A new high capacity rechargeable Li battery anode based on Li metal alloys protected by carbon nanoshells will be developed.  A reversible Li-ion capacity exceeding 600 mAh/g or nearly twice that obtainable with graphite anodes is expected.  Coupled with our advanced polymer electrolyte and high voltage cathode, we expect a fully developed battery to have a specific energy of &gt;150 Wh/Kg, and energy density of &gt;300 Wh/l and the capability to produce &gt;1000 deep charge/discharge cycles and thus makes it very desirable for space power applications of NASA.
Develop a Compact Transmitter Module (CTM) capable of operating at 1.26 5m, 1.57 5m and at 2 5m complete with all drive and control electronics for the TEC and the laser diode itself reducing size, weight and power while improving performance and reliability.  The first part of the approach is to incorporate the electronics within the same hermetically sealed enclosure with the laser chip and associated optics. 
EM4 will take this basic design and make modifications to reduce size, weight and power consumption using thin film thermoelectric coolers  (nano-coolers) to replace conventional TEC.  Weight reductions will be realized by using alternative which are composites of Aluminum Silicon (AlSi) and Aluminum Silicon Carbide (AlSiC)
Autonomous multiple spacecraft represent a critical enabling technology
for future space missions. Currently, significant pre-flight planning
and ground tasking are needed to design operational sequences for
single-spacecraft missions. Multiple-spacecraft missions (especially
formation flying tasks) dramatically increase the complexity of
planning, sequencing and tasking, rendering them possibly intractable
for current mission design approaches. The overall goal of this effort
is to develop an Autonomous Dynamic Formation Planner (ADFP) applicable
to multi-spacecraft formation flying tasks, using systematic
methodologies for model-based prediction, optimal resource allocation
and task/activity sequencing and control. During the proposed effort,
SSC will develop and demonstrate an ADFP system for selected
multiple-spacecraft formation-flying tasks, using representative
constraints for onboard and formation resources. ADFP technology will
provide a general framework for implementation of onboard autonomy for
future multiple spacecraft missions, which is both resource and
constraint-aware. Our project team includes subcontract support from the
Research Institute for Advanced Computer Sciences, RIACS (a division of
the Universities Space Research Association), and the Colorado Space
Grant College (University of Colorado, Boulder).
A nonhazardous urine pretreatment system prototype is proposed that will stabilize urine against biological growth or chemical instabilities without using hazardous chemicals.  Untreated urine fosters biological growth, ammonia off-gassing, creation of bio-solids, and inorganic precipitates, which foul water and air reclamation hardware.  The current Russian system employs hexavalent chromium, a strong oxidant and carcinogen, and sulfuric acid to stabilize urine (pH=1.8), while the future American system utilizes Oxone?%, a strong oxidant, potassium hydrogen sulfate, and potassium benzoate to stabilize urine (pH=2.4).  Urine stabilized by these methods requires triple and double containment, respectively.  Chemical storage, handling, and delivery of pretreatment chemicals are also problematic due to their hazardous nature and low pH, which significantly increases Equivalent System Mass.  The proposed prototype will utilize non-oxidizing biocides in combination with nontoxic and noncorrosive solid phase urine acidification to stabilize urine at much higher pHs (3.6-5.5).  This approach has stabilized urine effectively for over 57 days during the Phase 1 program.  The innovative prototype will fulfill an unmet need for safe, efficient, automated urine pretreatment for current and future NASA missions.  The Phase 2 project will automate the nonhazardous urine pretreatment system, and deliver a fully functional Prototype suitable for testing at NASA facilities.
ElectroChem proposes a Phase II program to advance its very successful SBIR Phase I  technology effort to the point of minimum hydrogen loss through the electrolyzer membrane, while the high proton conductivity necessary for high efficiency water electrolysis is maintained.  In Phase I, ElectroChem demonstrated that its concept of adding clay to a Nafion proton conductive membrane would significantly reduce the penetration of hydrogen gas through the membrane.

In Phase II, a comprehensive technology effort (aimed at optimization) will be carried out which uncovers the microscopic changes that occur within the membrane as a result of the clay addition.  The objective of this effort is first to correlate the microscopic morphology that occur within the Nafion-clay nanocomposite membranes with the reduction in hydrogen penetration produced by the clay addition.  A second objective is to control the microscopic morphology and establish a process to develop the most effective Nafion-clay nanocomposite membranes, leading to advanced MEAs.  The final objective is to evaluate the Nafion-clay nanocomposite membranes under high pressure Commercial Electrolyzer conditions.

Successful completion of this effort will enable NASA to meet its requirement for an electrolyzer that will operate very efficiently both at low current densities and at high pressures.
Robotic planetary exploration missions will need to perform in-situ analysis of rock and/or regolith samples or returning samples back to earth. Obtaining and delivering a sample can be a complex engineering problem, especially if it's done autonomously thousands of miles away. To accommodate future missions, these subsurface access and sample handling technologies must be developed to meet a broad range of potential requirements, including a variety of rock or subsurface materials, rigorous sample preservation requirements, and the general problem of autonomous operation in the presence of dust and with limited resources. The one-to-three meter range has been identified as a critical regime for planetary exploration and while there has been some technology development in this regime, there is currently no proven flight-like approach to robotically achieving this depth through layers of challenging material from realistic roving or landed platforms. 
The Phase 1 research has resulted in proving the benefits of rotary-percussive drilling system as it pertains to breaking of formation and cuttings transport. 
The primary objective of the proposed effort is to develop, via testing in a simulated Mars environment, a breadboard one-meter sampling drilling system for acquiring a small volume of drilled cuttings and a core (if necessary) from a target depth on Mars. This project would build on the existing knowledge base of Mars drilling, and its particular strength lies with its capability of performing drilling tests under simulated Martian conditions of temperature and pressure and CO2 atmosphere.

This is a component technology effort that includes the development of a rotary percussive drill head and a sampling lead drill string. Honeybee Robotics will leverage drill head development by utilizing voice coil percussive actuator technology developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the Mars Science Laboratory Powder Drill.
Autonomous surface sampling systems are necessary, near term, to construct a historical view of planetary significant events; as well as allow for the identification of materials useful for ISRU activities. Paramount to this is exploration missions capable of in-situ analysis of core samples that deliver the stratigraphy of the target. These sample handling technologies must be developed to meet a broad range of potential requirements, including a variety of rock or subsurface materials, rigorous sample preservation requirements, and the general problem of autonomous operation in the presence of dust and with limited resources. Honeybee seeks to develop critical subsystems for a small, low-mass, low-power Rotary-Percussive Corer (RoPeC) capable of autonomous sample acquisition and delivery from a depth of 5 cm. Specific attention will be given to the tall-pole items including the core break-off, retention, delivery, rotary-percussive drive, and gas flushing subsystems. Near term applications include the Astrobiology Field Laboratory and Mars Sample Return missions. Previous coring tool development has focused on integration and far-horizon proof of concepts; resulting in complete systems designed around specific requirements. The path forward lies in maturing specific aspects of designs quickly. The Phase 1 research has resulted in a survey of existing sampling systems as well as a conceptual design of the RoPeC with a focus on modularity. In Phase 2, Honeybee will mature the design of RoPeC subsystems; including the integration of a percussive voice coil actuator developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Powder Acquisition Drill System. A focus on modularity will ensure that subsystems can be redesigned independently; enabling the acquisition of core samples in targets including MEPAG suggested rocks, MSL Mars analogs and Phoenix analogs. This will lead to the a TRL of 5-6.
With NASA's exploration initiative to return to Lunar Exploration and eventual human exploration of Mars, NASA has an increased need for an Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&amp;D) solution.  First generation rendezvous sensors used video guidance and required extensive human intervention and ground control.  Data latency in these systems is problematic and has uncovered the need for an autonomous rendezvous and docking system.  Scanning Ladar and stereo video have significant shortcoming and have not proven they can provide a solution to reduce the reliance on human interaction during proximity operations. ASC's Flash Ladar video cameras can provide the 6 Degree-of-freedom data in real time, not available in any other video system.  
	Advanced Scientific Concepts Inc. (ASC) is a small business that has developed a number of 3D flash LADAR systems.  Flash Ladar Video Cameras (FLVC) are 3D vision systems that return range and intensity information for each pixel in real time.  The ASC camera with its 128x128 3D array is the equivalent of 16000 range finders on one chip.  This allows the sensor to act as a 3D video camera with functionality well beyond just range finding.  Its small size, low power and fast range data frame rate (30Hz) allows the sensor to be configured for a variety of rendezvous and proximity missions.
The Cognitive Gauge (CogGauge) tool aims to develop a portable gaming application that assesses cognitive state of astronaut crew members with the goal of determining probable causes of observed cognitive deficits.  CogGauge, while engaging astronauts in an entertaining experience, combines predictive tools for assessing cognitive workload with metrics that assess performance decrements.  CogGauge uses a hybrid approach combining predictive workload values with behavioral/performance-based workload assessment across a number of task difficulty levels.  This comprehensive approach takes into consideration learning effects across a number of cognitive tasks (i.e., mini-games in the gaming context) and derives assessment of performance decrements related to cognitive deficits to identify probable causes of cognitive decrement.  Feedback from CogGauge may be provided to astronauts and/or flight surgeons to determine impact on space flight and missions.
Firestar Engineering has developed a set of Nitrous Oxide Fuel Blend monopropellants that are: 1) Non-toxic, 2) Specific Impulse&gt; 310 s, 3) Freezing point &lt;  -77 C, 4)  Self Pressurizing, and 5) Highly throttleable.  A monopropellant with these characteristics and  with bipropellant performance has the power to revolutionize both private and government space initiatives.  Applications which will benefit from these monopropellant blends are wide spread and system level studies have indicated competitive overall performance with everything except cryogenic bipropellants.

Phase II efforts will concentrate on thruster development and monopropellant UN/DOT transportation classification.  Thruster development will concentrate on a 25 lbf RCS thruster and performing a number of tests required for flight certification.
NASA needs narrow linewidth lasers in the 1.5 or 2 micron wavelength
regime for Lidar applications. The laser should be tunable by several nm
and frequency modulated by 5GHz. Princeton Optronics has developed
ultra-stable narrow linewidth diode pumped solid state lasers and
developed high power Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL)
devices for fiber laser pumps as well as VCSEL pumped CW fiber lasers.
In this SBIR, we propose to develop a fiber amplifier with a narrow line
width seed laser for narrow wavelength output and the seed laser would
be tunable and frequency modulated to a speed of 5GHz. By the end of the
SBIR program we plan to deliver 10W level CW power fiber amplifiers with
10kHz linewidth in a small package. The package with the device would be
space qualified and commercialized after development.
In this SBIR, we propose a new type of laser interferometer engine for in-situ large optics inspection and metrology and supporting system platform. The proposed FPGA signal processing concept together with new generation high-speed CMOS image sensor enables high speed (&gt; 1m/sec) and real-time continuous surface profiling with minimum local memory. This transforms the currently available laser interferometer into a sub-nanometer precision instrument with only minor modification while providing easy scalability for large optic surface testing and measurement capability simultaneously.
Scramjet engine developers are working on advanced axisymmetric engine concepts that may not be feasible due to limitations of currently available manufacturing methods.  The primary goal of this SBIR is to make available a new technology that will make it feasible to manufacture small diameter one-piece cooled axisymmetric scramjet combustors.  
The availability of the proposed technology will result in scramjet program cost savings and engine design improvements and a strong near term technology commercialization is likely.  In fact, scramjet developers have expressed that there is no other known means of manufacturing some of the most desired axisymmetric combustor designs.
Although Ormond, LLC currently manufactures scramjet engine panels using a novel abrasivejet machining process and software that is available nowhere else in industry, new engine developments have created the need for key technology advancements.  
A principal advantage of the proposed technology is that it can generate small high-aspect-ratio channels in nearly any material, and is now used to machine the complex cooling flow field patterns found in the Inconel scramjet heat exchanger circuits.  There are technical and economic benefits over all of the existing manufacturing methods because it is a cold, non-chemical low-mechanical load process that has no affect on workpiece material crystal structure.  
Developments that will be made under this SBIR are: 1.) miniaturization of the specialized cutting head to fit in the axisymmetric combustor, 2.) development of a new numerical model and software needed to implement the process, and 3.) development of an appropriate long reach manipulator arm and control software to provide appropriate tool motion in the combustor cylinder.  The Phase I program will initiate the development and demonstrate feasibility of the proposed technology.
Over-the-horizon communications and information networks are beginning to produce sustainable capabilities for Earth science operations using advanced unpiloted vehicles.  There is a growing need for affordable desktop access to globally deployable data acquisition and data processing sensor-web networks on board these airborne platforms.  Central to meeting this need is further miniaturizing on-board computing, data acquisition, and satellite network communication equipment.  With current technology, the associated on-board components weigh several pounds.  We propose to reduce the weight to mere ounces while also lowering cost and power consumption.  This will greatly expand the deployment of this technology to new-generation ultra-small unmanned air vehicles, other space and weight-constrained airborne systems, and a wide range of terrestrial applications.
Impact Technologies, in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology, proposes to develop and demonstrate an innovative flight envelope estimation and protection system for aircraft under damage upset conditions or severe flight variations.  Through the integration of advanced fault detection (IVHM) algorithms, real-time system identification of the damage/faulted aircraft and flight envelop mapping, real-time decision support can be executed autonomously for improving damage tolerance and flight recoverability.  The core tasks to complete of this proposed workscope include: 1) Development of a strong-tracking health identification algorithm for assessing the dynamics and performance limitation of impaired aircraft; 2) Development of the adaptive flight envelope estimation process; 3) Development of the envelope protection algorithm based on adaptive neural networks that can learn the generated online dynamic models; and 4) Demonstration of the proposed technologies under realistic flight control actuator and propulsion fault conditions. A core innovation of this program is the use of the on-line, adaptive learning neural networks that are capable of generating the dynamic models and operational envelop in real-time, which can then be used to estimate limits on the controller commands while preventing envelope exceedances.  The developed techniques will be demonstrated in Phase I using an integrated aircraft model that uses the NASA MAPSS propulsion model and Generic Transport Model (GTM), with eventual demonstration using the NASA Flight Simulator at NASA Langley.
Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop a flare planning logic that would provide aircraft guidance during this critical phase of flight. The algorithms that Aurora seeks to leverage address the reachability problem in the fields of Optimal Control and Hybrid Systems.  Two competing technical approaches will beconsidered; Aurora collectively refers to them as "Safety Verification-based algorithms."To this end, Aurora proposes the innovation of applying a suitable version of these algorithms to the design of a flare maneuver guidance and planning logic.  The planner will be capable of dynamically producing a flare maneuver guaranteed not to violate the aircraft flight envelope and other stipulated constraints.  The planner will meet the robustness requirements stipulated in the topic solicitation; namely, it will apply to both impeded and unimpeded aircraft, and it will operate under significant weather disturbances.  The main technical challenge in developing the planning logic is extending and applying the chosen control algorithms to 6-DOF aircraft dynamics models under the required variety of operating conditions. The ultimate goal of the Phase 1 effort is to explore the feasibility of applying Safety Verification-based optimal control algorithms to an appropriately sophisticated model of the aircraft dynamics during the flare maneuver.
The overall goal of this project is to design, develop, demonstrate, and deliver a miniature, variable speed control moment gyroscope (MVS CMG) for use on small satellites.  Creare's MVS CMG has the potential to revolutionize the design and operation of small satellites (i.e., mass from less than 1 kg up to 500 kg).  Currently available CMGs are too large and heavy, and miniature CMGs do not provide sufficient control authority for use on small satellites.  This primarily results from the need to greatly increase the speed of rotation of the flywheel in order to reduce the flywheel size and mass.  We will achieve this goal by making use of our unique, proprietary, space-qualified, high-speed (&gt;100,000 RPM) motor technology to spin the flywheel at a speed 10 times faster than the only other known miniature CMG under development with comparable control authority.  This will enable the fabrication of an MVS CMG with greatly improved performance and smaller size.  Creare is particularly well qualified to lead this effort given our considerable and unique past experience in miniaturizing devices for use in important space missions, our firm's longevity, and the space-qualified fabrication facilities that we maintain.
Long term storage of cryopropellants with minimal loss is required for
new Exploration spacecraft.  Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) is used to
insulate cryotanks, but is a high risk for Earth Departure Stage and
Altair propellant maintenance. An ultra-high performance thermal
insulation, Integrated MLI, is being developed for NASA as an MLI
replacement, and offers significantly improved thermal performance under
space vacuum conditions. This proposal is for Load Responsive MLI
(LRMLI), an innovative thermal system that under atmospheric pressure
compresses dynamic Posts to support an integrated, thin vacuum shell for
high performance in-atmosphere operation, then disconnects the Posts
during on-orbit and Lunar surface operation to provide ultra-high
performance thermal insulation. LRMLI will use micro-molded Center-Beam
Tripod Posts between radiation barriers with a novel combination of low
area-to-length spoke arms to reduce heat leak via conduction under no
load, and a dynamic center beam to support a vacuum shell under load.
For on-orbit space operation the theoretical thermal conductance is 0.22
W/m (e* = 0.00048). For in-atmosphere operation, atmospheric pressure
compresses the Post until the center beam contacts the underlying layer,
supporting an integrated 0.020&amp;quot; aluminum vacuum shell.  The load
bearing configuration has higher heat leak through the center beam (0.84
W/m), but has a heat leak 93X less than SOFI.  LRMLI could offer
superior on-orbit performance to MLI, much lower heat leak than SOFI
during launch, and no need for N2 or He purge. Cryopropellant boiloff
could be significantly reduced during pre-launch and launch operations,
especially beneficial for Altair and EDS. In Phase I we would model,
design, fabricate LRMLI prototypes and test thermal performance in
vacuum and atmosphere, reaching TRL4.  In Phase II we would move toward
a commercially viable product and a TRL5.
Aurora Flight Sciences, along with its partner Vertigo Industries, proposes a novel approach to deployment of balloon-based payloads into the Martian atmosphere. Balloon-based Mars exploration has the capability to cover a larger portion of the Martian surface than is accessible via a rover and to provide better resolution than is available from satellites. Due to the low density of the Martian atmosphere, the balloon envelope for even a small payload is quite large (tens of meters in diameter); therefore, balloon deployment is a major challenge for a Mars balloon.  A ground launched balloon, as compared to descent launched, allows a longer time constant for deployment, more control over the timing of the deployment, and, if coupled with a rover, also allows more control over the location of deployment. A challenge to ground deployment is the possibility of the envelope being damaged during deployment by winds, surrounding rocks, or parts of the associated lander.  Aurora's Shielded Mars Balloon Launcher (SMBL) concept addresses this challenge by using inflatable structures to provide a safe environment for balloon inflation and deployment. The proposed SMBL system has a 15 kg mass and packed volume of 0.15 m^3, and is therefore feasible as a secondary payload on existing Mars exploration missions.
To date there are several approaches for incorporating sensing capabilities into RFID. Active tags use batteries to power their communication circuitry, sensors, and microcontroller. Active tags benefit from relatively long wireless range and can achieve high data and sensor activity rates. However, the batteries required by active tags are disadvantageous for device cost, lifetime, weight, and volume.  In contrast, passive sensor tags receive all of their operating power from external RF transmitting sources and are not limited by battery life.  One attractive feature of passive sensor tags is the prospect of permanently embedding them in objects for structural monitoring. Another is their suitability for applications in which neither batteries nor wired connections are feasible, for weight, volume, cost, or other reasons. A limitation of purely passive sensor tags is the requirement of proximity to a RF transmitter.  Since lower power consumption is one major trend in RF circuit design, a self-powered system by means of energy harvesting becomes very attractive. It can serve as the enabling technology for novel applications such as ambient intelligence. Using a power harvesting technique for wireless rechargeable battery smart sensor and enhanced RFID are the key elements for successfully distributing sensors across sensor networks.
Space Micro proposes to build upon our existing space processing and
hardening technologies and products e.g (Proton 200K), to research and
develop reusable software for plug and play (PnP) for intelligent
avionics and payload processing. This will leverage both AFRL and Space
Micro R&amp;amp;D to meet NASA's expanding reusable software needs. At the
end of Phase 1 we will have demonstrated, both by analysis and limited
lab testing of prototype PnP software, the technical
feasibility.(TRL=3). In Phase 2 we will develop an engineering models of
an avionics incorporating PnP reusable software, and demonstrate
electrically and also in relevant ground-based test bed at NASA or AFRL.
We are proposing to build a new technology, the photo-pneumatic analyzer. It is small, solid-state, inexpensive, and appropriate for observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) from six of the seven robotic platforms being targeted by NASA in its solicitation. An inexpensive MEMS transducer is integrated into a miniature pair of gas cells to serve as the radiation sensitive element of the analyzer. Absorption by individual vibration-rotation transitions serves as the measure of CO2 Dry Mole Fraction of the sample. The analyzer has significant sensitivity, bandwidth and specificity to 12CO2 or 13CO2. Target sensitivity is 0.1 ppmv at 1 Hz for both isotopes. The analyzer may be modified to detect additional molecular species. The immediate objective is to develop an expendable CO2 analyzer that can be manufactured by machine and can be used to validate observations of CO2 column from spacecraft and can further serve as the basis of a new global monitoring network of climate change. The products targeted for Phase II are: (i) a substantial series of vertical profiles of CO2 that serve to prove the utility of the new technology as payload of the expendable balloon platform and (ii) the manufacturing plan for a commercially viable photo-pneumatic analyzer.
This Phase I proposal responds to the Solicitation requirements by scoping the effort involved in developing a common software executive and aligned library of reusable support modules in parallel with a facilitating reuse infrastructure.  Rather than focusing on libraries and other failed strategies, the contractor proposes to use the modern architectural concepts of service-oriented architectures, persistence and predictive computing to build a real-time executive for flight systems in a standards-based and platform-independent manner.  The reuse infrastructure being built in parallel consists of a framework and related toolset that makes it easy for engineers to identify and retrieve reusable assets that provide proven value.  The contractor will develop specifications for the common software executive and library of reusable support modules during Phase I.  The infrastructure will be prototyped and used for a Phase I demonstration.  A market survey will be conducted as part of the effort to scope the commercialization prospects and develop an initial business plan that will be used to interest potential pilot projects in partnering for a Phase II effort.
NASA has a pressing need for increasing the efficiency of launch range
surveillance during mission launch operations. Difficulty in verifying a
cleared range causes significant launch delay that may significantly
affect the operation safety, cost and schedule. We propose this SBIR to
develop a novel &amp;quot;Smart Pan/Tilt/Zoom Visible/IR Sensor&amp;quot;
platform, especially suited for detection, tracking, recognition, and
identification of persons and objects that have intruded areas of the
range that must be cleared in order to conduct safe launch operations.
Conventional optical sensors have limited field of views (FOV). They
observe objects through a small solid angle subtended in front of the
sensor. Although the high optical amplification may provide high
resolution image of a target, detecting and tracking potential target
within a large area is difficult, resulting in lengthy search time,
costly UAV maneuvers, low efficiency of verifying range clearance, even
missing intruded target due to limited FOV. Increasing FOV, however, is
a double-edged sword that, for any given sensor, leads to a decreased
spatial resolution, causing difficulties in target recognition and
classification. To address these contradicting requirements on FOV and
resolution for range surveillance applications, we propose a novel Smart
PTZ sensor concept with the following unique advantages: (1)Novel
optical design of wide FOV optics, no blind spot, no image distortion;
(2)Simultaneous wide FOV and zoomed high resolution images; (3)Smart PTZ
target tracking; (4)Intelligent video analysis algorithms for automatic
target detection and tracking; (5)Embedded on-board DSP processing
module; (6)Novel optical design applies to both visible and infrared
sensors; (7)Flexible mounting options: on-board UAV, land vehicle
mounted, and fixed camera.
Microcosm proposes to design and develop a fully autonomous Lunar Navigator based on our MicroMak miniature star sensor and a gravity gradiometer similar to one on a ship-board celestial navigation system designed by Microcosm for the Navy.  The new sensor will provide surface navigation on the Moon or Mars with accuracies comparable to state-of-the-art precision celestial navigation systems on Earth.  The system can rapidly determine its location anywhere on the Moon or Mars where a large portion of the sky is visible, day or night.  With the unique three field-of-view star sensor design, the sensor can also be used to provide precise surveying of surrounding terrain and, in either of two modes, can provide passive range-finding to artificial or natural objects.  The entire package will be less than 10 cm on a side, weigh less than 1 kg, draw less than 10 W of power, and work in a wide range of temperature and illumination conditions.  Phase I will focus on the system requirements, a preliminary navigator design, and initial performance estimate.  Phase II will focus on fabricating and testing a functioning prototype of the Lunar Navigator, including ground testing with real stars at night.
An innovative research program is proposed that numerically and
physically models the response of resonator liners to intense sound and
high speed grazing flow.  The research program is divided into two
parts.  Part 1 addresses the feasibility of performing direct numerical
simulation (DNS) of the sound and flow fields of the following: (i)
one-slit and two-slit resonators in a normal incidence impedance tube,
(ii) adjust and modify the computational algorithm and mesh design to
allow the code to perform high temperature simulations, and (iii) use
the simulation codes to initiate a study of the performance of high
temperature liners.  Part 2 develops the following: (iv) a grazing flow
multi-slit orifice resonator impedance model, (v) a grazing flow 1-dof
multi-circular orifice resonator impedance model and (vi) a 2-dof
non-grazing flow multi-circular orifice resonator impedance model.  The
research program was motivated, in part, by high oil prices that place
ever greater demands upon the near-term need to provide aircraft engine
acoustic engineers with reasonably accurate tools to design optimized
liners and the long-term need to develop sophisticated computational
codes to provide physical understanding of the interaction between
incident intense sound and grazing flow on resonator liners
Here we introduce a new sensor for measurement of skin friction and pressure, Surface Stress Sensitive Film (S3F). This technique can operate over a range of temperatures from cryogenic (160 K, -113?aC) to well above ambient (470 K, 197?aC). The operation of the sensor is based on the deformations of an elastic film that distorts under the action of the applied normal and tangential loads. Skin friction and pressure gradients are determined by monitoring these distortions and applying a finite element model to the film. Quantitative measurements of skin friction and pressure have been demonstrated on aerodynamic models from 10-m/s to Mach 5. Among these tests was an experiment that included S3F on one side of the model and PSP on the other side. Data from each sensor was acquired simultaneously, thus demonstrating the compatibility of the S3F with existing PSP hardware. Tunnels with existing PSP systems could be upgraded to include skin friction capability. The opportunity to develop this sensor system for measurements of skin friction in production facilities, including cryogenic tunnels as well as tunnels with operating temperatures up to 200C, is recognized and this is the focus of this proposal.
As manned missions to the moon and eventually Mars gain momentum, astronaut crews will be sent back to the deepest parts of space humans have ever traveled, and will continue deeper into space than ever before. Once outside the protection of the Earth's magnetic field, astronauts become fully exposed to an array of dangerous charged particles, both cosmic rays (CRs) and Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs). There exists a need to provide a comprehensive picture of the energetic charged particle environment within manned space vehicles to accurately measure and mitigate the crew's exposure to these hazardous radiations. Along with our partner, the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop a compact (low volume, mass and power) charged particle spectrometer for manned space vehicles based on heritage from similar spaceflight telescopes using Si solid state detectors and scintillators. The proposed instrument will be capable of detecting and identifying charged particles with single element resolution, performing on-board, real-time data reduction and providing rate and composition data over five to seven approximately logarithmically spaced energy intervals corresponding to ~10-200 MeV for protons, with integral measurements for higher energies.
Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation and our partner, Draper Laboratory,
propose to develop an on orbit immuno-based, label-free, white blood
cell counting system for simultaneous counting of peripheral blood cell
subpopulations, including total white blood cells, the five white blood
cell differential subgroups, and various lymphocyte subtypes, such as
CD4 and CD8 positive cells, using Draper's MicroElectroMechanical Sensor
(MEMS) based microfabricated arrayable Adhesive Stress Electrostatic
Sensor (ASES) technology.  The proposed ASES sensor uses a capacitance
read-out method to electronically measure the sensor membrane
displacement due to the surface stress caused by molecular binding,
(e.g., antibody-antigen binding).  Antibodies specific to the white
blood cell surface protein markers (antigens) are precoated on the ASES
sensor membrane to recognize the specific white blood cell types with
inherently high specificity and sensitivity.  Our proposed cell counting
system can meet NASA's requirements for a microgravity compatible,
miniaturized, light weight peripheral blood cell counting instrument
capable of on-orbit cell counting, without high energy lasers, requiring
minimal sample volume or exogenous (sheath) fluid to operate, and
generating minimal biohazardous waste.  This ASES blood cell counting
system, once developed, can stand alone for white blood cell
differential and subtype count, or become a complimentary instrument to
others available on-orbit.
Life on Earth is unique in many ways; one of its great mysteries is that all the biomolecules of Earth's life are chiral and one optical isomer of each amino acid or nucleic acid "building block" was selected by evolution.  In our pursuit of finding life on Mars and beyond, it is likely that one of the clues to extant or extinct life could be the detection of non-racemic chiral molecules. This proposal describes the development of a highly miniaturized and ultrasensitive lab-on-a-chip polarimeter to measure the optical rotation of biomolecules such as amino acids, sugars, DNA, RNA in samples extracted from other planets or moons.  The proposed polarimeter will be based on liquid crystal variable retarder (LCVR) technology. This technology offers a highly sensitive optical rotation measurement, from extremely small sample volumes, in a highly miniaturized format. This work is a joint collaboration between Intelligent Optical Systems, Professor Axel Scherer of the California Institute of Technology, and Meadowlark Optics.  In Phase I, we propose to fabricate an LCVR polarimeter and demonstrate its ability to measure small angles of optical rotation. High sensitivity, low-power consumption, no moving parts, and potential for integration into future exploration missions are the attractive attributes of the proposed technology. In Phase II, we will optimize the performance, develop prototypes, and conduct extensive testing.
Problem:

Ensuring that command execution scripts do not deviate from Standard
Operating Procedures (SOPs) is time-consuming, costly, and
error-prone.  Deviations can be inefficient or hazardous.

Solution:

We propose to design and develop SAFE-P, an interactive tool to ensure
conformance between command scripts and procedures, or guide users to
clarify their rationale for deviations.  Using semantic differencing
and formal verification of bisimulation relations, SAFE-P will ensure
that the scripts comply with SOPs and will highlight differences for
the operators, so that they can double-check their work and confirm
any deviations from standard procedures.

SAFE-P's design will begin with relatively simple syntactic mechanisms
to find differences between command sequences and textual procedures
that can be applied directly to current flight control practices,
including the use of SOPs captured in simple XML or PDF files and
command scripts in ThinLayer.  To reduce false error detection and
assess the criticality of differences, we will incorporate knowledge
of the space platform's architecture.

For future missions, we will extend SAFE-P to richer languages (PRL,
PLEXIL, SCL) and employ more complex verification of
program-equivalence relationships (bisimulation) to ensure conformance
between scripts and procedures.
In order to implement the monolithic high power narrow linewidth pulsed
all fiber-based laser transmitter by using a MOPA configuration for
NASA's active remote sensing spectroscopy, NP Photonics propose to
develop the high SBS-threshold, single-mode (SM), polarization
maintaining (PM), high power amplifiers for the sub-microsecond pulses
with transform-limited linewidth, leveraging on NP's proprietary
patented large core SM PM highly Er/Yb co-doped phosphate glass fibers
(LC-EYPhF). We will use our proprietary patented single-frequency
Q-switched fiber laser seed that we have developed recently in order to
make the whole high power narrow linewidth pulsed fiber laser
transmitter compact and expandable to spaceborne or UAV platforms. In
Phase I, one new SM PM LC-EYPhF fiber with large core of 25 micron will
be fabricated and two power amplifier stages using NP's large core
highly co-doped Er/Yb phosphate glass fibers will be implemented in
order to demonstrate 5-kW peak power and 2.5-mJ pulse energy with
SBS-free for NASA's active remote sensing fiber laser pulses at 765 nm
by using NP's SINGLE-MODE phosphate fiber amplifiers.
We propose to develop a hyperspectral focal plane array and camera
imaging in a large number of sharp hyperspectral bands in the thermal
infrared.  The camera is particularly suitable for the multispectral
thermal infrared (TIR) imager of NASA's HyspIRI Mission.  In Phase 1, we
will develop a crucial camera component: a 640x512 focal plane array
(FPA) with 8 - 12 micron broadband longwave spectral response.  In Phase
2, we will integrate the FPA with a linear variable filter in a dewar
cooler assembly and package the resulting sensor engine with electronics
and optics into a compact portable camera.  A sample FPA will be
delivered at the end of Phase 1.  The camera, featuring digital and
analog video outputs, will be delivered to NASA at the end of Phase 2
for field testing.
Lunar dust has been identified as a significant and present challenge in future exploration missions. The interlocking, angular nature of Lunar dust and its broad grain size distribution make it particularly detrimental to mechanisms with which it may come into contact. Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation (HRSMC) seeks to develop a dust-tolerant, autonomous connector to transmit data and power on Lunar surface systems. HRSMC has extensive heritage in developing mechanisms for extreme and dusty environments, including the development of a dust-tolerant electrical connector prototype and a dust-tolerant mechanical connector concept. There are many near-term applications of such a connector including: the utility and electrical connections that will be used on the next-generation Lunar EVA suit, cryogenic utility connections that will be used to pass liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen during in-situ, resource utilization (ISRU) activities, and high-power electrical connectors capable of thousands of cycles for Lunar Surface Mobility Unit (LSMU) battery recharge and data transfer. As noted in current Lunar architectural options, human EVA's, long range Lunar rovers, and ISRU activities are on the mission horizon and are paramount to the establishment of a permanent human base on the Moon. In Phase I, HRSMC will baseline prior dust-tolerant connector work to develop a conceptual design for an autonomous, dust-tolerant, re-usable connector to enable electrical transfer between a LSMU and a central resource outpost or a deployed solar power unit. This connector would be easily adaptable to the needs of other Lunar surface system utility connectors required for EVA suits or other systems such as ISRU utility connections. This development path will result in an autonomous Lunar dust-tolerant electrical connector with a TRL level of 3-4 at the end of Phase 1 with a goal of at least TRL 6 at the end of Phase II.
By drastically reducing the physical footprint of a mass spectrometer to the size of a beverage can, Ceramitron could set a new performance/price standard in the miniaturized MS market.  To do this, we propose eliminating the turbomolecular and roughing pumps in favor two chemical sorption pumps (a non-evaporable getter (NEG) and an ion pump), both integrated into the spectrometer's self-contained vacuum enclosure.  

Ceramitron's patented double-focusing 90&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt; magnetic-sector unit comprises three printed circuit boards, sandwiched together to form a vacuum-tight enclosure containing a dual-filament EI source, ion slits, a photo- lithographically-deposited energy analyzer, lenses and I/O pins, continuous-dynode electron multiplier and the sorption pumps.

Target parameters: 200 daltons mass range, 200 resolving power, 5x10-5 Amps/Torr sensitivity, &lt;2kg total weight, &lt;10 watts power consumption.  

Sample pressure through a pulsed-gas inlet, with flow restrictor, is ~1E-5 Torr.  Internal pumps maintain ~1E-6 Torr with no in-flow.  Units will be optimized for harsh operating environments.
Electrolytic plating of high phosphorus nickel phosphorus alloy will encapsulate a machined mirror substrate master made of fine cell plastic foam such as polystyrene that has been sealed and made electrically conductive with painted-on coatings.  After encapsulation with up to one millimeter of NiP metal holes will be drilled and the plastic master will be dissolved with a solvent such as acetone and removed.  Prior to encapsulation plating round or other cross section tubes are inserted thru holes in the plastic foam so that they are incorporated into the electroformed mirror structure when the master is encapsulated with more NiP.  The tubes which connect the front and back surfaces of the mirror are made by electroforming with the same NiP alloy.  The finished mirror substrate will be diamond turned  and the very low cutting force diamond turning process will allow fabrication of a very thin mirror face plate without print through since there is only a very low pressure on the mirror from diamond turning.  Machining of plastic foam is accomplished very quickly and the foam material is very low cost.  In a production mode the expendable foam plastic masters could themselves be molded.  The size of the mirrors is only limited by the capacities of the plating bath and the diamond turning machine.  The process is applicable to any optical contour and to the manufacture of off-axis segments.
A directly immersible cryogenic MEMS pressure sensor will be developed.  Each silicon die will contain  a vacuum-reference and a tent-like membrane.  Offsetting thermal effects allow the device to operate over a wide temperature range.  Using a patented, proven design the device is capable of continuous low-power operation and provides accuracies as low as 0.002 &#37; of reading.
Future X-ray telescopes require significant amounts of optical area. To
accommodate this in a grazing incidence design, extremely thin mirrors
are formed in concentric shell configurations. A slumping technique has
been demonstrated with such thin, lightweight shells. However, the
optical surface is found to contain a significant amount of mid-spatial
frequency errors. It is proposed to demonstrate  a sub-aperture figuring
technique that does not impart mid-spatial frequencies to the optical
substrate geometries planned for integration into next-generation X-ray
telescopes. Reactive Atom Plasma (RAP) is a sub-aperture, atmospheric
pressure, non-contact figuring technology that relies on a deterministic
gas-phase etching of the optical surface with high material removal
rates. RAP has already been demonstrated as a very credible approach for
fabricating the lightweight wedges required for the assembly of such
mirrors. RAP is especially suitable for damage-free processing of
extremely lightweight mirrors given the non-contact operation, and its
ability to ameliorate sub-surface damage. The tool footprint is a
Gaussian and hence has a limited capability to both impart mid-spatial
errors, as well as to fix them. In phase 1, we plan on demonstrating the
ability of the RAP process to impart minimal mid-spatial errors into the
optical surface while a figuring demonstration using adjustable
footprints is planned for phase 2.
We propose a high-pressure, regeneratively-cooled combustion chamber that uses novel material selection for extreme reductions in mass.  These materials are manufactured using proven processes, processes in which our two team members are expert.  The combustion chamber liner will be made of a high-temperature-capable, low density material; the structural jacket will be made of a metal matrix composite material, with a tailored CTE close to that of the liner.
This proposal addresses the need for an antenna technology platform that meets the requirements of high-performance materials, exacting dimensional tolerances, and the geometrical design freedom to enable planar antenna array technologies for frequencies greater than 100GHz.  The PolyStrata fabrication technology, being developed at Nuvotronics, LCC, Blacksburg, VA., is capable of meeting or exceeding all of the requirements outlined to be a solution for these frequencies. Air-filled copper rectangular coaxial transmission lines are fabricated using a photolithographically defined layer-by-layer process.  The resulting transmission lines are extremely broadband, low-dispersion, high-isolation, and low loss compared to other forms of planar transmission lines.  These lines are smaller than rectangular waveguides because the transverse cross-sections of the lines are not resonant. Phase I of this work includes designing a frequency-scanned antenna-array operating from 140-160GHz that would provide 116&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt; beam steering with a beamwidth of 0.5&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt; and 400MHz per beam bandwidth.  An antenna array with this performance would require roughly a 24cm by 24cm aperture to fabricate.  This is possible using 4 sub-arrays that each are fabricated on a single wafer and then tied together to achieve the overall system performance.  The approach will offer a high-yield, cost effective product that will meet the NASA needs.
Propulsion Design with Freeform Fabrication (PDFF) will develop and implement a novel design methodology that leverages the rapidly evolving Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) manufacturing techniques and materials in the advancement of spacecraft propulsion components development and production. This effort will engender otherwise unproducible designs that significantly improve performance, thermal management, power density, and stability, while reducing thruster development and production costs. The key feature of the SFF technique is the capability to form objects with any geometric complexity without the need for elaborate machine setup or final assembly. The application of SFF to propulsion components requires an evolution of design practice to harmonize material properties with functional efficiency. Using the expertise of propulsion industry analysis, design and development engineers, a new class of design approach will be developed for the enhancement of performance, combustion stability, weight reduction, and increased operating envelope as applied to liquid rocket injectors.
The Phase I effort will establish material requirements specifications for dimension resolution, structural and thermal properties, and propellant compatibility. The various SFF techniques will be assessed to identify strengths and weakness as applied to propulsion component development and production. Assembly, inspection, and quality control requirements will be assessed.
Novel approaches to component sensing and control will be investigated for the feasibility of embedded instrumentation and MEMS during production. The application of fluidics for rocket injection logic will be investigated.
As a technology demonstration for Phase I, a novel, high performance, lightweight injector design for a pulsing attitude class thruster will be developed based on the project's investigation using the latest high-temperature SFF materials.
Autonomous and semi-autonomous robotic systems require information about their surroundings in order to navigate properly. A video camera machine vision system can supply position information of external objects, but no range information. Ideally, a system that, in one package, provides 3-dimensional relative information about external objects is needed.  Existing laser range finding systems are expensive and consume large amounts of power. Additionally, they are sensitive to only a narrow solid angle, and must be scanned mechanically in order to provide more than a single dimension of depth information. Nanohmics proposes to design an electro-optical imaging device capable of autonomously determining the range to objects in a scene without the use of active emitters or multiple apertures.  The novel, automated, low-power imaging system is based on a plenoptic camera design, and will be simple to implement, providing the range to selected objects in the field of view.  Nanohmics will work towards presenting a 3D map of the field-of-view plus range ? to be used at a later time to interface with the autonomous vehicle for navigation and obstacle avoidance.  The system will be designed so that it is inexpensive, easy to integrate with existing/planned planetary rovers, rugged, and low in maintenance.  Nanohmics will develop a custom optical system along with embedded digital signal processing electronics and a unique opto-mechanical design; and develop firmware/software algorithms for determining range to objects within the system field-of-view.  Optionally the processed image will be coupled with automatic detection, recognition, and avoidance algorithms.
One of the needs of NASA is the development of avionic systems and components that have the capability to operate in extreme radiation and temperature environments found in deep space, as well as the lunar and Martian surfaces.  As a result, spacecraft electronics will be required to be hardened against radiation environment and temperature cycling.  In fact, they should withstand a total ionizing dose (TID) of at least 100 krads (Si) and provide single-event latchup (SEL) immunity of at least 100 MeV cm2/mg.  As part of these needs, NASA is interested in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology with reliable reprogrammability and a degree of radiation hardness.
    
We intend to answer NASA's need for FPGA technologies suitable for future exploration systems.  In Phase I, we plan to focus on the integration of radiation hardening technologies involving both the structure of the FPGA and its sub-components, as well as use of an advanced foundry process and specialized circuits to mitigate radiation.
Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensors have been successfully demonstrated and implemented capabilities to detect and measure wake vortices in and around the terminal area.   Although LIDAR systems have been used to measure wake vortex strength and position in NASA and FAA measurement campaigns and too little is known about their accuracy in quantifying location and strength in different regimes. Field data analysis suggests that strength may be commonly overestimated compared to theoretical models, but no study has been conducted to determine the validity and accuracy of the sensing techniques to determine these estimates.   Additionally, these uncertainties cannot be determined since no other remote sensing system has been verified to accurately measure and characterize the wake vortices.  A risk with no quantitative assessment is that it may negatively impact the separation standards.

Aerospace Innovations, LLC proposes to design and develop a physics-based Monte Carlo LIDAR Simulation and Visualization (LiSiVi) Tool to provide NASA and industry researchers the ability to accurately model the performance of LIDAR based wake vortex sensing systems.  The significance of this innovation is that it combines the advancement of knowledge in the wake vortex modeling research and the laser technology areas.
Global Aerospace Corporation proposes to develop a hypersonic control modeling and simulation tool for hypersonic aeroassist vehicles. Our control and simulation testbed will be focused on the particularly important problem of a lifting, towed ballute for planetary aerocapture.  The importance of this technology innovation is in the understanding it can provide NASA on the control of hypersonic vehicles, in particular, of lifting towed ballutes.  Lift control of a towed ballute will enable the use of smaller and lighter-weight ballutes for planetary orbit capture, which will make ballutes more attractive and feasible for missions to planets such as Neptune where high heating rates require extremely large ballutes for ballistic capture.  The application of the comprehensive tool, to be developed in later phases, will be extensive including, but not limited to, control studies for entry and descent, aerocapture, and aero-gravity-assist with a range of hypersonic aeroassist systems (e.g. rigid and deployable aeroshells, waveriders, etc.).  This proposal responds directly to the request in subtopic A2 to "leverage the foundational research to develop technologies and analytical tools focused on discipline-based solutions." In addition, in the hypersonic focus arena, we are responding directly to the interest in "system dynamic models incorporating the essential coupled dynamic elements with varying fidelity for control design, analysis and evaluation" and "simulation test beds for evaluating hypersonic concept vehicle control."
In response to NASA SBIR Subtopic O1.02 (Antenna Technology), Pharad proposes to create a new class of highly efficient body wearable antennas suitable for astronaut Extravehicular Activity RF communications.  The Phase I versions of the antennas will be developed on low loss, flexible material that can be readily incorporated on the surface of, or integrated within, an astronaut's Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit.  We will leverage our extensive experience in developing electrically small, flexible, wearable, radiators to create unobtrusive antennas that are compatible with the UHF frequency band for NASA lunar or Mars exploration missions.  The key innovations of our proposed research effort are the development of several new technologies: small radiator technology based on slow-wave engineering principles; efficient, small Electromagnetic Bandgap structures; and the integration of these technologies with diversity techniques to create an efficient body wearable antenna platform suitable for EMU integration.  Our new technology will provide an unobtrusive, high performance body wearable radiating platform that will facilitate the next generation of astronaut RF communication systems.  Throughout this effort rigorous, full-wave electromagnetic simulation tools will be used to predict the performance of the new concepts and the resulting antennas will be fabricated and tested in our measurement facilities.
The paper-based manual crew procedures that formed the basis of mission management for the manned space program are being replaced by electronic procedure representations and execution engines that support adjustable autonomy. Adhering to the conventions of the legacy procedures makes procedure authoring intuitive and less error prone than approaches that require the author to program in a formal planning language. However, this approach also preserves a drawback of the paper-based procedure: inflexibility in execution due to a lack of information about constraints implicit in the procedure.

We propose to develop the Procedure Authoring with Constraints Tool (PACT), an intuitive graphical drag-and-drop and WYSIWYG authoring environment that preserves the conventions of the paper-base procedure, but adds the capability to capture timing and ordering constraints with minimal additional effort.

During this Phase I project, we will specify user interface and functional requirements, create representative use cases, design the Phase II system, and develop and evaluate a proof-of-concept prototype to illustrate our approach and demonstrate its utility and feasibility.
This proposal seeks to investigate the use of a novel high strength
nanostructured metal (Nanovate&lt;!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
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) as a thin structural reinforcing shell on ultra-lightweight carbon
fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) propellant and cryogenic storage tanks.
In the proposed project, Integran seeks to address the intrinsic
deficiencies of CFRP by applying nanometal to the inside liner of the
CFRP cryogenic storage tanks to provide a high strength pressure barrier
with excellent mechanical performance and damage tolerance at cryogenic
temperatures, thereby enabling the use of CFRP for cryogenic storage
tanks.  In addition, the nanometal liner will also provide increased
surface durability, wear resistance and specific strength/stiffness of
the CFRP substructure at cryogenic, ambient and elevated temperatures
(temperatures at which conventional composites begin to soften).  The
high strength of the nanostructured material will allow a thin
structural reinforcing coating, thus maintaining the overall lightweight
nature of the component.  The successful execution of this project will
provide a proof-of-concept demonstration as well as baseline mechanical
property data for nanometal/composite hybrid structures at a range of
temperatures, thereby allowing engineering designers to incorporate the
use of these structures into advanced engineering components, including
cryogenic storage tanks.
The NRC Decadal Survey recommended the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission to address terrestrial fresh water hydrology and physical oceanography science questions. The proposed effort will develop a low-cost, Ka-band, multi-temporal baseline radar sensor designed to fly on high altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (Global Hawk) and acquire phenomenology (i.e. temporal, coherence, near-nadir scattering cross-section and vegetation attenuation) measurements in support of the SWOT mission. To realize this sensor, innovations in the sensor design, transceiver digital receiver and antenna are required. The Phase I will result in a system design for these subsystems that can be realized in a Phase II effort. During the Phase I, analytic studies and modeling will be performed to demonstrate feasibility and to perform the necessary tradeoffs.   Leveraging a high altitude, FPGA-based digital receiver system developed by RSS and its development system, the digital receiver capabilities will be extended and initial laboratory testing performed. The Phase II effort will realize a prototype of this sensor.At the end of the Phase I, a technology readiness level of 3 will be achieved.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are attractive candidates for use as
power sources in aerospace applications because they have high specific
energy (up to 200 Wh/kg), energy density (~ 500 Wh/L) and long cycle
life (1,000  30,000 cycles depending on the depth of cycling).
Yardney/Lithion, Inc. the leader in cutting edge Li-ion batteries is
dedicated in research, development, design and manufacturer of high
performing battery systems for aerospace, land and sea applications. At
the present moment, two of the Lithion batteries are operating on the
surface of Mars with great success. Future robotic and human exploration
missions require advanced human-rated energy rechargeable batteries
level metrics should have specific energy of 300 Wh/kg at C/2 discharge
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C, and energy density greater than 500 Wh/l, with a calendar life of 5
years. The cycle life of the cell is required at 100&amp;#37; Depth of Discharge
(DOD) in the range of 250 cycles. Yardney proposes to develop
environmentally benign new electrode components and cell chemistries
based on high capacity of 300mAh/g layered Li2MnO3 derivative cathode,
composite silicon based anode with a capacity of over 600 mAh/g and
suitable electrolyte.
This Phase I SBIR program is directed toward the development of a novel
low-voltage (~10V) AlGaN-based multi-quantum well (MQW) avalanche
photodiode (APD) on low-cost substrates.  The high-gain, high-speed and
low-noise operation of the proposed device allow the replacement of
bulkier and more fragile photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) for many UV
photon-counting and imaging applications.  In particular, reduction in
size and weight in addition to improvements in reliability and
ruggedness compared to PMTs, make this technology very suitable for some
of the NASA's planned space missions as well as other civilian and
defense applications that require high-sensitivity, solar-blind UV detection.
The development of a polymer laminate with water and oxygen barrier properties suitable for food packaging and preservation on 3-5 year manned space exploration missions is proposed. The laminate is a multilayer structure comprising polymer and inorganic dielectrics that will provide near-hermetic encapsulation of food items for the duration of these missions. In Phase I, flexible polymer barriers with an oxygen transport rate of &lt;0.005 cc/m2-day and water transport rate of &lt;0.005 g/m2-day were developed. The barriers contain no metal foils, have a areal density of &lt;34 g/m2 for a 40 micron thick film, and tolerate high temperature sterilization treatments. The polymer laminates are mechanically robust exhibiting a 165MPa yield strength, 200MPa tensile strength, 550MPa tensile modulus, and 3&#37; elongation to yield. In Phase II, we propose to optimize barrier properties to reduce weight, minimize ash on incineration, develop heat-sealing methods, and expand the testing to include heat sealed enclosures. The Phase II effort also includes a collaboration with a potential high-volume manufacturer of the barrier films for aerospace applications.
Based on our proposed innovations and accomplished work in Phase I, we will focus on developing the new MAC protocol and hybrid routing protocol for lunar surface networks and orbit access. The new MAC protocol includes a novel mechanism of TDMA overlaying CSMA/CA and ensures scalable throughput and QoS performance in the hierarchical multihop wireless mesh networks proposed for lunar surface networks. The new MAC protocol will be implemented on top of a reconfigurable 802.11 radio and is compatible to legacy 802.11 networks. It also includes advanced features like efficiency power management, adaptive channel width for improving receiver sensitivity and communication range, and error control for eliminate errors due to radiation and radio burst. The hybrid routing protocol combines the advantages of ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing and disruption/delay tolerant network (DTN) routing. Its performance is significantly better than AODV or DTN, and is particularly effective to wireless networks with intermittent links, as in lunar surface networks and orbit access. In this proposal a detailed prototyping plan to implement the developed protocols is also presented. By the end of Phase II, a prototype system will be available for demonstrating the delivered technical objectives proposed in this proposal.
Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd. (Touchstone) has developed a novel and innovative Out-of-Autoclave (OOA) composites manufacturing process with an electrically heated carbon foam tooling system. Electrically Heated Tooling (EHT) utilizes a coal-based carbon foam (CFOAM&lt;SUP&gt;REG&lt;/SUP&gt;) core that serves as both the tool substrate and the heating source for a composite part being cured. The tool heating is a result of flowing current through the carbon foam, which results in heating.  This approach to self-heated tooling is a potentially enabling technology for manufacturing large composite structures by eliminating the need for autoclaves and large curing ovens, as well as by reducing costs, weight, and improving composite part quality.

The overall objective of the NASA Phase 2 program will be to optimize critical factors for thermal uniformity in a CFOAM Electrically Heated Tool (EHT) and to validate the electrically heated cure process with current state-of-the-art OOA materials.  The data generated will be used to produce a Scaled Composite Shroud (SCS) cylindrical mandrel EHT that will be designed, fabricated, tested, and used to cure a large composite part without an autoclave or oven.  The SCS demonstration tool will be up to an 8' diameter and 12' length mandrel, which will be approximately one-forth of the scale as a tool necessary for an ARES V composite structure.
The LFMG instrument is used to make extremely high resolution scalar magnetic field and difference measurements at the Earthfs surface. The Phase 1 effort included development of a conceptual design and established the feasibility of designing, fabricating and demonstrating in Phase 2 two prototype LFMG instruments for use in a gradiometer configuration. The Phase 1 LFMG conceptual design includes a technical plan for approaching 10 fT/cHz resolution in the LFMG prototype. The breadboard LFMG demonstrated measurements of scalar field variations with a resolution of 45 fT/cHz in Phase 1. The LFMG has stability required to measure vector gradients (difference of scalar measurements between two LFMG instruments on the Earthfs surface) with very high stability over distances of the order of kilometers. The LFMG prototype will have a dynamic range of 25,000 nT to 75,000 nT, and achieves an accuracy and stability necessary to perform common mode noise rejection between two LFMG instruments. This advance in the state of the art represents an increase in sensitivity of more than an order of magnitude, and will permit new high performance gradiometer measurements for use in innovative exploratory research into the effects producing temporal variations in the magnetic field over the Earthfs surface.
The work proposed herein focuses on waste subsystems with emphasis on odor control associated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The development of efficient odor removal systems for use inside lunar architectures is one of NASA's critical needs (2008 SBIR Topic X2.03). Because of the limited space and resources in both exploration vehicles and non-moving habitats, a treatment system must be compact, lightweight, and robust, and have low energy and material input requirements, with focus on reducing equivalent system mass (ESM). We have developed a novel, robust, and highly effective Silica-Titania Composite (STC) technology capable of adsorbing and oxidizing VOCs to harmless byproducts when irradiated with UV light. The effectiveness of the technology for removal of ethanol from air when irradiated continuously with UV was proven under Phase I. This Phase II proposal will focus on the design, fabrication, and evaluation of a prototype employing the STC technology with UV LEDs as the light source, challenged with several VOCs simultaneously. The prototype will be designed based on the requirements of the Lunar Habitat in NASA's Lunar Outpost mission. Revised ESM calculations will be completed after system optimization, and a final prototype will be delivered to NASA for future testing.
Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has successfully developed a silicon whisker and carbon nanofiber composite anode for lithium ion batteries on a Phase I program.  PSI has demonstrated a technology readiness level of 3 with an anode composite capacity of greater than 1100 mAh/g for over 200 cycles (100&#37; depth-of-discharge) at 1C using 2 mAh cells.  This anode provides high capacity, high power, and improved cycle life at a competitive cost.  Silicon is low cost and has a theoretical capacity of 4200 mAh/g but it has a limited cycle life.  The nanocomposite design provides a synergistic improvement in reversible capacity and electrochemical cycling as a result of the unique silicon architecture and structural reinforcement provided by the nanofibers.  In the Phase II program, PSI will increase cell size to 2.5 mAh and optimize cell design to further improve cycle life.  PSI will deliver to NASA 2.5 Ah lithium ion cells with an energy density greater than 220 Wh/kg that is required by NASA's future robotic and human exploration missions.  In collaboration with a battery manufacturer, PSI will also demonstrate that this anode technology is scaleable to reach industrial production level.
We propose the detailed conceptual development of a device for analyzing key isotopic composition in surface materials without sample preparation. We will combine absorption spectroscopy with laser induced vaporization of solid samples for high-resolution isotopic measurements. An immediate focus is on Mars but our concept is also highly germane to other applications relevant to bio- and geochemical objectives. We will evaluate accuracy, sensitivity, and resolution of our technology for isotopic detection of the key elements associated with signs of life (C, S, H, O) in solid materials. All essential design components of the proposed analyzer have been separately developed and demonstrated in very compact form for other applications. We will demonstrate the overall performance of the proposed technique and build a breadboard prototype instrument. Commercial systems based on the Phase II prototype will be developed and marketed during Phase III.
The proposed effort advances the design of an innovative core sampling and acquisition system with improved core break-off, retention and ejection features.  Phase 1 successfully demonstrated, at TRL 4, the ability of the system to acquire rock core samples that are 10 mm diameter and 100 mm long.  The proposed innovation employs a different drill tube design in the vicinity of the core that does not impose any loads on the core and does not rotate relative to the core.  This novel technique actually envelopes and protects the core as it is generated.  The benefits are two fold; first, the integrity of the core is maintained and second, core ejection is much easier which greatly reduces, if not eliminates the risk of the core jamming within the drill tube/bit.  These improvements can be obtained without increasing the annulus of the drill bit that would otherwise require more down force, torque, power and bit wear.  By the end of the proposed Phase 2 effort, a prototype design of the improved coring system will be tested at TRL 6 with Mars ambient conditions.
Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation and partner, Draper Laboratory, propose to develop an on-orbit immuno-based label-free white blood cell counting system using MEMS technology (OILWBCS-MEMS) for human spaceflight experimental and medical monitoring practices. Our proposed system is designed to meet NASA's requirements for a microgravity compatible, miniaturized, light weight peripheral blood cell counting instrument capable of on-orbit cell counting, without high energy lasers, requiring minimal sample volume or exogenous (sheath) fluid, and generating minimal bio-hazardous waste: SBIR topic X14.02 "On Orbit Cell Counting and Analysis Capability". The proposed detection technology leverages changes in optical transmission through a surface due to molecular binding (e.g., antibody-antigen binding).  Antibodies specific to the white blood cell surface protein markers (antigens) are pre-coated on the sensor surface to recognize specific white blood cell types with inherently high specificity and sensitivity.  In Phase I we developed surface chemistry and demonstrated surface chemistry sensitivity and specificity for total white blood cells and two lymphocyte subtypes (B-cells, CD4+ T-cells).  During phase II we will develop a functional prototype of the OILWBCS-MEMS device to demonstrate that end-to-end operations from sample-in to signal-out produces clinically relevant results.  The OILWBCS-MEMS design will include single-use replaceable cartridges for fluid loop and sensor components.
Life on Earth is unique in many ways; one of its great mysteries is that the building blocks of life on Earth (amino acids, nucleotides, sugars) are all chiral. One optical isomer of each amino acid or nucleic acid was selected by evolution. In our pursuit of finding life on Mars and beyond (Triton, Europa, etc.), it is likely that one of the clues to extant or extinct life could be the detection of non-racemic chiral molecules. This proposal describes the development of a highly miniaturized and ultrasensitive lab-on-a-chip polarimeter that will meet the NASA need to measure chirality in very small volumes of samples at very high sensitivity. The proposal builds on a novel technology that is based on a proprietary design, in which a modulated liquid crystal variable retarder (LCVR) enhances sensitivity and reduces size without sacrificing performance. This detection principle with a long-path-length microfluidic flow cell allows for the measurement of chirality in microliter volumes of samples. The Phase I effort has conclusively demonstrated the technical feasibility of the detection principle.  A miniaturized polarimeter with microfluidic flow cell was designed and fabricated. The polarimeter was calibrated and tested with samples. In Phase II, we will build, fully characterize, and deliver a miniature polarimeter with optimized performance, enhanced mechanical stability, and integrated fluid handling capability. The primary goals are to further improve the polarimeter's sensitivity, accuracy, size, weight, reproducibility, measurement speed, and power needs, conduct extensive testing, and  deliver a robust prototype, engineering drawings, software, and test results to NASA.
This proposal presents the Ka-band SWOT Phenomenology Airborne Radar (KaSPAR) to support the surface water ocean topography (SWOT) mission for science and algorithm development and calibration and validation. KaSPAR is a modular system with multiple temporal and cross-track baselines to fully characterize the scattering and statistics expected from SWOT, provide data for developing classification algorithms, and understanding instrument performance and limitations over the vast variety of scene
To address the NASA Earth Science Division need for spatial filter arrays for amplitude and wavefront control, Luminit proposes to develop a novel Integrated Spatial Filter Array (iSFA) comprising integrated waveguides mapped with a pair of commercial lenslet arrays. Thousands of precisely spaced waveguides can be mass-produced with state-of-the-art photonic fabrication technology, which eliminates the tedious and error-prone alignment of up to a 1000 individual optical fibers in legacy fiber bundle SFA. The integrated waveguides are inherently polarization preserving. In Phase I, we designed and fabricated a 16-waveguide iSFA and demonstrated 22 dB polarization extinction ratio and superior coupling efficiency and uniformity over legacy fiber bundle SFA. In Phase II, we will tailor waveguide array parameters for optimum coupling with commercial lenslet arrays and fabricate a fully functioning prototype iSFA with 1,000 buried single-mode waveguide channels operating in a broad wavelength range in the 400-1,000 nm visible band.  The iSFA will benefit NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder mission for detection of earth-like planets, climates, habitability and life beyond our solar system.
The lunar surface is, to a large extent, covered with a dust layer several meters thick.  Known as lunar regolith, it has been produced by meteorite impacts since the formation of a solid lunar surface billions of years ago.  The regolith, while promising as a future building material for lunar installations, also poses a hazard in the form of dust clouds being generated by all forms of gas expansions in the high vacuum environment of the lunar surface.  This is especially pronounced during spacecraft operations; a single lunar landing and take-off emits the same amount of gas as the whole lunar atmosphere contains.  Instruments placed on the moon by the Apollo mission showed marked degradation due to damage from dust released during the lander's takeoff.  Since there is no air movement to remove the dust after it is deposited, it is essential that dust is not displaced during everyday operations of a permanent lunar installation.

