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Future space missions will utilize small spacecraft with advanced sensor systems. Cooling of these sensors is required to decrease noise and increase sensitivity by maintaining the detector at a reduced operating temperature. The cooling system comprises a mechanical cryocooler and its control electronics, both of which are critical technologies to enable future missions. Creare proposes to develo ...

This Phase II effort prototypes a minimal volume microscope designed to allow for a 2-D digital holographic imaging concurrent with field of view spectral content at video frame rates. The use of a laser driven IR dual beam frequency comb, coincident with the optical beam path required for a digital holographic image, will allow rapid acquisition of both the spatial and the spectral content associ ...

Vadum has demonstrated the Optimal Advanced Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP) Trajectory System (OATHS) which increases the performance of the HVP by optimizing HVP trajectory to its target. OATHS was prototyped and tested using an in-house MATLAB-based combat system development environment. The results of Phase I testing show that OATHS can feasibly increase HVP probability of kill or reduce the tot ...

This Second Phase II effort will leverage the existing Standard Space Trainer (SST) Phase III SBIR state-of-the-art research platform to leverage its inherent capabilities as the software engine to support this research effort. SST has a collection of software that provides development support and a common runtime environment for the use of mission specific plug-ins. This reusable SST Architecture ...

Diode-Pumped Alkali Laser (DPAL) systems have great potential for missile defense and other applications. These systems require a uniform, steady, flowing mixture of helium and rubidium vapor at elevated pressure and temperature. Significant challenges exist because rubidium is a very reactive material. Our team has developed a contamination-free, hermetic circulator based on gas-bearing turbomach ...

Lithium oxyhalide batteries offer energy densities several times higher than thermal batteries. Like thermal batteries, lithium oxyhalide batteries have unactivated storage lives in excess of 20 years and are mechanically rugged. Some of the main advantages that lithium oxyhalide batteries offer are flat discharge voltage profiles and potentially long operating lives. However, battery performanc ...

The projected cost for the Mentis Sciences, Inc., (MSI) prototype PAC3 radome is 1/6th of the total cost of the present system. A Pareto analysis of the current MSI process indicates that the two largest costs in radome production are the direct labor associated with fabrication and the cost of the raw materials. In Phase I MSI demonstrated that COTS paint spraying technology reduced the direct ...

Ultra-high performance multi-function RF electronics are required by the United States Department of Defense to enable next generation radar and sensor networks in response to an increasingly diverse array of threats to our military and our homeland. An elegant potential solution is that of gallium nitride (GaN) RF electronics, which has shown great promise on currently available yet foreign subs ...

Advanced space-borne infrared detectors require cooling at temperatures near 10 K. Cooling loads for these detectors will range from 0.25 W to 1.0 W at 10 K, with additional loads at higher temperatures. A multistage cooler, capable of cooling multiple loads, will offer large potential gains in system efficiency and weight. Turbomachine-based Brayton cryocoolers are ideal candidates for these m ...

DNA microarray technology, in combination with statistical and predictive modeling tools, could be used to evaluate thousands of genes against distinct gene expression patterns induced by chemical/biological agents to provide early identification and speed therapeutic intervention. The overall objective of this Phase II effort is to leverage existing public domain resources and commercial tools t ...