Award Data

The heat flow probe directly answers requirements in the topic: S1.11 Lunar Science Instruments and Technology: "Geophysical Measurements: Systems, subsystems, and components for heat flow sensorsÂ?" The primary objective of the Phase I/II is to develop TRL6, robust, low-power and low-mass instrument for geothermal heat flow measurement for small robotic lunar landers. A key challenge is to ins ...

The Optimax VIBE process is a full-aperture, conformal polishing processincorporating high frequency motion that rapidly removes sub-surfacedamage in a VIBE pre-polish step and eliminates mid-spatial frequency(MSF) errors created by deterministic polishing in a VIBE finishing step.This Phase I feasibility study will focus on the VIBE finishing step toremove undesirable MSF errors while at the same ...

Accurate and efficient computational modeling of free-surface flows has numerous applications of current and future relevance to NASA. At present, NASA engineers use several commercial codes for modeling cryogenic fluids. However, the free surface modeling technologies in these codes need improvements for better solution accuracy, and most are not scalable for highly parallel simulations. In this ...

ORBITEC proposes to develop, fabricate, and test a system to provide 99.999% hydrogen by efficiently performing methane pyrolysis. The system has three unique features: (1) the methane pyrolysis reactor that does not rely on high single-pass efficiencies (which will make the system robust), (2) it incorporates batch processing modes, cleaning cycles, and a carbon capture device (which makes it reu ...

The objective of this work is to determine the optimal process for manufacturing lightweight linerless cryogenic storage tanks using ionic liquid epoxy composite material that can compete with metallic tanks currently in use.Ionic liquids, because of their unique properties such as low volatility, low flammability, and flexibility of chemical design are showing promise as the next generation of ch ...

NASA has identified polymer matrix composites (PMCs) as a critical need for launch and in-space vehicles, but the significant costs of such materials limits their use. This proposal addresses the need for lower cost PMCs through the development of discontinuous fiber reinforced polymer composites with an in-situ grown carbon nanotube 3-D network that will translate to less expensive components wi ...

As NASA considers manned and/or unmanned return missions to the Moon and beyond, it is imperative that high fidelity lunar soil simulants be developed in order to accurately evaluate the life span and efficiency of any equipment exposed to the lunar surface. One of the significant limitations of current simulants is the lack of certain constituents, such as agglutinates. These constituents, which ...

Multiplexing in frequency domain using a bank of high-Q micro-resonators is an emerging method of reading out large arrays of transition-edge sensors and kinetic-inductance detectors. Low-power digitization of the resultant wide multi-GHz frequency band (e.g., 2-8 GHz) using a broadband superconductor analog-to-digital converter (ADC) enables high fidelity digital readout with immunity from noise, ...

Advanced dropsondes that could effectively be guided through atmospheric regions of interest such as volcanic plumes could enable unprecedented observations of important atmospheric phenomena. Innovative Dynamics, Inc. proposes to develop a flight ready optical sensor package to provide hazardous volcanic ash and particulate information within commercial airspace. The probe will initially be used ...