Award Data

The gas sensor in the PLSS of the ISS EMU will meet its projected life in 2020, and NASA is planning to replace it. At present, only high TRL devices based on infrared absorption are candidate replacements, because of their proven long-term stability, despite their size and power consumption and failures in the presence of liquid water. No current compact sensor has the tolerance for liquid water ...

NASA seeks to develop high specific energy primary batteries that are safe and capable of performing under a wide temperature range, for manned space missions. To meet this goal, CFX Battery Inc. proposes to develop, characterize, and establish technological feasibility of a new Li/SF-CFx based high capacity lithium primary battery that offers higher rate capability and enhanced safety than conven ...

The innovation proposed here is a high-performance, high-fidelity framework in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code called Loci-STREAM to enable accurate, fast and robust simulations of unsteady multiphase flows such as combustion involving liquid-gas phases in liquid rocket injectors and solid-gas phases in solid rocket motors, and cryogenic cavitation in delivery systems of liquid rocket ...

In providing an innovative solution to improving information technologies and health management systems, AGNC is proposing a significant technological achievement with the Advanced Structural Health Monitoring System for Comprehensive Real-Time Vehicle Characterization. During in-flight conditions, this system is able to not only provide the status of information such as regarding the flight envel ...

The innovation proposed here is a high performance, high fidelity simulation capability to enable accurate, fast and robust simulation of unsteady turbulent, reacting flows involving cryogenic propellants (such as LOX/LH2 and LOX/LCH4). The key features of this proposed capability are: (a) Hybrid RANS-LES (HRLES) methodology, and (b) flamelet modeling for turbulent combustion incorporated in a pr ...

Future human extraterrestrial missions will require export and landing of countless payloads on the lunar and Martian surfaces. Such a quantity and rate of payload delivery will require cost-effective and rapid manufacturing of many large Thermal Protection Systems (TPS). IOS proposes to develop a modular system for in-situ bonding and curing of thermoset resin to the spacecraft structure to facil ...

HJ ScienceTechnology (HJST) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) propose a highly integrated, programmable, and miniaturized microfluidic automation platform capable of running rapid and complex synthetic biology and bioengineering processes for engineering life supporting microbes in space exploration missions. Our approach combines the microfluidic automation technology of HJST with ...

Solar cells are the critical power source for the majority of space missions. The advancement from single junction silicon cells to current, state-of-the-art, triple junction, germanium cells enabled greater mission power per weight, stowed volume and deployed area. Near-term, advanced solar cell technologies will range from 4 to 6 junctions, and include a variety of band gaps.Solar cell testing ...

The proposed innovation is to use the refrigerant capabilities of nitrous oxide (N2O) to provide the cooling required for reusable operation of an aerospike nozzle in conjunction with an N2O-HTPB (hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene, a synthetic rubber that is used as a binder in solid rocket motors and as a fuel in hybrid rocket motors) hybrid rocket motor. The phase change cooling as liquid N2O i ...

A spacecraft thermal control system must keep the vehicle, avionics and atmosphere (if crewed) within a defined temperature range. Since water is non-toxic and good for heat transport, it is typically used as the coolant that circulates within the crew cabin boundary. This loop then interfaces with another low freeze point fluid, such as ammonia, for transport of heat to a radiator where the tempe ...