Award Data

The proposed solution exploits recent advances in computer vision to conceive of a single-camera + gyro + accelerometer vision-based navigation solution such that the processing will be lightweight (requiring only a single optical flow sample per frame). Known landmarks (natural or artificial) will have absolute positions known to planetary exploration worker robots. The worker robot can identif ...

Launch safety and efficiency requires timely and accurate wind, thermodynamic and pressure information from the surface to 20 km height, and lightning risk identification. A Doppler radar now provides wind measurements that satisfy this requirement at the Eastern Test Range. Thermodynamic soundings are provided by intermittent radiosondes on launch day. Typical intervals of an hour or more between ...

Future long-duration, crewed space habitat systems will be inflatable structures. This type of structure is advantageous in that it is not limited to the diameter of the launch vehicle and can therefore provide a greater volume of living and work space. Unlike conventional metal structures, however, softbody inflatables require support members to maintain their desired shapes. Despite their robust ...

Inflatable pressurized habitats are envisioned as a practical way to build shelters much larger than landing craft for astronauts and their scientific operations on Mars, the moon and elsewhere. These habitats maintain their inflated shape via high-strength Vectran webbing. The piezoresistive extensometers developed through this STTR program can be directly integrated into or onto Vectran webbing ...

The proposed innovation is the replacement of existing test stand and parking lot fixtures with current SSL LED technology. The replacement fixtures will reduce energy consumption, generate less heat and provide maintenance free operation for over 50,000 hours. An explosion-proof fixture is capable of containing an internal combustion event without allowing flames or hot gasses to escape to the s ...

Through the proposed STTR program, NanoSonic and Virginia Tech will create an innovative low viscosity, high Tg copolymer injection repair material and methodology that enables fiber reinforced composite repair within a short time frame in areas with limited user access. The proposed injection repair material will consist of fluidic HybridSil poly(siloxane imide) resins that are molecularly engine ...

High-energy space radiation from Galactic Cosmic Rays and Solar Particle Events (SPEs) pose significant risks to equipment and astronaut health in NASA missions. Energetic particles from SPEs associated with flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) may adversely affect not only beyond-Low-Earth-Orbit missions, but also aircraft avionics, communications, and airline crew/passenger health. It is cru ...

Liquid hydrogen is used extensively by NASA to support cryogenic rocket testing. In addition, there are many commercial applications in which delivery and use of cryogenic hydrogen is more economical than gaseous hydrogen. Unfortunately, loss of hydrogen resulting from boiloff can both increase the cost of the end product and create safety concerns. Sustainable Innovations and its teammates, Th ...

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 innovative methodologies proposed in this STTR Phase 1 project will enhance Loci-STREAM which is a high performance, high fidelity simulation tool already being used at NASA for a variety of CFD applications. This project will address critical needs in order to enable fast and accurate simulations of liquid space propulsion systems (using propellants such as LOX, LCH4, RP-1, LH2, etc.). The pr ...