Award Data

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 ...

The NASA Phase I program would develop and demonstrate semiconductor nanomembrane (NM) based flight sensors and arrays on flexible substrates, using SOI (Silicon on Insulator) silicon NM technique in combination with our pioneering HybridsilTM copolymer nanocomposite materials. Specifically, ultrathin nanostructured sensor skins with integrated interconnect elements and electronic devices that can ...

This NASA Phase I SBIR program would fabricate wireless networked nanomembrane (NM) based surface pressure sensors for remote monitoring in propulsion systems, using SOI (Silicon on Insulator) NM techniques in combination with our pioneering HybridSil ceramic nanocomposite materials. Such low-modulus, conformal nanomembrane sensor skins with integrated interconnect elements and electronic devices ...

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 ...

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 ...

Through the STTR program, NanoSonic and Virginia Tech will create low-cost, reusable membranes that selectively capture and recycle nutrients (e.g., N, P, K) from urine in space. Urine is a readily available commodity in space that is rich in valuable nutrients for plant growth. Humans produce individually about 500 L of urine per year that contains ~7 g/L of nitrogen (N), ~1 g/L phosphorous (P) ...

TDA Research Inc.(TDA) in collaboration with University of Puerto Rico ? Mayaguez (UPRM is proposing to develop a highly efficient CO2 removal system based on UPRM proprietary strontium exchanged silico-alumino-phosphate (Sr-SAPO-34) for closed loop space craft cabin air re-vitalization during deep space missions.

Thermoelectric (TE) devices already found a wide range of commercial, military and aerospace applications. However, at present commercially available TE devices typically offer limited heat to electricity conversion efficiencies, well below the fundamental thermodynamic limit, calling for the development of higher efficiency materials. The team of MicroXact Inc., Virginia Tech and Sundew Technolog ...

The innovation proposed here is a high-performance, high-fidelity framework in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code called Loci-STREAM to enable accurate, fast and robust simulations of unsteady multiphase flows such as combustion involving liquid-gas phases in liquid rocket injectors and solid-gas phases in solid rocket motors, and cryogenic cavitation in delivery systems of liquid rocket ...

Space policy direction is shifting, particularly with respect to human goals. Given the uncertainty of future missions to the moon, Mars, and other bodies, a tool that allows for informed analysis of the option space is particularly relevant. Aurora Flight Sciences and MIT propose to further develop the Multi-Robot Planetary Exploration Architecture (MRPEA) methodology, a suite of software tools ...