Adherent Technologies, Inc. (ATI) has over the last decade developed a number of specialty UV-curing resins for NASA applications in space.  In the Phase I program, ATI developed a resin and dispenser system to coat large areas of lunar surface around landing pads and atmosphere locks with a thin, dust-stabilizing coating.  The coating is UV stable and elastic enough to weather the temperature extremes of a lunar day and night cycle.  Special emphasis was given to a low outgassing, solvent-free system that does not contaminate the lunar atmosphere.

In the Phase II program, ATI will optimize the resin formulations from the Phase I for thin film coatings.  By comparing those to two-part resin systems, a balance between required properties and needed launch weight can be struck for different mission profiles.  The engineering development will concentrate on a lightweight, reliable spray system to be added onto existing NASA moon vehicles.
We propose a 1.5um fiber-optic pulsed coherent lidar as a highly effective sensor sub-system for airborne wake-vortex hazard detection. The proposed design is based on a recently developed platform at Fibertek, for fiber-optic pulsed coherent lidar capable of 6km range, and operating at high pulse rate to give high-resolution spatial map and circulation strength, characteristic of typical wake-vortex signatures. The proposed system uses all COTS 1.5um fiber-optic component technology and COTS high-speed digital electronics, to provide a cost-effective system, that is amenable to rapid transition for field testing and adoption.
The new exploration initiative, and the planned new antenna types to be developed in support of that initiative will increase the number and complexity of missions to be supported by the NASA Space Communications infrastructure.  In a new concept, the communications architecture will evolve from the present centralized system to one where user/missions will be given direct control of communication schedules, allowing them to directly change requests, while working with other user/missions to solve scheduling conflicts in a collegial environment.  A radically new user interface paradigm will be needed to support this new approach. It is our contention that such an interface is best designed using intelligent agent technologies, resulting in an intelligent space communications scheduling agent for each user/mission.  In Phase 1 we demonstrated the feasibility of using the Distributed, Collaboration and Interaction (DCI) intelligent agent software to support key activities of user schedule representatives of the Deep Space Network (DSN). These agents used models of mission preferences for preparing requests and posting notifications, and took actions on the part of the user to resolve schedule conflicts and take advantage of unexpected asset availability.  In Phase 2 we will extend our prototype agents to support the full range of user scheduling activities, to add capabilities to support multi-user conflict management and to design them to integrate with DSN Service Scheduling Software as it evolves to support user/missions. We will also investigate the potential of using software agents to support the space and ground networks.
Electrolytic plating of high phosphorus nickel phosphorus alloy will encapsulate a machined mirror substrate master made of fine cell plastic foam such as polystyrene that has been sealed and made electrically conductive with painted-on coatings. After encapsulation with up to one millimeter of NiP metal holes will be drilled and the plastic master will be dissolved with a solvent such as acetone and removed. Prior to encapsulation plating round or other cross section tubes are inserted thru holes in the plastic foam so that they are incorporated into the electroformed mirror structure when the master is encapsulated with more NiP. The tubes which connect the front and back surfaces of the mirror are made by electroforming with the same NiP alloy. The finished mirror substrate will be diamond turned and the very low cutting force diamond turning process will allow fabrication of a very thin mirror face plate without print through since there is only a very low pressure on the mirror from diamond turning. Machining of plastic foam is accomplished very quickly and the foam material is very low cost. In a production mode the expendable foam plastic masters could themselves be molded. The size of the mirrors is only limited by the capacities of the plating bath and the diamond turning machine. The process is applicable to any optical contour and to the manufacture of off-axis segments.
Both pyrolysis and oxidation steps have been considered as the key solid waste processing step for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). Pyrolysis is more amenable to handling mixed solid waste streams in a microgravity environment, but produces a more complex product stream. Oxidation (incineration) produces a simpler product stream, but the oxidation of mixed solids is a complex unit operation in a microgravity environment. Pyrolysis is endothermic and requires no oxygen, while oxidation is exothermic and requires oxygen. A previous NASA SBIR Phase I and Phase II project has successfully integrated pyrolysis of the solid waste and oxidation of the fuel gases into a single, batch processing prototype unit. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the feasibility of integrating pyrolysis, tar cracking, and oxidation steps into a compact, efficient system for processing of spacecraft solid wastes. This integration will result in a reduction in energy consumption, an overall reduction in system complexity, and a lower Equivalent System Mass (ESM). The objective of the Phase I study is to demonstrate the feasibility of this integration process using bench scale experiments. This will be accomplished in three tasks: 1) design and construct integrated bench scale unit; 2) laboratory studies using simulated solid waste sample; 3) evaluation of laboratory results and preliminary design of Phase II prototype.
The development of magnesium diboride (MgB2) superconducting wires makes
possible the potential to have much lighter weight superconducting
stator and rotor coils for heavy aircraft motors and generators than
with any other metal or ceramic superconductor.  The MgB2 superconductor
can be cooled to 20 K by liquid hydrogen fuel or conductively with a
cyrocooler.   The lighter weight coils, especially in the stator, will
enable a lighter weight motor/generator.  In a NASA SBIR Phase I and
Phase II program we want to develop low AC loss MgB2 superconductors for
the stators of synchronous motors or generators. For turbo-electric
aircraft propulsion systems, it is desirable to have very light weight
superconducting wires that can operate at greater than 1.5 T field and
500 Hz electrical frequency with input power between 10 and 100 kW. This
SBIR Phase I aims to design, fabricate, and characterize AC-tolerant
superconductors with a targeted loss budget less than 10 W/kA-m. This
will be accomplished by reducing the hysteretic losses in MgB2
superconductors by fabricating wires with very small filaments, reducing
the eddy current component of AC losses in MgB2 superconductors, and
characterizing the transport current and AC losses of MgB2 wires.
Prioria (Gainesville, FL) and its partners Aerial Products (Deland, FL) and Meridian Systems LLC (Titusville, FL) propose to develop a revolutionary new type of system which is both modular and standardized, and which can effectively interface with existing sensors such as range radar and acoustic intrusion detectors.  The system for launch surveillance/intrusion detection is based on a network of uncooled long wavelength infrared (LWIR) imagers with associated Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors and magnetic compass heading indicators, integrated into a small  package which can be deployed on small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), balloons or blimps, and fixed towers.  Infrared imagers are chosen for their day/night and all-weather capability and because recent advances in uncooled technology has allowed the price of these sensors to become low enough for fielding a relatively large number of imagers in a cost effective manner.
	These LWIR sensors and integrated instrumentation will provide for the remote detection, recognition, and identification of persons and objects that have intruded into areas of the range that must be cleared in order to conduct safe launch operations. In order to achieve accurate identification, the time and position of potential intrusions will be recorded in a "track file" for each detection incidence.  Data fusion techniques will fuse tracks from various sensors into a single track when possible, and objects will be tracked with multi-target tracking techniques as necessary. This will require the use of encrypted communication, so track data and associated intruder imagery from individual sensors can be combined at a centralized control station as a fused track file. In the cases where intrusions are deemed security risks, further action can be undertaken, such as deployment of a small UAV to the intrusion site for real time observation, while range control and security evaluate the situation.
For the future spaceport and long-term storage of liquid hydrogen NASA requires cryocoolers that can provide cooling power in the range of 20 watts at 20 K. The  closed-cycle cooling alternatives currently available for such applications are not well suited to the  requirements. In many cases reliability is low and vibration high. In other cases coolers are too massive  and inefficient. This proposal describes a two-stage pulse tube cryocooler that combines several innovative  design features. The proposed pulse tube will be light-weight, efficient, reliable, vibration free, and easy to  integrate with cryogenic dewars.
This project will develop a practical method for predicting pattern roughness onset and quantitative effects on heat and mass transfer rates for heatshield materials such as Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) and environments such as those anticipated for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Surface roughness patterns (e.g., scallops, crosshatching) form on many materials ablating under turbulent flow conditions. Equivalent sand grain roughness models are inaccurate and inappropriate for calculating Stanton numbers. In Phase I, we will develop a near-term method based on pattern roughness data, observations, and models from diverse fields. This method may predict Stanton number increases directly from material and aerothermal environment information instead of sequentially predicting pattern dimensions, equivalent roughness height, and Stanton number effects. We will also plan a more rigorous longer-term model and validation tests to be implemented in Phase II.
One of the main attributes contributing to the civil competitiveness of rotorcraft, is the continuously increasing expectations for passenger comfort which is directly related with reduced vibration levels and reduced interior noise levels.  Such expectations are amplified in the VIP market where people are used in the acoustic and vibration levels of civil and executive jets.  One of the most critical excitations for interior noise in helicopters is the one from the gearbox.   Thus, the structure-borne noise path (i.e. excitation propagating from mounting locations through the fuselage structure to the panels of the cabin and to the interior) must be captured in rotorcraft interior noise computations.  This proposal addresses the need stated in the solicitation for developing physics based tools that can be used within a multi-disciplinary design-analysis-optimization for computing interior noise in rotorcraft applications.  The hybrid FEA method can be used for structure-borne helicopter applications and can be integrated very easily (due to the finite element based model) with models from other disciplines within a multidisciplinary design environment.  During the Phase I project the main focus will be in demonstrating the feasibility of the hybrid FEA technology for computing rotorcraft structure-borne interior noise from gearbox excitation.  A multi-discipline optimization rotorcraft case study will also be performed for demonstrating how the hybrid FEA facilitates the design of a rotorcraft fuselage based on simultaneous crash landing/passenger safety and structure-borne noise considerations.  The new developments will become part of MES' commercial EFEA code and of its implementation within SOL400 of NASTRAN.  UTRC will participate in the proposed effort for ensuring relevance of the work to rotorcraft interests and for providing technical consultancy.
We propose to investigate the feasibility and value of the
&amp;quot;Software as a Service&amp;quot; paradigm in facilitating access to
Earth Science numerical models. We envision providing prototype
Web-based access to NASA scientific models (GEOS-5, WRF) and their
results, via industry-standard service interfaces (OGC's Web Coverage
Service, Web Map Service, OPeNDAP) implemented by open-source software
tools such as MapServer and THREDDS. These services would allow
declarative access to pre-computed model outputs, on-demand
(asynchronous or synchronous) model runs, and user-customizable model
workflows. These services would use the MAP Mobile Environment Workflow
tool and associated templates to encapsulate details of the model
software and the computing environment in which it runs. Providing these
modeling capabilities as a service, through well-defined,
widely-supported Web interfaces, would facilitate loosely-coupled
collaborative work among different computing facilities and different
disciplines; and it would broaden access to modeling beyond those
already &amp;quot;in the know&amp;quot; or qualified to login to a NASA
computing resource. We will conduct the study in stages, beginning with
Web access to pre-stored model results, followed by on-demand model runs
and culminating in service-based workflow customization.
The development of a polymer laminate with water and oxygen barrier properties suitable for food packaging and preservation on 3-5 year manned space exploration missions is proposed. The laminate is a multilayer structure comprising polymer and inorganic dielectrics that will provide near-hermetic encapsulation of food items for the duration of these missions. The properties and expected benefits of the multilayer packaging include: oxygen transport rate of &lt;&lt;0.005 cc/m2-day; water transport rate of &lt;&lt;0.005 g/m2-day; suitable for retort, microwave, and high pressure sterilization (&gt;135oC); specific weight &lt;40 g/m2 for a 34 micron thick laminate meeting H2O and O2 permeation goals; inorganic content of &lt;2.4 g/m2; contains no metal foils; and, a higher strength-to-weight ratio than current barrier materials, providing a thin high-strength laminate with sufficient ductility for packaging and sealing operations. In Phase I, polymer laminates will be fabricated and characterized by oxygen and water permeation tests to demonstrate barrier properties. Mechanical and accelerated testing, using steam sterilization and high-temperature water immersion, will be included to demonstrate the suitability of the laminate for packaging applications. In Phase II, the manufacturing process would be scaled-up and methods for forming packages, vacuum and inert gas packaging; and heat sealing addressed.
We propose a concentrated photovoltaic electric power system for lunar operations called C-Lite Lunar.   The novel technology produces a near-term solar array system that provides substantially improved performance in terms of high specific power (&gt;600 W/kg BOL, 10X lighter than rigid arrays), lightweight, high deployed stiffness (5X stiffer than rigid arrays), high deployed strength, compact stowage volume (&gt;1,000 kW/m3 BOL, 30X more compact stowage than rigid arrays), affordability, and rapid commercial readiness.  The proposed effort will provide a disruptively positive performance impact to the end-user, and allow for the rapid insertion of this mission-enabling technology for future applications.
This proposal addresses the need for miniature deep UV light sources that operate at very low ambient temperatures without heating or temperature regulation for use in advanced in situ planetary science instruments involved in the reagent-less detection and identification of trace amounts of organic, inorganic, and biogenic materials.  The proposed sources are aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) semiconductor lasers and light emitting devices emitting between 210 nm to 250 nm, a spectral range which has been demonstrated to provide higher detection sensitivity and chemical differentiability than sources emitting at longer wavelengths.  Instrument applications include non-contact, robot-arm or body mounted, reagentless chemical imaging instruments and detectors for analysis of chemical extractions from soil, rock, or ice employing non-contact, non-destructive native fluorescence and/or resonance Raman spectroscopic methods.  
	The proposed semiconductor source approach avoids the problems that continue to limit emission wavelengths of semiconductor lasers to wavelengths above 340 nm.  Using free electron injection we have demonstrated internal quantum efficiencies over 100 times higher than reported elsewhere.  It is the goal of this program to demonstrate deep UV laser emission from a semiconductor device less than 250 nm using the proposed approach.  This will lead to miniature, high efficiency, TRL 4 devices.
Energid Technologies proposes to create a tool for simulation-based verification of lunar excavator designs.  Energid will combine the best of 1) automatic control system generation from computer aided design (CAD) models, 2) rapid validation of complex mechanism designs, and 3) detailed simulation models of the lunar environment, including regolith, dust, temperature, remote supervision, and communication latency to create a system of high value to NASA.  Energid has previously developed unique algorithms for controlling and simulating complex robotic mechanisms automatically from just a CAD description.  These algorithms will be leveraged to create a system to quickly test excavation systems by generating optimal control algorithms for use in studies.  Energid has also developed high-fidelity real-time physics-based simulation algorithms that include models of internal forces and the forces produced when a mechanism interacts with the outside world.   This existing capability will be combined with an innovative organization for simulation algorithms, new regolith simulation methods, and a unique control and study architecture to make a powerful tool with the potential to transform the way NASA verifies and compares excavator designs.
In typical, multi-organizational networking environments, it is difficult to define and maintain a uniform authentication scheme that provides users with easy access to required information while maintaining the security and integrity of the underlying information.  This proposal offers a unique and innovative architecture for doing so through the utilization of a Proxy Service Listener (PSL) and the implementation of a customized Domain Name Service (DNS) server.  The PSL provides a centralized authentication function that acts as a credentialing authority for all network services, thereby enabling a single sign-on mechanism for all services/servers operating within the framework.  This allows the implementation of a centralized access control infrastructure; yet, each service has the option to determine the access controls for its clients.

Conforming to the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) paradigm, the proposed solution has multiple benefits.  It provides the means for NASA to offer a uniform access methodology to its large number of distributed end users.  The proposed solution also provides protection against Denial of Service (DOS) attacks and an effective means for comprehensively monitoring usage of shared networking resources for security auditing and accounting purposes.  It can be used to manage connections between services/applications just as effectively as between end users and applications/services.
Mars Exploration Program
There is a defined need for long term earth based testing for the
development and deployment of two-phase flow systems in reduced-gravity,
including lunar gravity, conditions. The proposed study intends to
develop a scaling methodology to meet this requirement. A hierarchical
two-tiered scaling approach will be used to obtain scaling relations for
an entire system (integral scale), individual components of the system
and local phenomena. The final product of the Phase I effort will be a
rigorous scaling methodology along with important non-dimensional
numbers which can be used for developing earth-based systems to study
reduced-gravity two-phase systems and/or phenomena. The feasibility of
the approach will be demonstrated in Phase I by using data available in
literature that has been acquired in reduced-gravity as well as earth
based conditions. As part of Phase II a scaled experimental facility
will be designed and confirmatory experiments performed.
The proposed innovation is a static, cathode-fed, 2000 psi, balanced-pressure  Advanced Cathode Electrolyzer (ACE) based on  PEM electrolysis technology.  It electrolyzes water vapor supplied to the hydrogen-evolving electrode and eliminates the need to circulate hydrogen and water on the cathode side of the cell.

Innovations include the application of Infinity proprietary cell sealing technology to electrolysis to minimize high-pressure seals and the use of innovative passive current-control techniques to eliminate potential hydrogen gas in feedwater chambers. ACE produces hydrogen and oxygen that is free of  liquid water droplets without  using dynamic product gas/liquid water phase separation and/or other motorized equipment.
Astronauts suffer from poor dexterity of their hands due to the clumsy
spacesuit gloves during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) operations and
NASA has had a widely recognized but unmet need for novel human machine
interface technologies to facilitate data entry, communications, and
robots or intelligent systems control. In this proposed Phase I research,
WeVoice, Inc., plans to design, to begin the implementation of, and to
evaluate a speech human interface system. Loud noise and strong
reverberation inside spacesuits make automatic speech recognition (ASR)
for such an interface a very challenging problem. WeVoice proprietary
microphone array signal processing algorithms for speech acquisition
will be taken advantage of. Pros and cons of beamforming vs.
multichannel noise reduction for ASR will be assessed and
recommendations for the best front-end technique will be established.
Using two ASR programs (one based on HTK and the other in C/C++)
that were previously developed at WeVoice, Inc., a number of robust
methods (ranging from feature transformation and normalization to
environmental adaptation) will be validated. In addition, the
feasibility of using throat vibration microphones will be explored.
The Phase I research is also concerned with the compromise of
ASR accuracy and system complexity. A comparative study will be
undertaken between two system implementation structures,
namely wearable and distributed systems. This effort
will form a foundation for prototype design to be
conducted in Phase II.
This Phase I program proposes to synthesize novel nanoengineered ultra low out gassing elastomers and formulate high temperature capable flexible thermal control coatings as well as adhesives based on the proposed chemistries that are stable in various space environments. We have envisioned nano-engineered clusters and the innovative synthesis of the poly carborane-polysiloxanes, to surpass the performance of the current state of the art and provide the formulations that are space environment stable and can provide radiation hardening and enhanced life long survivability for science mission hardware in space environments. We propose to investigate: (1) Synthesis of high molecular weight ultra low outgassing poly-carborane-siloxanes that are stable and demonstrate for temperatures &amp;#8805; 500&amp;#61616;C. (2) Use of nano-engineered clusters with appropriate cross linker chemistries for tailoring secondary emission properties while providing protection from the irradiation using electron donor compounds. This can help us to employ electron on demand strategy to mitigate the secondary and sustained arcs. (3) Investigations in to: thermal stability thermally induced out-gassing studies, ESD behavior, and space environment simulation of elastomers for the typical GEO and LEO scenarios. These results from this study will guide us to select the promising formulations for the scale up and validation studies in Phase II. Lastly, we have proposed investigations in Boron Nitride Self Assembled Nano Cluster Mesh (BN-SANCs&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt;), which may totally change the way we formulate the space stable thermal control material systems for all earth orbits and planetary environment, along with its use in radiation shielding with use of 10BN-SANCs&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt;.
We propose to develop a monopropellant replacement for hydrazine using eutectic mixtures of ionic liquids (EILs).  These liquids offer us the ability to tailor fluid and chemical properties, are safe to handle and burn cleanly.  They also offer potentially higher performance as a monopropellant than hydrazine.
The current technology push in advanced aerospace flight systems is to replicate certain features seen in nature.  Morphing aircraft, particularly unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), have thus received considerable attention in this respect.  Aside from safety and aerodynamic efficiency, a single morphing UAV platform could possess the ability to carry out multiple mission objectives.  Nearly all forms of conformal morphing vehicles have since been investigated, including twist, camber, span, and sweep, where simulation results showed the potential performance benefits that could be achieved.  It was not until recently that material and actuator technology had reached a point of development that allowed viable prototypes to be fabricated and tested, however.  Having successfully researched, designed, and evaluated supporting technologies, Techno-Sciences, Inc. proposes to develop an innovative morphing control surface system that is capable of in-plane (span extension) reconfiguration, sized and scaled for a candidate subsonic fixed-wing UAV platform.  This morphing system will make use of high performance, light weight actuators to articulate the shape change, a morphing core to provide structural support, and a flexible skin as a viable aerodynamic surface layer.  All components are custom-made in-house from COTS elements and have patents pending.  The proposed research plan will work to design the morphing system to fit inside the volumetric constraints of the host vehicle with the goal of increasing efficiency and maneuverability.  The Phase I program will end with prototype evaluations of a morphing wing section under representative loading.  Successful demonstration here will lead to integration with the UAV and a flight test in Phase II.
One of the highest priorities in Environmental Control and Life Support
(ECLS) for longer missions is to recover and process wastewater to
provide clean water. There is an important need for a total organic
carbon (TOC) sensor to assure that the organic chemical content of water
environment of the astronaut crew habitat falls within acceptable
limits, and that the chemical life support system is functioning
properly. For longer missions, water monitoring requires sensitive, fast
response, online analytical sensors. Lynntech has successfully developed
a novel regenerative TOC analyzer for real-time monitoring of water
quality with an operational lifetime of 5 years with no maintenance
required and no need to supply reagents. In addition, the TOC analyzer
was flight-qualifiable and microgravity-compatible. This proposal
concerns further development of the TOC analyzer as a compact online
analytical sensor utilizing (i) electrochemical components producing two
key elements in TOC analysis, acid and oxidant;  (ii)
photolysis/photocatalysis for the complete oxidation of organic carbons
to carbon dioxide; and (iii) mesofluidic design. During the Phase I
effort, the feasibility of the proposed system and approach will be
demonstrated. A prototype will be designed, fabricated, tested, and
delivered to NASA during the Phase II project.
MARK Resources proposes to develop a method for combining a set of distributed FRPAs into a network that provides high GPS anti-jam/interference capability.  Like a CRPA, the number of jammers that the proposed system can suppress is one less than the number of elements.  In contrast to a CRPA, the individual elements of the proposed system need not be precisely located relative to one another.  The proposed system is compatible with any GPS antennas and receiver hardware, operates on the C/A code, and has a small processing load.
The suppression of the jammers and interference creates slightly delayed copies of the code from each satellite.  Because the delays are known and small, any degradation in the accuracy of derived antenna positions (relative to that without jamming and interference) should also be small, without any consequence on range safety.  The proposed program will quantify the accuracy achievable in individual position measurements, and the utility of combining the measured positions of multiple antennas for purposes of antenna pointing, docking maneuvers, and attitude determination.
In order to transition the proposed technology to NASA, the DoD, and commercial markets, we plan to team with The Boeing Company in Phase II and beyond.
This SBIR Phase-1 project will demonstrate the feasibility of using a novel coaxial counterflow solid-solid heat exchanger to recover heat energy from spent regolith at 1050&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C to pre-heat inlet regolith to 750&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C, either continuously, or in 20kg batches.  In granular solids the area of contacts between 'touching' grains is quite small.  Thus, solid-solid conduction often plays only a minor role in heat transfer through granular solids (i.e., 'effective' conduction), and when an interstitial gas is present, heat transfer occurs primarily via conduction through the gas.  If the granular solid is also flowing, then solids convection becomes a significant factor in overall heat transfer and effective 'conduction'.  Under vacuum conditions, and at temperatures above 700&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C, radiation will dominate most heat transfer processes; however, solids convection can also play a very significant secondary role.  Utilizing judicious placement of radiation baffles, and a novel counterflow configuration, the approach proposed in this SBIR can accomplish the desired heat transfer between spent and fresh regolith with only one moving mechanical part, by making effective use of both radiative heat transfer and solids convection.  Discrete-element simulations of regolith flow will be utilized to refine the concept.  Utilization of an existing ~1.4 cubic meter partial-vacuum facility at the University of Florida will facilitate construction of feasibility demonstration prototypes during Phase-1 and/or Phase-2.  The Phase-1 project will demonstrate the effectiveness of combining solids convection with radiative heat transfer to rapidly transfer heat from 1050C spent material to heat fresh regolith to 750C under vacuum conditions.
Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop a silicon whisker and carbon nanofiber composite anode for lithium ion batteries on a Phase I program.  This anode provides high capacity, high power, and improved cycle life at a competitive cost.  Silicon is low cost and has a theoretical capacity of 4200 mAh/g but it has a limited cycle life.  The nanocomposite design provides a synergistic improvement in reversible capacity and electrochemical cycling as a result of the unique silicon architecture and structural reinforcement provided by the nanofibers.  In the Phase I program, PSI will demonstrate a technology readiness level of 3 with an anode capacity of greater than 1000 mAh/g for over 100 cycles (100&#37; depth-of-discharge) using 2 mAh cells.  These performance goals will result in an overall battery energy density of greater than 300 Wh/kg.  In the Phase II program, PSI will increase cell size to 2500 mAh and optimize cell design to further improve cycle life.
Development of highly accurate tools to predict aerothermal environments
and associated effects on vehicles is needed to enable advanced
spacecraft for future NASA missions. At heating rates encountered during
hypersonic reentry, the surface is ablating and the interaction of
ablation products blowing into the boundary layer induces new
interactions (chemical reactions, radiation absorption) that have strong
impacts on surface heating rates and integrated heat loads. One
important effect of the reentry phenomenon is the interaction of the
ablated debris with the atmospheric gas molecules and vehicle surface.
Even though the ablated debris may include particles ranging from the
micron-scale down to the molecular scale, the available models of
ablation flows only incorporate ablated molecules and neglect molecular
clusters. In this project, we will develop computationally-efficient
methodology for coarse-grained yet accurate characterization of cluster
reactions with the aid of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and
parametric chemistry models. The resultant product will be a software
module which will provide the cluster reaction characterization for the
given interaction potential. This module will be compatible with
existent NASA codes applicable for continuous or rarefied gas regimes.
Another software model will perform MD simulations of energetic gas flow
surface interaction.
In practically all air-vehicle MDO studies to date involving configuration shape optimization, dynamic Aeroservoelastic constraints had to be left out. Flutter, gust stresses, vibration, and ride comfort cannot still be accounted for in MDO involving configuration shape variations. Development of the missing MDO building block is proposed here: A design-oriented ZEUS-DO CFD-based unsteady aerodynamic capability with 3D configuration shape sensitivities, integration with commercial structural finite element codes and with aeroelastic / aeroservoelastic stability / response behavior analysis and sensitivity analysis in the time and frequency domains for non-linear and linearized flows. Phase I will focus on shape parametrization and mesh, pressure, and generalized force sensitivities with respect to shape design variables of multi-lifting-surface configurations. Accuracy and numerical efficiency of the new capability will be demonstrated. In Phase II the ZEUS-DO development effort will proceed to complex 3D configurations including fuselages, nacelles, and external stores. Integration with structural Finite Element design-oriented codes and aeroelastic stability / response solvers, together with validation, assessment of numerical efficiency, and commercialization will be pursued. The new ZEUS-DO capability will provide rapid CFD-based unsteady aerodynamic modeling, analysis, sensitivity analysis, and approximation for re-analysis and for optimization with industry standard accuracy and complexity of configurations modeled.
Radioisotope Electric Propulsion (REP) offers the prospect for a variety of new science missions by enabling use of Hall Effect propulsion in the outer solar system, particularly at distances beyond the limits of practical solar photovoltaic power.  Radioisotope Power System (RPS) technology under development by the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) provides high system-specific power and lifetime needed for REP applications.  The low power (0.5 to 1.0 kW) and multiyear (30,000 hour) lifetime HET systems needed for these missions will be addressed in the proposed multi-phase effort.  The project leverages a long life 600 W Hall thruster currently under development by Busek as part of the 2007 Innovative Partnership Program based of an innovative life-extending technology developed under SMD In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) project by the NASA Glenn Research Center.

In Phase I we will evaluate system level needs to meet REP mission requirements.  The life time of the existing cathode will be determined by a combination of experimental and numerical methods.  A methodology and algorithms for sensing and suppressing thruster discharge current oscillations will be incorporated into the thruster control system.  An integrated system demonstration that includes the thruster life extension technology will be performed.
The innovation proposed here is the Composable Mission Framework (CMF)?a model-based software framework that shall enable seamless continuity of mission design and simulation from early stage advanced studies to detailed mission design and development. 

The uniqueness of our approach lies in using an open standard for systems modeling and design (SysML) to wrap mission models including the mission development process thus providing a coherent map of mission knowledge. InterCAX's Composable Object technology provides the backend wrapping, model management, and simulation orchestration capabilities to the visual SysML-based mission model at the front end.

The Composable Object technology has already demonstrated the ability to power SysML-based models with math simulation capabilities for early design stages. ParaMagic is a commercially available tool being used by early adopters of SysML at JPL. The Composable Object technology has also demonstrated the ability to associate detailed design and simulation models such as those created in CAD and FEA tools. However, a big gap exists in the SysML-based world for conceptual system design and the detailed system design-based world. If the detailed system design and simulation models could be wrapped as SysML objects and the simulations and workflows orchestrated by the Composable Object technology, it will cover the entire gamut of complex system modeling and analysis world from trade studies and optimization to project scheduling.

The key objective of Phase 1 is to wrap both conceptual and detailed system design and simulation models as SysML objects which has not been done before, and to demonstrate continuity of mission concepts from simple to detailed implementation.
The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of
producing an integrated starting model for gas turbine engines using a
new physics-based combustion dynamics model that accurately simulates
flow interactions among the compressor, combustor, and turbine.
Replacing conventionally costly guess-and-test techniques, this new
process for starting system analysis, design, and optimization promises
a new generation of predictive capability that will allow system
engineers to design engines with higher fidelity and eliminate the need
for multiple iterations and testing cycles found in current industry
practice. EcoPro Technologies' physics-based starting model is built
from an innovative solution algorithm which solves the 1-D
speed-dependent conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy for
each starting system component. From this integrated algorithmic model,
we will be able to achieve predictive capabilities for the most vital
engine dynamics, including starting/transient instabilities of combustor
flameout, compressor surge and over-temperature shutdowns.  Our
integrated design tool allows for complex starting simulations, thus
enabling successful engine design and modeling with rapid determination
of sensitivities with respect to all engine design variables and
constraints.  This empowers engineers to choose optimized design
directions without violating constraints and make appropriate design
changes to engines prior to costly manufacturing and testing.
This Phase 1 proposal addresses the 2008 NASA SBIR Research Topic S6.04 Data Management - Storage, Mining and Visualization (GSFC).  The subtopic we address is Distributed Data Management and Access: Dynamically configurable high speed access to data distributed and shared over wide area high speed network environments.  We propose a novel offload engine NIC that scales at n x 10Gbps increments through 100Gbps full-duplex.  Globus GridFTP is the de facto standard in projects requiring secure, robust, high-speed bulk data transport.  Splintered TCP and UDP is recognized by NASA to be a new offload technology developed by our group in previous research.  We derive novel extension mechanisms which will combine these technologies for use by GridFTP, bandwidth management resources, and host cpu acceleration.  The result will be wire-rate encrypted GridFTP data transfer through offload for splintering, encryption, and compression.  Successful completion of this Phase 1 project will prove feasibility of our innovation through hardware architectural models, system on chip core IP, ultra high-speed logic simulations, and GridFTP module specifications.
In recent years, there has been a tendency to use ever-higher gas turbine inlet temperatures, resulting in ever-higher heat loads necessitating efficient cooling. Internal cooling designs have evolved from the use of simple curved ducts in early designs to very complex geometries. Similar complexities govern film cooling as well, leading to complex fluid-structure interactions and turbulence physics. These complexities make it impossible to obtain optimal cooling designs by intuition alone. 
	In this project we propose to develop optimization software for the design and optimization of turbine blade cooling strategies. The objectives of Phase I are to (i) demonstrate the feasibility of accurate single-point physical modeling of internal and film cooling geometries using our CFD solver TETHYS, (ii) demonstrate the feasibility of sensitivity computation and uncertainty quantification using  TETHYS, (iii) apply these sensitivity and uncertainty quantification approaches to turbine blade cooling and to demonstrate their advantage over single-point CFD simulations, and (iv) develop and demonstrate multivariate optimization of a chosen turbine blade cooling problem. 
	Phase II will extend our methodology to geometry optimization, the improvement of physical models and numerical schemes, parallel processing on shared and distributed memory platforms and multicore architectures, as well as application to more complex optimization problems.
This Phase-I SBIR proposal proposes for the first time ever, the use of a new class of materials - Gallium Nitride-on-diamond - in the manufacture of very high power, high-temperature, Ka-band solid-state MMICs. In this particular Phase-I, the first ever 34-38GHz GaN-on-Diamond FETs will be demonstrated, exhibiting a record 5-10 W/mm at record efficiency and temperature levels.  Arrays of these FETs will be used to form 10KWatt Power Amplifiers (PA) MMICs in Phase-II.  Polycrystalline free standing CVD diamond ? nature's most efficient thermal conductor ? enables nearly perfect heat extraction from a "hot" device (Thermal conductivities of GaAs, Si, and SiC are 35W/m/K, 150W/m/K and 390W/m/K respectively; diamond ranges from 1200-2000 W/m/K depending on quality). In the proposed scheme, the device's active epitaxial layers are removed from their original host substrate and transferred to a specially treated low-cost CVD diamond substrate using a proprietary low-cost manufacturable scheme.  The active junction rests just 20-nm from diamond.  The semiconductor-on-diamond technology proposed here may be applied to GaAs, SiC, SiGe, etc. at up to 8" in wafer diameter.
Makel Engineering, Inc. (MEI) and the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) propose to develop and demonstrate a microchannel methanation reactor based on nanofabricated catalysts.  Sustainable/affordable exploration of space exploration will require minimization of re-supply from Earth by implementation of In-Situ Resources Utilization (ISRU) strategies.  For exploration of the Moon, one of the most significant resources is the lunar regolith, which is a complex mix of minerals with large oxygen content in their composition.  Oxygen finds its main uses as a propellant, and for life support systems.  There are currently many technologies being developed addressing the production of oxygen from lunar regolith, including carbothermal processes.  The key to sustainability is to make sure any consumables carried from Earth are recycled to the maximum extent possible, minimizing the need of re-supply.  In the case of carbothermal based oxygen production, carbon oxides must be converted to methane for reintroduction in the carbothermal system.  This proposed program specifically addresses topic X3.02 Oxygen Production from Lunar Regolith, by developing a methanation system that will efficiently convert mixed carbon oxides and hydrogen to methane and water.
Long burst error mitigation is an enabling technology for the use of Ka band for high rate commercial and government users.  Multiple NASA, government, and commercial programs plan to use the Ka-band due to its large capacity and flexible scheduling relative to other bands such as S, X, and Ku.  Current digital communications systems have become increasingly adept at managing degraded channel conditions using robust FEC codes and strategies such as adaptive or variable coding and modulation (ACM/VCM).  These strategies do not adequately address long burst error conditions on the order of 100,000 symbols.  Existing FEC codes of up to 16,000 symbols are inadequate.  New methods to address this fast fade or burst error condition must be considered. In phase 1, we identify solutions to address long burst errors within the power and size constraints of a satellite application.  In Phase 2, we modify an existing platform to demonstrate performance under real-world conditions and study the interaction of these mitigation methods with higher layer protocols.
Access to space for Small Satellites is enabled by the use of excess launch capacity on  existing launch vehicles.  A range of sizes, form factors and masses need to be accommodated. An integration process that minimizes programmatic/technical risk to the primary, allows "late flow" integration and predictable cost/schedule for the secondary enables regular and cost-effective access. The integration process proceeds smoothly when the right adapters accommodates the secondary in a seamless way.  Design_Net has developed and flown a RideShare Adapter (RSA) for FALCON class vehicles that meets these requirements. We are currently working with United Launch Alliance (ULA) for a broader class of rideshare accommodations, upgrades to capability of the ESPA and development of interfaces that allow late access.  Based on this experience Design_Net will continue, via this SBIR, to develop appropriate adapters for other types of secondary payloads on other launch vehicles.  Phase 1 will see preliminary design of another adapter for intermediate size small sats (larger than "cubesats" but smaller than ESPA) for a selected launch vehicle.  During Phase 2 we will develop and qualify the selected adapter design to TRL 8.
Components of lunar habitat and crew modules in the lunar vehicle are constantly exposed to hazardous space conditions, such as ionizing radiation, electromagnetic interference, orbital debris, and solar flares. The safe functioning of crew and instruments and survivability require effective radiation protection. There is also the desire to reduce the weight of parts in Space missions. In Phase I, Materials Modification Inc. developed a series of novel multifunctional composites using a proprietary high-hydrogen epoxy incorporating boron and carbon fiber layers with enhanced radiation shielding, structural, thermal and electrical properties compared with high density polyethylene (HDPE). Radiation shielding of B/C composites against high-energy neutrons were measured. The boron composites had approximately the same shielding effectiveness as HDPE and aluminum for the energetic neutrons. This is remarkable since the multifunctional properties of these hybrid boron/carbon fiber composites offer so much more than the overall properties of HDPE or Al, especially in the area of lightweight structural applications for aerospace. In Phase II, a series of composite laminates with a range of &#37;B will be fabricated using unidirectional boron fiber and unidirectional carbon fiber in a non-autoclave process.  Mechanical properties of the most promising composite compositions, including lamina and laminate properties at cryo temperature, RT, and elevated temperature will be determined. Radiation shielding studies with energetic charged particles such as, protons, heavy ions, and neutrons that would simulate conditions encountered in space will be performed. By the end of the Phase II, we would have manufactured and tested several compositions that provide optimum radiation shielding. We plan to address specific NASA mission requirements with our partners Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin who have expressed great interest in the results of the Phase I effort.
The exploration of space requires that new technologies be developed for long-term cryogenic propellant storage applications in-space, on the lunar surface, and on the Earth.  The Altair (Lunar Lander) ascent stage requires LO2 and LCH4 storage durations of up to 14 days in LEO and up to an additional 210 days on the lunar surface.  Long term storage (224 days) of LO2 cryogenic propellant on the lunar surface is required to support space power systems, spaceports, spacesuits, lunar habitation systems, robotics, and in situ propellant systems.  Long term storage of LO2/ LH2/ LCH4 cryogenic propellants on the surface of the Earth with minimal propellant loss is required to support launch site ground operations.  This SBIR Phase II proposal focuses on improving the strength of aerogels which are the best cryogenic insulation materials known and proposes to develop non-compacting aerogel insulation that could be used to insulate cryotanks on launch vehicles and Earth, and in-space cryogenic fuel storage tanks.  During the Phase II effort, we will optimize and scale-up preparation of the crosslinked hybrid aerogels developed during the Phase I effort.  The best aerogels will be thoroughly characterized and tested in a relevant environment to attain a TRL of 5.
Intelligent Automation, Inc. (IAI) along with collaborators at the University of Iowa and Old Dominion University (ODU) developed an advanced closed-loop Adaptive Task Management System (ATMS). The ATMS is designed to accurately monitor Operator Functional State (OFS) during flight in real time based on an individualized OFS assessment model. The individualized OFS assessment model is trained and individualized using different sources of training input (physiological signals, system dynamics measurements, etc.) and training output derived from the dynamic cognitive workload reference analysis. If the OFS of an individual decreases below a certain threshold, we will apply a task performance augmentation strategy to even-out workload and maintain the operator in an optimum cognitive workload level. As a result, the operator can be continuously engaged and able to respond quickly and appropriately to unusual situations.
This Phase 1 SBIR proposal describes development of a conceptual design for a Laser Femto-Tesla Magnetic Gradiometer (LFMG). The LFMG innovations include the ability to make both extremely high-resolution scalar field measurements (10 fT/rtHz) as well as stable and accurate scalar gradiometer measurements. The high stability of the gradiometer measurements makes possible exploratory investigations of temporal variations and gradients in the magnetic field at the Earth's surface due to crustal field changes, core changes, ELF and ULF magnetospheric disturbances, and surface electromagnetic effects associated with earthquakes and volcanic activity. LFMG instruments can be deployed as station magnetometers in gradiometer arrays to monitor geopotential gradient variations over ranges from meters to kilometers. Recently, an extremely high-resolution scalar measurement technique achieving 39 pT/rtHz sensitivity was demonstrated under Navy sponsorship. High-accuracy data linking for vector gradient measurement was demonstrated under the ONR 3MDS Program. The LFMG combines these key innovations to develop an instrument for exploratory research in geomagnetism. The Phase 1 effort will result in an LFMG conceptual design and establish the feasibility of designing and fabricating a brass-board in Phase 2. A plan for the LFMG brass-board installation, calibration, and performance evaluation will be developed for demonstration in Phase 2. The TRL is expected to be 4 at the end of the Phase 1 contract.
Advanced high-temperature sensor technology and bonding methods are of
great interests in designing and developing advanced future aircraft.
Current state-of-the-art high temperature strain sensors are made of
wires or thin film deposited by PVD on shims and then welded or glued
onto strainable member, which is suffering the disadvantages such as
creep, relaxation hysteresis and a limited range of operational
temperatures. In this proposal, Boston Applied Technologies Incorporated
(BATi) proposes to develop a novel high temperature strain gauge system
through direct deposition technique. The strain gauge material features
lower temperature coefficient, high structural stability and resistance
to oxidation at high temperature. A temperature compensation circuit is
employed in this design to minimize the effect of temperature change.
Moreover, the insulating coating and protective coating are deposited by
the same direct deposition technique to secure the accurate strain
measurements on various hot structures, and making the whole system in a
high efficient and low cost manner.
Busek proposes to develop a radio-frequency discharge, gridded micro ion engine that produces 5N level of thrust precisely adjustable over a wide dynamic thrust range. Rf discharge was chosen to eliminate the life-limiting internal cathode of a dc discharge ion engine. Thrust actuation on the order of 0.035N resolution is proposed with a closed-loop control system. This controlling scheme can be achieved by varying only one parameter: the rf power with a feedback from the beam current. Uniquely, the rf ion engine can also produce enough thrust for coarse constellation corrections or reconfigurations. Argon will be the base-lined propellant to ease concerns of propellant condensing on optics or other cryogenic surfaces. This feature can be critical for close formation flying as micro-thrusters such as field emission electric propulsion (FEEP) and colloids could potentially coat neighboring spacecraft. The proposed rf ion engine, combined with Busek's space-qualified carbon nanotube field emission cathode (developed for the ST7 DRS mission) as a neutralizer, will create a new opportunity in precise thrust actuation. Further implementation of a simple propellant feed system and power electronics will create a compact, low power, high performance spacecraft propulsion system.
This topic is designed by NASA lead agency Ames Research Center to
address technologies that would enable a safer and more reliable space
transportation capability.  NASA is seeking innovative technologies
including sensors and communication which expedite launch range
clearance.  Needed is equipment that will provide real time situation
awareness for safe range operation from processing to launch and
recovery.  Proposed herein is a very small, low cost, high resolution,
dual-mode lightweight sensor for remote detection, recognition, and
identification of persons and objects that have intruded into areas of
the identified range.  The dual-mode sensor combines high resolution
millimeter radar with high resolution electro-optical sensor.  The
proposed sensor is low cost and compact, meeting size, weight, power,
and stability requirements for a variety of platforms, including
unmanned vehicles, buoys, and high altitude air ships.
Thermacore Inc. proposes an innovative titanium heat pipe thermal plane for passive thermal control of individual cells within a fuel cell stack. The proposed technology eliminates actively pumped liquid coolant loops, which improves system efficiency, reliability, safety, simplicity, life cycle as well as saves weight and volume.  Although the main purpose for this technology is thermal management of fuel cells for space applications, the same technology can be applied for electronics cooling: heat spreaders and heat sinks, where thin design is required.  The proposed titanium heat pipe thermal plane will be reliable passive heat transfer device with the following parameters:
bulk density: 			under 3 grams per cubic centimeter,
thickness:			less than 0.050 inches,
effective thermal conductivity:	in excess of 2,000 W/(m K),
electrical resistivity:		less than 0.2 ohms-cm,
operation against gravity:	4 inches
Future hypersonic vehicles will utilize thermal protection system (TPS) designs and propulsion system components that are capable of experiencing high temperatures within oxidative environments during their operation.  These TPS and propulsion system components will include high temperature ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), such as C/SiC and SiC/SiC.  Both hot structure control surfaces and hot wall propulsion system components are two examples of CMCs for which prototype parts have thus far been fabricated and subjected to mechanical performance and/or durability testing.  

Mechanical and thermal performance of these CMC components will benefit from low part count, integrally fabricated designs.  In integrally fabricated designs, the reinforcement preforms have included 3D woven construction.  The advantages of these designs include the elimination of the need for post-fabrication mechanical attachment as well as the higher interlaminar properties offered by the through thickness paths of the fibers within the 3D preform architectures. 

The specific innovations MR&amp;D is proposing in this Phase I SBIR program are the following: 1)Extend the capabilities of an existing MR&amp;D 3D preform design code to include material property calculations; 2)Automatically link the MR&amp;D 3D preform design code to provide 3D solid model images of the 3D preform designs using the TexGen  imaging freeware code, and  3)Calibrate the completed code specifically for 3D CMC materials through fabrication, imaging and mechanical property measurements.
Modern aircraft increasingly rely on composite components, due to their excellent material properties.  However, fastening/joining and design methodologies in current use are artifacts of metallic aircraft component use and are not yet optimized for use with composites.  Furthermore, limitations in our current ability to observe manufacturing quality and in-service damage evolution of composite structures may prevent designers from realizing their full potential. Current NDE practices are incapable of overcoming these limitations. Thus, a new framework and methodology is needed for high resolution imaging and tracking of manufacturing quality and damage evolution.

The goal of this program is to enable assessment of the matrix, fiber, and bonding conditions for composites using a combination of detailed physics based models, high resolution imaging, and controlled loading sources to isolate the composite characteristic of interest.  In Phase I we will focus on magnetic field sensing (i.e., eddy-current) methods that can be combined with structural analysis to enhance the diagnostic capabilities of these NDE methods.  JENTEK and MR&amp;D are well-positioned to deliver this methodology in the form of commercial software and NDE equipment.  We will also work with a major aircraft OEM to maintain our focus on practical solutions to high priority needs.
In rotorcraft flight dynamics, optimized warping camber/twist change is a potentially enabling technology for improved overall rotorcraft performance. Recent research efforts have led to the application of active materials for rotorcraft blade actuation to dynamically change the blade camber/twist. However, full-scale aircraft application of these systems in demanding rotor blade environments gets significantly degraded by dynamic operational factors including friction, free play, and, aerodynamic and inertial loads. In a radical departure from current techniques, MTC proposes an innovative three-dimensional concept wherein typically closed section blade is cut open to create a torsionally compliant mechanism that acts as its own amplification device; blade deformation is dynamically driven by out-of-plane warping. During Phase I, this concept will be analyzed under dynamic operational factors. Required analytical and finite element tools will be developed within the framework of multibody dynamics that enable comprehensive aeroelastic evaluation of the concept. Feasibility of the concept for (i) swashplateless rotor system and (ii) higher harmonic control will be investigated and first-order actuator and blade cross-sectional design requirements will be established. Applications include both rotorcraft and fixed wing aircraft in the government and commercial sectors.
Energy-efficient cryogenic insulation is an imperative requirement for
the future of space travel.  In order to advance the space program, NASA
must find cost effective solutions to store and disperse propellants at
cryogenic temperatures.  The true cost for an insulation material
depends upon the energy tradeoff between thermal efficiency and
lifecycle maintenance for an insulation system.  Durability is a
critical factor for insulation systems because performance can degrade
over time if appropriate attention is not given to environmental
exposure and thermal cycling.  Aspen Aerogels proposes to develop a cost
effective, low density, aerogel insulation material that is liquid
oxygen compatible for terrestrial LOX and LH2 pipes and feed lines
applications.  Besides its exceptional thermal insulation performance,
these novel aerogels are super-hydrophobic and durable, affording a
superior protective layer for the pipelines against environmental
corrosion.  During the Phase II Program, Aspen will further optimize the
material and scale-up to production levels with a focus towards
long-term applicability to replace conventional cryogenic insulation
material in the pipelines and expand its use in other government and
commercial applications.  This novel insulation will reduce cryogenic
storage costs by increasing the life expectancy of the system while
decreasing the cost of installation and lifecycle maintenance.
The innovation proposed here is a digital array gas radiometer (DAGR), a
new design for a gas filter correlation radiometer (GFCR) to accurately
measure and monitor CO2, CO, CH4, N2O and other key trace gases in the
boundary layer from space, aircraft or ground-based platforms. GFCR is a
well-known and proven technology for trace gas detection and monitoring.
However, its effectiveness in downlooking applications has been limited,
primarily because variations in surface albedo degrade the performance.
Our DAGR approach builds on traditional GFCR concepts and combines
several new key elements: two-dimensional detector arrays, pupil imaging
(imaging the aperture), and a novel calibration approach.  With these
enhancements and appropriate signal processing, the DAGR design
overcomes the historical limitations of GFCR in downlooking
applications.  In addition, this design significantly boosts the
sensitivity and expands the dynamic range traditionally available to
these sensors.  Finally, the innovation provides a calibration technique
that nearly eliminates errors due to detector drift effects.  The result
will be a compact, static, robust system that can accurately measure
important boundary layer species from a variety of platforms.
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a compact, rugged, rapidly and widely tunable laser based on a quantum cascade diode laser at mid-infrared wavelengths.  The key innovation in this effort is the use of an engineered electro-optic tuning element in an external cavity laser to provide control of the laser wavelength through an applied voltage.  AdvR has previously demonstrated the feasibility of large tuning range matching that of mechanically tuned lasers, yet also offering low cost, smaller size, robustness, portability, and tuning speed that is faster by six orders of magnitude.  The Phase I effort will investigate adapting the external cavity tuning techniques to quantum cascade lasers to generate tunable wavelengths for mid-infrared spectroscopy.
Future instruments and platforms for NASA space applications will require increasingly sophisticated thermal control technology, and cryogenic applications will become increasingly more common. For example, the Single Aperture Far-IR (SAFIR) telescope and other cryogenic telescope missions must provide distributed cooling and multiple heat lift. Also, the management of cryogenic propellants requires distributed cooling through integrated heat exchangers for zero boil-off, densification and cooling of structural members. To address these requirements, we propose to develop a lightweight, continuous-flow cooling loop that can provide cooling and temperature control to multiple, distributed loads. This approach allows relatively simple mechanical and electrical integration and maintains high refrigeration system efficiency. The basis of the loop is a rectifying interface that converts the oscillating pressure that characterizes the operation of a regenerative cryocooler into a quasi-steady pressure difference that can be used to drive a continuous flow of cold gas over distances of several meters. The rectifying interface has the potential secondary benefit of rapid and therefore precise load temperature regulation of multiple sensors or structures using actively controlled throttle valves to regulate the local gas flow.
Execution and monitoring of command plans are central for spacecraft
operations. Diverse execution engines and languages exist to define such
command plans. Language dependent development tools have been created
for such languages. However, there is not a reusable framework and code
base that can be used to create such automation tools even thought there
are many commonalties in the functionality and form of such tools. As a
consequence, existing automation tools cannot be easily adapted across
missions or languages. We proposed the development of an authoring and
debugging framework for the definition of spacecraft operation plans.
The framework provides a reusable code base that facilitates the
creation of authoring and debugging tools tailored to a particular
language and particular user type. Traditional text based authoring will
be complemented with graphical representations of plans that provide
friendly abstractions of a language's low level execution details.
Traditional in-line debugging techniques will be enhanced with
context-based visual debugging techniques suitable to understand the
rationale of why a plan or rule has been applied and the interactions
between different plans running in parallel.  The Phase I prototype will
illustrate the utility of the proposed framework by developing editors
and debuggers for PLEXIL and SCL.
An important consideration of long duration space flight operations is interpersonal dynamics. The crew will be working very closely for extended periods of time and the distance between the spacecraft and earth-bound flight surgeons will prevent real-time communication. Breakdown of morale or the psychology of crew may result in increased stress, conflict, erratic behaviors, reduced cohesion, and perhaps even rebellion. Flight surgeons have stated the need for unobtrusive monitoring to help detect if crews are having difficulties with coping with long duration spaceflight environments.
NASA has tens of thousands of procedures for the space shuttle and ISS, and the new Constellation vehicles will also have thousands of procedures. These procedures, and the training in performing them, represent the models and data necessary to build a behavioral assessment tool. Currently procedures are authored in Word. Under this paradigm, developing behavioral models of crew procedure performance would require re-coding all procedures by hand. However, the Constellation program is planning to use an XML representation of procedures, which facilitates automatic translation. Nominal performance metrics can determined during training and then compared during the actual missions. Deviations between the nominal and current performance can be flagged for additional attention. Since crew members can perform upwards of hundreds of procedures a week, there will be substantial data with which to assess crew behavioral performance
The long-term goal of this project is to develop a set of applied technologies that can monitor crew health and cohesiveness in an unobtrusive manner and identify potential abnormalities for feedback to astronauts and flight surgeons for further investigation. The goal of the Phase I will be to develop a set of recommendations regarding technologies and techniques to accomplish the objectives and a conceptual design of a system that implement the recommendations
Studying the isotopic composition of materials is an established method
to obtain detailed insight into formation and evolution processes in our
Universe.  Water may play a dominant role in unraveling these processes.
Isotope hydrology applied in situ on the Moon and other planets might
develop into the key method to understand the history of our Solar
system.  The Moon provides unique opportunities to study trapped
volatile compounds, like water, due to the special conditions at its
poles.  These conditions enable the long term storage of volatiles and
preservation of their isotopic composition.  A compact, precise isotope
hygrometer operated on the Moon will be an invaluable tool if abundant
water sources are found on the Moon in upcoming missions.  This project
seeks to develop a highly sensitive, portable water isotope ratiometer
for precisely measuring water samples in situ on the Moon.  The optical
sensors developed on this project will have unique features including
fast response, high precision and strong species selectivity.  Design
criteria such as a small footprint, low weight, low power consumption
and continuous sensor health monitoring will be implemented to optimize
the sensors for application to the Moon.  An absorption approach using
modulation techniques will be implemented on a lunar mission suitable platform.
NASA's plans for a lunar habitation outpost call out for process technologies to separate hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide gases from regolith product gas streams. A low-pressure drop separation unit is needed to remove these sulfur compounds from regolith process streams that is compact and lightweight. To this end, Reactive Innovations, LLC proposes to develop an electrochemical reactive-separation unit to selectively bind and remove the sulfur compounds into a separated stream of sulfur-based compounds. During the Phase I program, we will develop and demonstrate an electrochemical reactive-separation platform that binds sulfur compounds via a charge transfer process to a redox carrier that is subsequently transported across a membrane separator releasing the sulfur components. In this effort, we will demonstrate the redox carrier for binding and releasing sulfur components, develop and assess electrodes that are corrosion resistant to the sulfur compounds, and culminate with a prototype reactive-separator unit design and evaluation for removing sulfur components from regolith streams. By the end of the Phase I effort, this lunar regolith reactive-separator unit will be at a Technology Readiness Level of 3 with a Phase II program delivering an operational reactive-separator at a TRL of 4-5.
The key innovation in this effort is the development of algorithms and a
framework for automated Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) using a
cooperative Bayesian game framework. Given an initial sector plan, we
propose an approach for dynamic re-sectorization in which boundaries can
be redefined in response to changing demand, weather or other user
preferences. Advantages of this approach are that it models the human
coordination process, provides a rich domain independent framework for
modeling collaboration and a theoretical framework to analyze issues
related to convergence, decision-making complexity and stability. The
communicative aspects of the game-framework also make it well suited for
an agent-based implementation. In this agent-based implementation, each
agent represents a player (Sector ATC/TMC) in the air traffic domain.
Sector ATC's collaborate with neighboring Sector ATC's within the
current sector, and across center boundaries to &amp;quot;collapse&amp;quot;,
&amp;quot;split&amp;quot; or borrow airspace to optimize traffic flow. The
players engage in an &amp;quot;automated collaborative negotiation
search&amp;quot; with each other to determine sector geometries  that will
optimize the overall airspace efficiency. We propose to implement DAC
algorithms in Cybele's Decision Support System Infrastructure and
demonstrate feasibility using NASA's ACES software.
High-performance polarimetric and nonpolarimetric sensing is crucial to upcoming NASA missions, including ACE and CLARREO and the multi-agency VIIRS NPP project. The objective of the proposed project is to use plasmonic/photonic hybrid crystals to develop multiwavelength polarimetric focal plane arrays (FPAs) that exceed performance requirements for ACE and CLARREO, while reducing costs through component integration. Plasmonic/photonic hybrid crystal films are an enabling technology and can be used to develop high spectral resolution, low crosstalk components for other NASA missions, such as GEO-CAPE, as well as transparent metal contacts for high-efficiency sensors and solar cells, Additionally, hybrid crystals eliminate several problems, such as diffraction, light scattering, moving parts, and the need to dice/bond components. This project will use recent discoveries in  Plasmonic and Photonic Crystals research that allow for polarimetric control of the flow and super focusing/beaming of light, concepts that have been analytically and experimentally verified. The polarimetric control of the flow of light allows the development of devices that separate polarization components of an incident beam and detect the separate components in the same or different pixels of a FPA. The hybrid crystals can play several roles, including polarization splitter/filters, antireflection coatings, superfocusing elements and electrical contacts.
We propose to implement novel physics mining algorithms with analytical capabilities to derive diagnostic and prognostic numerical models from multi-source observational data.  These techniques yield higher-resolution measures than ever before of environmental parameters by fusing synoptic imagery and time-series measurements. These techniques are general and relevant to observational data, including raster, vector and scalar, and can be applied in all earth and environmental science domains.  Because they can be highly automated and are parallel, they scale to large spatial domains and are well-suited to change and gap detection.  This makes it possible to analyze spatial and temporal gaps in information and facilitates within-mission re-planning to optimize the allocation of observational resources.
As a demonstration project, we have selected a standard climatological metric and will show that we can generate an analogue of this metric by using our method. In particular, we will use the MineTool algorithms to derive an analogue for Palmer's Drought Severity Index.  We will compute this index for a region of the western United States using a set of archival terrestrial products (e.g., Landsat, AVHRR, Aqua/Terra) and a set of weather and climate products (e.g., NOAA satellites, federal, state, local hydrological time-series).   Then, using the same dataset, we will produce a physics-based model from the MineTool analysis of the data.
Our goal is to develop a social networking site with novel, specially designed feature sets to enable simultaneous remote collaboration and sharing of large data sets among scientists.  This site, called Sci-Share, will include not only the standard features found on popular consumer oriented social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace but also a number of powerful tools  to extend its functionality to a science collaboration site.
This proposal enables development a miniature, low power consumption,
fused deep UV Raman and native fluorescence (DUV-RF) stand-off sensor.
The proposed fused instrument has the ability to measure the spatial
distribution of chemical species containing C, N, H, O, S, Cl, and/or
water, ice, and hydrated minerals on a 1-5 mm spatial scale enabled by a
novel set of wide aperture, high sensitivity ultraminiature deep UV
Raman spectrometers.  Raman spectroscopy is a non-contact,
non-destructive, method of identifying unknown materials without the
need for sample acquisition and processing. This technique is ideal for
in situ exploration from extraterrestrial Rovers or landers. There are
three main advantages of deep UV Raman methods over near-UV, visible or
near-IR counterparts.  1) Rayleigh-law: signal enhancement of 20x at
248nm compared to excitation at 532nm. 2) Resonance: much higher signal
enhancements; for water 5 times greater than Rayleigh-law enhancement
alone, for a combined effect over 120x between 248 nm and 532 nm.  3)
With excitation below 250nm, Raman scattering bands occur in a
fluorescence-free region of the spectrum.  At longer excitation
wavelengths fluorescence from target or surrounding materials overwhelm
Raman emissions and require gating with high power lasers with narrow
pulse widths leading to sample alteration/damage. When deep UV Raman is
combined with native fluorescence, it becomes possible to characterize
mineral alterations and detect trapped chemicals with exquisite
sensitivity and differentiability.  The New Frontiers has placed a South
pole-Aitken Basin sample return as a future mission scenario. Using the
enhanced detection capabilities of DUV-RF, water, ice and chemical
species can be detected and mapped to provide an understanding of their
distribution in the lunar regolith.
There is a persistent pressure upon NASA crew members to achieve very high productivity during their missions. Significant challenges exist to maintaining manageable workload while the crew is performing their many and varied tasks allotted for each day while ensuring the crew maintain situation awareness. NASA crew members deal with a large amount of very high technology equipment and perform experiments and procedures that can be extremely long and complex.
The solution will require the development of automated management technologies that will operate synergistically with the crew, automating tasks of varying complexity in a dynamic, flexible manner with representations of automation state that the crew is familiar and comfortable with. In this proposal, Cybernet proposes to leverage crew members' capabilities with the design of a distributed Procedure Execution and Projection (PEP) system that focuses on supporting automation of complex procedures while ensuring crew situational awareness and anticipating future problems.
Our team will leverage the recent work on the Procedure Representation Language (PRL) and the flexible, distributed and hierarchical capabilities of holonic systems. PRL is an XML encoding of the vehicle/habitat procedures in a form that both crew and automation can use, and the PEP systems' intelligent holonic modules will support crew with a range of capabilities, including automation of procedures, projection of procedures to look for problems and determine courses of action to prevent or mitigate the problems, and make sure that the crew maintain situational awareness of the procedural state.
The objectives of the Phase I project are to establish critical requirements for NASA vehicle and habitat crew automation and to design and implement a prototype of the PEP system to demonstrate approach viability.
Qualtech Systems Inc. (QSI) proposes to develop a well defined process for integration of distributed diagnostic schemes. The process includes a set of guidelines to build component diagnostic models/schemes that will undergo integration and an automated/semi-automated tool that will assess the diagnostic efficacy of the integrated scheme so as to suggest modification/redesign of the component diagnostic schemes. Parametric and functional dependencies will be the prime criteria in devising the integration process, while measures of diagnosability (e.g., ambiguity, fault masking, etc) will determine the modification/redesign directives.
Busek proposes to develop light metal Hall Effect thrusters that will help reduce the travel time, mass, and cost of SMD spacecraft.  Busek has identified three attractive light metal propellants:  magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), and a eutectic (Mg/Zn).  These metals are plentiful and practical alternatives to Xe and Kr, which are expensive and scarce, and Bi, which is overly condensable and requires a high voltage power processing unit (PPU) to reach velocities of interest.  Because Mg and Zn are lightweight, specific impulse &gt; 3000 s will be available with a near term, low voltage PPU, decreasing propellant mass and program and hardware costs.  Both metals have favorable ionization properties, implying high efficiencies are possible.  Mg can also be combusted with water in a rocket, enabling a multi-mode propulsion system where the Hall thruster and rocket share propellant.  The availability of a high thrust impulsive mode can greatly decrease delta V and trip times for SMD spacecraft.

