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We propose to develop a "black carbon" (soot) monitor for measuring non-volatile particulate emissions from gas turbine engines employing a proprietary optical extinction measurement technique based on cavity attenuated phase shift spectroscopy (CAPS) operting in conjunction with a differential mobility analyzer. The singular aspect of the CAPS approach is that extinction is measured by determinin ...

Secondary neutrons make a significant contribution to the total absorbed dose received by space crews during long duration space missions However, only a limited number of measurements of the dose contribution from secondary neutrons have been made. In part this is due to an inability to easily discriminate between the fraction of dose which results from secondary neutrons and that which results f ...

For remote sensing of laser/lidar technology and global environment monitoring applications, the pulsed coherent Doppler lidars are of considerable contemporary interest as an effective tool. At present, the coherent 2-ƒÝm laser radar has been used to replaced CO2 gas laser (10.6-ƒÝm) for its higher spatial and velocity resolution. Considering the commercial 2 micron laser systems are complex ...

Boston Micromachines Corporation (BMC), a leading developer of unique, high-resolution micromachined deformable mirrors (DMs), will develop a compact, low-power, high-voltage multiplexed driver suitable for integration with those DMs in space-based wavefront control applications. The proposed driver architecture will drastically reduce power consumption and size. Based on parameters measured using ...

It is proposed to advance manufacturing science and technology to improve yield and optical surface figure in high actuator count, high-resolution deformable mirrors (DM) required for wavefront control in space-based high contrast imaging instruments. As the scale of batch fabricated, polysilicon surface micromachined MEMS DMs increases to thousands of actuators the associated increase in devices ...

In space propulsion applications, an increasingly unmet need is compact, low-power, precision flow regulating valves. Propulsion for increasingly small spacecraft is limited by the availability of such valves. Although much work on miniaturizing valves has been performed using microfabrication approaches, few of these efforts have resulted in technologies suitable for propulsion. Busek proposes ...

NASA is seeking electric propulsion systems capable of producing up to 20mN thrust, input power up to 1000W and specific impulse ranging from 1600-3500 seconds. The target mass is 1kg for the thruster and 2kg for the power processor unit (PPU). The proposed system will be based on a variant of our low power HET family, the NASA in-situ channel replacement technology for thruster life extension, a ...

New Frontiers and Discovery class science missions cover a broad range of scientific objectives and mission destinations. To address NASA's need for advanced propulsion systems that can effectively operate in both near Earth as well as to outer planets and other celestial bodies, NASA-GRC has been developing a wide throttle range High Voltage Hall Accelerator called HIVHAC. This thruster is envi ...

We propose to develop Mg rockets for Martian ascent vehicle applications. The propellant can be acquired in-situ from MgO in the Martian regolith (5.1% Mg by mass) and combusted with H20 that exists at the poles and below the surface. The vacuum Isp of a Mg-H20 rocket would be ~300 s. Mg can also be combusted with CO2 condensed from the Martian atmosphere to yield Isp ~215 s. The technology ca ...

NASA's Vision for Space Exploration advocates a return to the moon and involves a plan of using the moon as a base of for missions to other planets. Early return missions to the moon will involve lunar exploration with robotic spacecrafts with instrumental payloads for scientific measurements of lunar surface features such as rocks, soil, and minerals. These instrument payloads will be helpful ...