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Laser & Plasma Technologies (LPT), teamed with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Lasers at the University of Virginia (UVA), proposes an advanced optical fiber coupled hybrid spectroscope for in situ characterization of organic compounds. The proposed approach provides information on organic compounds by analyzing spectra obtained from Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) an ...

The Phase I STTR project will develop an ignition system for a high density hybrid rocket motor using non-toxic, storable, ionic liquid oxidizers and high density polymer fuels. The program will also research fuel additives to boost ISP and fuel regression rate of the high density, high regression ate fuel.. This high density propulsion system resolves one of the chief drawbacks of hybrid rock ...

Among the numerous technological advances sought in order to facilitate human space travel, solutions and innovations are needed for techniques that supports the mass- and energy-efficient maintenance of closed air, water, and waste systems in spacecraft habitats that operate within microgravity. As missions are foreseen to be extended with limited earth resupply available there is need to develop ...

Launch vehicles experience extreme acoustic loads dominated by rocket exhaust plume interactions with ground structures during lift-off, which can produce damaging vibro-acoustic loads on the vehicle and payloads if not properly understood and mitigated against. Existing capabilities for modeling the turbulent plume physics during early lift-off are too dissipative to accurately resolve the propag ...

Solid rocket motor (SRM) design requires thorough understanding of the slag accumulation process in order to: predict thrust continuity, optimize propellant conversion efficiency, predict coning effects from sloshing, and assess potential orbital debris (slag) hazard. Current state-of-the-art models for SRM environment do not have the capability to simulate the accumulation and dynamics of slag in ...

Despite the rapid commercialization of additive manufacturing technology such as selective laser melting, SLM, there are gaps in models for material microstructure and property prediction that slow qualification and certification. Improvements in coupling microstructure prediction models to local process conditions, validation, and control of material microstructure are required to mature the stat ...

TSRCo and CU are developing a framework to quantify and predict crew performance in various spacecraft designs in the context of the design process. The framework utilizes an elemental resource breakdown approach to relate the crew, the spacecraft design, and operations. The elements identified in the breakdown correspond to existing measures currently used in the physiological, cognitive, and ps ...

The innovation proposed here is a fidelity-adaptive combustion model (FAM) implemented into the Loci-STREAM CFD code for use at NASA for simulation of rocket combustion. This work will result in a high-fidelity, high-performance multiphysics simulation capability to enhance NASA's current simulation capability of unsteady turbulent reacting flows involving cryogenic propellants. This novel FAM m ...

The proposed μG-LilyPond is an autonomous environmentally controlled floating plant cultivation system for use in microgravity. The μG-LilyPond concept expands the types of crops that can be grown on a spacecraft in a flexible, efficient, low maintenance package. The μG-LilyPond features several innovations relative to state of the art, including passive water and nutrient delivery to floating ...

The RINGS project (Resonant Inductive Near-field Generation Systems) was a DARPA-funded effort to demonstrate Electromagnetic Formation Flight and wireless power transfer in microgravity. Integration inconsistencies in both hardware and software prevented the experiment from achieving its objectives during the planned test sessions. A later project supported by NASA ARC focused on the assessment, ...