Award Data

This program will develop a communication-less solution to decentralized control and task coordination for multi-agent systems (MAS). Reducing the operational burden of MAS swarms on human operators will greatly improve the capability of spacecraft constellations and distant planetary explorations. The proposed solution would guide the MAS towards a cost minimized set of actions by performing grad ...

CU Aerospace (CUA) and the University of Michigan (UM) propose the development of the Cycle Automated Mass Flow (CAMFlow) system for reliable and well-regulated flow control. CAMFlow uses an innovative control scheme that enables stable operation using only Boolean valve states, even for the low flow rates necessary for sub-kilowatt Hall effect thrusters. This methodology removes system complexity ...

The team of CU Aerospace (CUA) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) proposenbsp;risk reduction design and analyses of a modular spacecraft addition based on our teamrsquo;s CubeSail technology for accelerated spacecraft deorbiting.nbsp;nbsp;This technology represents a high-payoff technology using primarily atmospheric drag, but with the additional option for solar sail deorbi ...

CU Aerospace (CUA) proposes the scaling of an alternative very low-toxicity monopropellant thruster to a 0.5 N class engine.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;CMP-8 (CUA Mono-Propellant 8) is a non-detonable yet energetic COTS formulation that possesses many system-level advantages including lower cost (COTS propellant and non-refractory thruster construction), lower thermal load (lt;1000deg;C flame temp), low viscos ...

Novel aircraft concepts enable a future Air Transportation System (ATS) with reduced emissions, reduced noise, improved mobility, and radically new modes of transportation, such as urban air taxis, autonomous deliveries of goods, and improved weather and ground traffic monitoring. The future ATS will need to support an incredibly diverse set of vehicles operating from urban vertiports in addition ...

Hyperspectral datasets are massive. This size makes them difficult to acquire, store, transmit, analyze and use. Hyperspectral imagers (HSI) are also costly and complex, taking significant time or portions of a focal plane to acquire each spectral band. In addition, orbital HSIs are susceptible to radiation damage and inaccessible for repairs, making any damage long-lasting.nbsp;In this effort, we ...

This Phase I proposal is submitted to verify the materials and process engineering of the space environment stable, multifunctional Plasma Sprayable conductive thermal control material system (TCMS) that can be applied to space hardware and can enables the hardware to carry higher leakage current through co doping process engineering for the high electrical conductivity. An innovative space enviro ...

In extremenbsp;temperatures withnbsp;variable atmospheresnbsp;in space exploration, traditional oil lubricants and greases are infeasible. To develop and verify the correct bearing materials/lubricants for these environments, we will use a special instrument for tribological study at extreme temperate conditions with a controlled gas atmosphere. We propose preliminary testing of one tribo-pair of ...

Power electronics is a core enabling technology for virtually all electronic systems. Power density, conversion efficiency, and reliability of power converters represent the three most critical requirements for aerospace, defense and many commercial applications alike. High temperature and radiation tolerant, wide bandgap materials, such as GaN and SiC, have offered a number of technological break ...

MicroLink Devices proposes to develop triple-junction (3J) epitaxial lift-off (ELO) solar cells containing Bifacial Back Metal Mirror (BBMM) technology to allow for reduced mass through device structure thinning as well as cooler and more efficient operation by selectively rejecting excess broadband infrared (IR) radiation. These BBMM 3J solar cells will achieve 33% 1-Sun AM0 beginning-of-life (BO ...