Award Data

The Bioastronautical Systems Development Company (BSDC) proposes to develop habitat technologies for conducting long-term commercial research with mice in microgravity. Our research addresses solicitation section B4.02 Space Commercialization for the design/development of microgravity payloads for space station applications that lead to commercial products or services. In partnership with BioServe ...

In November 1998 a network of seismic stations was deployed by S. Anandakrishnan (now at Penn State) and others in West Antarctica. These autonomous stations returned state-of-health data via satellite, and stored high-volume instrument data for later retrieval. The satellite links demonstrated a novel and sophisticated application of technology to the problem of retrieving in situ data from harsh ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Lyme disease is an emerging infectious disease accounting for more than 90% of all reported vector-borne diseases. In the eastern United States, the spirochete Borellia burgdorferi, which causes the disease, is carried by the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis). The main reservoir for the spirochete in the wild is the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), which serves as the m ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The effective control of weeds is one of the most important and costly issues in commercial agriculture. Practically all weed control is accomplished by mechanical means (cultivation) or broadcast spraying of herbicides. Global positioning systems, remote sensing and variable-rate technology have been used for site-specific herbicide application. The anticipated results will ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Filtration membranes in the dairy industry for milk and cheese whey processing are to be cleaned and disinfected every 24 hours. Typical filtration plants for large-scale dairy processing have hold-up volumes of 1000-2000 gallons requiring large volumes of cleaning solutions and large quantities of chemical cleansers. Reducing cleanser cost and the environmental impact of sp ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Filtration membranes in the dairy industry for milk and cheese whey processing are to be cleaned and disinfected every 24 hours. Typical filtration plants for large-scale dairy processing have hold-up volumes of 1000-2000 gallons requiring large volumes of cleaning solutions and large quantities of chemical cleansers. Reducing cleanser cost and the environmental impact of sp ...

Ongoing logistical repair, maintenance, and resupply of space platforms will become a costly and potentially dangerous activity in the post Space Station era. This is primarily driven by the need for more frequent missions, and as the number of missions increases, so does the cumulative probably of failure in the launch, docking, and return phases of the mission. The best defense will be to make s ...

The innovation proposed is a platform for wireless communication based on magnetic telemetry that enables implantable micro instruments without batteries to acquire instructions, sense physical and chemical parameters, perform basic signal processing and on-site conditioning, and communicate information over 15cm. The platform, including electronics hardware and a protocol for a wide range of sens ...

TDA Research, Inc. proposes to develop a biodegradable food packaging material that will address the issues of extended-life food storage and waste disposal in space. On long-term space missions, on board the International Space Station, or on future lunar or planetary facilities, a biodegradable food packaging plastic could be disposed of in composting environments that support agricultural produ ...

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Certain fruits do not change color as they ripen and hence it may be difficult for consumers to select fruit that is ready to eat. Melons and winter pears are examples of fruit that is difficult to select. Most fruit is now individually labeled and this project will develop a label that will change color as the fruit approaches ripeness. This colorimetric label will provide ...