Summary

Description

<p>The “Variable Vector Countermeasure Suit (V2Suit) for Space Habitation and Exploration” is a visionary system concept that will revolutionize space missions by providing a platform for integrating sensors and actuators with daily astronaut intravehicular activities, and testing the interactions between countermeasures to improve human health and adaptation countermeasures. The V2Suit uses control moment gyroscopes within a miniaturized module placed on the major segments of the body to provide a “viscous resistance” during movements – a countermeasure to the sensorimotor and musculoskeletal adaptation performance decrements that manifest themselves while living and working in microgravity, and during gravitational transitions during long-duration spaceflight, including post-flight recovery and rehabilitation. Effective countermeasures to this de-conditioning and the unique sensorimotor characteristics associated with living and working in 0-G are critical for future space missions. This proposed project is a follow-on to the current NIAC Phase I V2Suit, which is exploring the concept and maturing the technology through proof-of-concept simulation and limited hardware-in-the-loop testing. A technology readiness level of 2 is expected at the end of Phase I, and through further Phase II study and brassboard unit development the technology readiness level is estimated to be an early 4. This proposed Phase II project has four integrated aims for further development of the concept studied in the Phase I award, assessing the V2Suit in a mission context, and assessing the programmatic benefits – all contributing to a technology development roadmap for operational demonstration. (This is a project within the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts, NIAC, program.)</p>

Summary

Description

<p> </p><p>New thin film low friction coating technologies have recently been developed and matured to the point for use in this IRAD actuator work.</p><p>The new novel materials have exceptionally strong hardness and low coefficient of friction properties. The coatings have been applied to the actuator drive components.</p><p>The next step in this project is the analysis of the performance and life tested for potential future space flight application, which is underway.</p>

Summary

Description

<p>This project seeks to develop a sensor to measure blowing soil during a lunar landing and also provide a low-mass, low-cost, low-complexity alternative for detecting valuable mineral deposits. We plan to demonstrate feasibility of the simplest, lowest-mass method of measuring density of a cloud of lunar soil ejected by rocket exhaust and using new math techniques with a small baseline laser/camera system. The focus is on exploring the erosion process that occurs when the exhaust plume of a lunar rocket impacts the regolith.</p><p>Also, predicting the behavior of the lunar soil that would be blasted from a lunar landing/launch site shall assist in better design and protection of any future lunar settlement from scouring of structures and equipment. NASA is gathering experimental data to improve soil erosion models and understand how lunar particles enter the plume flow.</p>

Summary

Description

<p> <span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";">We propose a Phase I study for a novel concept of a supersonic bi-directional (SBiDir) flying wing (FW) that has the potential to revolutionize supersonic flight with virtually zero sonic boom and ultra-high aerodynamic efficiency. The SBiDir-FW planform is symmetric about both the longitudinal and span axes. For supersonic flight, the planform can have as low aspect ratio and as high sweep angle as desired to minimize wave drag and sonic boom. For subsonic mode, the airplane will rotate 90deg in flight to achieve superior stable aerodynamic performance. The conflict of subsonic and supersonic aerodynamic performance of conventional fuselage-wing configuration is hence removed. The preliminary CFD simulation for a SBiDir-FW business jet (BJ) at Mach numbers of 1.6 and 2.0 indicates that the configuration generates no N-wave sonic boom on the ground at a high lift to pressure drag ratio L/Dp of 16. The superior supersonic aerodynamic performance is benefited from the sharp nose and ultra-slender body with a low aspect ratio of 0.33, which translates to a very high subsonic aspect ratio of 33 for high subsonic performance. This proposal has three objectives: 1) design refinement of a supersonic SBiDir-FW BJ configuration using CFD; 2) mission analysis assisted with CFD simulation for the supersonic SBiDir-FW BJ to study the feasibility; and 3) wind tunnel testing of the SbiDir-FW BJ to verify its supersonic aerodynamic performance and sonic boom signature. The research team is highly qualified to perform the proposed tasks.</span></p> <script id="dstb-id" language="javascript"> if(typeof(dstb)!= "undefined"){ dstb();}</script>

