Award Data

Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation (AASC) proposes to demonstrate extended service lifetime of space tethers in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment by using Filtered Cathodic Arc Plasma Deposition (FCAPD) to deposit a high quality protective coating onto space tether material. Protective coatings deposited by FCAPD have low defect density, excellent adhesion to space tether material, low mass ...

Solid rocket motor cases are subject to a variety of external environmental and loading conditions from cradle-to-grave. These conditions can significantly impact the performance and decrease safety of the rocket motor. Fueling of the rocket motor adds an additional complexity in that inspection of the interior becomes impossible while creating the possibility of disbonds between the case and fuel ...

This proposal effort is concerned with the development of a novel multidisciplinary optimization scheme and computer software for the effective design of advanced aerospace vehicles. Such vehicles are characterized by unprecedented levels of aero-structural-controls-propulsion interactions, a multidisciplinary simulation is essential for their effective design, vehicle can be accomplished by emplo ...

Advancements in sensors/detectors are needed to support future NASA mission concepts including polarimetry, large format imaging arrays, and high-sensitivity spectroscopy. The corresponding data acquisition systems must employ high-speed, extra low power, linear analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) featuring a wide input bandwidth and reasonable effective number of bits, followed by a digital signa ...

Current and future programs of near-Earth and deep space exploration require the development of faster and more reliable electronics with open system architectures that are reconfigurable, fault-tolerant, and can operate effectively for long periods of time in harsh environments. Existing data transfer systems based on passive backplanes are slow, power hungry, hardly reconfigurable, and feature h ...

Current and future programs of near-Earth and deep space exploration performed by NASA and Department of Defense require the development of reconfigurable, high-speed intra-satellite interconnect systems based on switching fabric active backplane architecture with high-speed serial interfaces. Electrical and/or optical transponders operating with Space Wire, Fire Wire, or Gigabit Ethernet protocol ...

Innovative data measurement/acquisition systems are needed to support future Earth System Science measurements of the Earth's atmosphere and surface. An adequate system must employ a high-speed, extra low power, linear, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with high input bandwidth and accuracy, followed by a digital signal processor that is usually implemented inside a field-programmable gate array ...

Wide-bandgap SiC semiconductors have been recently investigated for use in power devices, because of their potential capabilities of operating at high power densities, high temperatures and at high frequencies and thus offering advantages such as high efficiency, small size and light weight. Currently a few power devices based on SiC technology have been demonstrated and commercialized. Therefore ...

The nature of human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars demands a frequency-agile, reconfigurable, durable digital radio delivering telemetry, ranging, voice, video, and data, with low Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP), and easy operation in the demanding space environment of Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). AeroAstro and Virginia Tech propose to continue development of the EVA radio, building u ...

Modern electronic systems tolerate only as many point failures as there are redundant system copies, using mere macro-scale redundancy. Fault Tolerant Electronics Supporting Space Exploration (FTESSE) creates an electronic design paradigm using reprogrammable FPGAs to create swappable Circuit Object Blocks (COBs) – analogous to software objects – for the first time enabling redundancy on a micr ...