Award Data

The proposed Phase II investigation will focus on the development of spacecraft systems required to obtain a sample from the nucleus of a comet, hermetically seal the sample within a capsule, and return the sealed sample to an orbiting spacecraft which can return the sample to Earth. A systems level concept for the Comet Surface Sample Return Probe has been developed in Phase I. This concept will ...

During this Phase II program Dimension Technologies Inc. (DTI) proposes to design and build an autostereoscopic (glasses-free 3D) LCD based aircraft cockpit display that features switchable 2D & 3D operation, full LCD resolution in both 2D and 3D modes, a wide viewing area without head position restrictions, and high brightness. The display will be configured for installation and testing in a Boe ...

Studies in ground-based analogs of Isolated and Confined Environments (ICE) have identified sensory monotony and social isolation as threats to crew psychological well-being. Further, the lack of real-time communications in future missions will impact crew interactions with their support systems, i.e. family, friends, and colleagues, are critical. ANSIBLE (A Network of Social Interactions for Bi ...

We propose to design, build, and test a sample acquisition drill weighing less than 1 kg. The drill uses a novel method of core or powder acquisition, and is suitable for both use by both robotic platforms and astronauts. The core acquisition bit can be used for either a rock core, icy-soil or loose regolith acquisition. The continued development of robust sample acquisition and handling tools is ...

Accurate safety analysis of software suffers from a lack of appropriate tools for software developers. Current automated tools require approximate analyses; fully-assured verification with formal methods is expert-intensive. A key to improvement is machine-checkable specifications for software modules. Specifications are also needed to express the intent of software. Further, to scale to wide use, ...

Constructing, maintaining, and adapting operational procedures for manned space operations is a complex task, requiring the procedure author to satisfy constraints resulting from the system configuration, current state, and a set of procedural constraints imposing additional restrictions on these procedures. For operations on NASA's International Space Station (ISS), these procedural constraints m ...

NASA's future X-ray astronomy missions will require X-ray optics that have large effective areas, are lightweight, and cost effective. Recent X-ray telescopes, such as the Chandra Observatory, utilized reflectors made from zerodur which were up to 20mm thick. The thickness of these reflectors, as well as the mass, limited the number of nested optics that could be implemented. Current state of t ...

This SBIR project seeks to develop a miniature sensor for mass measurement of size-classified aerosols. A cascade impactor will be used to classify aerosol sample into 8 uniform bins on a logarithmic scale, covering an aerodynamic size range of 0.01 to 10 microns. In each of the 8 stages aerosols will be deposited on a MEMS microbalance that will record aerosol mass in real-time. The proposed devi ...

This program proposes to design and evaluate novel technology of X-ray navigation for augmentation and increased capability of high data-rate spacecraft communications. NASA's current concept for an integrated radio and optical communications (iROC) system is being developed to provide communication technology that does not constrain the science yield of their deep space missions. iROC requirement ...

The proposed novel program will use measurements of high-energy photon output from celestial gamma-ray sources to design a new, unique navigation system for a deep space CubeSat demonstration. An integrated CubeSat design will be developed to demonstrate the performance and feasibility of the Gamma-ray source Localization-Induced Navigation and Timing, or "GLINT", technology and software developed ...