Award Data

Turboelectric aircraft with gas turbines driving electric generators connected to electric propulsion motors have the potential to transform the aircraft design space by decoupling power generation from propulsion. Resulting aircraft designs such as blended-wing bodies with distributed propulsion can provide the large reductions in emissions, fuel burn, and noise required to make air transportati ...

We propose a novel technology to leverage rapidly evolving cloud based infrastructure to improve time constrained situational awareness for real-time decision making. Our "CloudTurbine" innovation eliminates the distinction between files and streams. Streaming and static data have long been considered separately. Whereas streaming data protocols continue to fragment, a great unification of appr ...

This SBIR will develop passive reactor criticality control technology for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) identified by Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) in Phase 1. This technology will allow NTP systems to start up by rotating the control drums to a single predetermined location and remain there for the duration of operation for the majority of the burns associated with a Mars mission. Pas ...

We propose to develop antimony-based focal plane arrays (FPAs) for NASA's imaging and spectroscopy applications in the spectral band from visible to shortwave-infrared (SWIR), viz. wavelengths from 0.5 - 2.5 microns. We will leverage recent breakthroughs in the performance of midwave and longwave infrared FPAs based on the InAs/GaSb/AlSb material system in which QmagiQ has played a key part. In th ...

In this Phase II SBIR program, Southwest Sciences will continue the development of small, low power instrumentation for real-time direct measurement of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) in the atmosphere, especially targeting airborne measurements. The instrument is based on a room temperature interband cascade laser (ICL) operating in the 4800 - 4900 nm region. This laser has a substantially reduced (by a ...

Future NASA planetary science missions have very limited access to solar power and therefore reducing the cryocooling system power input is even more critical than for earth-orbiting satellites. On this program, Creare proposes to develop and demonstrate an innovative Stirling cryocooler that efficiently produces refrigeration at 30 K and rejects heat at about 150 K. A key component of the propo ...

Atmospheric clouds have strong impact on the global radiative budget. Cloud's radiative properties are strongly affected by droplet size distribution and number concentration. This SBIR project will develop an innovative, compact and inexpensive droplet measurement system (DMS), which will provide in situ measurement of droplet size distribution function and droplet number concentration in clouds. ...

In this SBIR, USNC will develop an accident tolerant reactor shut-down system for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) systems that will guarantee sub-criticality in the event of a water submersion accident. Reactor shut down during a water submersion accident is a crucial issue that must be addressed in NTP systems. The technology that USNC will develop in this SBIR is a low risk design feature that ...

NASA is considering multiple missions involving long-term cryogen storage in space. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are the typical cryogens as they provide the highest specific impulse of practical chemical propellants. These cryogens are stored at temperatures of nominally 20 K for hydrogen and 90 K for oxygen. Due to the large size of these tanks, refrigeration loads to maintain zero-boil- ...

NASA seeks new thermal control technology for EVA suits on Mars. The system must be closed-loop and non-venting, have negligible impact on the Martian environment, and be capable of operating under Mars surface conditions. We propose to develop a space evaporator/absorber/radiator (SEAR) system with innovative features that will enable operation on Mars. The system uses a regenerable water abso ...