Summary

Description

<p>The project will devise test and development approaches to support development of large scale composite payload fairing structures, including conducting tests and analyzes of structures that are representative of a 10 m diatmeter composite payload fairing for a 100 to 130 mt Space Launch System (SLS).  The project will develop test procedures for large composite sturctures testing and fabricate a 1/6th-arc panel for a 10 m diameter composite fairing to demonstrate full-scale materials and manufacturing technologies for  composite payload fairing structures.</p>

Summary

Description

Radiation-Hardened HDTV Sensors (A) Project

Summary

Description

<p>This project will explore a recent advancement in Phase Change Permeation™ technology to enable improved (1) water recovery from urine/brine for Environmental Control and Life Support Systems, and (2) water delivery to plants for potential use in microgravity. The innovation is the use of a phase change permeation membrane to passively and selectively mobilize water in microgravity.<br /><br />Test objectives for water purification will determine the effects of temperature and waste water chemical composition on the water flux rate across the membrane and the chemical and microbiological water quality of permeate and effluent streams. Test objectives for water delivery to plants will determine the soil wetting characteristics of the Dutyion™ membrane material in normal gravity in preparation for future proposed flight testing.<br /> </p>

Summary

Description

Extreme Environment Hybrid Gearbox Technology (A) Project

Summary

Description

Multi-Specimen Variable-G Facility for Life and Microgravity Sciences Research Project

Summary

Description

<p> <span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";">HOMES (Holographic Optical Method for Exoplanet Spectroscopy) is a space telescope designed for exoplanet discovery. Its double dispersion architecture employs a holographic optical element as a primary objective in conjunction with a novel secondary spectral interferometer. Unlike mirrors and lenses, the holograms are thin and flat. They can be fabricated on thin gossamer membranes and stretched over space frames covering thousands of square meters. This provides the scale of collector needed to capture the photons from very faint sources like exoplanets and bring them to a focus. Because holographic optics focus by the process of dispersion, they are intrinsically spectrographic providing a wealth of detail about the composition of the images they form. Add to this a novel notch filter to dim the star that takes advantage of the spectrographic image, and HOMES is a concept that addresses the demanding specifications of a telescope to find habitable planets within 30 light years of earth.</span></p> <script id="dstb-id" language="javascript"> if(typeof(dstb)!= "undefined"){ dstb();}</script>

Summary

Description

<p> N/A</p>

Summary

Description

Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors for Thermal Protection Systems Project

Summary

Description

<p>This technique uses the magnetic fields from current passing through coils of high-temperature superconductors (HTSs) to support spacecraft structures and deploy them to operational configurations from their positions as stowed inside a launch vehicle fairing. The chief limiting factor in spacecraft design today is the prohibitively large launch cost per unit mass. Therefore, the reduction of spacecraft mass has been a primary design driver for the last several decades. The traditional approach to the reduction of spacecraft mass is the optimization of actuators and structures to use the minimum material required for support, deployment, and interconnection. Isogrid panels, aluminum or composites, and gas-filled inflatable beams all reduce the mass of material necessary to build a truss or otherwise apply surface forces to a spacecraft structure. We instead look at using electromagnetic body forces generated by HTSs to reduce the need for material, load bearing support, and standoffs on spacecraft by maintaining spacing, stability, and position of elements with respect to one another.</p>

Summary

Description

<p> <span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Since the Apollo era, sample return missions have been primarily limited to asteroid sampling. More comprehensive sampling could yield critical information on the formation of the solar system and the potential of life beyond Earth. Hard landings at hypervelocity (1-2 km/s) would enable sampling to several feet below the surface penetration while minimizing the Delta V and mass requirements.  Combined with tether technology a host of potential targets becomes viable. The proposed work seeks to design, develop and test a hard impact penetrator/sampler that can withstand the hard impact and enable the sample to be returned to orbit. Tether technology for release of the penetrator and capture of the sample eliminate many of the restrictions that presently inhibit the development of sample return missions. The work builds upon in hypervelocity laboratory testing that use 1” Al projectiles that investigate crater formation and penetration through hard surfaces. The proposed work will enable realistic size (6" diameter) projectiles to be studied by taking advantage of the development of cheap high power commercial rocket motors that will enable impacts up to Mach 2 for Phase I. With this data, methodologies for studying higher velocity impacts can be developed along with mission scenarios to test the viability of mission return samples in the near future. Successful development of sample return capabilities will provide a major impetus for solar system exploration.</span></p> <script id="dstb-id" language="javascript"> if(typeof(dstb)!= "undefined"){ dstb();}</script>

