in Earth's and other planetary magnetic fields, and to the atmospheric composition of the planets and their moons. Improvements in particles and fields sensors and associated instrument technologies enable further scientific advancement for upcoming NASA missions such as CubeSats, Explorers, STP, LWS, and planetary exploration missions. Technology developments that result in a reduction in size, mass, power, and cost will enable these missions to proceed. Of interest are advanced magnetometers, electric field booms, ion/atom/molecule detectors, dust particle detectors, and associated support electronics and materials.

Low energy particle instruments often require significant high voltage power supplies up to 20KV. Linear control of high voltage with optical isolation is highly desirable in space plasma instrument. General specifications 3.3 to5V control, 10KV to 20KV high voltage, low leakage current, up to 25KV isolation voltage, Fast slew rate >200V/us; temperature insensitivity on the range -35° C to +55° C, radiation hardness >1~200Keads.

Subtopic is relevant to NASA Explorer missions, Decadal survey missions MIDEX, GDC, DYNAMICS, DRIVE Initiative, DISCOVERY, New Frontiers; CubeSat and SmallSat missions; and Sub-orbitals.

The desired deliverables of a Phase II are prototype and hardware. A prototype component that can be tested in engineering model plasma instrument. The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 5-7.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

This subtopic solicits development of advanced instrument technologies and components suitable for deployment on in-situ planetary and lunar missions. These technologies must be capable of withstanding operation in space and planetary environments, including the expected pressures, radiation levels, launch and impact stresses, and range of survival and operational temperatures. Technologies that reduce mass, power, volume, and data rates for instruments and instrument components without loss of scientific capability are of particular importance. In addition, technologies that can increase instrument resolution and sensitivity or achieve new & innovative scientific measurements are solicited. For example, missions, see http://science.hq.nasa.gov/missions. For details of the specific requirements see the National Research Council’s, Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/2013decadal/). Technologies that support NASA?s New Frontiers and Discovery missions to various planetary bodies are of top priority.

In-situ technologies are being sought to achieve much higher resolution and sensitivity with significant improvements over existing capabilities. In-situ technologies amenable to Cubesats and Smallsats are also being solicited. Atmospheric probe sensors and technologies that can provide significant improvements over previous missions are also sought. Specifically, this subtopic solicits instrument development that provides significant advances in the following areas, broken out by planetary body:

Mars - Sub-systems relevant to current in-situ instrument needs (e.g., lasers and other light sources from UV to microwave, X-ray and ion sources, detectors, mixers, mass analyzers, etc.) or electronics technologies (e.g., FPGA and ASIC implementations, advanced array readouts, miniature high voltage power supplies). Technologies that support high precision in-situ measurements of elemental, mineralogical, and organic composition of planetary materials are sought. Conceptually simple, low risk technologies for in-situ sample extraction and/or manipulation including fluid and gas storage, pumping, and chemical labeling to support analytical instrumentation. Seismometers, mass analyzers, technologies for heat flow probes, and atmospheric trace gas detectors. Improved robustness and g-force survivability for instrument components, especially for geophysical network sensors, seismometers, and advanced detectors (iCCDs, PMT arrays, etc.). Instruments geared towards rock/sample interrogation prior to sample return are desired.
Venus - Sensors, mechanisms, and environmental chamber technologies for operation in Venus's high temperature, high-pressure environment with its unique atmospheric composition. Approaches that can enable precision measurements of surface mineralogy and elemental composition and precision measurements of trace species, noble gases and isotopes in the atmosphere are particularly desired.
Small Bodies - Technologies that can enable sampling from asteroids and from depth in a comet nucleus, improved in-situ analysis of comets. Imagers and spectrometers that provide high performance in low light environments. Dust environment measurements & particle analysis, small body resource identification, and/or quantification of potential small body resources (e.g., oxygen, water and other volatiles, hydrated minerals, carbon compounds, fuels, metals, etc.). Advancements geared towards instruments that enable elemental or mineralogy analysis (such as high-sensitivity X-ray and UV-fluorescence spectrometers, UV/fluorescence systems, electron probes including collimated e-beam sources for micro-analyzers, mass spectrometry, gas chromatography and tunable diode laser sensors, calorimetry, imaging spectroscopy, and LIBS) are sought.
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - Components, sample acquisition, and instrument systems that can enhance mission science return and withstand the low-temperatures/high-pressures of the atmospheric probes during entry.
The Moon – For lunar science, solicited are advancements in the areas of compact, light-weight, low power instruments geared towards in- situ lunar surface measurements, geophysical measurements, lunar atmosphere and dust environment measurements & regolith particle analysis. Specifically, advancements geared towards instruments that enable elemental or mineralogy analysis (such as high-sensitivity X-ray and Raman spectrometers, UV/fluorescence systems, scanning electron microscopy with chemical analysis capability, mass spectrometry, gas chromatography and tunable diode laser sensors, calorimetry, laser- Raman spectroscopy, imaging spectroscopy, and LIBS) are sought. These developments should be geared towards sample interrogation, prior to possible sample return. Systems and subsystems for seismometers and heat flow sensors capable of long-term continuous operation over multiple lunar day/night cycles with improved sensitivity at lower mass and reduced power consumption are sought. Also, of interest are portable surface ground penetrating radars to characterize the thickness of the lunar regolith, as well as low mass, thermally stable hollow cubes and retro-reflector array assemblies for lunar surface laser ranging. Of secondary importance are instruments that measure the micrometeoroid and lunar secondary ejecta environment, plasma environment, surface electric field, secondary radiation at the lunar surface, and dust concentrations and its diurnal dynamics. Further, lunar regolith particle analysis techniques are desired (e.g., optical interrogation or software development that would automate integration of suites of multiple back scatter electron images acquired at different operating conditions, as well as permit integration of other data such as cathodoluminescence and energy-dispersive x-ray analysis.). This topic seeks advancement of concepts and components to develop a Lunar Geophysical Network as envisioned in the Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013 - 2022. Understanding the distribution and origin of both shallow and deep moonquakes will provide insights into the current dynamics of the lunar interior and its interplay with external phenomena (e.g., tidal interactions with Earth). The network is envisioned to be comprised of multiple free-standing seismic stations which would operate over many years in even the most extreme lunar temperature environments. Technologies are sought to advance all aspects of the network including sensor emplacement, power, and communications in addition to seismic, heat flow, magnetic field and electromagnetic sounding sensors.

Proposers are strongly encouraged to relate their proposed development to:

NASA's future planetary exploration goals
Existing flight instrument capability, to provide a comparison metric for assessing proposed improvements

Proposed instrument architectures should be as simple, reliable, and low risk as possible while enabling compelling science. Novel instrument concepts are encouraged particularly if they enable a new class of scientific discovery. Technology developments relevant to multiple environments and platforms are also desired.

Proposers should show an understanding of relevant space science needs and present a feasible plan to fully develop a technology and infuse it into a NASA program.

In-situ instruments and technologies are essential bases to achieve SMD's planetary science goals summarized in Decadal Study (National Research Council’s, Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022. In-situ instruments and technologies play indispensable role for NASA’s New Frontiers and Discovery missions to various planetary bodies.

NASA SMD has two excellent programs to bring this subtopic technologies to higher level: PICASSO and MatISSE. The Planetary Instrument Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations (PICASSO) Program invests in low-TRL technologies and funds instrument feasibility studies, concept formation, proof-of-concept instruments, and advanced component technology. The Maturation of Instruments for Solar System Exploration (MatISSE) Program invests in mid-TRL technologies and enables timely and efficient infusion of technology into planetary science missions. The PICASSO and MatISSE are in addition to Phase III opportunities.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-5.

References:

For example, missions see http://science.hq.nasa.gov/missions
National Research Council's, Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/2013decadal/)

In-situ sensors & sensor systems targeting trace gas measurements

Earth science measurements from space are considerably enhanced by observations from generally far-less costly suborbital instruments and sensor systems. These instruments and sensors support NASA’s ESD science, calibration/validation and environmental monitoring activities by providing ancillary data for satellite calibration and validation; algorithm development/refinement; and finer-scale process studies. Accordingly, instrument and sensor systems are sought that include air quality, greenhouse gases, flux measurements, advancement of methods for assessing air mass photochemical age or for differentiating emissions sources (for example, real-time, fast response isotopic carbon measurements) and atmospheric composition. In-situ sensor systems (airborne, land and water-based) can comprise stand-alone instrument and data packages; instrument systems. This subtopic solicits instrument systems configured for ground-based/mobile surface deployments, as well as for integration on NASA’s Airborne Science aircraft fleet or commercial providers, UAS, or balloons. An important goal is to create sustainable measurement capabilities to support NASA’s Earth science objectives – most notably support of its Earth Venture programs especially validation and verification of LEO and GEO AQ/AC satellites through involvement with NASA’s intensive targeted field campaigns and or its ground-based networks. Instrument prototypes as a deliverable in Phase II proposals and/or field demonstrations are encouraged.

Complete instrument systems are generally desired, including features such as remote/unattended operation and data acquisition, and minimum size, weight, and power consumption. All proposals must summarize the current state of the art, and demonstrate how the proposed sensor or sensor system represents a significant improvement over the state of the art.

Desired passive sensors/instruments, in-situ/airborne sensors or mated platform/sensors include:

Small, turn-key trace gas measurement sensors with 1-10 Hz time response that are suitable for autonomous aircraft and/or UAV deployment and capable of detecting:
- NOx, NOy, CH₂O, O₃, benzene, toluene at < 5 % uncertainty
- CO, CH₄, OCS and N₂O at < 1% uncertainty
- CO₂ at < 0.05% uncertainty,
Where these uncertainties apply to measurements made on airborne platforms under flight conditions (variable ambient pressure and temperature)
Real-time, 0.1-1 Hz gas-phase radioisotopic (especially radiocarbon) measurements suitable for distinguishing emissions sources and for deployment on aircraft or UAVs
Bulk or film retroreflector subsystems that advance NASA open path trace gas measurements (similar to the widely used NASA LaRC Diode Laser Hygrometer). Operational at wavelengths of 2-5 um and/or 8-12 um bands with low return light cone divergence (<2°).
Low-volume (<0.1 L) multi-pass cell spectrometer subsystems that advance NASA extractive trace gas measurements. Operational at wavelengths 2-5 um or greater with pathlengths of 50+ meters.
Aircraft static air temperature sensor measurement to better than 0.1° C accuracy under upper troposphere / lower stratosphere conditions.
Miniaturized passive sensor systems that observe both trace gases and aerosols at a similar price point but beyond the capabilities of both the Pandora spectrometer (http://sciglob.com) and Cimel sun photometer (https://www.cimel.fr) systems are sought. System should be stand-alone, user-friendly, autonomous/remotely operated instruments actively tracking the Sun and Moon (with a pointing precision of at least if not better than 0.1^o) and capable of making sky/surface observations on the scale of tens of seconds from both stable (e.g., roofs/towers) and mobile platforms (e.g., ship and or vehicle) while having integrated real-time preliminary data processing for trace gases and aerosols. Systems must be capable of providing high-resolution UV-VIS-NIR solar/lunar/clear sky spectra that can be used to determine atmospheric abundance of O₃, NO₂, HCHO, SO₂, BrO, HONO, CHOCHO, H₂O_v and aerosols. TG observations require a S/N ratio of better than 2500:1 whereas aerosol observations require an accuracy of at least 3%. Proposed systems must maintain an absolute calibration while deployed.

Desired ocean color sensors/instruments include:

In-situ instruments to measure in-situ and lab-based absorption, backscatter and beam attenuation in the ocean, extending the current commercial capability beyond what is available today (410-750 nm) and obtaining measurements that extend into the UV and Near-IR regions of the spectrum.
In-situ instruments to measure ocean Volume Scattering Function (VSF) and backscatter, extending the current capacity of few specific wavelengths to a hyperspectral capability extending from the UV to NIR with high angular (<10^o) resolution.
Instrumentation with improved methods and measurement platform for upwelling radiances just below the water surface (Lu(0-)), extending spectrally from the UV to NIR.
Instrumentation for in-situ measurements of polarization IOPs (Mueller Matrix: S11, S12 and S22) spanning from UV<->NIR, with high angular resolution (<=10^o) of scattering components.

The S1.08 subtopic is and remains highly relevant to NASA SMD and Earth Science research programs, in particular, the Earth Science Atmospheric Composition and Climate focus areas. In-situ sensors and, specifically trace gas sensors, inform directed Airborne Science field campaigns led by these programs and provide important validation of airborne and ground-based remote sensors (e.g., GCAS, 4STAR, AERONET, and Pandoras) as well as the current and next generation of satellite-based sensors (e.g., OCO, TEMPO). The solicited measurements are highly relevant to past and future NASA airborne campaigns (e.g., FIREX-AQ, CAMP2EX, KORUS-AQ, DISCOVER-AQ). Given the on-going and continuing need for such airborne science missions, it is expected that the sensors and sensor systems developed under this subtopic would directly benefit these missions and those expected in the coming decade.

Other programs relevant to NASA are ESD Tropospheric Composition Program and ESD Radiation Sciences Program.

Instruments developed for this subtopic would provide synergistic trace gas and aerosol observations that would contribute to the validation and or verification of the following satellites (both U.S. and international):

Active Satellites:
- AURA NASA LEO.
- MetOp-A EUMETSAT LEO.
- S-NPP NASA LEO.
- MetOp-B EUMETSAT LEO.
- DSCOVR NASA L1.
- Sentinel 3A EUMETSAT LEO.
- Sentinel 5P ESA LEO.
- GaoFen-5 CSA LEO.
- NOAA-20 NOAA LEO.
- Sentinel 3B EUMETSAT LEO.
To be launched:
- GEO-KOMPSAT 2 NIER GEO.
- TEMPO NASA GEO.
- Sentinel 4 EUMETSAT GEO.
- Sentinel 5 EUMETSAT LEO.
- MAIA NASA LEO.