These light metals are non-toxic and solid at room temperature.  They can be stored and fed to a thruster as a wire.  For Zn and Mg/Zn, liquid distribution is also feasible.  Life testing will be low cost because the light metals are inexpensive and self pumping; they will condense on the vacuum chamber wall.  Vapor pressure curves suggest minimal spacecraft interactions.
  
In-situ propellant production is also possible.  Mg, for example, can be extracted from Martian regolith using solar energy.

The key innovation in this proposal is the use of light metals to fuel a Hall thruster.  In Phase I, Busek will design and demonstrate a wire based light metal feed system that will be integrated with an existing 1-2 kW bismuth vapor Hall Effect thruster.  Busek will then demonstrate a Mg, Zn, or Mg/Zn discharge and measure its operating parameters. Finally, Busek will lay out a dedicated thruster and feed system to be built and tested in Phase II.
Aniuk Consulting, LLC, proposes to create a GIS software toolkit for
easily converting NASA HDF-EOS data into formats that can be readily
used within a Geographic Information System (GIS) or other geospatial
software programs.  The Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) is a widely used
scientific data format and serves as the standard format for NASA EOS
products.  The HDF-EOS toolbar will allow a user to reformat,
re-project, and perform geospatial operations on NASA EOS data.  This
toolkit is designed to improve upon current HDF conversion tools and
will be packaged as a software extension for ESRI's ArcGIS 9.3 suite of
products.  In addition, we will assess the feasibility of extending the
HDF-EOS toolbar to operate within an existing open-source GIS package.
This proposal targets the &amp;quot;Data Analyzing and Processing
Algorithms&amp;quot; research initiative announced by the Goddard Space
Flight Center by exploiting spatial tools in order to increase the
accessibility, interoperability, and inter-use of HDF-EOS data within
the GIS/Geospatial research community.
Busek Co. Inc. proposes to develop/design an integrated propulsion, power, ACS, and separation module for secondary ESPA payloads. The standardized secondary payload orbit maneuvering system (OMS) will have; 1) 200 W or 600 W Hall effect thruster system for primary propulsion, 2) Xe cold gas thrusters for propulsive ACS, 3) solar array, batteries and power conditioning with steady state power of !V230/680W and 4) an integral structure that supports the payload and a LightBand separation mechanism for the ESPA ring.
 
The proposed system architecture is based upon an EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA).  Because the ESPA OMS has power, avionics, and propulsion, it is a free flying spacecraft capable of delivering payloads to disparate altitudes and inclinations.  In Phase I, Busek will design an OMS to meet NASA mission needs including deploying large numbers of micro satellites and CubeSats.  Preliminary analysis suggests the each secondary OMS can provide 780 m/sec delta velocity to a 125 kg payload.  A key Phase I activity will be a prototypical orbital deployers adapter for clusters of CubeSat.  With this adapter, the system could deliver large numbers of CubeSats to discrete, pre-defined orbits.  Phase II products will include a clustering adapter ready to fly in 2010, along with the OMS propulsion system.
To address the NASA Earth Science Division need for spatial filter arrays for amplitude and wavefront control, Luminit proposes to develop a novel polarization-preserving Integrated Spatial Filter Array (iSFA) comprising 36 x 36 waveguides and two microlens arrays in a hexagonal configuration. Each waveguide acts as a polarization maintaining single-mode fiber and is precisely mapped to a pair of input/output lenslets. The 36 x 36 waveguides have identical fast and slow polarization axes and can be mass-fabricated to reduce cost and enhance placement accuracy, uniformity, throughput and reliability. The iSFA will be hermetically packaged in a 1 cubic inch box to withstand high radiation and temperature extremes in space. In Phase I, we will demonstrate the feasibility of iSFA, which will reduce the development risk of a Phase II 36 x 36 prototype iSFA.  The demonstrated results will offer NASA enhanced nulling coronagraph imaging for detection of planets beyond our solar system with the Terrestrial Planet Finder.
The proposed project is an antenna array whose beam is controlled digitally. The Phase 1 effort will assess the method needed to achieve the gain, bandwidth, and pattern (3 dB beam-width and scan field of view). This is based on the level of curvature and interference/geometry of the vehicle on which it is to be mounted. 

Phase 1 focuses on the fabrication and testing of one element and a sub-array of four elements on a similar surface such as a metallic or dielectric with some degree of curvature. Phase 1 also uses the LMS algorithm to adaptively perform beam shifting and correction for phase shift. 

Phase 2 will increase the number of elements in the array and allow for scanning in both planes. Also, Phase 2 will consider more complicated geometry as required to deliver a functioning antenna array mounted to the space vehicle.
Los Gatos Research proposes to develop a photonic sensor
instrumentation, capable of monitoring  distributed  load and acoustic
emission (AE) for rapid inspection of damages in composite overwrapped
pressure vessels (COPV). Our novel sensor technology offers a number of
advantages including sensor compactness and lightweight with
multiplexing capability for load and AE for monitoring and
characterizing damages in advanced composite structures and components.
We achieve this by employing Bragg grating sensor arrays and using a
novel interrogation technique combined with state-of-the-art AE method
to detect and pinpoint composite defects in these structures.  In Phase
I, we will demonstrate the sensor's capability to measure loads and
acoustic emission in a composite structure in comparison with
conventional piezoelectric type AE sensors. In addition, we will develop
a damage grading methodology to predict the presence, location, severity
of damages in the COPV.  In Phase II, the grating sensors, interrogation
system, and diagnostic software will be integrated into an automated
system, capable of measuring and correlating the load history, acoustic
emission activity, and determining the severity of damages and their
location in the COPV.
A fiber-based fixed-array laser transmitter can be combined with a
fiber-arrayed detector to create the next-generation NASA array LIDAR
systems. High speed optical fiber multiplexers allow array LIDAR systems
to efficiently share the same laser source. Boston Applied Technologies,
Inc. (BATi) propose to develop an electrically switched, OptoCeramic&lt;!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
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coefficient, fast response speed and low loss. The innovative optical
designs direct the laser into one of many possible output fibers. The
main features of proposed high speed fiber multiplexer include
ultra-high switching speed, low insertion loss, low power consumption,
high power handling capability, compact packaging and scalability.
NASA plans to produce cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen to power regenerative fuel cells for lunar surface exploration.  The oxygen and hydrogen will be produced by electrolysis of water from In Situ Resource Utilization reactors.  The electrolysis products will be warm high-pressure gases, requiring significant cryocooler power to achieve the desired storage conditions.  This power can be reduced by expanding the gases adiabatically from the electrolysis pressure to storage pressure.  We propose to develop innovative turboalternators to maximize this effect and convert the extracted fluid power into useful electric power.  Small flow rates and high fluid densities require turbine rotors that are extremely small and operate at high speeds.  Cryogenic gas bearings and miniature rotor fabrication techniques are key features that create high efficiency in our approach.  The gas bearings also enable reliable, long-life, maintenance-free operation.  The proposed development will leverage decades of Creare experience with cryogenic gas-bearing turbomachines.  In Phase I, we will develop optimized turboalternator designs by conducting trade studies, specifying design details, analyzing performance, and demonstrating bearing operation with two-phase rotor flow.  During Phase II, we will fabricate a prototype turboalternator and measure its performance at representative operating conditions.
EIC Laboratories Inc. is proposing a lightweight multifunctional polymer/nanoparticle composite for radiation shielding during long-duration lunar missions.  Isolated nanoparticles homogeneously dispersed throughout the polymer reinforce polymer matrices relative to conventional powder dispersion.  This will enable the exploitation of the high hydrogen density of the polyolefin while improving the mechanical and structural properties of polymer composites used in radiation shielding.  The goal of this program is to demonstrate that hydrogen dense polyolefins loaded with neutron shielding nanoparticles demonstrate improved shielding and mechanical properties relative to commercially available alternatives.  In Phase I, polyolefin/nanoparticle-shielding composites will be fabricated and characterized for thermal, mechanical, and particle dispersion properties relative to commercial products.
NASA is now concerned with maintaining, validating, and improving fire safety on the ISS throughout its lifetime while providing maximum flexibility in the types of experiments and operations that can be conducted by the crew members. Thus, more comfortable, durable and flexible flame retardant crew clothing is required, especially during long term missions. Current cotton clothing is highly flammable and not suitable for fire fighting. There is urgent need to develop non-flammable alternatives for shirts, shorts, sweaters, and jackets without compromising the comfort and flexibility. This Phase I project aims to develop flame retardant textiles using a new class of chemicals called polyoxometalates (POMs).  We have devised methods to anchor this class of compound to a variety of conventional (cotton based) fabrics. The overall goal is to take existing fabrics, with their desirable physical properties and high level of comfort, and add a flame retardant capability. The functionalized textile material will have thermal stability, reduction in smoke generation and flammability, reasonable cost, no skin and environmental toxicity, and permanence while retaining the desired properties of the starting material.  Our novel flame resistant textile material will withstand harsh conditions without leaching of the agents.
This SBIR program will identify and address the primary technical issues that limit the current precision of replicated CFRP optics.  These issues must be resolved to bring this capability to the sub-micron range of precision required by the next generation of flight and ground submillimeter and far infrared projects.  Were these issues resolved, this capability would provide reduced cost and risk and improved areal density, thermal stability, and stiffness to the large sub-micron optics required by the next generation of flight and ground submillimeter and far infrared projects.
Eltron Research &amp; Development proposes the development of a lightweight, battery-powered instrument for accurately and rapidly monitoring the local concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. In our Phase I program, an advanced CO2 analyzer will be developed with a novel optical sensor employing a sample concentrator in conjunction with single-beam, dual-wavelength infrared measurements. The proposed monitor will utilize a thin, IR transparent film to selectively and reversibly concentrate CO2 for enhanced detection. The film's high partitioning coefficient will enable a short pathlength and low power requirements while achieving the accuracy, response time, and detection limits necessary for airborne atmospheric monitoring.
	Phase I of this project will accomplish evaluation of a breadboard system in the laboratory; we anticipate a TRL of 4 by the end of Phase I. By the end of the Phase II program, a prototype instrument will be built with 10.1 ppm resolution in a background of ca. 385 ppm, &lt;10 s response time, 800 mW power requirements, and 250 g total weight. The CO2 analyzer, which will be of reduced size and significantly more cost-effeective than the current state-of-the-art, will be suitable for use on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and balloon platforms.
As NASA designs and develops the next generation of scientific and space exploration vehicles and missions, there is a growing need for a robust, flexible, and easy-to-use software framework that NASA engineers can use to rapidly analyze, design, simulate, and evaluate competing vehicle and mission concepts. This need is particularly acute for small satellite design missions (such as Low-Cost Small Spacecraft and Technologies Missions) and other missions with small budgets and cost margins. In this project, Phoenix Integration will develop a software framework for flexibly meeting these needs. Working within the framework, NASA engineers will be able to flexibly assemble mission simulation models by choosing components from a custom library of reusable analysis modules. Once the system models are created, the framework will be capable of automatically executing these models, seamlessly transferring data from analysis to analysis as required. Mechanisms will be provided in the user interface that will allow engineers to archive important models, designs, data, and meta-data in an "Analysis Library" during the design process. This Analysis Library will be fully indexed and searchable, and will serve as a central information repository for facilitating communication and collaboration between team members, preserving important models, data, and knowledge for future reuse, and helping to capture design knowledge and document the decision making process.
This proposal describes the development of passive wireless surface
acoustic wave (SAW) RFID sensor-tags with enhanced range for remote
monitoring of large groups of conventional sensors.  Passive wireless
sensing tags using SAW technology have been demonstrated by Robert
Brocato at Sandia National Labs and others.  These sensor-tags consist
of a SAW device with an antenna attached to one port and sensor(s) and
reference impedance(s) connected to the other ports.  RF signals are
reflected off of the surface wave device, and their reflection
characteristics are modified by changes in the impedance of the attached
sensor(s).  This proposal describes development of novel passive
wireless SAW sensor tags that combine radio frequency identification
(RFID) coding with dispersive and low-loss SAW transducers and
reflectors.  The proposed devices utilize RFID reflective delay line
coding techniques to produce devices capable of data densities over 32
bits, enabling production of large codesets.  Variations in the
reflected RFID code are used to identify the device and to provide a
measure of the attached sensor(s), along with any internal sensing
function(s).   The use of dispersive low-loss transducers and reflectors
provides increased processing gain and over 10 times the range of
conventional SAW RFID tags.  The proposed sensor devices also operate in
a manner that is inherently immune to RF backscatter signals, further
enhancing S/N.  Successful completion of the proposed Phase I activities
will establish the technical feasibility of these sensor-tags, will
evaluate their performance in the laboratory when used with at least two
external sensor devices, and will provide performance projections for
use with other sensors.  At the end of Phase I, devices will be at TRL
4.  Phase II will result in development of multiple uniquely
identifiable passive sensor-tags and interrogation systems operable to
wirelessly monitor sensors of interest to specific NASA programs (TRL6).
QEL proposes to construct a tissue equivalent microdosimeter using a solid state tissue equivalent detector (SSTED).  The Phase I study will produce the working SSTEDs and the Phase II will provide a viable completed microdosimeter.

An organic semiconductor device based on QEL's novel design is described.  The expected electrical properties of the device both in the quiescent state and under exposure are calculated.  The fabrication process is described in detail and the supporting electronics are defined as well.

A complete set of tests that will determine the feasibilty of the SSTEDs is defined.  The first test will determine if the detectors' response matches the expected response based on detector geometry.  The subsequent tests will determine the sensitivity, calibration factors, and tissues equivalence of the fabricated devices.
NASA has initiated a program to explore the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS) using the Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), which has a payload of over 1500 lb (680 kg), max ceiling of 65,000 ft (20 km) at a cruising speed of 335 kts and mission endurance of over 31 hours.  These attributes make the Global Hawk UAS especially valuable as a tool for investigating subvisible cirrus (SVC) clouds, which are commonly found in the Tropical Tropospheric Layer (TTL) and are considered to have a significant potential impact on global climate change.  

The first of a series of NASA field programs, the UAS Aura Validation Experiment (UAS-AVE), is scheduled to take place in 2009 with the Global Hawk investigating aerosols and gas phase chemistry in the UT/LS. In ensuing years it is anticipated that follow-on field projects will utilize the Global Hawk to investigate properties of SVC clouds. Currently, there is no instrument available for installation on the Global Hawk that is capable of measuring particle size distributions and capturing high-resolution images of cloud particles in SVC. These measurements are essential for understanding the radiative effects that SVC has on the earth energy balance. 

In Phase I we propose to design and perform proof-of-concept laboratory tests of a state-of-the-art integrated instrument that measures cloud particle size distributions from 1 micron to about 3 mm, and provides three simultaneous digital images of cloud particles.  The new probe will combine three instruments that SPEC sells commercially into a compact, aerodynamic package that runs autonomously.  In addition, it will be totally compatible with the NASA Research Environment for Vehicle-Embedded Analysis on Linux (REVEAL) system, so that investigators on the ground can view data and control probe functions.  In Phase II we propose to build a working prototype and fly it on the Global Hawk (or a Learjet research aircraft if the Global Hawk is not available).
This small business innovation research is intended to develop a simple processing concept based-on an advanced direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) technology enabling directly converting plastic trash into life support consumables (such as H2, CO2 and H2O) and electricity simultaneously, for supporting Lunar ISRU development.  The proposed innovation involves the areas associated with the advanced DCFC characteristics and simplified processes turning plastic trash into renewable energy at a high efficiency.  In Phase I, the decomposition/oxidation electrochemistry of polyethylene-based plastic bags and spoons, catalyzed by molten carbonate anode composites, will be characterized.  Tubular electrochemical cells built upon the proposed DCFC technology will be studied at elevated temperatures, followed by performance optimization.
The exploration of space requires that new technologies be developed for long-term cryogenic propellant storage applications in-space, on the lunar surface, and on the Earth.  The Altair ascent stage requires LO2 and LCH4 storage durations of up to 14 days in LEO and up to an additional 210 days on the lunar surface.  Long term storage (224 days) of LO2 cryogenic propellant on the lunar surface is required to support space power systems, spaceports, spacesuits, lunar habitation systems, robotics, and in situ propellant systems.  Long term storage (6 months) of LO2/ LH2/ LCH4 cryogenic propellants in 1-g on the surface of the Earth with minimal propellant loss is required to support launch site ground operations.  Thus, this proposed project will focus on improving the strength of aerogels, which are the lightest weight and best cryogenic insulation material known.  Improvements in the strength of aerogels would allow these materials to be used as advanced non-compacting insulation materials capable of retaining structural integrity while accommodating large operating temperatures ranging from cryogenic to elevated temperatures.  The properties of the aerogels will be tailored by controlling their densities and strengthened by reinforcing them with fibers and with organic polymer crosslinking agents.
Radiation-cooled, bipropellant thrusters are being considered for the Ascent Module main engine of the Altair Lunar Lander.  Currently, iridium-lined rhenium combustion chambers are the state-of-the-art for radiatively cooled thrusters.  To increase the performance of radiation-cooled engines, improved chamber materials are being developed that will allow higher operating temperatures, better resistance to oxidation, and reduce mass.  In an effort to increase performance, hafnium oxide thermal barrier coatings and improved iridium liners have been developed, and hot-fire tests of rhenium chambers with these improvements have shown higher operating temperatures, i.e., &gt;200&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C increase, are possible.  To reduce engine mass, recent efforts have focused on the development of carbon-carbon composites.  Replacement of a rhenium structural wall with carbon-carbon could result in a mass savings of &gt;600&#37;.  During this effort, an innovative composite thrust chamber will be developed that will incorporate advanced hafnium oxide and iridium liner techniques as well as replacing the expensive, high density rhenium with a low mass carbon-carbon composite.  As a result of this investigation, an advanced composite thrust chamber with improved performance capability and reduced mass will be produced.  During Phase II, the fabrication methods will be optimized and a full-size Ascent Module chamber will be produced and hot-fire tested.
In support of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NanoSonic would optimize our moisture-resistant aerospace adhesives with in-situ corrosion mitigating surface treatments to improve aviation safety by reducing durability related hazards on subsonic commercial aircraft.  NanoSonic specializes in the production of advanced, non-commodity resins as adhesive, sealant, and novel coupling agents.  One aspect of our synthetic method involves the systematic replacement of nonpolar groups along well defined polymer backbones with sidechain chemical moieties capable of complexing with metals, hence significantly increasing adhesion to metal or composites relative to nonpolar resins.  Synthetically engineered hybrid copolymers allow the inherently hydrophobic backbone to mitigate moisture ingress, while the tailored sidechain moieties offer adhesion orders of magnitude greater than unmodified commodity resins.  NanoSonic also tailors the number and type of crosslinking sites available to minimize CTE, while maximizing the mechanical properties and cohesive strength to prevent catastrophic disbonding from aircraft adherend. The specialty adhesives are available in 1-55 gallon drum quantities.  Down-selected adhesives and coupling agents shall be tested under harsh thermal (-90:F to 800:F) and environmental conditions and in a wind tunnel (subsonic, Mach &lt;1) along-side state-of-the-art structural aerospace adhesives to increase the TRL from 4 to 6 during Phase I.
This proposal is for the development of an innovative compact, high
power, and extremely reliable 1.26 micron Ho-doped single frequency
fiber laser. The proposed single frequency fiber laser consists of Raman
pump laser and single frequency 1.26-micron fiber laser, which will be
constructed by using Ho3+-doped fluoride glass fiber. A Raman fiber
laser is used as a resonant pump laser source for Ho3+-doped fiber
laser.  High gain per unit length can be achieved in Ho3+-doped fluoride
glass fiber due to the strong resonant pump.  This type of fiber based
seed laser is needed for remote sensing of O  and O -N  for measuring
atmospheric pressure.  The single frequency 1.26-micron fiber laser with
high-speed frequency modulation capability and electronic control, which
will be developed in Phase II as part of the seed laser, can be used to
build coherent laser radar to perform instant measurement.
Future NASA exloration, planetary and astrophysics missions will require various enhancements in multi-stage cryocoolers. These include increased efficiency, reduced vibration and reductions in overall system mass and power consumption. For the small coolers required, pulse tube and Stirling coolers offer the best opportunities. At present, the efficiency of these coolers is limited by the effectiveness of low-temperature-stage regenerators. Below about 60 K, two factors play key roles in reducing the effectiveness of regenerators. One is that the heat capacity of most materials falls rapidly with decreasing temperature, thereby, severely limiting the number of useful materials to a few in common use. A second factor is that these commonly used materials are only available in powder form, a form known to raise reliability issues. In this effort, we will address both factors. We will use newly developed materials with high heat capacities at temperatures below 80 K, higher than that of commonly used materials. Further, we will develop novel low-temperature regenerator matrix configurations that will address both the aspect of high-efficiency and regenerator durability. Both the void fracton and the ratio of surface area to solid fracton of the regenerator matrix will be varied to achieve high efficiency.
The goal of the project is demonstration of the feasibility of Friction Stir Weld (FSW) assessment by novel Nonlinear Time Reversal Acoustic (TRA) method. Time reversal acoustic focusing provides the means to concentrate sound energy at any point in a material, inducing elastic nonlinear effects in the focal area. The level on nonlinearity depends on crack and defect presence and measurements of nonlinear effects in TRA focused wave are the basis of the proposed Nonlinear TRA NDE method.  This method is especially sensitive to detection of kissing bond that is difficult to detect by other methods. The experimental setups for measurements of local nonlinearity in FSW will be developed and results of the measurements will be compared with the standard weld NDE methods including dye penetrant, radiographic and ultrasonic inspection.
We propose to develop a compact portable longwave camera for
astronomical applications.  In Phase 1, we will develop and deliver the
focal plane array (FPA) - a crucial camera component.  In Phase 2, we
will integrate the FPA with electronics and optics into a compact
package and deliver the resulting camera to NASA for field testing.
This proposal addresses the need for the development of higher
efficiency power amplifiers at L-band using GaAs HBT (heterojunction
bipolar transistors) for pulsed mode radar applications.  In this
proposal we offer a novel approach for signifcantly improving the
thermal characteristics of high power GaAs based HBTs.  This work will
be accomplished by the development of a high-yield, 4-inch epitaxial
liftoff (ELO) technology accompanied by the bonding of the GaAs device
wafer onto a diamond substrate. The power added efficiency is expected
to be at least 65&amp;#37; with an improvement in power density by 50&amp;#37;.
A well known problem in the fabrication of aspheric optical surfaces
lies in surface irregularities inherent in the figuring process.
Low-spatial frequency errors (figure errors) cause distortion in the
system wavefront, resulting in degradation of the point spread function.
Mid-spatial frequency errors cause small-angle scattering of light
(flare), which reduces image contrast.  High-spatial frequency errors
scatter light out of the optical beam over larger angles, reducing the
energy throughput in an optical system.  The Zeeko Precessions polishing
is a sub-aperture process that has been developed for the control of
form and texture in the production of aspheric and other optical
surfaces.  The Precessions process is deterministic and provides
dramatic reductions in production time due to its high removal rate and
repeatability.  Similar to other sub-aperture finishing processes, the
Precessions process is prone to leave mid-spatial frequency defects on
the surface.  Zeeko has developed a unicursal random tool path that does
not follow a regular pattern and is non-crossing.  The goal of this
Phase I project is to expand on promising initial results obtained by
using the random tool path.  The results generated by the research
project will be used to demonstrate and improve the performance of the
Zeeko polisher for this critical application.  We propose a study that
employs the polishing methodology used by Zeeko Technologies to
determine whether trial procedures using the Zeeko approach can
effectively correctively finish an optic without inducing unwanted
frequencies onto the surface of the part.
With the introduction of low-cost, small, rapidly configurable spacecraft, the need for robust, versatile, readily deployable, and easily ground-testable thermal control technologies becomes ever more critical.  Passive two-phase thermal control technology, that is, heat pipes, defines the current state-of-the-art, yet it is clear that this technology alone will not meet the needs of future spacecraft.  Dramatic improvements in the versatility and effectiveness of heat pipes are possible with a small amount of mechanical pumping assistance.  With the separation of the liquid pumping and heat transfer functions, greater design freedom and system optimization is also afforded.  However, before pump-assisted heat pipes can become a viable alternative, significant improvement in pump lifetime and robustness is needed.  Lynntech proposes to develop a long-life, robust, low-power, high pressure-rise, electrochemically-driven micropump for use in pump-assisted heat pipes.
High temperature piezoelectric crystal (HTP) sensors are desired for
future propulsion component structure health monitoring, operating
parameters optimization, turbine engine control and health monitoring,
as well as improving performance and maintainability of power production
facilities and other rotary combustion engines. Recently discovered high
temperature piezoelectrics showed stable piezoelectric properties and
high resistivity at temperatures close to its melting point (~ 1500 C) ,
which is very promising for high temperature sensor applications. The
preliminary results showed excellent temperature sening performance at
temperature up to 1000 C. Piezoelectric structural sensors on the basis
of piezoelectric effect (non-resonant) and impedance measurement
(resonant) have been widely demonstrated for pressure, stress, strain,
temperature, acceleration, etc. measurements because of their high
sensitivity, quick response, low profile, high reliability and low cost.
The goal of this program is to develop highly sensitive HTPC based
piezoelectric structural sensors for temperature, strain and
acceleration measurements at temperatures up to 2000 oF.
To support extended lunar operations, precision localization and route mapping is required for planetary EVA, manned rovers and lunar surface mobility units.  A process called multilateration is proposed coupled with the use of an IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP).  This protocol was created specifically to address timecode inaccuracies across distributed nodes on a non-deterministic network like Ethernet.  Multilateration is a method widely used for air traffic control.  The innovation is the establishment of a fault tolerant, field scalable, high precision navigation system that can and support the size, weight, and power (SWaP) goals by applying mature technologies to provide an innovative navigation infrastructure while naturally supporting data and voice communications on the same network.  Such a system provides a precise and reliable navigation backbone and establishes a core infrastructure for long term occupation.   Selected key components of the system as defined in the Phase I period will be functionally validated through use of existing Sensis products to validate predicted performance and demonstrate a TRL level 4 is achieved and the end of Phase I.   An end-to-end demonstration would follow at the end of the Phase II period to achieve a TRL level 6.
Flow control is critical to the effective operation of space vehicles where high velocities must be achieved with minimum power consumption.  Recent studies at Princeton have demonstrated the utility of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators for aerodynamic control.  Nanosecond pulse sustained DC driven DBDs are predicted to have much higher flow velocities than conventional control systems. Our initial work in the area discovered that these devices produce charge build-up on pulse sustained DC driven DBDs which has hindered the realization of this prediction.  If the charge build-up can be minimized, the DC driven DBDs have the potential for higher flow control efficiency than previously attainable with either AC or DC driven DBDs in laboratory experiments.  The proposed research will develop integrated surface structures that simultaneously optimize the DBD performance to take advantage of the pulse or RF sustained DC bias approach while suppressing the surface charge build up.  This success of this project will be critical for the development of a practical DBD actuator that can be implemented as a control device.
The proposed work focuses on implementing fast-response pressure-sensitive paint and Surface Stress Sensitive Films for measurements of unsteady pressure and skin friction in rotorcraft applications. Significant rotorcraft problems such as dynamic stall, rotor blade loads in forward flight, and blade-vortex interaction all have significant unsteady pressure oscillations that must be resolved in order to understand the underlying physics. Often these unsteady pressures are difficult to resolve in the rotating frame due to difficult installation of pressure transducers, and data is available only at discrete points. Pressure-sensitive paint formulations have been developed to provide surface pressure information in situations such as this, but conventional PSP formulations have slow response times. Conventional skin friction measurements, for example oil flow, do not offer significant frequency response. In order to improve the frequency response characteristics of PSP, sprayed porous paint binders have been developed for measurement of unsteady pressures. Fast-responding Surface Stress Sensitive Films provide both quantitative skin friction and qualitative flow visualization measurements. These techniques can provide high-spatial-resolution, time-resolved pressure and skin friction information that will provide unparalleled insight into the physical mechanisms driving certain rotorcraft problems. Both of these techniques will be demonstrated in Ohio State's unique 6"x22" transonic wind tunnel, where an airfoil may be tested for dynamic stall simulation in compressible flow. Successful demonstration of fast-responding PSP and S3F on a dynamic stall test in the 6"x22" tunnel will serve as a proof of concept that will allow transition of the technologies into larger-scale wind tunnels at NASA and elsewhere.
Fuel Cell/Li-ion Battery Hybrid Power System for Space Suits Project
Next Generation, Low Cost, Direct Geo-referencing of Aerial Images Project
Microwave Rain Gauge Project
Resilient Space-Qualified Non-Destructive Evaluation Miniature System by Microma Project
Robust Flow Control For Radically Enhanced Natural Laminar Flow Wings Project
Cytometer on a Chip Project
High Actuated Primary Mirror to Enable Prime Focus Coronograph Telescope Project
Inherently Stiff Membranes with Shape Memory Project
SiGe Semiconductor Devices for High-Performance Cryogenic Power Electronics Project
Improving Test Operations Through Scalable Video Processing on Computer Clusters Project
Organic Rubber Aerogel as Thermal Insulation and Radiation Shield Project
A Hybrid Pyrolysis/Incineration System for Solid Waste Resource Recovery Project
Diamond-Based Sub Millimeter Backward Wave Oscillator Project
Stress-induced bandgap-shifted titania photocatalyst for hydrogen generation Project
Sn-SnSb Filled Carbon Fiber Anodes for High Energy Density Lithium Ion Batteries Project
Powering Satellites Using a 2 Micron Crystal Fiber Laser Project
Compact X-ray Tube with Carbon Nanotube Cathode Project
Passive Non-Rocking Vibration Isolation System for Earth Science Payloads Project
Tunable etalon arrays for Earth Science Measurements Project
Extreme Ultraviolet Interference Filters Project
Autonomous Tethered Corer for Deep Drilling Project
Novel Isotopic Gas Analyzer for Plant Health Monitoring Project
FGM HfC/Sic Composites for RlV Leading Edge Applications Project
Energetic Materials For Advanced Volume Limited Propulsion Systems Applications Project
Intelligent and Dynamic High Performance Optical Network Project
Miniaturized Water Recovery System for Advanced Life Support Systems Project
Low-Loss Packaged Ka-Band (26.5 GHz) MEMS Phase Shifter Project
The cryogenic evaluation of typical and experimental filament winding materials Project
Diamonite(TM)-bonded C/C Composite for Thermal Protection of Re-entry Bodies Project
Improving Binaural Simulation of Structural Acoustics Project
Lightweight Cryogenic Radiator Project
Novel Medical Diagnostic Instrument based on Real-time Breath Analysis Project
LOX Olefin Rocket Propulsion for Deep Space Project
Improved Operation and Lifetime of High-Power Hall Thrusters Project
Self Healing, High Temperature Cpmposite Components Project
The objective of the Phase I is to develop, demonstrate and test a novel
instrument based on laser absorption diagnostics for fast, in situ
measurements of important parameters (static gas temperature, bulk gas
velocity, and gas concentration) in the high speed flows typical in NASA
propulsion test facilities.  In addition, the instrument will be easy to
move (translate) during operation and thus allow measurements at
different locations during a test run.
Incidents related to impaired human performance in space operations can be caused by environmental conditions, situational challenges, and operational deficiencies.  Detecting, reporting, and correlating related incidents are key to preventing future incidents.  NASA has made significant progress in standardizing the reporting of aviation incidents by developing electronic forms for reporting incidents.   While such forms improve report consistency, incident data are not represented in a way that enables computer-based reasoning across reports (e.g., automatic linking of related reports.)  TRACLabs proposes to develop a human factors incident-reporting tool for gathering incident data, documenting data in incident reports, and archiving incident data. We will define an XML-based semantic language for incident reporting to capture information about human factors incidents, including multi-modal data. We will develop software for authoring incident reports using this language, archiving these reports, and searching the archives using incident semantics. This project is innovative in defining an incident reporting language that uses an ontology-based vocabulary.  This enables improved tools for gathering incident data, and for authoring and archiving incident reports. The semantic indexing provided by the use of incident reporting language permits more sophisticated search of archives, including automatic identification of prior incidents potentially relevant to the current incident.
Flight in the hypersonic regime is critical to NASA's goals because access to earth orbit and re-entry from orbit to earth or to other planets with atmospheres require flight through this regime.  Hypersonic flight poses a wide array of difficulties, including significant guidance and control challenges.  For example, flexible airframes and highly integrated airframe and propulsion systems common in scramjet designs mean that aerodynamic and propulsion control are closely coupled.  Control laws for hypersonic vehicles must also handle a very broad range of dynamics as hypersonic vehicles often operate from subsonic through hypersonic speeds and possibly with multiple propulsion modes for different speed ranges.  Actuator saturation and significant models uncertainty also pose control challenges, and demanding energy management requirements make guidance and trajectory optimization challenging tasks as well.  The proposed research will develop innovative control strategies to address the challenges of hypersonic flight.  These will be based on recent advances in switching control methods that provide large stable regions and disturbance rejection guarantees in the presence of actuator saturation.  The proposed control methods will ultimately be integrated with advanced guidance approaches for hypersonic vehicles developed by Barron Associates.
To address NASA's need for L1 C/A-based navigation with better anti-spoofing ability and higher accuracy, Broadata Communications, Inc. (BCI) proposes to develop a new Navigation Robustness and Accuracy Improvement (NRAI) system, based on BCI's innovative noise nulling and observable combiner technology. BCI's novel approach incorporates the innovations of the highly successful multiple-antenna detection technique and the optimized fast quad diversity combiner technique, enabling BCI to meet NASA's requirements for reliability, safety, and high accuracy by effectively nullifying the interference noise from GPS receiver data and eliminating errors and ambiguities in observables. The NRAI system offers a 4-6 dB SNR improvement factor over current techniques and increases the accuracy of L1 C/A navigation to less than 1 m and 1 cm/s, which directly fulfills NASA's requirement of anti-spoofing ability and high accuracy. In Phase I BCI will demonstrate the feasibility of the NRAI system by building and testing a preliminary prototype, which will demonstrate TRL-level 3-4 by the end of Phase I. In Phase II, BCI plans to develop a fully functional prototype and demonstrate the anti-spoofing and high-accuracy navigation performance of NRAI. The demonstrated results will offer NASA capabilities of accurate and reliable navigation using L1 C/A code.
Advances in replication mold technology that reduce material costs, grinding time, and polishing time would enable fabrication of large, precision molds and possibly optics at 50-75&#37; lower cost.  Mold cost savings could be applied to other aspects of a telescope mission's technology development and demonstration efforts to reduce large aperture far infrared telescope areal density and improve optical technical performance.
Wake vortices are a critical constraint to aircraft separation and therefore airportal throughput, which is already at or near capacity at many major airports in the NAS.  Improvements to current methods of spacing aircraft could significantly increase airportal capacity, but there is currently limited awareness of wake encounters and information with which to assess spacing in real-time or to design new spacing schemes.  AeroTech proposes to improve situational awareness of wake vortices and enhance the prediction of wake vortex transport and decay by developing an In Situ Wake Vortex Encounter Detection and Reporting System (VEDARS).  The VEDARS will quantitatively detect wake encounters using flight data; downlink encounter reports in real-time to enhance ATC awareness and enable assessment of spacing schemes; and collect and report meteorological parameters from aircraft for use in wake transport and decay predictions.  Additionally, the VEDARS software can process historical flight data to identify prior wake encounters and assess spacing for a given weather day at an airportal.  Phase I will develop and test the VEDARS methodology and algorithms, and perform a feasibility assessment.  By the end of Phase II, the VEDARS will have been both ground and flight tested, and will be enhancing wake awareness.
FAA predicts that air traffic will double or even triple by 2025 and unless solutions that enable improvements in the use of airspace can be developed and implemented, significant airspace congestion will occur.  Advancements in aircraft capabilities via new technologies can enable aircraft to operate more efficiently in the NAS and to operate safely in areas previously restricted.  AeroTech proposes to enhance ATM simulations and the assessment of Performance Based Operations (PBO) by developing an Autonomous Aircraft Decision Making Model for Weather Hazard Avoidance based on the aircraft's weather hazard detection capabilities, ATC constraints, FAA regulations, and operator policies.  The model will provide autonomous guidance for aircraft in ATM simulations such as FACET and ACES.  PBO and traffic flow schemes can be assessed for any scenario by varying the detection capabilities of simulation aircraft, regulations, and/or policies, and examining deviation decisions, flight paths, safety impacts, and NAS throughput.  Phase I will develop and test the Model's methodology and algorithms, and perform a proof of concept study.  By the end of Phase II, the Model will have been implemented and tested in ATM simulations, and will enable researchers to improve NAS operations through new traffic flow techniques based on PBO.
A novel design for an in situ atmospheric sensor for CO2 and trace gases is proposed.  The sensor, named AirCore, provides the advantages of existing in situ sensors (e.g. high resolution) but eliminates possible biases in analysis that often originate from imperfect measurement condition.  The AirCore provides a significant savings in cost and weight while increasing the capabilities of existing in situ sensors.  The AirCore system consists of the AirCore gas sampler and the support system to accomplish its high altitude (nominally 70,000 ft.) mission.   This support system includes the sensor launch and recovery components.  The AirCore can be launched and recovered by a crew of two which reduces the operational cost of the system.
In space missions, launch vehicles (LV) are filled with cryogenic propellant fluids. It is important to protect these LVs from any leakage of liquid propellants through a reliable, accurate, leak detection system.  Currently used analytical methods do not meet space mission requirements of low power consumption, reliability, low weight, and cost effectiveness. To overcome these limitations, Intelligent Optical Systems (IOS) proposes to adapt, optimize, and integrate optical detection technologies into an accurate leak detection system for H2, O2, and CH4.
Due to their extreme low temperatures, these cryogenic fluids induce a contraction of the materials they contact, creating a potential cause of leakage. Hydrogen leakage in air creates an explosive atmosphere for hydrogen concentrations (between 4&#37; (v/v) ? the lower explosive limit (LEL) and 74.5&#37; (v/v) ? the upper explosive limit (UEL)) at room temperature and pressure. The early detection of cryogenic fluid leakage is extremely important for reasons of safety, reliability, and economy. IOS will provide its expertise in optical sensing to develop a miniaturized, reliable, highly sensitive, multi agent detection prototype, a Multi-Agent Optical Sensor Chip for Cryogenic Fluids Leak Detection (MOSCLD). The study will target detection limits of 1ppm or less and a response time in the millisecond range.
We propose to develop and commercialize a new type of low-stress iridium
(Ir) X-ray mirror coating technology that can be used for the
construction of high-resolution X-ray telescopes comprising thin-shell
mirror substrates, such as the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) currently
being developed for the Constellation-X mission.  The urgent need for
low-stress Ir coating technology is driven by the current limitations on
telescope angular resolution resulting from substrate distortions caused
by conventional reflective Ir coatings that have high stress.  In
particular, we have measured film stresses in excess of 3 GPa in the
case of 30 nm Ir films deposited by conventional magnetron sputtering
techniques.  The distortions in thin glass mirror shells (such as those
suitable for the Constellation-X SXT) resulting from these extremely
large coating stresses presently make the largest contribution to the
SXT telescope imaging error budget, of order 10 arcsec or more.
Consequently, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to meet the
imaging requirements of Constellation-X, or other future high-resolution
X-ray missions, unless high-quality Ir coatings having significantly
lower stresses can be developed.  The development of such coatings is
precisely the aim of our proposal.
United States spaceports carry out the impressive task of launching and recovering spacecrafts and payloads which represent extremely unique and expensive assets. The successful deployment, recovery, and operation of these assets are essential to our scientific discovery, economic prosperity, and national security. Range surveillance is a significant factor in enabling safe, reliable, and cost effective operations.  Our ranges encompass large ocean regions that are not under the exclusive control of the spaceport. As such, these areas must be cleared in preparation for launch and reentry operations to ensure overall safety to the public as well as the space transportation system itself.  Emergent Space Technologies, Inc. (Emergent) proposes to research a integrated marine autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) range surveillance (MARS) system to enhance spaceport situational awareness. The surveillance payload includes an array of optical, infrared, and RF sensors and onboard software to facilitate measurement infusion and analysis. The surveillance payload provides state estimates including position, velocity, and heading for marine assets.  State measurements are relayed to the range control personnel to aid in operational decision making.  The MARS system is intended to increase range availability and safety while decreasing operational costs.
This Phase I SBIR will demonstrate the feasibility of a process to create multi-layer thin-film optics for the far-infrared/sub-millimeter wave spectral region.  The process will create alternating sub-wavelength layers of window and air with high index contrast.  The process proven in Phase I will be applied to Phase II commercial prototypes including mirrors with reflectivity exceeding 99.99&#37;, design tunable band-pass and band-blocking filters, anti-reflection optics, and scanning Fabry-Perot spectrometers with simultaneous unprecedented high resolution and broad free spectral range at 100 micron wavelengths. Such spectroscopic component technology can be immediately integrated into a number of future NASA missions in Earth and planetary science, astronomy, and astrophysics, as well as having dual use and large potential markets in defense, security, and biomedicine.
A major objective of the NASA science spacecraft systems development programs is to implement science measurement capabilities using small affordable spacecrafts. High conductivity materials to minimize temperature gradients and provide high efficiency radiators and heat spreader panels are required to meet this objective. Under this proposed effort, kTC will develop a high performance thermal distribution panel (TDP) concept. The panel will be fabricated with a high conductivity macro composite skin and in situ heat pipes. The processing technologies proposed to build such a panel can also be used to produce this panel with high structural stiffness, similar to aluminum honeycomb type structure currently in use. This advanced TDP material concept will have high conductance the will obviate the need for attached bulky metal thermal doublers and heat pipe saddles. The conductivity of the proposed material system can be configured to exceed 800 W/mK with a mass density below 2.5 g/cm3. This material can provide efficient conductive heat transfer between the in situ heat pipes permitting the use of thinner panel thicknesses further reducing the mass of this critical spacecraft subsystem. This concept will also obviate reliability challenges due to CTE mismatch between structures and the heat pipes.  In the Phase I program, kTC will produce prototypes employing the proposed TDP concept. In Phase II, in conjunction with kTC's Tier I team members, the qualification and integration of the concept into spaceflight hardware will be pursued.
Nanomaterials and nanocomposites offer great potential for improvement in many applications.  One such NASA application is the prevention of microcracking as well as improvement in impact strength at cryogenic temperatures of composite cryotanks/carbon fiber-reinforced filament wound composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) as used in liquid fuel propulsion systems and other related fiber-reinforced structures as used in space exploration.  Replacement of the currently-used aluminum-lithium cryotanks with composite cryotanks is advantageous from a weight-saving standpoint, but these composite structures are susceptible to microcracks from long- and short-term exposure to cryogenic temperatures from fuel storage and space environments. In Phase I, we propose to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel engineered nanocomposite in a fiber-reinforced composite in order to eliminate microcracks and enhance the impact strength at cryogenic temperatures. The program is a collaborative effort with a leading developer and manufacturer of COPVs. A key aspect of the proposed program is that it combines nanoscale additives with modifications to the conventional epoxy matrix polymer structure and morphology in ways never done before. The Phase II program will build upon the Phase I demonstration effort by implementing the technology in other epoxy systems and fiber systems used in the filament winding process combined with technological advances made by our strategic partner; implementation of the technology to linerless cryotanks will be a major focus as a drop-in replacement for current aluminum-lithium cryotanks.  In addition, we will implement the technology in other fiber-reinforced composite structures as may be applicable to NASA applications.
Based on successful space testing onboard the Midstar1 satellite, Eclipse Electrochromics have been identified by a number of organizations as well as NASA as a high interest technology. For nanosats, the critical design challenge is achieving autonomous control of the EclipseVEDs&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; for spacecraft thermal self regulation without the need for human intervention.  To achieve this goal, Eclipse proposes in Phase I to employ EclipseVED&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; technology and demonstrate automated control systems capable of in-flight thermal regulation of a cubesat or other small satellite. Phase I will include the construction of a single small satellite panel for in-house testing and principally work on the hardware and software required for autonomous regulation.  In Phase II, Eclipse will build a complete multi-panel cubesat and work with Marshall Space Center to lab test a completely functional prototype.
With the advent of the new exploration initiative, the number of
customers and missions to be supported by the NASA Space Communications
infrastructure will increase dramatically. As well, new antenna types to
be developed in support of exploration will increase, thus increasing
the complexity of constraints governing the use of space communications
assets.  In a new concept,  the communications architecture will evolve
from the present legacy assets but with the addition of new assets.
This future architecture will need a radically new user interface
paradigm that must allow space communications missions to both
unequivocally specify their requests and also iteratively get those
requests integrated with those of other users in increasingly crowded
bandwidths. It is our contention that such an interface cannot be
developed easily with conventional means, but instead is best designed
using intelligent agent technologies, resulting in an intelligent space
communications scheduling agent for each user/mission. Therefore, to
meet the increased scheduling needs we propose to:  design and develop
software scheduling agents to interface with existing space
communications scheduling engines, using local working databases of
active schedule possibilities; to incorporate in the agents models of
user preferences for communications requests, conflict resolution and
notification of schedule changes; to allow the user/mission to vary the
autonomy of the scheduling agent; and to imbue the agents with the
capability for planful interactions for peer-to-peer resolution of
schedule conflicts.
The characterization of aircraft particulate matter (PM) emissions has benefited greatly by the Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) by providing size resolved compositional information.  AMS data have been critical to much of our understanding of aircraft PM emissions, but it has limited utility in probing the smallest (&lt;100 nm) particles in the exhaust.  Also, to date the AMS has been able to detect only volatile PM and other instruments have been required to characterize the non-volatile (soot).  We propose to improve greatly the capabilities of a novel version of the AMS to cover two important gaps in our understanding of gas turbine engine particle emissions: 1) size resolved composition of particles with diameters less than 50 nm; 2) size resolved mass and chemical composition (e.g., fullerenic composition) of black carbon soot.  Specifically in Phase I, we aim to: 1) improve AMS detection of particles smaller than 100 nm by refining an existing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and use the CFD model to guide the design of new AMS particle focusing designs, and 2) evaluate for model soot characterization a newly developed instrument which combines a laser ablation system with AMS technology ? an instrument which we have termed the SP2-AMS.
To address the NASA/ARC need for wireless networking technologies for small launch vehicles, Broadata Communications, Inc. proposes to develop a new Small Space Platform Internet Protocol (SSP-IP) Stack with Space-Enhanced TCP and devices to achieve high performance networking, despite typical space link problems and footprint constraints. BCI's approach incorporates advanced Space IP network measurements and their application in small embeddedable TCP. Our SSP-IP stack offers Internet-based protocols that provide seamless network command and control continuity between terrestrial and space-based platforms as well as networked operations of distributed ground stations. NASA will benefit from our SSP-IP by increasing simplicity of seamless network transmission and lowering cost. In Phase I BCI will demonstrate the feasibility of using SSP TCP to reliably transmit space imagery from a Nanosat launching vehicle by building, testing and integrating with hardware a preliminary version, which will demonstrate a TRL-level 3 by the end of Phase I. In Phase II, BCI plans to develop a fully functional prototype and demonstrate the low complexity and embeddability to NASA's platform with high performance. The demonstrated results will offer NASA capabilities to use our reliable SSP TCP in future ground and spacecraft operations, increasing efficiency and saving money.
Traditional radiation hardened by process (RHBP) and radiation hardened by design (RHBD) techniques have seen success in mitigating the effects of radiation induced corruption, but are often cumbersome, slow and expensive.  Current RHBP hardening techniques include foundry processing methods which take place at the manufacturing level such as the use of radiation resistant device packaging, radiation doping, and one-time programmable architectures.  To date, RHBP approaches are often unavailable, prohibitively expensive, or too far behind the state of the art for many designers, forcing them to investigate RHBD techniques.  RHBD design methods attempt to mitigate the effects of radiation by integrating principles of redundancy, error correction, and self-testing at multiple levels of the design, including the physical layout of a system function, the programming of the device, and the software running on the device.  Traditional RHBD methods are often flawed when implemented on modern FPGA devices due to unique device architectures and supporting vendor CAD tools.  Luna Innovations Incorporated proposes to develop susceptibility metrics and innovative RHBD methods to minimize the vulnerabilities of reprogrammable FPGAs in radiation prone environments.  Luna will combine these developments into Luna PAR, a software program that optimizes designs for radiation hardening.
Physical Sciences Inc. proposes to develop a compact, rugged,
rapid-response, autonomous sensor for in-situ monitoring of ambient O3
from UAVs.  Our innovation is to combine newly available UV light
emitting diodes (LEDs) with miniaturized, low power, high sensitivity
signal detection electronics to create a next generation, UAV-class,
photometer for O3.   The advent of UV LEDs enables the development of a
very compact and highly sensitive monitor for ambient O3.  An LED-based
sensor has many advantages over currently available technologies and is
highly suitable for deployment in UAVs.  The Phase I program will
demonstrate the feasibility of a breadboard sensor and create a detailed
conceptual plan for a fieldable prototype.  The TRL at the end of Phase
I will be level 4.  The Phase II program will fabricate a prototype that
can be field demonstrated on an aircraft.  The TRL at the end of Phase
II will be level 6.  Successful completion of Phases I and II will
result in a rigorously validated prototype sensor that can monitor
ambient O3 with high speed and precision.  The sensor architecture can
be easily modified to measure other species.  Using new mid-IR LEDs, the
photometer can monitor trace gases such as CO2 and CO.
Loop heat pipes are commonly used for heat rejection radiators above a few hundred watts. The LHP condener tubing is embedded in composite panels which are manually deployed. By making the LHP condenser tubing out of shape memory alloy tubing, the radiator becomes self deploying and self contained. It will passively deploy when the payload components begin producing significant heat. This not only eliminates the deployment mechanisms and controls, but also provides more flexible stowing arrangement for the radiators. Very small satellites and spacecraft can now have deployable radiators.
Iris AO will extend its proven segmented MEMS deformable mirror architecture to large array sizes required for high-contrast astrophysical imagers.  Current implementations consist of arrays of 37 mirror segments (currently available commercially) and 163 segment arrays (first prototypes under test).  Existing thin-film based MEMS fabrication techniques used by competitors typically can not achieve an adequate degree of optical flatness and maintain it over a range of temperatures.  Even newer thick-film methods suffer from the same problem to some degree.  The Iris AO segmented mirror approach, on the other hand, uses a thick and rigid single-crystal-silicon optical surface bonded to an electrostatically driven actuator platform.  This results in excellent mirror flatness and insensitivity to temperature even when specialized optical coatings are used.  This proposal addresses scaling this technology up to 10^3 segments.  Key technical issues to be addressed in accommodating the larger number of segments include: (a) controlling overall bow of the larger chip; (b) developing the electrical interconnect design and fabrication process, and (c) modifying the mirror-wafer bonding process.  This Phase I will include one process run in order to test and refine the proposed solutions.
Ultrasonic guided wave nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques are being used to detect flaws and damage in fracture critical structures such as composites. In order to provide early detection of aging and damage processes in composites, we propose to develop a "virtual inspection" simulation toolbox specifically for ultrasonic guided waves. This toolbox will be able to evaluate ultrasonic guided wave NDE methods for its feasibility as part of the design process for critical system components, and it would include modeling the changes in critical material properties as indicators of material aging and then quantifying the levels of detectability of these material properties with the guided wave NDE technique. 

This computational tool will be able to accurately model the interaction between the changes in the material properties and the probing energy of guided waves to allow the development of the inspection parameters needed for application on a particular structure.
The early lunar network communications involves the use of a variety of communication channels and networks such as IEEE 802.16, Ka-Band and S-Band satellite data-links. The sophisticated environment casts a major challenge to provide a reliable network communications supporting the performance of lunar missions. In addition, the delivery of a higher Quality of Service (QoS) is not only stifled by the network segmentation but also greatly influenced by the potential data-link disruption. AGNC proposes the Reconfigurable Robust Routing for Mobile Outreach Network (R3MOON) implemented on its existing Service Oriented P2P Middleware. By adopting effective cross-layered network management strategies and routing algorithms in the underlying middleware, R3MOON greatly mitigates many network concerns and transforms the lunar communications from the maintenance of lower level data-link to the performance of higher level applications.
Phase I is devoted to the R3MOON design validation and early prototype. Phase II will result in development of a fully functional prototype.
Microwave radiometry is a well-known and extremely useful method to study the chemistry and dynamics of the Earth's atmosphere. For accurate long term measurements, the calibration and stability of the radiometer is of primary importance. Thus, the noise-injection radiometer (NIR), which greatly reduces drifts due to gain and noise figure variation in the receiver system, is highly preferred. The NIR architecture requires an electronic noise injection system consisting of a noise diode, a switch and a coupler to inject the noise into the signal waveguide. NIRs are now commonly used at lower frequency, but above about 100 GHz the noise diodes become much more difficult to achieve. Recently, VDI has measured significant ENR above 100 GHz from GaAs Schottky barrier diodes. This preliminary measurement with a non-optimized diode design, coupled with the fact that the VDI diodes have been used as mixers and multipliers to well over 1 THz, offers some promise that GaAs diodes can be used to achieve useful noise power levels to well above 100 GHz. Thus, the focus of this Phase 1 proposal is the investigation of noise diodes and noise sources based on GaAs Schottky diode technology for noise-injection radiometer systems above 100 GHz.
Shape Change Technologies (SCT) has pioneered the use of Self-propagating High Temperature Synthesis (SHS) to manufacture open celled, porous TiNi.  Recently, we have been able to demonstrate the shape memory effect  in these foams, which is a unique capability.   Unlike solid, monolithic TiNi, the open-celled foam structure allows for very rapid response times when immersed in fluids, such as hot water or hot air. The SHS process makes net shape components, and so the cost of the tube can be dramatically reduced, and can have features introduced into the end of the tube to allow for simple torque transfer into a structure.  Thus, in developing a foam torque tube using SHS, all of the key obstacles to its incorporation into existing aerostructures can be resolved, while preserving the key benefits of a lightweight, solid-state structure.
Deployable Space Systems (DSS), in partnership with ATK Space and EMCORE, will focus the proposed SBIR program on the coupling of ultra-thin 33&#37; BOL efficient multijunction solar cell flexible blanket technologies (EMCORE's IMM cell integrated to an advanced flexible blanket), to an ultra-lightweight elastically self-deployed roll-out solar array (ROSA) structural platform to produce a near-term and low-risk solar array system that provides revolutionary performance in terms of high specific power (&gt;546 W/kg BOL), lightweight, high deployed stiffness, high deployed strength, compact stowage volume (&gt;57 kW/m3 BOL), reliability, affordability, and rapid commercial readiness.  The high-performance of an optimized ROSA solar array system with IMM technology represents incredible improvements over current state-of-the-art.  The significance of the proposed effort will provide a revolutionary and positive performance impact to the end-user, and allow for the rapid insertion of this mission-enabling technology for future applications.
Broadband Photonics Incorporated proposes to develop a patent-pending fiber optic continuous liquid sensor for low-thrust level settled mass gauging with measurement uncertainty &lt;0.5&#37; over fill levels from 2&#37; to 98&#37;. The fiber optic liquid sensor has significant advantages over the existing liquid sensors, including Delta-P pressure sensors, capacitance probes, ultrasonic sensors, and silicon diode point sensors in terms of gauging accuracy, reliability, simplicity, and maintenance. The proposed sensor is able to replace silicon diode point sensors currently used for propellant gauging without any modification on the tank. In Phase 1, we will prove the feasibility of the liquid sensor, including demonstration of 1 mm liquid level spatial resolution and development of the robust sensing fiber for cryogenic temperature applications. In Phase 2, we will further develop the prototype of the fiber optic liquid sensor.
This Phase I SBIR proposal seeks funding to develop a radiation-hardened circuit architecture to achieve SEU and SEL immunity by using delay-insensitive asynchronous logic, and to demonstrate its feasibility, effectiveness, and efficiency. Further, early studies reveal that an operational temperature range of 2K to 400K will be highly feasible. Delay-insensitive asynchronous logic removes the concept of a global clock by incorporating handshaking protocols to control the circuit. The handshaking protocols allows for flexible timing requirements, high power efficiency, and low noise/emission generation. The flexible timing nature of delay-insensitive logic makes this type of circuits an excellent candidate for mitigating radiation effects in digital electronics. Compared to the existing radiation-hardening techniques, the proposed solution has several substantial benefits including cost efficiency, SEU/SEL immunity without weak points, and the ability to retain data during power cycling while mitigating SEL. In addition, significantly improved supply voltage variation sustainability and security against power-based side-channel attacks can also be achieved.
Recovery of water from brine is critically important for manned space
exploration.  Resupply of water is prohibitively costly for extended
missions.  It is anticipated that NASA will pool urine, hygiene water
and humidity condensate into a combined waste stream that will
subsequently be concentrated into a brine while recovering some but not
all of the water, 90-95&amp;#37;.  The concentrated brine that results from
primary water recovery systems contains a significant amount of water.
The proposed innovation will recover virtually all of the remaining
water.  This will be accomplished by ultrasonically creating nebulized
droplets of the brine that can be readily dried under a partial vacuum
with moderate temperature microwave heating.  The process bears some
resemblance to spray drying, but uses much smaller droplets (1.6 m as
compared to ~100 m).  Small droplets enable quicker drying due to their
high relative surface area.  This is particularly important when drying
wastewater brines which contain ingredients that are thermally labile
and require drying at relatively low temperatures.  The proposed system
has no nozzles to become plugged, requires no chemical additives, uses a
minimal amount of power, is simple and small, requires minimal astronaut
attention and uses a continuous, closed cycle process that is gravity independent.
As minimum cost will be required for a dedicated NanoSat Launch Vehicle, a series and parallel staged, highly modular vehicle architecture is proposed for design exploration.  The principal advantage of a modular architecture on this size vehicle is a single propulsion development at a relatively small scale which drastically shortens development timelines and cost.  A candidate launch vehicle could use 7 modules for the first stage, 4 for the second, 2 for the third, and 1 for the fourth.  Whittinghill Aerospace proposes to investigate many modular designs for 3, 4, and 5 stage vehicles of different (solid, liquid, and hybrid) propellant types.  Structural, aerodynamic, propulsion, and control configurations of vehicles will be optimized and "flown" with a trajectory tool to evaluate performance.  After trades and analyses are completed and designs ranked, the resulting optimum module size will then be built and tested at an anticipated 1 to 3Klb thrust level.  At the conclusion of Phase 1, the technology will be ready for flight development and will be at a TRL level of 5.  At the end of Phase 2, a full-scale, 2-stage sub-orbital modular vehicle will have flown.
The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) strives to transform the existing National Airspace System (NAS) into the safest, most efficient  system feasible. This proposal addresses the automated surface traffic and resource planning for the NextGen Airportal concept. Current system is primarily reliant on manual planning and human decision making with minimal computer support. The proposed Collaborative Aircraft Planning System (CAPS) will implement advanced evolutionary algorithms to achieve Airportal usage optimality in real-time while maintaining the required safety margins in aircraft separation and conflict resolution. CAPS will be designed to be flexible to accommodate future aircraft capabilities and equipage, modeling of arbitrary pre-requisite and post-requisite resource requirements, weather driven changes in Airportal constraints, and will be scalable to larger metro-plexes of multiple airportals while maintaining real-time planning capabilities. CAPS will also provide intuitive graphical operator interfaces with enhanced visualization and safety alert capabilities. 

