Award Data

This NASA sponsored STTR project will investigate methods for close-out of large, liquid rocket engine, nickel or stainless steel nozzle, coolant channels utilizing robotic laser and pulsed-arc additive manufacturing (AM)methods. Structural jacket to coolant channel land area interface strength will be quantified and metallurgical characterization completed. Process optimizations will be conducte ...

With this Phase I funding, the project team will develop and test a prototype of D-TECH, a system to determine students' level of academic engagement while completing computer-based learning activities and assessments. The prototype will integrate within existing third party computer-based programs (e.g., online courseware, educational games, simulations, intelligent tutors) and will consist of a ...

The Interdisciplinary Consulting Corporation (IC2) proposes the development of high channel count, high density, reduced cost per channel, directional microphone arrays for noise source measurement using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based piezoelectric microphones with backside contacts and advanced packaging technology. The goal of this research is to develop an advanced phased-array te ...

The Interdisciplinary Consulting Corporation (IC2) proposes the development of a fiber-optic, micromachined five-hole probe for three-dimensional flow measurements in harsh environments. The goal of this research is to develop a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based, optical probe capable of significantly improved performance compared to existing available sensors, by enabling faster respons ...

Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) is the most CSWaP compatible safety solution for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and will be mandated for use by the FAA in the National Airspace System (NAS) by 2020. The ongoing miniaturization efforts will continue to enable a cooperative approach to the integration of UAS into NAS moving forward. A critical limitation of ADS-B is the use of G ...

Radiation from GCRs and Solar Flares provide a hostile ionizing environment for personnel and vital electronic systems. The effects of this environment has been a topic of research for many years. Issues include the exposure for humans under acute and continuous exposures and the radiogenic cancer risk that rises with total dose and is a limiting constraint on long-duration missions. The propose ...

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- ...

Life support systems for future space suits will require advanced instrumentation to enable use of the suit for multiple missions. We propose to develop an oxygen flow meter for the space suit ventilation loop that will provide highly accurate flow measurements while meeting challenging requirements for low pressure drop, compact size, and durability. In Phase I, we will prove the feasibility of ...

Resiliency Evaluation, Assessment and Contingency Tools (REACT) Achieving resiliency in any system requires capabilities that are beyond the boundaries of currently available engineering tools and processes. Comprehensive analysis using Use Cases, Activity and Sequence diagrams provide significant benefits over text-based requirements and specifications. However, although these specifications incl ...

Earth observing missions like NASA's LANDSAT Data Continuity Mission - Thermal Infrared Sensor (LDCM-TIRS) require greater spatial resolution of the earth than the ~ 100m provided by the current instrument. Improving resolution to the desired ~ 30m requires increasing the number of pixels on target from the current 640x3 to ~ 2048x3. The TIRS instrument contains 640x512 longwave infrared quantum ...