The need horizon of the subtopic sensors and sensors systems is BOTH near (<5 years) and mid-term (5-10 years). The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 4-7.

References:

Relevant current and past field campaign websites include:

KORUS-AQ: https://espo.nasa.gov/korus-aq
DISCOVER-AQ: https://discover-aq.larc.nasa.gov/
CAMP2Ex: https://espo.nasa.gov/camp2ex/content/CAMP2Ex
FIREX-AQ: https://espo.nasa.gov/firex-aq/content/FIREX-AQ, https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/projects/firex/science.html
AToM: https://espo.nasa.gov/home/atom

Cryogenic systems provide the necessary environment for low temperature detectors and sensors, as well as for telescopes and instrument optics on infrared observatories. As such, technological improvements to cryogenic systems further advance the mission goals of NASA through enabling performance (and ultimately science gathering) capabilities of flight detectors and sensors. There are five areas in which NASA is seeking to expand state of the art capabilities:

Low Temperature/High Efficiency Cryocoolers

NASA seeks improvements to multistage low temperature spaceflight cryocoolers. Coolers are sought with the lowest temperature stage typically in the range of 4 to 10 K, with cooling power at the coldest stage larger than currently available, and high efficiency. The desired cooling power is application specific, but two examples are 0.3 Watts at 10 K and 0.2 Watts at 4 K. In applications where the device is coupled to an advanced magnetic cooler, it needs to tolerate large swings in heat load on a time scale of the order of minutes to tens of minutes. Devices that produce extremely low vibration, particularly at frequencies below a few hundred Hz, are of special interest. System or component level improvements that improve efficiency and reduce complexity and cost are desirable.

Coolers in this class are of interest for space telescopes and instruments for infrared astronomy, as well as for instruments using low temperature detectors, particularly those using advanced sub-Kelvin detectors. Examples of future missions that require this technology include two of the large missions under study for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey:

Origins Space Telescope.
LYNX (microcalorimeter instrument).

Low temperature cryocoolers are listed as a "Technology Gap" in the latest (2017) Cosmic Origins Program Annual Technology Report.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-5.

Miniaturized/Efficient Cryocooler Systems

NASA seeks miniature, highly efficient cryocoolers for instruments on Earth and planetary missions. A range of cooling capabilities sought. Two examples include 0.2 Watt at 30 K with heat rejection at 300 K, and 0.3 W at 35K with heat rejection of 150 K. For both examples, an input power of ? 5 Watt and a total mass of ? 400 grams is desired. The ability to fit within the volume and power limitations of a SMALLSAT platform would be highly advantageous. Components, such as low-cost cryocooler electronics that are sufficiently rad hard for lunar or planetary missions, are also sought.

NASA is moving toward the use of small, low cost satellites to achieve many of its Earth science, and some of its planetary science goals. The development of cryocoolers that fit within the size and power constraints of these platforms will greatly expand their capability, for example, by enabling the use of infrared detectors. In planetary science, progress on cryogenic coolers will enable the use of far- to mid-infrared sensors with orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity for outer planetary missions. These will allow thermal mapping of outer planets and their moons.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-4.

Sub-Kelvin Cooling Systems

Future NASA missions require sub-Kelvin coolers for extremely low temperature detectors. Systems are sought that will provide continuous cooling with high cooling power (> 5microWatts at 50 mK), low operating temperature (< 35 mK), and higher heat rejection temperature (preferably > 10 K), while maintaining high thermodynamic efficiency and low system mass. Improvements in components for adiabatic demagnetization refrigerators are also sought. Specific components include:

Compact, lightweight, low current superconducting magnets capable of producing a field of at least 4 Tesla while operating at a temperature of at least 10 K, and preferably above 15 K. Desirable properties include:

A high engineering current density, preferably > 300 Amp/mm
A field/current ratio of > 0.5 Tesla/Amp, and preferably > 0.8 Tesla/Amp
Low hysteresis heating
Mass < 2.5 kg

Lightweight Active/Passive magnetic shielding (for use with 4 Tesla magnets) with low hysteresis and eddy current losses, and low remanence
Heat switches for operation at < 10 K with on/off conductance ratio > 30,000, actuation time of < 10 s, and an off conductance of < 50 microWatt/K. Materials are also sought for gas-gap heat switch shells: these are tubes with extremely low thermal conductance below 1 K; they must be impermeable to helium gas, have high strength, including stability against buckling, and have an inner diameter > 20 mm
High cooling power density magnetocaloric materials, especially single crystals with volume > 20 cc. Examples of desired single crystals include GdF3, GdLiF4, and Gd elpasolite
10 mK- 300 mK high-resolution thermometry

Suspensions with the strength and stiffness of Kevlar, but lower thermal conductance from 4 K to 0.050 K

Advanced superconducting detectors, such as Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) and Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs), operate at extremely low temperatures. Large arrays of such detectors will require advanced subKelvin coolers with large cooling power. These detectors offer orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity, and thus are slated for a number of future astrophysics missions. Examples of future missions that advanced subKelvin coolers include two of the large missions under study for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey: Origins Space Telescope and LYNX (microcalorimeter instrument). Other future missions include Probe of Inflation and Cosmic Origins. SubKelvin coolers are listed as a "Technology Gap" in the latest (2017) Cosmic Origins Program Annual Technology Report.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-4.

Rad-hard Cryogenic Accelerometers

NASA seeks accelerometers that can operate at 150 K, withstand a 0.01 Tesla magnetic field and are radiation hard to 2-5 megarads.

Cryocoolers are needed for for the operation of high sensitivity infrared detectors that are planned for missions to the outer planets and their moons. Most cryocooler components are easily made rad-hard. However, accelerometers, which are required for vibration cancellation, are currently not available that can operate in extreme conditions, especially in the high radiation environments around Jupiter's moons.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-4.

Ultra-lightweight Dewars

NASA seeks extremely lightweight thermal isolation systems for scientific instruments. An important example is a large cylindrical, open top dewar to enable large, cold balloon telescopes. Such a dewar would be launched warm, and so would not need to function at ambient pressure, but at altitude, under ~4 millibar external pressure, it would need to contain cold helium vapor. In operation, heat flux through the walls should be less than 0.5 Watts per square meter. The ability to rapidly pump and hold a vacuum at altitude is necessary. Initial demonstration units of greater than 1 meter diameter and height are desired, but the technology must be scalable to 3 – 4 meters with a mass that is a small fraction of the net lift capability of a scientific balloon (~2000 kg).

The potential for ground-based infrared astronomy is extremely limited. Even in airborne observatories, such as SOFIA, observations are limited by the brightness of the atmosphere and the warm telescope itself. However, high altitude scientific balloons are above enough of the atmosphere, that with a telescope large enough and cold enough, background-limited observations are possible. The ARCADE project demonstrated that at high altitudes, it is possible to cool instruments in helium vapor. Development of ultra-lightweight dewars that could be scaled up to large size, yet still be liftable by a balloon would enable ground-breaking observational capability.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-4.

References:

Low temperature/high efficiency cryocoolers

For more information on the Origins Space Telescope, see https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/firs/

Miniaturized/Efficient Cryocooler Systems

An example of cubesat mission using cryocoolers is given at: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/ciras.php

Sub-Kelvin cooling systems

For a description of the state-of-the-art sub-Kelvin cooler in the Hitomi mission, see: Shirron, et al. "Thermodynamic performance of the 3-stage ADR for the Astro-H Soft-X-ray Spectrometer instrument," Cryogenics 74 (2016) 24–30, and references therein.
For articles describing magnetic sub-Kelvin coolers and their components, see the July 2014 special issue of Cryogenics: Cryogenics 62 (2014) 129–220.

Rad-hard cryogenic accelerometers

I.M. McKinley, M.A. Mok, D.L. Johnson, and J.I. Rodriguez, 2018. Characterization Testing of Lockheed Martin Micro1-2 Cryocoolers Optimized for 220 K Environment, International Cryocooler Conference, Burlington, VT, USA. June 18-21, 2018. Cryocoolers 20.
M.A. Mok, I.M. McKinley, and J.I. Rodriguez, 2018. Low Temperature Characterization of Mechanical Isolators for Cryocoolers, International Cryocooler Conference, Burlington, VT, USA. June 18-21, 2018. Cryocoolers 20.
D. Glaister, E. Marquardt and R. Taylor, "Ball Low Vibration Cryocooler Assemblies," preesented at the ICC20, June 2018, Burlington, VT.
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/278/1/012005

Ultra-lightweight dewars

For a description of a state-of-the art balloon cryostat, see Singal, et al. "The ARCADE 2 instrument," The Astrophysical Journal, 730:138 (12pp), 2011 April 1

Recent developments of laser control and manipulation of atoms have led to new types of precision inertial force and gravity sensors based on atom interferometry. Atom interferometers exploit the quantum mechanical wave nature of atomic particles and quantum gases for sensitive interferometric measurements. Ground-based laboratory experiments and instruments have already demonstrated beyond the state-of-the-art performances of accelerometer, gyroscope, and gravity measurements. The microgravity environment in space provides opportunities for further drastic improvements in sensitivity and precision. Such inertial sensors will have great potential to provide new capabilities for NASA Earth and planetary gravity measurements, for spacecraft inertial navigation and guidance, and for gravitational wave detection and test of properties of gravity in space.

Currently the most mature development of atom interferometers as measurement instruments are those based on light pulsed atom interferometers with freefall cold atoms. There remain a number of technical challenges to infuse this technology in space applications. Some of the identified key challenges are (but not limited to):

Compact high flux ultra-cold atom sources for free space atom interferometers (Example: >1e+06 total useful free-space atoms, <1 nK, Rb, K, Cs, Yb, Sr, and Hg. Performance and species can be defined by offerors). Other related innovative methods and components for cold atom sources are of great interest, such as a highly compact and regulatable atomic vapor cell.
Ultra-high vacuum technologies that allow completely sealed, non-magnetic enclosures with high quality optical access and the base pressure maintained <1e-09 torr. Consideration should be given to the inclusion of cold atom sources of interest.
Beyond the state-of-the-art photonic components at wavelengths for atomic species of interest, particularly at NIR and visible: efficient acousto-optic modulators (low RF power ~200 mW, low thermal distortion, ~80% or greater diffraction efficiency); efficient electro-optic modulators (low bias drift, residual AM, and return loss, fiber-coupled preferred), miniature optical isolators (~30 dB isolation or greater, ~ -2 dB loss or less), robust high-speed high-extinction shutters (switching time < 1 ms, extinction > 60 dB are highly desired).
Flight qualifiable lasers or laser systems of narrow linewidth, high tunability, and/or higher power for clock and cooling transitions of atomic species of interest. Cooling and trapping lasers: 10 kHz linewidth and ~1 W or greater total optical power. Compact clock lasers: 5e-15 Hz/?? near 1 s (wavelengths for Yb+, Yb, Sr clock transitions are of special interest).
Analysis and simulation tool of a cold atom system in trapped and freefall states relevant to atom interferometer and clock measurements in space.

All proposed system performances can be defined by offerors with sufficient justification. Subsystem technology development proposals should clearly state the relevance, define requirements, relevant atomic species and working laser wavelengths, and indicate its path to a space-borne instrument.

Currently, no technology exists that can compete with the potential sensitivity, (potential) compactness, and robustness of Atom Optical-based gravity and time measurement devices. Earth science, planetary science, and astrophysics all benefit from unprecedented improvements in gravity and time measurement. Specific roadmap items supporting science instrumentation include, but are not limited to:

TA-7.1.1: Destination Reconnaissance, Prospecting, and Mapping (gravimetry)
TA-8.1.2: Electronics (reliable control electronics for laser systems)
TA-8.1.3: Optical Components (reliable laser systems)
TA-8.1.4: Microwave, Millimeter, and Submillimeter-Waves (ultra-low noise microwave output when coupled w/ optical frequency comb)
TA-8.1.5: Lasers (reliable laser system w/ long lifetime)

The desired deliverables are prototype hardware/software, documented evidence of delivered TRL (test report, data, etc.), summary analysis, and supporting documentation. The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-5.

References:

2017 NASA Strategic Technology Investment Plan: https://go.usa.gov/xU7sE
2015 NASA Technology Roadmaps: https://go.usa.gov/xU7sy

This subtopic solicits development of in-situ instrument technologies and components to advance the maturity of science instruments focused on the detection of evidence of life, especially extant of life, in the Ocean Worlds (e.g., Europa, Enceladus, Titan, Ganymede, Callisto, Ceres, etc.). These technologies must be capable of withstanding operation in space and planetary environments, including the expected pressures, radiation levels, launch and impact stresses, and range of survival and operational temperatures. Technologies that reduce mass, power, volume, and data rates for instruments and instrument components without loss of scientific capability are of particular importance. In addition, technologies that can increase instrument resolution and sensitivity or achieve new & innovative scientific measurements are solicited.

