Award Data

The current methodology for testing the penetration resistance of textile materials to various chemical agents has a number of drawbacks, including significant uncertainties in the resulting data, inefficiency and expense, risk to test personnel, and limited range of test conditions. The objective of the proposed work is to apply unique computer models for textiles with accompanying experimental ...

Provision of clean drinking water poses a significant challenge to Army units in the field. Due to the quantity of water required and its substantial weight, soldiers can only carry a limited supply, and sustainment of soldiers through centralized resupply poses major logistical hurdles in many situations. Existing portable water filters to not meet the need to treat locally available water supp ...

Supercritical air at cryogenic temperature is an attractive source of breathing air because of its very high density and low pressure. However, heat leak into the cryogenic tank causes the stored air to expand and vent, thus limiting the storage life of a charged system. We propose to develop a storage system for supercritical air packs that provides cryogenic cooling that will enable long-term ...

The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) engine currently being developed at NASA Johnson is an attractive technology for minimizing transit time and crew harm during future space exploration missions. One of the critical challenges in developing a flight engine is thermal management of the high-temperature, superconducting electromagnets used to constrain and accelerate the pl ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The specific aim of this project is development of a suite of novel methods to facilitate the use of CT colonography for colorectal cancer screening. Colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death, can be largely prevented by early identification and removal of precursor lesions. Unfortunately, compliance with colorectal cancer screening re ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Gastrointestinal motility disorders are a significant health problem accounting for millions of physician visits each year. In many patients, measurement of gastrointestinal transit can provide important diagnostic information. However, current transit measurement techniques involve radiation and cannot make the long-duration, highly-detailed recordings needed ...

Advanced space-borne infrared detectors require cooling at temperatures near 10 K. Cooling loads for these detectors will range from 0.25 W to 1.0 W at 10 K, with additional loads at higher temperatures. A multistage cooler, capable of cooling multiple loads, will offer large potential gains in system efficiency and weight. Turbomachine-based Brayton cryocoolers are ideal candidates for these m ...

Improved head and hearing protection is required for aircraft maintainers working on a carrier flight deck during launch and recovery operations. The current head protection is inadequate in many aspects including impact protection, hearing protection, cleaning, comfort, and compatibility with night vision goggles (NVGs) and with chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) equipment. Creare pro ...

Lightweight, high-temperature radiators are needed for future, high-efficiency power conversion systems for Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP). Creare has developed flexible radiators that are extremely lightweight, stowable in small volumes, and deployable with small forces, but are limited by materials to temperatures below 350 K. These novel radiators incorporate integral micrometeorite protect ...

Lithium oxyhalide batteries offer energy densities several times higher than thermal batteries. Like thermal batteries, lithium oxyhalide batteries have unactivated storage lives in excess of 20 years and are mechanically rugged. Some of the main advantages that lithium oxyhalide batteries offer are flat discharge voltage profiles and potentially long operating lives. However, battery performanc ...