Award Data

Made In Space, Inc. (MIS) is a global leader in manufacturing technologies for harsh environments. MIS developed, owns and operates a commercial Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) aboard the International Space Station (ISS), used for both government and commercial use. Over multiple years of operation, MIS developed quality processes that ensure the success of printing in the microgravity envi ...

NASA's Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU, is a personal mini-spacecraft that comprises the space suit assembly and life support systems. The current EMU has a manually operated extravehicular visor assembly (EVVA) that provides protection from micrometeoroids and from solar ultraviolet and infrared radiation. For the integration of EVVA with NASA’s next generation space suits helmet bubbl ...

In several technologies within NASA’s In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) systems, such as fuel cell, water electrolysis and gas/water separations etc., polymeric membranes, especially proton exchange membranes (PEM), play an important role. These membranes are generally hygroscopic, subject to swelling in the presence of humidity or water. When restrained membranes undergo a hydration/dehydrati ...

MIS is pioneering the use of the microgravity environment on the International Space Station (ISS) for manufacturing and product development. MIS has leveraged NASA SBIR support to create the first polymer additive manufacturing machines in space, develop a hybrid additive-subtractive metal manufacturing technology, and investigate the creation of large single-crystal industrial materials in micro ...

During dynamic events such as launch, ascent abort, atmospheric reentry, descent, and landing, crewmembers will experience significant inertial and vibrational loading. To this date, data has not been collected in flight. There is particular interest in the chest, neck, and head region, which are exceptionally sensitive areas. Quantifying the loading on the crewmembers will allow refined simula ...

The objective of this proposal is to adapt the CO2 electrolyzers currently being developed under ARPA-E support to NASA missions. The devices are similar to a solid oxide electrolyzer, in that they can operate on dry CO2, but the devices use a proprietary polymer rather than a solid oxide to allow them to operate at room temperature (~25 ºC). In ARPA-E supported work, we have already demonstrated ...

In this Phase 1 SBIR proposal, Vuronyx Technologies will design an energy efficient, low footprint water recovery system for space applications. The proposed system will integrate two emerging water purification approaches - a capacitive deionization (CDI) system to remove ions, and an Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Process (EAOP) to remove organic contaminants and microbes. The proposed work ...

NASA is currently pursuing an advanced space suit portable life support system (PLSS) for future missions that could reach the moon or Mars. The Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) is a critical component of the PLSS and improvements are needed to reduce weight and improve comfort and mobility. NASA research has shown that the LCVG tubing is a significant heat transfer bottleneck because ...

Busek proposes to develop a low-cost, lightweight Hall Effect Thruster (HET) Power Processing Unit (PPU) at targeted 1kW/kg power density with more than 97% efficiency. The proposed PPU solution adopts advanced GaN power MOSFETs and PCB based planar magnetics technology to enable high switching frequency operation. Reduced headcount of magnetics, semiconductors and associated driver integrated cir ...

Adiabatic Magnetic Refrigeration (ADR) can achieve much better efficiency, and with fewer moving parts than compressor-refrigerators, making it the choice for space-based instruments that require cooling to the sub-Kelvin range. The low operating currents required for space-based usage, the high operating current densities to keep weight and size down, as well as the benefits of higher operating t ...