Specifically, this subtopic solicits instrument technologies and components that provide significant advances in the following areas, broken out by planetary body:

Europa, Enceladus, Titan and other Ocean Worlds in general - Technologies and components relevant to life detection instruments (e.g., microfluidic analyzer, MEMS chromatography/mass spectrometers, laser-ablation mass spectrometer, fluorescence microscopic imager, Raman spectrometer, tunable laser system, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometer, X-ray fluorescence, digital holographic microscope-fluoresce microscope, Antibody microarray biosensor, nanocantilever biodetector etc.) Technologies for high radiation environments, e.g., radiation mitigation strategies, radiation tolerant detectors, and readout electronic components, which enable orbiting instruments to be both radiation-hard and undergo the planetary protection requirements of sterilization (or equivalent).
Europa - Life detection approaches optimized for evaluating and analyzing the composition of ice matrices with unknown pH and salt content. Instruments capable of detecting and identifying organic molecules (in particular biomolecules), salts and/or minerals important to understanding the present conditions of Europa s ocean are sought (such as high-resolution gas chromatograph or laser desorption mass spectrometers, dust detectors, organic analysis instruments with chiral discrimination, etc.). These developments should be geared towards analyzing and handling very small sample sizes (mg to mg) and/or low column densities/abundances. Also, of interest are imagers and spectrometers that provide high performance in low-light environments (visible and NIR imaging spectrometers, thermal imagers, etc.), as well as instruments capable of providing improving our understanding Europa s habitability by characterizing the ice, ocean, and deeper interior and monitoring ongoing geological activity such as plumes, ice fractures, and fluid motion (e.g., seismometers, magnetometers). Improvements to instruments capable of gravity (or other) measurements that might constrain properties such as ocean and ice shell thickness will also be considered.
Enceladus - Life detection approaches optimized for analyzing plume particles, as well as for determining the chemical state of Enceladus icy surface materials (particularly near plume sites). Instruments capable of detecting and identifying organic molecules (in particular biomolecules), salts and/or minerals important to understand the present conditions of the Enceladus ocean are sought (such as high-resolution gas chromatograph or laser desorption mass spectrometers, dust detectors, organic analysis instruments with chiral discrimination, etc.). These developments should be geared towards analyzing and handling very small sample sizes (mg to mg) and/or low column densities/abundances. Also, of interest are imagers and spectrometers that provide high performance in low-light environments (visible and NIR imaging spectrometers, thermal imagers, etc.), as well as instruments capable of monitoring the bulk chemical composition and physical characteristics of the plume (density, velocity, variation with time, etc.). Improvements to instruments capable of gravity (or other) measurements that might constrain properties such as ocean and ice shell thickness will also be considered.
Titan - Life detection approaches optimized for searching for biosignatures and biologically relevant compounds in Titan s lakes, including the presence of diagnostic trace organic species, and also for analyzing Titan s complex aerosols and surface materials. Mechanical and electrical components and subsystems that work in cryogenic (95K) environments; sample extraction from liquid methane/ethane, sampling from organic 'dunes' at 95K and robust sample preparation and handling mechanisms that feed into mass analyzers are sought. Balloon instruments, such as IR spectrometers, imagers, meteorological instruments, radar sounders, solid, liquid, air sampling mechanisms for mass analyzers, and aerosol detectors are also solicited. Low mass and power sensors, mechanisms and concepts for converting terrestrial instruments such as turbidimeters and echo sounders for lake measurements, weather stations, surface (lake and solid) properties packages, etc. to cryogenic environments (95K).
Other Ocean Worlds targets may include Ganymede, Callisto, Ceres, etc.

In-situ instrumments and technologies are essential bases to achieve SMD's planetary science goals summarized in Decadal Study (National Research Council’s, Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022. In-situ instruments and technologies play indispensable role for NASA’s New Frontiers and Discovery missions to various planetary bodies.

NASA SMD has two excellent programs to bring this subtopic technologies to higher level: PICASSO and MatISSE. The Planetary Instrument Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations (PICASSO) Program invests in low-TRL technologies and funds instrument feasibility studies, concept formation, proof-of-concept instruments, and advanced component technology. The Maturation of Instruments for Solar System Exploration (MatISSE) Program invests in mid-TRL technologies and enables timely and efficient infusion of technology into planetary science missions. The PICASSO and MatISSE are in addition to Phase III opportunities.

Proposers are strongly encouraged to relate their proposed development to:

NASA's future Ocean Worlds exploration goals
Existing flight instrument capability, to provide a comparison metric for assessing proposed improvements

Proposers should show an understanding of relevant space science needs and present a feasible plan to fully develop a technology and infuse it into a NASA program. The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3-5.

References

For synergistic NASA technology solicitation, see ROSES 2016/C.20 Concepts for Ocean worlds Life Detection Technology (COLDTECH) call: https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?method=init&solId={5C43865B-0C93-6ECA-BCD2-A3783CB1AAC8}&path=closedPast
For another synergistic NASA technology solicitation, see ROSES 2018/C.23 for Instrument Concepts for Europa Exploration 2 call: https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary!init.do?solId=%7b17B73E96-6B65-FE78-5B63-84C804831035%7d&path=open

This subtopic solicits development of technologies for sample collection from plumes in the Ocean Worlds Exploration Program (e.g., Europa, Enceladus, Titan, Ganymede, Callisto, Ceres, etc.). This sample collection system would be used as the front-end system in conjunction with in-situ instruments developed under subtopic S1.11. This fly-through sampling subtopic is distinct from S4.02, which solicits sample collection technologies from surface platforms. These technologies must be capable of withstanding operation in space and planetary environments, including the expected pressures, radiation levels, launch and impact stresses, and range of survival and operational temperatures. Technologies that allow collection during high speed (>1 km/sec) velocity passes through a plume are of interest as are technologies that can maximize total sample mass collected while passing through tenuous plumes. Technologies that reduce mass, power, volume, and data rates without loss of scientific capability are of particular importance. This technology would enable high-priority sampling and potential sample return from the plumes of Enceladus with a fly-by mission. This would be a substantial cost savings over a landed mission.

The icy moons of the outer Solar System are of astrobiological interest. The most dramatic target for sampling from a plume is for Enceladus. Enceladus is a small icy moon of Saturn, with a radius of only 252km. Cassini data have revealed about a dozen or so jets of fine icy particles emerging from the south polar region of Enceladus. The jets have also been shown to contain organic compounds, and the south-polar region is warmed by heat flow coming from below.

As a target for future missions, Enceladus rates high because fresh samples of interest are jetting into space ready for collection. Indeed, Enceladus has been added to the current call for New Frontiers missions with a focus on habitability and life detection. Particles from Enceladus also form the E-ring around Saturn. The particles in the E-ring are known to contain organics and are thus also an important target for sample collection and analysis. Recent data have indicated a possible plume at Europa that may also be carrying ocean water from that world into space. In addition to plumes, there are other energetic processes that can spray material from the surface of these low-gravity worlds into space where they could also be collected in-flight and analyzed.

Collecting samples for a variety of science purposes is required. These include samples that allow for determination of the chemical and physical properties of the source ocean, samples for detailed characterization of the organics present in the gas and particle phases, and samples for analysis for biomarkers indicative of life. Thus, these Ocean Worlds of the outer Solar System offer the opportunity for a conceptually new approach to life detection focusing on in-flight sample collection of material freshly injected into space. Technologies of particular interest include sample collection systems and subsystems capable of:

Capture, containment, and/or transfer of gas, liquid, ice, and/or mineral phases from plumes to sample processing and/or instrument interfaces.
Technologies for characterization of collected sample parameters including mass, volume, total dissolved solids in liquid samples, and insoluble solids.
Sample collection and sample capture for in-situ imaging.
Systems capable of high-velocity sample collection with minimal sample alteration to allow for habitability and life detection analyses.
Microfluidic sample collection systems that enable sample concentration and other manipulations.
Plume material collection technologies that minimize risk of terrestrial contamination, including organic chemical and microbial contaminates.

Proposers are strongly encouraged to relate their proposed development to NASA's future Ocean Worlds exploration goals. Proposed instrument architectures should be as simple, reliable, and low risk as possible while enabling compelling science. Novel instrument concepts are encouraged particularly if they enable a new class of scientific discovery. Technology developments relevant to multiple environments and platforms are also desired.

Proposers should show an understanding of relevant space science needs and present a feasible plan to fully develop a technology and infuse it into a NASA program. The desired deliverables are well-conceived and analyzed designs, prototypes, and test data. The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-5.

References:

For synergistic NASA technology solicitation, see ROSES 2016/C.20 Concepts for Ocean worlds Life Detection Technology (COLDTECH) call: https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?method=init&solId={5C43865B-0C93-6ECA-BCD2-A3783CB1AAC8}&path=init.
For the NASA Roadmap for Ocean World Exploration see: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/ROW.

Control of Scattered Starlight with Coronagraphs and Starshades

This subtopic addresses the unique problem of imaging and spectroscopic characterization of faint astrophysical objects that are located within the obscuring glare of much brighter stellar sources. Examples include planetary systems beyond our own, the detailed inner structure of galaxies with very bright nuclei, binary star formation, and stellar evolution. Contrast ratios of one million to ten billion over an angular spatial scale of 0.05-1.5 arcsec are typical of these objects. Achieving a very low background requires control of both scattered and diffracted light. The failure to control either amplitude or phase fluctuations in the optical train severely reduces the effectiveness of starlight cancellation schemes.

This innovative research focuses on advances in coronagraphic instruments, starlight cancellation instruments, and potential occulting technologies that operate at visible and near infrared wavelengths. The ultimate application of these instruments is to operate in space as part of a future observatory mission concepts such as the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) and the Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR). Measurement techniques include imaging, photometry, spectroscopy, and polarimetry. There is interest in component development and innovative instrument design, as well as in the fabrication of subsystem devices to include, but not limited to, the following areas:

Starlight Suppression Technologies:

Hybrid metal/dielectric, and polarization apodization masks for diffraction control of phase and amplitude for coronagraph scaled starshade experiments.
Low-scatter, low-reflectivity, sharp, flexible edges for control of solar scatter in starshades.
Systems to measure spatial optical density, phase inhomogeneity, scattering, spectral dispersion, thermal variations, and to otherwise estimate the accuracy of high-dynamic range apodizing masks.
Methods to distinguish the coherent and incoherent scatter in a broad band speckle field.

Wavefront Measurement and Control Technologies:

Small stroke, high precision, deformable mirrors and associated driving electronics scalable to 10,000 or more actuators (both to further the state-of-the-art towards flight-like hardware and to explore novel concepts). Multiple deformable mirror technologies in various phases of development and processes are encouraged to ultimately improve the state-of-the-art in deformable mirror technology. Process improvements are needed to improve repeatability, yield, and performance precision of current devices.
Multiplexers with ultra-low power dissipation for electrical connection to deformable mirrors.
Low-order wavefront sensors for measuring wavefront instabilities to enable real-time control and post-processing of aberrations.
Thermally and mechanically insensitive optical benches and systems.

Optical Coating and Measurement Technologies:

Instruments capable of measuring polarization cross-talk and birefringence to parts per million.
Polarization-insensitive coatings for large optics.
Methods to measure the spectral reflectivity and polarization uniformity across large optics.
Methods to apply carbon nanotube coatings on the surfaces of the coronagraphs for broadband suppression from visible to NIR.

Other:

Artificial star and planet point sources, with 1e10 dynamic range and uniform illumination of an f/25 optical system, working in the visible and near infrared.

These technologies are directly applicable to the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) CGI, the HabEx, and LUVOIR concept studies.

The expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

References:

See the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) conference papers and articles published in Journal of Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation on high contrast coronagraphy, segmented coronagraph design and analysis, and starshades.
https://wfirst.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Assembled Deployable Optical Metering Structures and Instruments

Planned future NASA Missions in astrophysics, such as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) and the New Worlds Technology Development Program (coronagraph, external occulter, and interferometer technologies) will push the state of the art in current optomechanical technologies. Mission concepts for New Worlds science would require 10 - 30 m class, cost-effective telescope observatories that are diffraction limited at wavelengths from the visible to the far IR, and operate at temperatures from 4 - 300 K. In addition, ground based telescopes, such as the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope (CCAT), require similar technology development.

The desired areal density is 1 - 10 kg/m² with a packaging efficiency of 3- 10 deployed/stowed diameter. Static and dynamic wavefront error tolerances to thermal and dynamic perturbations may be achieved through passive means (e.g., via a high stiffness system, passive thermal control, jitter isolation, or damping) or through active opto-mechanical control. Large deployable multi-layer structures in support of sunshades for passive thermal control and 20m to 50m class planet finding external occulters are also relevant technologies. Potential architecture implementations must package into an existing launch volume, deploy, and be self-aligning to the micron level. The target space environment is expected to be the Earth-Sun L₂.

This subtopic solicits proposals to develop enabling, cost effective component and subsystem technology for assembling large aperture telescopes with low cost. Research areas of interest include:

Precision deployable modules for assembly of optical telescopes (e.g., innovative active or passive deployable primary or secondary support structures).
Hybrid Deployable/Assembled Architectures, packaging and deployment designs for large sunshields and external occulters.
Innovative concepts for assembling fully integrated modules without multiple external connections for power, heat transfer, or communications, such as:
- Mechanical connections providing micro-dynamic stability suitable for robotic assembly.
- Data and power concepts between assemble modules which minimize complexity and mass.
- Thermal heat transfer concepts between assembled modules which minimize complexity and mass.
Innovative testing and verification methodologies.

NASA APD's 30-year roadmap calls out several technical needs:

Under Optics deployment and co-phasing "an 8-16 m telescope will require a segmented approach and advanced options for optics deployment such as robotic assembly."
Under New Technology Mirrors, On-orbit Fabrication and Assembly Technologies "The key to bigger and better space telescopes may rely, instead, on assembly and testing telecopes on-orbit."
In 6.5 Technology Summary Optics deployment and assembly is listed for the FIR Surveyor, Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor, and the X-ray surveyor in the Formative Era, as well as the Cosmic Dawn Mapper and ExoEarth Mapper in the Visionary Era.

