Award Data

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 ...

Newly developed phase-engineered and low dimensional materials have opened the door to the design of materials structures that exhibit extremely efficient ionic transport. Recently, a new type of electro-filtration system designed to convert thermal power into purified water from salt water (or other ionic pollutants) has been demonstrated in the lab. The system is based on a bi-phasic nanoplate ...

The proposed program innovates subsurface prospecting by planetary drones to seek a solution to the difficulty of robotic prospecting, sample acquisition, and sample characterization at multiple hazardous locations in a single mission. Innovation focuses on a specific, challenging scenario: sub-surface access of multiple lava tubes by drones far enough from Earth for speed-of-light latency to pre ...

Recurring slope linae (RSL), such as those in Newton Crater on Mars, methane plumes in hazardous Martian terrain, and water ice discovered during the LCROSS experiment in the Moon?s permanently shadowed Cabeus Crater drive the need for a new generation of robotic explorers that access, probe, extract, and return resources from extreme terrains. These robots must possess sufficient system-level aut ...

GTL?s SNS technology aids in the operation of new or existing structural health monitoring (SHM) systems by integrating data and power pathways into the structure. The use of this technology within a composite structure would allow engineers to place sensors from an SHM system directly where they are needed on a structure with instant power. GTL?s SNS technology offers the potential for developers ...

Advanced turbomachinery components play a critical role in launch vehicle and spacecraft liquid rocket propulsion systems. To achieve desired efficiencies, extremely tight tolerances are often imposed between inducer blades and shrouds or other system components which sets up strong interactions that influence both the aerodynamics and the structural performance of blades and vanes. These transien ...

On-the-ground confirmation of lunar ice will transform space exploration, as ice can provide fuel to support far-reaching exploration and enable commercial endeavors. Evidence from satellite observations strongly supports the presence of polar ice, but driving and excavation are required to confirm presence, measure distribution, and extract resources. In-situ resource extraction at the lunar pol ...

Aviana Molecular (Aviana) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) propose to develop a Passive Wireless Sensor System (PWSS) for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). SAW sensors are lightweight, passive (battery-less), simple, reliable, scalable, sensitive, do not disturb the operating environment, can be permanently placed on the critical components, allow quick and inexpensive acquisition of ...

Despite the rapid commercialization of additive manufacturing technology such as selective laser melting, SLM, there are gaps in process modeling and material property prediction that contribute to slow and costly process development, process qualification and product certification. To address these gaps, CFDRC and our partner Dr. Kevin Chou, University of Alabama, will develop multiple computatio ...

A comprehensive model-based approach will be enabled for space systems design via the work started on Phase I of this project. The OpenMETA toolkit is a cyber-physical modeling tool for the design and virtual integration of complex systems, developed under the DARPA AVM Program. OpenMETA will be leveraged and extended to support NASA/JPL goals for multi-physics, multi-domain modeling, analysis, ...