Award Data

This proposal will develop an innovative architecture and concept of operations that permits reliable, safe, and repeated sampling of small bodies. The Lofted Regolith Sampling (LoRS) architecture is based on advanced astrodynamics and autonomy that is robust to target-body uncertainties and is adaptive during operations. The LoRS architecture is based on several key phases that ultimately lead to ...

NASA recognizes the importance of conservation, smart utilization and reuse of resources for their deep space missions to address the need for regeneration of air, water and waste with highly reliable systems to reduce mission payload. Additionally, energy for life support and other systems needs to be obtained from renewable energy sources or waste streams. In order to address NASA's requirements ...

PC Krause and Associates is partnering with Purdue University, EleQuant, and GridQuant to create a hybrid modeling capability. The combination of PCKA?s extensive dynamic modeling experience, Purdue?s work in electromechanical systems analysis, and GridQuant and Elequant?s development of the HELM algorithm uniquely positions the team to create this technology. HELM is a novel algorithm that solves ...

Tyvak, in collaboration with UCLA, proposes a novel approach to the challenge of creating a large reflector for Ka-band high data rate links. We propose to attach the primary reflector surface permanently to the surface of a 6U spacecraft and illuminate the reflector using a Cassegrain style subreflector with an illuminating antenna that is permanently mounted to the transmitter / receiver inside ...

The proposed 9-month research project aims for the development of additive manufacturing techniques for the creation of electronic devices. It will develop an innovative additive manufacturing technique that combines the ink-based printing with laser melting technology to directly print a three-dimensional (3D) system with built-in electrical properties and functioning as an electronic device. Th ...

Distributed Spacecraft Missions (DSM) have become increasingly important in the effort to extend the capabilities of instruments to gather critical Earth and Space science data. DSMs, which include constellations, formations and clusters, have already been employed and have been proposed for several future space science missions. The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission is a current Solar-terre ...

Boulder Nonlinear Systems (BNS) and University of Dayton (UD) will team on development of a non-mechanical beam steering (NMBS) subsystem for Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) sensors. BNS will improve their current polarization grating (PG) technology which is capable of switching well over the +- 25 degree requirement called for in the solicitation. Advances to the PG technology specific to the ...

We propose high performance image processing algorithms that will support current and future Mastcam imagers. The algorithms fuses the acquired Mastcam stereo images at different wavelengths to generate multispectral image cubes which can then be used for both anomaly detection and rough composition estimation from relatively longer distances when compared to LIBS instrument. To address the challe ...

Radiation detectors that sense gamma and neutron radiation are critical to the exploration of planetary surface composition. Among the key technological challenges is to have a suitable detector that not only can be used for both gamma ray and neutron detection, but also satisfy the many highly desirable and essential for spaceflight properties: good energy resolution, high efficiency, high radiat ...

GTL?s SNS technology aids in the operation of new or existing structural health monitoring (SHM) systems by integrating data and power pathways into the structure. The use of this technology within a composite structure would allow engineers to place sensors from an SHM system directly where they are needed on a structure with instant power. GTL?s SNS technology offers the potential for developers ...