SSCI will leverage its expertise and past experience in implementing evolutionary algorithms for large planning problems in designing the CAPS software tool. Phase II will lead to a CAPS software package delivery that can be integrated with NASA's FACET and ACES software for evaluation and demonstration.
The goal of the proposed work is to create new ways to manage,
visualize, and share data produced by multiple software analysis tools,
and to create a framework for integrating diversely-sourced analysis
tools into software practices, across the lifecycle, in a way that
improves both reliability and productivity. Software analysis tools are
used by software programmers, analysts, and managers to find potential
defects in software source code, to enhance compliance with
organizational development standards of practice, and to assist
developers and teams in expressing and managing key information
regarding design intent. While analysis tools have been shown to offer
quality and productivity benefits to programmers, the present user
experience limits their effectiveness and is a substantial barrier to
their adoption into mainstream software development practices.
Additionally, there is a growing number of tools now becoming available,
and the tools are proving to have complementary capabilities, which
means that groups seeking some comprehensiveness of coverage must
develop multi-tool approaches.  Finally, a suite of tools can produce
more than 10,000 individual findings for a mid-sized software system,
creating challenges for prioritization and focus. The project addresses
the challenge through the development and evaluation of an analytic tool
suite, called Sierra client and server, to support data management,
integration, filtering, and querying of large numbers of findings drawn
from multiple tools.  It does this in a way that supports teams and
collaboration, auditing and tracking, longitudinal analysis, interactive
visualization, and management analytics.
To ensure mission success, astronauts must maintain a high level of performance even when work-rest schedules result in chronic sleep restriction and circadian misalignment, both of which contribute to fatigue and performance deficits unless effective countermeasures are used. We are proposing to build an Individualized Fatigue Meter that incorporates light inputs, sleep history; physical activity; other physiological inputs; and brief performance tests (e.g. winSCAT, PVT SelfTest) to provide immediate individualized feedback about alertness. For the past 8 years, we have been actively developing many of the system components (funded by NASA, DOD, and NIH) that can be leveraged in this project. The result of this project through Phase II will be a system prototype that can be deployed in space analog environments for validation testing and ultimately deployed on ISS and missions to Moon and Mars. The critical need for an Individualized Fatigue Meter has been identified as a priority outlined in the Behavioral Health and Performance Integrated Research Plan GAP 1.1.1. During Phase I, we will perform a literature review of fatigue monitoring technologies, develop an engineering requirements document, and identify key features of mathematical models needed to design a state-of-art Individualized Fatigue Meter (Phase I TRL of 3-4).
Future space telescopes such as the Super Nova Acceleration Probe (SNAP) require exceptionally reflective coatings applied to mirrors several meters in diameter.  In 2007, Surface Optics Corporation (SOC) applied a protected silver coating to the Kepler Space telescope's 1.4-m primary mirror.  Although SOC's coating design met the reflectance requirements for Kepler, the protective layers absorb too much energy in the UV and visible spectral regions to meet SNAP's science objectives.  

In this research, SOC will improve the spectra performance of its current protected silver coating, by modifying the protection chemistry, as well as, the deposition process.  SOC's silver coating design is based on a protection recipe patented by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).  Recent SOC IRAD results showed that significant modifications to the basic LLNL protection scheme are possible, without sacrificing coating durability.

In Phase I, a variety of protective compounds will be fabricated by an ion-assisted evaporation process and optimized for their protective properties, adhesion characteristics, and effect on coating reflectivity.  In addition, SOC will create a more precise method to deposit protective NiCrNx atomic clusters, which are a critical element of LLNL's silver protection recipe.  By modifying SOC's evaporation system and monitoring process, it is expected the necessary volume of these highly absorbing clusters may be reduced by a factor of 2, while still providing adequate engineering margin to insure durability.  These modifications will significantly improve coating reflectance in the UV and visible spectral regions. 

In Phase II, scale-up issues will be addressed and the improved silver coating process will be applied to a 2.2-m mirror substrate in SOC's 3.3-meter vacuum coating chamber.
eSky will develop specific crew state metrics based on the timeliness, tempo and accuracy of pilot inputs required by the H-mode Flight Control System (HFCS).  Specific scenarios will be developed which define required inputs by the pilot and metrics of timeliness, tempo and accuracy will be developed for each required input.  An existing HFCS simulator will be enhanced to support the full scenarios and crew state metric capture.  Human subject testing will validate the stability of the metrics in normal situations and the responsiveness of the metrics to crew state degradation due to high workload.  Strategies for continuous real-time function allocation to crew and automation will be developed.  At the end of phase 1 crew state monitoring metrics will be at TRL 4/5.  In phase 2 we will incorporate these metrics and strategies into the HFCS simulator and evaluate the usability and validity of these metrics and strategies using both workload and hypoxia as means of controlled crew state degradation.  At the end of phase 2 metric-based function reallocation will be implemented in a collaborative flight control system ready for incorporation into a full motion simulator at TRL 5.
Microcosm along with its partners HRP Systems, End-to-End Analytics, and ARES Corporation (unfunded in Phase I), propose to develop a new solution for detailed data gathering to support improved ground-up cost estimation.  It will enable frequent collection and archiving of cost and other data down to the lowest WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) levels.  
Current parametric space system cost estimation tools such as NAFCOM (NASA/Air Force Cost Model) and SSCM (Small Satellite Cost Model) provide good results when schedules and design and management approaches are similar to those in their existing databases ?primarily traditional approaches, but they can fall-flat when applied to programs focused on rapid design and development and/or very low costs.  To address these types of programs, more and better data is required.
The Microcosm team proposes an approach similar to and complementary to earned value data collection and reporting.  In addition to gathering detailed actuals, this approach also requires cost and schedule forecast updates and forecast uncertainty estimates to be updated and collected as well as supplementary explanatory information.  With this additional data models can be improved, and program and task managers can be trained to become better forecasters.
SSCI proposes to develop and test a framework referred to as the ADVANCE (Algorithm Design and Validation for Adaptive Nonlinear Control Enhancement), within which we plan to perform a comparison study of the state-of-the-art adaptive flight control algorithms on two challenging testbeds: (i) a small tailsitter unmanned aerial vehicle that is characterized by highly uncertain nonlinear dynamics, and (ii) F/A-18 aircraft under wing damage. The results of this study should give rise to a set of recommendations and guidelines regarding the use, tuning and implementation of different advanced nonlinear adaptive control algorithms to problems in flight control in the presence of large modeling uncertainties. Based on this study, we also propose to develop the ADVANCE algorithms and techniques as the most suitable combination of those that represent the state-of-the-art in nonlinear adaptive flight control. This combination will focus on retaining the most favorable features of the existing algorithms, while minimizing their disadvantages and unfavorable interactions. Specific Phase I tasks will include: (i) Problem formulation; (ii) Testbed modeling and simulation development; (iii) Simulation testing of flight control algorithms; (iv) Performance evaluation &amp; trade study. Phase II will include further enhancement and development of the proposed ADVANCE algorithms and comprehensive testing of methods of interest through pilot-in-the-loop simulations of F/A-18 aircraft, and flight testing of the tailsitter UAV. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Prof. Jonathan How) and Boeing Phantom Works (James Urnes, Sr.) will provide technical support under the project.
The well-being of the crew on manned missions depends critical on the composition of the habitat air.  Oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor are the most important air constituents that have to be monitored continuously.  Optical monitoring with its features of high precision, strong species selectivity and fast response is the preferred method if lightweight, small and low power-draw instrumentation can be developed.  Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are now available covering a broad wavelength range.  These single frequency light sources are ideal candidates for high performance gas monitoring and especially suited for space applications due to their small size and extremely low power consumption.  Vista Photonics proposes to develop technology based on these lasers that leads to small sensors that fulfill the strict requirements of spaceflight.  The narrowband output of these lasers combined with wavelength modulation spectroscopy and a compact absorption cell will provide superior sensor performance.  Inherent features like sensor health monitoring and recalibration without the use of expendable gases will be incorporated.  The developed sensor will be fully automated and no maintenance will be required.
Future space exploration missions present significant new challenges to crew health care capabilities, particularly in the efficient utilization of on-board oxygen resources.  The International Space Station and future exploration vehicles require a light weight, compact, portable oxygen concentrator technology (OCT) that can provide medical grade oxygen from the ambient cabin air.  Current OCTs are heavy, bulky, have a narrow operating temperature range (ambient to 40 degrees C), and require 15 to 30 minutes start-up time to reach their full operating capacity.  Lynntech's proposed electrochemical OCT solves these issues by operating the OCT with a cathode-air vapor feed, unlike conventional electrochemical OCTs which require a liquid water feed.  This is possible due to the use of in-house developed proprietary nanocomposite proton exchange membrane and oxygen reduction/evolution catalyst technologies.  Cathode-air vapor feed operation eliminates the need for a bulky on-board water supply, significantly reduces the complexity of the balance-of-plant, and greatly increases the system efficiency.  Lynntech's OCT will be a quarter the size and weight of conventional OCTs, be capable of instant start-up, and have an operating temperature range of 10 degrees C to 110 degrees C.
This proposal defines innovative aerodynamic concepts and technology goals aimed at vehicle efficiency for future subsonic aircraft in the 2020 ? 2030 timeframe.  Noise, emissions and fuel burn are all vehicle efficiency concerns which can be addressed by aerodynamic concepts either on the component, subsystem, or aircraft design system level.  In line with the NASA, an assumption is made that by 2025, higher air traffic demand (2-3 times the 2004 level) will require a significant increase in airport throughput, improved air traffic control procedures, and a significant decrease in noise.

Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero) has a design and analysis team to address high risk/high pay-off technologies on the aircraft aerodynamics concept level and airframe/propulsion integration to dramatically reduce noise, pollution, and fuel burn in the 2020-2030 timeframe.  The key technology for these breakthroughs is the use of an advanced cryogenically-cooled electric propulsion system installed in advanced unconventional aircraft configurations.  An important feature of this study is to understand and evaluate the impact of this propulsion system on the design and aerodynamic performance of the total aircraft.  In addition, ESAero will examine the applicability of STOL performance to potential improvements in airport throughput using multiple configuration and aerodynamic performance concepts.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project, which will conclude with a Technical Readiness Level of 3-4, will demonstrate the feasibility of the Componentized Models as a Service (CMaaS) system, a web-centric software service architecture that will dramatically improve the manner in which NASA's modeling assets are developed, deployed and used.  Under this service architecture, models will be exposed as web services that are fully configurable and executable from a browser.  Moreover, the software components from which models are comprised will be published as "pluggable" service modules that can be discovered and incorporated into a model at runtime via a novel dynamic build mechanism.  Importantly, existing models and components will require little to no modification to be deployed on the service.

The project will leverage technologies developed for the Frontier Dashboard, an extant browser interface to and supporting framework for Parabon's commercial grid computing service.  Constructed with Google&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; Web Toolkit (GWT) components, the Frontier Dashboard provides end users with a rich browser interface for managing large-scale computational jobs.  Moreover, it provides developers pre-built mechanisms for user authentication and authorization, account management, and accounting, which greatly eases the burdens of creating web service applications.
The on-ground and Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System (DiRETHMS) provides a system architecture and software tools for performing diagnostics and prognostics for supporting NASA's Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) capability for rocket engine testing and ground operations. DiRETHMS architecture consists of a hierarchical, modular, scalable, and flexible system structure for performing ISHM. A core version of the system will be demonstrated during the Phase I effort by performing diagnostics of auxiliary components in rocket engines. The building blocks of the DiRETHMS are: (a) Advanced Embedded Smart Sensors (AESS); (b) Health Monitoring Nodes (HMN), (c) Health Manager Unit (HMaU), and (d) Application Server with Man Machine Interface Man Machine Interface (AS-MMI). DiRETHMS architecture will provide a logic organization for embedding diagnostics at the following levels: (1) smart sensors based on UNCU; ( (3) Robust monitoring/diagnosis subsystem; and (4) system level Prognosis.  The significant innovations of this project are: (1) Capability to provide the user with an integrated awareness about the condition of every element in the system, (2) Very flexible architecture of smart sensors that comply with state of the art standards for easy integration and customization, (3) System configuration for support root-cause analysis, and (4) Object-Oriented Bayesian Network for Uncertain Inference.
To-date, the realization of high-performance liquid bipropellant rocket engines in the micro-scale has largely been hindered by the inability to obtain "on-board" pressurization through a light-weight and low-complexity pump. Ventions seeks to fulfill this critical need by proposing the development of a low-risk pump that can be batch fabricated in a low-cost manner to provide significant performance improvements for a Mars Ascent Vehicle and other spacecraft.
NASA has been tasked to develop new and advanced capabilities to support both future manned and robotic missions to the lunar and Martian surfaces.  It is the purpose of this program to develop advanced avionics, software, and information technologies for exploration missions.  In particular, NASA is concerned with the extreme radiation present on the lunar surface, Martian surface, and in deep space.  Spacecraft electronics will need to be radiation hardened against a TID of 100 krads (Si) or more and provide SEL immunity of 100 MeV cm2/mg or greater.   Furthermore, electronics in these environments are also subjected to multiple thermal-cycling and wide temperature ranges.  
  
Our innovation provides solutions for the mitigation of radiation effects on reprogrammable SRAM-based FPGA processor elements through the use of an advanced foundry process combined with innovative and RHBD methods to mitigate total ionizing dose and provide SEL immunity, and SEU tolerance.  These techniques will be utilized to develop a prototype of radiation hardened, reprogrammable FPGA that will be fabricated and tested, suitable for consideration in future NASA Flagship programs.
In support of NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and Aviation Safety Mission,  NanoSonic has developed a series of moisture and corrosion mitigating, ultra-hydrophobic, environmentally tunable, nanophase separating adhesive modifiers and complementary high performance, wide service temperature range  (-60&amp;#61616;C to 450&amp;#61616;C) structural adhesives.  The smart nanostructured modifiers represent a significant discovery as the adhesion strength of our novel and commercial-off-the-shelf aerospace adhesives was increased by &gt; 40&#37; with inclusion of such systems upon aging in 100&#37; relative humidity (RH), ten days, 140&amp;#61616;F.  Of significant importance to manufacturability and dual-use commercialization, the novel modifying agents are inert, inorganic-organic, halogenated hybrid copolymers, and hence can be used with virtually any adhesive, paint or environmental aerospace materials systems.  The inorganic poly(octahedral silsesquioxane) (POSS), fluorination and copolymer molecular weight can be synthetically engineered to complement any paste of film adhesive.  The TRL of the novel adhesive system would be increased from 6-8 during Phase II.
While conventional injection seeding sources (such as DFB diode lasers and rare-earth doped solid-state microchip lasers) are available at 1.5 microns, these sources typically lack the ultra-narrow (&lt;50 kHz), ultra-stable output spectrum required for use in applications such as Doppler shift measurements of the tropospheric winds. Furthermore, similar sources which operate at 2.0 microns (a preferred wavelength for space-based atmospheric measurements) are simply unavailable.
AM Biotechnologies (AM) in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories will develop a Thioaptamer Diagnostic System (TDS) in response to Topic X10.01 Reusable Diagnostic Lab Technology.  The TDS will quickly quantify clinically relevant biomarkers in flight using only microliters of virtually any complex sample.  The system combines ambient-stable, long-shelf-life affinity agent assays with a handheld microfluidic gel electrophoresis affinity assay quantification technology.  The system is easy to use, compatible with operation in microgravity, and designed to permit simultaneous quantification of 32 or more biomarkers from a single astronaut sample. 

Phase 1 of this project demonstrated that a thioaptamer assay used in the microfluidic instrument can quantify a specific biomarker in serum in the low nanomolar range. AM also successfully identified novel affinity agents to bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) and demonstrated their use to detect BAP using the microfluidic instrument.  Phase 2 will expand the number of ambient stable affinity agents and demonstrate a TDS prototype to NASA.  AM anticipates that the TDS at the end of Phase 2 will be at TRL 4 to 5.  In Phase 3, AM and Sandia will produce flight units for NASA research use on the International Space Station (ISS) as well as for diagnostic use on future long duration missions.
Long-range optical telecommunications (LROT) impose challenging requirements on detector array sensitivity at 1064nm and arrays timing bandwidth. Large photonic arrays with integrated beam acquisition, tracking and/or communication capabilities, and smart pixel architecture should allow the implementation of more reliable and robust LROT systems. Integration of smart pixel technology for parallel data acquisition and processing is currently available in silicon. Current silicon photon-counting detector arrays benefit from a worldwide manufacturing and R&amp;D infrastructure but their response at 1064nm is not suitable for LROT.
In Phase I we proposed to verify the feasibility of increasing the responsivity of aPeak's silicon photon counting arrays at 1064nm by increasing their quantum absorption efficiency and demonstrating sub-nanosecond timing resolution. Phase I resulted in photon counting arrays with enhanced response at 1064 nm. Modules to be implemented into the readout IC (ROIC) have been fabricated in compact ASIC designs, suitable for integration into the smart pixel fabric  they have demonstrated 100ps timing jitter and have exceeded the dynamic range requirements. Noise, timing resolution, and linearity requirements meet updated program requirements
Phase II program builds upon Phase I results and previous smart pixel development at aPeak Inc with the aim to develop photon-counting arrays with enhanced 1064nm response and integrated counters at pixel level, capable of high - timing resolution and high counting rate. We propose to develop the photon counting detector arrays, associated ROIC arrays in ASIC, technology to assemble the detector and ROIC arrays, as well as in process ASIC mapping and maskless correction methods critical for the detector fabrication. Detector array design will be improved to meet the detection efficiency at 1064nm, while preserving or improving the detector noise, timing resolution, and linearity demonstrated in Phase I
Silver coatings for optics greater than 2-meters in diameter are sought by NASA for future space telescope systems.  In the Phase I research, Surface Optics Corporation (SOC) investigated several new coating systems for protecting silver.  The new coating designs are derivations based on a patented coating design created at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).  The new designs improve the coating's reflectance performance, particularly in the UV region, while maintaining stability in humid and/or corrosive environments.  In addition, SOC devised and installed a new piece of coating equipment, which improves the ability to apply exceptionally thin protective layers, by better monitoring the shape of the evaporation plume.
The Lunar Soil Particle Separator (LSPS) is an innovative method to beneficiate soil prior to in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The LSPS can improve ISRU oxygen yield by boosting the concentration of ilmenite or other iron-oxide bearing materials found in lunar soils. This can substantially reduce hydrogen reduction reactor size and drastically decrease the power input required for soil heating. LSPS particle size separations can be performed to de-dust regolith and to improve ISRU reactor flow dynamics. LSPS mineral separations can be used to alter the sintering characteristics of lunar soil. The LSPS can also be used to separate and concentrate lunar minerals useful for manufacture of structural materials, glass, and chemicals. The LSPS integrates an initial centrifugal particle size separation with magnetic, gravity, and electrostatic separations. The LSPS centrifugal separation method overcomes the reduced efficiency of conventional particle sieving in reduced gravity. The LSPS hardware design integrates many individual unit operations to reduce system mass and power requirements. The LSPS is applicable to ISRU feed processing as well as robotic prospecting to characterize soils over wide regions on the Moon. The LSPS is scalable and is amenable to testing and development in vacuum and reduced gravity.
Remote Sensing Solutions will evaluate the critical parameters and generate a design approach for a portable, all-weather multi-wavelength antenna system suitable for supporting GPM ground validation and for use in other NASA cloud and precipitation research programs. The antenna system will have a number of unique characteristics including high gain (approximately 1 deg half-power beam width) and matched antenna beam shapes. The antenna will support multiple frequencies used for cloud and precipitation sensing. The basic design will provide Ku-band (14 GHz) and Ka-band (35 GHz) channels that can support a variety of polarization and absorption-based rain retrieval algorithms. An additional 95 GHz channel will be considered to augment the cloud-sensing capabilities of the antenna and to allow particle sizing in clouds. The antenna will have extremely high cross-polarization isolation suitable for identifying ice cloud particle habit.
This proposed Phase II SBIR would realize a prototype of an offset Gregorian antenna design that will be delivered to NASA for integration in the D3R GPM ground validation radar system, for which RSS is currently fabricating the radar transceiver through a Phase III project. During the Phase I effort for this antenna system, Remote Sensing Solutions developed a design for a novel dual-wavelength Ku/Ka-band radar remote sensing antenna system with high integrated cross-polarization isolation (&gt; 30 dB) and low sidelobes (&lt; -25 dB). The design provides high gain (&lt; 1 deg beamwidth) and matched antenna patterns in a rugged mechanical configuration that is transportable in a standard sea-container. The primary innovations realized in the Phase I design that would be implemented in the Phase II effort include: an ultra-low cross-pol reflector, a rugged compact feed with very low cross-polarization supporting multiple polarizations at Ku and Ka-band and  a robust mechanical structure to meet the antenna electrical tolerances over a wide range of environmental conditions.
NextGen will require the development of novel solutions to shape the airspace of tomorrow. Along with the ability to generate new systems and technologies comes the need to rigorously evaluate, and eventually validate, the effectiveness of these concepts. However, it is often challenging to translate simulation data into useful, integrated, and contextually-based assessments. Many critical findings are not identified for this reason, which could otherwise guide researchers toward advancements with NextGen technologies. Aptima proposes to develop the Use-driven Testbed for Evaluating Systems and Technologies (U-TEST), a flexible toolset that helps NextGen researchers to efficiently extract findings on pilot performance in simulated flight environments. Three primary components are: (1) context-capturing software will guide researchers to key events and allow important contextual information to be gathered for analysis; (2) a data integration platform that will automate organization of data sources into a format conducive to analysis; and (3) context-based analysis software that will enable deep, focused analysis by combining a quick-look function, an algorithm for focusing analysis, and context-based playback of key events and trials. U-TEST will be an extensible toolset that can help NextGen researchers improve the amount and quality of findings across a range of studies.
NASA plans to produce cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen to power regenerative fuel cells for lunar surface exploration.  The oxygen and hydrogen will be produced by electrolysis of water from In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) reactors.  The electrolysis products will be warm high-pressure gases, requiring significant cryocooler power to achieve the desired storage conditions.  This power can be reduced by expanding the gases adiabatically from the electrolysis pressure to storage pressure.  We propose to develop innovative turboalternators to maximize this effect and convert the extracted fluid power into useful electric power.  Small flow rates and high fluid densities require turbine rotors that are extremely small and operate at high speeds.  Cryogenic gas bearings and miniature rotor fabrication techniques are key features that create high efficiency in our approach.  The gas bearings also enable reliable, long-life, maintenance-free operation.  The proposed development will leverage decades of Creare experience with cryogenic gas-bearing turbomachines.  In Phase I, we developed optimized turboalternator designs by conducting trade studies, specifying design details, analyzing performance, and demonstrating bearing operation with two-phase rotor flow.  During Phase II, we will create a complete set of fabrication drawings, develop critical fabrication processes, fabricate a prototype turboalternator, and measure its performance at representative operating conditions.
The objective of the Phase II program is to complete the development of the titanium heat pipe thermal plane and establish all necessary steps for production of this heat pipe.  The main aerospace application for this titanium heat pipe design  is fuel cell thermal management. Electronics cooling is expected to be the largest commercial market for this technology.
The Phase I  program was successfully completed five weeks sooner than deadline. All main technical objectives were met.  Three thermal plane units were produced and thermally tested.  One unit was shipped to NASA GRC and one unit is currently in a "burn-in" setup for Non-Condensable Gas (NCG) generation prevention.  NCG generation still remains the most important issue to be resolved before heat pipe will be ready for production.  Another limiting factor for wide commercial application of the titanium heat pipes is their high manufacturing cost.  These issues will be addressed in the Phase II program.
The Phase II work effort is divided into eleven tasks: ten technical tasks plus one reporting task.  The work involves reviewing requirements, thermal plane design, alternative materials development, design optimization, non-condensable gas abatement concluding with the fabrication test and delivery of several titanium thermal planes to NASA. All tasks will be accomplished at Thermacore, Inc. facility.
Direct electrochemical reduction of molten regolith is the most attractive method of oxygen production on the lunar surface, because no additional chemical reagents are needed. The process is proven on a laboratory scale, but the cathode-anode system and melt containers need to be improved for practical applications.  The electrochemical processing of molten oxides requires high surface area inert anodes. Such electrodes need to be structurally robust at elevated temperatures (1400-1600&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C), resistant to thermal shock, have good electrical conductivity, resistant to attack by molten oxide (silicate), electrochemically stable, and support high current density. Iridium is a proven material for this application. Innovative concepts for large scale, high surface area iridium anodes and long life, self-heating containers for the melts are proposed.  The result of this program will be the development, manufacture, and test of high surface area iridium anodes and melt containers for molten oxide electrolysis to produce oxygen.
SSCI is proposing to develop, test and deliver a set of topology control algorithms and software for a formation flying spacecraft that can be used to design and evaluate candidate formation architectures.  Properties of these topology control algorithms include: (a) Preserving the connectivity of the underlying state-dependent sensing graph during reconfiguration and re-targeting of the formation; (b) Achieving a balanced interplay between performance and robustness to communication delays; and (c) Using only local information to make local decisions that collectively guarantee global properties such as the network connectivity for formation flying.

Phase I effort resulted in the development of a unified framework for the design and analysis of many topology control problems associated with formation flying spacecraft. A novel game-theoretic approach to network topology control was successfully applied to key trajectory design problems such as formation initialization and reconfiguration in the presence of local and global constraints.

Phase II effort will deliver a complete set of algorithms and software tools to help the NASA TPF-I team plan and evaluate missions for candidate TPF-I architectures. In order to achieve these objectives, we plan to carry out the following tasks:

(i) Further refinements and testing of the game-theoretic approach to state-dependent network synthesis problems and trajectory-following in the absence of centralization,
(ii) Development and testing of convex parameterization of path-planning problems for multiple spacecraft formations,
(iii) Demonstration of the application of the developed novel methods to TPF-I baseline mission.

These algorithms and software will be tested on high fidelity formation flying testbeds at JPL such as FAST or FCT. 

Professor Mehran Mesabhi of University of Washington will provide technical support under the project.
3D Flash LIDAR is ideal for determining real-time spacecraft trajectory, speed, orientation, and range to the planet surface, as well as evaluating potential hazards at the landing site. The "framing camera" nature, of 3D Flash LIDAR systems, makes them well suited as hazard avoidance sensors for EDL.
Astronauts suffer from poor dexterity of their hands due to the clumsy spacesuit gloves during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) operations and NASA has had a widely recognized but unmet need for novel human machine interface technologies to facilitate data entry, communications, and robots or intelligent systems control. The objective of this research project is to develop a speech human interface that can offer both crewmember usability and system operational efficiency. But loud noise and strong reverberation inside spacesuits make automatic speech recognition (ASR) for such an interface a very challenging problem. In Phase I, the feasibility of using WeVoice proprietary microphone array signal processing and robust ASR technologies was validated. In particular, it was found that novel multichannel noise reduction produces larger gain in SNR than conventional beamforming but the latter is more preferable as far as ASR is concerned. In addition, it was confirmed that the model adaptation algorithm can make an ASR system more robust inside spacesuits. An arithmetic complexity model for ASR was developed. It can direct the decision as to whether a specified speech interface is sufficiently efficient to be possibly implemented with a wearable system. Phase II will analyze and minimize the scientific and engineering uncertainties identified during Phase I. Furthermore, a voice command interface for future generations of a suit's processing system is proposed to be developed on DSP chips. The system should be ready for testing and use by NASA suited crewmembers at the end of Phase II.
Trajectory-based operations constitute a key mechanism considered by the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) for managing traffic in high-density or high-complexity airspace in the Next-Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). With this concept applied to surface operations at major airports, NASA's NextGen-Airportal Project is exploring the use of surface 4-dimensional (4D) trajectories, which use required times of arrival (RTAs) at selected locations along the route. Observing these RTAs as constraints along the taxi route, the flight still has many degrees of freedom in adjusting its state profiles (i.e.,  position, velocity, etc. as functions of time) to achieve the timing constraints. This research will investigate whether and how these degrees of freedom in trajectory control may be used to achieve desirable behaviors for the taxi operations. Previous research has applied the trajectory control freedom to assure passenger comfort by keeping the accelerations and decelerations within pre-specified limits, and yet there is still untapped flexibility in designing the trajectories. The proposed research will explore this trajectory design problem to achieve additional desirable behaviors, beginning with the consideration of fuel burn, emissions, and noise. A flight-deck automation experimental prototype will provide the platform for simulating the designs, augmented by models developed to evaluate environmental benefits. The findings will benefit future designs of flight-deck automation systems, as well as tower automation systems which rely on accurate understanding of the flight deck's operational behaviors to plan efficient and safe operations for the entire surface traffic.
High temperature piezoelectric crystal (HTPC) sensors are desired for
future propulsion component structure health monitoring, operating
parameters optimization, turbine engine control and health monitoring,
as well as improving performance and maintainability of power production
facilities and other rotary combustion engines. Recently discovered high
temperature piezoelectrics showed stable piezoelectric properties and
high resistivity at temperatures close to its melting point (~ 1500 C) ,
which is very promising for high temperature sensor applications. The
Phase I results demonstrated excellent temperature sensing and vibration
sensing performance at temperature up to 1000 C (&amp;gt; 1800 F). In Phase
II, low profile HTPC microsensors design, fabrication and attachment
will be further investigated and optimized. Highly sensitive HTPC
piezoelectric structural microsensors will be prototyped and
characterized for temperature, stress and acceleration measurements at
temperatures up to 2000 oF. HTPC microsensor reliability will also be
studied in Phase II. HTPC microsensors will significantly advance NASA,
DOD and industrial high temperature measurements because of their low
profile, simple structure, high sensitivity, quick response, and high reliability.
Lightweight, high performance thermal insulation is critical to NASA's next generation Exploration spacecraft. Zero or low cryogenic propellant boiloff is required during extended missions and lengthy on-orbit times. Heat flow through multilayer insulation is usually the largest heat leak in cryogenic systems, so improvements are desirable. Load Responsive Multi-Layer Insulation (LRMLI) is an innovative new technology using micro-molded polymer dynamic spacers that provide high performance insulation both in-atmosphere and on-orbit.  

LRMLI under atmospheric pressure compresses dynamic spacers to support an integrated, thin vacuum shell for high performance in-atmosphere operation, and disconnects the spacers during on-orbit/lunar surface operation to reduce heat leak and provide ultra-high performance thermal insulation.

LRMLI was successfully proven feasible in Phase I work, reaching TRL4. A LRMLI prototype was built and tested and a 3-layer, 0.25" thick blanket demonstrated 7.1 W/m2 (0.19 mW/m-K) heat leak for on-orbit and 14.3 W/m2 (0.34 mW/m-K) for in-atmosphere operation. Equal heat leak on-orbit of a 0.25" LRMLI blanket (2.1 kg/m2) would require 16" of SOFI (15 kg/m2), with LRMLI having a 64X advantage in thickness and a 7X advantage in mass.

LRMLI insulation can provide superior cryogen insulation during ground hold, launch and on-orbit/vacuum conditions without need for purge. Total heat gain into cryogenic systems could be substantially reduced. Terrestrial non-NASA applications include LH2 powered aircraft and cars in development.

This proposal is to further develop LRMLI toward commercialization. Tasks proposed include a study of both NASA&amp; non-NASA applications to select two for further optimization, next generation design of dynamic spacers and modular vacuum shells, and building and testing prototypes in realistic environments such as a 3' diameter cryotank similar to a selected use like NASA Altair or Boeing HALE tanks.
Typical communication satellites use traditional waveguide front-end architectures due to the excellent electrical performance and high reliability.  While the systems offer excellent performance and reliability they are large and heavy due to incorporation of waveguide-based switches, diplexers, and waveguide packaged solid-state power amplifiers.  Replacement of the waveguide components by micromachined parts that provide significant size, weight, and cost reduction without substantially affecting the electrical performance, can lead to a breakthrough in wireless communications.  During the Phase I program, Nuvotronics utilized its proprietary PolyStrataTM metal micromachining process to create X and Ka band filters with state-of-the-art performance.  During Phase II, tunable filters will be fabricated using the PolyStrata process and tuned using reliable and low actuation voltage MEMS devices.  The filters will be designed and tested for space operation and have immediate applications in the Deep Space Network communications system.  The PolyStrata process is capable of producing high Q, low weight and therefore compact filters.  The PolyStrata process is a new multi-layer technology that creates high quality air loaded copper microdevices.  High quality cavity resonator filters can be fabricated using this high precision micro-fabrication process, enabling very high Q filters while being compact, surface mountable and compatible with the integration of active chips.
Bear Engineering proposes to develop an innovative high torque, low speed, direct drive motor in order to meet NASA's requirements for such devices.  Fundamentally, all electric motors basically work on the same electromagnetic principle: a tangential electromagnetic force attracts the rotor to the stator.  Just when the rotor field is closest to the stator field and the electromagnetic attraction is greatest, the power is interrupted and another set of magnetic poles repeats the cycle.  Furthermore, the two magnetically attracted elements never make contact, which would otherwise offer the highest force of attraction.  

The proposed novel motor design operates and behaves entirely differently from all other known electric motor designs and it will produce incredibly high, direct drive torques at low rotational speeds.  Its operational performance is similar to that of a stepper motor with a 1000:1 gearhead attached, but the similarity ends there.  The motor is configured such that its length to diameter aspect ratio is opposite that of traditional motors as it has a relatively large diameter and short axial length; this offers all new packaging opportunities.  The proposed design also allows for a single, large diameter bearing pair to be used for the motor's output shaft which renders it stiff enough to directly mount the driven elements.  The need for additional bearing supports and bearing mounting structure is thus eliminated.  At the end of the proposed Phase 1 effort, the motor design will be at TRL 4 and by the end of a potential Phase 2, the system will be at TRL 6.
NASA Exploration vehicles require improved technologies for passive thermal insulation for zero boil-off of cryopropellants during extended LEO and lunar surface missions. Vehicles such as the Earth Departure Stage and Orion must be capable of multi-day orbital operation with minimal cryopropellant loss, and the Altair Lunar Lander must have minimal cryopropellant loss over a six month mission on the lunar surface. 
Quest Product Development, teaming with Ball Aerospace, proposes an innovative advanced insulation system, Wrapped-IMLI, which could provide high performance thermal insulation for cryogenic feed lines. 

Wrapped-IMLI is a multi-layer system using proprietary micromolded polymer spacers to precisely control layer spacing and reduce inter-layer heat conduction.  IMLI versions of this concept, for cryotanks, have been proven with a measured thermal conductivity of 8.8*10-5 W/m-K, 37&#37; lower heat leak than conventional MLI. Preliminary research indicates W-IMLI could provide excellent thermal insulation for cryo-feed lines.

Propellant boil-off losses are directly influenced by the MLI, which is the biggest heat leak in cryogenic propellant storage. It is known that MLI insulation for cryogenic propellant feed lines is much less effective than MLI for tank insulation. A Ball Defense Program study indicates the heat leak through spiral-wrapped MLI into lines is up to 10 times worse per area than tank MLI. Better insulation for cryo-feed lines is an important enabling technology for NASA Exploration vehicles.

In this Phase I project we would model, conduct a trade study on thermal requirements for NASA spacecraft cryogenic feed lines, design W-IMLI, fabricate a prototype and measure thermal performance.
Spacecraft need accurate position and velocity estimates in order to control their orbits.  Some missions require more accurate estimates than others, but nearly all missions need some type of orbit determination.   IST-Rolla seeks to provide highly accurate algorithms that do not overpower the spacecraft's computer.
Many new, powerful algorithms exist such as the particle filter and the unscented Kalman filter, but most of them involve integrating several state vectors, and those integrations devour the computing power available.  IST-Rolla will implement the h-D technique, the cost based filter (CBF), and the neural network estimator for orbit determination(developed by IST-Rolla Engineers) and analyze the results.  These filters are nonlinear and might provide better accuracy than the extended Kalman filter (EKF) which is widely used, without being computationally cumbersome as the particle filter and unscented Kalman filter.
The theta-D technique approximates the solution to the filter-related Ricatti Equation.  The CBF is an attempt to formulation of the filter under an 'optimal' framework. The neural network estimator works to estimate the modeling errors online so that the estimates become more accurate.
For maintaining U.S. leadership role in space exploration, there is an urgent need to develop non-flammable shirts, shorts, sweaters, and jackets without compromising the comfort and flexibility of the fabrics. InnoSense LLC (ISL) proposes to utilize its phosphorus-containing ionic polymers in crew clothing. In Phase I, this project would demonstrate flame retardancy and perform standard tests showing adequate comfort, appearance, durability, and non-toxicity, which can be realized from ISL polymers. The overall goal is to take existing fabrics, with their desirable physical properties and high level of comfort, and inserting flame retardancy. The innovations of the proposed approach will offer durability of the treated fabric since the polymers will be covalently bonded to the fabrics. Phase I evaluation will also include biocompatibility of the treated fabrics. Fine-tuning and process scale up will be accomplished in Phase II.
We propose herein to augment current NASA spaceflight dynamics
programs with algorithms and software from two domains.  First, we
propose to use numerical parameter continuation methods to assist in
computation of trajectories in complicated dynamical situations.
Numerical parameter continuation methods have been used extensively to
compute a menagerie of structures in dynamical systems including fixed
points, periodic orbits, simple bifurcations (where the structure of
the dynamics changes), Hopf bifurcations (where periodic orbits are
created), invariant manifolds, hetero/homoclinic connections between
invariant manifolds, etc.  Perhaps more importantly for the current
work, such methods have already proven their worth in flight dynamics
problems, especially those having to do with the complicated dynamics
near libration points.  Second, we propose to use advanced filtering
techniques and representations of probability density functions to
appropriately compute and manage the uncertainty in the trajectories.
While advanced methods for understanding and leveraging the underlying
dynamics are clearly necessary for effective mission design, planning,
and analysis, we contend that they do not suffice.  In particular,
they do not, in and of themselves, address the issue of uncertainty.
Herein we discuss methods that balance the accuracy of the uncertainty
representation against computational tractability, including a
discussion of the notorious ``curse of dimensionality'' for problems
with large state vectors.  We propose approachs that revolve around
modifications of algorithms such as ``log homotopy'' particle filters
and especially Gaussian sum filters.  Finally, we propose to integrate
all of the above algorithms into standard NASA software packages
GEONS, GIPSY, and GMAT.
The objective of this proposal is to create new gas chromatographs (GCs)
for contaminant monitoring in spacecraft air that do not require any
reagents or special carrier gases.   Under DARPA support, Cbana has
created a new class of microGCs that are smaller than ever before and
yet show performance similar to those of full scale commercial GCs.  In
the proposed work we will redesign the GCs so that they can use air as a
carrier gas.  Key to the device is a very low pressure drop adsorbent
bed that can capture the contaminants for analysis and produce a very
pure air stream as a carrier gas.  Phase I tests will be performed to
optimize the performance of the adsorption bed and to verify that the GC
columns work with air.  The result will lead to a cabin air monitoring
system that can detect all of the contaminants listed in the NASA report
NASA report &amp;quot;Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations For
Airborne Contaminants&amp;quot; and not require special carrier gases or reagents.
NASA's Lunar and other future extraterrestrial outposts will be built for long duration missions that are likely to experience significant number of faults and degradations over its lifetime. Additionally, these systems will have a highly reconfigurable architecture and perform multimodal operation. Being a resource constrained environment, health management, troubleshooting, maintenance, and repair of the Lunar outpost poses formidable challenge. To address this challenge Qualtech Systems, Inc. proposes to automate a major part of the HM and recovery decision support systems through a TEAMS-based approach. The approach will provide the facility to develop on-the-fly reconfigurable diagnostic models that can be used to automatically update a TEAMS model upon configuration changes. Residual functional capability estimation techniques and automatic updating of diagnostic models based on current condition of components will be developed through this effort. Dynamic multiple fault diagnosis techniques will be used for enhancing the diagnostic accuracy obtained from TEAMS-based diagnosis. Such accuracy enhancement will greatly reduce the amount of human intervention required in troubleshooting of spurious faults, and faults that are isolated with a large ambiguity group. On the overall, the proposed effort will provide a solution for automating the HM related activities in highly reconfigurable systems with resource constraints.
An inflatable habitat is a pressure vessel with flexible shell. Notable features such as low weight, large inflated operational volume, and small pre-deployment volume offer significant advantages over traditional rigid metallic and composite habitat structures. Conventional designs suffer from indeterminacy of load sharing between meridional and circumferential members as well as the internally rigid metal support structure. The designs must functionally index the meridional and circumferential members to one another to minimize sensitivity to manufacturing, handling and operational trauma, all the while maintaining their independent load carrying roles. This design process results in oversized members to account for load uncertainties.
The unique Ultra High Performance Vessel (UHPV) technology provides the solution to the design and manufacture of robust inflatable structures with exceptional accuracy and dimensional stability. UHPV technology provides high shell load containment architecture with fully determinate load pathways that can be modeled mathematically. The lightweight, low cost inflatable fabric structure, consisting of barrier film layers, carrier cloth containment layers, and pressure restraint tendons can be designed and fabricated to provide an accurate geometry without the need for an internal skeletal frame. Eliminating the need for a rigid internal load-bearing frame allows the collapsed inflatable to be packaged in the smallest possible volume.
To bring this innovative inflatable design to use for lunar habitats, airlocks and myriad other space environment and containment applications, a verification and validation plan using both testing and predictive analytical models is proposed to conclusively demonstrate that the fully load-determinate UHPV can meet all structural design requirements for habitable space structures and be accurately and repeatedly manufactured.
The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) will provide a better understanding as to how gas giant planets and their satellites form and evolve. The Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) is the NASA element of the EJSM. JEO will be built to withstand the intense radiation in Europa orbit and the JEO payload includes a thermal instrument. The thermal instrument is based on thermopile detectors that are intrinsically radiation hard to at least 10 Mrad; however, the thermopile readout ASIC needs to be hardened to tolerate the radiation sources of the JEO mission. Black Forest Engineering proposes on Phase I to modify existing thermopile readout circuitry using radiation hardened by design techniques (RHBD) to tolerate the JEO mission radiation sources. The readout application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) when developed on Phase II and combined with JPL thermopiles will meet the thermal instrument requirements of the JEO.
Based on work done under Microcosm's recently completed Phase II SBIR program on X-ray pulsar based navigation (XNAV),  relevant X-ray source characterization, X-ray detector measurement models, and source timing models will be developed to support eventual implementation in the GEONS flight software environment. In Phase I, an initial assessment will be made of the key model parameters and accuracy of time determination.   Microcosm has recently been awarded a contract by DARPA to assess the potential for XNAV as a precision timing source for DoD missions.  This work will be evaluated in Phase I for the potential to provide a precise, independent, X-ray pulsar-based time reference for NASA missions as well. The team will work with the Naval Research Lab, JHU/Applied Physics Lab, and NASA GSFC, focusing on sources and detectors to develop enhanced models, and assessing potential timing accuracy.  Development of pulsar signal processing methods and prototype algorithms will continue, incorporating new source and detector models. This work, along with the previous Phase II effort, will further validate the utility of XNAV for NASA, and provide sufficient development and testing of relevant technology to provide a rapid path to a full flight software development in a Phase II program.
Effective methods for recovery and regeneration of cabin atmosphere to supply oxygen are critical to facilitate extended duration manned missions including expeditions to Mars or a return to the Moon. Currently, oxygen is recovered as water using the Sabatier reduction process. One of the by-products of this reaction is waste methane, which is vented into space. 
Lynntech proposes to reclaim the hydrogen from the methane by utilizing a low power, high efficiency, non-thermal plasma (NTP) process based on high frequency dielectric barrier discharge (HFDBD). The HFDBD is characterized by electrons and heavy particles being in thermodynamic non-equilibrium. The electron temperatures are near 10,000K, while the ions and neutrals species remain at ambient temperature. The high energy electrons have the potential to recover up to 75&#37; of the hydrogen from methane. Since the majority of the electrical energy in the discharge is used to accelerate electrons rather than heat the plasma gas, Lynntech's process produces minimal soot. Hence, a complex filtration system to remove soot from the exhaust stream is not required.
Recovery of hydrogen from methane minimizes the hydrogen resupply requirements and improves the efficiency of the Sabatier process by closing the mass loop of the reduction reaction.
Building more in-house datacenters to backup explosively growing scientific datasets is neither cost-effective nor in line with government green initiative. Cloud computing is emerging as a viable platform for data storage, collaboration and disaster recovery. We are going to develop a suite of "backup-to-cloud" tools that allows user to backup scientific datasets and applications into the cloud, and use cloud storage as a distribution platform. Our tool is optimized under technical and economical constraints posed by common cloud storage. We use both public and private cloud platforms to conduct feasibility study from performance, security, scalability and cost perspectives.
Space Exploration Vehicles and Lunar Surface Systems require electromechanical systems that are varied and include long life capability, high reliability, high thermal tolerance, high vacuum tolerance, significantly lower mass and volume, higher mass specific power and improved efficiency over the state of practice components/systems.  Space, Weight, Power efficiency, and Cost (SWaP-C) are the key performance drivers for most designs. The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate QM Power's high performance motor and actuator technology called Parallel Magnetic Circuit (PMC&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt;) that excels at all of those key performance parameters in low temperature lunar environments. 

PMC motors and actuators have higher power density (over 20&#37; lower weight and volume than alternative high perofrmance electric motors and actuators), higher torque density, run cooler, and operate more efficiently (over 90-94&#37;) over a wider power output range than any known conventional AC or DC motors or actuators.
A baseline propulsion system has been designed as a starting point in a previous SBIR effort for this project which consists of two turboshaft engines, a generator coupled directly (no gearbox) with each engine, and electric cables to motors that drive shrouded fans installed in or over the wing.  For this baseline, there are eight fans per wing, and the turboshaft engines use kerosene fuel as the energy source.  One major issue faced by this type of configuration is the propulsion integration of not only the structure with motors in a split wing, but also the aerodynamics of such a configuration.  In the previous study, high pressure recovery inlets, exhaust nozzle area control, thrust vectoring and variable pitch fans were considered, along with the initial layout of the entire structural integration.  The work proposed here aims to further address these concerns and outline a potential fan, inlet and nozzle design methodology for split-wing distributed propulsion.  This methodology can be turned into a design tool, for which the framework will be created as part of this study to be fully completed in a possible Phase II.  In addition, and most important to this topic, several aerodynamic aircraft concepts have also been looked at under currently supported work with California Polytechnic State University on their N+2 NRA contract to study future CESTOL aircraft and during internal study efforts at ESAero.  The work proposed here will complement much of that work by taking a better look at some novel integration arrangements in the configurations.  This will specifically address overall vehicle efficiency by looking at the aerodynamic concepts inherently designed into the aircraft.  This will be an important part of the study, as a properly integrated distributed propulsion system will offer the means to reduce "specific" fuel consumption, thereby increasing aircraft operating efficiencies to reduce overall mission fuel burn.
The goal of this SBIR project is to develop a computational tool with unique predictive capabilities for the aerothermodynamic environment around ablation-cooled hypersonic re-entry vehicles. The framework for this tool will be developed such that all relevant models can be coupled to the LeMANS code for nonequilibrium hypersonic flows and the MOPAR code for ablation material response, both developed by the University of Michigan.  In the proposed effort, the existing LeMANS-MOPAR framework will be enhanced by including innovative models for: (1) Non-equilibrium surface thermochemistry; (2) Non-equilibrium pyrolysis chemistry; (3) Radiation transfer in media with orders of magnitude variation in optical thickness; and (4) Spallation. The proposed tool is comprehensive and unique because all important phenomena will be modeled, with the software framework enabling coupling between the various components.  The Phase I focus will be to: (1) Develop a module for the Modified Differential Approximation (MDA) to solve the radiative transfer equation; (2) Develop a framework for coupling the MDA module to LeMANS-MOPAR; and (3) Demonstrate the coupled framework for cases such as the Stardust re-entry.  In Phase II, the tool will be made comprehensive by implementing important models identified above, including advanced non-equilibrium, non-gray radiation model.  The tool will be validated and applied to re-entry ablation flows relevant to NASA.  We will team with an ablative material OEM and a CFD software vendor to transition the technology to industry.
NASA space exploration projects require avionic systems, components, and controllers that are capable of operating in the extreme temperature and radiation environments of deep space. To design wide-temperature radiation-hardened (rad-hard) electronics and predict characteristics and reliability in space, advanced models and simulation tools are required at multiple levels. Analog and mixed-signal circuits for space have not been adequately addressed so far. This project aims to design, develop, validate, and demonstrate novel Radiation Hardened By Design (RHBD) analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) aimed for the extreme environments of space. In Phase 1, CFDRC in collaboration with Georgia Tech will: (1) enhance and demonstrate the CFDRC's unique physics-based mixed-mode simulation tools (NanoTCAD coupled with Cadence Spectre) for predicting extreme-wide-temperature and transient radiation response of analog/mixed-signal ICs based on silicon-germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS technologies; (2) perform first-ever mixed-mode simulation-based investigation of single-event effects (SEE) in SiGe analog, mixed-signal, and radio-frequency (RF) circuits in wide temperature range, and provide important understanding of currently unexplained physical phenomena behind the experimental radiation/temperature data collected under the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP); and (3) develop preliminary RHBD concepts for SEE hardening. In Phase 2, we will demonstrate and validate the improved physics-based models for temperature range from -230&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C to +130&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C, and apply them to evaluate and develop RHBD designs over the expected operating range. New RHBD devices and analog circuits will be fabricated in prototype chips and tested at wide temperatures and radiation, and delivered as a component library to NASA.
Given the extended duration of future missions and the isolated, extreme and confined environments, there is the possibility that behavioral conditions and mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR) will develop. The overarching goal of this project is to deliver an Individualized Behavioral Health Monitoring Tool that unobtrusively integrates all available behavioral measures collected during a mission to provide a dashboard of behavioral health indicators. These indicators will be placed within the context of quantitatively-tracked mission stressors to provide meaningful feedback to astronauts, and possibly the Operational Psychology Group and Flight Surgeons responsible for behavioral health support. The result of this project through Phase II will be a system prototype that can be deployed in space analog environments for validation testing and ultimately deployed on ISS and lunar missions. The critical need for an Individualized Behavioral Health Monitoring Tool has been identified as a priority outlined in the BHP Integrated Research Plan (July 2009) gap BMED3. During Phase I, we will perform an assessment of behavioral health monitoring technologies and develop an engineering requirements document and detailed technical plans to implement during Phase II (Phase I TRL of 3).
FTT proposes development of a magnetically actuated dynamic seal.  Dynamic seals are used throughout the turbopump in high-performance, pump-fed, liquid rocket engines for a variety of purposes.  The most common applications are in the lift-off seal (LOS), inter-propellant seal (IPS), and balance piston seals ? high-pressure orifice (HPO), low-pressure orifice (LPO), and inner diameter impeller shroud seal (eye seal).  The system solution for conventional seals represents a compromise between the turbopump mechanical design, primarily flowpath, and secondary flowpath design that results in increased leakage, increased seal wear, and reduced balance piston load capacity that reduces performance, throttle-ability, thrust-to-weight, reliability, and operability.  The magnetically actuated seal eliminates this compromise and provides significant improvement in performance, throttle-ability, thrust-to-weight, reliability, and operability.  Phase 1 will advance the technology from TRL 2 to 3.  Phase 2 will advance the technology from TRL 3 to 6.  The technology is applicable to booster engines, in-space engines, and lunar engines.
We propose a feasibility study of a fully intgrated radiation hardened (&gt;1Mrad/si), programmable crystal oscilator (RPXO) in a miniature package that will deliver stable clock signal output under extreme temperature range from -230C to +200C. The innovations envisioned for RPXO will include a radiation hardened SiGe ASIC with HBT configuration for the analog section and CMOS configuration for the digital part. Recent research results of SiGe show excellent promise for a very wide operating temperature and high TID. Special design techniques will be studied and evaluated to reduce or eliminate SEL condition. Another innovation is an assembly that includes the crystal resonator and its mechanical support that will withstand the extreme temperature range as well as more than 2000 thermal cycles as experienced on Mars and Moon. Finite element analysis will be the main tool to establish confidence in the design study of the thermo-mechanical portions of the RPXO including package related mechanical interfaces. The microelecronic package will be commercially available and reflect a standard form-factor. It will hold all of the said elements and include provisions for programmability features of the RPXO. The package study will evaluate leadless version and compliant lead alternative configuration to facilitate the application of the device on PCB. All RPXO assembly process will be commercially viable and based on proven, and reliable techniques.
Scramjet propulsion systems for future hypersonic aerospace vehicles will be subjected to heating rates far greater than current materials can manage. In order to sustain high thermal loading while preheating the fuel, regeneratively cooled hot flow path components fabricated from ceramic matrix composites are being considered. The limited availability of high-temperature/environmentally durable materials focuses attention to silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (SiC/SiC) composites. These materials exhibit a unique combination of low density, high thermal conductivity and outstanding strength to near 3000&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;F. In order to exploit the benefits of SiC/SiC composites, methods are needed for fabricating high density/high conductivity components incorporating impermeable metal tube liners. Additionally, practical methods are needed for uniformly distributing coolant to the array of tubes via manifolding on the backside of the hot flow path surface. The objective of this Phase I program is to demonstrate a promising method for producing a high thermal efficiency SiC/SiC composite heat exchanger with low residual porosity and high interlaminar strength without having to resort to exotic and costly 3D fiber preforms. A functional actively cooled composite panel test article incorporating refractory metal tubes will be designed, fabricated and delivered to NASA for burner rig and/or thermal evaluation.
&lt;p&gt;AES consists of more than 35 projects that target high-priority capabilities needed for human exploration such as crew mobility, deep-space habitation, vehicle systems, robotics, deep-space operations, advanced life support, and extra-vehicular activity (EVA) systems. Early integration and testing of prototype systems will reduce risk and improve affordability of exploration mission elements. The prototype systems developed in the AES program are demonstrated in ground-based test beds, field tests, underwater tests, flight experiments on the International Space Station (ISS), and deep-space missions. In addition to developing building blocks for future missions, AES is exploring innovative ways to drive a rapid pace of progress, streamline project management, and use limited resources, the NASA workforce, and citizen innovators more effectively.&lt;/p&gt;
Future manned space exploration missions will require space suits with capabilities beyond the current state of the art.  Portable Life Support Systems for these future space suits are extremely challenging, since they must maintain healthy and comfortable conditions inside the suit for long-duration missions while minimizing weight and venting no consumables.  We propose an innovative system for thermal and humidity control in a space suit that is simple, rugged, lightweight, and nonventing.  In Phase I we will prove the feasibility of our approach by analysis and laboratory testing of a proof-of-concept unit to identify the optimum configuration.  We will produce a conceptual design for a full-size system.  In Phase II we will develop fabrication methods to produce a full-size prototype, then demonstrate operation in a prototypical environment.
In this Phase I SBIR project, Synkera proposes to develop and commercialize solid-state neutron detectors of a unique architecture that will enable sensor modules for a variety of operating environment. The neutron detectors are based around nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide, and will be fabricated using a combination of gas-phase and solution-based deposition methods. The detectors will incorporate a schottky junction surrounding a neutron-conversion material. As part of this development effort we will develop the deposition methods required for the various components of the detector and use modeling to evaluate the feasibility of the design. 
Our solid-state neutron detectors are expected to have much larger neutron sensitivity toward fast neutrons than conventional detectors at a lower weight and much lower power requirements. These features will enable solid state neutron spectrometers meeting all the NASA requirements on weight, volume, and power. We anticipate that large detector areas can be manufactured at costs below those of conventional neutron detectors.
The International X-Ray observatory (IXO) is due to be launched in 2021. The core of the instrument is a very large (3.2 meter diameter) Wolter I optic, to be assembled from approximately 13,000 individual elements.  Each element will, in turn, be created by 'slumping' glass over a precision mandrel, of which there must be in excess of 700.  In
addition to the very large size of the mandrels (up to 1.6 meter radius), figure and size tolerances are exceedingly tight, ranging from 2 nanometers (axial figure) to 200 nanometers (radius variation).  The combination of size, accuracies, production rate requirements and the number of individual component designs defy standard optical metrology techniques.
While polishing equipment that can meet these tolerances exists, the polishers must be controlled by continuous or near continuous (process intermittent) feedback.  In this effort we propose to develop a unique "point-defined" metrology instrument that can be incorporated into the polishing machine itself, to control the manufacturing process to the required levels of accuracy.  In Phase 1 we will develop conceptual designs for both stand-alone and on-machine instrumentation.  In Phase 2 we will develop a stand-alone metrology instrument, and in Phase 3 we will fully incorporate the technology onto a commercial polishing instrument.
CRG's shape memory polymer (SMP) Bladder Tooling is a cutting-edge manufacturing technology that can meet the manufacturing needs of the Ares launch vehicles. This process provides labor savings, weight reductions, and reliable manufacturing results for fabricating complex composites.
SMP bladder tooling eliminates the transferring process by operating as both a rigid lay-up mandrel and an elastic bladder. Initially, the tooling is a rigid, durable surface for composite lay-up, then when heated during the cure cycle the tooling transitions to a flexible bladder to provide consolidation force. The tooling can then be easily removed from the cured composite while in the elastic state, reformed, and reused for the next part.
In addition to increased part quality, SMP bladder tooling can present a significant cost reduction over current manufacturing processes. When comparing SMP bladder tooling with a silicone bladder over a foam insert for manufacturing of an Environmental Control System (ECS) duct, there is a 46&#37; savings over the first three parts and 80&#37; savings over twelve parts. A second cost saving example is the comparison of SMP bladder tooling with washout tooling for the same ECS duct. Cost saving for the first three parts is 40&#37; and 79&#37; over twelve parts.
NASA's  Vision for Space Exploration advocates a return to the moon and involves a plan of using the moon as a base of for missions to other planets.  Early return missions to the moon will involve lunar exploration with robotic spacecrafts with instrumental payloads for scientific measurements of lunar surface features such as rocks, soil, and minerals.  These instrument payloads will be helpful in identifying lunar resources that can be used in establishing extended human presence. Raman spectroscopy has been actively investigated as a lunar as well as a Mars surface robotic investigative tool for minerals. Current Raman instruments for space exploration utilize a single excitation wavelength, with a laser in the near-infrared (IR) to minimize fluorescence background.  However, even with the near-IR Raman excitation, background emissions such as fluorescence, F-center luminescence, and blackbody emission can still be a problem.  The goal of this project is to employ a dual excitation (visible and near-IR lasers) Raman instrument to minimize background emission.  To achieve this goal, a dual excitation wavelength fiber optically coupled Raman probe head and a compact wide spectral range echelle spectrograph will be developed.
Compared to superalloys, ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) offer reduced weight and superior specific properties at elevated temperatures.  However, CMCs are prone to oxidation degradation when exposed to oxygen at high temperatures, which is the primary driver for useful life of the component.  Accurate predictions of CMC life require accurate predictions of oxidation behavior, which require accurate values of the material properties that control the oxidation process.  One of these key properties is permeability.  In this effort, MR&amp;D proposes to gather test data, then appropriately modify, correlate, and integrate a Multidirectional Composite Cylinders Assemblage (CCAMD) model with its current ABAQUS oxidation model.  This will allow permeability to be calculated and updated continuously during an oxidation analysis as dictated by external loads, significantly enhancing the accuracy of current durability models.
Many of the most challenging categories of propulsion system development are related to the prediction of interacting effects between the fluid loads, thermal loads, and the structural deflection.  In practice, the interactions between technical disciplines are often not fully explored analytically, and the analysis in one discipline often uses a simplified representation of other disciplines as an input or boundary condition.  For example, the fluid forces in an engine generate static and dynamic rotor deflection, but the forces themselves are dependent on the rotor position and its orbit.  A typical design practice might involve predicting the fluid and thermal loads for various conditions and passing those estimates along for inclusion with the structural model.  This practice ignores the interaction between the physical phenomena where the outcome of each analysis can be heavily dependent on the inputs (i.e., changes in flow due to deflection, changes in deflection due to fluid forces).  Such a rigid design process also lacks the flexibility to employ multiple levels of fidelity in the analysis of each of the components.  

