Award Data

Paragon proposes an Ellipsoidal Propellant Tank (EPT) inflatable cryogenic tank structure that will provide up to 30% mass savings compared to existing composite systems. EPT extends knowledge from prior NASA funded Ultra-High-Performance-Vessel (UHPV) development to deep cryogenic, ellipsoidal, inflatable propellant structures. UHPV utilizes multiple layers including unloaded inner barrier materi ...

According to the solicitation topic S1.03, NASA requires a low power, low mass, low volume, and low data rate RFI mitigating receiver back end that can be incorporated into existing and future radiometer designs. Alphacore proposes to design an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that provides significant SWAP (size, weight and power) reduction as compared to the existing board-level sy ...

Simulating science objectives is an essential component of NASA missions to reduce risk, whether the target is Earth or any solar system body.nbsp;nbsp;As technology has improved, so has the fidelity, complexity, and precision of scientific instrumentation.nbsp;nbsp;In addition, modern communications bandwidth of the spacecraft allows for the transmit of more data than ever.nbsp;nbsp;These increas ...

Anbsp;flightnbsp;laser transmitter is proposed that will increase reliabilitynbsp;and reduce size and weight for lidar applications by using a passive Q-switch (PQS) in the master oscillator (MO) of a high power solid state Nd:YVO4 master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) laser configuration. The PQSnbsp;eliminates the use of annbsp;AQS and the associated hardware and electronics. The AQSnbsp;requ ...

NASA has vital interest in photovoltaic power system developments for high-power solar electric propulsion missions. Technology Roadmaps state a need for 25-150 kW to 1 MW space solar arrays for electric propulsion systems and planetary surface elements. Target performance metrics include gt;100W/kg specific power and gt;40kW/m3 stowed volume efficiency.nbsp;The problem of realizing such arrays ar ...

BlueStar proposes a novel approach to increasing thermal conductivity of commercial structural alloys for Hypersonics using AM techniques and mixed powder feeds. The idea is to maintain high temperature strength in the alloys while increasing thermal conductivity, reducing CTE to increase functionality of the alloys in thermal protection systems (TPS). Our approach will be beneficial for small pro ...

Paragon Space Development Corporation (Paragon) will address NASArsquo;s Z2.01 Spacecraft Thermal Management objective by developing and prototyping the Smart Passively Articulating High-turndown Radiator (SPAHR).nbsp; The SPAHR concept has a base turndown capability of at least 13:1, with the potential of up to 43:1 using a propylene glycol/water (PGW) working fluid, providing unique capability t ...

In response to the NASA 2019 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) solicitation for Focus Area 9 topic S1.04, Alphacore Inc. will develop a low-cost, radiation-hardened, versatile, digital readout integrated circuit (DROIC) for infrared imaging applications. Alphacorersquo;s DROIC technology is designed to be used with a variety of detector types. The DROIC has wide temperature operation range ...

We propose the development of a novel light (optical) gyro and accelerometer, light (weight), with unprecedented sensitivity. This project exploits the following innovations:The ability to generate two correlated frequency combs of the same repetition rate.Because of this correlation, while the bandwidth of a tooth of each comb is in the MHz range,the bandwidth of the interference is less than 1 H ...

Friction stir welding (FSW) for the joining of metals is becoming an increasingly mature technology with numerous NASA and non-NASA applications. There remains an opportunity to further develop the process by extending the longevity of the FSW tools that are prone to wear and improving the economics of the processing.nbsp; In Phase I, higher wear resistant tools will be designed for FSW of aluminu ...