Award Data

Many hazardous gases that NASA needs to monitor on and around space vehicles during launch could be detected using mass spectrometers that need operate over only a limited mass range. But, stringent requirements of low weight and low power operation, plus the ability to tolerate high G-forces and excessive vibration prevent the ready adaptation of existing, commercial mass spectrometers to these a ...

Many hazardous gases that NASA needs to monitor on and around space vehicles during launch could be detected using mass spectrometers that need operate over only a limited mass range. But, stringent requirements of low weight and low power operation, plus the ability to tolerate high G-forces and excessive vibration prevent the ready adaptation of existing, commercial mass spectrometers to these a ...

The prediction, identification and notification of spacecraft fires is critical in assuring the safety of manned space missions. Absent the effects of buoyancy in space, the chemical and fluid dynamic phenomena that govern the ignition, spread and extinction of fires are far different than those on Earth. Our understanding and predictive capabilities depend on detailed models that must be versatil ...

NASA's missions of space exploration require significant power sources both for propulsion and for on-board power. This motivates the development of high temperature structural materials to maximize the thermodynamic efficiency of power conversion systems. Refractory alloys are essential due to their high operating temperature capability that in turn enables high thermal conversion efficiency. The ...

ORBITEC proposes the development of a new approach to bi-directional humidity control with the potential for providing a low cost highly reliable miniature humidity control system with no moving parts: Highly Reliable Humidity Control for Small Volumes. (HUMSV) The main innovation of the system is the proper configuration of a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) and a hydrophilic material, to allow capill ...

ORBITEC proposes to develop a unique Advanced Vortex Hybrid Rocket Engine (AVHRE) to achieve a safe, highly-reliable, low-cost and uniquely versatile propulsion system. The benefits of AVHRE result from the combination of four innovations: (1) the patented vortex injection technique which generates a coaxial vortex pair, driving high solid-fuel regression rates and improved combustion efficiency; ...

ORBITEC proposes to conduct innovative research and development that would culminate in an Aerodynamic Fluid Physics Research Facility (AFPRF) technology demonstration on the International Space Station serving one or more critical experimental needs of the NASA mg Program. The AFPRF would serve as an innovative microgravity apparatus that would virtually eliminate g-jitter and provide a gently co ...

ORBITEC proposes to conduct an innovative research and development program that will result in a Aerodynamic Microgravity Containerless Processor (AMCP) technology demonstration on the International Space Station. This system will satisfy microgravity scientists that cannot currently be accommodated by the ESL, EML or acoustic systems. The innovation is based on: the use of a newly developed gas-j ...

Diamond Data Systems (DDS) proposes the development of a new advanced architecture, algorithms and software to support the end-to-end processing of LIDAR data to derive useful information products such as Digital Elevation Models (DEM). The approach is innovative in three ways. First, it proposes a complete end-to-end system instead of a solution that addresses only a single step of the complex ...

The Laser-Engineered-Net-Shaping (LENSTM) process uses a laser to create a molten pool on the surface of a substrate in which metal powder is then injected to increase the volume of the pool. The laser spot is selectively scanned to additively build up the required material in the desired shape. In a sequential fashion, each cross-sectional layer of the object is taken from a 3-D CAD file and depo ...