The goal for this effort is to mature technologies that can be used to fabricate 16 m class or greater, lightweight, ambient, or cryogenic flight qualified observatory systems. Proposals to fabricate demonstration components and subsystems with direct scalability to flight systems through validated models will be given preference. The target launch volume and expected disturbances, along with the estimate of system performance, should be included in the discussion. Proposals with system solutions for large sunshields and external occulters will also be accepted. A successful proposal shows a path toward a Phase II delivery of demonstration hardware scalable to 5 meter diameter for ground test characterization.

Proposals should show an understanding of one or more relevant science needs, as well as present a feasible plan to fully develop the relevant subsystem technologies and to transition into future NASA program(s).

The expected technology readiness level (TRL) or TRL range at completion of the project is between 3-5.
A successful Phase II would include a demonstration of assembly and disassembly of a stable, stiff structural connection which transfers significant heat as well as data/power. Such a component would be supported by analysis of an observatory optomechanical architecture suitable for future observatories.

References:

Assembled Deployable Optical Metering Structures and Instruments

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exep/technology/in-space-assembly/iSAT_study/ (contains many links to useful recent studies that are ongoing)

Optical Components and Systems for Large Telescope Missions

To accomplish NASA’s high-priority science requires low-cost, ultra-stable, large-aperture, normal incidence mirror systems with low mass-to-collecting area ratios. Where a mirror system is defined as the mirror substrate, supporting structure, and associated actuation and thermal management systems. After performance, the most important metric for an advanced optical system is affordability or areal cost (cost per square meter of collecting aperture). Current normal incidence space mirrors cost $4 million to $6 million per square meter of optical surface area. This research effort seeks to improve the performance of advanced precision optical components while reducing their cost by 5 to 50 times, to between $100K/m² to $1M/m².

Specific metrics are defined for each wavelength application region:

Aperture Diameter for all wavelengths, except Far-IR:

Monolithic: 1 to 8 meters
Segmented: 3 to 20 meters

For UV/Optical:

Areal Cost < $500K/m²
Wavefront Figure < 5 nm RMS (via passive design or active deformation control)
Wavefront Stability < 10 pm/10 min
First Mode Frequency 60 to 500 Hz
Actuator Resolution < 1 nm RMS
Optical Path-length Stability < 1 pm/10,000 seconds for precision metrology
Areal density < 15 kg/m² (< 35 kg/m² with backplane)
Operating Temperature Range of 250 to 300K

For Far-IR:

Aperture diameter 1 to 4 m (monolithic), or 5 to 10 m (segmented)
Telescope diffraction-limited at <30 microns at operating temperature 4 K
Cryo-Deformation < 100 nm RMS
Areal cost < $500K/m²
Production rate > 2 m² per month
Areal density < 15 kg/m² (< 40 kg/m² with backplane)
Thermal conductivity at 4 K > 2 W/m*K
Survivability at temperatures ranging from 315 K to 4 K

For EUV:

Surface Slope < 0.1 micro-radian

Also needed is ability to fully characterize surface errors and predict optical performance.

Proposals must show an understanding of one or more relevant science needs and present a feasible plan to develop the proposed technology for infusion into a NASA program: sub-orbital rocket or balloon; competed Small Explorers (SMEX) or Medium-Class Explorers (MIDEX); or, Decadal class mission. Successful proposals will demonstrate an ability to manufacture, test, and control ultra-low-cost optical systems that can meet science performance requirements and mission requirements (including processing and infrastructure issues). Material behavior, process control, active and/or passive optical performance, and mounting/deploying issues should be resolved and demonstrated.

An ideal Phase I deliverable would be a precision optical system of at least 0.25 meters; or a relevant sub-component of a system; or a prototype demonstration of a fabrication, test or control technology leading to a successful Phase II delivery; or a reviewed preliminary design and manufacturing plan which demonstrates feasibility. While detailed analysis will be conducted in Phase II, the preliminary design should address how optical, mechanical (static and dynamic), and thermal designs and performance analysis will be done to show compliance with all requirements. Past experience or technology demonstrations which support the design and manufacturing plans will be given appropriate weight in the evaluation.

An ideal Phase II project would further advance the technology to produce a flight-qualifiable optical system greater than 0.5 meters or relevant sub-component (with a TRL in the 4 to 5 range); or a working fabrication, test or control system. Phase I and Phase II mirror system or component deliverables would be accompanied by all necessary documentation, including the optical performance assessment and all data on processing and properties of its substrate materials. A successful mission-oriented Phase II would have a credible plan to deliver for the allocated budget a fully assembled and tested telescope assembly which can be integrated into the potential mission; and, demonstrate an understanding of how the engineering specifications of their system meets the performance requirements and operational constraints of the mission (including mechanical and thermal stability analysis).

S2.03 primary supports potential Astrophysics Division missions. S2.03 has made optical systems in the past for potential balloon experiments. Future potential Decadal missions include Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx), Large UV/Optical/Near-IR Surveyor (LUVOIR), and the Origins Space Telescope (OST).

Phase I deliverable should be a precision optical system of at least 0.25 meters; a relevant sub-component; or a prototype demonstration of a fabrication, test or control technology; or a reviewed preliminary design and manufacturing plan which demonstrates feasibility. The preliminary design should address how optical, mechanical (static/dynamic) and thermal designs and performance analysis will be done. Past experience which supports the design and manufacturing plans will be given appropriate weight. Phase II project would further advance the technology to produce a flight-qualifiable optical system greater than 0.5 meters or relevant sub-component (with a TRL in the 4 to 5 range); or a working fabrication, test or control system. Deliverables should be accompanied by all necessary documentation, including optical performance assessment and all data on processing and properties of its substrate materials. Phase II should have a credible plan to deliver for the allocated budget a fully assembled and tested telescope assembly which can be integrated into the potential mission; and demonstrate an understanding of how the engineering specifications of their system meets the performance requirements and operational constraints of the mission.

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

Balloon Planetary Telescope

Astronomy from a stratospheric balloon platform offers numerous advantages for planetary science. At typical balloon cruise altitudes (100,000 to 130,000 ft.), 99%+ of the atmospheric is below the balloon and the attenuation due to the remaining atmosphere is small, especially in the near ultraviolet band and in the infrared bands near 2.7 and 4.25 µm. The lack of atmosphere nearly eliminates scintillation and allows the resolution potential of relatively large optics to be realized, and the small amount of atmosphere reduces scattered light and allows observations of brighter objects even during daylight hours.

For additional discussion of the advantages of observations from stratosphere platforms, refer to “Planetary Balloon-Based Science Platform Evaluation and Program Implementation - Final Report,” Dankanich et. al. (NASA/TM-2016-218870, available from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/)

To perform Planetary Science requires a 1-meter class telescope 500 nm diffraction limited performance or Primary Mirror System that can maintain < 10 nm rms surface figure error for elevation angles ranging from 0 to 60° over a temperature range from 220K to 280K.

Phase I will produce a preliminary design and report including initial design requirements such as wave-front error budget, mass allocation budget, structural stiffness requirements, etc., trade studies performed and analysis that compares the design to the expected performance over the specified operating range. Development challenges shall be identified during Phase I including trade studies and challenges to be addressed during Phase II with subsystem proof of concept demonstration hardware. If Phase II can only produce a sub-scale component, then it should also produce a detailed final design, including final requirements (wave-front error budget, mass allocation, etc) and performance assessment over the specified operating range.

Additional information about Scientific Balloons can be found at https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/docs.html.

Telescope Specifications:

Diameter > 1 meter
System Focal Length 14 meter (nominal)
Diffraction Limit < 500 nm
Mass < 300 kg
Shock 10G without damage
Elevation 0 to 60°
Temperature 220 to 280 K

Primary Mirror Assembly Specifications:

Diameter > 1 meter
Radius of Curvature 3 meters (nominal)
Surface Figure Error < 10 nm rms
Mass < 150 kg
Shock 10G without damage
Elevation 0 to 60°
Temperature 220 to 280 K

The relevance to NASA can be found in “Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022”, page 22, last paragraph of NASA Telescope Facilities within the Summary Section:

Balloon- and rocket-borne telescopes offer a cost-effective means of studying planetary bodies at wavelengths inaccessible from the ground.6 Because of their modest costs and development times, they also provide training opportunities for would-be developers of future spacecraft instruments. Although NASA’s Science Mission Directorate regularly flies balloon missions into the stratosphere, there are few funding opportunities to take advantage of this resource for planetary science, because typical planetary grants are too small to support these missions. A funding line to promote further use of these suborbital observing platforms for planetary observations would complement and reduce the load on the already oversubscribed planetary astronomy program.

And page 203, 5th paragraph, section titled Earth and Space-Based Telescopes:

Significant planetary work can be done from balloon-based missions flying higher than 45,000 ft. This altitude provides access to electromagnetic radiation that would otherwise be absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere and permits high-spatial-resolution imaging unaffected by atmospheric turbulence. These facilities offer a combination of cost, flexibility, risk tolerance, and support for innovative solutions that is ideal for the pursuit of certain scientific opportunities, the development of new instrumentation, and infrastructure support. Given the rarity of giant-planet missions, these types of observing platforms (high-altitude telescopes on balloons and sounding rockets) can be used to fill an important data gap.154,155,156

Potential Advocates include: Planetary Scientists at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), APL, and Southwest Research Institute, etc., the NASA Balloon Workshop

Potential Projects: Gondola for High Altitude Planetary Science (GHAPS)

If Phase II can only produce a sub-scale component, then it should also produce a detailed final design, including final requirements (wave-front error budget, mass allocation, etc) and performance assessment over the specified operating range.

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

Large UV/Optical (LUVOIR) and Habitable Exoplanet (HabEx) Missions

Potential UV/Optical missions require 4 to 16 meter monolithic or segmented primary mirrors with < 5 nm RMS surface figures. Active or passive alignment and control is required to achieve system level diffraction limited performance at wavelengths less than 500 nm (< 40 nm RMS wavefront error, WFE). Additionally, potential Exoplanet mission, using an internal coronagraph, requires total telescope wavefront stability on order of 10 pico-meters RMS per 10 minutes. This stability specification places severe constraints on the dynamic mechanical and thermal performance of 4 meter and larger telescope. To meet this requirement requires active thermal control systems, ultra-stable mirror support structures, and vibration compensation.

Mirror areal density depends upon available launch vehicle capacities to Sun-Earth L₂ (i.e., 15 kg/m² for a 5 m fairing EELV vs. 150 kg/m² for a 10 m fairing SLS). Regarding areal cost, a good goal is to keep the total cost of the primary mirror at or below $100M. Thus, an 8-m class mirror (with 50 m² of collecting area) should have an areal cost of less than $2M/m². And, a 16-m class mirror (with 200 m² of collecting area) should have an areal cost of less than $0.5M/m².

Key technologies to enable such a mirror include new and improved:

Mirror substrate materials and/or architectural designs
Processes to rapidly fabricate and test UVO quality mirrors
Mirror support structures that are ultra-stable at the desired scale
Mirror support structures with low-mass that can survive launch at the desired scale
Mechanisms and sensors to align segmented mirrors to < 1 nm RMS precisions
Thermal control (< 1 mK) to reduce wavefront stability to < 10 pm RMS per 10 min
Dynamic isolation (> 140 dB) to reduce wavefront stability to < 10 pm RMS per 10 min

Also needed is ability to fully characterize surface errors and predict optical performance via integrated opto-mechanical modeling.

Potential solutions for substrate material/architecture include but are not limited to: ultra-uniform low CTE glasses, silicon carbide, nanolaminates or carbon-fiber reinforced polymer. Potential solutions for mirror support structure material/architecture include, but are not limited to: additive manufacturing, nature inspired architectures, nano-particle composites, carbon fiber, graphite composite, ceramic or SiC materials, etc. Potential solutions for new fabrication processes include, but are not limited to, additive manufacture, direct precision machining, rapid optical fabrication, roller embossing at optical tolerances, slumping or replication technologies to manufacture 1 to 2-meter (or larger) precision quality components. Potential solutions for achieving the 10 pico-meter wavefront stability include, but are not limited to: metrology, passive, and active control for optical alignment and mirror phasing; active vibration isolation; metrology, passive, and active thermal control.

Expected TRL for this project is 2 to 4.

NIR LIDAR Beam Expander Telescope

Potential airborne coherent LIDAR missions need compact 15-cm diameter 20X magnification beam expander telescopes. Potential space based coherent LIDAR missions need at least 50-cm 65X magnification beam expander telescopes. Candidate coherent LIDAR systems (operating with a pulsed 2-micrometer laser) have a narrow, almost diffraction limited field of view, close to 0.8 lambda/D half angle. Aberrations, especially spherical aberration, in the optical telescope can decrease the signal. Additionally, the telescope beam expander should maintain the laser beam’s circular polarization. The incumbent telescope technology is a Dahl-Kirkham beam expander. Technology advance is needed to make the beam expander more compact with less mass while retaining optical performance, and to demonstrate the larger diameter.

Science Mission Directorate (SMD) desires both an airborne coherent-detection wind-profiling lidar systems and a space-based wind measurement. The space mission has been recommended to SMD by both the 2007 and 2017 earth science Decadal Surveys. SMD has incorporated the wind lidar mission in its planning and has named it "3-D Winds". SMD recently held the Earth Venture Suborbital competition for 5-years of airborne science campaigns. The existing coherent wind lidar at Langley, Doppler Aerosol WiNd lidar (DAWN), was included in three proposals which are under review. Furthermore, SMD is baselining DAWN for a second Convective Processes Experiment (CPEX)-type airborne science campaign, and for providing cal/val assistance to the ESA AEOLUS space mission. DAWN flies on the DC-8 and it is highly desired to fit DAWN on other NASA and NOAA aircraft. DAWN needs to lower its mass for several of the aircraft, and a low-mass telescope retaining the required performance is needed. Additionally, an electronic remote control of telescope focus is needed to adapt to aircraft cruise altitude and weather conditions during science flights.

