Award Data

This work will focus on the development of a highly capable avionics subsystem and machine learning algorithms to provide early warning of potential failures of critical subsystems on small UAS. This modular system will consist of networked onboard monitoring nodes capable of observing operations and providing notification of off-nominal conditions to the autopilot as well as the operator, mitigat ...

The Extraterrestrial Metals Processing (EMP) system produces iron, silicon, and light metals from Mars, Moon, or asteroid resources in support of advanced human space exploration. Refractory oxides and minor constituents such as sulfur, phosphorus, and alkaline earth oxides are also generated as byproducts and can be used for the refining of finished goods, thereby further reducing dependence on E ...

Human exploration of Mars and unmanned sample return missions can benefit greatly from the resources available on Mars. The first major step of any Mars in-situ propellant production system is the acquisition of carbon dioxide and its compression for further processing. TDA Research Inc. proposes to develop a compact, lightweight, advanced sorbent-based compressor to recover high-pressure, hig ...

There are several ways to capture and pressurize CO2, including freezing at cryogenic temperatures, mechanical compression, and absorption. Completed studies on each approach, have generally favored cryogenic temperature and mechanical compression solutions. Recently, mechanical compression has gained momentum through the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE), which utilizes an Air Squared compresso ...

The Advanced Mars Water Acquisition System (AMWAS) recovers and purifies water from Mars soils for oxygen and fuel production, life support, food production, and radiation shielding in support of human exploration missions. The AMWAS removes water from Mars soils using hot, recirculating carbon dioxide gas to provide rapid heat transfer. The AMWAS evaporates water from ice and salt hydrates, leavi ...

The objective of the proposed innovation is to research and study the feasibility of using pontoons (based on Off the Shelf (OTS) equipment) to make an inflatable raft that will support a water-landed space capsule. The advantages of this approach over traditional methods are: 1) Provides stable platform to open hatch for Flight Crew access/egress in less than 1 hour from the time the recovery ves ...

NASA uses an estimated 75 million standard cubic feet of helium (approximately $5M worth) each year for safely purging hydrogen systems before filling and after discharging, and while leak checking, pressurizing lines and blanketing liquid hydrogen storage tanks. Despite its expense, there is no substitute for helium in most of these applications because of its extremely low boiling point and uniq ...

It is important to NASA engineers to be able to model radiation effects through very complex vehicle structures. This requires (1) integration of modeling tools with Computer Aided Design (CAD); (2) easy and uniform setup of materials, particles sources and tallies; (3) ability to analyze and validate the results across multiple radiation codes. Tech-X will deliver RSim, a across-platform standa ...

Three of the key abilities needed for making future NASA and commercial launch and in-space transportation systems more affordable and capable are: a) the ability to "live off of the land" via in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), b) the ability to reuse in-space transportation hardware, and c) the ability to leverage continuing advancements in lower-cost earth-to-orbit transportation. All of these ...

Rapid, accurate measurement and process control of silver ion biocide concentrations in future space missions is needed. The purpose of the Phase II program is to complete the development of an Smart Electroanalytical Multi-Sensor (SEMS) device for analysis and process control of biocidal silver in potable water, with the option integrating an Ag+ ion generator. The device will automatically provi ...