Award Data

Nitrous oxide is the third most important greenhouse gas (GHG,) with an atmospheric lifetime of ~114 years and a global warming impact ~300 times greater than that of CO2. The main cause of nitrous oxide’s atmospheric increase is anthropogenic emissions, and over 80% of the current global anthropogenic flux is related to agriculture, including associated land-use change. An accurate assessment o ...

Chemical contamination of spacecraft components as well as thermal and force loading from firing liquid propellant thrusters are critical concerns for in-space propulsion applications. Gas molecular contamination and liquid droplet deposition due to incomplete combustion threaten to damage surface materials, sensitive instruments and optical sensors, and poses major risks for mission success. Liqu ...

We propose that the key to robotic automation in unstructured environments is compliant robotic manipulators that can tolerate, sense, and leverage contact in a feedback loop. We have demonstrated proof of concept of an instrumented end-effector capable of enhanced perception through observed and controlled contact in phase I. We will now expand the project to develop highly capable state and cont ...

No existing commercial wireless sensor network option meets NASAs current needs for flexibility, size, mass and resilience to extreme environments. The proposed innovation is a MEIS network which combines any number and any type of sensors into a wireless sensor network (WSN), with each of the sensors being motes, or nodes, on the network. The network will be self-healing and self-configuring. Eac ...

In the Phase I effort, Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories LLC (GTL) verified the feasibility of generating power from space particle radiation. This effort successfully demonstrated electrical power production from a particle radiation source using an initial proof-of-concept device. The effort also identified a second approach that has the potential for even better power generation and offers enhanced ...

The objective of this Phase 2 proposal is to provide a new set of sensitivity analysis theory and codes, the Sensitivity Analysis for Design Optimization (SADO) software that integrates with the existing NASA O3 Tool. In this Phase II effort, the sensitivity codes developed in Phase I will add functionality to simplify Ground Vibration Test, or model tuning, by calculating a number of error metric ...

The proposed innovation is a membrane bioreactor system to produce a biopolymer from methane gas that is applicable in outer space environments. This new methane fermentation process will expand and advance current gas delivery techniques to create affordable fermentation methods on Earth and beyond. Mango Materials is currently working to scale up and commercialize the production of polyhydroxyal ...

Next generation optical modems for NASA will be based on the RZ-DPSK modulation format. This modulation format is robust, delivers high quantum efficiency and allows burst-mode operation, key when using a power limited transmitter in combination with a fixed delay line DPSK demodulator. Freedom Photonics approach in this proposed program is to integrate the laser, modulator, and amplifier into a s ...

Low-temperature plasmas generated by nanosecond electrical pulses, also referred to as transient plasmas, can be used to significantly improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions by enabling stable ignition in gasoline and natural gas engines in dilute conditions (e.g. applications such as methane capture, where methane is captured from landfills and burned to produce electricity) as well as thro ...

New fuel forms are needed to enable gas-cooled fast fission reactors to operate using a once-through deep burn fuel cycle. These small, modular reactors will have a core life of 30 years and will burn the plutonium-239 that is created in the core as well as other transuranics. Deep burn rapidly and effectively reduces the inventory of transuranics from spent fuel without the need for repeated recy ...