Award Data

ORBITEC proposes to develop processes and waste heat recovery techniques to be incorporated into the existing Plastic Melt Waste Compactor (PMWC) to increase efficiency and throughput. The end goal will be to incorporate these processes and techniques into the PMWC system developed by Ames Research Center (ARC). The PMWC has shown to be the best technology for waste management for space applicati ...

ORBITEC proposes to develop the Advanced Carbothermal Electric (ACE) reactor to efficiently extract oxygen from lunar regolith. Unlike state-of-the-art carbothermal reactors that use concentrated solar energy or laser energy to heat the regolith, the ACE reactor uses new innovative electric resistant elements to heat the regolith. The ACE reactor eliminates the problems encountered with traditiona ...

Challenges arise in the propulsion systems for the new exploration architecture. The currently operational and proven storable hypergolic systems raise toxicity concerns. Because MMH is a carcinogen, measures must be taken to prevent exposure of personnel to the fuel from the time of its synthesis to the time of it neutralization. This extra care translates into increased expense for the missio ...

Aniuk Consulting, LLC, proposes to create a GIS software toolkit for monitoring areal snow cover extent and producing streamflow forecasts. This toolkit will be packaged as multiple extensions for ArcGIS 9.2 and provides users with a means for easily ingesting NASA EOS satellite images (for snow cover analysis), preparing hydrologic model inputs, and visualizing streamflow forecasts. Primary pro ...

Aniuk Consulting, LLC, proposes to create a GIS software toolkit for easily converting NASA HDF-EOS data into formats that can be readily used within a Geographic Information System (GIS) or other geospatial software programs. The Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) is a widely used scientific data format and serves as the standard format for NASA EOS products. The HDF-EOS toolbar will allow a user t ...

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The development of an electroporation system is proposed for cold sterilization of wastewater in water reclamation. Higher strength electric fields (10 KV/cm) are generated in short DC pulses for microbial cell inactivation. Electroporation employs electric fields to cause transient or permanent changes in cell membrane permeability. At higher field strengths, permanent changes result in the death ...

BECAUSE BACTERIAL DISEASES ARE FREQUENTLY TRANSMITTED THROUGH CONTAMINATED WATER, THE DETECTION OF MICROBIOLOGICALCONTAMINATION IS IMPORTANT, TO ENSURE SANITARY WATER SUPPLIES. CURRENT TESTS ARE LABOR INTENSIVE AND TAKE SEVERAL DAYS TO CONFIRM CONTAMINATION LEVELS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF A UNIQUE, RAPID, WATER-QUALITY TEST FOR BACTERIA. PHASE I FOCUSES ON THE DEVELOPMENT ...

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NUTRIENT SOLUTIONS USED IN HYDROPONIC PLANT GROWING FACILITIES (SUCH AS NASA'S CELSS) SHOULD BENEFIT FROM ON-LINE MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL OF THE IONIC CONCENTRATIONS OF THE NUTRIENTS THAT MAKE UP SUCH SOLUTIONS. BIOTRONICS HAS DEVELOPED AN ON-LINE FIBER-LINKED FLUOROMETRIC ANALYZER POTENTIALLY CAPABLE OF MEASURING THESE IONIC CONCENTRATIONS. THIS FIBER-OPTIC BASED FLUOROMETRIC ANALYZER, DESIGNATED ...