In this project, Mechanical Solutions, Inc. (MSI) proposes to extend two existing software tools to develop a design environment with both breadth (to cover multiple disciplines) and depth (to cover multiple levels of fidelity).
In Sub-topic X4.01, NASA has identified a need for advanced radiation-shielding materials and structures to protect humans from the hazards of galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) on long-duration lunar missions. The radiation species of greatest interest are light ions (particularly protons), heavy ions (such as iron-56) and neutrons. International Scientific Technologies, Inc., in conjunction with the College of William and Mary, proposes the development of lightweight, multi-layered, polymeric shielding against GCR. Phase I Technical Objectives include selection, design and fabrication of materials tailored to shield against hazardous radiation, and measurement and test of individual and layered materials using available radiation sources.  The anticipated result of the Phase I and Phase II programs is the development of multi-layered shields with an outer layer of hydrogenous polymeric material for significant dose reduction of incident GCR ions and inner layers of polymeric composites containing additives chosen to moderate and absorb neutrons resulting from fragmentation of incoming heavy ions and to absorb short wavelength electromagnetic radiation resulting from the slowing of the GCR particles and capture of neutrons.  The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at the beginning of Phase I is 3. At the end of Phase I, the TRL will be 4 or higher.
We propose a microplate heat exchanger for cryogenic cooling systems used for continuous flow distributed cooling systems, large focal plane arrays, multiple cooling locations, and very low vibration cooling systems. Any DC cryogenic flow system such as turbo Brayton, Joule-Thomson (JT), or remote cooling applications require very high effectiveness heat exchangers to reduce input power. The parasitic loads from heat exchangers are a significant fraction of the overall load, and high effectiveness heat exchangers lead directly to improved system efficiencies across a broad range of cryogenic applications.

Microplate heat exchangers have a demonstrated effectiveness over 98&#37; (Marquardt, Cryocoolers 15). While performance is high, they will be difficult to use for larger cryogenic flow systems due to parasitic conduction losses inherent in the materials available for the manufacturing process. A material change will allow more compact heat exchangers with lower parasitic losses. Other limitations of the manufacturing process make yields low, and while it may be possible to push the effectiveness higher, it may be difficult to consistently produce high performing exchangers using the current approach.

We propose a new bi-metal microplate heat exchanger which is unique in that it uses the manufacturing process to control critical heat exchanger dimensions that are inherently similar across all parts, allowing high effectiveness without the need for close inspection of every part and the low yield which results from hand inspection. We further include additional features within the flow channels that automatically balance the mass flows within the heat exchanger to push the effectiveness even higher. This is accomplished in the most compact cryogenic heat exchangers theoretically possible to build using parallel plate flow channels.
The proposed "Observation platform for dynamic biomedical and biotechnology experiments using the ISS Light Microscopy Module" consists of a platen sized to fit the stage of NASA's Light Microscopy Module (LMM) on the International Space Station (ISS).  At the heart of the innovation is a small hollow microscope slide into which specimens and reagent solutions can be injected by a combination of small reservoirs, pumps and valves under computer control.  All components are designed into the single platen.  Techshot's enabling technology for this product will greatly accelerate the research and development cycle.  In Phase I research Techshot will (1) canvass potential users and produce a requirements document that covers user needs, function in low gravity and safety aboard the ISS, (2) design and build a prototype for feasibility testing in Techshot's laboratory, and (3) demonstrate operation using living cells. In Phase II research Techshot will produce a version of the Platform worthy of validating for flight readiness.  The compact Platform will be able to be moved to and from ISS on any orbital transfer vehicle.  The Platform is expected to be made available to a variety of users of the LMM and should serve to create new users and novel uses of the LMM.
Micro-Space proposes to develop a low mass, automated form of the classic navigator's bubble sextant, with no moving parts, for rapid localization and reliable navigation on the Moon and Mars.  Day, night, near side and far side lunar operations will all be handled. 

Exploration of the Moon (or Mars) without navigation aids comparable to those now common on Earth is a daunting, and generally unacceptable concept.  Since neither body has a significant magnetic field, even a compass is useless.  Creating and sustaining a GPS type satellite constellation will not occur soon.  But the self contained, automated system Micro-Space proposes is an excellent substitute. It can be installed on top of an astronaut's helmet, or atop a vehicle, in extended EVA. 

With exploration extended into terrain where a vehicle is likely to become immobilized,  but access by a walking human is practical, vast areas of currently unknown territory can be examined at very close range.   But an hour's trek into convoluted terrain can leave the trekker seriously disoriented, and subject to human course decisions which could prove fatal. 

The helmet mount system  will provide continuous EVA crew localization for emergency walk back to a safe haven, even if that path crosses unexplored territory.  Fixed asset or notable planetary feature localization will also be straightforward at any point in the EVA.  

The proposed optical navigation system uses production, solid state camera modules for Solar, Earth Shine, and Celestial sight readings, all with an accurate artificial horizon. But the accuracy required is produced by Micro-Space proprietary "Sub Pixel" processing techniques. Lunar localization accuracy will exceed < mile.  With the excellent directional reference also produced, this information will make visual identification of relevant terrain features easy.
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology plays important roles in NASA's space missions. Specifically in KSC's launch vehicles operations, break-through in LIDAR technology could provide ability to economically measure incremental ballistic wind velocities along the predicted trajectory of launch vehicles at remote.  
The most critical component in a LIDRA is its laser scanner, which delivers laser pulse to target with desirable field of view (FOV).  Most of existing LIDARs uses rotating or oscillating mirror for scanning, resulting in several drawbacks:
? Large size of moving parts (mirrors and motors), limiting scanning speed to hundreds HZ; 
? Difficult to meet stringent requirements on size, weight, and power for space uses;
? Difficult to control FOV of scanning motion;
? Un-evenness of data point distribution due to inherent acceleration of scanning mirror;
? Waste points at the swath borders of scanning mirror.  
     	In this SBIR, we propose a revolutionary LIDAR scanning technology  that could eliminate these drawbacks and achieve very high scanning speed, with an ultra-miniature size, much lighter weight and much compact size. This novel technology promises at least a 10x performance improvement in these areas over existing LIDAR scanners.
Innovations of the proposed ultra-miniature LIDAR scanner include:
? Ultra miniature size of scanner: it is possible to make the entire scanner in &lt;2 mm in diameter;
? Very high scanning speed (e.g. 5~20 kHz, contrast to several hundred Hz in existing scanners);
? Ideal structure to meet stringent requirements on size, weight, power, and compactness for various space applications;
? The scanning speed and field of view (FOV) can be dynamically adjusted: suited for obtaining high image resolutions of targeted areas and for diversified uses.
NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and commercial industry have a pressing need for miniaturized, rugged, low mass, power efficient, high vacuum systems that can achieve vacuum pressures as low as 10E-8 torr while exhausting to greater than 1 atm.  Advances in sensor technology at NASA and other government laboratories, in academia, and in industry, have led to the development of very small mass spectrometer detectors.  However, the vacuum systems to support these sensors remain large, heavy, and power hungry.  To meet this need, Creare proposes to build a compact vacuum pump based on the innovative combination of a turbomolecular pump to achieve hard vacuum pressures; a molecular drag pump to compress the gas through the transition regime of the gas; and a regenerative pump that compresses the gas further to exhaust to pressure greater than 1 atm.  The pump represents an order-of-magnitude reduction in mass, volume, and power over current, commercially available, state-of-the-art vacuum systems that provide pumping over the same pressure range.  Our unique vacuum pump design is based on technologies previously demonstrated at Creare that are combined in an innovative way to achieve the goal of providing vacuum pressures as low as 10E-8 torr while exhausting to greater than 1 atm in a small, low mass, power efficient package.
The availability of small, low power atomic clocks is now a reality for ground-based and airborne navigation systems.  Kernco's Low Power Precision Time Source (LPPTS) is based on Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) technology.  Several of these units were recently delivered to the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Kirtland Air Force Base and have demonstrated the performance and robustness of the matured design.  Since CPT technology has been demonstrated as a viable solution to providing low-power, high-performance atomic clocks, it makes sense to explore the potential for deploying these units for space operations.  Size, Weight and Power (SWAP) rank among the highest of the critical parameters in the design and fabrication process of a satellite system.  However, the single most critical parameter is perhaps the radiation tolerance of any electronic system.  By using the LPPTS design as a point of departure, Kernco proposes to implement a radiation tolerant design of its CPT-Based Atomic Clock to satisfy the need for Low Cost, High Accuracy Timing Signals for small satellite flight opportunities.

This SBIR Phase I proposal will focus on the design of a Radiation Tolerant Low Power Precision Time Source (LPPTS-R) suitable for integration into the Space Plug-and-Play Architecture (SPA).
Aerospace structures are prone to damage. In addition to cracks seen in metals, composite structures exhibit other characteristic damage modes such as, matrix cracking, delamination, fiber debonding and breakage and matrix voids. Infrared thermography methods can reveal many subsurface defects in composites including kissing disbond, which is almost impossible to identify using any other NDE method. However, no matter how complex and quantitative it may be, the information obtained through a typical NDE technique is limited to the state of damage when the inspection is performed. The growth of this damage during the service life on the other hand greatly affects the integrity of the component and may lead to catastrophic failure. In this program we will take the information provided by the NDE methods to one step further and use the IR image data obtained during regular maintenance routines to determine/predict the remaining usable life of the structure. Moreover, to facilitate practical use of the system, the ultimate goal of this project will be to provide this capability in a compact Portable IR-based Inspection System package, PIRIS. Phase I program will be based on demonstrating the feasibility of the concept through an extensive experimental program. At the end of Phase II a prototype system will be delivered to the NASA program manager. In this NASA SBIR program, MTC has partnered with Pratt&amp;Whitney. Their hands-on involvement will provide the required technical/practical guidance to make PIRIS system a success.
Flight deck systems, like many safety critical systems, often involve complex interactions between multiple human operators, automated subsystems, and physical structures. Individual components are extensively evaluated and are often redundantly deployed, so catastrophic failures predominately arise not through component failure but as the result of a sequence of failures that cascade because of some unforeseen combination of off-nominal conditions. Such sequences may involve human operators, control algorithms, software implementations, physical structures, and other components of the system. Analyzing the potential for these failure scenarios is extremely difficult, not only because of the inherent complexity of such systems but also because of the multidisciplinary nature of the system itself. While many development tools exist to conduct deep analyses within individual disciplines, there is a lack of tools available for deep analysis of complex multidisciplinary designs. The goal of this proposed research project is thus to create a new class of development tool that allows designers to specify, design, integrate, and conduct analyses of complex systems across disciplinary boundaries. Through this new tool, the dynamic interactions between system components in the presence of off-nominal conditions can be explored to uncover systemic vulnerabilities, precursory conditions, and likely outcomes.
Thermal analysis is increasingly used in thermal engineering of spacecrafts in every stage, including design, test, and ground-operation simulation. Current high-fidelity modeling and simulation tools are computationally prohibitive and not fully compatible to integrated, multi-physics (e.g., thermal-structural-optical) analysis of spacecrafts, particularly in a single model topology currently being pursued at NASA. NASA engineers are challenged with developing innovative reduction algorithms and models that enable rapid analysis while retaining adequate accuracy. To address this need, we propose to develop and demonstrate innovative Model Order Reduction (MOR) software to automatically generate nonlinear reduced thermal models for spacecraft analysis. The underlying principle is to project the original large models onto a characteristic, low-dimensional subspace (SVD or Krylov subspace), yielding reduced models with markedly low computational orders. In Phase I, a MOR engine encapsulating carefully selected algorithms, a reduced model solver, and a verification module, along with facile data export interfaces will be developed in an integrated software environment. Proof-of-concept will be established by broad case studies, in which reduced models will be analyzed and compared against large model analysis using CFDRC-developed multi-physics simulation tool CFD-ACE+ in terms of accuracy, speed, and resource use. Phase II will focus on enhancing the MOR engine, optimizing the software structure, and expanding interfaces to other NASA-relevant tools.
Many large-scale numerical simulations can be broken down into common mathematical routines.  While the applications may differ, the need to perform functions such as matrix solves, Fourier transforms, or eigenvalue analysis routinely arise.  Consequently, targeting fast, efficient implementations of these methods will benefit a large number of applications.  Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are emerging as an attractive platform to perform these types of simulations.  There FLOPS/Watt and FLOPS/dollar figures are far below competing alternatives.  In previous work, EM Photonics has implemented dense matrix solvers using a hybrid GPU/multicore microprocessor approach.  This has shown the ability to significantly outperform either platform when used independently.  In this project, we will develop a complimentary library focused on performing routines on sparse matrices.  This will be extremely valuable to a wide set of users including those doing finite-element analysis and computational fluid dynamics.  Using GPUs, users are able to build single workstations with an excess of four teraFLOPS of computational power as well as create large, high-performance computing systems that are efficient in terms of both cost and power.  By leveraging libraries such as the ones we will develop for this project, the user is shielded from the intricacies of GPU programming while still able to access their computational performance.
NASA needs compact nuclear reactors to power future bases on the moon and Mars. These reactors require robust automatic control systems using low mass, rapid response, in-core reactor power monitoring sensors and radiation tolerant sensor interrogation systems that do not yet exist.  Luna proposes to develop a new type of fiber optic miniature neutron flux and gamma flux sensor, which will have significantly faster response than recently developed fiber optic radiation sensors.  The new sensors will maintain the advantages of current fiber optic reactor sensor technology, including small size for in-core sensor distributions, high temperature performance (above 600&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C), and immunity to electrical noise in the presence of ionizing radiation.  
During Phase I, Luna will demonstrate the feasibility of high-speed fiber optic gamma flux sensors in a nuclear reactor.  Phase II will optimize the sensor design and the interrogation system for high temperature in-core monitoring of both gamma flux and neutron flux with internal thermal compensation and in-situ thermal calibration. At the end of Phase II, Luna will deliver a lightweight sensor interrogation system, utilizing experimentally verified radiation hardened components wherever possible, and including an analog output signal for interfacing with standard reactor control electronics.
Robust, lightweight, power-efficient excavation robots are mission
enablers for lunar outposts and surface systems. Lunar excavators of this
type cost-effectively utilize native materials for both outpost
preparation and in-situ resource utilization. They address the need for
implements that dig, collect, transport, and dump lunar soil.  Past
prototypes, while providing valuable insights, have either been too large,
too slow, or had too little pound-for pound regolith moving capacity
(payload ratio) to be real options for a lunar outpost.  Novel designs
incorporating dump beds, high-speed driving, and composite materials are
game changers, making lightweight excavation robots advantageous for lunar
site and surface work.

Performance of elemental actions such as digging or driving has been
studied, but it is performance in achieving a site-level task like berm
building that matters.  This proposal team has identified payload ratio
and driving speed as dominating parameters governing site work. This has
been done by creating and applying a task-level simulator, REMOTE
(Regolith Excavation, Mobility &amp; Tooling Environment), for a prior NASA
contract.  Current excavation force models do not adequately address
cohesion and soil-tool friction within a lunar-relevant regime, as this
work proposes to do.  Trade studies and prototypes of lunar excavators are
informative, but direct controlled comparisons of configuration options
(ex. loader or dozer) will yield the best means of choosing a real design.

The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at the beginning of the proposed
Phase I work is 2.  The anticipated results of Phase I include a prototype
design as well as experimental data supporting the feasibility of the
concept, bringing the TRL to 3.  Phase II will result in a completed
prototype that will be used to validate predictions of key parameters,
bringing the TRL to 4.
The proposed Phase 1 program will demonstrate that sapphire viewports are feasible for use in Venus probes. TvU's commercial viewport products have demonstrated that the pressure and temperature constraints will be met, while the use of materials appropriate to the atmospheric conditions will satisfy the overall physical constraints. The viewport system will be shown to be adaptable to overall NASA use constraints. A prototype viewport system will be designed for fabrication and testing, and application in Phase 2. Task work will detail the design of both the window and the fixture, test a sample, and emphasize the most important aspects of the design and specification. Phase 1 work will lay out the foundation for a Phase 2 program that will integrate these viewports into the NASA Venus probe program.
Bennett Aerospace and Team Partners propose to develop a small, lightweight, and very power-efficient mobile radio for use on the Lunar surface. Our Team will achieve a design that meets NASA size and mass requirements while reducing power consumption by more than 90&#37;. We will accomplish this through innovative approaches in power management and RF front end design.
Today, memory and payload processing systems for space applications are typically designed for a specific application for a specific mission.  Many of these systems do not employ a commercial standard which adversely affects the development costs, risks, and schedule while minimizing effective reuse of capabilities.  Traditional commercial standards such as PCI are limited in bandwidth and reliability and do not meet the needs of advanced space payloads.  New standards, like VPX, do show promise.  VPX supports module to module datarates of 10 Gbps.  VPX supports multiple switch architecture, so redundancy is supported.  With newer large capacity memory components, a high capacity modular architecture is achievable which opens the door for adoption of a commercial standard for space payload and memory systems.
This SBIR Phase I proposal describes a method of fabrication of far IR and THZ range multilayer metal-mesh filters. This type of filter consists of alternative layers of polymer material and structured thin metal films. The proposed filters are radiation hard and lightweight. The fabrication process proposed will increase the availability of such filters and expand the market while reducing the cost and delivery time. In Phase I, it is proposed to develop a process for incorporating the dielectric film in between the metal mesh and to maintain the mechanical integrity over the wide temperature range (from below 4K to 300K). In Phase II, optimized filters will be fabricated and their properties compared with design predictions.  Phase III will involve product design, fabricating filter structures to meet customers' physical as well as optical needs, and marketing and sales investments.
Development of an improved water management membrane for a static vapor feed electrolyzer that produces sub-saturated H2 and O2 is proposed.  This improved membrane can increase the performance and especially the durability of static vapor feed electrolyzers.  Static vapor feed electrolyzers greatly simplify electrolyzer systems as they eliminate the need for water/gas phase separation, which is particularly challenging in a zero gravity environment.  Maintaining water in the vapor phase greatly reduces membrane swelling which should increase durability.  Finally, by keeping water in the vapor phase the MEA is not exposed to ion and other contaminants that are carried by a liquid water stream, further increasing durability and simplifying the system by reducing the need for ultra-pure water.  
The primary goal of this Phase I program then is to demonstrate the enhanced performance and durability of a static vapor feed electrolyzer utilizing an improved water management membrane.
Ridgetop Group will design a high-speed, low-power silicon germanium (SiGe)-based, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to be a key element for digital beam forming (DBF) systems that are used in NASA's future radar missions. The ADC will employ a novel combination of time interleaving, high-speed bipolar technology and low-power techniques, such as the double-sampling technique, providing exceptional sampling speed of 500 MSPS,12 bits of resolution and very low, 100mW power dissipation. 
Ordinarily, ADC design requires large trade-offs in speed, resolution, and power consumption. The significance of this innovation is that it simultaneously provides a high-speed, high-resolution, and low-power ADC that is well ahead of the state-of-the-art. These three characteristics are needed for DBF systems that contain large ADC arrays. The power consumption of existing ADC chips prohibits implementation of large DBF arrays in space. Ridgetop's innovative design leverages newer semiconductor process technologies that combine silicon and germanium into a compound semiconductor.
Design, manufacture and test a flat segmented mirror made of optical grade AlBeMet 162 material and fusion bonded through the use of E Beam welding to demonstrate the feasability of manufacturing much larger segmented optics that perform as monlithic optics.
The original Sublimator Driven Coldplate (SDC) design sought to provide significant mass savings over a traditional pumped fluid loop by combining the functions of a cold plate and a sublimator and eliminating the fluid loop (Leimkuehler, et. al., "Design of a Sublimator Driven Coldlpate Development Unit," 2008-01-2169).  The target application was to provide heat rejection for the ascent module of the Altair lunar lander vehicle during the lunar ascent mission phase.  However, in order to provide heat rejection for the ascent module during the rest of the mission, it is desirable to keep the ascent module integrated with the fluid loop in the rest of the Altair vehicle.  Therefore, we propose an Integrated Sublimator Driven Coldplate (ISDC) that can function as both a standard flow-through cold plate and a Sublimator Driven Coldplate.  The ISDC builds on the original SDC concept by adding coolant layers so that it can be integrated with the pumped fluid loop on the rest of the vehicle.  This approach provides mass savings by (1) combining multiple pieces of hardware into a single piece of hardware and (2) providing additional fault tolerance without the need for redundant hardware.
Weather accounts for 70&#37; of the annual cost of air traffic delays and cancellations, of which about 60&#37; are estimated to be avoidable. Traffic Management Initiatives (TMIs), including reroutes and ground delays, are used by Air Traffic Management (ATM) operators to mitigate impact of en-route convective weather. The efficiency of today's TMIs leaves a great deal to be desired, due in part to insufficient accuracy of today's weather forecast products. As new, higher-accuracy probabilistic forecast products are beginning to emerge, there is a major functionality gap between their visual aspect (enhancing comprehension and decision making by operators) and their application in automated NextGen ATM decision support tools. 
Our proposal seeks to address this gap. We will develop a prototype tool for automatic generation of "Least-Impact TMIs" using probabilistic convective forecast information. This tool will generate a combination of least-deviation-from-shortest-path reroute and/or minimum ground delay for each flight predicted to be impacted by convective weather.
Innovation in this proposal:
?	New, original "step-out-and-scan" rerouting algorithm.
?	Probabilistic forecast information converted to ATM constraints ("permeability") and used to find viable reroute paths.
?	Combination of economical reroutes plus minimum delays resulting in least-impact traffic management solutions.
We already have a suitable platform for this research: the WITI (Weather Impacted Traffic Index) toolset developed by Principal Investigator, Dr. Klein, funded by the FAA and the National Weather Service. It can ingest actual and forecast weather, traffic demand, airport and airspace capacities; as well as compute weather permeability by a flight (using the so-called scanning algorithm) and airspace capacity degradation due to weather. NASA sponsored research ("Translating Weather Information into TFM Constraints" NRA) is also using WITI technology.
Maxion Technologies and Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) propose to jointly develop a compact, rugged, highly reliable, and autonomous sensor for in-situ monitoring of CO in spacecraft crew areas for fire warning.  Our innovation is to combine a custom fabricated Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) with PSI's proprietary single board electronics package that incorporates both a high sensitivity optical detection technique and all system control functions, to create a laser spectrometer for CO.  The advent of QCLs enables the development of a very compact and highly sensitive monitor.  This technical approach will result in a sensor that has the requisite dynamic range of 1 to 500 ppmv with a precision of 1 ppmv CO, in a physically robust and compact package.  The Phase I program will demonstrate the feasibility of a breadboard sensor and create a detailed conceptual design for an advanced prototype.  The TRL at the beginning of Phase I is level 2 and the TRL at the end of Phase I will be level 4.  The Phase II program will fabricate a prototype that can be demonstrated at a relevant simulator.  The TRL at the end of Phase II will be level 6.  Successful completion of Phases I and II will result in a rigorously validated prototype sensor that can monitor ambient CO with high speed and precision.  The sensor architecture can be easily modified to measure other species.
Intelligent Fiber Optic Systems Corporation (IFOS) proposes to prove the feasibility of innovations based on ultra-light-weight, ultra-high-speed, multi-channel, optical fiber sensor system for acoustics emissions (AE) monitoring for detection of impact damage and cracks in structural components in Aerospace structures. The project goals are to design an ultra-high-speed/high resolution with a small foot print fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogator, construct a system model, test platform including embedded FBG sensors and develop signal processing algorithms to identify and measure AE signals in the presence of a quasi-static background strain field. The system model will demonstrate proof-of-principle and the test results will provide proof-of-functionality of the proposed sensor system for monitoring AE including using the advanced fiber optic sensor signal processing algorithms.  AE will be simulated in an Aluminum by performing pencil break or impact hammer tests.  The model test results will be compared to the measurements made concurrently by a standard single channel piezoelectric AE transducer. IFOS and its collaborators in this project will develop a Phase II strategy plan that includes development and integration strategy, potential demonstration opportunities, program schedule, and estimated costs. The key proposed innovation is a modular, light-weight, ultra-high-speed, multi-channel, optical fiber sensor system for AE monitoring.
Ultramet will design and fabricate a lightweight, high temperature 5-lbf combustion chamber for use with cryogenic liquid oxygen/methane (LOX/CH4) propellant that will deliver a specific impulse of ~355 seconds, an increase over the current 320-sec baseline that will result in a propellant mass decrease of 55 lbm. The material system will be based on Ultramet's proven oxide-iridium/rhenium architecture, which has been successfully hot-fire tested with stoichiometric oxygen/hydrogen for hours. Instead of rhenium, however, the structural material will be a niobium alloy that has excellent high temperature yield strength. With a yield strength-to-weight ratio over 33&#37; greater than that of rhenium at elevated temperature, this niobium alloy will significantly reduce chamber weight. The starting materials are two orders of magnitude less expensive than rhenium and are less expensive than the C103 alloy commonly used in low-performance engines. Aerojet will design the chamber in Phase I and will perform hot-fire testing in Phase II. Phase II will include scaleup of the process and testing of a chamber in the 25- to 500-lbf thrust class, which would be suitable for a reaction control system engine on a lunar ascent/descent vehicle.
Current cryogenic insulation materials suffer from various drawbacks including high cost and weight, lack of structural or load-bearing capability, fabrication complexity, and property anisotropy. A need clearly exists for lightweight thermal insulation that is isotropic, structurally capable, and exhibits improved thermal performance relative to current materials and structures. Aerogels have been investigated as an insulation material for cryogenic tanks due to their ultralow thermal conductivity and density, but they suffer from poor structural integrity and require expensive processing. Open-cell foam structures have also been researched, but suffer from the requirement for high vacuum in order to perform adequately. In previous work for NASA and DoD involving lightweight structural insulation for high temperature engine and airframe applications, Ultramet developed and demonstrated lightweight open-cell foam insulators composed of a carbon or ceramic structural foam skeleton filled with a low-cost, nanoscale aerogel insulator. The potential exists to adapt and optimize aerogel-filled structural foam for the cryogenic insulation application, thereby taking advantage of the thermal and mechanical benefits of each component while also offering low cost and manufacturability in complex shapes. In this project, Ultramet will team with Alliant Techsystems (ATK), a leading aerospace firm, to demonstrate the initial feasibility of the innovative cryogenic insulation to meet NASA requirements.
This SBIR involves the development of a lightweight innovative material for use as structure and radiation shielding in one.  APS has assembled a uniquely qualified team that includes designers, testing experts and consolidation companies to address this need.  Reducing the number of parts on a vehicle is important from a cost, weight and performance aspects.  Several systems and radiation sources will be evaluated, and APS will use its TRL 6 materials to meet current NASA and aerospace needs.  Phase II will involve further component, characterization and performance issues.
For remote sensing of laser/lidar technology and global environment
monitoring applications, the pulsed coherent Doppler lidars are of
considerable contemporary interest as an effective tool. At present, the
coherent 2-m laser radar has been used to replaced CO2 gas laser
(10.6-m) for its higher spatial and velocity resolution. Considering the
commercial 2 micron laser systems are complex and expensive, Boston
Applied Technologies proposes a new laser gain medium by a revolutionary
ceramic laser material technology where the host ceramic is highly
transparent, active and possess electro-optic character itself. By
doping with specified rare earth ions, it is easily to reach the 2-m
emission. The resultant laser transmitter will be an all solid-state,
diode-pumped, room-temperature operation, 2 micron laser system
producing laser pulses of 2 to 200 mJ at 10 to 200 Hz repetition rate.
This all diode-pumped laser will be compact, reliable, cost-effective
and also capable of operating in aircraft and planetary environmental extremes.
ORBITEC proposes to develop the Advanced Carbothermal Electric (ACE) reactor to efficiently extract oxygen from lunar regolith. Unlike state-of-the-art carbothermal reactors that use concentrated solar energy or laser energy to heat the regolith, the ACE reactor uses new innovative electric resistant elements to heat the regolith. The ACE reactor eliminates the problems encountered with traditional carbothermal hot-wall reactors and offers significant advantages over current carbothermal reactor approaches. By eliminating the need for a solar energy collection and delivery system, the ACE reactor offers a significantly lowers system mass and eliminates the need to keep optical surfaces clean. The ACE reactor approach can also produce the processed regolith in a form that can be directly used as a structural material. This proposal directly meets the needs of Subtopic X3.01, specifically "Advanced reactor concepts for carbothermal reduction or molten oxide electrolysis." The proposed Phase 1 Effort will define requirements, develop the heating elements, perform performance tests in a sub-scale ACE reactor, and create a preliminary design for a prototype ACE reactor that would be built and tested in Phase 2. The Phase 2 Effort will include fabrication and performance testing of the prototype ACE reactor before it is delivered to NASA.
Global Science &amp; Technology, Inc. (GST) proposes to investigate information processing and delivery technologies to provide near-real-time Web-based access to satellite data from the National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP). We will investigate computing hardware and software requirements for serving data products acquired through NPP Direct Broadcast to modelers, forecasters, and decision-makers, via industry-standard Web services, within minutes of sensor acquisition. This effort will fill in a notable gap in the transition between current observational systems and the future NPOESS (National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite System.
Development of airborne and spaceborne laser systems dictates a number of extremely challenging requirements for such fine optical devices. These requirements include minimizing weight and volume, increasing of power and brightness, high tolerance to mechanical and acoustic vibrations and ionizing radiation. Solid state lasers provide the best parameters which are necessary for free space optical communications, remote sensing, etc. However, all such lasers require fine alignment and, therefore, are very sensitive to vibrations, thermal gradients, etc. The ideal situation would be if all elements of a laser would be incorporated in the volume of a gain medium. We propose a completely new approach to the problem. Researchers at CREOL have demonstrated that it is possible to produce co-doping of a photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass with Nd. It was found that absorption and luminescence properties of Nd in PTR glass are the same as for all silicate glasses. It is important that this type of silicate glass can be successfully doped with all rare earth ions, e.g. with Nd, Yb, Er, Tm, etc. At the same time, it was shown that PTR glass keeps it photosensitivity. This means that it is possible to record volume holograms in this material. A combination of good lasing properties and phase photosensitivity enables a new approach to all-solid-state laser. It became possible to record volume Bragg gratings in the volume of laser glass. In this case, all alignment will be done in the process of recording and no misalignment is possible in any conditions of exploitation. Thus, the proposed approach enables creation of a monolithic solid state laser. We expect to study luminescence properties and develop a technology of recording Bragg mirrors in the volume of gain medium and demonstrate diode pumped lasing in Phase I project. In the case of success, we expect to study semiconductor crystals precipitation in PTR glass and demonstrate a monolithic pulsed laser in Phase II project.
We will design and formally verify a VLIW processor that is radiation-hardened, and where the VLIW instructions consist of predicated RISC instructions from the PowerPC 750 Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). The PowerPC 750 ISA is used in the radiation-hardened RAD750 flight-control computer that is utilized in many NASA space missions, including Deep Impact, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Mars Rovers, and is planned to be used in the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The VLIW processor will have reconfigurable functional units and specialized instructions that will be optimized for Software Defined Radio applications. The radiation-hardening will be done at the microarchitectural level with a mechanism that will allow the detection and correction of all timing errors---caused not only by radiation, but also by variations in the voltage, frequency, manufacturing process, and aging of the chip. The binary-code compatibility of the resulting VLIW processors with the PowerPC 750 ISA will allow them to seamlessly execute legacy binary code from previous space missions. We have made critical contributions to the fields of formal verification of complex pipelined microprocessors, and Boolean Satisfiability (SAT), and have developed highly efficient Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools that we will use.
One of the CO2 reduction technologies currently being developed by NASA is the CO2 and Moisture Removal Amine Swing-bed System (CAMRAS). One of the disadvantages of the CAMRAS for long duration missions is that it removes moisture in addition to CO2. One way to minimize the water loss from the atmosphere, yet still be able to implement the highly desirable CO2 removal function of the CAMRAS, is to implement a membrane water exchanger, or recuperator, at the inlet of the CAMRAS system. The water exchanger passes humidified, CO2 laden air on one side of a membrane. The water vapor passes through the membrane leaving the CO2 laden air to be treated by the amine system. The air returning from the amine system is dry and CO2 free, as its remaining moisture and CO2 have been absorbed by the amine beads. This dry air passes on the second side of the membrane. Its low dew point provides the driving force for the moisture that passes through from the inlet stream. The CO2 free air becomes re-humidified, thus conserving water in the overall system mass balance. The membrane is highly selective for water, and not for CO2. The amount of carbon dioxide passing through the membrane and returning to the cabin is negligible; therefore the functionality of the CAMRAS as a CO2 removal system will not be impeded. The improvement over the current state-of-the-art is a reduction in power and the elimination of moving parts.
Motors used in rovers, cranes and instruments for use on lunar and Mars missions present unique design requirements.  Weight reduction is critical, so motors with high power density and torque density are desirable.  Also, the motors need to be designed to work over a wide temperature range: from 40 K to 403K.  The proposed axial flux, coreless, brushless, Halbach array motor has been demonstrated to have the highest power density and the highest efficiency in land based applications.  In this phase I effort, the motor will be developed for use in lunar and Mars missions in which the operating temperature range is from 40 K to 403K.  This would be a significant technical advancement.
Vescent Photonics proposes to design and build significantly improved laser frequency locking and control systems that will be suitable for ASCENDS and other NASA sensing needs. Precision laser frequency control (absolute frequency to better than 1 MHz with rapid tuning over 10's to 100's of GHz) for lasers in both the 1.57 CO2 overtone region for direct CO2 detection and around 1.53 &amp;#61549;m, which may be doubled to reach the O2 A-band spectral-trough feature at 764.7 nm, will be developed and provided.  The laser locking and control will employ either calibrated sweep techniques or high-speed frequency offset phase locking.  Absolute wavelength references will be maintained to better than 2 MHz via either direct locking to a CO2 line or locking to the HCN R(22) line at 1529.38 nm, which when doubled is directly at the 764.7 nm O2 spectral trough feature.  Prototype locking and control systems will be delivered at the end of phase I (TRL will transition from 4 to 5 during phase I) and a complete, ready to use laser system will be delivered at the end of phase II (TRL 6 or 7 at end of phase II).
With propulsion research programs focused on new levels of efficiency and noise, there are two emerging avenues for advanced gas turbine technology: the geared turbofan and ultra-high bypass ratio fan engines.  Both of these candidates are being pursued as collaborative research projects between NASA and the engine OEMs.  The high bypass concept from GE Aviation is an unducted fan which features a bypass ratio of over thirty, along with the accompanying benefits in fuel efficiency.  

The innovation being developed in this project is improvement is the test and measurement capabilities of the fan blade dynamic response.  In the course of this project, Mechanical Solutions, Inc. (MSI) will work with GE Aviation to define the requirements for fan blade measurements, to leverage MSI's radar-based system for compressor and turbine blade monitoring, and to develop, validate and deliver a non-contacting blade vibration measurement system for unducted fans.
Mobile communications systems require programmable embedded platforms that can handle computationally demanding signal processing codes without the burden of high power consumption. As hardware performance improves, technology trends have shifted functionality from the gate level up to software, as demonstrated by the emergence of software defined radio. Traditionally, these platforms rely on FPGAs and DSPs, which are costly to program. Application demands for radiation mitigation and fault tolerance exacerbate programmability issues. 
Maxentric has been developing manycore-based software defined radio (SDR) technologies in an effort to innovate in this market. In this proposal, we describe a radiation-hardened software defined radio system called Resilient. In contrast to current software defined radio systems, Resilient employs a multi-core processor, Maestro. Using Maestro for SDR will enable sophisticated software-based fault tolerance approaches. Moreover, Maestro is based on a general purpose processing architecture that is significantly cheaper and easier to program, debug, and verify than FPGAs.
In this proposed Phase I program, a multifunctional lightweight radiation shield composite will be developed and fabricated. This structural radiation shielding will be a high strength, syntactic polymeric where the polymer is filled with high strength low Z material.  Specifically, this program will produce structural Polymeric aluminum alloy-LiBH4 composite materials layups.  These structural composites are derived from similar structures Powdermet currently produces using hollow spheres (lightweight insulating structures), and more recently, energetic materials (such as KClO4).  These materials serve to provide combined structural properties, thermal insulation, mass-efficient radiation shielding, and collision and micrometeroid impact energy adsorption.
Impact Technologies, LLC in collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology, proposes to develop an innovative and revolutionary method for a miniature low cost, weight, and power, highly accurate INS system coupled with GPS receivers providing stable and highly accurate positioning, attitude, and inertial measurements while being subjected to highly dynamic maneuvers. In contrast to conventional methods that utilize extensive ground-based real-time tracking and control units that are expensive, large, and require excessive amounts of power to operate, our method focuses on the development of a highly-accurate attitude estimator that makes use of a low cost, miniature accelerometer array fused with traditional measurement systems and GPS. Through the utilization of a position tracking estimation algorithm, on-board accelerometers are numerically integrated and transformed using attitude information to obtain an estimate of position in the inertial frame. Position and velocity estimates are subject to drift due to accelerometer sensor bias and high vibration over time, and therefore require the integration with GPS information using a Kalman filter to provide highly accurate and reliable inertial tracking estimations. The development of such technology is required for the enablement of the proposed highly accurate attitude estimator that is a primary focus of this proposed work.
This SBIR project delivers a single-sensor structural health-monitoring (SHM) system that uses the impedance method to monitor structural integrity, wave propagation methods to assess surfaces, and acoustic SHM to detect adverse events (impacts). This Adverse Event Detection (AED) unit supports nondestructive evaluation (NDE) systems and evaluates advanced composite structures.
Implications of the innovation
Increasingly demanding weight and performance needs encourage widespread use of composite materials. New systems are needed to detect incipient flaws in composites before damage becomes critical. Health analyzers that actively examine structures across several length and time scales in an autonomous fashion greatly reduce the number of sensors required and lower system complexity and cost; however, no practical system exists. We address this deficiency by building on our existing SHM system.
Technical objectives
AED leverages our previous NASA SHM research. Our initial Phase 1 prototype takes the form of a single custom printed circuit board, and is a TRL 5 unit. We have demonstrated both the impedance method and wave propagation SHM as implemented by a single sensor. Phase 1 will focus on performing similar demonstrations for acoustic SHM using the same single sensor element.
Research description
We have established feasibility for a chip-level approach that combines the impedance method and wave propagation, and demonstrated damage detection on a model composite. Phase 1 will validate chip-level feasibility for acoustic operation, and demonstrate this additional capability in a laboratory prototype.
Anticipated results
Phase 1 attacks the problem of monitoring structural integrity across multiple time and distance scales and completes a TRL 5 prototype that can be deployed wirelessly. Phase 2 delivers a TRL 6 unit that autonomously senses damage across several length and time scales by integrating impedance based, wave propagation, and acoustic SHM.
The Mars Sample Return mission is being planned to return samples of Martian rock, regolith, and atmosphere to Earth for scientific analysis. The Martian sample size is directly affected by the propulsion capabilities of the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and innovations are sought to enhance propulsion capabilities of the MAV for functions including primary propulsion from the Mars surface, orbit insertion, and attitude control. The proposed constant-volume combustion rocket (CVC) propulsion technology will lead to 1) significant weight reduction and simplification; 2) reduced costs in the system components and ground servicing; 3) prolonged mission or systems lifetimes; 4) improved reliability; and 5) enhanced critical mission functions. The Constant Volume Combustion (CVC) engine is an innovative design that combines light weight, low pressure fuel tanks and operates at high chamber pressures.    The CVC engine has nearly identical specific impulse as the constant pressure engine with the same mass flow and throat area, furthermore, the nozzle optimizes at the same area ratio. It has exceptional thrust-to-weight ratios, and the proposed bipropellant system meets Martian temperature requirements without heating or stirring.  During Phase 1 we will  demonstrate, through analysis, experimentation, and hot-fire testing, the feasibility of our proposed CVC engine as a credible candidate for Mars Ascent Propulsion. In Phase II, there will be an aggressive push towards flight-like hardware to ensure rapid maturation of the technology in order to meet the NASA mission goals.
To-date, the realization of small-scale, high-performance liquid bipropellant rocket engines for lunar and other planetary ascent vehicles has largely been limited by the inability to operate at high chamber pressures in a regeneratively-cooled environment using on-board pumps for pressurization of the propellants.  Ventions seeks to fulfill this critical need by using a novel fabrication scheme to realize small-scale thrusters and turbopumps, and proposes to extend its previously-demonstrated technologies (under DARPA and NASA sponsored efforts) to develop a micro-scale turbopump for cryogenic propellants in a lunar ascent vehicle.
To obtain valid and reliable data, Human Factors Engineering (HFE) evaluations are currently conducted by people with specialized training and experience in HF.  HFE evaluations designed and conducted by engineers without the necessary HF expertise run the risk of producing useless or misleading results.  Alternatively, the HFE is simply not conducted.  To ameliorate these problems, MTI proposes to develop the Human Factors Evaluation Mentor (HFEM) to guide non-HF experts in the design and conduct of HFE.  The HFEM will use an innovative combination of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Rule-Based Systems (RBS) to develop  prescriptive designs for a set of routine HF evaluation methods.  This powerful combination has not been used previously in advisory systems.  The cases and rules used to develop the evaluation prescription will be drawn from a team of highly experienced HFE professionals.  A characteristic of CBR is that successful applications add to the case data base and thereby continuously improve the HFEM.  In Phase I MTI will develop and demonstrate a limited number of evaluation methods.  Phase 2 work will expand the scope of evaluation types included in the HFEM incorporating HFE methods that best meet NASA's needs.
NASA has a need to develop higher performance ablative thermal protection systems (TPS) than is currently available for future exploration of our solar system's inner and outer planets.  Potential missions for these new and/or improved TPS materials include Mars Entry, Descent &amp; Landing, and Mars Sample Return, but the general desire is that these new technologies be capable of cross-cutting mission applications.  In addition to improved TPS performance, NASA also has a need for TPS integrated with the sub-structure that will improve thermal efficiency, insulation performance, system thermal-structural performance, and system integrity with the goal of achieving increased system reliability, reduced areal mass, and/or decreased costs over the current state-of-the-art (SOTA).

This program will address NASA's need to: 1) Develop higher performing TPS materials to meet the demands of severe mission trajectories such as Mars Sample Return; and 2) Integrate TPS materials with the sub-structure to improve overall robustness and decrease mass.  This program's goal is to extend Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA, TRL=9) and Integrated Composite Structure (ICS, TRL=5) TPS materials to a broader range of flight heat fluxes and performance to address future missions and heatshield designs.  The current TRL for the multi-layered TPS system is 3, with an envisioned TRL of 6 at the completion of a successful Phase II program.
Honeybee Robotics proposes to develop a software tool for facilitating lunar excavation system trades in support of selecting an optimal architecture.  This will provide engineers with the ability to quickly examine "What if?" scenarios within a trade space by specifying an excavation architecture and receiving data and graphs evaluating that architecture's performance in terms relevant metrics, such as total energy used or total duration.
Excavation tasks supporting outpost development and lunar ISRU will require moving hundreds to thousands of tons of regolith per year.  Moving this much regolith will require substantial machinery, but transportation costs on the order of $50K to $100K per kilogram to the surface of the Moon make it an economic necessity to make optimal use of lunar excavation equipment.  An architecture that saves a few thousand kilograms in equipment will save hundreds of millions in program dollars ? a substantial return on investment.
This software aims to be (a) user friendly, (b) relevant to LSS's priorities, and (c) accurate for lunar excavation.  Phase 1 will address user-friendliness, relevance, and the theoretical side of accuracy.  Phase 2 will expand the tool's relevance to a larger trade space, and attack selected gaps on the empirical side of accuracy.  This tool will be based on the very best models and data available, and will benefit from the knowledge and experience of both Dr. Kris Zacny, the Principal Investigator, and Dr. David Carrier, a subcontractor in this effort.  Phase 1 will result produce the basic framework for the software, which will be capable of performing analyses for a selected set of excavation scenarios.  Phase 2 will then add depth to that framework to address a wide range of excavation tasks and tools, and will involve experimentation to validate and fine tune the software.
Recent advancements in open rotor engine concepts warrant continued research, however the cost of wind tunnel tests is not insignificant.  Because the jet noise of an open rotor engine, or even that of a geared fan, is very low in relation to the fan noise, it is evident that fan noise reduction technology is now just as important as jet noise reduction.  A low cost test system is needed that would allow for comprehensive technology screening of open rotor concepts permitting more testing to be conducted at a lower overall cost.  The approach to developing such a system will be to maximize the use of current technology in the selection and development of components.  The first step to achieving this goal will be a design study that will include the following activities: define test criteria, further investigate drive motor and bearing technology, perform dynamic and structural analysis, define services such as power, cooling, lubrication, health monitoring, prepare fabrication estimate.
Clamp-on ultrasound cryogenic flowmeters using single crystal piezoelectric transducers are proposed to enable reliable, accurate cryogenic instrumentation needs in support of NASA Lunar Lander, Ground Operations, Altair, Ares, and Lunar Surface Systems programs. In-space, on the lunar surface, and on the Earth Exploration Systems architecture presents cryogenic storage, distribution, and fluid handling challenges that require new technologies to be developed. Clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeters are proposed because of their advantages such as high turn-down ratio, non-intrusive, no pressure drop, bi-directional measurement, no moving parts and fast response. Single crystal piezoelectrics are attractive because they exhibit 3 to 5 times the strain as conventional piezoelectric ceramics, and retain excellent piezoelectric performance at cryogenic temperatures (&lt; 20 K). Cryogenic piezoelectric transducers with broad bandwidth and high sensitivity will be designed, fabricated and characterized, and cryogenic gas flow rate measurements will be performed using the developed cryogenic transducers. It is expected to have 10-20 dB sensitivity gain (combining transmitting and receiving) for clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeters by using novel single crystal piezoelectric transducers.
The performance liquid propellant engines can be significantly improved by increasing both combustion temperature and pressure and reducing engine weight. State of the art Bi-propellant engines are metallic; the highest temperature combustion chambers are made of iridium/rhenium metals. Utilizing carbon-carbon composites for thrust chamber structures can reduce component weight by as much as 90&#37;. Unfortunately carbon composites suffer from unacceptably high oxidation rates. Lining carbon-carbon chambers with a thin layer of iridium or iridium/rhenium is an innovative way to provide the oxidation barrier necessary to enable the use of carbon-carbon composites.  This proposal evaluates using metal-lined carbon-carbon to produce high pressure, light weight thrust chambers.
Deployable Space Systems (DSS), in partnership with ATK Space and EMCORE, will focus the proposed SBIR program on the optimization and design development of the most promising advanced space photovoltaic subsystem now available: EMCORE's ultra-thin 33&#37; BOL-efficient Inverted Metamorphic Multijunction (IMM) solar cell that is interconnected and integrated onto an advanced flexible blanket; specifically for implementation on the lightest solar array structural system currently in use, ATK's UltraFlex.  The proposed innovative and synergistic solutions will produce a near-term, low-risk solar array system that provides breakthrough performance in terms of highest specific power (&gt;500 W/kg BOL), light weight, scalability to large (&gt;15 kW) wing sizes, high deployed stiffness, high deployed strength, compact stowage volume (&gt;50 kW/m3 BOL), high voltage operation capability, reliability, affordability, and rapid commercial readiness.  The proposed effort will focus on increasing the design fidelity (TRL) of promising IMM-integrated onto UltraFlex blanket solutions configured to meet key high-voltage SEP / deep space science mission requirements.  The development of feasible ultra-lightweight integrated IMM PV UltraFlex solar array technology will enable future missions, including near-to-medium term NASA Discovery and New Frontiers-class interplanetary, planetary orbital, comet rendezvous and Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) science missions as well as future Orion/CEV Lunar sortie missions.
This project will develop radiation resistant hybrid Lotus Effect photoelectrocatalytic self-cleaning anti-contamination coatings for application to Lunar Operations. The coatings will be demonstrated to operate in galactic cosmic ray (GCR) and solar event proton (SEP) environments. The coatings will have low surface energy to significantly reduce Van der Waals forces (superhydrophobicity), which also reduce contaminant adhesion and will integrate a biocide stoichiometric and photoelectrocatalytic component which has been successfully demonstrated against a range of biological pathogens and toxic chemicals. The Lotus-effect sheds particles, such as dust and spores, by reducing the surface energy and the amount of surface area needed for attachment by utilizing a nano-textured structure to achieve its anti-contamination and self-cleaning properties thereby minimizing contaminant accumulation on surfaces. Dust mitigation coatings on various surfaces will be developed for &gt; 99&#37; removal of initial dust contaminant compared to conventional materials, without damage to the surface being cleaned. The coatings utilize a unique approach for biocide and chemical neutralization and will simplify decontamination procedures by neutralizing microorganisms or harmful chemicals on surfaces of structures and equipment in low gravity, as well as in extraterrestrial environments, preventing potential catastrophic contamination.
Southwest Sciences proposed the development of a rugged, compact, and automated instrument for the high sensitivity measurement of tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO).  The application of recently developed room temperature vertical cavity diode lasers operating near 2300 nm permits the development of sensitive and rugged instrumentation for measurement of atmospheric CO with high precision.  Phase I efforts will address the feasibility of measuring CO to a precision of 10 parts-per-billion or better over a range of tropospheric temperatures, pressures, and humidities.  Phase II will emphasize development of prototype instrumentation for field testing.
We propose to investigate and develop an inexpensive system to determine: 1)VLBI antenna properties such as axis-offset, non-intersection of axis and antenna reference point; 2) Gravitational and/or Thermal deformation; 3) The eccentricity vector from the VLBI antenna to nearby GPS receivers. The proposed system involves using several GPS receivers in close proximity driven by a common clock. Because of their proximity, atmosphere and ionosphere errors are common, and vanish when we take the difference of measurements from different receivers to a common a satellite.  Satellite clock errors also vanish in this difference.  Since the receivers use a common clock, receiver clock error also vanishes. The remaining error source is GPS multipath which can be mitigated.
Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerators (ADRs) are considered for operations in many space missions. At the heart of an ADR is a magnet that produces the background field necessary for demagnetization of a paramagnetic material. To achieve very low temperatures, all sources of heat need to be eliminated or minimized, making superconducting magnets an obvious choice. The size and power requirement of current cryocoolers that cool such superconducting magnets to about 4K make them unrealistic for space missions. ADR magnets that can operate at 30K-40K require simpler cooling systems and are more suited to space applications. This requires the coils to be fabricated from HTS wires. Phase I of this work  aims to manufacture 0.2mm diameter Bi2212/Ag wires and fabricate a 1T 30mm dia. x 62mm long superconducting coil that can operate at 30-40K.

Since 2002 our company has been the beneficiary of SBIR awards in the area of developing light-weight low-current ADR magnets operating at 10K by using Nb3Sn superconducting wires in manufacturing of ADR magnets, and successfully fabricated demonstration magnets that were provided to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. All the developed techniques, procedures and the equipment will directly be applied to the aims of this proposal.
Based on successful space testing onboard the Midstar1 satellite, Eclipse Electrochromics have been identified by a number of organizations as well as NASA as a high interest technology. For nanosats, the critical design challenge is achieving autonomous control of the EclipseVEDs&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; for spacecraft thermal self regulation without the need for human intervention. To achieve this goal, Eclipse employed EclipseVED&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; technology and demonstrated the capacity to have automated control thermal systems capable of in-flight thermal regulation of a cubesat or other small satellite. In Phase II, Eclipse will build a complete multi-panel cubesat and work with NASA to lab test a completely functional prototype and review the capacity to utilize the ECDs concurrently with photovoltaics.
Future X-ray telescopes require significant amounts of optical area. To accommodate this in a grazing incidence design, extremely thin mirrors are formed in concentric shell configurations. A slumping technique has been demonstrated with such thin, lightweight shells. However, the optical surface is found to contain a significant amount of mid-spatial frequency errors. Reactive Atom Plasma (RAP) is a figuring technique that does not impart mid-spatial frequencies to the optical substrate geometries and can additionally remove specific spectra from the figure error. RAP is a sub-aperture, atmospheric pressure, non-contact figuring technology that relies on a deterministic gas-phase etching of the optical surface with high material removal rates. Further, RAP has the ability to modulate tool footprint on the fly, allowing the removal of specific spatial frequencies from the error spectrum. RAP has already been demonstrated as a very credible approach for fabricating the lightweight wedges required for the assembly of such mirrors and  is especially suitable for figuring extremely lightweight mirrors given the non-contact operation. In phase 1, we demonstrated the ability of the RAP process to impart minimal mid-spatial errors into the optical surface. A fully automated figuring platform with adjustable footprints is to be developed for phase 2.
There is demand for vastly improved deep space satellite communications links.  As data rates dramatically increase due to new sensor technologies and the desire to pack even more sensors on spacecraft, it is imperative that new solutions be compact in size, light in weight, be high speed, and highly power efficient. NASA has recognized optical links offer potential improvements in power and in size due to a substantially narrower beam and smaller components. An ideal technology for such links is a laser transmitter master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) using pulse position modulation techniques.  In Phase I, a design was developed for a laser transmitter MOPA with a wall-plug efficiency of up to 23&#37; operating at 1560nm. Operating at longer wavelength offers a number of advantages including the use of numerous off-the-shelf components. This Phase II proposal will demonstrate a working prototype of the design at a Technology Readiness Level 4 by the end of the program.
To address the NASA GSFC need for significant improvements in wide bandgap materials and detectors for UV applications, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new AlGaN nanowire photocathode for Silicon Microchannel Plate solar-blind photodetector fabricated directly on the MCP entrance plane. This innovative photocathode and the technology of its growth on the Si microchannel plate enables us to meet NASA requirements for windowless operation in the FUV range with high quantum efficiency, low noise, radiation-hardness, reliability, and potentially low cost. In Phase I, POC demonstrated the technology of GaN and AlN nanowire growth by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy and investigated the properties of nanowire surfaces. In Phase II, POC will optimize this technology for fabrication of an AlGaN nanowire photocathode on a silicon MCP structure and demonstrate photodetector operation in the FUV range. This innovative, efficient, solar-blind, and radiation-hard UV photodetector with low background noise and a large sensing area will offer NASA capabilities to design new instrumentation with improved sensitivity and spatial or spectral resolution for FUV and UV instruments for several missions devoted to a better understanding of the origin of the Universe and its evolution to modern form.
In general, development and validation of diagnostic models for complex safety critical systems are time and cost intensive jobs. The proposed Phase-II effort will automate some vital processes essential in developing integrated diagnostic schemes and cost-effective revalidation of the integrated models. The automated processes, resulting from this effort will be incorporated as tools in TEAMS Design and Analytic Platform. For reducing the burden of testing diagnostic models, capability for automatically generating test cases, regression test suites along with the options for their playback will be developed under this effort. Additionally, an option for efficient diagnostics and troubleshooting in multi-mode systems will be introduced in TEAMS via this SBIR effort. To ensure the readiness of the TEAMS tools and options developed through this effort, those will be verified and validated with one or more NASA's ground support systems that are associated with the ARES or Constellation Program Ground Support. Collectively, these achievements will significantly reduce the time and cost in developing and better utilizing large scale fault diagnostic systems using TEAMS.
In terms of relevancy to piloted evaluation, there remains no substitute for actual flight tests even when considering the fidelity and effectiveness of modern ground-based simulators. In addition to real world cueing, flight test provides subtle but key intangibles that cannot be duplicated in a ground-based simulator. There is, however, a cost to be paid for the benefits of flight in terms of budget, mission complexity, and safety. New technologies and test procedures are therefore needed to maximize the investments and reduce some of the related costs associated with flight test. To address this need, Systems Technology, Inc. is developing a Fused Reality (FR) Flight system that allows a virtual environment to be integrated with the test aircraft so that tasks such as aerial refueling, formation flying, or approach and landing can be accomplished without additional aircraft or risk of operating in close proximity to the ground or other aircraft. Furthermore, for the first time, the dynamic motions of the simulated objects can be directly correlated with the responses of the test aircraft. The FR Flight system will allow real-time observation of and manual interaction with the cockpit environment that serves as a frame for the virtual out-the-window scene.
SynGenics Corporation proposes a program that unites mathematical and statistical processes, Response Surface Methodology, and multicriterial optimization methods to design optimized, failsafe technologies to control shockwave-boundary-layer interactions and realize improvements in supersonic inlet performance and vehicle efficiency. The innovation described in this proposal is the development of SynGenics Optimization System (SynOptSys), a software product that will provide expert guidance to the user in the capture and documentation of response variables, identification of factors, and statistical design of experiments (DOE).  Furthermore, the software system will assist the user in the analysis of DOE data, model building, diagnostics, and system optimization. The software will implement multicriteral optimization methods developed by SynGenics personnel, which will enable the simultaneous optimization of the flow-control (FC) system with respect to multiple, competing inlet-system requirements. SynOptSys will help designers and product developers overcome the barriers that prevent them from using powerful mathematical and statistical techniques to develop better products in a less costly manner. SynOptSys will implement the final task in a suite of methods developed by SynGenics to transform a need and candidate solution concepts to an affordable solution. Use of these powerful techniques enables the development of high-value systems. The significance of this program is that it will provide tools necessary to conduct multicriterial, inlet system-level-assessments and optimizations of enabling technologies, including, but not limited to flow-control technologies  This program supports the Propulsion Efficiency key research area of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Supersonics Program by working to develop inlet FC technologies that will facilitate low TSFC of highly integrated supersonic inlets and improved overall cruise efficiency through reduced inlet drag.
Deployable Space Systems (DSS) has developed an ultra-lightweight elastically self-deployable roll-out solar array (ROSA) structural platform that when combined with ultra-thin 33&#37; IMM PV or 29.5&#37; standard ZTJ PV solar-cell flexible blanket technologies can produce a near-term and low-risk solar array system that provides revolutionary performance in terms of high specific power (&gt;500 W/kg BOL with IMM &amp; &gt;225 W/kg with ZTJ), lightweight, high deployed stiffness, high deployed strength, compact stowage volume (&gt;50 kW/m3 BOL), reliability, affordability, and rapid commercial readiness.  ROSA's predicted performance metrics are incredible improvements over current state-of-the-art, and in many cases are mission-enabling for future applications.  The ROSA technology innovation is applicable to practically all NASA and non-NASA missions as a direct replacement for current solar array technologies.  The proposed Phase 2 program has been uniquely structured to methodically develop a feasible scaled-up ROSA solar array system specifically configured for NASA's Outer-Planets mission applications, collaboratively with all the technology stakeholders, and increase technology readiness to TRL 5/6.  The successful completion of the proposed program will rapidly ready the mission-enabling ROSA solar array technology for commercial infusion into future programs.
NASA's plans for a lunar habitation outpost call out for process technologies to separate hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide gases from regolith product gas streams. A low-pressure drop separation unit is needed to remove these sulfur compounds from regolith process streams that is compact and lightweight. To this end, Reactive Innovations, LLC proposes a Phase II SBIR program to continue the development of an electrochemical reactive-separation unit to selectively bind and remove the sulfur compounds into a separated stream of sulfur-based compounds. During the Phase I program, we developed and successfully demonstrated an electrochemical reactive-separation platform that binds sulfur compounds via a charge transfer process to a redox carrier that is subsequently transported across a membrane separator releasing the sulfur components. The Phase II program will continue to develop the membrane electrode assemble to improve the separation process as well as transition this technology to RIL's advanced reactor platform for more extensive testing. The Phase I effort has brought this lunar regolith reactive-separator unit to a Technology Readiness Level of 3. The Phase II program will deliver an operational prototype at a TRL of 4-5.
The digital array gas radiometer (DAGR) is a new sensor design for accurate measurement and monitoring of trace gases in the boundary layer from space, aircraft, or ground-based platforms using scattered sunlight. Target gases include CH4, CO, CO2, N,2O and other species critical to climate science, environmental monitoring and commercial pollution compliance efforts.
We are developing CAD tools, models and methodologies for electronics design for circuit operation in extreme environments with a focus on very low temperature and radiation effects. These new tools will help enable NASA to design next generation electronics especially for planetary projects including the Europa Jupiter System Mission. The new models and tools will be directly incorporated into industry standard CAD products to ensure their usability and extend their applicability to extreme environments. Such capabilities will significantly improve reliability, performance and lifetime of electronics that are used for space missions. This will be achieved through the development of novel compact and distributed device modeling capabilities for radiation-hard and extreme temperature instrument design, as well as techniques for circuit design that help to predict the vulnerability of circuits to degradation and upset from radiation. Research and development is indicating that standard bulk silicon CMOS and SOI processes operate well under these extreme conditions so that there is little need for NASA to commit to large expenditures for exotic materials. Models and CAD tools are relatively inexpensive as compared to fabrication costs; thus the results of this project should provide a very large return on investment.
We propose to develop a compact portable longwave camera for astronomical applications. In Phase 1, we successfully developed the eye of the camera, i.e. the focal plane array (FPA) and produced good imagery with it. In Phase 2, we will optimize the FPA for quantum efficiency and pixel operability, integrate it into a dewar cooler assembly, and package the resulting sensor engine with electronics and optics into a camera system. We will deliver the camera to NASA for field testing.  We expect the camera to be particularly useful in the search for cold objects in the universe and in the measurement of atmospheric gases with absorption lines in the spectral response band of the camera.
The overall objective of the Phase I program was to demonstrate a system for simultaneous measurements of unsteady pressure and model geometry. During the Phase I program, system components were identified, evaluated, and selected and a preliminary system for model deformation and unsteady pressure measurements was demonstrated. This system utilized Porous Polymer fast PSP, lifetime-based detection, and a pulsed Laser for illumination to produce single-shot measurements. During the Phase II program, the basic system will be expanded in several steps. The final goal is to produce a mobile system that can be integrated quickly into a wind tunnel and produce near-real time pressure and deformation data. If an existing VMD system is available, it may be desirable to simply synchronize data acquisition with this system, and therefore, an external control capability is essential. Combining pressure and deformation data quickly, a process we refer to as data fusion, is essential for productive wind tunnel tests. Rapid data fusion will enable understanding of the flow while the model is in the tunnel, and therefore, facilitate quick and accurate decisions as the test evolves. The proposed Phase II system will include tools to facility combination of the PSP data with the model geometry.
As minimum cost will be required for a dedicated Nano-Sat Launch Vehicle, a parallel staged, highly modular vehicle architecture is proposed for development. The principal advantage of a modular architecture for this size of vehicle is the single propulsion development for the boost stages at a relatively small scale.  This approach drastically shortens development timelines and cost. A candidate launch vehicle with a cluster of seven identical modules would light 4 modules for the first stage, 2 for the second, 1 for the third, and fire 1 small spinning Apogee Kick Motor (AKM) for the fourth. Whittinghill Aerospace (WASP) proposes to refine the Phase 1 design of an all-composite, N2O-fed Hybrid Rocket Motor (HRM) propelled, 25 kg to LEO launcher. WASP will then build and fire the AKM, build and fire the core module HRM, then launch the full-scale core module as an unguided sounding rocket from a commercial range. At the conclusion of Phase 2, the technology will be at a TRL level of 6.
Techshot, Inc. proposes continued research and development of an on-orbit cell counter culminating in a deliverable hand-held blood cell counter in the form of a "Microfluidic Multichannel Flow Cytometer".  Crew health monitoring, the Human Research Program and research in Fundamental Biology will all benefit from the availability of on-orbit cell counters that can provide immediate and repeated blood counts to assess potential anemia, neutropenia, neutrophila or possibility of infections, and signs of immune cell dysfunction.  Three sequential objectives will be completed: (1) Subsystems consisting of a disposable microfluidics chip with multiple channels, fluorescence and light-scatter optics for cell detection, cell labeling protocols and reagents, electronics for controls and data processing and digital analysis and display hardware and software will be constructed and tested on the basis of Phase I research results.  (2) Subsystems will be integrated into a benchtop flow cytometer for counting red and white blood cells and three subsets of white blood cells.  (3) A compact hand-held cytometer device will be delivered to the sponsor.  This handheld device can be operated by any on-board personnel and requires only a single drop of blood with fully automated processing of blood on-chip.
Aeroprobe proposes to design, construct and test an air-data probe with substantially higher frequency response than currently available. This fast-response atmospheric turbulence probe (FRAT probe) will be able to sample ambient air, and measure CO2 and other gases.
Makel Engineering, Inc. (MEI) and the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) propose to develop and demonstrate a microchannel methanation reactor based on nanofabricated catalysts.  Our innovative approach of combining microchannel reactor technology with nanofabricated catalysts provides the synergy between these two emerging technologies with the potential to enhance reaction efficiency by orders of magnitude.  This improvement in efficiency leads to more compact and lower mass reactor systems.  Thermal and mass diffusion distances in microchannel reactors range from tens to hundreds of microns versus tens to hundreds of millimeters in conventional reactors.  Slow heat and mass transfer dominate the operation of conventional reactor designs, thus limiting reaction kinetics.  As is well known, catalytic efficiency increases with decreasing catalyst particle size (reflecting higher surface area per unit mass) and chemical reactivity frequently is enhanced at the nanoscale.  By virtue of their nanoscale dimensions, nanotubes and nanorods geometrically restrict the catalyst particle size that can be supported upon the tube walls.  By confining catalyst particles to sizes smaller than the CNT diameter, a more uniform catalyst particle size distribution may be maintained.  The high dispersion provided by the vast surface area of the nanoscale material serves to retain the integrity of the catalyst by reducing sintering or coalescence.  To maximize catalyst exposure, our design includes hierarchical support structures, consisting of a 3-d network of open pores within the microreactor structure, and finally the nanofabricated support.  Additional advantages of the hierarchical catalyst support structure include minimal pressure drop (while providing superior catalyst contact) without the need to resort to fluidized bed configurations.
Advanced EVA suits for space exploration will need a portable life support system (PLSS) that is compact, lightweight, highly reliable, and meets stringent requirements for oxygen safety.  A key component is a blower that circulates gas through the space suit ventilation loop.  We propose to develop an innovative blower that can meet the challenging requirements for circulating ventilation gas in an EVA suit using a reliable system that consumes little power.  The innovative design enables use of a wide range of materials that can be selected to maximize safety in an oxygen environment.  In Phase I we proved the feasibility of our approach by testing and optimizing blower components, producing a conceptual design for the blower and motor, and demonstrating a proof-of-concept blower under prototypical conditions.  In Phase II we will optimize the blower and motor designs to achieve small size and maximum efficiency while meeting requirements and constraints for operation in exploration space suits.  We will demonstrate lifetime and reliability of critical components in a prototypical oxygen environment and deliver a prototype blower that can be used in system tests of advanced portable life support systems.
Recovery of water from brine is critically important for future manned space exploration.  Resupply of water is prohibitively costly for such extended missions.  Water reclamation processes typically recover 90-95&#37; of the water present in wastewater formed by combining urine, hygiene water, and humidity condensate with the remaining concentrated in brine.  This concentrated brine contains a significant amount of water, potentially a very valuable resource.  The proposed prototype development will recover virtually all of the remaining water using an ultrasonic brine dewatering system (UBDS).  In the UBDS process, extremely small nebulized droplets of the brine are created ultrasonically at the brine?air interface.  Small droplets enable quicker drying due to their high relative surface area. This is particularly important when drying brines that contain thermally labile materials, which require relatively low temperature drying.  The UBDS prototype has no nozzles to become plugged, requires little power, is simple and small, requires minimal astronaut attention and is compatible with continuous, closed cycle operation that can be made gravity independent.  The innovative Phase 2 prototype will fulfill the unmet need to significantly improve water loop closure during extended manned missions.  The Phase 2 project will provide an automated UBDS prototype that will be delivered to NASA for further testing.
Microcosm will use existing hardware and software from related programs to create a prototype Lunar Navigation Sensor (LNS) early in Phase II, such that most of the effort can be spent in extensive field-testing, making corrections as needed, and critical evaluation of the LNS performance on Earth and projected performance on the Moon.  By using NGS survey markers, with centimeter-leve position accuracy, as test sites, we expect to create a truth model for both absolute and relative position measurements that is essentially error free (relative to the LNS accuracy), thus allowing very accurate characterization of both random and systematic errors for both absolute and relative position measurements.  This unambiguous characterization of the total error will allow validation (or correction) of the navigation error models and assessment of system performance with a high level of confidence.  Additionally, the LNS prototype hardware is sufficiently small (roughly shoebox size with a laptop PC for data collection) and easy to set up (put on a tripod over the NGS marker), that it can easily be taken to multiple test locations.  Finally, a detailed technology roadmap will be created showing how the TRL 6 LNS can be raised to TRL 9, ready for flight.
An aeroacoustic computational code based upon a numerical solution of the full Navier-Stokes equations will be developed to provide a deep understanding of the physical behavior of resonator liners exposed to intense sound and boundary-layer grazing flow.  The code computes the entire flow and acoustic field inside the flow duct.  The user has the option to choose the flow Mach number, boundary-layer thickness, duct mode of incoming sound, frequency and SPL.  For broadband sound, the user has the option to specify an incident noise spectrum.  The code is designed to operate at both standard temperatures and very high temperatures.

