Award Data

Establishing human presence outside the protective cover of earth's atmosphere is a challenge. On earth, the atmosphere does not only present breathing gas, it also acts as a thermal buffer and protects the biosphere from harmful radiation. Shielding of humans from harmful radiation during long-term stays on an extraterrestrial body like the moon is a difficult task. Lunar regolith provides an ...

Spacecraft fires create exception risks to crew members. There is usually no place to escape. Even small amounts of hardware damage can compromise a mission. The most effective fire extinguishing agents, Halons, are prohibited because of the toxicity and corrosiveness of combustion byproducts. Early warning fire sensors are needed that can operate effectively in zero gravity; that means no con ...

Breath respiratory species measurement during extravehicular activity (EVA) or intravehicular activity (IVA) is a demanding application for optical sensing techniques. Yet optical techniques offer many advantages including high-precision, fast response, and strong species selectivity. Accommodation within spacesuits demands that optical sensors meet stringent size, weight and power requirements. ...

Trace species measurement on unmanned atmospheric research craft suitable for interplanetary travel is a demanding application for optical sensing techniques. Yet optical techniques offer many advantages including high-precision, fast response, and strong species selectivity. Balloonsonde, kite, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or glider deployment demands that optical sensors meet stringent size, ...

Reliable and efficient fire detection is a precondition for safe spaceflight. The threat of onboard fire is constant and requires early, fast and unfailing detection. Current fire detectors are prone to fatigue and have insufficient sensitivity, selectivity and time-response. Smoke detectors cannot detect early stages of combustion and become unreliable if exposed to dust particulates. New sen ...

Advanced Situation Awareness Technologies (ASAT) will facilitate exploration of the moon surface, and other planetary bodies. This powerful technology will also find application in the commercial sector, particularly submersible vehicle operation. ASAT will fuse video and other sensor technologies, with geographic databases to maximize vehicle operator situation awareness, and enhance the naviga ...

With the expected extension of duration of the space missions outlined in NASA's Vision of Space Exploration, such as a manned mission to Mars or the establishment of a lunar base, the need to produce potable water from onboard wastewater streams in a closed-loop system becomes critical for life support and health of crew membranes. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a compact process that has proven its abi ...

The proposed Phase I program will demonstrate the feasibility of the in-space production of large aperture antenna structures. The use of a novel open cell foam, previously developed for NASA space antennas, will allow the deployment of reflectors at low cost and very low transport volume compared to currently used technologies like solid metal or mesh reflector. The use of a foam substrate also ...

Aging and durability of aircraft in both the military and civilian sectors are becoming major issues as the existing fleet continues to age. Additionally, the increased use of composite structures in the civilian fleet, such as in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A380, make the understanding and/or improvement of composite durability, particularly durability of repairs, even more critical ...

Any manned missions to extraterrestrial locations will require shelter structures for a variety of purposes ranging from habitat usage to biomass production. Such shelters need to be constructed in such a way to minimize stowed volume and payload weight. The structures must also be very durable and have the ability to survive punctures without collapsing. Ways of increasing available crew-load ...