Award Data

Plume-regolith interaction during propulsive landing results in (1) the liberation of dust/debris particles that may collide and strike the landing vehicle and surrounding assets obscuring ground observation for safe landing and (2) craters that are formed on the landing surface, posing additional challenges to vehicle stability and surface operations. The Gas-Granular Flow Solver (GGFS) had previ ...

Opterus Research and Development, Inc. proposes to develop and validate multi-scale thin-ply High Strain Composites (HSCs) constitutive modeling tools for incorporation into commercial finite element analysis codes. The constitutive models will capture the time-temperature-load-deformation viscoelastic characteristics common to HSCs as well as the yielding or permanent deformation associated with ...

To address the need for thermal protection systems with reduced cost and reduced complexity, with continuity over large areas, thermoset resin nanocomposite materials that are compatible with additive-manufacturing process will be optimized for thermal shielding applications. Additive manufacturing offers significant possibilities for developing and fabricating a thermal protection system (TPS); a ...

For long duration space missions beyond LEO there is a wealth of COTS hardware that could potentially be implemented for non-critical tasks within heavily shielded spacecraft cabins. To employ COTS systems for such missions, we propose to use a simulation/experimental/statistical approach for risk acceptance Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) suitable for Cis-Lunar and Cis-Mars missions. The simul ...

Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics systems operated in highly-shielded enclosures (HSE) will all require power supplies or DC/DC converters to power the signal processing electronics. nbsp;Most power supplies are based on switching converters that require power transistors, diodes, gate drivers, and control ICs that regulate the power. These components in a COTS assembly will all be unhar ...

Conventional lithium-ion batteries demonstrate great potential for energy storage applications but they face some major challenges such as low energy density and cycle life. It is meaningful to pursue alternative strategies to address these barriers. nbsp;In this project, we will design and develop high energy Li-metal battery using solid electrolytes that may lead to high energy density (300-400 ...

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) and Auburn University propose to develop a smart sensor module (SSM) to enable wireless sensing capabilities in liquid propulsion systems. An SSM would increase NASArsquo;s capabilities by eliminating labor-intensive tasks such as routing and securing cables. It would also improve sensor accessibility in locations that are difficult to diagnose, and enable advanced com ...

Engineers at NASA are faced with the challenge of understanding complex electromagnetic effects that can impact payloads and launch vehicle hardware located under rocket fairings. Approximate approaches for modelingnbsp;antennas that interact with rocket fairingsnbsp;assume a plane wave incident upon the fairing for external antennas or a simple representation of the antenna (e.g., Hertzian dipole ...

Research in Flight and Auburn University are proposing to develop a robust tool and methodology to allow the simulation and modeling of acoustic signatures for Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) air vehicle concepts in the conceptual design phase. These new tools will enable the study of aeroacoustics in much greater detail and with greater fidelity than heretofore deemed practical in the early ...

After landing, the lunar lander liquid oxygen tank may contain as much as 5% residual oxygen that is pressurized with helium. TDA Research proposes to develop an oxygen recovery module which separates the helium from the oxygen so that the remaining high purity oxygen can be readily supplied to life-support equipment and fuel cells. The oxygen recovery module uses an advanced sorbent that has a hi ...