A semi-empirical three-dimensional resonator liner impedance code will developed for resonators also exposed to intense sound and boundary-layer grazing flow.  The liner empirical parameters will be calibrated with NASA furnished resonator test data.  Because of its simplicity, it can be used to provide realistic liner geometries for sound propagation codes that are used in both NASA and industry to determine optimum wall impedances to control excessive sound generated in jet engines and other flow duct environments.
Ultrastable, narrow linewidth, high reliability MOPA sources are needed for high performance LIDARs in NASA for, wind speed measurement, surface topography and earth and planetary atmosphere composition measurements. Princeton Optronics is developing a MOPA laser source for these applications.
Phase I experiments concluded that the optimum approach will use a DPSS microchip laser with the SOA.  This would provide a MOPA source with narrow linewidth, &lt;10kHz, and an output power of 1W.  
The Phase II program would develop the MOPA laser technology and build prototypes for testing in NASA.  These prototypes would be ready for final engineering test and manufacture.  
The microchip laser will be upgraded to incorporate our patented noise reduction technology to suppress RIN.  This reduces noise &gt;55dB in our Telecom tunable lasers.  This would provide a seed laser with 1kHz linewidth, low RIN and &gt;10mW power.
The SOA designed in Phase I would be developed for 1W output power in the 1550nm band. Filtering will be incorporated to minimize noise and linewidth broadening. Bench experiments will be performed to determine optical configuration for the final rugged package design.
Packaged prototypes will be built and tested. Final prototypes will be built and available to NASA laboratory for testing.
During the Phase I program, MARK Resources very successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using several distributed small and simple FRPAs that do not need to be precisely arranged, to suppress wideband interference and/or jamming and to provide sufficiently accurate and timely position and velocity measurements from the C/A code for launch vehicle range safety, antenna pointing, and attitude determination.   The new technology, demonstrated via software simulation, is compatible with existing launch-capable GPS antennas and receiver hardware, and requires the addition of cabling and a common processor (and can accommodate channel mismatch in the receivers or added hardware).  The processing load for jammer suppression is small, less than that for GPS signal tracking.
	The Phase I program employed signal simulation at the intermediate frequency (IF) of the receivers, after digitization.  During Phase II, we propose to develop a demonstration unit consisting of launch-compatible antenna and receiver hardware plus processing software; and to measure its performance using a high-fidelity RF simulation.
Busek proposes to develop an integrated propulsion, power, ACS, (ProPACS) system for micro-spacecraft deployed from the ESPA ring secondary payload ports. The standardized ProPACS system integrates the essential elements needed for highly capable micro-spacecraft bus including; 1) 600 W Hall effect thruster system for primary propulsion, 2) Xe cold gas thrusters for propulsive ACS, 3) articulated solar array, batteries and power management and distribution (PMAD) system with steady state power of 700W available to the payload when propulsion is off and 4) an integral structure that supports the payload and a LightBand separation mechanism for the ESPA ring.  The ProPACS can provide over 1,800 m/sec deltaV to a 181 kg spacecraft with a 80kg payload.

In Phase 1 ProPACS system architecture design was completed and all major components were identified.  Mass, power, data budgets were developed and major interfaces were specified.  

Phase 2 focus will be on the ProPACS elements with lower TRL to achieve system wide TRL6 at the end of the program.  The thruster will be advanced to near flight level, two PMAD systems will be evaluated and one selected and the ProPACS integral structure supporting the payload and separation ring will be designed and built.
To ensure mission success, astronauts must maintain a high level of performance even when work-rest schedules result in chronic sleep restriction and circadian misalignment, both of which contribute to fatigue and performance deficits unless effective countermeasures are used. We are proposing to build an Individualized Fatigue Meter that incorporates light inputs, sleep history, work schedule information, and brief performance tests (e.g. PVT SelfTest) to provide immediate individualized feedback about alertness. For the past 8 years, we have been actively developing many of the system components (funded by NASA, DOD, and NIH) that can be leveraged in this project. The result of this project will be a system prototype that can be evaluated using data already being collected in space flight analog expeditions (e.g., NEEMO, HMP) and on ISS. The critical need for an Individualized Fatigue Meter has been identified as a priority outlined in the Behavioral Health and Performance Integrated Research Plan GAP 1.1.1. During Phase 2 we will build a prototype Individualized Fatigue Meter by developing: (1) an interactive graphical console; (2) a model-independent computational architecture; (3) a hybrid biomathematical fatigue model; and (4) a data fusion algorithm that statistically combines multiple inputs (Phase 2 TRL of 5-6).
In Phase I, Shape Change Technologies had developed a process to manufacture net shape TiNi foam torque tubes that demonstrated the shape memory effect. The torque tubes dramatically reduce the response time by a factor of 10 and with integrated hexagonal ends, make structural connections fascile. In Phase II we see to mature this actuator technology by rigorously  characterizing the process to optimize the quality of the TiNi and develop a set of metrics to provide ISO 9002 quality assurance. With the rapid response time, a Labview based real time control of the torsional actuators will be developed.  With team partner Boeing, we will develop these actuators for aerospace applications and Boeing will independently characterize the actuators.
We propose to develop ESPRIT: an Exercise Sensing and Pose Recovery Inference Tool, in support of NASA's effort in developing crew exercise technologies for astronaut health and fitness. ESPRIT is a single camera system that monitors the exercise activities of the crew, detects markers placed on the body and other image features, recovers 3D kinematic information of the human body pose, and compiles statistical data about the exercise activities. There are two main challenges for motion capture using a single camera: (1) lack of depth information, and (2) partial occlusion of parts of the body. To overcome these challenges, the proposed framework relies on strong priors on human body pose, shape, and motion dynamics to resolve pose ambiguities. Besides marker locations, it extracts other image features that provide additional cues for recovering pose. It combines both discriminative and generative approaches to achieve robust pose estimation and tracking performance.
Makel Engineering, Inc. (MEI) and the Ohio State University (OSU) propose to develop high sensitivity, miniaturized and in-situ operated gas sensors for the real time monitoring of chemical composition of turbine engine combustors and/or exhaust streams for real-time, in-flight propulsion system measurements to improve NASA's aeronautical flight test capabilities.  Gas microsensor arrays developed by MEI, OSU and our technical development partners including NASA have been demonstrated for ground test usage to quantify composition of critical constituents in turbine engine exhaust products, e.g., CO, CO2, NOx, O2, HC (unburned hydrocarbons) and H2.  These sensor systems provide the basis for the proposed NASA SBIR effort, which will also leverage development of packaging for extractive emissions testing developed for the DoD with support from NASA researchers.
FTT is proposing the development of a sensor to detect the presence of hydrocarbons in turbopump Inter-Propellant Seals (IPS).  The purpose of the IPS is to prevent the fuel (RP-2) and oxidizer (LOX) from mixing by using an inert purge gas; however, a major risk of the IPS is RP-2 wicking into the buffer or LOX cavities, threatening ignition with the LOX.  The proposed sensor will detect the presence of hydrocarbons and signal the health management system to safely shutdown.  It will increase the reliability of the IPS, and decrease turnaround time between missions by eliminating the need for manual inspections for hydrocarbons in the IPS.
	There are two main technical objectives for Phase I.  First is to research and test various hydrocarbon indicators to determine which materials can detect the presence of hydrocarbons by either changing color or intensity.  The second objective is to research and test various optical viewing devices and data processing devices to determine which mechanism can adequately capture the color or intensity change of the hydrocarbon indicator and signal that the change has occurred.  The sensor will be comprised of the feasible components determined during Phase I, and tested in a rig in Phase II.
An accurate prediction of aero-elastic effects depends on an accurate prediction of the unsteady aerodynamic forces. Perhaps the most difficult speed regime is transonic where the motion of the shock wave and its interaction with the boundary layer are dominant factors. In spite of over 40 years research into the computation of unsteady transonic aerodynamics there still appear to be areas where available technology is inadequate. A research axiom is that if a particular viewpoint fails to resolve an issue then the problem should be viewed differently. The research proposed here is to re-examine some issues in unsteady transonic aerodynamics using some recent theoretical developments. All aspects of unsteady transonic flow, including limit cycles and control strategies will be considered.
As the consumer and industrial requirements for compact, high-power-density, electrical power systems grow substantially over the next decade; there will be a significant need for novel electrode/electrolyte materials for high-power/energy-density capacitors.  To meet the strong market demand for miniaturization and higher capacitance/voltage values in a given case size, new and advanced technologies must be developed and implemented. This proposal addresses the development of an all-solid, high-energy-density, high-power-density, high-voltage capacitor, with substantially reduced Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) and cost. The proposed capacitor combines the advantages of operating voltage associated with certain metal-oxide electrolytic capacitors with some special features of metal-oxide pseudocapacitor material. Compared to the standard solid electrolytic capacitor, the proposed capacitor design will have a higher capacitance and lower resistance, yielding a low-cost, low-ESR device with a simplified packaging process. During Phase I prototype capacitor units will be fabricated and characterized to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach. These units will be evaluated and compared to standard capacitors to evaluate the overall benefit of the hybrid capacitors and success in demonstrating concept feasibility.
The Space Micro ?Arizona State University (ASU) team will develop an all-digitally controlled, wide temperature range point-of-load switch-mode DC-DC regulator core with built-in self-test (BIST) functionality which meets space radiation requirements. In Phase I we will produce a design that can be fabricated into silicon in Phase II and demonstrate aspects of the design in the laboratory with some preexisting silicon circuits and discrete components.
AlGaN/GaN MMICs on SiC substrates will be utilized to achieve Power Added
Efficiencies (PAE) in excess of 60&#37;. These wide band-gap solid-state
semiconductors will be used in novel Power Amplifier (PA) topologies such as
Current Mode Class D (CMCD) and Class J. The power output goal of a single
X-band PA module is 50W, and the power output goal of the Ka-band PA module
is 10W. In turn, these power modules will be combined using novel combiner
topologies including but not limited waveguide and radial power combiners in
order to achieve the high power goal of 1kW at X-Band and greater than150W at Ka-band.
Phase I will consist of choosing the devices sizes and topologies for the PA
modules, and performing extensive modeling and simulation, especially for
the  large signal non-linear operation with harmonic terminations required
to achieve the high efficiency goals. In addition, various power combiner
configurations will be simulated using 2.5D and 3D electromagnetic field
solvers. The power combining strategies will be evaluated for overall system
efficiency, size, and weight trade-offs.
As 'fly-by-wire' technologies become more prevalent in the aerospace systems, the need to develop innovative monitoring, diagnostic and fault tolerant techniques for the electrical systems is becoming obvious.  Among all the possible electrical system failures, two types of failures are considered the most frequent, and hence most critical: intermittent disconnection in connectors, and capacitance failures.  Despite the extreme care in the design and quality control in manufacturing and installation of these connectors in avionics and military equipment, there are increasing number of problems associated with the physical connectivity that ranges from intermittent discontinuities, sparks, and breakages. As for the capacitors, the power systems in modem aircrafts, specifically the ones with DC power supply configurations, rely very heavily on banks of capacitors that act as filters. These capacitors (especially of electrolytic type) present high failure rates - with no effective solution for online monitoring available. The proposed research will study detecting fault initiation, fault-to-failure progression, and online monitoring of the critical problems of intermittent disconnection, and capacitance aging and ultimate failures in aircraft power systems. We propose to develop a non-traditional use of wideband differential current sensor to detect capacitor degradation, as well as intermittent disconnection problems. This program is expected to generate useful, accurate and precise diagnostic information impacting the safety and maintenance of critical aircraft power systems.
In this proposal, AlphaSense, Inc.  and the University of Washington detail the development of a novel, high performance Ka band power amplifier for EVA radio applications. Key innovations of our approach include: a) The application of a class-E power amplifier to ensure high power efficiency, b) The EER power amplifier topology to enhance the linearity performance of the class-E amplifier, and c) a novel design of a CMOS class-G dual-supply modulator to further improve the power efficiency for modern modulation signals with high peak-to-average ratios. With such innovations, the proposed Ka band power amplifier has the following merits: a) Small form factor and low power consumption, b) Excellent linearity performance and large dynamic range, c) Fully compatible with modern digital signals and modulation techniques, d) Compatible with mature CMOS technology, and e) Extendable for multi-band and multi-carrier applications.
Volcanic research is a significant part of the &amp;quot;Earth Surface &amp;amp;
Interior&amp;quot; focus area of the NASA Earth Science program. Of
particular interest are sensors for measuring the chemical composition
and emission rate of gases released by volcanoes, from magma to the
atmosphere, both prior to and during eruptions. The vast majority of
ground based plume observations concern sulfur dioxide (SO2), the third
most abundant volcanic gas. Sulfur dioxide measurements provide valuable
information concerning the masses and motions of underground magmas.
Vista Photonics proposes an innovative self-calibrating optical
technology for sensitive and selective in situ measurement of SO2 in
volcanic gas plumes. The self-calibrating feature is intended to
maintain the specified performance characteristics under harsh operating
conditions. Phase I research will focus on demonstrating the feasibility
of the innovative SO2 detector and outline the design of the Phase II
prototype instrument. Successful completion of this program will lead to
development of an inexpensive, compact, self-contained, lightweight SO2
measurement instrument suitable for use on a variety of ground based and
airborne platforms including remotely operated aircraft and surface craft.
Rocketstar Robotics is proposing the development of a modern dual drive actuator.  Rocketstar has put together numerous modern concepts for modular actuators that feature gear ratios on the order of 1000:1 and would be ideal candidates for many space applications.  These actuators are evolutionary advancements of actuators that are currently in use today and offer performance benefits over heritage counterparts including; higher torque margins, flexible gear ratios, flexible gearing components, higher specific torque and the ability to be non redundant, electrically redundant or fully mechanically and electrically redundant.
The innovation proposed for research, and evaluation, and maturation is that of a new class of small Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) with increased payload capability, which may be well suited for use as an aerial payload platform in harsh, remote environments. In specific, the innovation proposed is the use of a hybrid structure in an electric man-portable UAS for scientific use. The fabrication techniques to be investigated in Phase 1 will also lead to a unique and repeatable lean airframe manufacturing process.
This proposal describes the development of an inflatable and lightweight polymer-fabric structured pressure vessel designed for the containment of cryogenic fluids. Technology Applications, Inc. (TAI) in collaboration with the Thin Red Line Aerospace (TRLA) proposes to develop a cryogen tank design solution with fully determinate load paths that addresses the need for lightweight pressure containment at extremely low temperatures without the reliability issues that exist in composite tank structures. Ultra High Performance Vessel (UHPV) technology that has already been developed for many other applications will be extended for use into the cryogenic temperature operating range.

The Phase I feasibility study encompasses the design and critical support elements for creating a robust lightweight cryogenic tank structure that meets NASA mission specifications. The Phase II program will involve fabricating and demonstrating the performance of a prototype cryogen tank based upon the inflatable UVHP architecture.
The proposed work will establish high fidelity computational methods and wind tunnel test model in support of new  freeplay criteria for the design, construction and controlled actuation of control surfaces with varying amounts of freeplay and their aeroelastic response. These methods will be validated with wind tunnel and flight test data. In Phase I a nonlinear computational aeroservoelastic methodology will be developed for freeplay induced flutter/LCO and gust response. Validation will be achieved by comparisons with legacy and new wind tunnel test data. In Phase II the methodology will be generalized to create a mature software capability for closed-loop aeroelastic systems in the trimmed/untrimmed state including gust, stick or random aeroacoustic excitations. An all movable tail wing wind tunnel test article will be designed and built with variable freeplay with initial test evaluation completed in Phase I and a thorough parameter variation data set and will be developed in Phase II for computational code validation in Phase II. Subject to available funding constraints both high speed transonic as well as subsonic will tunnel tests will be undertaken. In Phase III the computational methodology in combination wind tunnel test results will be used to support the improvement of the current FAA and/or MIL-SPEC freeplay aeroelastic response criteria. Following the successful demonstration and validation of the new computational methods, the methodology will be proposed for adoption by FAA for commercial applications and the DOD for military applications with the expectation that all major civilian and military aerospace industries will adopt the design/analysis methodology for freeplay induced LCO/flutter prevention.
SibellOptics proposes to develop an eye-safe, long-range, compact, versatile, all-fiber wind LIDAR system for atmospheric wind velocity measurement applications that is more efficient, and reliable, and at a much lower up-front and lifetime cost than any wind LIDAR system currently available.  The hardware for this fiber wind LIDAR system has already been designed and the major components identified.  Therefore, it is proposed that, for this Phase 1 SBIR program effort, that SibellOptics procure all materials for the scanner / telescope, assemble the sub-system, and run a preliminary test.
NASA has defined a need for higher performance ablative Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials for future exploration of our solar system's inner and outer planets than is currently available.  Of particular interest are: 1) Materials with performance analogous to fully dense, heritage rayon-based carbon phenolic ; 2) Mid-density ablative systems ; and 3) Highly insulative, low-density materials.  New Frontiers, Mars Sample Return (MSR), and Mars Entry, Descent &amp; Landing (Mars EDL) are all potential missions for these new and/or enhanced TPS materials, but the general desire is that these TPS be tunable for cross-cutting mission applications.  In addition to improved TPS performance, NASA would benefit from a TPS integrated with the sub-structure thereby improving thermal efficiency, insulation performance, system thermal-structural performance, and system integrity with the goal of achieving increased system reliability, reduced areal mass, and/or decreased costs over the current state-of-the-art (SOTA).FMI proposes developing its multi-layered, graded, hybrid ICS system for application to NASA missions.  The system is comprised of distinct material layers encompassing different fillers or reinforcements, but maintaining the same resin so the materials are compatible for co-curing to yield a continuous rigid heatshield and sub-structure (ICS).
The NASA objective of expanding the human experience into the far reaches of space requires the development of regenerable life support systems.  This proposal addresses the development of a regenerable air-revitalization system for trace-contaminant (TC) removal for the space suit used in Extravehicular Activities (EVAs).  The proposed innovations are: (1) a carbon monolith sorbent, in contrast to the currently used bed of granular charcoal; (2) carbon pore structure tailored for optimal vacuum/thermal regeneration; (3) resistive heating of the carbon monolith for rapid regeneration; (4) low pressure drop; and (5) good resistance to dusty environments.  The overall objective is to develop a trace-contaminant control system that is regenerable and that possesses substantial weight, size, and power-requirement advantages with respect to the current state of the art.  The Phase 1 objectives are: (1) to demonstrate the technical feasibility of using a novel monolithic carbon sorbent for trace-contaminant control; and (2) to demonstrate effective ammonia capture and sorbent regeneration.  This will be accomplished in three tasks: (1) Preparation and Characterization of Carbon-Sorbent Monoliths;  (2) Sorbent Testing; and (3) Product Assessment.
In phase I of the SBIR program, LEEOAT Company will develop, simulate, fabricate and test high-temperature piezoelectric miniature sensors (up to 800&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C), for physical and geophysical measurements of pressure, force, acceleration and vibration on the surface of Venus and other planets. LEEOAT Company efforts will be focused on achieving high figure-of-merit sensors, that can in the long term reliably operate on the surface of Venus. Additionally, we will innovate the technology for the readout and communication of the measured data at shielded relay stations with intermediate temperatures.
NASA is seeking electric propulsion systems capable of producing up to 20mN thrust, input power up to 1000W and specific impulse ranging from 1600-3500 seconds.  The target mass is 1kg for the thruster and 2kg for the power processor unit (PPU). The proposed system will be based on a variant of our low power HET family, the NASA in-situ channel replacement technology for thruster life extension, and a simplified PPU based on our patented multi-functional single converter PPU.

In Phase I Busek proposes to develop subsystem designs for the thruster/cathode, PPU and XFS and demonstrate through integrated testing a new power processing architecture that replaces the four main DC-DC converters of a typical PPU with a single multi-functional converter.  A major activity of the Phase 1 effort will be the design, fabrication and test of a breadboard version of the multi-functional converter using our high efficiency power converter topology.
 
In Phase II we will design and build engineering prototypes of each subsystem and conduct a TRL 6 integrated system demonstration.  At the conclusion of the program the system will be delivered to GRC for extended duration testing in NASA facilities.
In Phase I of the SBIR program, LEEOAT Company will develop a hand-held high-resolution ultrasonic nonlinear imager for
non-destructive inspection (NDI) of delamination and intrusion faults in composite structures. We will reduce-to-practice the
innovation by conducting experiments on composite structures with calibrated faults. Additionally, we will design as well as
theoretically simulate the imaging NDI system. Finally, we will estimate the cost/effort for the fabrication and testing of the portable
cost-effective NDI prototype to be executed in Phase II of the program.
Nuvotronics has developed and optimized the PolyStrata&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; process for the fabrication of intricate microwave and millimeter-wave devices.  These devices have primarily been rectangular coaxial transmission lines, although rectangular waveguide and other structures have also been demonstrated.  Intricate devices have been demonstrated with insertion loss 5 to 10 times lower than traditional planar circuits; isolation better than 60dB for lines that share separating walls; multiple levels of densely-packed coaxial circuits; and low-parasitic attachment to active devices and traditional circuit boards.  In this Phase I project, Nuvotronics is proposing to develop high density low-loss millimeter backplane circuits to package and interconnect components of  future NASA millimeter wave (MMW) radars.  The significance of the innovation primarily lies in three areas: reduction of system size, weight and loss in MMW radars.  The PolyStrata technology is a batch manufacturing process, providing economies of scale and cost reduction for higher volumes, in addition to flexibility in design for various frequencies of interest.  Nuvotronics will design and test select Polystrata interconnects at MMW frequencies of interest, with particular attention to performance over temperature and survivability to launch conditions.  The result of the Phase I research will prove the feasibilty of utlizing the Polystrata MMW backplane technology in future NASA missions, and provide the foundation for full scale development, testing, and prototype delivery during the Phase II project.
Multidisciplinary design and optimization (MDO) tools developed to perform multi-disciplinary analysis based on low fidelity computation methods have been used in aircraft conceptual design for decades.  These tools have been proven very effective for simple problems and mostly have been developed as a single codes.  However, as analyses have become more complex and the need to consider more design factors crucial, such codes have grown so large as to be inconceivable and difficult to maintain.  Nowadays, the design optimization process of a modern airplane must account for all failure modes and behavior constraints.  In addition, it should cover manufacturing constraints and limitations on available resources, such as power, weight, and cost, simultaneously.  This has to be done in an integrated way, so that the effects of any change in the design on all constraints and behavior measures are accurately modeled, and all interactions and trade-offs among design variables and disciplines are allowed to affect the design.
ZONA Technology (ZONA) and its team member (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), hereinafter referred to as "the ZONA team", propose in Phase I to develop a multi-fidelity, multi-strategy and multi-disciplinary design optimization environment, called the M3 Design Optimization Environment (M3 DOE) that consists of a three-layer optimization strategy, a multi-fidelity aerodynamic discipline, and a finite element analysis including outer mold line morphing and topology re-meshing capability.  The M3 DOE allows the designer to select an appropriate optimization strategy and an aerodynamic method with an appropriate fidelity to obtain an optimum design with desired accuracy within the allowable time constraint.
This 2009 NASA SBIR Phase 1 proposal for an innovative Miniature Laser Magnetometer (MLM) is a response to subtopic S1.06 Particles and Field Sensors and Instrument Enabling Technologies. The MLM instrument will incorporate a number of technical innovations to achieve high-sensitivity and high-stability performance while significantly reducing the size of the laser-pumped helium magnetometer for use on very small satellites and UAVs. The MLM design approach will trade sensitivity for miniaturization of critical components while still meeting the performance requirements for geomagnetic and space science experiments. Reduction in instrument mass, volume and power will be accomplished through innovations including miniaturized components, laser spectroscopy techniques for resonance detection, compact integrated optical designs and miniaturized electronics packaging. The MLM will have a dynamic range up to 75,000 nT and a 860 Hz sample rate.  The scalar sensitivity will be 1 pT/rtHz with an accuracy of 0.1 nT. The vector sensitivity will be 1 pT/rtHz with an accuracy of 0.5 nT. Trade studies will select the innovations for inclusion in the MLM conceptual design that will demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating and demonstrating a brass-board in Phase 2. The TRL is expected to be 4 at the end of the Phase 1 contract.
This proposal addresses the cold-start requirements of scramjet engines by developing a safe, energy-dense, and low volume hydrocarbon fuel conditioning system based on the hydrolysis reaction of water with triethylaluminum (TEA).  TEA is an organometallic liquid that reacts exothermically with water and burns readily in air when not diluted in hydrocarbon mixtures.  We propose to use the hydrolysis of nonpyrophoric dilute TEA/JP fuel mixtures in an integrated mixing/injection apparatus to heat and vaporize liquid hydrocarbon fuel to enable cold-start capability in regeneratively cooled scramjets.  In addition, the hydrolysis reaction also produces ethane gas, which serves the dual purpose of atomizing any remaining liquid by effervescence as well as producing an ethane-rich injectant that is more readily ignitable than the vaporized JP fuel.  Furthermore, since TEA is pyrophoric, any remaining TEA in the mixture could serve as an ignition aid once it comes in contact with air.  Hence, through a straightforward hydrolysis mechanism, the proposed system would preheat and vaporize the fuel, atomize any remaining liquid through effervescence, add readily ignitable ethane to the mixture, and provide a potential ignition source with any TEA leftover from the hydrolysis reaction. The proposed Phase 1 and 2 research will result in the Compact Safe Cold-Start (CS2) system which will be a key enabling technology for future operational hypersonic vehicles.
In this SBIR Phase I program, we propose to fabricate high-efficiency and radiation hard solar cells based on InGaN material system that can cover the whole solar spectrum by adjusting the alloy composition.  The main program objectives include the fabrication of InGaN-based solar cells on large diameter substrates, with external efficiency in excess of 35&#37;, and capable of long life operation in high radiation environment of space at elevated temperatures.
This innovation is a weight-optimized, inflatable structure that incorporates radiation shielding materials into its construction, for use as a habitation module or rover vehicle. An inflatable fabric enclosure can provide better radiation protection than an aluminum structure (which generates harmful secondary radiation). The proposed inflatable structure represents a hybrid restraint system in which a gas-impervious cloth barrier is structurally reinforced using an external grid of cordage. This hybrid design is based upon the premise that materials providing the surface coverage and impermeability necessary for fluid containment are ill-suited to withstand global pressure and mass loads?and vice versa. Segregating material roles enables significant weight reduction while satisfying stringent requirements for strength, dimensional stability, abrasion and impact resistance, and thermal control of the interior volume.
Amplification Technologies Inc ("ATI") proposes to develop the enabling material and device technology for the design of ultra low noise, high gain and low cross-talk &amp; after pulsing near-infrared single photon counting photodetectors and photodetector arrays sensitive in the eyesafe wavelengths of 1550 nm and 1800 nm spectral region for remote and atmospheric sensing applications, based on the already proven mechanism of internal discrete amplification technology. We plan to achieve this by integrating the internal discrete amplification device design that gave promising results and proved the concept of internal discrete amplification mechanism in the InP material system. The primary accomplishments from the Phase I effort would be the development of ultra low noise, high gain, low noise and low cross-talk &amp; after pulsing near-infrared photodetectors and photodetector arrays sensitive in the 1550 nm and 1800 nm spectral region. The technology of internal discrete amplification enables the combination of high speed, very high gain and ultra low noise. This is possible because the internal discrete amplification nullifies the effect of impact ionization coefficients and prevents the edge break down, with high quantum efficiency and high speed of operation. These photodetectors can be used in eye-safe Lidar/Ladar, atmospheric sensing, 3D imaging, missile seekers, battlefield target identification and recognition system. Potential civilian applications include fiber-optic telecommunications, remote sensing and laser spectroscopy.
We envision a secure content-oriented internetwork as a natural generalization of the cache-and-forward architecture inherent in delay-tolerant networks. Using our approach, users can specify their interests or publish content and expect infrastructure to securely match the supply and demand without loss of confidentiality.  When doing so, users of a content-oriented network need not concern themselves about the location of the content.  Our work addresses the following question:  Can nodes in the space network make content-oriented forwarding, caching, and retrieval decisions based on encrypted metadata and encrypted interests (publish/subscribe advertisements) without decrypting them?  We believe that recent developments in cryptography in the ares of secure multi-party computation and homomorphic encryption make this possible.  We propose to develop fast pragmatic algorithms that can be implemented within the context of IETF Delay-Tolerant Networking and CCSDS Asynchronous Messaging Service protocols that are being evaluated by NASA to support future Space exploration missions.
Based on our success in developing the world first commercial 10 W
femtosecond fiber laser system and our leading technology development in
ultrashort pulsed fiber laser and nonlinear fiber optics, PolarOnyx
proposes, for the first time, a compact all fiber based high power
mid-IR OFC source and sensor system. The laser is a specialty fiber
based MOPA incorporating our proprietary technology of pulse shaping,
spectral shaping and polarization shaping in generation mid-IR pump
source and supercontinuum generation. A tabletop experiment will be
demonstrated in Phase I time frame for proof of the concept. A hardware
will be delivered in Phase II.
Traditional approaches for active flow separation control using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators are limited to relatively low-speed flows and atmospheric conditions. It results in low feasibility of the DBDs for aerospace applications, such as active flow control at turbine blades, fixed wings, rotary wings and hypersonic vehicles, which require a satisfactory performance of the DBD plasma actuators at wide range of conditions, including rarified flows and combustion mixtures. An optimization of the DBD plasma actuators should be achieved using efficient, comprehensive, physically-based DBD simulation tool for different operation conditions. We propose to develop a DBD plasma actuator simulation tool for a wide range of ambient gas pressures. The proposed tool will treat DBD plasma kinetically at low pressures. At high pressures (atmospheric conditions) plasma will be treated using hydrodynamic approach. The proposed tool will be validated by comparison with the experimental and numerical data on the DBD investigations.
Aircraft design is a complex process requiring interactions and exchange of information among multiple disciplines such as aerodynamics, strength, fatigue, controls, propulsion, corrosion, maintenance, and manufacturing.  A lot of attention has been paid during the past fifteen years in the Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) nature of the aircraft design process.  However, a consistent void in aircraft design is the ability to integrate high-fidelity computational capabilities from multiple disciplines within an organized MDO environment.  Integrating high fidelity simulation technology (that has been developed over the years though significant investments) within a MDO environment will constitute a disruptive technological development in aircraft design.  The ability to replace time consuming solvers with metamodels within the highly iterative environment of an integrated network of optimizations is critical for engaging high fidelity simulation tools in the MDO analysis of complex aircraft systems.  Previous work completed by the proposing firm has demonstrated the feasibility of conducting such MDO analysis for an aircraft system, while considering outer mold line shape optimization and structural sizing simultaneously.  Since the ability to create metamodels from results obtained at a number of sample points from the actual solvers is the key enabling factor for conducting the multi-discipline optimization analysis, the proposed project will use as foundation the existing metamodeling capability of the proposing firm and will pursue new research that will lead to the development of a powerful stand-alone commercial product for metamodel development.  The latter, along with the proposing firm's MDO solver will provide the means for operating an integrated network of optimizations for designing aircraft systems.
The proposed project is complimentary and directly beneficial to NASA's Safe and Efficient Surface Operations (SESO) research.  NASA has previously developed a modular architecture for testing airport control concepts and algorithms within the Surface Management System (SMS).  However, SMS currently uses live or pre-recorded surveillance data and, therefore, must be connected to a separate simulation environment.  We will develop a self-contained, fast-time SMS simulation environment by incorporating an aircraft taxi model.  The proposed stand-alone platform would complement NASA's current SMS-ATG environment by providing a fast-time simulation capability that uses the desired SMS plug-in architecture.  We will also develop and integrate within the SMS simulation departure scheduling and taxi planning algorithms.  These algorithms will supplement NASA's existing work and be independent of external optimization solvers.  Lastly, the project will apply the fast-time simulation and integrated planning algorithms to study JFK airport surface traffic management under regular and off-nominal conditions, studies that complement NASA's research.  JFK was chosen because of its complex geometry and traffic.  We have received permission from the FAA to use JFK data, which is already available to Mosaic ATM as part of our FAA work.
The proposed Phase I objectives and work plan, carried through to completion, will result in the development of a RAD-tolerant, high-speed, multi-channel fiber optics transceiver, associated reconfigurable intelligent node communications architecture, and supporting hardware for intra-vehicular and ground-based optical networking applications with data rates exceeding 3.2Gbps per channel.  The goals of this proposed program are perfectly in-line with the subtopic goals, which are to: "(1) develop high-performance processors and memory architectures and reliable electronic systems, and (2) develop an avionics architecture that is flexible, scalable, extensible, adaptable, and reusable."  "The subtopic objective is to elicit novel architectural concepts and component technologies that are realistic and operate effectively and credibly in environments consistent with the future NASA Science missions."
ELORET Corporation, in collaboration with the Space Systems Design Laboratory of Georgia Institute of Technology, proposes developing and demonstrating a capability/technology to de-orbit small payloads (approximately 1 kg) from Low-Earth Orbit and returning them to Earth safely. To achieve this goal, the current proposal has five objectives and associated tasks:
1.	Surveying the Bio-science communities to define requirements for the first generation mission architecture.
2.	Understanding the launch interface requirements such as mass, volume, vibro-acoustic loads, electromagnetic interference (EMI), etc.
3.	Designing and developing the first generation of mission architectures including the key aspects of launch, in-space operation, entry trajectory analysis (EDL sequence), and landing/recovery. 
4.	Understanding and quantifying small spacecraft requirements for power, thermal control, communications, propulsion, etc., and developing the preliminary design of the spacecraft system using off the shelf technologies whenever possible.
5.	Designing and developing a passive (i.e., without any chemical or aerodynamic deceleration devices), single-stage ballistic entry system (including the aeroshell).
6.	Designing and developing the impact energy absorption system and thermal control system required for payload thermal management and survivability upon landing.
Colorado Power Electronics is in the process of completing NASA SBIR contract NNC07CA12C Wide Output Range Power Processing Unit for Electric Propulsion.  At the end of the project, we will have a complete brassboard PPU except for the Digital Control and Interface Unit (DCIU) and Flow Control Driver.  The brassboard PPU meets the electrical requirements of the project, but the specific mass is about 20&#37; too low compared to the first bullet of the solicitation.  Preliminary results from testing a 4 kW discharge supply show that the full-power efficiency ranges from 94&#37; to 96&#37;. 
This proposal is to:
(1)	Determine ways to reduce the mass of the brassboard PPU
(2)	Evaluate the brassboard PPU to determine robustness improvements to be implemented in Phase II.
(3)	Determine requirements for a DCIU to be implemented in Phase II.
(4)	Design and build a brassboard Flow Control Driver
(5)	Gain experience in controlling  gas flow

The Flow Control Driver will be designed to control a xenon gas flow system selected by NASA.  The DCIU design will be based on requirements received from NASA.  

The significance of this project is that it makes improvements to an innovative and promising PPU technology, moving it closer to a flight-ready product, while also facilitating NASA research with advanced flow controls.
Li-ion battery safety has inspired many safety features from CID, to safety valves. However,  none of the current features protect a battery from internal over-current, which can be caused by foreign material contamination, dendrite formation, defects in separator or high impact on the battery. Another problem is that these devices shut-down the function of the entire battery, even when the problem arises from a localized spot. The entire battery shutdown is costly, especially when the battery size increases. Space batteries are especially of concern because of long mission life and large battery size.

Quallion is interested in using a novel material developed by UCSB as a means to accomplish a battery which eliminates short circuits via a thermal trigger; this material could be used to develop safe, high-energy high energy, long life li-ion space rated batteries.
NASA's Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission involves many challenging operations.  One of the highest-risk operations is the guidance of the Orbiting Sample (OS) into the capture mechanism on the MSR Orbiter/Earth Return Vehicle (ERV).  Aurora Flight Sciences, and its research partner the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Space Systems Laboratory (SSL), propose to adapt and augment the Synchronized Position Hold Engage Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) Mars Orbiting Sample Retrieval MOSR testbed to incorporate optically-guided rendezvous and docking with the OS (RDOS).  This additional functionality will extend the MOSR testbed's existing capabilities to further support MSR rendezvous and capture algorithm development. With these new capabilities, the MOSR RDOS system would extend the utility of the MOSR testbed from the "last meter" problem?focusing largely on the contact dynamics between the OS and the capture mechanism , but not addressing GN&amp;C?to the "last several meters", which involve significant time-critical maneuvers by the chaser in order to ensure that the OS is captured and, most importantly, that the contact dynamics between OS and capture mechanism neither cause the OS to become dislodged from the capture mechanism nor cause any structural damage to the OS itself.
We have developed a fully integrated LDO regulator using a patented transistor technology that can be manufactured in high volume commercial semiconductor foundries with no changes to the process flow. The regulator is stable under all load conditions without the need for an external compensation capacitor thereby reducing the mass/volume of the power management system and increasing reliability. The existing LDO component has very competitive figures of merit (dropout voltage, transient response, power supply rejection) compared to existing components targeting commercial consumer electronics. The work we are proposing for this Phase 1 activity will confirm the expected wide temperature range operation (-180C to +150C) and radiation tolerance (200krads(Si) to 1 Mrad(Si)) of the existing component. Based on these measurements we shall design, simulate and layout LDO regulators for nominal load currents of 100 mA and 1A for fabrication at two rad-hard CMOS foundries during a follow-on Phase 2 activity. The LDO regulators will be designed as drop-in replacements for many existing components. They can also be integrated directly on chip as part of an application specific integrated circuit thereby reducing the chip count still further.
We propose to develop a compact, robust, optically-based sensor for local and remote sensing of oxygen (O2) at 1.26 5m, carbon dioxide (CO2) at 1.56 5m and other species in spectral region of up to 2lm with accuracy of the order of 0.5 ? 1 ppm, allowing a very high out-of-band rejection of spurious solar background radiation.    This sensor will utilize a widely tunable narrowband optical filter in conjunction with a wideband optical source (sun light or a commercially available broadband source) in combination with built-in calibration laser diode to make absorption measurements as well as evaluate atmospheric parameters such as pressure, temperature and density. Proposed instrumentation can be valuable for NASAs ASCENDS program with broad scope applications in the measurement of atmospheric parameters and multi-species concentration measurement including CO2.  Instrumentation will be environmentally rugged and compact and will possess auto-calibration capabilities, fast response time (microseconds to milliseconds range) and low-power consumption.  Phase I work will involve building and characterizing a complete laboratory scale system so that a final system can be constructed in Phase II. TRL range at onset of Phase I is 2 at end 3-4; Phase 2 at onset 4 at end 5-6.
Amplification Technologies Inc (&amp;quot;ATI&amp;quot;) proposes to develop the
enabling material and device technology for the design of ultra low
noise, high gain and high speed near-infrared single photon counting
photodetectors and arrays sensitive in the 1000 nm to 1600 nm spectral
region for long range space communication applications, based on the
already proven mechanism of internal discrete amplification technology
in InGaAs/InP material system. We plan to achieve this by designing the
InGaAs/InP internal discrete amplifier photodetector and photodector
array device structure by building on the design that gave promising
results to prove the concept of internal discrete amplification
mechanism in the InP material system. The primary accomplishments from
the Phase I effort would be the development of ultra low noise (low
jitter), high detection efficiency, very high gain and high speed
near-infrared photodetectors and arrays sensitive in the 1000 nm and
1600 nm spectral region. The technology of internal discrete
amplification enables the combination of high speed, very high gain and
ultra low noise. This is possible because the internal discrete
amplification nullifies the effect of impact ionization coefficients and
prevents the edge break down, with high detection efficiency and high
speed of operation. These photodetectors might also be used in missile
seekers, battlefield target identification and recognition systems, and
eye-safe LADAR. Potential civilian applications include fiber-optic
telecommunications, remote sensing and laser spectroscopy.
This NASA Phase I SBIR proposal seeks to demonstrate a new class of ultra-low-density (ULD) polymer matrix composites of high specific modulus and specific strength for mass sensitive space and aerospace applications.  the "baseline" composite system for this program is state-of-the-art carbon fiber reinforced epoxy and/or bismaliimide. The key materials innovations are light-weight hollow carbon fibers in a light-weight porous (closed pores) polymer matrix. This innovation in composites technology would enable structural composites of lower density and higher specific modulus and strength than any currently available. If successful, this technology could have a profound impact and reduced payload weight and cost. Potential applications include planetary landers, satellites, large orbiting arrays and structures, booster motor cases. This program benefits from the support and participation of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
Nuvotronics has developed and optimized the PolyStrata&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; process for the fabrication of intricate microwave and millimeter-wave devices.  These devices have primarily been rectangular coaxial transmission lines, although rectangular waveguide and other structures have also been demonstrated.  Intricate devices have been demonstrated with insertion loss 5 to 10 times lower than traditional planar circuits; isolation better than 60dB for lines that share separating walls; multiple levels of densely-packed coaxial circuits; and low-parasitic attachment to active devices and traditional circuit boards.  In this Phase I project, Nuvotronics will deseign microfabricated MEMs-based switches on the Polystrata platform.  Nuvotronics will explore whether piezoelectric-based or magnetic-based actuation provides the best performance for millimeter-wave radiometry applications.  The devices will have size and cost advantages, higher power handling capability, and lower loss than achievable with the commonly available wafer-based switches of today.
Current and future NASA missions are confronted with the challenge
that the amount of data collected by its sensors significantly
outpaces the down-link bandwidth. As a consequence, initial data
reduction has to occur on-board, using algorithms sophisticated enough
to sufficiently reduce the amount of data while simultaneously
ensuring the preservation of valuable information. This requires
enhanced processing power on-board the spacecraft/device/telescope. While future generations of rugged, radiation-hardened hardware can be expected to deliver the necessary performance by employing highly heterogeneous architectures consisting of a combination of FPGAs, DSPs and massively multicore architectures, software development for such devices poses a significant challenge. We prepose to develop tools that facilitate and accelerate algorithm development on these hardware devices. The tools will enable scientists to prototype algorithms in the High-Level language that they are most familiar with while simultaneously building code for
high-performance computational hardware.
IAI proposes to develop a Reconfigurable Wideband Radar Transceiver, with direct digital synthesis of P-band radar frequencies, novel high bandwidth P-band antenna design with high contrast ceramic material and digital implementation of receiver stretch processing, to achieve the solicitation objectives. Our innovation focuses on implementing maximum radar transceiver functionalities on high-speed digital reconfigurable platforms (FPGAs), and minimizing the number of analog components. Our Software-Defined Radar designs are based on COTS components and are modular in nature. This makes it easier to upgrade smaller units of the design with development in state-of-the-art, instead of re-designing the entire SDR. The stringent payload constraints of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) require tight integration of all radar functionalities, including signal generation, acquisition, processing, and down-link. The proposed platform can be an enabler for low form factor radar systems to support on-going UAS based NASA missions for Biomass/ecosystems imaging in P-band. A summary of our proposed innovation are:
1.	Reconfigurable digital waveform synthesizer with 600 MHz bandwidth capability. 
2.	Compact P-band antenna design using high-contrast ceramic materials to cover 200 MHz bandwidth. 
3.	Digital implementation of receiver stretch processing. 
4.	Low size, weight and power specifications making the radar design suitable for UAS applications.
Future NASA flight missions are considering passive wavefront and amplitude control in astronomical applications such as the search for exo-planets. NASA's Discovery mission proposal called out the need for a coherent 2-dimensional array of fiber bundles for this application. In this SBIR proposal we propose to develop monolithic polarization maintaining (PM) coherent fiber bundle arrays consisting of 1,600 fibers with core-to-core spacing of 80 micron with placement accuracy of &lt; 2 micron. In Phase I we will design and develop specialty glasses and fibers and demonstrate a 2D array with 16 cores to prove the feasibility of this proposal.
Installation effects arising from propulsion airframe interaction are known to produce substantial variations in the in-situ jet noise. A hybrid LES/RANS computational framework is proposed for prediction of noise from the engine and airframe, and interactions between airframe and propulsion systems. 
The basis of LES (large eddy simulation) is that the energy-bearing turbulent eddies in the dominant noise-generating region are directly captured in the simulation. Since LES must resolve the turbulent eddies it requires a grid which captures these motions; the number of grid points needed for LES is much larger than those for RANS and thus a brute-force LES of the entire noise producing region in a propulsion-airframe interaction problem is not feasible. However, the noise generation physics of these flows allows a logical assembly of a hybrid simulation tool where low-fidelity models (RANS) in one region of the flow are combined with turbulence-resolving models (LES) in other regions of the flow. Acoustic effects are another segment of propulsion-airframe interaction problem. Sound generated by various components of engine is altered by the presence of wing, fuselage, deployed flap etc. In the present proposal, alteration of sound due to the presence of airframe is added through application of Boundary Element Method (BEM) and an acoustic projection technique (FW-H surface method). 
To demonstrate the feasibility of using this framework, we focus on simulating flow configuration corresponding to a separate-flow nozzle of by pass ratio  5 with round fan and nozzle operating at the takeoff cycle point of with freestream Mach number of 0.28. Simulation results will be validated against experiments carried out in the Low Speed Aeroacoustics Wind Tunnel (LSAWT) at NASA Langley's Jet Noise Laboratory (JNL). The high-fidelity model developed and validated in Phase I will be extended to explore more complex engine/airframe configurations in Phase II.
We propose a high performance approach to enhancing communications between astronauts. In the new generation of NASA audio systems for astronauts, inbound signals may interfere with outbound signals and create an annoying positive feedback during communications. Our objective is to eliminate the inbound signals in the outbound path. We propose to apply an affine projection algorithm (APA) to achieve the above objective. In our recent studies, it was found that APA achieves a balance between performance (convergence speed) and computational complexity, as compared to least mean square (LMS) and recursive least square (RLS) algorithms. Our preliminary simulation results showed that the proposed framework is promising. In Phase 1, we will perform extensive simulations to prove the feasibility of our approach. In Phase 2, the validated algorithms will be implemented in radiation hardened DSP or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).
This SBIR will develop advanced, high-efficiency, high beam-quality solid-state laser technology and non-linear wavelength conversion technology suitable for Ozone, Aerosol, Wind, CO2,  Water Vapor Lidar.  We propose to increase the wall-plug efficiency of 1um lasers from 6-8&#37; into the 12-16&#37; range drastically reducing the electrical power needed for satellite missions. For the same satellite bus this means that power will be available to support another lidar system, radar or other instruments greatly increasing the science mission value. The proposed non-linear wavelength conversion technology can enable direct range-resolved ozone, CO2 measurement and/or oxygen lidars that support CO2 pressure and density determinations. The technology developed could also enable sub-orbital flight missions for ozone and water vapor.
Aurora Flight Sciences, along with MIT consultants Professor Dava Newman and Professor Jeffrey Hoffman, propose to develop an EVA space suit simulator for use in partial gravity training and experimentation.  Our space suit simulator will provide a lightweight, low form-factor solution to microgravity and partial gravity EVA experimentation and training.  We will utilize magnetorheological (MR) fluids as our damping device in order to minimize weight and space, and will careful select supplementary stiffness devices to best emulate the mechanical properties of the EMU.

We propose to develop this simulator by first characterizing the joint torque requirements using MIT's unique database of joint torques obtained from 1990 to present with the Robotic Space Suit Tester (RSST).  After conducting this literature survey, we will obtain test samples of MR fluids and stiffness components, in order to recognize the best method of simulating the mechanical characteristics of a pressurized EMU.  These stiffness and damping components will be tested on MIT's RSST in a simplified configuration (single-axis joint) to verify consistent emulation of the EMU joint.  Identification of the stiffness and damping technologies will allow us to provide a top-level conceptual design of a full space suit simulator, including all joints as well as the garment in its entirety.
An important mission for NASA is the development of revolutionary flight concepts and technology.  The development of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), the resurgence of general aviation, and growing interest in environmentally conscious, all-electric, emissionless aircraft have brought about a renewed interest in propeller design.  Overall, since the propeller's golden age during the WWII era, very little has changed in propeller design.  Computers have automated the design processes, but the basic design methodology, from an aerodynamic point of view has changed very little.  Strides have been made in acoustics and multidisciplinary optimization (MDO), but the basic aerodynamic design and performance of the subsonic propeller has basically remained unchanged.  The explosion of UAVs and a need for more efficient designs allowing greater payload, range, and loiter times have taken UAVs from simple cut-and-try designs to sophisticated, aerodynamically efficient systems.  An area as of yet not fully exploited by this class of aircraft, is that of propeller efficiency.  Most smaller UAVs and micro-UAVs simply use off-the-shelf radio control propellers, while moderate size UAVs rely on propellers designed using classical blade element theory or those derived for general aviation aircraft.  While these propellers provide industry acceptable levels of thrust for a given torque, the majority of propellers suffer some form of flow separation.  The extent of flow separation can range from small areas in cruise regions of the flight envelope, to large areas during climb and wind milling.  Significant propeller performance gains in the form of increased thrust and reduced torque can be obtained by eliminating these separated regions across the flight envelope.  A simple, efficient, and robust flow control technique is proposed to eliminate these separated regions and provide a marked increase in propeller performance and vehicle propulsive performance.
With the ever increasing complexity and duration of International Space Station (ISS) missions, along with planned lunar and Martian missions, the need for more advance capabilities for monitoring the astronaut crew environment becomes ever more critical.  Accompanying this is an unprecedented need for reduction in instrumentation size, weight, and power consumption.  Recent advances in sensor technology have led to the development of miniature analytical instruments.  However, many of these systems require a means of producing a vacuum with pressures under 1 Torr to either supply a rough vacuum or to back a high vacuum pump such as a molecular drag pump or turbo pump.  Unfortunately, currently available rough vacuum pumps remain large, heavy, power hungry and unreliable.   Lynntech proposes to develop a long-life, robust, low-power, miniature rough vacuum pump for trace gas contaminant monitors.
This proposal outlines the development of a novel instrument for calibrating satellite based imaging sensors ? the Polarization Hyperspectral Image Projector (PHIP).  The PHIP instrument is capable of producing realistic, standards-based satellite imagery, simultaneously projecting spectral, spatial and polarization scenes.   In this proposal, we offer to extend our current collaboration with NIST and add polarization capability to the HIP instrument, anticipating the need to calibrate emerging polarization-based sensors in NASA's climate monitoring satellites.
Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to utilize a switchable polymer (SWP) to prevent catastrophic failure due to internal shorting or overdischarge in lithium-ion batteries. The SWP, applied to both the surface of the cathode particles and the cathode current collector, can be reversibly "switched" from an insulator to a conductor upon oxidation permitting normal battery operation. In Phase I, PSI will demonstrate that upon a short or overdischarge the polymer reversibly switches to an insulator reducing the current flow to the cathode material protecting the system and preventing unsafe operation. This reduced current flow will be demonstrated to decrease the localized heat generation by more than two orders of magnitude. PSI will also demonstrate that insulation of the cathode material limits irreversible degradation of the discharge capacity upon overdischarge maintaining cell balance and improving cycle life. In the Phase II program, we will scale up the coating procedure to a production scale, in order to demonstrate the technology in a 5Ah battery. At the conclusion of Phase II, PSI will have demonstrated the technology in full battery systems and be prepared to partner with NASA's industrial partner SAFT America to have cells built for a mock application demonstration.
Advanced Scientific Concepts, Inc. (ASC) is a small business, which has developed a compact, eye-safe 3D Flash LIDARTM Camera (FLC) well suited for real-time spacecraft trajectory, speed, orientation measurements relative to the planet's surfaces and evaluating potential hazards during the critical landing sequence.  Data collected using ASC's FLC at JPL's Mars Yard and in NASA ALHAT flight tests demonstrated that ASC Flash LIDAR system can meet the requirements for Entry Descent and Landing (EDL).  Aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-127), SpaceX and ASC demonstrated the DragonEye Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&amp;D) Flash LIDAR solution in low earth orbit, the first Flash LIDAR in space.  ASC is developing a camera for iRobot Corporation for use in autonomous robotic navigation which is directly applicable to EDL mission requirements.  The purpose of the Phase I SBIR effort is to increase the 3D-Focal Plane Array's (3D-FPA) long term reliability by creating a 3D-FPA Dewar sensor assembly.  Reliability will be improved significantly by reduced outgassing, corrosion prevention, radiation tolerance and reduced aging sensitivity.  ASC's 128x128 3D array FLC has the equivalent of 16,000 range finders on a single FPA which allows the sensor to act as a 3D video camera with enhanced functionality and value add well beyond range finding.
Diamond turning is able to produce highly aspheric visible quality optics which can be easily aligned.

Very large optical systems such as OWL and EUSO are impossible to produce using diamond turning because machines capable of machining 3 meter size optics do not exist.  This is because no air bearing  spindle is available with load capacity for the weight of the optical component and the required heavy part holding fixture.

Large diamond turning machines today have oil hydrostatic spindles which are not useful for very large diamond turning because of excessive heat generation when this type bearing is large enough to have load capacity for very large optics.

The viscosity of air is more than three orders of magnitude less than oil, therefore the heating of large diameter air bearings is very small.

The extreme precision required for air bearings is in the realm of optical tolerances.

Air bearings utilizing two metal surfaces in close contact fail in large sizes because metals weld together in the event of the slightest touch.

Porous graphite air bearings do not friction weld in the event of the spindle bearing surface contacting the bearing journal surface.  The porous graphite flow structure provides uniform flow to damp the instability that is a problem with air hydrostatic bearings.

This proposal combines porous graphite air bearing technology with optical fabrication methods to build a new type of vertical axis air bearing for diamond turning machine use.  The goal of this Phase I SBIR effort will be to demonstrate the technology with a sub-scale air bearing spindle.  The Phase I and II efforts will be coordinated with internal R&amp;D efforts of DOS and Moore Tool Co.  