A detailed design or a small prototype or a full-sized beam expander.

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 4.

Fabrication, Test and Control of Advanced Optical Systems

Future UV/Optical/NIR telescopes require mirror systems that are very precise and ultra-stable.

Regarding precision, this subtopic encourages proposals to develop technology which makes a significant advance in the ability to fabricate and test an optical system.

Regarding stability, to achieve high-contrast imaging for exoplanet science using a coronagraph instrument, systems must maintain wavefront stability to < 10 pm RMS over intervals of ~10 minutes during critical observations. The ~10-minute time period of this stability is driven by current wavefront sensing and control techniques that rely on stellar photons from the target object to generate estimates of the system wavefront. This subtopic aims to develop new technologies and techniques for wavefront sensing, metrology, and verification and validation of optical system wavefront stability.

Current methods of wavefront sensing include image-based techniques such as phase retrieval, focal-plane contrast techniques such as electric field conjugation and speckle nulling, and low-order and out-of-band wavefront sensing that use non-science light rejected by the coronagraph to estimate drifts in the system wavefront during observations. These techniques are limited by the low stellar photon rates of the dim objects being observed (~5 - 11 Vmag), leading to 10s of minutes between wavefront control updates.

New methods may include: new techniques of using out-of-band light to improve sensing speed and spatial frequency content, new control laws incorporating feedback and feedforward for more optimal control, new algorithms for estimating absolute and relative wavefront changes, and the use of artificial guide stars for improved sensing signal to noise ratio and speed.

Current methods of metrology include edge sensors (capacitive, inductive, or optical) for maintaining segment co-phasing, and laser distance interferometers for absolute measurement of system rigid body alignment. Development of these techniques to improve sensitivity, speed, and component reliability is desired. Low power, high-reliability electronics are also needed.

Finally, metrology techniques for system verification and validation at the picometer level during integration and test (I&T) are needed. High speed spatial and speckle interferometers are currently capable of measuring single-digit picometer displacements and deformations on small components in controlled environments. Extension of these techniques to large-scale optics and structures in typical I&T environments is needed.

These technologies are enabling for coronagraph-equipped space telescopes, segmented space telescopes, and others that utilize actively controlled optics. The LUVOIR and HabEx mission concepts currently under study provide good examples.

Phase I deliverable should be a prototype demonstration of a fabrication, test or control technology; or a reviewed preliminary design and manufacturing plan which demonstrates feasibility. The preliminary design should address how optical, mechanical (static and dynamic) and thermal designs and performance analysis will be done to show compliance with all requirements. Past experience or technology demonstrations which support the design and manufacturing plans will be given appropriate weight. Phase II project would further advance the technology to produce a flight-qualifiable optical system greater than 0.5 meters or relevant sub-component (with a TRL in the 4 to 5 range); or a working fabrication, test or control system. Deliverables should be accompanied by all necessary documentation, including optical performance assessment and all data on processing and properties of its substrate materials. Phase II should have a credible plan to deliver for the allocated budget a fully assembled and tested telescope assembly which can be integrated into the potential mission; and demonstrate an understanding of how the engineering specifications of their system meets the performance requirements and operational constraints of the mission.

Expected TRL for this project is 2 to 4.

Optical Components and Systems for Potential Infrared/Far-IR Missions

The Far-IR Surveyor Mission described in NASA's Astrophysics Roadmap, "Enduring Quests, Daring Visions":

In the context of subtopic S2.03, the challenge is to take advantage of relaxed tolerances stemming from a requirement for long wavelength (30 micron) diffraction-limited performance in the fully-integrated optical telescope assembly to minimize the total mission cost through innovative design and material choices and novel approaches to fabrication, integration, and performance verification.

The Far-IR Surveyor is a cryogenic far-infrared mission, which could be either a large single-aperture telescope or an interferometer. There are many common and a few divergent optical system requirements between the two architectures.

Common requirements:

Telescope operating temperature ~4 K
Telescope diffraction-limited at 30 microns at the operating temperature
Mirror survivability at temperatures ranging from 315 K to 4 K
Mirror substrate thermal conductivity at 4 K > 2 W/m*K
Zero or low CTE mismatch between mirror substrate and backplane

Divergent requirements:

Large single-aperture telescope
Segmented primary mirror, circular or hexagonal
Primary mirror diameter 5 to 10 m
Possible 3 dof (tip, tilt and piston) control of mirror segments on orbit
Interferometer:
Monolithic primary mirrors
Afocal, off-axis telescope design
Primary mirror diameter 1 to 4 m

Success metrics:

Areal cost < $500K/m²
Areal density < 15 kg/m² (< 40 kg/m² with backplane)
Production rate > 2 m² per month
Short time span for optical system integration and test

The technology is relevant to the Far-IR Surveyor mission described in NASA's Astrophysics Roadmap and prioritized in NASA's Program Annual Technology Reports for Cosmic Origins and Physics of the Cosmos. A future NASA far-infrared astrophysics mission will answer compelling questions, such as: How common are life-bearing planets? How do the conditions for habitability develop during the process of planet formation? And how did the universe evolve in response to its changing ingredients (build-up of heavy elements and dust over time)? To answer these questions, NASA will need telescopes and interferometers that reach fundamental sensitivity limits imposed by astrophysical background photon noise. Only telescopes cooled to a cryogenic temperature can provide such sensitivity.

Novel approaches to fabrication and test developed for a far-infrared astrophysics mission may be applicable to far-infrared optical systems employed in other divisions of the NASA SMD, or to optical systems designed to operate at wavelengths shorter than the far-infrared.

Mirrors or optical systems that demonstrably advance TRL to address the overall challenge described under Scope Description while meeting requirements for a single-aperture or interferometric version of the notional Far-IR Surveyor mission.

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

Ultra-Stable Telescopes and Telescope Structures

Multiple potential balloon and space missions to perform Astrophysics, Exoplanet and Planetary science investigations require a complete optical telescope system with 0.5 meter or larger of collecting aperture. 1-m class balloon-borne telescopes have flown successfully, however, the cost for design and construction of such telescopes can exceed $6M, and the weight of these telescopes limits the scientific payload and duration of the balloon mission. A 4X reduction in cost and mass would enable missions which today are not feasible. Space-based gravitational wave observatories (LISA) need a 0.5-meter class ultra-stable telescope with an optical path length stability of a picometer over periods of roughly one hour at temperatures near 300K in the presence of large applied static thermal gradients, but a stable thermal environment with expected thermal fluctuations of only ~ 10 microK/?Hz. The telescope will be operated in simultaneous transmit and receive mode, so an unobstructed design is required to achieve extremely low coherent backscatter light performance.

LISA Mission: Space-based gravitational wave observatories require precision displacement measurements between widely spaced proof masses. Displacements of ~ 10 pm over 1,000 seconds between masses spaced at 2.5 million km are required. Telescope systems must contribute at most ~ 1/10th of this displacement budget, or ~ 1 pm over 1,000 seconds.

Prototype unobscured telescope with the required scale size (0.3 m primary, ~ 700 mm length) that can demonstrate the required dimensional stability at room temperature. Very low coherent backscatter.

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 5.

References:

????Optical Components and Systems for Large Telescope Missions

The Habitable Exoplanet Imager (HabEx) and Large UVOIR (LUVOIR) space telescope studies are developing concepts for UVOIR space telescopes for exoEarth discovery and characterization, exoplanet science, general astrophysics and solar system astronomy. The HabEx Interim Report is available at: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex/pdf/interim_report.pdf. The LUVOIR Interim Report is available at: https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/.
The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is a single-aperture telescope concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor mission described in the NASA Astrophysics Roadmap, "Enduring Quests, Daring Visions" (https://smd-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/science-pink/s3fs-public/atoms/files/secure-Astrophysics_Roadmap_2013_0.pdf).
The OST mission is described on the website https://origins.ipac.caltech.edu
The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT) and its optical system requirements are described on the website https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/cosmology/spirit/
LISA mission description: https://lisa.nasa.gov/

Balloon Planetary Telescope

For additional discussion of the advantages of observations from stratosphere platforms, refer to “Planetary Balloon-Based Science Platform Evaluation and Program Implementation - Final Report,” Dankanich et. al. (NASA/TM-2016-218870, available from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/)

Large UV/Optical (LUVOIR) and Habitable Exoplanet (HabEx) Missions

The Habitable Exoplanet Imager (HabEx) and Large UVOIR (LUVOIR) space telescope studies are developing concepts for UVOIR space telescopes for exoEarth discovery and characterization, exoplanet science, general astrophysics and solar system astronomy. The HabEx Interim Report is available at: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex/pdf/interim_report.pdf. The LUVOIR Interim Report is available at: https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/.
The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is a single-aperture telescope concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor mission described in the NASA Astrophysics Roadmap, "Enduring Quests, Daring Visions" (https://smd-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/science-pink/s3fs-public/atoms/files/secure-Astrophysics_Roadmap_2013_0.pdf).
The OST mission is described on the website https://origins.ipac.caltech.edu
The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT) and its optical system requirements are described on the website https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/cosmology/spirit/

NIR LIDAR Beam Expander Telescope

NRC Decadal Surveys at: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DEPS/ESAS2017/index.htm
https://smd-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/science-pink/s3fs-public/atoms/files/Weather_Focus_Area_Workshop_Report_2015_0.pdf
A. K. DuVivier, J. J. Cassano, S. Greco and G. D. Emmitt, 2017, “A Case Study of Observed and Modeled Barrier Flow in the Denmark Strait in May 2015” Monthly Weather Review 145, 2385 – 2404 (2017). See also Supplemental Material
M. J. Kavaya, J. Y. Beyon, G. J. Koch, M. Petros, P. J. Petzar, U. N. Singh, B. C. Trieu, and J. Yu, “The Doppler Aerosol Wind Lidar (DAWN) Airborne, Wind-Profiling, Coherent-Detection Lidar System: Overview, Flight Results, and Plans,” J. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 34 (4), 826-842 (2014)
Scott A. Braun, Ramesh Kakar, Edward Zipser, Gerald Heymsfield, Cerese Albers, Shannon Brown, Stephen L. Durden, Stephen Guimond, Jeffery Halverson, Andrew Heymsfield, Syed Ismail, Bjorn Lambrigtsen, Timothy Miller, Simone Tanelli, Janel Thomas, and Jon Zawislak, “NASA’s Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) Field Experiment,” Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. (BAMS) 94(3), 345-363 (2013)

Fabrication, Test and Control of Advanced Optical Systems

The HabEx Interim Report is available at: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex/pdf/interim_report.pdf. The LUVOIR Interim Report is available at: https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/resources/docs/LUVOIR_Interim_Report_Final.pdf.

Optical Components and Systems for Potential Infrared/Far-IR Missions

The Far-Infrared Surveyor is described in NASA's Astrophysics Roadmap, "Enduring Quests, Daring Visions," which can be downloaded from https://smd-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/science-pink/s3fs-public/atoms/files/secure-Astrophysics_Roadmap_2013_0.pdf
Program Annual Technology Reports (PATR) can be downloaded from the NASA PCOS/COR Technology Development website at https://apd440.gsfc.nasa.gov/technology/

Ultra-Stable Telescopes and Telescope Structures

LISA mission description: https://lisa.nasa.gov/
Sanjuan, et al. Note: Silicon carbide telescope dimensional stability for space-based gravitational wave detectors, Rev.Sci. Instrum. 83, 116107 (2012) URL: http://link.aip.org/link/?RSI/83/116107
DOI: 10.1063/1.4767247

X-Ray Mirror Systems Technology, Coating Technology for X-Ray-UV-OIR, and Free-Form Optics

The National Academy Astro2010 Decadal Report identifies studies of optical components and ability to manufacture, coat, and perform metrology needed to enable future X-Ray observatory missions such as Next Generation of X-Ray Observatories (NGXO).

The Astrophysics Decadal specifically calls for optical coating technology investment for future UV, Optical, Exoplanet, and IR missions while Heliophysics 2009 Roadmap identifies the coating technology for space missions to enhance rejection of undesirable spectral lines, improve space/solar-flux durability of EUV optical coatings, and coating deposition to increase the maximum spatial resolution.

Future optical systems for NASAs low-cost missions, CubeSat and other small-scale payloads, are moving away from traditional spherical optics to non-rotationally symmetric surfaces with anticipated benefits of freeform optics such as fast wide-field and distortion-free cameras.

This subtopic solicits proposals in the following three focus areas:

X-Ray manufacturing, coating, testing, and assembling complete mirror systems in addition to maturing the current technology.
Coating technology including Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) for wide range of wavelengths from X-Ray to IR (X-Ray, EUV, LUV, VUV, Visible, and IR).
Free-form Optics design, fabrication, and metrology for CubeSat, SmallSat and various coronagraphic instruments.

S2.04 supports variety of Astrophysics Division missions. The technologies in this subtopic encompasses fields of X-Ray, coating technologies ranging from UV to IR, and Freeform optics in preparation for Decadal missions such as the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx), Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR), and Origins Space Telescope (OST).

Optical components, systems, and stray light suppression for X-ray missions: The 2010 National Academy Decadal Report specifically identifies optical components and the ability to manufacture and perform precise metrology on them needed to enable several different future missions (NGXO). The NRC NASA Technology Roadmap Assessment ranked advanced mirror technology for new x-ray telescopes as the #1 Object C technology requiring NASA investment.

