Award Data

The bloom-forming algae Karenia brevis produces neurotoxins known as brevetoxins (PbTx) that can cause illness in humans and marine wildlife. During K. brevis blooms, also known as red tides, elevated levels of brevetoxins have been linked to massive bird, fish, and marine mammal kills. In addition, human consumption of brevetoxin contaminated shellfish leads to neurotoxic shellfish poisoning. The ...

We proposed to test, design, and modify an existing ‘X-Array’ tetrahedral (3-D) hydrophone array prototype and design with the ultimate goal of developing a production prototype called the ‘X-3D Array’. We will analyze field data collected previously from the first prototype, conduct hydrodynamic modeling of the array design, and research possible torque imbalances in the tow-cable, and us ...

The problem this proposal seeks to remedy has positive and profound ramifications for the advancement of aquaculture. The aquaculture industry lags in genetically based selective breeding programs when compared to terrestrial commercial crops. This perpetuates our nation’s $11 billion dollar seafood deficit, puts U.S. aquaculture entrepreneurs at a disadvantage for success, and increases risk fo ...

It is now recognized that the pH of the world’s oceans is becoming more acidic as a consequence of increasing atmospheric CO2. This process, termed “ocean acidification” (OA) will affect the aquaculture of marine shellfish. In order to maintain current levels of commercial mollusk production, the identification and commercialization of resilient shellfish strains will be required. Emerging e ...

The use of unattended floats, platforms, and drones addresses the immense challenge of cost-effectively characterizing the chemistry of the oceans. The proposed program strengthens this capability by demonstrating the feasibility of Laser Fluorescence Enhanced Flame Spectrophotometry (LFEFS) for the simultaneous and high precision measurement of calcium and strontium. These are key elements of the ...

Climate change is a growing concern, leading NASA to the need to track concentrations of such greenhouse gases as CO2 and CH4, including the need to detect them daytime, nighttime, and all year. To achieve this, NASA has proposed such projects as Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE), and Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days ...

To address the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) needs for improved robotic platform navigation and real-time position and orientation tracking on the infrastructure-free lunar, planetary, or asteroid surfaces, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Robotic Autonomous Navigation and Orientation Tracking System (RANOTS) based on a set of compact and reliable self-mixing interfero ...

Space Micro and Maryland Aerospace propose a novel Attitude Determination and Control Product for long life, high reliability cubesat missions in severe radiation environments. The uADCS concept proposed will achieve 0.05deg pointing control accuracy for a 3U cubesat. The technology is scalable to larger satellites in a modular configuration. Key innovations include a hybrid optical assembly, a ...

OKSI proposes a minimally invasive in-flight diagnostic to measure heat shield recession during flight tests. These measurements can be used to validate models and ultimately optimize heat shield design to reduce weight while maintaining sufficient safety margins. The concept has two components: 1) specially designed heat shield plug(s) and 2) a remote spectral sensor. First, the custom heat sh ...

A suite of laser-based diagnostics is proposed to measure velocity and temperature simultaneously using unseeded techniques in high enthalpy flows relevant to reentry flight. The two main types of regions that are found in a typical hypersonic flow field around a vehicle are addressed by developing separate diagnostics for each. In regions far from the body where the flow is mostly non-dissociated ...