The object of a Phase III proposal will be to integrate an air bearing spindle in a 3 meter capacity diamond turning machine that will have a load capacity of approximately 89,000 Newton (20,000 lb.) and a rotational speed capability of 1000 rpm.
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop, fabricate, and characterize a novel frequency steered acoustic transducer (FSAT) for the structural health monitoring of aerospace structures for impacts, damage, and leakage.  A single compact, cost effective FSAT is expected to replace high-element-count phase arrays, significantly reducing cost, weight, size, and power requirements for multiple channel data handling, wiring, electronics, and powering.  FSAT will allow for permanent continuous leakage detection and localization of simple and complex structures.
Based on our proprietary fiber technology and extensive experience in fiber laser development, a new single-frequency 2?]m fiber laser source will be developed. The source includes advanced frequency-locking schemes for both center-line locking and offset-frequency locking, so as to address the bandwidth issue associated with airborne and space-borne coherent lidar, i.e., Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons.
The proposed innovation is to apply proven nano-film technology to enable Microchannel plate (MCP) devices to be manufactured on a range of insulating substrates and devices which possess sufficiently high gain and low ion feedback to replace chevron stacks in current NASA detector technologies.  Commercial MCP devices have many desirable properties, such as sensitivity to small amounts of light and excellent position and timing resolution.  MCP production is a mature technology, based largely on techniques and materials developed in the 1970's, and is limited to small area devices. Limitations due to the bulk glass manufacturing technology adversely impact many applications and impair manufacturability.  For example, heavy metal impurities contained within the bulk glass of the MCP limit the achievable dark noise in low signal detection.   In MCP manufacturing, the requisite batch processing restricts flexibility to tailor individual device or small batch performance to specific applications and can often result in poor MCP yield due to variations in composition and poor process control.   In this proposal, we will utilize atomic layer deposition (ALD) of nanometer thin films which has been proven to replicate and improve the component functions of secondary electron emission (SEE) and conductivity on non-traditional glass substrates, to investigate the high gain and low ion feedback capabilities of this technology.  We estimate that the technology stands at TRL 2 at the and expect to be at 4 at end of the Phase 1 contract.
NASA is investigating robots for a variety of tasks in space, including astronaut transport, habitat construction, site survey, and robotic reconnaissance. These robots may be supervised locally by astronauts or remotely by Earth-based controllers.  Thus surface operations are expected to be multi-agent, with heterogeneous robots operating concurrently and supervised from remote locations subject to different communication delays.  Technologies are needed to help humans understand how multi-agent operations are proceeding and to detect inter-agent conflicts before they impact operations significantly.  TRACLabs will develop assistive software agents that monitor human-robot interaction and communication during multi-agent operations (1) to construct an integrated view of agent operations in the presence of significant time delay and (2) to detect inter-agent conflicts that may affect the ability to complete operations. To assess the effectiveness of these assistive agents, Omnisen will develop evaluator software agents that model work practice during multi-agent operations.  These evaluator agents will stand in for humans using the assistive agents in representative scenarios to assess the effectiveness of the assistive agents and identify best work practice when using them.  The extensive experience of this team in software agents, remote supervision of robots, and human-computer interaction enables the successful development of the proposed technology.
AISI 9310 nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloy steel is used extensively in military helicopter rotor shafts and gears. This reliable alloy provides excellent fatigue life combined with high hardness, elastic modulus, and tensile strength. However, to facilitate rapid speed changes of variable drive systems in high-performance rotorcraft, these steel components must weigh less and have lower rotational inertia. Ultramet will develop and demonstrate a material system consisting of continuous alumina fiber-reinforced 9310 steel. Relative to the unmodified alloy, this material system will offer reduced weight, increased strength, and increased stiffness while maintaining the excellent heat treatment properties and hardening schedules of 9310 steel. The composite will be lighter than the base alloy by 15?23&#37;, possess significantly higher specific strength and stiffness, maintain comparable corrosion resistance, and allow the continued use of proven 9310 steel. The composite will be produced using an innovative variant of Ultramet's rapid, low-cost pressureless melt infiltration technology previously demonstrated for fabrication of fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites.
Radiation hardened nonvolatile memories for space is still primarily confined to EEPROM. There is high density effective or cost effective NVM solution available to space electronics designers.  DoD, NASA, and DTRA R&amp;D investment funding of CRAM, MRAM, and FRAM at the major players (BAE Systems and Honeywell) over the past 10-15 years have not yet resulted in cost effective, high density, producible available space products. Flash memory offers the high density and low price, but the current COTS flash devices are susceptible to Single Event Effects of SEU (Upset) and SEFI (Functional Interrupt and block errors).  Bit flips (Upsets) may be tolerable for certain types of data, but if they occur in the processing instructions, functional errors can result in corrupt data at best and lock-up of the Flash circuit at worst.

Space Micro is proposing to mitigate SEU and SEFI in space applications by application of patented techniques and leveraging pure commercial IC processes.  SEU and its effects of bit and block errors can be effectively corrected with Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR), while SEFI is mitigated with Space Micro patent-pending HF-Core&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; recovery technology.  The end goal is a form-fit-function compatible monolithic IC which is footprint compatible with commercial 4, 8, and future 16-Gb Flash devices.
Future landed robotic missions to the lunar poles will seek to characterize the properties of subsurface regolith. Current instruments for such in-situ analysis, however, require that geological samples be brought to the surface by a sample acquisition tool and subsequently processed and presented to the analyzer. This model has significant limitations with regard to science yield: evaporation of volatile molecules before reaching the instrument, loss of stratigraphic information, sample bias, and cross-contamination. Furthermore, sophisticated sample acquisition, processing and handling mechanisms required to operate in uncontrolled, dusty environments are expensive and failure-prone.

We therefore propose an alternative: bring the instrument to the sample. Specifically, we propose development of a fiber-coupled laser-induced breakdown spectrometer (LIBS) system, integrated into a 3m-class drill. LIBS uses a high-energy laser pulse to create a plasma on the surface of the material under test; the atomic emissions are collected by a spectrometer and yield elemental composition and basic molecular information. DIHeDRAL will allow profiling of an entire borehole wall, centimeter by centimeter, 360 degrees, from the top to the bottom. 

The proposed Phase I work focuses on the downhole sensor head, including modeling, analysis, and breadboarding of the sensor head optics. The resulting validated sensor head design will be fed forward into Phase II, which will culminate in the integration and test of a simplified DIHeDRAL brassboard prototype to a depth of 1m in Honeybee's dedicated drill testing thermal-vacuum chamber.
Up to 65&#37; of the lunar soils are comprised of agglutinates.    Although the importance of agglutinate in simulants is often debated, the fact is that agglutinates account for a large portion of the lunar soil and have known effects on final material properties.  Increasing the fidelity of terrestrially manufactured simulant can reduce mission risk.  Zybek Advanced Products, Inc., is proposing an important innovation to the agglutinate manufacturing process to address mission-critical needs for lunar regolith simulants that achieve NASA's cost and quantity objectives, provide reproducible production processes, and supply required particle size distributions.   Additional value is provided to the program by ZAP's unique knowledge of simulant mechanical and material properties gleaned from its production of simulant components for NASA.
The majority of ZAP's work completed to date has been focused on high volume, bulk lunar simulant components, including glass, agglutinates and melt breccias.  The primary purpose of this SBIR proposal is to innovate the agglutinate manufacturing process to provide significantly higher quality material that will contain nanostructure Fe0.  This innovation will leverage ZAP's current investment in the high-volume simulant manufacturing and provide the industry with more accurate simulants that will reduce future mission risks.
The innovation in this proposed effort is the development of refractory coated or lined low density structures.  Lightweight structures are desirable for space transportation vehicle systems in order to reduce launch costs, increase mission flexibility/efficiency, and add robustness with respect to the ability to add weight or additional materials to the mission with minimum sacrifice in performance.  The use of thin refractory coatings over low density structures will yield a lightweight alternative to current solid monolithic components.  Thus, offering an increase in mission flexibility by allowing greater speeds, greater range, and bigger payloads.  Additional studies will be conducted to seek materials that offer higher temperature use, lower weight, and lower cost.  The higher maximum temperatures may eliminate the need for cooling air, while simultaneously increasing engine efficiency.  These benefits result in increased fuel savings.  The advanced materials study will include refractory metals and ceramics.  The manufacturing processes for the monolithic ceramics and refractory metal materials will include vacuum plasma spraying (VPS) and EL-Form electrodeposition.
The innovation in the proposed SBIR Phase I project is the development of a unique triple unction inverted metamorphic technology (IMM), which will enable the manufacture of very lightweight, low-cost InP-based multijunction solar cells. The proposed IMM technology will consist of an all indium and phosphorous-based structure, which is designed to improve the radiation resistance properties of the triple junction solar cell.  Because of the intrinsic radiation hardness of InP materials, this material system is of great interest for building solar cells suitable for deployment in very demanding radiation environments such as medium earth orbit and missions to the outer planets. It is expected that an efficiency greater than 30&#37; could be realized with this new IMM structure.
Microcosm, in conjunction with the Scoprius Space Launch Company (SSLC), will develop a Unibody Composite Pressurized Structure (UCPS) for in-space propulsion that constitutes a clean break from traditional spacecraft design by combining what were traditionally separate spacecraft primary and secondary support structures and metal propellant tanks into a single unibody, all-composite construction that is stronger, much lighter weight, more robust and reliable, and capable of supporting much higher pressures and smaller volume than previous approaches.  The single, all-composite structure will include linerless, high-pressure propellant tank(s), composite bosses, flanges, longitudinal and circumferential stringers with integral shelves, holding mechanisms, and attach features to support all of the spacecraft equipment and replace the separate, mission-critical primary support structure, tanks, struts, straps, braces, clamps, and brackets traditionally required to hold subsystem parts in place.  The new structure has nearly 0 CTE over a temperature range from cryogenic to over 100 C.  Phase I will determine requirements, create a preliminary UCPS design relevant to a potential SMD mission, and test material compatibility with various in-space propellants.  Phase II will build two UCPS structures employing test masses for spacecraft components, and complete qualification and burst testing on one of them (including 0-g testing).
Achievement of a dramatic increase in the bond strength in the  composite/adhesive interfaces of existing fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite material joints and structures suitable for NASA applications is the main goal of this Phase I project. The Phase II project will focus on implementation of the proposed technology for newest materials developed up to date and scaling of the proposed technology to large area and complex shape FRP composite structural joints. The proposed technology developed at Integrated Micro Sensors Inc is based on laser-assisted fabrication of Micro Column Arrays (MCA) on the surface of the two materials prior to bonding. There are several advantages of the MCA technology in the drastic improvement of bonds between any similar and dissimilar materials. First, mechanical strength increases due to interlocking of the adhesive or brazing material between micro columns. Second, the bond strength increases due to the increase of the specific surface area by more than an order of magnitude. Third, stability increases due to the inherent elasticity of the micro cones during a deformation that can occur due to stresses induced by difference in thermal expansion between the material and adhesive or braze or under shear stress). Fourth, increase in the bond durability because of the repeated bend contours of the surface preventing hydrothermal failure. Fifth, wettability of the material surface significantly improves due to (i) a highly developed surface morphology at the micro and submicron level resulting from rapid solidification of the material surface during laser processing, and (ii) changes in local chemistry due to surface oxidation that could be beneficial to promoting a stronger bond.
R-LAM (Rad-hard Location and Attitude Module), promises a new generation of both integrated navigation modules and stand-alone navigation subsystems including nav-grade IMU's, atomic-precision clocks and GPS units compliant with the Space Plug and Play Architecture (SPA) initiative.

R-LAM leverages two active DARPA MTO programs.  In the Navigation-Grade Integrated Micro-Gyroscope (NG-IMG) project, Archangel Systems, Inc. has developed a MEMS IMU called NG-MARS - a spinning mass IMU with navigation-grade performance.  

In DARPA's Chip-Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) program, Symmetricom, Inc has developed a clock that is 50-100X smaller and lower power than any previous atomic clock technology, while exhibiting short-term stability of &amp;#61555;y(&amp;#964;) &lt; 1x10-10/&amp;#61556;1/2 and long-term drift of &lt; 3 x 10-10/month.

NASA-Goddard has constructed a rad-hard GPS called Navigator for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) program.  Designed for high elliptical orbits (HEO), Navigator uses NASA's Geon algorithms.  Currently Navigator weight and power exceeds R-LAM requirements.  NASA-Goddard colleagues will advise the R-LAM team as they transition Navigator hardware.  

Intrinsix Corp. is an ASIC design house skilled in rad-hard mixed-signal design.  They will implement rad-hard support electronics for NG-MARS, CSAC and Navigator.  Intrinsix is familiar with NASA's SPA initiatives and will design the R-LAM interface for compliance.
We propose to develop detailed design requirements for adapting COTS cooking appliances for meal preparation under Lunar 8 psia ambient conditions, and to produce one or more prototype devices required for a Lunar galley by modifying commercial off the shelf consumer kitchen appliances to hold Earth ambient pressure safely in an oxygen-enriched, 8 psi space habitat.  The modified devices will be use-tested to determine labor requirements for selected food preparation tasks in modified vs. unmodified equipment.  Finally, foods prepared at earth ambient pressure and 8 psi ambient pressure in the same equipment will be sensory tested to elucidate differences in flavor, texture, and overall acceptability. 

The proof-of-concept prototypes produced in this project will be suitable for testing food preparation in lunar habitat analogues. They will be designed for use under positive, zero or negative pressure to serve multiple research purposes, including preparation of foods under 8 psi ambient pressure, and fire safety testing in the habitat atmosphere.
Clear air turbulence (CAT), often referred to as "air pockets," is attributed to Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities at altitudes generally above 18,000ft, often in the absence of any visual cues such as clouds, making it difficult to avoid. The vortices produced when atmospheric waves "break" can have diameters of 900-1200ft and tangential velocities of 70-85 ft/sec. CAT is dangerous for commercial and military aviation, most recently demonstrated by Continental flight 128 from Rio de Janeiro to Houston on August 3, 2009, which encountered severe turbulence and made an emergency landing with 37 injured passengers, nine hospitalized. Many other incidents attributed to turbulence have caused injuries or deaths to passengers and crew. Another recently-highlighted hazard is the inadequacy of current airspeed sensors on commercial aircraft. Federal investigators have reported that on at least a dozen recent flights by U.S. jetliners, malfunctioning equipment made it impossible for pilots to know how fast they were flying.  Michigan Aerospace Corporation (MAC) proposes the Molecular Air Data and Clear Air Turbulence (MADCAT) system which will be capable of providing not only a look-ahead capability to predict clear air turbulence but also a full air data solution (airspeed, angle of attack, angle of sideslip, pressure and temperature). The technology has already demonstrated, in-flight, the ability to measure airspeed, angle of attack and angle of sideslip. In addition, ground units based upon the same core technology have demonstrated range-resolved wind, temperature and density measurements from the ground to altitudes of 18km. This proposal will focus on combining the two capabilities into a practical solution.  MAC's direct-detection UV LIDAR technology uses molecular backscatter and so does not require aerosols, as required by many competing approaches.
We propose to investigate the feasibility of fabricating a germanium blocked-impurity-band (BIB) detector using a novel process which will enable us to:
1- fabricate a suitably-doped active layer using the well-established bulk crystal-growth process, which guarantees excellent dopant control and extremely low compensating impurities, and
2- grow the blocking layer using an implant-passivation technique which will produce the required high purity and a very sharp transition from the active to blocking layer.
These features are key in design and optimization of multi-layered structure of BIBs, and their implementation and quality are crucial in optimum operation of these detectors.  The proposed process is a drastic departure from conventional epitaxial methods, such as chemical vapor deposition and liquid phase epitaxy, which have yet to produce far IR BIBs suitable for astronomical instruments.
Germanium BIBs will offer extended wavelength response to at least 2005m, high quantum efficiency, high immunity to ionizing radiation, and elimination of long-term transient and memory effects.  Coupled with their compatibility with Si cryo-CMOS readout multiplexers and the planar, bump-bond hybridization process, these detectors will make possible the construction of large format, high sensitivity FPAs for far IR astronomy and will replace the current unstressed and stressed germanium detectors.
As a means to enhance aviation safety, numerous adaptive control techniques have been developed to maintain aircraft stability and safety of flight in the presence of failures or damage. The techniques apply a wide array of adaptations from simple gain scheduling to on-line learning algorithms. While the ready availability of low cost, reduced scale UAV systems have allowed for many successful flight test demonstrations, applications to piloted aircraft have been more limited. Flight evaluations of various adaptive control applications conducted by NASA and others have shown great promise. In some cases; however, unfavorable pilot-vehicle interactions including pilot-induced oscillations have occurred. Susceptibility to such interactions is more likely when the pilot interacts with a highly nonlinear vehicle that may no longer have predictable response characteristics. To alleviate these unfavorable interactions, Systems Technology, Inc. (STI) proposes the Smart Adaptive Flight Effective Cue or SAFE-Cue that will provide cues to the pilot via an active control inceptor with corresponding command path gain adjustments. The SAFE-Cue will alert the pilot that the adaptive control system is active and provide guidance through a force feedback cue and command attenuation via a command path gain adjustment as a means to retain pilot-vehicle system stability and performance.
For this program, we propose to develop large pixel-count single photon counting detector arrays suitable for deployment in spacecraft terminal receivers supporting long-range laser communication systems at 1.5 um.  To surmount the present obstacles to higher photon counting rate -- as well as the complexity of back-end circuitry required -- in using conventional single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), we will leverage initial success in monolithically integrating "negative feedback" elements with state-of-the-art SPADs to beneficially modify the device avalanche dynamics.  This approach can achieve extremely consistent passive quenching, and appropriate implementations can lead to rather small avalanches (e.g., ~10^4 ? 10^5 carriers), for which reduced carrier trapping provides lower afterpulsing that will no longer limit the photon counting rate.  When correctly implemented, this "negative feedback" avalanche diode (NFAD) design is also extremely simple to operate:  with just a fixed dc bias voltage, the NFAD will autonomously execute the entire arm, avalanche, quench, and re-arm cycle and generate an output pulse every time an avalanche event is induced.  Phase I of this program will be focused on specific pixel-level design advancements related to the reduction of afterpulsing and timing jitter.  Along with pixel-level goals, we will also fabricate and characterize test structures to define design and process innovations that guarantee high pixel yield and uniformity on large-scale NFAD arrays.  The proof-of-feasibility tasks defined in Phase I will position us to demonstrate space-qualifiable large pixel-count (e.g., 80 x 80) NFAD arrays during a Phase II effort.  Design and performance goals have been defined to meet anticipated lasercomm requirements for future space missions.
Challenges arise in the propulsion systems for the new exploration architecture.  The currently operational and proven storable hypergolic systems raise toxicity concerns.  Because MMH is a carcinogen, measures must be taken to prevent exposure of personnel to the fuel from the time of its synthesis to the time of it neutralization.  This extra care translates into increased expense for the mission.  Replacing the MMH in the propulsion systems with an equally energetic, sasfer fuel would considerably reduce risk and cost on exploration missions.  Ionic liquids offer promising candidates for dense, energetic, and safe rocket fuels.  In the proposed work ORBITEC will demonstrate the feasibility of developing hypergolic ionic liquid fuels for propulsion systems used in the Exploration architecture.  We will develop one set hypergolic with a storable oxidizer, nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) and one set hypergolic with a cryogenic oxidizer, liquid oxygen (LOX).  We will test the hypergolicity and the material properties.  The resulting sets of propellants will be ready for performance testing early in the Phase II work to enable achieving a technical readiness level (TRL) of 5 by the end of the Phase II work.
ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes to develop an on-line flutter prediction tool for wind tunnel model using the parameter varying estimation (PVE) technique to ensure the safety of the flutter model as well as the wind tunnel system. This tool will be applied to rapidly evaluate parameters, such as modal damping and frequency, which are required to assess the flutter boundary of a wind tunnel model in the pre-flutter test conditions. In this PVE Toolbox, system identification techniques such as Polymax and Subspace methods are employed to consistently estimate the damping/frequency of the physical modes, followed by the implementation of Zimmerman-Weissenburger flutter margin method, linear parameter varying modeling combined with 5 analysis, and/or thin plate interpolation method for flutter boundary prediction.  In order to minimize the dependence on the experience for obtaining a reliable flutter prediction, an accurate estimation of the auto-spectrum of the output data, k-mean stochastic algorithm for automate modes selection are developed to enhance the on-line capability of the PVE Toolbox. The end product PVE Toolbox can be used by the test engineer as an on-line flutter prediction tool in the wind tunnel to effectively make a timely decision for proceeding to the next test point.
A real-time life-use consumption monitor is proposed for aircraft engine systems. The life monitor will process power data available on the aircraft to calculate the accumulating in-flight power loading which the engine experiences.  This power loading reduces the available life of the engine.  Under emergency in-flight conditions and/or foreign object damage, engine loads and temperatures can increase rapidly as a sign of decreased remaining engine life and reliability.  The life monitor will calculate and display in the aircraft the remaining time for safe operation under these conditions.
	At present, fatigue life analysis techniques are primarily used as design-analysis tools  These techniques have not been adapted for in-service use with an aircraft to date. 
	The reliable use of aircraft engines can be extended with more accurate knowledge of their remaining component and system fatigue lives.  Early identification of engines in need of repair due to heavy use will improve their in-service safety.
	By developing a life monitoring system which can be associated with a specific engine system and have as input the loads and load durations of that system, the reliability and safety of that system can be improved.
Rotorcraft design and optimization currently still rely largely on simplified (low-fidelity) models, such as rotor disk or wake models to reduce the turn-around time and allow exploration of a large parameter space. On the other hand, accurate noise prediction requires first principle, high fidelity simulations to capture small scales, highly unsteady aerodynamic sources of noise. This forces us to resort to component-wise acoustics computations, ignoring the fact that different components in the system affect each other in generating noise.
The objective of this proposal is to develop high fidelity rotor noise simulation capabilities that allow multi-components noise prediction and exploration of a large parameter space  inherent to design processes. The distinctive aspect of the present proposal is the use of a novel discretization method based on Adaptive Vorticity Confinement technique to counteract the numerical dissipation of the underlying spatial discretization scheme in a dynamic fashion. The concept has been proven successful in controlled flow setting, allowing direct comparison with analytical solution and laboratory experiment. The primary task in this project is to extend this concept to general flow and computational environment, focusing on Blade-Vortex Interaction noise prediction as initially targeted milestone.
Various planned NASA missions require heat switches for active thermal control. As an example cryocoolers, including redundant coolers are incorporated on select missions. The redundant coolers operate when deteriorating or defunct coolers are deactivated. However, integration of redundant coolers may cause substantial parasitic heat loads unless the cold regions are thermally connected to the active cryocooler only. The overall system efficiency will depend in part on the efficacy of the intervening heat switches. We propose to develop a highly effective, innovative prototype heat switch that combines two recently developed technologies. First, it employs a highly conductive thermal contact at a low applied force. Secondly, the heat switch employs an innovative bi-stable actuator. The actuator requires little energy to switch between states and can achieve motion on the order of millimeters. This available motion exceeds the tens to hundreds of microns needed to engage the contact, enabling complete separation, and thus, excellent thermal isolation in the off state. Combining the inherently high on- and low off-conductance of the contacts with the bi-stable actuator positioning provides for a highly effective, innovative heat switch, potentially enabling significant performance enhancement of NASA missions.
Procedures are the accepted means of commanding spacecraft. Procedures
encode the operational knowledge of a system as derived from system
experts, testing, training and experience.  In current Space Shuttle and ISS operations procedures are displayed using applications separate from the applications used to display commands and telemetry.  This means that procedures cannot interact with commands and telemetry to help an operator's situation awareness.  This leads to slower procedure performance and greater opportunity for errors.  TRACLabs is building on existing NASA Constellation program technology to combine procedures, commanding and telemetry into a single, consistent framework in which to operate space vehicles.   Instead of viewing procedures in static displays, flight controllers will have interactive, reconfigurable procedure displays and assistants that can be tailored for specific situations.  The displays will have different views tailored to specific operations, including browsing, assigning, editing, executing and monitoring procedures.  A procedure executive automates some procedure execution and provides procedure assistance.  Automation is always under the control of the flight controller via level of automation feature.  Each step or instruction of a procedure can be labeled as manual, automated or consent. This will increase the efficiency of procedure performance and reduce procedure errors.
Access to space for Small Satellites is enabled by the use of excess launch capacity on existing launch vehicles.  A range of sizes, form factors and masses of small sats need to be accommodated. An integration process that minimizes programmatic/technical risk to the primary, allows "late flow" integration and predictable cost/schedule for the secondary enables regular and cost-effective access. The integration process proceeds smoothly when the right adapter accommodates the secondary in a seamless way. Design_Net, with our commercialization partner SpaceAvailable Inc. has designed a family of adapters that meet these criteria and one has been selected by NASA to complete development for targeted NASA rideshare opportunities. We are also currently working with United Launch Alliance (ULA) for a broader class of rideshare accommodations, and development of interfaces that allow late access on Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV)s.  Design_Net will continue, via this SBIR Phase 2, to develop the selected adapter to a structurally tested engineering model.  This adapter can accommodate everything from 6u and 12u carriers to full up "ORS class" (800lb) small satellites and is applicable to Minotaur IV, Falcon 9 and Taurus 2.
Understanding the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases has been recognized as critical to predicting climate change and global warming.  A variety of research studies funded by DOE, NSF, NASA and NOAA to measure the fluxes and fluctuations of CO2 profiles throughout the troposphere and lower stratosphere have provided a great deal of useful information, but the instrumentation used has been restricted to airplane or large stratospheric-type balloon gondola platforms where a few measurements are very expensive.  We propose a new approach where low cost, extensive measurement campaigns can be made using standard meteorological balloons.

In this SBIR program, Southwest Sciences is developing a lightweight, inexpensive greenhouse gas sensor suitable for balloon sonde measurements, Using a novel measurement technique, this sensor will provide dry air mixing ratios of CO2 without the need for concurrent measurements of temperature, pressure or moisture.  The Phase 1 research successfully demonstrated the viability of this approach and in Phase 2, a prototype sensor will be built and field tested in a series of balloon-sonde flights.
A recent breakthrough in combustion stability analysis (UCDS) offers the potential to predict the combustion stability of a scramjet. This capability is very important due to the extreme scramjet operational environment, which makes cut-and-try development approaches impractical. With UCDS, it will be possible to accurately predict the scramjet pressure oscillation amplitudes, along with critical parameters, including the unsteady wall heat flux.
The UCDS tools were recently applied to the Ares I thrust oscillation issue in support of NASA's Thrust Oscillation Focus Team (TOFT). After validating the UCDS capabilities by analyzing the RSRM, GTL applied the tool to identify a relatively minor motor modification that should eliminate the organized motor oscillations.
Building upon this validation, GTL took the first step towards extending UCDS to scramjets in the Phase I effort.  While a variety of issues and challenges were uncovered during the effort, the effort confirmed that the UCDS framework is fully applicable to scramjets.  However, the effort also revealed that the DCR scramjet is far more complicated and difficult to analyze than a typical rockets.   In the Phase II effort, GTL proposes to address the key issues that were identified during the Phase I effort.
For this project Superior Graphite Co. (Chicago, IL, USA), the leading worldwide industrial carbon manufacturer and the only large scale battery grade graphitic carbon producer in the USA, will develop, explore the properties of, and demonstrate the enhanced capabilities of novel nanostructured SiLix-C anodes, capable of retaining high capacity at a rapid 2 hour discharge rate and at 0oC when used in Li-ion batteries. By thye end of Phase I we have demonstrated advanced anode materials with the specific capacity in excess of 1000 mAh/g, minimal irreversible capacity losses and stable performance for 20 cycles at C/1. We are confident that by the developing and applying a variety of novel nano-materials technologies, fine-tuning the properties of composite particles at the nanoscale, optimizing the composition of the anodes, and choosing appropriate binder and electrolytes we will be able to revolutionize Li-ion battery technology. In order to achieve such a breakthrough in power characteristics of Li-ion batteries, the team will develop new nanostructured SiLix-C anode materials to offer up to 1200 mAh/g at C/2 at 0oC and a long cycle life with less than 20&#37; fading when cycled for 2000 cycles at C/2 at 0oC
FUTEK will fully design and manufacture a sensor capable of measuring forces in and about each axis.  The unit will measure forces up to 300 Newton's in the principle axes and measure moment forces about each axis up to 50 Newton meters.  The overall design will be optimized for a multitude of applications in many different environments.  As a result, the unit is capable of surviving temperatures ranging from -135&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C and 125&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C and will remain operable within specification between -80&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C and 70&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C.  In addition, the sensor will be designed to accommodate vacuum conditions and all components will be covered with a protective coating.  To further improve the unit, the size and weight has been minimized, making the sensor more ideal for dynamic applications and less obtrusive in assembly design.  During the phase 1 contract, FUTEK has developed two operating prototypes to prove concept and feasibility.  Also, different adhesives and coatings have been successfully tested beyond the survival temperatures expected in most applications.  However, a continuation into phase 2 will be necessary to optimize the final design and meet all specifications and requirements.  The design will be optimized to support specified loads with an acceptable factor of safety, while components are further researched and selected.  In addition, the manufacturability and market of the product will be analyzed and assessed in order to commercialize such an advanced sensor.
The goal of this SBIR project is to develop an innovative, high fidelity computational tool for accurate prediction of aerothermal environment around space vehicles. This tool will be based on the Unified Flow Solver (UFS) developed at CFDRC for hybrid simulations of rarefied, transitional and continuum flows. In this project, UFS will be enhanced to include: radiation transport, non-equilibrium chemistry with real gas effects, and weakly-ionized plasma. The unique strengths of our proposal are: (i) smart software with self-aware physics and adaptive numerics for hypersonic flows with non-equilibrium chemistry, (ii) direct Boltzmann solvers for charged and neutral particles in rarefied regimes, and (iii) a high-fidelity multi-scale radiation transport model that can handle orders of magnitude variation of optical thickness. During Phase 1, we evaluated the relevant physical models and numerical algorithms, and started initial implementation and demonstration of the new capabilities. In Phase 2, these capabilities will be fully developed, validated and demonstrated for selected benchmark problems of interest to NASA. The proposed tool will significantly upgrade the modeling fidelity of high-speed weakly-ionized flows of molecular gases, and enable computational investigation of innovative hypersonic plasma technologies.
Leveraging the Phase I achievements of the Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System (DiRETHMS) including its software toolsets and system building blocks, the Phase II project seeks a comprehensive prototyping of the technology. Phase II not only expands the functionality and applications of the Phase I achievements, but utilizes evolving diagnostics due to the advanced intelligent algorithms built on AGNC's Optimized Neuro-Genetic Fast Estimator (ONGFE) framework. In this way, the Phase II effort culminates in a product that is able to adapt to unknown operating conditions and learn new failures in an unsupervised way. Additionally, a major effort consists of providing a novel, robust, and embedded software toolset for sensor Failure Detection and Identification (FDI): Sensor Data Validation and Self-Healing Scheme (SDV-SHS). To increase the commercialization potential and market values of the NASA and non-NASA applications, the Phase II project adapts DiRETHMS to the market requirements. The work in Phase II along with a modular architecture and standardization ensures a solid integration with NASA's Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) for enhanced health monitoring.
Development of a static vapor feed electrolyzer utilizing an advanced bipolar plate that produces sub-saturated H2 and O2 is proposed.  This novel bipolar design can greatly simplify electrolyzer systems, as it eliminates the need for water/gas phase separation, which is particularly challenging in a zero gravity environment.  Maintaining water in the vapor phase greatly reduces membrane swelling which should increase durability.  Finally, by keeping water in the vapor phase the MEA is not exposed to ion and other contaminants that are carried by a liquid water stream, further increasing durability and simplifying the system by reducing the need for ultra-pure water.  
The primary goal of this Phase I program is to demonstrate a high-pressure (1000 psi) static vapor feed electrolyzer and demonstrate that the system can operate without purge of the water feed stream for up to 100 hours.
Horizon Performance designed a Behavior Tracking Software System to collect crew member behavior throughout a mission, giving NASA the capability to monitor behavioral patterns that may identify if crews are at increased risk related to interpersonal or psychosocial problems. Building upon the alpha version of the software developed as a part of the Phase I SBIR, the proposed software will allow crewmembers and/or personnel watching video footage to periodically document salient crewmember behaviors which will then be used to identify behavioral patterns. When a behavioral pattern is identified and deemed important to investigate, users would be able to review all collected data. Furthermore, this software includes an integrated feedback module that offers automated reports based on identified behavioral patterns. Flight surgeons can create a knowledge base of feedback based on specific attributes or behavioral patterns, and the software will then generate automated feedback reports based upon identified attributes or behavioral patterns. Flight surgeons will be able to: 1) generate a variety of reports that describe crew member behavioral patterns; 2) use the behavioral timestamps to view incidents of behaviors on video footage; 3) compare behaviors with other data (e.g., performance reports); and, 4) generate feedback reports.
Pyrolysis processing can be used in near term missions for volume reduction, water recovery (drying), stabilization, and enhanced water and oxygen recovery through thermochemical reactions. For longer term missions, the added benefits include production of fuel, multi-purpose carbon, and reactants for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The objective of the Phase I SBIR program was to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating pyrolysis, tar cracking, and oxidation steps into a compact, efficient, system for processing spacecraft solid wastes. This integration, which was based on a microwave pyrolysis/cracking/oxidation unit, has resulted in a significant reduction in energy consumption per gram (~70&#37; when compared to a conventional unit), and an overall reduction in system complexity. These improvements should lead to a lower Equivalent System Mass (ESM) for a full scale system.  Under Phase II, a prototype microwave pyrolysis/tar cracking/oxidation unit will be developed in collaboration with ETM Electromatic, Inc., a leading manufacturer of microwave power systems for commercial, space and military markets.
NASA's vision for planetary exploration requires development and field
testing of the key technologies required for extended habitation.  To
support extended lunar operations with technologies directly extensible
to the Mars environment, a high fidelity navigation system is needed.
Precision localization and route mapping is required for planetary EVA,
manned rovers and lunar surface mobility units.  The innovation is the
establishment of a fault tolerant, field scalable, high precision
navigation system that can and support the size, weight, and power
(SWaP) goals by integrating mature technologies to provide an navigation
capability while naturally supporting data and voice communications on
the same network.  Perhaps most importantly, this system is
bidirectional such that position information is provided to both the
base and the mobile units.  Such a system provides a precise and
reliable navigation backbone to support traverse-path planning systems
and other mapping applications and establishes a core infrastructure for
long term occupation.
The deleterious effects of lunar dust, typically less than 50 5m in diameter, have to be addressed prior to establishing a human base and long duration human presence on the surface of the moon. These effects include abrasion of seals, gaskets, motors, actuators, gimbals, bearings, blocking of optical windows, and coating of thermal control surfaces and solar panels with lunar dust.  Negative physiological effects due to dust inhalation by astronauts must be mitigated.  Issues related to lunar dust have been identified since the Apollo missions; however, no credible mitigation techniques have been implemented to date.  The essence of this proposed activity is to develop a multi-use coating system - a highly wear resistant coating surface for use in the space environment that can also perform as part of an electrically conductive circuit upon demand to minimize wear surface abrasion and, when electrically activated, repel fine lunar dust particles from wear surfaces, sealing surfaces, and complex geometries.
CFD-based design-oriented (DO) steady/unsteady aerodynamic analysis tools for Aeroelastic / Aeroservoelastic (AE/ASE) evaluation lag significantly behind other multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) developments for flight vehicle design. In practically all studies to date involving configuration multidisciplinary shape optimization, dynamic AE/ASE constraints were left out, thus, rendering the design results incomplete. Flutter, gust stresses, vibration, fatigue, ride comfort, handling qualities ? all extremely important ? still cannot be accounted for in an automated design process involving configuration shape variations. Proposed here is the creation of a comprehensive design-oriented CFD-based unsteady-aerodynamic methodology to enhance current flight vehicle shape MDO capabilities by the creation of AE/ASE shape sensitivities and efficient approximations tailored for large-scale design optimization. ZONA Technology's proven ZEUS code serves as the aerodynamic base for this development. In Phase II aerodynamic shape sensitivities for AE/ASE shape optimization will be developed for general 3D configurations made of lifting surfaces and bodies. The subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flight regimes will be covered. Integration with shape optimization finite-element structural codes will be demonstrated, covering diverse AE/ASE constraints including flutter and gust response. This new general capability will fit any aerospace vehicle MDO environment, and will provide a critically needed MDO building block.
We propose the SBIR Phase II effort to develop and space-qualify  a 1.06 micron high reliability frequency-stabilized CW laser source that fully satisfies the requirements of this SBIR opportunity (Lidar System Components) . Our recommended approach builds on extensive experience developed through numerous spaceflight programs, and using single frequency laser sources in the near infrared, both for aerospace and commercial applications. Our technical approach is based on emerging technology, spawned by the telecom industry that is only now reaching the maturity level where space qualification can be undertaken. NASA requires highly reliable frequency stabilized laser sources for a variety of ongoing and planned missions including LISA and GRACE.  The Phase II program plans to place emphasis on the material selection, design verification and radiation testing to the proposed space laser. The proposed Phase II effort seeks to demonstrate the feasibility to space-qualify a high reliability frequency-stabilized laser source, to advance current space-based laser to TRL 6 level and to present a clear path to build a space-based ultrastable laser source for a 10 year space mission.
Exploration of planetary surfaces will require a communication architecture that supports operational capabilities in which fixed and mobile assets on the planetary surface can communicate seamlessly and securely to coordinate planetary exploration as well as communicate back to Earth. Communication systems operating on planetary surfaces will also require innovative solutions for analyzing and characterizing the lunar propagation environment.  Communications capabilities will need to include bi-directional, multi-point links to provide on-demand, autonomous interconnection between base stations, mobile robotic rovers, mobile humans, and in-space relay stations.  Communications could consist of voice, video, data and control.  Current available system solutions do not fulfill this need with respect to range, mobility, bandwidth, size, weight, and power. Aeronix understands these issues and believes that the solution lies in the development of wireless devices that employ the radiation tolerant semiconductors and software radios as an underlying architecture feature.
To date there are several approaches for incorporating sensing capabilities into RFID. Active tags use batteries to power their communication circuitry, sensors, and microcontroller. Active tags benefit from relatively long wireless range and can achieve high data and sensor activity rates. However, the batteries required by active tags are disadvantageous for device cost, lifetime, weight, and volume. In contrast, passive sensor tags receive all of their operating power from external RF transmitting sources and are not limited by battery life. One attractive feature of passive sensor tags is the prospect of permanently embedding them in objects for structural monitoring. Another is their suitability for applications in which neither batteries nor wired connections are feasible, for weight, volume, cost, or other reasons. A limitation of purely passive sensor tags is the requirement of proximity to a RF transmitter. Since lower power consumption is one major trend in RF circuit design, a self-powered system by means of energy harvesting becomes very attractive. It can serve as the enabling technology for novel applications such as ambient intelligence. Using a power harvesting technique for wireless rechargeable battery smart sensor and enhanced RFID are the key elements for successfully distributing sensors across sensor networks.
High-performance polarimetric and nonpolarimetric sensing is crucial to upcoming NASA missions, including ACE and CLARREO and the multi-agency VIIRS NPP project. The objective of the proposed project is to use single-layer metamaterial metal/dielectric composites to develop multiwavelength polarimetric focal plane arrays (FPAs) that far exceed performance requirements for ACE and CLARREO, while reducing costs through component integration. Phoebus's metamaterial films are an enabling technology and can be used to develop high spectral resolution, low-crosstalk components for other NASA missions, such as GEO-CAPE, as well as transparent metal contacts for high-efficiency sensors and solar cells. Phoebus's metamaterial films can eliminate several problems with current polarimetric detectors, such as diffraction, light scattering, moving parts, and the need to dice/bond components. This project will use recent discoveries in metamaterials research that allow for polarimetric control of the flow and focusing/superbeaming of light, concepts that have been analytically and experimentally verified during Phase I. Phoebus's Phase I results confirmed that its structures will allow for 2500x improvement in polarization extinction ratios - the key performance metric for polarimetric detectors ? compared with currently available polarimetric detectors. Phase I results also confirmed that the relevant structures can be fabricated using routine materials and fabrication techniques in widespread use throughout the semiconductor device industry. In Phase II, Phoebus will focus on improving several performance metrics of its polarizing filter arrays, such as wavelength selectivity and transmissivity, as well as optimizing fabrication processes necessary to produce high aspect ratio light-channeling dielectric apertures.
Fine water mist (FWM) is a promising replacement technology for fire suppression on the next generation of manned spacecraft. It offers advantages in performance, ease of cleanup, compatibility with on-board environmental systems, and ability to recharge during a mission. ADA Technologies has designed and built a prototype hand-held extinguisher that successfully extinguished test fires in an atmosphere of 34&#37; oxygen and 8 psia total pressure, representing manned spacecraft environments.
In this Phase II SBIR project ADA proposes to advance this FWM prototype toward production status by incorporating design improvements compatible with space-based operation and validating the new configuration in fire tests in the spacecraft environment chamber (34&#37; O2 &amp; 8 psia) operated by team member Colorado School of Mines. We will also plan for microgravity (aircraft) testing and prepare a Flight Qualification Test Plan to be used to estimate costs for flight qualification of the hardware. Finally, the production prototype will be tested against UL standard 711 class 2B and 5B flammable liquid fires. A comprehensive specification and drawing package will be prepared. All Phase II project activities will be directed toward advancing the TRL of the technology to Level 8. 
In Phase II we have added a partner experienced in the production and qualification of flight test fixtures and experiments. ADA has also initiated discussions with a NASA contractor for spacecraft as well as with a commercial supplier of fire protection equipment to take this technology into the broader commercial marketplace, targeting aerospace and flammable fuels storage as early market segments.
The Tai-Yang Research Company (TYRC) proposes to address the need for high temperature superconducting (HTS) current leads used in an adiabatic
demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) for space applications, presently being developed at the NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The innovation is to use a hybrid of two different HTS conductors bonded together at a thermally and electrically determined optimum point along the length of the current lead. 

The HTS conductor positioned at the warm end of the current lead will have a higher critical temperature (Tc) than the conductor at the cold end.  This hybrid lead uses commercially available 2nd generation HTS conductors optimized for currents less than 10A.  The warm end Tc is extended by using a bulk or thin film form not yet commercially available.  TYRC will custom-fabricate the higher Tc materials and develop processes for joining them to the lower Tc material.  TYRC will develop fabrication processes and generate options for mechanical design of the lead assembly.
Robotic sample acquisition is essentially grasping.  Multi-finger robot sample grasping devices are controlled to securely pick up samples.  Equations have been developed to provide optimal grasps for perfectly modeled objects, but grasping unmodeled objects like a random sample on planetary surfaces is an open research problem. Approaches to grasping unmodeled objects use various sensors, such as cameras, distributed pressure sensors, and strain gages, to characterize the object and the quality of a grasp. That information is then used to initiate or improve the grasp. A major source of difficulty in robotic grasping, therefore, is the sensing of object parameters and grasp quality. Humans combine the high information content of vision, several types of haptic/tactile sensors in the fingers (300 sensors per square centimeter), and a sophisticated learning process to grasp unknown objects. In comparison, current robotic graspers rely on a much more limited set of sensors, particularly for measuring tactile properties. 

This proposal focuses on an algorithm for improving grasp quality using several types of tactile information as well as the robotic grasper that can provide such information so that remote sample acquisition devices can perform as well as human sample gatherers
NASA operates manned spacecraft according to rigorously-defined standard
operating procedures.  Unfortunately, operating procedures are often written in
different languages. For example, Orion will use automatic procedures written
in SCL, the Spacecraft Command Language, while backup manual procedures may be
developed in PRL, the Procedure Representation Language.  However, procedures
developed in different languages may diverge, so that the backup PRL procedures
do not operate in the same way as the SCL procedures.  This could lead to
unintended effects that may range from simply unexpected to inefficient or even
catastrophic. 

We propose to develop the SAFE-P tool, which will use formal model-checking
methods to prove that PRL and SCL procedures have the same underlying execution
semantics.  Our Phase 1 effort validated the effectiveness of our approach;
Phase 2 will completely automate the model checking process and integrate with
the Procedure Integrated Development Environment (PRIDE).  SAFE-P will thus
allow procedure authors to easily compare procedures as they are being
developed.  When differences are found by SAFE-P, they will be highlighted
immediately in the PRIDE interface, allowing the operators to either fix
problems or annotate the respective procedures to explain the differences.
Using SAFE-P, NASA personnel will rapidly and confidently verify that if an
automatic SCL program cannot be executed, a backup manual procedure in PRL will
be equivalent and safe.  Furthermore, as automatic translators are developed to
transform procedures in one language into another NASA-relevant language (e.g.,
Tietronix's current effort to translate PRL into SCL), the SAFE-P tool will
provide a critical validation mechanism to double-check the correctness of the
translation and highlight areas where the translator makes mistakes (or
deliberate approximations that yield different behavior).
This Phase II proposal is to develop a miniature, low power consumption, fused deep UV Raman and native fluorescence (DUV-RF) 1 meter stand-off sensor. The proposed instrument has an enhanced ability to measure the spatial distribution of chemical species containing C/N/H/O/S/Cl, and water, ice, and hydrated-minerals on a 1-5 mm spatial scale enabled by a novel wide-aperture, high-sensitivity ultraminiature UV Raman spectrometer. 
	Raman spectroscopy is a non-contact, non-destructive, method of identifying unknown materials without sample acquisition or processing; ideal for in-situ rovers. However traditional Raman instruments are plagued with fluorescence backgrounds, require sample altering, high-powered lasers, and require the use fiber optics; an instrument design with operational constraints and high power requirements. Our innovative instrument design incorporates our deep UV lasers for fiberless resonance Raman spectroscopy in a fluorescence free zone where resonance effects lead to enhancements by &gt; 2-3orders of magnitude over 532 and 785 nm systems and can be coupled to native fluorescence for ppt detection of aromatic organics compounds.  
	The New Frontiers has placed a South pole-Aitken Basin sample return as a future mission scenario. The enhanced detection capabilities of DUV-RF can be used to provide an understanding of organics and water distribution in the lunar regolith.
Despite the obvious advantages of millimeter wave technology, a major barrier to expanded use is high assembly costs due to: need for specialized equipments; need for precision impacts on yields; design technologies for manufacturability; and experienced personnel with demonstrated track records.
The challenges of this R&amp;D project are to expand and fully develop the Phase 1 technologies for:
	Methods to use common manufacturing equipment to achieve the high accuracy die placement required for millimeter wave frequencies (+/- 5 micron accuracy)
	Automation methods and processes to achieving speed and precision for production of low cost modules
	Modeling to arrive at cost effective trade-offs for achieving customer specifications with minimum capital investment and labor cost
As part of the research, NxGen will conduct a demonstration effort utilizing two existing JPL module designs facilitating the collection statistical data both in terms of yields as well as baseline data for cost estimating.
The mission of NASA's ATP is to maintain and advance the testing capabilities of the United States' extensive infrastructure of aerospace research facilities. One key component to these ground based test facilities are the force balances used to measure aerodynamic loads on models undergoing characterization and testing. NASA currently maintains an inventory of balances that were designed for previous model designs and operating ranges that may not be as relevant to current test conditions. Project resources do not always allow a balance to be designed for specific testing applications due to the associated costs and schedule. Luna Innovations is proposing to develop new and innovative force balance technology that will reduce the cost of facility instrumentation and allow for reduced design and instrumentation time, while providing more accurate and reliable results when compared to current balances. This development utilizes proven fiber optic sensor technology that integrates active thermal compensation with a highly accurate, multi-channel sensing network. The versatile operating range of this technology with respect to temperatures and loading conditions, combined with a high channel count data processing system designed by Luna, will provide advanced measurement capabilities for NASA facilities and enable accurate testing of emerging propulsion and transport technologies.
Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to develop a flare planning methodology that would provide aircraft guidance during this critical phase of flight. The algorithms that Aurora seeks to leverage the reachability problem in the fields of Optimal Control and Hybrid Systems, using Rapidly-Exploring Random Trees (RRTs) and Falsification theory.  To this end, Aurora proposes the innovation of applying a suitable version of these algorithms to the design of a flare maneuver guidance and planning logic. The planner will be capable of dynamically producing a flare maneuver that does not violate the aircraft flight envelope and other stipulated constraints. The planner will meet the robustness requirements stipulated in the topic solicitation; namely, it will apply to both impeded and unimpeded aircraft, and it will operate under significant weather disturbances. The main technical challenge in developing the planning logic is extending and applying the chosen control algorithms to 6-DOF aircraft dynamics models under the required variety of operating conditions. The ultimate goal of the Phase 2 effort is to demonstrate Aurora's algorithms in an appropriately sophisticated Hardware-in-the-loop simulation of an impaired aircraft during a flare maneuver.
The objective of the Phase II SBIR project is to develop a prototype sensor system to detect gaseous analytes in support of the spacecraft environmental monitoring and control system. InnoSense LLC (ISL) has utilized its Chemical Fingerprint?' sensor array fabrication technology in Phase I to establish the feasibility of a miniature device with multi-analyte detection capability.  In particular, we have detected oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity as potential target analytes. The oxygen sensor performed over 3-45&#37; concentrations under a variable pressure of 8-14.7 psia. The Phase I working model could generated discernible signal with 0.1&#37; O2 concentration. Upon fine-tuning the indicators in Phase II, the system performance will be tested with a prototype hardware that will also be developed in Phase II.  ISL has received technology endorsement letter from a prime contractor in the NASA application area.  ISL has also secured Phase III follow-on funding commitment from a commercialization partner. For assuring success of this project, ISL has assembled a technical team with a cumulative 100 person-years of experience in developing commercially viable sensor systems.
One of the main attributes contributing to the competitiveness of rotorcraft, is the continuously increasing expectations for passenger comfort which is directly related with reduced vibration levels and reduced interior noise levels. Such expectations are amplified in the VIP market where people are used in the acoustic and vibration levels of civil and executive jets.
The goal of our nanoscale test strips, or nanostrips, is to provide rapid, low-cost, powerful multiplexed analyses in a diminutive form so that whole body health checks can be performed on a single drop of blood. The approach is conceptually similar to pH or urinalysis test strips which allow multiplexed measurements in a linear format.
United States spaceports carry out the critical task of launching and recovering vehicles and payloads. These are extremely unique and expensive assets, and their successful deployment, operation, and recovery are essential to our nation's scientific discovery, economic prosperity, and national security.  Surveillance and weather monitoring are significant factors in enabling safe, secure, reliable, and cost effective operations.  Ranges encompass large marine regions that are expensive to monitor and not under the exclusive control of the spaceport.  Marine regions include backwater areas (lagoon, river, and estuary) near the launch site, as well as the coastal and open-ocean regions extending hundreds of miles downrange.  The most hazardous regions must be cleared and maintained clear in preparation for launch and reentry operations to ensure public safety as well as the safety and security of the vehicle itself. To support such operations, Emergent Space Technologies, Inc. (Emergent) proposes to develop the marine autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) range surveillance (MARS) system. MARS is an integrated solution that includes vehicle, payload and ground segments and will support automated collection and transfer of launch range surveillance and weather data. MARS provides enhanced situational awareness to range operators responsible for ensuring public safety, range availability, and mission success.
Impact Technologies in collaboration with Pratt &amp; Whitney and Wright State University, proposes to continue the development of an innovative nonlinear adaptive method for detecting and isolating sensor faults, actuator faults, and component faults for jet engines. In sharp contrast to many conventional methods which deal with either sensor faults or component faults but not both, our method considers all three types of faults under one unified framework. In the successful Phase I program, we have demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach via a proof-of-concept demonstration using NASA's C-MAPSS model. The objective of Phase II is to raise the TRL by comprehensive development/improvement of the prototype system, extensive performance evaluation, and close collaboration with Pratt &amp; Whitney for technology transition. The success of this program will bring significant benefits to the propulsion industry by providing a cutting-edge engine diagnostics system with features that have never been available, including adaptive nonlinear engine model, adaptive threshold, transferrable-belief-model-based residual evaluation within a unified framework. These novel technologies will greatly improve performance of onboard engine diagnostics system especially during transient operations and further reduce false alarm rate and missed detection rate, resulting in improved flight safety and significant reduction in overall engine maintenance cost.
The proposed innovation is a static, cathode-fed, 2000 psi, balanced-pressure Advanced Cathode Electrolyzer (ACE) based on PEM electrolysis technology. It electrolyzes water vapor supplied to the hydrogen-evolving electrode and eliminates the need to circulate hydrogen and water on the cathode side of the cell. Innovations include the application of Infinity proprietary cell sealing technology to electrolysis to minimize high-pressure seals and the use of innovative passive current-control techniques to eliminate potential hydrogen gas in feedwater chambers. ACE produces hydrogen and oxygen that is free of liquid water droplets without using dynamic product gas/liquid water phase separation and/or other motorized equipment.
Future NASA missions including the Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope (CCAT) and Global Atmospheric Composition Mission (GACM), require 1 to 4 meter aperture, submillimeter-wavelength, primary reflector (mirror) segments.  Astigmatic surface errors in a composite primary reflector and inconsistent radius of curvature in composite reflector segments limit application of composites to instruments. This project proposes to improve upon state-of-the-art passive reflector surface accuracy by characterizing the behavior and properties of actuated, graphite composite reflector laminates and panels that are suitable for space and earth science instruments.  Surface error in composite primary reflectors and inconsistent radius of curvature in composite reflector segments currently limit application of composites to submillimeter wavelength primary mirrors. The goal is to minimize surface error including ROC error.
Center Independent Research &amp; Development Program
Incidents related to impaired human performance in space operations can be caused by environmental conditions, situational challenges, and operational deficiencies.  Detecting, reporting, and correlating related incidents are key to preventing future incidents.  NASA has made significant progress in standardizing the reporting of space incidents by developing electronic data entry and storage of information. While such information technology improves report consistency, incident data are not represented in a way that enables advanced computer-based reasoning about incidents.  TRACLabs proposes to develop a human factors incident-reporting tool for authoring and utilizing human factors incident data. This project is innovative in combining semantic web technologies with automated assistive technologies to aid users in finding relationships among incidents. The semantic indexing provided by the use of incident reporting language permits more sophisticated search of archives.  During Phase I we defined a semantic language for incident reporting in XML and designed a technology approach for authoring and utilizing incident reports represented in this language. In Phase II we will implement this software and evaluate its effectiveness for the space human factors community at JSC.  At the end of Phase II, software for reporting space human factors incidents will be delivered to NASA.
The NASA Science Mission Directorate has plans to launch high-performance advanced space telescopes for astrophysics missions that require precision formation flying for synthetic aperture telescopes. These formations dictate the capability for precise alignment, synchronized maneuvers and reconfigurations. In order to accomplish the stated tasks, precise and low-noise micro-thrusters are needed.

Busek Co. Inc. is proposing to continue the development of a micro RF ion engine propulsion system. Propulsion system is emphasized here because we believe we have all the building blocks needed to complete the system. The RF ion engine will operate in a dual thrust mode or low thrust, nominally 5-30 microNewtons (micro-N) for very precise, long duration missions and have the option to operate at high thrust, nominally 100 micro-N, for short applications such as spacecraft tip-off. This combination of thrust ranges from the same thruster is a unique and mission enabling technology. Busek has a flight qualified carbon nanotube field emission (CNTFE) cathode that is a near perfect fit for neutralizing the ion beam. The CNTFE is propellant-less and very low power, order of 1 Watt. Busek proposes to utilize a slightly modified microvalve for precise microflows. DC and RF electronics and control complete the system.
We propose to develop LUNA, a compact and lightweight X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) / X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) instrument for mineralogical analysis of regolith, rock samples and dust, in lunar surface exploration.  LUNA is based from the concept of CheMin, the XRD/XRF instrument of MSL, but is redesigned to provide a more compact unit at much reduced costs. Many details of LUNA derive from the designs of a small portable XRD/XRF instruments developed and marketed by inXitu. Bringing LUNA to TRL 6-7 is possible within the scope of this Phase II because key components have been or are being developed.  Phase 2 addresses the missing critical subsystems: a low-cost flight-qualifiable X-ray CCD, and flight-qualifiable electronics to drive the detector and control the instrument.   LUNA is not frozen in a particular geometry or mechanical implementation, it is meant to be flexible to answer the specific needs of any lunar mission.  Transmission or reflection geometries are possible as demonstrated by inXitu's commercial instruments.  Phase 2 will demonstrate a reflection version of LUNA operating under vacuum.  This work leverages on the extensive experience of the PI and the company with XRD-XRF instrumentation in terrestrial and planetary applications.
Los Gatos Research proposes to develop a new automated health monitoring sensor system capable of monitoring  distributed  load and acoustic emission (AE) for rapid inspection of damages in composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV).  Our novel sensor technology offers a number of advantages including sensor compactness and lightweight with multiplexing capability for load and AE for monitoring and characterizing damages in advanced composite structures and components.  We achieve this by employing Bragg grating sensor arrays and using a novel interrogation technique combined with state-of-the-art AE method to detect and pinpoint composite defects in these structures.  In Phase I, we have demonstrated the sensor's capability to measure crack-induced acoustic emissions in a composite overwrapped pressure vessel structure loaded up to rupture pressure.   In Phase II, the grating sensors, interrogation system, and diagnostic software will be integrated into an automated system, capable of measuring and correlating the load history, acoustic emission activity, and determining the severity of damages and their location in the COPV.  This dedicated prototype will include an integrated fiber optic conditioning hardware, state-of-the-art AE hardware and software, and address the power and stability requirements unique to ground based and in-flight studies.
Mechanical and thermal performance of CMC components benefit from low part count, integrally fabricated designs of 3D woven reinforcement.  The advantages of these designs include the elimination for the need for post-fabrication mechanical attachment and the higher interlaminar properties offered by the through thickness paths of the fibers within the 3D preform architectures. The specific innovations MR&amp;D is proposing are to improve the preform geometry definition through the use of the Kansas State University digital element approach, improve the material properties calculation module using a modified unit cell algorithm associated with the new geometry, and enhance the code calibration through additional CMC fabrication, imaging and material property testing.
We propose to design and develop 2x2 quad p-i-n InGaAs Photoreceivers having the following characteristics: (a) Active area diameter 0.75 mm; (b) Wavelength coverage 850 to 1700 nm, with responsivity of 0.7 A/W at 1064 nm; (c) Bandwidth up to 20 MHz for the individual quadrant; (d) Group Delay &lt; 6 degrees/MHz; (e) Photodiode capacitance for individual quadrant of &lt;1.5 pF at a reverse bias of 5V; (f) Cross talk between the neighboring quadrants of -45 to -50 dB; (g) Equivalent excess noise per quadrant &lt;2 pA/sq. rt. Hz in the pass band; and (h) Noise Equivalent Power (NEP) due to excess noise &lt;2.9 pW/sq. rt. Hz in the pass band.

