Award Data

This innovative SBIR Phase I proposal will develop new binder systems through the systematic investigations to tailor required unique performance properties and reliability through tailoring Nano-cluster chemistry. The efforts address a critical need of NASA which plans to undertake challenging missions in high radiation orbits for high power thermal management. This feasibility evaluation mainly ...

Space transportation and other vehicles entering the earth?s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds undergo aerodynamic heating which necessitates thermal protection systems (TPS) on exterior surfaces. Future reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) will require TPS durable over several missions with rapid turnaround between each flight. Advanced metallic TPS are under development that utilize a honeycomb structu ...

UltraSail, proposed by a team of CU Aerospace, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, SRS Technologies, and VACCO Industries, is a next-generation high-risk, high-payoff sail system for the launch, deployment, stabilization and control of very large (km^2 class) solar sails enabling high payload mass fractions for interplanetary and deep space spacecraft. UltraSail is an innovative, non-t ...

Next generation General Aviation (GA) Sport Class air vehicles limited to 1200lbs, represent the first opportunity to overhaul the FAA certification process necessary to manufacture affordable aircraft. With propulsion representing over one-third of the direct manufacturing costs of the entire aircraft, dramatic reductions in aircraft engine costs must be achieved by design, economy of scale, and ...

The proposed PAVE propulsion system technology demonstration combines an innovative high-speed aero-diesel engine with a novel ducted fan assembly resulting in a low noise/cost and high performance propulsion system. The core engine makes extensive use of a novel self-injection, compression ignition/combustion system capable of high-speed operation on kerosene-based fuels without degradation due ...

The purpose of this project is to develop a portable, hands free device for emergency medical decision support to be used in remote or confined settings by non-physician providers. Phase I of the project will entail the development of a voice-activated device that will utilize an intelligent algorithm to provide guidance in establishing an airway in an emergency situation. The interactive, hands f ...

The NASA vision for the spaceport of the future entails the transition over time from very high-cost, research oriented space launches with a relatively low frequency of launches to an environment where spaceports are commercialized for the space transportation industry and are required to support multiple launches per day in a safe, cost-effective manner. The spaceport of the future may resemble, ...

ORBITEC and the University of Wisconsin-Madison propose to continue the development of a low-cost, non-intrusive, wavelength-agile optical rocket propulsion sensor (WORPS) to interrogate rocket exhaust plumes and cryogenic fluid properties. The innovative sensor system uses an amplified Chirped White Pulse Emitter (CWPE) to generate high-power wavelength-agile light for probing rocket plumes. It a ...

ORBITEC proposes to develop a deployable facility called the Vegetable Production System (VEGGIE) to produce vegetable (salad) crops to supplement prepackaged foods during long stays in space. The innovation of the VEGGIE is in providing, within a single middeck locker, a plant growing facility with a growing area of 0.5m2 to 1.0m2, a light source sufficiently intense for crop production, a compre ...

ORBITEC, working in cooperation with The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), and others, proposes to develop TAGS II: Tether Electrodynamic Spinup and Survivability Experiment (TESSX). TESSX is a spinning tethered space system, consisting of two end masses separated by an electrodynamic tether. TESSX is believed to be a critically important step in the evolution of several tether applications, ad ...