Free-form Optics: NASA missions with alternative low-cost science and small size payload are increasing. However, the traditional interferometric testing as a means of metrology are unsuited to Freeform optical surfaces due to changing curvature and lack of symmetry. Metrology techniques for large fields of view and fast F/#s in small size instruments is highly desirable specifically if they could enable cost-effective manufacturing of these surfaces. (CubeSat, SmallSat, NanoSat, various coronagraphic instruments)

Coating for X-ray, EUV, LUV, UV, Visible, and IR telescopes: Astrophysics Decadal specifically calls for optical coating technology investment for: Future UV/Optical and Exoplanet missions (THEIA or ATLAST). Heliophysics 2009 Roadmap identifies optical coating technology investments for: Origins of Near-Earth Plasma (ONEP); Ion-Neutral Coupling in the Atmosphere (INCA); Dynamic Geospace Coupling (DGC); Fine-scale Advanced Coronal Transition-Region Spectrograph (FACTS); Reconnection and Micro-scale (RAM); & Solar-C Nulling polarimetry/coronagraph for exoplanet imaging and characterization, dust and debris disks, extra-galactic studies and relativistic and non-relativistic jet studies (VNC).

Typical Phase I deliverables, based on sub-elements of S2.04, include:

X-ray optical mirror system: Analysis, reports, and prototype
Coating: Analysis, reports, software, demonstration of the concept and prototype
Freeform Optics: Analysis, design, software and hardware prototype of optical components

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 6.

X-Ray Mirror Systems Technology

NASA large X-Ray observatory requires low-cost, ultra-stable, light-weight mirrors with high-reflectance optical coatings and effective stray light suppression. The current state-of-art of mirror fabrication technology for X-Ray missions is very expensive and time consuming. Additionally, a number of improvements such as 10 arc-second angular resolutions and 1 to 5 m² collecting area are needed for this technology. Likewise, the stray-light suppression system is bulky and ineffective for wide-field of view telescopes.

In this area, we are looking to address the multiple technologies including: improvements to manufacturing (machining, rapid optical fabrication, slumping or replication technologies), improved metrology, performance prediction and testing techniques, active control of mirror shapes, new structures for holding and actively aligning of mirrors in a telescope assembly to enable X-Ray observatories while lowering the cost per square meter of collecting aperture and effective design of stray-light suppression in preparation for the Decadal Survey of 2020. Additionally, we need epoxies to bond mirrors that are made of silicon. The epoxies should absorb IR radiation with wavelengths between 1.5 um and 6 um that traverses silicon with little or no absorption, and therefore can be cured quickly with a beam of IR radiation. Currently, X-Ray space mirrors cost $4 million to $6 million per square meter of optical surface area. This research effort seeks a cost reduction for precision optical components by 5 to 50 times, to less than $1M to $100 K/m².

The 2010 National Academy Decadal Report specifically identifies optical components and the ability to manufacture and perform precise metrology on them needed to enable several different future missions (NGXO).

The NRC NASA Technology Roadmap Assessment ranked advanced mirror technology for new x-ray telescopes as the #1 Object C technology requiring NASA investment.

Typical Phase I deliverables, based on sub-elements of S2.04, include:

X-ray optical mirror system: Demonstration, analysis, reports, software and hardware prototype

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 6.

Coating Technology for X-Ray-UV-OIR

The optical coating technology is a mission-enabling feature that enhances the optical performance and science return of a mission. Lowering the areal cost of coating determines if a proposed mission could be funded in the current cost environment. The most common forms of coating used on precision optics are anti-reflective (AR) coating and high reflective coating.

The current coating technology of optical components needed to support the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal process. Historically, it takes 10 years to mature mirror technology from TRL-3 to 6. To achieve these objectives requires sustained systematic investment.

The telescope optical coating needs to meet low temperature operation requirement. It’s desirable to achieve 35 K in future.

A number of future NASA missions require suppression of scattered light. For instance, the precision optical cube utilized in a beam-splitter application forms a knife-edge that is positioned within the optical system to split a single beam into two halves. The scattered light from the knife-edge could be suppressed by CNT coating. Similarly, the scattered light for gravitational-wave application and lasercom system where the simultaneous transmit/receive operation is required, could be achieved by highly absorbing coating such as CNT. Ideally, the application of CNT coating needs to achieve:

Broadband (visible plus Near IR), reflectivity of 0.1% or less
Resist bleaching of significant albedo changes over a mission life of at least 10 years
Withstand launch conditions such vibe, acoustics, etc.
Tolerate both high continuous wave (CW) and pulsed power and power densities without damage. ~10 W for CE and ~ 0.1 GW/cm² density, and 1 kW/nanosecond pulses
Adhere to the multi-layer dielectric or protected metal coating including Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) coating

Coating for X-ray, EUV, LUV, UV, Visible, and IR telescopes: Astrophysics Decadal specifically calls for optical coating technology investment for: Future UV/Optical and Exoplanet missions. Heliophysics 2009 Roadmap identifies optical coating technology investments for: Origins of Near-Earth Plasma (ONEP); Ion-Neutral Coupling in the Atmosphere (INCA); Dynamic Geospace Coupling (DGC); Fine-scale Advanced Coronal Transition-Region Spectrograph (FACTS); Reconnection and Micro-scale (RAM); & Solar-C.

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) requires low scatter HR coatings and low reflectivity coatings for scatter suppression near 1064 nm. Polarization-independent performance is important.

Nulling polarimetry/coronagraph for Exoplanets imaging and characterization, dust and debris disks, extra-galactic studies and relativistic and non-relativistic jet studies (VNC).

Desired deliverables for this include analysis, reports, software, demonstration of the concept and prototype.

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 6.

Free-Form Optics

Future NASA science missions demand wider fields of view in a smaller package. These missions could benefit greatly by freeform optics as they provide non-rotationally symmetric optics which allow for better packaging while maintaining desired image quality. Currently, the design and fabrication of freeform surfaces is costly. Even though various techniques are being investigated to create complex optical surfaces, small-size missions highly desire efficient small packages with lower cost that increase the field of view and expand operational temperature range of un-obscured systems. In addition to the freeform fabrication, the metrology of freeform optical components is difficult and challenging due to the large departure from planar or spherical shapes accommodated by conventional interferometric testing. New methods such as multibeam low-coherence optical probe and slope sensitive optical probe are highly desirable.

Specific metrics are:

Design: Innovative reflective optical designs with large fields of view (> 5°) and fast F/#s
Fabrication: 10 cm diameter optical surfaces (mirrors) with free form optical prescriptions with surface figure tolerances are 1-2 nm rms, and roughness < 5 Angstroms. Larger mirrors are also desired for flagship missions for UV and coronagraphy applications, with 10cm^-1 diameter surfaces having figure tolerances <5nm RMS, and roughness <1 Angstroms RMS
Metrology: Accurate metrology of ‘freeform’ optical components with large spherical departures (>1 mm), independent of requiring prescription specific null lenses or holograms.

NASA missions with alternative low-cost science and small size payload are increasing. However, the traditional interferometric testing as a means of metrology are unsuited to Freeform optical surfaces due to changing curvature and lack of symmetry. Metrology techniques for large fields of view and fast F/#s in small size instruments is highly desirable specifically if they could enable cost-effective manufacturing of these surfaces. (CubeSat, SmallSat, and NanoSat).

Desired deliverables for this include demonstration, analysis, design, software and hardware prototype of optical components.

Expected TRL for this project is 3 to 6.

References:

X-Ray Mirror Systems Technology, Coating Technology for X-Ray-UV-OIR, and Free-Form Optics

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) is a concept for a mission to directly image planetary systems around Sun-like stars. HabEx will be sensitive to all types of planets; however its main goal is, for the first time, to directly image Earth-like exoplanets, and characterize their atmospheric content. By measuring the spectra of these planets, HabEx will search for signatures of habitability such as water and be sensitive to gases in the atmosphere possibility indicative of biological activity, such as oxygen or ozone. The HabEx study interim report is available at: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex/pdf/interim_report.pdf
The Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR) is a concept for a highly capable, multi-wavelength space observatory with ambitious science goals. This mission would enable great leaps forward in a broad range of science, from the epoch of re-ionization, through galaxy formation and evolution, star and planet formation, to solar system remote sensing. LUVOIR also has the major goal of characterizing a wide range of exoplanets, including those that might be habitable - or even inhabited. The LUVOIR Interim Report is available at: https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/.
The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-IR Surveyor study. NASA's Astrophysics Roadmap, Enduring Quests, Daring Visions, recognized the need for an Origins Space Telescope mission with enhanced measurement capabilities relative to those of the Herschel Space Observatory, such as a three order of magnitude gain in sensitivity, angular resolution sufficient to overcome spatial confusion in deep cosmic surveys or to resolve protoplanetary disks, and new spectroscopic capability. The community report is available at: http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2013/12/20/secure-Astrophysics_Roadmap_2013.pdf

X-Ray Mirror Systems Technology

NASA High Energy Astrophysics (HEA) mission concepts including X-Ray missions and studies are available at https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/concepts.html.

Coating Technology for X-Ray-UV-OIR

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a space-based gravitational wave observatory building on the success of LISA Pathfinder and LIGO. Led by ESA, the new LISA mission (based on the 2017 L3 competition) is a collaboration of ESA and NASA.
More information could be found at https://lisa.nasa.gov

Free-Form Optics

A presentation on application of Freeform Optics at NASA is available at https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170010419.pdf

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"The Science Mission Directorate will carry out the scientific exploration of our Earth, the planets, moons, comets, and asteroids of our solar system and the universe beyond. SMD’s future direction will be moving away from exploratory missions (orbiters and flybys) into more detailed/specific exploration missions that are at or near the surface (landers, rovers, and sample returns) or at more optimal observation points in space. These future destinations will require new vantage points, or would need to integrate or distribute capabilities across multiple assets. Future destinations will also be more challenging to get to, have more extreme environmental conditions and challenges once the spacecraft gets there, and may be a challenge to get a spacecraft or data back from. A major objective of the NASA science spacecraft and platform subsystems development efforts are to enable science measurement capabilities using smaller and lower cost spacecraft to meet multiple mission requirements thus making the best use of our limited resources. To accomplish this objective, NASA is seeking innovations to significantly improve spacecraft and platform subsystem capabilities while reducing the mass and cost that would in turn enable increased scientific return for future NASA missions. A spacecraft bus is made up of many subsystems like: propulsion; thermal control; power and power distribution; attitude control; telemetry command and control; transmitters/antenna; computers/on-board processing/software; and structural elements. High performance space computing technologies are also included in this focus area.Science platforms of interest could include unmanned aerial vehicles, sounding rockets, or balloons that carry scientific instruments/payloads, to planetary ascent vehicles or Earth return vehicles that bring samples back to Earth for analysis. This topic area addresses the future needs in many of these sub-system areas, as well as their application to specific spacecraft and platform needs.For planetary missions, planetary protection requirements vary by planetary destination, and additional backward contamination requirements apply to hardware with the potential to return to Earth (e.g., as part of a sample return mission). Technologies intended for use at/around Mars, Europa (Jupiter), and Enceladus (Saturn) must be developed so as to ensure compliance with relevant planetary protection requirements. Constraints could include surface cleaning with alcohol or water, and/or sterilization treatments such as dry heat (approved specification in NPR 8020.12; exposure of hours at 115°C or higher, non-functioning); penetrating radiation (requirements not yet established); or vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide (specification pending). The following references discuss some of NASA’s science mission and technology needs:The Astrophysics Roadmap: http://nasascience.nasa.gov/about-us/science-strategy .Astrophysics Decadal Survey - “New Worlds, New Horizons: in Astronomy and Astrophysics”: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12951 (link is external).The Earth Science Decadal Survey: http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11820 (link is external).The Heliophysics roadmap: “The Solar and Space Physics of a New Era: Recommended Roadmap for Science and Technology 20092030”: http://hpde.gsfc.nasa.gov/2009_Roadmap.pdf .The 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey was released March 2011. This decadal survey is considering technology needs: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/2013decadal/ ."

Satellite Communications for Terrestrial Balloons

NASA’s Scientific Balloons provide practical and cost-effective platforms for conducting discovery science, development and testing for future space instruments, as well as training opportunities for future scientists and engineers. Balloons can reach altitudes above 36 kilometers, with suspended masses up to 3600 kilograms, and can stay afloat for several weeks. Currently, the Balloon Program is on the verge of introducing an advanced balloon system that will enable 100-day missions at mid-latitudes and thus resemble the performance of a small spacecraft at a fraction of the cost. In support of this development, NASA is seeking cost efficient innovative technologies that can provide high bitrates satellite communications for supporting current and future science needs during long duration missions.

Improved and innovative downlink bitrates using satellite relay communications from balloon payloads are needed. Long duration balloon flights currently utilize satellite communication systems to relay science and operations data from the balloon to ground based control centers. The current maximum downlink bit rate is 150 kilobits per second operating continuously during the balloon flight. Future requirements are for bit rates of 1 megabit per second or more. Improvements in bit rate performance, reduction in size and mass of existing systems, or reductions in cost of high bit rate systems are needed. TDRSS and Iridium satellite communications are currently used for balloon payload applications. A commercial S-band TDRSS transceiver and mechanically steered 18 dBi gain antenna provide 150 kbps continuous downlink. TDRSS K-band transceivers are available but are currently cost prohibitive. Open Port Iridium service is also currently being used.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 1-3.

Planetary Aerial Vehicles for Titan

Innovations in materials, structures, and systems concepts have enabled aerial vehicles to play an expanding role in NASA's future Solar System Exploration Program. Aerial vehicles are expected to carry scientific payloads at Titan that will perform in-situ investigations of its atmosphere, surface and interior. Titan features extreme environments that significantly impact the design of aerial vehicles.

