Award Data

Sensatek Propulsion Technology, Inc. proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of a wireless, passive, nanoparticle-based sensor system. The sensor in its current form can be used to measure real time temperatures and pressures wirelessly without the need of an external energy source. It should be noted that the same sensing principle can be used for strain monitoring as well. It comprises of a micr ...

Firefly, in collaboration with Rochester Institute of Technology, proposes an STTR program for the development of a wide-bandgap GaP-based space solar cell capable of efficient operation at temperatures above 300oC. Efficiency enhancement will be achieved by the introduction of InGaP quantum wells within the active region of the wide-gap base material. The introduction of these nanoscale features ...

Suppression of noise from aircraft is a vital NASA goal, especially important for the vision of Urban Air Mobility. Small urban aircraft may utilize Distributed Electric Propulsion along with advanced structural and electric motor/storage technologies to achieve the necessary flight capability. However, these aircraft utilize propellers or fans to achieve the necessary thrust, with attendant commu ...

The Advanced Space Suit carries consumable cooling water maintained at ambient pressure within a soft-walled, flexible reservoir. To ensure uninterrupted thermal control it is critical to monitor the volume of water remaining, but no known sensor is suitable for this task. Existing measurement techniques are unacceptably sensitive to the motion and varying geometry of the reservoir in microgravity ...

The proposed Phase II supports completion of the RINGS science missions on ISS using SVGS as real-time sensor for the EMFF maneuver. During Phase I, SVGS-based navigation of RINGS was developed and tested on a 3DOF ground-based platform, and mechanical and electrical integration of RINGS with the free-flying robotic platforms on ISS (Astrobee) was designed in detail. SVGS was deployed and tested o ...

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 ...

Creare and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University propose to design, develop, test, and deliver an ultra compact star tracker specifically intended for small satellites such as the CubeSat platform. Our design is based on proprietary "folded optics" technology previously developed by our partner for use in military and commercial optical applications that require a compact footprint ...

Regenerative space life support will undoubtedly require food production, to recover nutrients and close the carbon loop in a spacecraft habitat. Aquatic plants have enormous potential for edible biomass production but have been little studied as potential food crops for space applications. The proposed μG-LilyPond™ is an autonomous environmentally controlled floating plant cultivation system ...

T3RSS is the system engineer's tool that allows a systematic approach to ensuring that even if one or more failures occur in a single component or subsystem, then the subsystem will continue to function and most, if not all, mission objectives can still be achieved. T3RSS does this by using a Configuration Manager for a Dynamically Reconfigurable System (CMDRS). This piece of logic employs a Missi ...

Launch vehicles experience extreme acoustic loads dominated by rocket plume interactions with ground structures during liftoff, which can produce damaging vibro-acoustic loads on the vehicle and payloads if not properly understood and mitigated against. Existing capabilities for modeling turbulent plume physics are too dissipative to accurately resolve the acoustic propagation and detailed vehicle ...