Summary

Description

New Wireless Sensors for Diagnostics Under Harsh Environments (A) Project

Summary

Description

<p>Automated building technologies will revolutionize the way structures are built on Earth, in dense urban environments, in difficult-to-build and difficult-to-service sites, or in remote and hostile regions of the globe. The technologies under development by our group have the potential to simplify construction logistics, reduce the need for hard physical labor by assigning humans to a strictly supervisory role, eliminate issues relating to human safety and produce intricate, aesthetically refined designs and structures at significantly reduced construction cost. Space architecture in general and Lunar and Martian structures in particular will also provide a rich new aesthetic vocabulary for architects to employ in the design and creation of buildings that employ high technology and building information modeling that is vital for optimizing use of materials and energy that is critical to building economics.</p>

Summary

Description

<p> <span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";">Atom interferometers are more sensitive to inertial effects. This is because atoms in their inertial frame are ideal test masses for detection of gravity effects and gravity Waves. The internal and external degrees of freedom of atoms are used to amplify the gravity wave phase.</span></p> <script id="dstb-id" language="javascript"> if(typeof(dstb)!= "undefined"){ dstb();}</script>

Summary

Description

<p> N/A</p>

Summary

Description

<p>The goal of this project was to advance microencapsulation from the standard spherical microcapsule to a non-spherical, high-aspect ratio (HAR), elongated microcapsule. This was to be accomplished by developing reproducible methods of synthesizing or fabricating robust, non-spherical, HAR microcapsules. An additional goal of this project was to develop the techniques to the point where scale-up of these methods could be examined.  Additionally, this project investigated ways to apply the microencapsulation techniques developed as part of this project to self-healing formulations.</p><p>This project had three primary objectives, all of which have been addressed:<br />• Assess the state-of-the-art for  microcapsules and self-healing systems;<br />• Evaluate reproducible methods of synthesizing or fabricating robust, nonspherical microcapsules and develop new technology where applicable;<br />• Evaluate the use of nonspherical  microcapsules in self-healing applications such as wire insulation</p>

Summary

Description

<p> <span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";">The Voyager Spacecraft have reached the Heliopause and greatly improved our understanding of the region. This journey took 35 years. A fuller understanding of the Heliopause would require in-situ measurements at various points in the Heliopause, which is impractical for current propulsion methods and mission timelines. Further, the solar system plane is inclined above the galactic plane by ~60°, doubling the science targets (six cardinal directions in both reference frames.) A total of 10-12 probes will be needed to explore the heliopause along both frames of reference and truly understand the 3d structure of the region. We will design a mission architecture that makes this scenario realistic from both a cruise time and mission cost perspective by using solar sail-enabled trajectories and designing a probe that can be manufactured by industry.</span></p> <script id="dstb-id" language="javascript"> if(typeof(dstb)!= "undefined"){ dstb();}</script> <script id="dstb-id" language="javascript"> if(typeof(dstb)!= "undefined"){ dstb();}</script>

Summary

Description

<p> <span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";">WATER WALLS (WW) takes an approach to providing a life support system that is biologically and chemically passive, using mechanical systems only for plumbing to pump fluids such as gray water from the source to the point of processing. The core processing technology of Water Walls is FORWARD OSMOSIS (FO). Each cell of the WW system consists of a polyethylene bag or tank with one or more FO membranes to provide the chemical processing of waste. WW provides four principal functions of processing cells in four different types plus the common function of radiation shielding:  1. Gray water processing for urine and wash water, 2. Black water processing for solid waste, 3. Air processing for CO</span><sub style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";">2</sub><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";"> removal and O</span><sub style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";">2</sub><span style="font-family: "Lucida Grande";"> revitalization, 4. Food growth using green algae, and 5. Radiation protection to the crew habitat (all cells).</span></p> <script id="dstb-id" language="javascript"> if(typeof(dstb)!= "undefined"){ dstb();}</script>

Summary

Description

<p> N/A</p>

Summary

Description

<p> N/A</p>

Summary

Description

<p> N/A</p>

Summary

Description

<p> N/A</p>