NASA is interested in conducting long term monitoring of the Titan atmosphere and planetary surface using aerial vehicles at altitudes ranging from the surface up to 20 km. Concepts for Lighter-than-Air (e.g., balloons, airships) and Heavier-than-Air (e.g., fixed wing, rotary wing) vehicles are encouraged. The aerial platforms should be capable of operation in Titan's atmosphere and interaction with the surface is strongly desired. Surface interaction may involve sample collection from surfaces that may contain frozen water ice, organic dunes or hydrocarbon lakes. Concepts that do not have surface interaction and focus on continuous flight are acceptable for consideration. The proposal may assume that a radioisotope thermoelectric generator could be part of the system architecture for providing basic power to the vehicle. The proposal should describe how the vehicle concept would be deployed into the atmosphere or from the surface and operated for its mission. Concepts for any of the following capabilities of aerial vehicle are encouraged:

Technology demonstration with science payload less than 5 kg.
Pathfinder mission with science payload less than 30 kg.
Flagship mission with science payload up to 60 kg.

Small companies can play a major role in planetary aerial vehicles. We expect that a small company with innovative technologies may put together a mission concept that would later be desirable for NASA/JPL to pick up as a mission proposal partner for New Frontiers or Discovery. In our call we state that we are looking for several mission classes from Technology Demonstration (like the Mars helicopter) to a Flagship mission. It is expected that a Phase I effort will consist of a system-level design and a proof-of-concept experiment on one or more key components.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 2-3.

References:

Mars Helicopter Website: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7121
Satellite Communications for Balloons: https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code820/

NASA's space-based observatories, fly-by spacecraft, orbiters, landers, and robotic and sample return missions require robust command and control capabilities. Advances in technologies relevant to command and data handling and instrument electronics are sought to support NASA's goals and several missions and projects under development.

The 2019 subtopic goals are to develop platforms for the implementation of miniaturized highly integrated avionics and instrument electronics that:

Are consistent with the performance requirements for NASA science missions.
Minimize required mass/volume/power as well as development cost/schedule resources.
Can operate reliably in the expected thermal and radiation environments.

Successful proposal concepts should significantly advance the state-of-the-art. Furthermore, proposals developing hardware should indicate an understanding of the intended operating environment, including temperature and radiation. It should be noted that environmental requirements can vary significantly from mission to mission. For example, some low earth orbit missions have a Total Ionizing Dose (TID) radiation requirement of less than 10 krad(Si), while some planetary missions can have requirements well in excess of 1 Mrad(Si).

Specific technologies sought by this subtopic include:

Fault tolerant Implementation System-on-a-Chip (SOC) Architectures – Technologies are sought that implement fault tolerant SOC architectures, while leveraging emerging industry standard processor instruction set architectures (ISAs) and on-chip busses. Of particular interest is the RISC-V processor ISA. Offerors should identify coding language of IP cores, use of architecture-specific modules which would limit the ability to embed code into differing chipsets, options for scaling fault tolerance, code size and features versus power and speed. Offerors should identify operating system/toolchain support. Fault tolerant SOC architectures are relevant to increasing science return for missions across all Science Mission Directorate (SMD) divisions. However, the benefits are most significant for miniaturized instruments and subsystems that must operate in harsh environments. These missions include interplanetary cubesats and smallsats, outer planet instruments, and heliophysics missions to harsh radiation environments. For these missions, the inherent fault tolerance would provide an additional level of protection on top of the radiation tolerance of the FPGA or ASIC on which the SOC is implemented. Additionally, for missions with large communication delays, the inherent fault tolerance can limit the need for ground intervention.
Radiation Tolerant Onboard Wireless Networks – Technologies are sought to enable onboard wireless networks that can operate reliably in space environments. Potential applications of interest include monitoring of passive wireless sensor nodes for housekeeping, point-to-point links to communicate to instruments on booms and rotating assemblies, as well as the full implementation of a spacecraft onboard network via wireless. Offerors should identify the concept of operations for the proposed onboard network, and also describe the proposed methodology for ensuring the wireless sensor nodes (transceiver and antenna) will operate reliably in the space environment (especially radiation). Offerors should identify network type (point to point, mesh), frequencies, bandwidth, and power dissipation. Onboard wireless networks can have relevance across all SMD divisions. However, the most immediate benefits can be for earth science with rotating instrument assemblies. For these applications, wireless networks can significantly simplify communicating high rate data from instruments such as radiometers. Additionally, heliophysics and astrophysics missions using instruments or telescopes on deployable booms could benefit by reducing the amount of wiring that must be integrated into those boom assemblies.
System-In-Package Integrated Assemblies – Technologies are sought enabling highly integrated System-In-Package (SIP) assemblies integrating multiple die from different processes and foundries, enabling implementation of miniaturized, highly-reliable embedded processing, sensor readout, or motor/actuator control modules. The offeror should propose both the SIP technology to be developed, as well as a proof of concept application (relevant to spaceflight subsystems or instruments) that demonstrates the technology. The offeror should address key technical issues in the SIP implementation including thermal management, reliability, and signal integrity. Of particular interest is SIP utilizing 2.5D technology where existing die are integrated using a silicon interposer. SIP has relevance to missions across all SMD divisions where onboard resources are at a minimum. Specifically, SIP can reduce board level functions to the size of a small module, which would be especially relevant to instruments and subsystems on cubesats and outer planet missions.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of the project is 3 to 5.

References:

For descriptions of radiation effects in electronics, the proposer may visit http://radhome.gsfc.nasa.gov/radhome/overview.htm.

Sample Return Missions that require landing on an extraterrestrial body are the most mass critical missions in NASA's portfolio. The feasibility of scientific missions depends to a very large extent on the mass criticality dictated by the orbital mechanics of the mission design. The least mass critical mission is a single fly-by (e.g., New Horizons), followed by an orbiter or multiple fly-by (e.g., Juno), followed by a lander or rover (e.g., Mars Science Lab), followed by a sample return (e.g., Mars Sample Return). The mass ratio of the orbit-injected spacecraft mass to the science payload (or return sample) mass varies by several orders of magnitude over these missions. Thus a one-kilogram sample returned from Mars requires three launches of the most powerful launch vehicles available. Therefore, early investments in technologies that could significantly reduce the mass requirements and improve the propulsion efficiency of spacecraft for sample return missions have particularly high payoff potential.

NASA plans to perform sample return missions from a variety of scientifically important targets including Mars, small bodies such as asteroids and comets, and outer planet moons. These types of targets present a variety of spacecraft technology challenges. Some targets, such as Mars and some moons, have relatively large gravity wells and will require ascent chemical propulsion. Propellant possibilities include those that are transported from Earth or propellants that can be generated using local resources. Other targets are small bodies with very complex geography and very little gravity, which present difficult navigational and maneuvering challenges. In addition, the spacecraft will be subject to extreme environmental conditions including low temperatures (-270° C), dust, and ice particles. Reducing the mass associated with these complex design issues (e.g., thermal and power subsystems) is of similar importance.

Technology innovations should either enhance vehicle capabilities (e.g., increase performance, decrease risk, and improve environmental operational margins) or facilitate sample return mission implementation (e.g., reduce size, mass, power, cost). Current and future NASA projects that could use this technology include Mars Sample Return (MSR) and Comet Nucleus Sample Return (CNSR). The drastic mass reductions and propulsion efficiency improvements sought in this subtopic could enable these projects, or significantly enhance their feasibility, as, for example, by reducing the number of launches or the size of the launch vehicles required. An ideal Phase II deliverable would be a successful demonstration of an appropriate-TRL (expected TRL range at completion of this project is 4 to 6) performance test, such as at representative scale and environment, along with all the supporting analyses, design, and hardware specifications.

References:

Mass-Efficient Sample Return Technologies - Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022:

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13117/vision-and-voyages-for-planetary-science-in-the-decade-2013-2022

MSR Mission:

CNSR Mission:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20180002990

This subtopic addresses NASA's need to develop technologies for producing space systems that can operate without environmental protection housings in the extreme environments of NASA missions. Key performance parameters of interest are survivability and operation under the following conditions:

Very low temperature environments (Example: temperatures on the surface of Moon as low as -180° C).
Combination of low temperature and radiation environments (Example: surface conditions at Europa of -180° C with very high radiation).
Very high temperature, high pressure and chemically corrosive environments (Example: Venus surface conditions, which include very high pressure of 93 bar and extreme temperatures of 485° C).

NASA is interested in expanding its ability to explore the deep atmospheres and surfaces of the Moon, planets, asteroids, and comets through the use of long-lived (days or weeks) balloons and landers. Survivability in extreme high temperatures and high pressures is also required for deep atmospheric probes to the giant planets. Proposals are sought for technologies that are suitable for remote sensing applications at cryogenic temperatures, and in-situ atmospheric and surface explorations in the high temperature, high pressure environment at the Venusian surface (485° C, 93 bar), or in low-temperature environments such as those of Titan (-180° C), Europa (-220° C), Ganymede (-200° C), Mars, the Moon, asteroids, comets and other small bodies. Also, Europa-Jupiter missions may have a mission life of 10 years and the radiation environment is estimated at 2.9 Mega-rad total ionizing dose (TID) behind 0.1 inch thick aluminum. Proposals are sought for technologies that enable NASA's long duration missions to extreme wide-temperature and cosmic radiation environments. High reliability, ease of maintenance, low volume, low mass, and low out-gassing characteristics are highly desirable. Special interest lies in development of the following technologies that are suitable for the environments discussed above:

Wide temperature range precision mechanisms i.e., beam steering, scanner, linear and tilting multi-axis mechanisms.
Radiation-tolerant/radiation-hardened low-power, low-noise, mixed-signal mechanism control electronics for precision actuators and sensors.
Wide temperature range feedback sensors with sub-arc-second/nanometer precision.
Long life, long stroke, low power, and high torque/force actuators with sub-arc-second/nanometer precision.
Long life bearings/tribological surfaces/lubricants.
High temperature energy storage systems. High-temperature actuators and gear boxes for robotic arms and other mechanisms.
Long life high temperature electronics (including components, circuits and tools) and high temperature electronic packaging.
Low-power and wide-operating-temperature radiation-tolerant/radiation-hardened RF electronics.
Radiation-tolerant/radiation-hardened low-power/ultra-low power, wide-operating-temperature, low-noise mixed-signal electronics for space-borne systems such as guidance and navigation avionics and instruments.
Radiation-tolerant/radiation-hardened power electronics.
Radiation-tolerant/radiation-hardened electronics packaging (including, shielding, passives, connectors, wiring harness and materials used in advanced electronics assembly).

Research should be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility during Phase I and show a path toward a Phase II hardware demonstration, and when possible, deliver a demonstration unit for functional and environmental testing at the completion of the Phase II contract.

There is a high relevance to NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD). As mentioned above, low temperature survivability is required for surface missions to Titan, Europa, Ganymede, small bodies and comets. Mars diurnal temperatures range from -120° C to +20° C. For the Europa Clipper baseline concept, with a mission life of 10 years, the radiation environment is estimated at 2.9 Mega-rad total ionizing dose (TID) behind 100 mil thick aluminum. Lunar equatorial region temperatures swing from -180° C to +130° C during the lunar day/night cycle, and shadowed lunar pole temperatures can drop to -230° C. Advanced technologies for high temperature systems (electronics, electro-mechanical and mechanical) and pressure vessels are needed to ensure NASA can meet its long duration (days instead of hours) life target for its missions in high temperature and high pressure environments.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of this project is 3 to 5.

References:

Proceedings of the Extreme Environment Sessions of the IEEE Aerospace Conference. https://www.aeroconf.org/
Proceedings of the meetings of the Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG). https://www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/
Proceedings of the meetings of the Outer Planet Assessment Group (OPAG). https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/

The NASA state-of-the-art in space computing utilizes 20-year-old technology and is inadequate for future missions. In conjunction with the US Air Force, NASA is investing in the development of the High Performance Space Computing (HPSC) Chiplet, a radiation-hardened multi-core processor that will improve space computing capabilities by two orders of magnitude. While these efforts will provide an underlying platform, they do not provide the full range of advanced computing capabilities and programming support that developers will require to support missions currently in the planning stage for the mid-2020s and beyond. Topics of interest include:

Fault Tolerant, Real Time Linux - a flight qualifiable version of Linux for the HPSC Chiplet, capable of supporting parallel and heterogeneous processing for autonomy, robotics and science codes is desired. Initial design of a verifiably reliable, fault tolerant, real time Linux kernel is desired. A successful development will potentially result in an eventual Phase 3 award, or alternate funding, to develop a complete, qualified, operating system.
HPSC Chiplet Hypervisor - a bare metal hypervisor capable of supporting symmetric and asymmetric multi-processing, as well as high levels of fault tolerance is desired.
Network Switches/Routers - rad hard, low power switches and routers that support system level fault tolerance and testability are required for sRIO (3.1, 4.0, and above).
Neuromorphic computing and Machine Learning - general purpose neural networks and other machine learning accelerators for robotic vision, system health management and similar applications are needed to meet performance power requirements in future autonomous robotic systems. Initial design of this ASIC and a validated FPGA implementation of critical portions of the design is desired. A successful development will potentially result in an eventual Phase 3 award, or alternate funding, to implement the final chiplet.
Graphics Processing - low power, high performance GPU capability to support crewed vehicle displays, including virtual and augmented reality hardware is desired. An initial GPU chiplet design with validated FPGA implementation of critical portions of the design is desired. A successful development will potentially result in an eventual Phase 3 award, or alternate funding, to implement the final chiplet.

An HPSC ecosystem is of interest to all major programs in Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Immediate infusion targets include Mars Fetch Rover, WFIRST/Chronograph, Gateway, SPLICE/Lunar Lander. Desired deliverables with regards to hardware elements include a preliminary detailed design ready for fabrication and productization.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of this project is 4 to 6.

NASA has plans to purchase services for delivery of payloads to the Moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract. Under this subtopic, proposals may include efforts to develop payloads for flight demonstration of relevant technologies in the lunar environment. The CLPS payload accommodations are yet to be precisely defined, however at least for early missions, proposed payloads should not exceed 15 kilograms in mass and not require more than 8 watts of continuous power. Smaller, simpler, and more self-sufficient payloads are more likely to be accommodated. Commercial payload delivery services may begin as early as 2020 and flight opportunities are expected to continue well into the future. In future years it is expected that payloads of higher mass and with higher power requirements might be accommodated. Selection for award under this solicitation will not guarantee selection for a lunar flight opportunity.

References:

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2017/nasa-selects-high-performance-spaceflight-computing-hpsc-processor-contractor

"The SBIR focus area of Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) includes the suite of technologies for atmospheric entry as well as descent and landing on both atmospheric and non-atmospheric bodies. EDL mission segments are used in both robotic planetary science missions and human exploration missions beyond Low Earth Orbit, and some technologies have application to commercial space capabilities.Robust, efficient, and predictable EDL systems fulfill the critical function of delivering payloads to planetary surfaces through challenging environments, within mass and cost constraints. Future NASA missions will require new technologies to break through historical constraints on delivered mass, or to go to entirely new planets and moons. Even where heritage systems exist, no two planetary missions are exactly “build-to-print,” so there are frequently issues of environmental uncertainty, risk posture, and resource constraints that can be dramatically improved with investments in EDL technologies. New capabilities and improved knowledge are both important facets of this focus area.Because this topic covers a wide area of interests, subtopics are chosen to enhance and or fill gaps in the existing technology development programs.Future subtopics will support one or more of four broad capability areas, which represent NASA’s goals with respect to planetary Entry, Descent and Landing:• High Mass to Mars Surface• Precision Landing and Hazard Avoidance• Planetary Probes and Earth Return Vehicles• EDL Data Return and Model ImprovementA cross-cutting set of disciplines and technologies will help mature these four capability areas, to enable more efficient, reliable exploration missions. These more specific topics and subtopics may include, but are not limited to:• Thermal Protection System materials, modeling, and instrumentation• Deployable and inflatable decelerators (hypersonic and supersonic)• Guidance, Navigation, and Control sensors and algorithms• Aerodynamics and Aerothermodynamics advances, including modeling and testing• Precision Landing and Hazard Avoidance sensors• Multifunctional materials and structuresThis year the Entry, Descent and Landing focus area is seeking innovative technology for:• Deployable Decelerator Technologies• EDL Sensors, including those embedded in thermal protection systems and those used for proximity operations and landing• Hot Structure Technology for Atmospheric Entry Vehicles• Lander Systems TechnologyThe specific needs and metrics of each of these specific technology developments are described in the subtopic descriptions."

This subtopic encompasses the development of reusable, hot structure technology for structural components exposed to extreme aerodynamic heating environments on aerospace vehicles. A hot structure system is a multifunctional structure that can reduce or eliminate the need for a separate thermal protection system (TPS). The potential advantages of using a hot structure system in place of a TPS with underlying cool structure are: reduced mass, increased mission capability such as reusability, improved aerodynamics, improved structural efficiency, and increased ability to inspect the structure. Hot structure is an enabling technology for reusability between missions or mission phases, such as aerocapture followed by entry, and has been used in prior NASA programs (HyperX and X-37) on control surfaces and leading edges, as well as Department of Defense programs.

This subtopic seeks to develop innovative low-cost, damage tolerant, reusable and lightweight hot structure technology applicable to aerospace vehicles exposed to extreme temperatures between 1000° C to 2200° C. The aerospace vehicle applications are unique in requiring the hot structure to carry primary structural vehicle loads and to be reusable after exposure to extreme temperatures during atmospheric entry. The material systems of interest for use in developing the hot structure technology include: advanced carbon-carbons (C-C), ceramic matrix composites (CMC), or advanced high temperature metals. Potential applications of the hot structure technology include: primary load-carrying aeroshell structure, control surfaces, and propulsion system components (such as hot gas valves and passively-cooled nozzle extensions).

Proposals should introduce novel approaches to address the current need for improvements in operating temperature capability, toughness/durability, and material system strength properties. Focus areas should address one or more of the following:

Improvements in manufacturing process and/or material design to achieve repeatable and uniform material properties, that should be scalable to actual vehicle components - specifically, property data obtained from flat-panel test coupons should represent the properties of flight articles.
Material/structural architectures and multifunctional systems providing significant improvements of interlaminar mechanical properties while maintaining in-plane and thermal properties compared to state-of-the-art C-C or CMC. Examples include: incorporating through the thickness stitching or 3D woven preforms.
Functionally graded manufacturing approaches to optimize oxidation protection, damage tolerance, and structural efficiency, in an integrated hot structure concept, to extend performance for multiple cycles up to 2200° C.

For this subtopic, research, testing, and analysis should be conducted to demonstrate technical feasibility during Phase I and show a path towards Phase II hardware demonstration. Phase I feasibility studies should also address cost and risk associated with the hot structures technology. At completion of Phase I, project deliverables should include: coupon specimens of components adequate for thermal/mechanical and/or arc-jet testing and a final report that is acceptable for publication as a NASA Technical Memorandum. Emphasis should be on the delivery of a manufacturing demonstration unit for NASA testing at the completion of the Phase II contract. In addition, Phase II studies should address vehicle integration. Opportunities and plans should also be identified and summarized for potential commercialization.

Hot structures technology is relevant to Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) where the technology can be infused in spacecraft and launch vehicles to provide either improved performance or to enable advanced missions with reusability, increased damage tolerance and durability to withstand long-term space exploration, and to allow for delivery of larger payloads to space destinations. The Advanced Exploration Systems program would be ideal for further funding a prototype hot structure system and technology demonstration. The Commercial Space Transportation program also has interest in this technology for their flight vehicles.

Additionally, Exploration Systems Development programs that could use this technology include the Space Launch System (SLS) for propulsion applications. Potential NASA users of this technology exist for a variety of propulsion systems, including the following:

Upper stage engine systems, such as those for the Space Launch System.
In-space propulsion systems.
Lunar/Mars lander descent/ascent propulsion systems.
Nuclear thermal rocket propulsion systems.
Solid motor systems, including those for primary propulsion, hot gas valve applications, and small separation/attitude-control systems.
Propulsion systems for the Commercial Space industry which is supporting NASA efforts.

Also, the Air Force is interested in such technology for its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), ballistic missile, and hypersonic vehicle programs. Other non-NASA users include Navy, Army, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The subject technology can be both enhancing to systems already in use or under development, as well as enabling for applications that may not be feasible without further advancements in high temperature composite technology.

The expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) range at completion of this project is 1 to 4.

References:

Hot Structures Technology for Aerospace Vehicles

Glass, D. "Ceramic matrix composite (CMC) thermal protection systems (TPS) and hot structures for hypersonic vehicles." 15th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference. 2008.
Walker, S., et al. "A Multifunctional Hot Structure Heat Shield Concept for Planetary Entry." 20th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference. 2015.

Liquid Rocket Propulsion System Nozzle Extensions

“Carbon-Carbon Nozzle Extension Development in Support of In-Space and Upper-Stage Liquid Rocket Engines” paper; Paul R. Gradl and Peter G. Valentine; 53rd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Atlanta, GA; AIAA-2017-5064; July 2017; https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170008949.pdf
“Carbon-Carbon Nozzle Extension Development in Support of In-Space and Upper Stage Liquid Rocket Engines” presentation charts; Paul R. Gradl and Peter G. Valentine; 53rd AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Atlanta, GA; AIAA-2017-5064; July 2017; https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170008945.pdf

Note: The above references are open literature references. Other references exist regarding this technology, but they are all International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restricted. Numerous online references exist for the subject technology and projects/applications noted, both foreign and domestic.

NASA manned and robotic missions to the surface of planetary or airless bodies require Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL). For many of these missions, EDL represents one of the riskiest phases of the mission. Despite the criticality of the EDL phase, NASA has historically gathered limited engineering data from such missions, and use of the data for real-time Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) during EDL for precise landing (aside from Earth) has also been limited. Recent notable exceptions are the Orion Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) flight test, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Entry, Descent and Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI) sensor suite, and the planned sensor capabilities for Mars 2020 (MEDLI2 and map-relative navigation). NASA requires EDL sensors to:

Understand the in-situ entry environment..
Characterize the performance of entry vehicles.
Make autonomous and real-time onboard GN&C decisions to ensure a precise landing.

This subtopic describes three related technology areas where innovative sensor technologies would enable or enhance future NASA EDL missions. Proposers may submit solutions to any of these following subtopic areas:

High Accuracy, Light Weight, Low Power Fiber Optic Sensing System for EDL Instrumentation Systems.
Miniaturized Spectrometers for Vacuum Ultraviolet & Mid-wave Infrared In-Situ Radiation Measurements during Atmospheric Entry.
Novel Sensing Technologies for EDL GN&C and Small-Body Proximity Operations.

NASA seeks innovative sensor technologies to enable and characterize EDL operations on missions to planetary and airless bodies. This subtopic describes three related technology areas where innovative sensor technologies would enable or enhance future NASA EDL missions. Candidate solutions are sought that can be made compatible with the environmental conditions of deep spaceflight, the rigors of landing on planetary bodies both with and without atmospheres.

High Accuracy, Light Weight, Low Power Fiber Optic Sensing System for EDL Instrumentation Systems

Current NASA state-of-the-art EDL sensing systems are very expensive to design and incorporate on planetary missions. Commercial fiber optic systems offer an alternative that could result in a lower overall cost and weight, while actually increasing the number of measurements. Fiber optic systems are also immune to Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) which reduces design and qualification efforts. This would be highly beneficial to future planetary missions requiring thermal protection system (TPS).

The upcoming Mars 2020 mission will fly the Mars EDL Instrumentation 2 (MEDLI2) sensor suite consisting of a total 24 thermocouples, 8 pressure transducers, two heat flux sensors, and a radiometer embedded in the TPS. This set of instrumentation will directly inform the large performance uncertainties that contribute to the design and validation of a Mars entry system. A better understanding of the entry environment and TPS performance could lead to reduced design margins enabling a greater payload mass fraction and smaller landing ellipses. Fiber optic sensing systems can offer benefits over traditional sensing system like MEDLI and MEDLI2 and can be used for both rigid and flexible TPS. Fiber optic sensing benefits include but are not limited to: sensor immunity to EMI, the ability to have thousands of measurements per fiber using Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG), multiple types of measurements per fiber (i.e., temperature, strain, and pressure), and resistance to metallic corrosion.

To be considered against NASA state-of-the-art TPS sensing systems for future flight missions, fiber optic systems must be competitive in sensing capability (measurement type, accuracy, quantity), and sensor support electronics (SSE) mass, size and power. Therefore, NASA is looking for a fiber optic system that can meet the following requirements:

Sensing Requirements:

TPS Temperature: Measurement Range: -200 to 1250° C (up to 2000° C preferred), Accuracy: +/- 5° C desired
Surface Pressure: Measurement Range: 0-15 psi, Accuracy: +/-1%

Sensor Support Electronics Requirements (including enclosure):

Weight: 12 lbs or less
Size: 240 cubic inches or smaller
Power: 15W or less
Measurement Resolution: 14-bit or higher
Acquisition Rate per Measurement: 16Hz or higher
Compatibility with other sensors types (e.g.) Heat Flux, Strain, Radiometer, TPS recession

Miniaturized Spectrometers for Vacuum Ultraviolet & Mid-wave Infrared In-Situ Radiation Measurements during Atmospheric Entry

The current state-of-the-art for flight radiation measurements includes radiometers and spectrometers. Radiometers can measure heating integrated over a wide wavelength range (e.g., MEDLI2 Radiometer), or over narrow-wavelength bands (COMARS+ ICOTOM at 2900 nm and 4500 nm). Spectrometers gather spectrally resolved signals and have been developed for Orion EM-2 (combined Ocean Optics STS units with range of 190-1100 nm). A spectrometer provides the gold standard for improving predictive models and improving future entry vehicle designs.

For NASA missions through CO₂ atmospheres (Venus and Mars), a majority of the radiative heating occurs in the Midwave Infrared Range (MWIR: 1500 nm - 6000 nm) [Brandis, AIAA 2015-3111]. Similarly, for entries to Earth, the radiation is dominated by the Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) range (100 - 190 nm) [Cruden, AIAA 2009-4240]. Both of these ranges are outside of those detectable by available miniaturized spectrometers. While laboratory scale spectrometers and detectors are available to measure these spectral ranges, there are no versions of these spectrometers which would be suitable for integration into a flight vehicle due to lack of miniaturization. This subtopic calls for miniaturization of VUV and MWIR spectrometers to extend the current state of the art for flight diagnostics.

Advancements in either VUV or MWIR measurements are sought, preferably for sensors with:

Self-contained with a maximum dimension of ~10 cm or less
No active liquid cooling
Simple interfaces compatible with spacecraft electronics, such as RS232, RS422, or Spacewire
Survival to military spec temperature ranges [-55 to 125° C]
Power usage of order 5W or less

Novel Sensing Technologies for EDL GN&C and Small-Body Proximity Operations

NASA seeks innovative sensor technologies to enhance success for EDL operations on missions to other planetary bodies (including the Moon, Mars, Venus, Titan, and Europa). Sensor technologies are also desired to enhance proximity operations (including sampling and landing) on small bodies such as asteroids and comets.

Sensing technologies are desired that determine any number of the following:

Terrain relative translational state (altimetry/3-axis velocimetry)
Spacecraft absolute state in planetary/small-body frame (either attitude, translation, or both)

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NASA SBIR 2019 Program Solicitation

Available Funding Topics