Six prototype quad photoreceivers will be delivered during the Phase II contract.  These devices will be an enabling technology for the success of the Laser Interferometry Space Antenna (LISA) which proposes to detect gravity waves by using a space based interferometric sensor having a baseline of 5 million kilometers.  Detection of gravity waves is crucial to our fundamental understanding of nature, including the origin of the universe and experimental verification of the theory of relativity.
High performance thermal control technologies are needed to achieve the near term goals of NASA's science spacecraft development programs. High conductivity materials to minimize temperature gradients and provide high efficiency radiators and heat spreader panels are required.  Integrated panels that minimize the challenges caused by thermal interfaces, including those of attached heat pipes and cooling loops would provide high performance and high reliability. 
kTC proposes a general technology development that permits the design of a high performance thermal distribution panel (TDP). The panel will be fabricated with a high conductivity macro-composite skin and in situ heat pipes.  This advanced TDP concept will have high conductance that will obviate the need for bulky metal thermal doublers and heat pipe saddles. The conductivity of the proposed material system can be configured to exceed 800 W/mK with a density below 2.5 g/cm3. This material can provide efficient conductive heat transfer between the in situ heat pipes permitting the use of thinner panels further reducing the mass.
kTC proved the feasibility of producing the proposed TDP and confirmed by measurements the performance gains the technology affords in the Phase I program.  The Phase II work will concentrate on process refinements and scale up.
As an alternative material to aluminum-lithium, cryotanks developed from fiber reinforced composites can offer significant weight savings in applications for fuel containment of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. For composite materials to be accepted and utilized in these structures, they must be resistant to microcracking. It is the objective of this work to develop a matrix system for aerospace composites that alleviates all forms of microcracking from cryogenic cycling regardless of the lay-up and configuration. This will be accomplished by using a novel chemistry that provides the necessary inherent network and backbone structure for this environment combined with newly developed nano-modifiers. This technology and approach will result in a high performance matrix system that has low or no cure shrinkage combined with very low CTE and extremely high toughness. Such a matrix will be combined with carbon fibers to fabricate lightweight, high performance composites that are expected to have the microcrack and permeability resistance required for cryotank structures.
The hundreds of stream cores in the latest graphics processors (GPUs), and the possibility to execute non-graphics computations on them, open unprecedented levels of parallelism at a very low cost. In the last 6 years, GPUs had an increasing performance advantage of an order of magnitude relative to x86 CPUs. Furthermore, this performance advantage will continue to increase in the next 20 years because of the scalability of the chip manufacturing processes. The goal of this project is to efficiently exploit the GPU parallelism in order to accelerate the execution of a Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solver. SAT has a wide range of applications, including formal verification and testing of software and hardware, scheduling and planning, cryptanalysis, and detection of security vulnerabilities and malicious intent in software. We bring a tremendous expertise in SAT solving, formal verification, and solving of Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) by efficient translation to SAT. In our previous work (done on the expenses of our company) we achieved 2 orders of magnitude speedup in solving Boolean formulas from formal verification of complex pipelined microprocessors, 4 orders of magnitude speedup in SAT-based solving of CSPs, and 8 orders of magnitude speedup in SAT-based routing of optical networks. During Phase 1 we implemented a prototype of a parallel GPU-based SAT solver that is 1  2 orders of magnitude faster than the best sequential SAT solvers. In Phase 2, we will continue to exploit the GPU parallelism to accelerate SAT solving, and expect to achieve speedup of 3  4 orders of magnitude.
NASA LaRC is developing a compact, multi-wavelength High Spectral resolution Lidar (HSRL) system designed to measure various optical and microphysical properties of aerosols and clouds.  The HSRL system uses a high power, pulsed, seeded Nd:YAG laser, whose seed is wavelength-stabilized to an iodine vapor absorption line.  The primary goal of the Phase II effort is to provide a robust, next generation seed laser system which is significantly reduced in size, weight, and required "wall-plug" power for HSRL and other lidar applications.  This approach is enabled by use of a suitable compact laser diode source, together with AdvR's integrated Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) technology.  Furthermore, AdvR's multi-element waveguide technology will be utilized in this Phase II effort to provide a compact 355nm source, derived from the same seed laser, for calibration of the HSRL UV interferometric filter.  A compact, next generation seed laser system utilizing AdvR's PLC and UV technology, integrated with a high performance compact laser diode source will advance NASA's lidar systems due to its compact, efficient, and reliable design, thus enabling use on small aircraft and satellites.
Accurate measurement of atmospheric parameters with high resolution needs advanced lasers. In this SBIR program we propose to develop innovative Q-switched high power 2.05micron fiber laser with pulse energy greater than 10mJ, repetition rate of 10Hz to 1KHz, and pulse duration of 200ns using our proprietary innovative highly efficient Tm-doped glass fiber. This new fiber laser will be an all-fiber laser system consisting of actively Q-switched fiber laser oscillator and fiber amplifiers. This proposed all-fiber laser system is compact, highly efficient, robust and highly reliable, which is especially suited for NASA's application where operating environment is always extremely rough. In Phase II we will further optimize Tm-doped glasses and fibers based upon Phase I results, design and engineer 2.05micron Q-switched single frequency fiber laser oscillator, design and engineer 2.05micron fiber amplifiers, integrate Q-switched single frequency fiber laser oscillator and fiber amplifier, build and deliver a prototype high power Q-switched single frequency 2.05micron fiber laser.
By providing size resolved compositional information, the Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) has greatly advanced understanding of aircraft particulate matter (PM) emissions. AMS data have been critical to much of our understanding of aircraft PM emissions, but in the past it has had limited utility in probing the smallest (&lt;100 nm) particles in the exhaust. Also, prior to this work the AMS has been able to detect only volatile PM and other instruments have been required to characterize the non-volatile (soot). During Phase I, we: 1) developed an improved computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model to simulate the performance of the AMS for &lt;100 particles; 2) used the CFD model to invent a new AMS technology with improved performance for &lt;100 nm particles; and 3) evaluated a newly developed instrument which combines a laser vaporization system with a standard AMS to provide size resolved mass and composition data for soot.  During Phase II we propose: 1) upgrade our CFD modeling capability to three-dimensions to evaluate Brownian motion and the effects of fabrication imperfections; 2) fabricate and test the promising lens geometry invented during Phase I; 3) demonstrate the laser vaporization AMS and improved lens design(s) in the laboratory and in the field.
Modern aircraft (and next generation spacecraft) increasingly rely on composite components due to their excellent specific strength and stiffness, as well as improvements in costs and manufacturing quality.  However, life management for composites is in its infancy compared to life management for metal structures.  Limitations in the ability of standard nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods to observe manufacturing quality and in-service damage evolution of composite structures may prevent designers from realizing their full potential.  Current NDE practices are incapable of overcoming these limitations.  Thus, a new framework and methodology is needed for high resolution imaging and tracking of manufacturing quality and damage evolution.

The goal of this program is to enable assessment of the matrix, fiber, and bonding conditions for composites using a combination of detailed physics-based models, high resolution imaging, and controlled loading sources to isolate the composite characteristic of interest.  Micromechanical models allow quantitative determination of composite constituent properties.  This program focuses on magnetic field sensing (i.e., eddy-current) methods that can be combined with structural analysis to enhance the diagnostic capabilities of these NDE methods.  JENTEK and MR&amp;D are well-positioned to deliver this methodology in the form of commercial software and NDE equipment.  We will also work with a major aircraft OEM to maintain our focus on practical solutions to high priority needs.
Impact Technologies has proposed development of a real-time prognostic and fault accommodation system for power converters and electro-mechanical (EM) drive applications. The main goal for this program is development of techniques that enable fault tolerant control based on diagnostic features from the coil winding and power transistors. During Phase I, Impact achieved substantial and promising results in three main technical areas that provide opportunities to maturing tools that enable PHM and reconfiguration techniques. The technical areas include: Transistor Performance, Motor/Actuator Performance, and Fault Tolerant Reconfiguration. During Phase II, a significant effort will be employed to further develop the automated ringing feature extraction feature, leakage current sensing capabilities, and reconfiguration techniques for continued motor operation. These efforts will lead to development of prototype sensors for IGBT aging detection and current leakage detection as a health indicator of aging effects in power drives.  Moreover, Impact will demonstrate reconfigurable control techniques for fault accommodations in EM applications. The long term implications of a successful completion of this program will provide reliability and health management tools for mission and safety critical applications for NASA, commercial, and military enterprises.
In previous work for NASA and DoD, Ultramet developed lightweight open-cell foam insulators composed of a carbon or ceramic structural foam skeleton filled with a high temperature nanoscale aerogel insulator. Structural integrity and high insulation behavior have been demonstrated when used in combination with a non-ablating, coated carbon/carbon or ceramic matrix composite outer shell. In Phase I, Ultramet demonstrated the initial feasibility of a foam-reinforced hybrid ablator/aerogel insulator thermal protection system (TPS) in which a portion of the thickness (front face) of a low thermal conductivity structural foam was infiltrated with an ablative material and the remainder of the thickness (back face) was filled with the high temperature aerogel insulator. The potential benefit is a reduction in the ablator mass required to reject the aerothermal heat load. The three-dimensionally interconnected foam reinforcement is anticipated to provide increased char retention relative to alternative fiber and honeycomb reinforcements. The vehicle interface temperature will be controlled by the highly insulating aerogel-filled portion of the foam structure. In Phase II, Ultramet will team with Materials Research &amp; Design (MR&amp;D) for continued thermomechanical design optimization, and ARA Ablatives Laboratory for ablator infiltration of Ultramet structural foam. Performance will be evaluated through high heat flux ablation testing and a demonstration of scaleup potential up to 18" diameter.
Spaceflight adaptations include muscle atrophy, decreased bone mineral density and reduced aerobic capacity making effective resistance exercise countermeasure hardware necessary for safe and successful space exploration. Real-time control is applied to an electric servo-motor to provide resistance in a lightweight, compact, and reconfigurable design.
We propose to develop a hyperspectral camera imaging in a large number of sharp hyperspectral bands in the thermal infrared. The camera is particularly suitable for the multispectral thermal infrared (TIR) imager of NASA's HyspIRI Mission. In Phase 1, we successfully developed a crucial camera component: a 640x512 focal plane array (FPA) with 8 - 12 micron broadband longwave infrared spectral response. In Phase 2, we will integrate the FPA with a linear variable filter in a dewar cooler assembly and package the resulting sensor engine with electronics and optics into a camera system. The camera, featuring digital and analog video outputs, will be delivered to NASA at the end of Phase 2 for feasibility testing for the HyspIRI and other NASA missions.
Develop Small Satellite Analysis Laboratory (SatLab): A simulation-of-simulations framework to integrate component and engineering simulations into a single larger simulation capable of full satellite system trade analysis and optimization, in order to reduce the cost and increase the quality of design and development of new small satellites and space vehicles, and test system upgrades and modifications on other space systems.
Risks associated with possible medical events during space missions are challenging to identify and manage.  Resources must be applied judiciously and risk must not be ignored. NASA's researchers need the capability to identify the risks that arise from the potential medical events, gather all of the published evidence that is available, analyze the probability and severity of the risks, plan to mitigate the risks, investigate the interdependencies between risks and mitigation strategies, track and control the information, and support informed decisions about risks and risk mitigation strategies.
	
S&amp;K Aerospace (SKA) proposes an innovative Web-based system  to support the continuous management of medical risk for future space missions.  We propose to provide users with the ability to create and maintain a repository of medical risk information, including information about the probability of the risks and the severity of the outcomes. Users will be able to associate outside data with the risk information to support the decisions made regarding the risks. Users will also be able to plan mitigation strategies for the risks, to plan risk mitigation strategies across multiple missions, and to balance the interactions between risk mitigation strategies on a single mission. A continuous risk management system requires that the risks be re-evaluated as contributing factors change, as additional information is learned about the probabilities and consequences of the risks, and simply as time passes.
This Phase-II SBIR proposal proposes for the first time ever, the use of a new class of materials - Gallium Nitride-on-diamond - in the manufacture of very high power, high-temperature, Ka-band solid-state MMICs. In this particular Phase-II, the first ever 34-38GHz GaN-on-Diamond FETs will be demonstrated, exhibiting a record 5-10 W/mm at record efficiency and temperature levels. Arrays of these FETs will be used to form (power combined) 10KWatt Power Amplifiers (PA) MMICs. Polycrystalline free standing CVD diamond  nature's most efficient thermal conductor  enables nearly perfect heat extraction from a "hot" device (Thermal conductivities of GaAs, Si, and SiC are 35W/m/K, 150W/m/K and 390W/m/K respectively; diamond ranges from 1200-2000 W/m/K depending on quality). In the proposed scheme, the device's active epitaxial layers are removed from their original substrate and transferred to a specially treated low-cost CVD diamond substrate using a proprietary low-cost manufacturable scheme. The active junction rests just 20-nm from diamond. The semiconductor-on-diamond technology proposed here may be applied to GaAs, SiC, SiGe, etc. at up to 8" in wafer diameter.
Lunar dust has been identified as a significant and present challenge in future exploration missions. Significant development is called for in the area of devices and structures that tolerate or mitigate the presence of lunar dust. Honeybee Robotics seeks to develop a scalable dust-tolerant, autonomous utility connector for lunar surface system applications with a focus on small pressurized rover recharge. Honeybee has heritage in developing mechanisms for extreme, dusty environments. There are many near-term applications of such a connector including: the utility and electrical connections that will be used on the next-generation lunar EVA suit, cryogenic utility connections that will be used to pass liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen during in-situ resource utilization activities, and high-power electrical connectors capable of thousands of cycles for the Lunar Electric Rover (LER) battery recharge and data transfer functions. The Phase I program has resulted in (1) environmental testing of breadboard lunar dust-tolerant alignment features for autonomous utility connections capable of accommodating 120&amp;#730; angular and 11.5cm lateral approach misalignment; and (2) a conceptual design that integrates the dust-tolerant alignment features with our dust-tolerant electrical connector and mechanical connection mechanisms based on lessons learned during environmental testing of the alignment feature breadboard. In Phase II, Honeybee will develop a prototype autonomous utility connector that integrates the alignment features, mechanical connection mechanism and electrical connection mechanism; testing the prototype in our lunar Dusty environment Simulation Test chamber that is capable of closely reproducing the conditions of the lunar surface.  This effort will lead to the development of an autonomous dust-tolerant utility connector to TRL 6 with a focused application to the battery recharge connector for the LER being developed for the Constellation program.
Continue development of a Compact Transmitter Module (CTM).  Modules will be voltage controlled to adjust wavlength using temperature and drive current settings.  The electronics will be designed to be space qualifiable.  

Modules will be designed and manufactured capable of operating at 1.2x 5m and 1.57 5m.

Reductions in size, weight and power will be pursued using either small conventional coolers or thin film thermoelectric coolers (nano-coolers) to replace the conventional larger TEC. Weight reductions will be explore by using alternative which are composites of Aluminum Silicon (AlSi) and Aluminum Graphite.
Cryogenic fluid transfer components using single crystal piezoelectric actuators are proposed to enable low thermal mass, minimal heat leak, low power consumption and fast response for cryogenic fluid transfer and handling systems to support NASA Lunar Lander, Ground Operations, Ares, and Lunar Surface Systems programs. Single crystal piezoelectrics are attractive because they exhibit 3 to 5 times the strain as conventional piezoelectric ceramics, have very low strain hysteresis, and retain excellent piezoelectric performance at cryogenic temperatures. Single crystal piezoelectric actuators including flextensional actuators and piezomotors were developed in Phase I and incorporated into cryogenic valves. The prototyped piezoelectric cryogenic valves were tested showing excellent flow control performance at temperature ranged from room temperature to liquid nitrogen temperature and pressure ranged from 50 psi to 3000 psi. In Phase II PMN-PT single crystal flextensional actuators and piezomotors design, fabrication and integration into cryogenic valves will be optimized, reliability of these piezoelectric cryogenic valves and actuators will be investigated. These advanced cryogenic actuators also hold promise for shape, motion and force controls in NASA, DOD and industrial applications.
Los Gatos Research proposes to develop a novel microfluidic device that combines rigid monolithic porous polymer based micro-capillary electrochromatography (microCEC) with ultra-high sensitive UV laser induced fluorescence (LIF)optical detection capable of accurately measuring concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) molecules. This novel device is ultra-compact and light weight with low power consumption, ideally suited for NASA planetary science applications such as analyzing
This Small Business Innovative Research Phase I proposal seeks to develop a compact, autonomous NO2 sensor for air monitoring applications based on laser induced fluorescence (LIF).  A key component in the proposed system is new laser technology developed at NovaWave.  The Phase I research will directly demonstrate the utility of this new light source by performing LIF measurements on NO2 samples in a laboratory setting.  The Phase II system will fully integrate the laser with an autonomous spectrometer and air sampling system to comprise a complete sensor package. Phase III will result in the development of fieldable commercial systems that will be manufactured and distributed to the regional end users.
ORBITEC proposes to develop processes and waste heat recovery techniques to be incorporated into the existing Plastic Melt Waste Compactor (PMWC) to increase efficiency and throughput. The end goal will be to incorporate these processes and techniques into the PMWC system developed by Ames Research Center (ARC). 
The PMWC has shown to be the best technology for waste management for space applications. It can compress, recover water, and stabilize the waste in one compact system. Even though the PMWC has been built and is being tested by ARC, many technical challenges remain. This Phase I effort is in response to those challenges to increase the PMWC Technology Readiness Level significantly by the end of Phase II.  
During Phase I much will be done by computational analysis to analyze the best materials to minimize heat losses and how to most effectively add forced air convection to the process. A benchtop simulator will also be developed and tested to more accurately quantify and validate the computational results. Phase II will expand upon these efforts by incorporating the Phase I designs into the current PMWC or by constructing a next generation PMWC, which will have a TRL of 5 or 6.
We propose to demonstrate the feasibility in a single element of a Multi-Element Lean Direct Injection, ME-LDI, Combustion concept.  The concept will have the following innovative features:
1. Independent, mini burning zones created by containing the flame in a cylinder downstream of each fuel injector/swirler element in a multiple fuel injector array, see figure 1.  The independent burning zones will enable fuel staging the fuel injectors (turning off fuel to selected fuel injectors) to cover the operating cycle, such that at each point of the operating cycle the combustor will have high combustion efficiency (&gt;99&#37;) and low NOx emissions. At high power conditions the combustion efficiency should be greater than 99.9&#37;.
2. A plain-jet hypodermic fuel injector fuel injector will be incorporated into ME-LDI that is low cost and simple to manufacture but a highly effective atomizer.  Modified plain-jet fuel injectors will be studied including an injector with a tip that has a diverging nozzle and one that has a spin chamber at the exit.  These alternative plain-jet fuel injectors will increase the surface area at the exit of the injector resulting in a thinner film for better atomization and fuel-air mixing.
3. A restrictor plate upstream of each fuel injector to provide a steady flow to each fuel injector and prevent any feedback from an unsteady flame to the fuel supply
Sample return missions have primary importance in future planetary missions. A basic requirement is that samples be returned in pristine, uncontaminated condition, necessitating development of a canister system capable of maintaining cleanliness and seal integrity through a variety of environments. Such a canister system, the Sealed Planetary Return Canister (SPRC), is proposed. Besides providing a high integrity seal, the canister also incorporates features that for robotic manipulation and to allow the sample to be accessed in a controlled manner upon return to Earth. The SPRC seal system addresses the two most significant concerns for planetary samples ? seal surfaces contaminated by the sample and high pressure due to the phase change of volatiles. The SPRC incorporates a novel sealing system evolved from the only marginally successful Apollo seal approach but with added features to address the difficulties and inconsistencies observed. The indium is contained within a protective barrier to prevent oxidation, and the knife edge is mechanically cleaned during the sealing process. The container body will be configured to accommodate a variety of samples including rock cores, rock fragments, regolith, dust, and frozen soil. Atmospheric samples can also be preserved. The design is readily scalable and adaptable to specific missions.
As the size of composite parts exceed that of even the largest autoclaves, new out-of-autoclave processes and materials are necessary to achieve the same level of performance as autoclave cured composites.  Unfortunately, the quality of composites manufactured with current out-of-autoclave prepreg systems is limited by their short shelf-life at ambient conditions.  The resin advancement, due to long lay-up times, commonly causes variations in fiber volume and higher void content in the cured structures.  Also, current out-of-autoclave prepreg systems do not provide the same level of performance, especially damage tolerance, as many current autoclave cured prepreg systems.  It is the objective of this work to develop a matrix and prepreg system for out-of-autoclave processing that has a year out-time at ambient conditions while also providing an excellent balance of mechanical properties and damage tolerance.  As an additional functionality, the out-of-autoclave prepreg system will be developed to have inherent skin-core self-adhesive properties so that film adhesives are not required for designs with honeycomb cores.  It is expected that the TRL will be 4 at the end of this Phase I program.
NEI Corporation proposes to develop a mixed metal oxide nanocomposite cathode that is designed for delivering high energy density with good rate performance at low temperatures (T=0 C). The two-fold innovation in the proposed effort is the simultaneous intrinsic (i.e. defect chemistry) and extrinsic (electrically conductive surface coating) modification to the active material, which itself is a composite of two layered materials. The proposed intrinsic and extrinsic modifications are projected to beneficially impact both ionic and electronic conductivities of the cathode material, and thereby enhance the Li-ion cell performance at low operating temperatures. The target specific capacity of the proposed cathode is more than 300 mAh/g with a nominal working voltage of 3V, and delivering more than 900 Wh/kg specific energy at T=0 C. The objective of the Phase I program is to demonstrate the feasibility of a new high capacity and high voltage cathode material for rechargeable Li-ion batteries. In Phase II, the composition and morphology of the powders will be optimized, and integrated into large format prototype Li-ion batteries by working in partnership with a battery manufacturer(s).
Cryogenic systems, heavily used in rocket ground testing, space station operations, shuttle launch systems, etc, require a large number of temperature sensors for system management and control. Currently available temperature sensors cannot offer simultaneously sufficient reliability in highly corrosive environments of LOx and LH2 flows and sufficient temperature resolution. Development of new type of cryogenic temperature sensing solutions is needed to meet reliability and sensitivity requirements simultaneously and thus to provide NASA with more efficient, reliable solution for ground testing and flight missions. MicroXact Inc. proposes to develop highly sensitive, reliable sensing solution to address NASA needs that will offer ease of calibration and installation. In Phase I the feasibility of the solution will be experimentally demonstrated. In Phase II, sensors and system will continue to be refined and will undergo extensive testing and validation. By the end of Phase II, the proposed sensing solution will reach TRL 5. In Phase III, Luna will commercialize the developed sensors.
In space propulsion applications, an increasingly unmet need is compact, low-power, precision flow regulating valves.  Propulsion for increasingly small spacecraft is limited by the availability of such valves.  Although much work on miniaturizing valves has been performed using microfabrication approaches, few of these efforts have resulted in technologies suitable for propulsion.

Busek proposes a piezo-actuated microvalve suitable for continuous regulation of gas, resolved to flowrates of better than 10^-3 sccm, enabling precision control of cold gas thrusters, resistojets, and low-power ion and Hall thrusters.  Busek's fluid microvalve, developed for colloid thruster operation on NASA's ST7 project, has demonstrated resolving fluid flow to 2.5 picoliters/s over the 0-60 microliter/s regime for 1 atm source pressure (delta p); preliminary microvalve gas tests indicate the ability to resolve gas flows to 10^-2 sccm over the 0-.25 sccm regime for similar delta p.  The valve architecture, when used with smaller available orifice diameters, provides 1-2 orders of magnitude lower flowrates.

The focus of the effort shall be improvement of several design aspects in Busek's existing valve design, upgrading the design for high pressure gas service, and novel repackaging into a volume of approximately 4cm^3.
Solution errors are inherent in any Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation.  Systematic identification, reduction, and control of these various error sources is crucial if the results of CFD simulations are to be trusted for design and performance assessment of air vehicles.  While grid refinement studies may verify the spatial accuracy of a solution, these studies are generally laborious and time intensive.  Continued development of a standalone Error Transport Equation (ETE) solver is proposed.  The proposed program exploits an existing mesh adaptation and error quantification package, CRISP CFD&lt;SUP&gt;REG&lt;/SUP&gt;, which currently interfaces with meshes and solutions from the NASA unstructured Navier-Stokes solvers FUN3D and USM3D.  The Phase I effort will explore the use of ETE methodology with these production Navier-Stokes solvers as well as the popular structured grid code OVERFLOW.  Improvements in error prediction for aerodynamic coefficients will be sought.  In addition, the proposed program will address uncertainty quantification for turbulence models commonly used in computational aerodynamics applications.  The ETE solver provides a promising, viable path for reliable error quantification and solution verification.  This tool will provide numerical error bars, quantifiable levels of uncertainty in both local and globally integrated variables, for use in computational aerodynamics and other applications.
NASA has expressed the need to assess crew autonomy relative to performance and evaluate an optimal level of autonomy that maximizes individual and team performance. For this project, we propose to leverage our Automated Behavior and Cohesion Assessment Tools (ABCAT) system, which we designed for NASA for a recent project. The ABCAT system was designed in part to assess crew performance, which we will need for this project as well, and our approach will be to add autonomy modeling and assessment to the design. 

One of the key results of this Phase I project will be the identification of the most significant aspects of the environment and the behavior of the astronaut's engaged in space flight operations that can be used to identify their actual autonomy and performance level as they perform their tasks. The second will be the design of the data acquisition and processing components and framework that work together to observe and interpret those aspects and provide an assessment of the crew's exhibited level of autonomy and performance characteristics.
We are proposing to develop high power, high efficiency Ka-band and W-band amplifiers for future NASA missions.  The significance of the innovation primarily lies in two areas: better interconnections to available MMIC and extremely low loss power combiner.  The approach uses Nuvotronics unique metal micromachining PolyStrataTM process, used to create suspended recta-coax lines, MMIC sockets, and millimeter-wave (MMW) interconnection circuits with low loss, small size/high density, and durability.  During this Phase I project, we wil design two circuits at Ka and W-band using commercial of the shelf power amplifer MMICs to achieve the goal of 10 Watts (Ka) and 2 watts (W) output power with 20&#37; efficiency.
A new high capacity anode composite based on mesoporous silicon is proposed. By virtue of a structure that resembles a pseudo one-dimensional phase, the active anode material will be able to accommodate significant volume changes expected upon alloying and de-alloying with lithium. The mesoporosity will be created without the aid of a surfactant template using a novel high volume synthetic process. The anode composite based on this material is designed to have a reversible Li-ion capacity exceeding 600 mAh/g or nearly twice that obtainable with graphite anodes; indeed much higher capacities could be practically attainable. Coupled with our advanced polymer electrolyte and a high voltage cathode, we expect a fully developed battery to have a specific energy of &gt;150 Wh/Kg, and energy density of &gt;300 Wh/l and the capability to produce &gt;1000 deep charge/discharge cycles and thus makes it very desirable for space power applications of NASA. The work plan will include the materials synthesis, fabrication of electrode structures, evaluating rechargeability and cyclability of the anode, and reporting results.
This SBIR Phase I effort proposes to establish the feasibility of developing a UV Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC); a compact, highly efficient, waveguide-based frequency conversion module for the generation of phase modulated UV radiation for use in multi-wavelength lidar applications such as NASA LaRC's HSRL program.  The proposed module will provide phase modulated 355 nm radiation for calibration and stabilization of HSRL's UV interferometric filter, a component required for the accurate measurement of critical aerosol microphysical properties. The goal of the Phase II effort will be the optimization and integration of a compact, monolithic, fiber coupled UV PLC into the next generation HSLR seed laser system.  The PLC concept advances NASA's state-of-the-art lidar systems due to its compact, efficient, and reliable design, thus enabling use on small aircraft and space based platforms.
Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) that facilitates discovery and integration of web-enabled sensor data. We propose two enhancements to SWE. One is the creation of Semantic Sensor Web Enablement (SSWE) through the annotation of SWE services and schema using ontologies.  This will allow the utilization of the SWE services using semantic queries and concepts as opposed to purely syntactic ones. An integrated sensor ontology would also help fuse data from heterogeneous sensors and associated SWE services. The second enhancement is the use of intelligent software agents to help automate the extraction and handling of relevant data from the SSWE. Together, these two enhancements will make it easier for geospatial browsers like COAST to discover and utilize web-enabled sensor data. We provide two methods by which COAST users can benefit from SSWE. One is through one or more WMS servers which will mash the data through SSWE and provide a regular WMS interface to COAST; in this method, no change will be needed in the existing COAST user-interface. The second method will be a COAST plug-in which provides a means for users (aided by intelligent agents) to directly query the SSWE services through semantic search for web-enabled sensor data.
One of the goals of NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics "Subsonic Fixed Wing" project is to reduce fuel burn by 25&#37;   5&#37; by 2018. This corresponds approximately to an increase in Lift/Drag ratio of the same magnitude. While the improvement in design tools funded by NASA will undoubtedly help attain this goal the innovation proposed here is an addition to this effort. In other words, any improvements in performance due to the innovation should be added to any improvements due to the use of new design tools. The innovation proposed here is a "leading edge wave" in which the leading edge of a wing is described by a high frequency, low amplitude wave, rather than the more conventional straight line. Previous results have indicated that such a leading edge can lead to improvements in Lift/Drag ratio of 15&#37;.
Long-duration balloon flights are an exciting new area of scientific ballooning, enabled by the development of large super-pressure balloons.  As these balloons represent a new form of balloon technology, it follows that there is much to be learned about how these balloons behave in flight.  There is a need to collect data on the balloon platform itself in order to better characterize its in-flight behavior.

	A lightweight suite of sensors will be developed to quantify several variables affecting the balloon.  The measurements will include gas temperature inside and outside of the balloon, balloon film strain and temperature, and the aging of the balloon film.  

	Phase I will involve developing a gas temperature sensing approach, a film strain and aging sensing approach, and an alternate approach to film strain and temperature measurements.  Taken as a group, the approaches to be investigated are seen as likely to offer promising solutions to those measurement challenges.  They will be tested in the laboratory and in a balloon on the ground.  

	The ultimate result of the project will be a sensor suite that allows super-pressure balloon behavior and flights to be accurately modeled.
The objective of the Phase I is to develop, demonstrate and test novel instrumentation based on ultrasensitive laser absorption spectroscopy for sensitive real-time measurements of several important parameters for monitoring and control of oxygen production facilities and for analyses of lunar surface resources. The instrumentation will provide measurements of multiple trace gases and impurities on the lunar surface with a speed, accuracy and sensitivity not possible with current instrumentation.
The Low Energy Mission Planning Toolbox is designed to significantly reduce the resources and time spent on designing missions in multi-body gravitational environments.  It provides a means for quickly planning low energy missions that take advantage of multi-body gravitational environments. The high-speed, efficient process will allow rapid comparison between low energy methods (e.g. ballistic lunar capture transfer trajectories) and their direct counterparts (e.g. Hohmann transfers).  The tools leverage recent research on low energy mission design methods to produce algorithms that are stable, hold potential for automation in certain situations, and can be easily interfaced with the NASA open source mission planing tool GMAT.
The MRSiG will be able to replace many of the expensive, highly specialized RF signal generators with cheaper generic boxes that can be customized as the technologies are updated.  MRSiG boxes can be utilized throughout the entire RF hardware development cycle, from the breadboard to the flight stages.  Their relatively low cost point will allow more simulators in the labs, and less resource contention for developing projects.  The portability of the MRSiG lends itself readily to testing outside the lab, including environmental test chambers and during spacecraft integration.  In particular, MRSiG could be utilized as a GPS simulator, replacing the Spirent GPS signal generators currently in use.  These boxes could be utilized to simulate anything from lunar ground communication, ground-lunar relay communication, and even lunar to Earth communications.  MRSiG could potentially be instrumental in performing formation flying or rendezvous and docking simulations if RF data is exchanged.
The use of combinatorial methods is proposed to rapidly screen catalyst formulations for the advanced development of aqueous phase oxidation catalysts with greater activity than current catalysts at temperatures less than 100?aC and low pressure.  To accomplish this goal, a large catalyst library will be prepared using seven noble metals at two concentrations on three supports.  With a maximum of three metals each, 840 unique catalysts will be synthesized in parallel.  Rapid determination of comparative oxidation activity for these catalysts will be critical to success, and will utilize organic dyes as oxidation substrates in an array format.  Color changes will reveal relative activity at each reaction condition, allowing rapid screening for the most active catalysts.  Then, the top three catalysts will be evaluated using water recovery system (WRS) ersatz wastewater challenges and compared to the current WRS catalyst.  The Phase I project will clearly demonstrate the feasibility of achieving these goals using combinatorial methods.  The Phase II program will optimize performance and provide sufficient catalyst for evaluation using prospective Lunar Outpost (LO) WRS hardware.  The advanced catalyst will lower ESM, and provide new applications in commercial water purification markets.
NASA's future science missions to investigate the structure and evolution of the universe require highly efficient, very low temperature coolers for low noise detector systems.  We propose to develop a highly efficient, lightweight Active Magnetic Regenerative Refrigeration (AMRR) system that can continuously provide remote/distributed cooling at temperatures in the range of 2 K with a heat sink at about 15 K.  The AMRR system uses a vibration-free, reversible cryogenic circulator and innovative Micromachined Active Magnetic Regenerators (MAMRs) to achieve a large cooling capacity and very high thermal efficiency.  The MAMRs use an innovative flow channel configuration and novel micromachining technologies to achieve very high thermal and flow performance.  In Phase I we will prove the feasibility of our approach by demonstrating critical fabrication methods for the micromachined regenerator and its thermal and flow performance through detailed analysis.  In Phase II we will build and demonstrate a full-scale micromachined regenerator for a prototype AMRR system that can provide 50 mW of cooling near 2 K.  In Phase III we will demonstrate a complete AMRR system incorporating the MAMRs and Creare's innovative reversible cryogenic circulator.
The Action Notation Modeling Language (ANML) is a relatively new language for specifying planning domain models.  These models are created by someone who understands the planning domain and can express the essential aspects of the domain as ANML variables, functions, and actions in a way that supports the generation and execution of safe, efficient, and robust plans.  An integrated development environment is essential for enabling programmers and non-programmers to create high-quality, large-scale ANML models more easily.  Without such a tool, ANML modeling will remain a tedious and difficult task that can be carried out only by the small number of people who have the necessary specialized programming skills and patience. This, in turn, will severely limit the exploitation of automated planning systems that rely on these models.
We propose to develop PM/IDE, an integrated development environment (IDE) for constructing, reviewing, understanding, and testing planning domain models expressed in the Action Notation Modeling Language (ANML) more quickly and effectively. During Phase I, we will characterize the planning domain modeling task to identify the types of analyses and decisions that modelers carry out and the kinds of information they review and assess. Based on this understanding of the task, we will then identify and design useful PM/IDE capabilities and user-system interactions that help people develop ANML models. The system design will specify user-system interactions, software functions and operations, and databases, knowledge bases, and algorithms that implement these functions. We will then develop a limited, proof-of-concept software prototype that demonstrates key parts of the PM/IDE's model editing, query, analysis, and visualization capabilities to demonstrate their utility and feasible implementation.
One of the most problematic issues that facing efficient water reclamation processes for long duration space missions is biofilm growth and biofouling on RO membrane and transfer line surfaces.  An immediate need therefore exists to develop new technologies to solve the problems associated with biofouling of water recovery subsystem surfaces.  Lynntech, Inc. proposes a novel technology for the preparation and demonstration of stimuli-responsive, reagent-free, self-cleaning surfaces.  This technology is based on an innovative yet simple and inexpensive approach to functionalize base membrane and water line surfaces with novel coatings.  These coatings respond to the application of a physical stimulus such as a change in temperature by changing their physical attributes such as their physical dimensions.  The change in their physical dimensions in turn triggers lifting off of adherent biofilms thereby regenerating the surface and reverting to optimal operational efficiency parameters such as optimized operational RO pressures as well as optimal transfer line flow rates.  Phase I work will concentrate on providing proof-of-concept for the self-cleaning surface technology, while Phase II will involve the fabrication and delivery of prototype self-cleaning RO membranes and water transfer line components to NASA-JSC for integration and testing within its integrated advanced water recovery test system.
A versatile self-sustained health management (HM) solution comprising of lightweight, power efficient, portable hardware and highly accurate analytic and reasoning software is the envisioned outcome of this effort. The HM solution will be equipped with customizable feature extraction, fault detection, identification and classification algorithms. A built in powerful reasoner and capability of porting dependency models and user defined analytic algorithms make the solution usable in a variety of HM application. Especially, the solution is suitable for on-component embedding in rotorcraft and fixed wing aircraft. Capability of storing data and HM decisions and communicating with a variety of data/communication bus systems empowers such solutions to function in a collaborative manner and attain vehicle level health management capability. Integration of the dependency models embedded in the individual HM solutions on a vehicle computer, and supplying it with component level observations and the HM outcomes achieves the vehicle level HM. The same reasoning and analytic algorithms can be reused here. Combining the vehicle and system level observation HM outcome and usage information can facilitate fleet level CBM through this effort.
Development of multi-meter diameter radiofrequency (RF) antennas is an area of intense research for NASA and DoD organizations. Polymer membrane technologies offer the greatest promise of meeting future large antenna requirements, while significantly reducing system mass and launch volume.  Recent advances in polymer membrane materials must be matched by advances in the COATINGS needed to provide the required RF and thermal performance in a space environment.  The proposed research addresses the requirement for developing a COATED polymer material with zero CTE, while exhibiting the appropriate RF and space durable characteristics.  The objective is to develop a coating that will cancel the CTE mismatch between the polymer substrate material and the coating itself, resulting in a zero CTE membrane/coating composite.  The coated membrane will exhibit the required RF performance, thermal characteristics, and endurance to atomic oxygen (AO), visible and ultra-violet (VUV) radiation, and space temperature extremes.   Surface Optics Corp (SOC) will use expertise in RF/thermal coatings together with recent advances in novel processing that allow the tailoring of coating stress.  Partner organization NeXolve will provide the polymer films.  NeXolve has the ability to engineer unique polymer formulas that provide appropriate surface properties and tailored CTE.
The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) brings significant advancements to the current management of the National Airspace (NAS). These fundamental changes have significant implications for safety and security, which, in turn, require new, more flexible techniques for the verification and validation of complex, software-intensive systems and systems of systems. To address this need, Barron Associates will develop a demonstration sense-and- avoid application, representative of the kinds of new systems that are possible in NextGen, and a safety case arguing that it is safe to operate in the NAS. The safety case will rely on run-time assurance and formal methods as evidence to support its claims. Run-time assurance continuously monitors system-level safety properties for impending violations to diagnose software faults and allows a simpler, high-criticality reversionary function to provide assurance for a more complex software function; formal methods provide strong design-time assurance of correctness for software that must operate at the highest levels of criticality. A safety-case-based approach citing these two strategies as evidence offers significant cost savings for similar or higher levels of assurance as compared to traditional, process-based approaches.
NASA sees an increasing role in the near future for small satellites in the 5-100 kg size range.  A potentially disruptive technology, small satellites are being eyed as platforms for the rapid demonstration of new technologies and important science missions.  Currently, small satellite platforms struggle to balance the three critical tasks of (1) collecting enough power, (2) acquiring data and (3) downlinking that data to ground stations in a way that maximizes mission return.  For these small platforms, which usually do not benefit from steer-able solar arrays or gimbaled antennas and instruments, optimally balancing these three tasks strongly depends on the satellite's attitude control agility.  Spacecraft agility has to do with rapid retargeting, fast transient settling and low jitter pointing control.  Dr. Bong Wie, renowned spacecraft attitude control expert and Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Iowa State University, has stated that ultimately the "measure of an agile satellite attitude control system is its ability to collect the maximum data from an area on the Earth that is rich in data-collection opportunities".  A logical corollary following from this statement would be that to maximize satellite data-collection, system designers should look to increase the satellite's agility.  Furthermore, in addition to data-collection, the other two critical tasks of power collection and data downlink are also maximized as agility is increased.  Honeybee Robotics proposes to develop a low cost, high torque and low jitter satellite attitude control actuator derived from its Tiny Operationally Responsive CMG (TORC) design.  This derivative product would combine two TORC units into a single scissored-pair configuration with SPA compatible interface.  The result, TORC-SP, would be an actuator with the simple control interface of a reaction wheel that offers 1-2 orders of magnitude more torque per unit mass at drastically less power than a reaction wheel.
In flight diagnosis and anomaly detection is a difficult challenge that requires sufficient observation and real-time processing of health information. Our approach uses formalized attributes that are available as selectable and enforceable properties necessary for diagnosis based on principles of model based engineering (MBE).  Using this information, two strategies are proposed.  The first is to use the concept of perfect detectors as executable assertions to verify at run-time correct operating envelope behavior.  This information is used to check for correct behavior status or identify entry into a chain of events that could have failure impact. The proposed Phase I effort uses a combination of tool support to analyze the system, identify the properties to be checked, and the failure path information needed by the in-flight diagnosis service. This approach, is relevant to lowering the cost of systems since and provides important benefits related to V&amp;V of complex systems.
A need exists for analyzers that can measure trace contaminants in air on board spacecraft.  Toxic gas buildup can endanger the crew particularly during long missions.  Some gases are generated by people and emitted through the skin or by exhalation.  In addition to carbon dioxide, these anthropogenic gases include carbon monoxide, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, acetaldehyde, and methanol.  Plastics used in the spacecraft cabin can outgas formaldehyde, and heat exchangers can leak ammonia into breathing air.  Overheating electronics can release carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride.  Thus, continuous air monitoring is required.
Mesa Photonics proposes development of a highly miniaturized, highly efficient Fourier Transform (FT) spectrometer for continuous monitoring of contaminant air. The spectrometer will be able to detect a wide range of compounds with response times of about 30 seconds.  Our approach combines several innovations that will lead to a rugged and reliable spectrometer capable of space-based operation and having a long shelf life.  Spectrometers will be about the size of a lap-top computer, weigh about 4 kg, and consume about 10 W.  Most target contaminants will be detectable at part-per-million or lower concentrations.
We propose to develop Mg rockets for Martian ascent vehicle applications.  The propellant can be acquired in-situ from MgO in the Martian regolith (5.1&#37; Mg by mass) and combusted with H20 that exists at the poles and below the surface.  The vacuum Isp of a Mg-H20 rocket would be ~300 s.  Mg can also be combusted with CO2 condensed from the Martian atmosphere to yield Isp ~215 s.  The technology can also be used on the Moon, where regolith is 5.5&#37; Mg.  Al-H20 rockets would also be enabled; like Mg, Al is present in Martian and Lunar regolith.  
	
In Phase I, we will prove the feasibility of Mg rockets.  Chemical Equilibrium Analysis codes will be used to predict rocket performance at various operating conditions and O/F ratios.  Combustion with CO2,  H20, and pure O2 will be considered.  Experiments will focus on developing and characterizing delivery, ignition and combustion systems, starting with ARL's existing Mg combustion system.  Ways to achieve low temperature, electrolytic ignition and stable combustion will be studied.  Drawing upon both experimental and theoretical results, we will then design a 5-10 N metal-water rocket system to be built and tested in Phase II.
We propose the research, development and testing of a clustered aerospike engine to eventually be utilized with our high performance NOFB (nitrous oxide fuel blend) monopropellant and combustion chamber designs (patents pending) for planetary ascent stages. Compared to existing systems, this monopropulsion system concept: 1) achieves bipropellant rocket performance in a compact, monopropellant system architecture; 2) is non-toxic to allow a low cost, extensive engine testing prior to actual flight compared to toxic propellant alternatives; 3) is stable and storable over a very wide range of temperatures and environmental conditions; 4) is &lt;30&#37; of the overall length of an equivalent conventional bell nozzle engine, ~90&#37; of the diameter, and allows high density packaging of mono/bipropellant systems into compact launch configurations reducing propulsion system volume and mass; 5) can be thrust-vectored to remove a separate engine gimbal requirement; and 6) utilizes an atmosphere-compensating nozzle allowing for significant mass savings and consistent performance over a wide range of altitudes.
The proposed innovative two-dimensional (2D) adaptive analysis will be tested NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission database in phase I in an attempt of extracting and reveal its finest details. The science data from the GRACE mission will be used to estimate global models for the mean and time variable Earth gravity field.  Geodesy deals with obtaining precise measurements of the Earth, mapping points on the surface, and studying its gravitational field. The proposed R&amp;D effort will contribute to the production of a more precise model of the changes in gravity over the Earth's surface vs. time. 
Early results using the prototype algorithms have demonstrated great potential of extracting physical cyclic components in GRACE data from level-1 data over the Amazon Basin &amp; Groenland at a time interval of 10 days. 

The proposed research and development team has participated in the latest cycle of technology development related to the multi-dimensional isotropic, adaptive decomposition at the theoretical, implementation, and application levels. Not only will the creation of the proposed method contribute to the data analysis of GRACE data, but also in other applications within and outside NASA's mission, including the potential of extending to 3D, for the analysis of waveform LIDAR from the ICESat mission.

Technology Taxonomy: portable data analysis tools, software development environments, and software tools for distributed analysis and simulation.
A comprehensive commercial-grade system for the development of safe parallel and serial programs is developed. The system has the ability to perform efficient parametric runtime verification of programs. This can be used to ensure the safety of mission critical systems at runtime.  The system also has the ability to extrapolate all feasible program traces deriving from
thread inter-leavings that meet the casual dependencies of a program 
from a single running. These feasible traces can be checked, using the same parametric trace slicing algorithm used for runtime verification, against safety properties. An extensive evaluation of the system on software critical to NASA is also performed, with the aid of Klaus Havelund.
Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) materials offer tremendous potential for lightweight propellant and pressurant tankage for space applications.  Thin MMC liners for COPVs would have enough strength to withstand tensile loading at maximum expected operating pressure (MEOP) and compressive loading at zero pressure without buckling.  Thus, performance benefits would be expected when compared to aluminum, titanium, and stainless steel liners.  Touchstone proposes to team with Carleton Technologies Pressure Vessel Division (part of the Cobham Life Support Division, Westminster, MD) to extend current MMC technology into the area of lightweight, multifunctional pressure vessels that can minimize propulsion system mass growth and achieve the efficiencies that will make future propulsion systems viable.  The development of improved cryotanks can easily be extended to programs within the Departments of Defense and to private industry. The successful completion of the proposed work will expedite the implementation of this enabling technology into aerospace, military, and commercial applications.
Future space exploration missions present significant new challenges to crew health care capabilities, particularly in the efficient utilization of on-board oxygen resources.  The International Space Station and future exploration vehicles require a light weight, compact, portable oxygen concentrator technology (OCT) that can provide medical grade oxygen from the ambient cabin air.  Current OCTs are heavy, bulky, have a narrow operating temperature range (ambient to 40 degree Celsius), and require 15 to 30 minutes start-up time to reach their full operating capacity.  Lynntech's proposed electrochemical OCT solves these issues by operating the OCT with a cathode-air vapor feed, unlike conventional electrochemical OCTs which require a liquid water feed.  This is possible due to the use of in-house developed proprietary nanocomposite proton exchange membrane and catalyst technologies.  Cathode-air vapor feed operation eliminates the need for a bulky on-board water supply, significantly reduces the complexity of the balance-of-plant, and greatly increases the system efficiency. OCT will be a quarter the size and weight of conventional OCTs, be capable of instant start-up, and have a wide operating temperature range. Lynntech will develop a Phase II prototype that is capable of delivering 4 SLPM of 60&#37; oxygen and deliver it to NASA for further testing.
We propose the continued development of a novel approach to the detection of chromosomal inversions.  Transmissible chromosome aberrations (translocations and inversions) have profound genetic effects, such as disrupting regulatory sequences that control gene expression, or creating genetic chimeras.  These chromosome aberrations play a causative role in cancer, and ionizing radiation is one of the most efficient agents known to induce them.  As such, chromosome aberrations are relevant to three NASA needs, biodosimetry, analysis of astronaut lymphocytes for cumulative radiation damage, and space radiation risk modeling.  Of all structural chromosomal anomalies, inversions ? a reversal of orientation of material within a chromosome ? are the most difficult to detect.  This is especially true of small inversions, most of which are invisible to all current cytogenetic techniques.  Yet small inversions are likely the most transmissible (nonlethal) form of chromosomal damage, so they persist for long periods.  This is a useful feature for retrospective biodosimetry, and may also prove to be useful as an indicator of radiation quality..  In Phase 1 we demonstrated the use of a human chromosome 3, partial chromatid paint to detect a known inversion. During Phase 2, we will continue to improve the efficiency of the technology, an essential goal for commercialization (Phase 3) ultimately creating an improved and complete chromatid paint for chromosome 3.  Finally, we will test the chromosome 3 'chromatid paint's' ability to detect radiation-induced inversions, and establish their frequency.  The technology readiness level at the end of the Phase 2 contract is expected to be 5, i.e. validated in laboratory and relevant environments.
Satellite observations of the Earth often contain excessive noise and extensive data voids.
Aerosol measurements, for instance,
are obscured and contaminated by clouds, possible only on the sunlit side of the globe, and difficult over bright land areas.
We propose to extend filtering and data assimilation techniques for satellite derived aerosol optical depth based on the wavelet transform.
The assimilation system is based on the Model for Atmospheric Transport and Chemistry (MATCH) and include improvements such as the incorporation of satellite observed aerosol size modes and column water vapor.
Initially we will focus specifically on aerosol measurements from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments flying on the Terra and Aqua satellites.
The assimilated fields will be tested against surface network observations of aerosol optical depth.
We will employ the assimilation assimilation system to produce aerosol datasets for application in Earth radiation budget observations and atmospheric correction methods.
A priority in Environmental Control and Life Support systems for extended space missions is to recover and process wastewater to provide potable water for crew consumption and oxygen generation. Total organic carbon (TOC) indicates the overall quality of reclaimed and stored water and their suitability for crew consumption by indicating the potential presence of hazardous chemicals. For extended missions, water monitoring requires reliable, real-time, online sensors, with limited or no need for resupplied chemicals, and low equivalent system mass (ESM). The goal of this project is to develop a reliable, compact, flight-qualifiable, microgravity-compatible, TOC analyzer (TOCA) for online, real-time water monitoring with an operational lifetime of 5 years with no need to resupply chemicals or water. Key components include an electrochemical unit that eliminates the need to resupply or store chemicals, an effective oxidation processor for TOC conversion to carbon dioxide, a compact, stable inorganic carbon sensing unit, and mesofluidic design for reduced ESM. During Phase I, Lynntech successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed system by designing, fabricating, and testing both the critical components and an integrated breadboard TOCA. During Phase II, an optimized, reliable, compact, flight-qualifiable, microgravity-compatible TOCA prototype will be designed, fabricated, tested, and delivered to NASA.
In Phase I, NP Photonics has achieved 1.2 kW peak power for 105 ns fiber laser pulses, and successfully demonstrated the feasibility to produce monolithic high SBS threshold narrow linewidth fiber amplifiers for all fiber-based laser transmitters ideally suited to NASA's active remote sensing spectroscopy. In Phase II, NP Photonics proposes to develop prototypes or products of the high SBS-threshold, Single-Mode (SM), polarization maintaining (PM), high power amplifiers operating with sub-microsecond pulses and transform-limited linewidth. This is based on the successful demonstrations in Phase I by using NP's proprietary patented large core SM PM highly Er/Yb co-doped phosphate glass fibers. Furthermore, in order to push the SBS threshold to the 100s kW level and to demonstrate even higher SBS threshold and improved conversion efficiency for 100-500 ns transform-limited fiber laser pulses, a new large core SM PM photonic crystal phosphate fiber 100/400 will be designed and fabricated in Phase II. It will be used to build the 3rd power amplifier stage in order to offer prototype/product services by achieving 10s kW peak power and 5-mJ pulse energy free of SBS effects. This will more fully enable NASA's active remote sensing with fiber laser pulses at 765 nm by using NP's Single Mode phosphate fiber amplifiers.
This proposal is for the development of an innovative compact, high power, and extremely reliable 1.26 micron Ho-doped single frequency fiber laser. The proposed single frequency seeder fiber laser consists of Raman pump laser and single frequency 1.26-micron fiber laser, which will be constructed by using Ho3+-doped fluoride glass fiber. A Raman fiber laser is used as a resonant pump laser source for Ho3+-doped fiber laser.  High gain per unit length at 1.26 micron can be achieved in Ho-doped fluoride glass fiber due to the strong pump absorption and strong emission at 1.2 micron transition.  5 W single frequency 1.26-micron MOPA system with high-speed frequency modulation capability will be developed.   It consists of a 1.26 micron single frequency seeder fiber laser and a 2-stage fiber amplifier.
This type of fiber based seed laser is needed for remote sensing of O  and O -N  for measuring atmospheric pressure.  The single frequency 1.26-micron fiber laser with high-speed frequency modulation capability and electronic control can be used to build coherent laser radar to perform instantaneous measurement.  It offers much higher resolution compared to currently existing Raman fiber laser.
Radiation-cooled, bipropellant thrusters are being considered for the Ascent Module main engine of the Altair Lunar Lander.  Currently, iridium-lined rhenium combustion chambers are the state-of-the-art for radiatively cooled thrusters.  To increase the performance of radiation-cooled engines, improved chamber materials are needed that will allow higher operating temperatures, better resistance to oxidation, and reduce mass.  During this effort, an innovative composite thrust chamber is being developed that will incorporate advanced ceramic oxide and iridium liner techniques as well as replacing the expensive, high density rhenium with a low mass carbon-carbon composite.  The Phase I results have demonstrated the potential of combining innovative fabrication techniques to produce an advanced ceramic-Ir lined C-C thrust chamber. Hot gas testing has shown the ability of the ceramic oxide coating to reduce the exterior temperature of the C-C jacket, which will enable the use of higher temperature propellants for improved performance.  No damage was observed in the ceramic-Ir liner as a result of hot gas testing.  During Phase II, the techniques will be optimized to allow fabrication of a 3000 lbf chamber that will be delivered to NASA-MSFC for hot-fire testing.
FAA predicts that air traffic will double or even triple by 2025 and unless solutions that enable improvements in the use of airspace can be developed and implemented, significant airspace congestion will occur.  Advancements in aircraft capabilities via new technologies can enable aircraft to operate more efficiently in the NAS and to operate safely in areas previously restricted.  AeroTech proposes to enhance the assessment of Performance Based Operations (PBO) by implementing the Autonomous Weather Hazard Avoidance Model (AWHAM) into ATM simulations providing autonomous guidance for aircraft thru hazardous weather regions.  PBO and traffic flow schemes can be assessed for any scenario by varying the detection capabilities of simulation aircraft, regulations, and/or policies, and examining deviation decisions, flight paths, safety impacts, and NAS throughput.  Phase II will involve implementing the hazard avoidance model into an operational simulation and performing a proof of concept study that will establish and quantify the benefits of aircraft equipped with particular hazard detection capabilities from the perspective of an aircraft operator.  AeroTech also proposes to develop the structure and architecture for integrating the AWHAM with the Autonomous Operations Planner, which provides pilots assistance in determining flight paths that comply with safety constraints and reduce operational costs.
We propose to develop and commercialize a new type of low-stress iridium (Ir) X-ray mirror coating technology that can be used for the construction of high-resolution X-ray telescopes comprising thin-shell mirror substrates, such as the Flight Mirror Array (FMA) currently being developed for the IXO mission.  The urgent need for low-stress Ir coating technology is driven by the current limitations on telescope angular resolution resulting from substrate distortions caused by conventional reflective Ir coatings that typically have very high stress.  In particular, we have measured film stresses in excess of 4 GPa in the case of Ir films deposited by conventional magnetron sputtering.  It is thought that the distortions in the thin glass mirror shells (such as those proposed for the IXO FMA) resulting from such extremely large coating stresses presently make the largest contribution to the telescope imaging error budget, of order 10 arcsec or more.  Consequently, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to meet the imaging requirements of IXO, or other high-resolution X-ray missions in the future that use thin-shell mirror technology, unless high-quality Ir coatings having significantly lower stresses can be developed.  The development of such coatings is precisely the aim of our proposal.  Specifically, building on our successful Phase I effort, we propose to complete the development of low-stress Ir/Cr bilayers, and also investigate the use of Ir/Ti bilayers. We also propose to investigate the properties single-layer Ir films, as well as Ir/Cr and Ir/Ti bilayers, prepared by reactive sputtering with nitrogen.  Finally, we plan to transfer the low-stress Ir coating technology to our large, production-class sputtering system so that we can coat GSFC-supplied thin-shell mirror substrates and conclusively demonstrate reduced stress-driven substrate distortions.
The objective of the Phase I is to develop, demonstrate and test a novel instrument based on laser absorption diagnostics for fast, in situ measurements of important parameters (static gas temperature, bulk gas velocity, and gas concentration) in the high speed flows typical in NASA propulsion test facilities.  In addition, the instrument will be easy to move (translate) during operation and thus allow measurements at different locations during a test run.
In Phase II SPEC will design, fabricate and flight test a state-of-the-art combined cloud particle probe called the Hawkeye.  Hawkeye is the culmination of two decades of innovative instrument development at SPEC. The new probe will measure the size distribution of cloud and precipitation particles, provide high-resolution (2.3 micron pixel) images of cloud particles and remove artifacts from ice particle shattering.  This will be accomplished by eclectic combination of technology developed in three existing SPEC optical cloud particle probes:  1) A fast FSSP, that measures size distributions from 1 to 50 microns and records individual particle statistics and remove shattered particles using inter-arrival times, 2) a cloud particle imager (CPI) with upgraded imagery capable of recording up to 500 frames per second, and 3) a 2D-S (Stereo) probe that is configured with one channel to provide full-view images of particles from 10 microns to 1.28 mm, and a second channel configured to provide full-view images of particles from 50 microns to 6.4 mm.  Thus, using particle dimensions along the direction of flight will produce particle size distributions from 1 micron to several cm. 

Hawkeye will be designed for installation and autonomous (unattended) operation on NASA research aircraft, including the Global Hawk unmanned aerial system (UAS), and DC-8, WB-57F and ER-2 piloted research aircraft.  Hawkeye will provide vastly improved measurements of particle and precipitation size distributions, particle shape, extinction coefficient, effective particle radius, ice water content and equivalent radar reflectivity.  Hawkeye will be ready for installation on NASA aircraft for the upcoming ACE and GPM decadal missions, which are aimed at measurements of the effects of aerosols, clouds and precipitation on global climate change.
The Kennedy Space Center maintains approximately $2 billion worth of ground support facilities to support its launch vehicle program.  Maintenance of the ground facilities is a difficult and ongoing task since the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is located in one of the most aggressive corrosion environments in the U.S.  The effects of the corrosive environment at the KSC are compounded by the exhaust of the Space Shuttle's solid rocket boosters which produce an estimated 17 tons of hydrochloric acid with each launch.  The Phase II project will continue the development of the models began in Phase I for classification of corrosion inhibitors for structural steel.  We will produce even more robust models for selecting synergistic corrosion inhibitor compositions through a sequential program of algorithm development and high throughput electrochemical screening.  We will then demonstrate the efficacy of the new compositions in protective coatings by electrochemical impedance studies, cyclic corrosion tests and outdoor exposures. In addition we will also develop toxicity classification tools for organic corrosion inhibitors. We will also scale up production of the corrosion inhibitor additive packages for evaluation by coating manufacturers.
During Phase I, M4 Engineering integrated a prototype system into OpenMDAO, a NASA GRC open-source framework.  This prototype system was a proof-of-concept that M4 physics based modules could be integrated in OpenMDAO.  The results generated in OpenMDAO compared well to the results generated in another framework, ModelCenter.  Phase II will be a demonstration of enhanced system functionality with the integration of additional modules and design tools.  The integrated objects will perform discipline-specific analysis across multiple flight regimes at varying levels of fidelity.  The process will also deliver system-level, multi-objective optimization.  Phase II will also showcase a refined system architecture that allows the system to be less customized to a specific configuration (i.e., system and configuration separation) as well as additional example problems.  By delivering a capable and validated MDAO system along with a set of example applications to be used as a template for future users, this work will greatly expand NASA's high-fidelity, physics based MDAO capabilities and enable the design of revolutionary vehicles in a cost effective manner.  This proposed work compliments M4 Engineering's expertise in developing modeling and simulation toolsets that solve relevant subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic demonstration applications.
This proposal addresses the need for an antenna technology platform that meets the requirements of high-performance materials, exacting dimensional tolerances, and the geometrical design freedom to enable planar antenna array technologies for frequencies greater than 90GHz. The PolyStrata fabrication technology, being developed at Nuvotronics, LCC, Blacksburg, VA., is capable of meeting or exceeding all of the requirements outlined to be a solution for these frequencies. Air-filled copper rectangular coaxial transmission lines are fabricated using a photolithographically defined layer-by-layer process. The resulting transmission lines are extremely broadband, low-dispersion, high-isolation, and low loss compared to other forms of planar transmission lines. These lines are smaller than rectangular waveguides because the transverse cross-sections of the lines are not resonant. Phase II of this work will include the design, fabrication  and characterization of prototypes that will enable PolyStrata-based frequency-scanned antenna-array operating from 140-160GHz with +/-16 degree beam steering, a beamwidth of 0.5 degrees and 400MHz per beam bandwidth. An antenna array with this performance would require roughly 24cm by 24cm.  This is possible using 4 sub-arrays that each are fabricated on a single wafer and then tied together to achieve the overall system performance. We will develop and deliver prototypes that will be smaller versions of this, but demonstrate all the necessary aspects of the system including the feed network, the antennas, the tiling of subarrays and the connection to the outside world.  The approach will offer a high-yield, cost effective product that will meet the NASA needs.
The objectives of this Phase II project are to develop InGaN photovoltaic cells for high temperature and/or high radiation environments to TRL 4 and to define the development path for the technology to TRL 5 and beyond. The project will include theoretical and experimental refinement of device structures produced in the Phase I, as well as modeling and optimization of solar cell device processing. The devices will be tested under concentrated AM0 sunlight, at temperatures from 100:C to 250:C, and after exposure to ionizing radiation. The results are expected to further verify that InGaN can be used for high temperature / high radiation capable solar cells in NASA space missions.
The objective of the project is the development of an on-board envelope estimation, protection and upset recovery tool to address loss of control incidents in commercial aircraft. Loss of control incidents can be attributed to variety of factors including environmental (icing, clear air turbulence, wakes, etc.), failure of aircraft components (stuck control surfaces, failure of hydraulic systems, broken cables, etc.), human factors (pilot error, insufficient training, crew distraction, etc.) or a combination of any of them. Usually the final catastrophic event is linked to nonlinear phenomenon (like stall) and there is a small time window of opportunity for the pilot (or the flight computer) to recover but the action they take are critical to any such recovery. In Phase I, we have demonstrated how nonlinear equilibrium analysis can be brought to bear upon this problem to understand the dynamic behavior of the aircraft outside of the nominal operating regime. We have also shown using NASA Generic Transport Model (GTM) how such tools may be used to dynamically estimate the operational envelope of the aircraft. In Phase II, we will extend the methodology to design an on-board envelope protection system and study upset recovery schemes. The analytical tools will be supported by the development of commercial grade software for on-board envelope estimation and upset recovery for unimpaired and impaired aircraft. We have already implemented symbolic tools for modeling and analysis, database management, numerical validation and visualization. These tools will be extended, improved and evaluated experimentally. Our goal is to provide verifiable software for commercial aircraft flight safety.
An important consideration of long duration space flight operations is interpersonal dynamics that effect crew cohesion and performance. Flight surgeons have stated the need for unobtrusive monitoring to help detect if crews are having difficulties with coping with long duration spaceflight environments. The long-term goal of this project is to develop a set of applied technologies that can monitor crew health and cohesiveness in an unobtrusive manner and identify potential abnormalities for feedback to astronauts and flight surgeons for further investigation.
The new Constellation vehicles will have thousands of procedures represented in XML, which facilitates automatic translation. Our approach is to determine nominal performance metrics during training and then compare that against data acquired during actual missions. Deviations between the nominal and current performance can be flagged for additional attention. Since crew members can perform upwards of hundreds of procedures a week, there will be substantial data with which to assess crew behavior and performance. Social interactions are also a significant factor in team cohesion and performance and we plan to establish, and then compare against, social norms using Sociometric Badges and communications (spoken and text) analysis.
During Phase I research, we determined those objectives measures that are acquirable in an unobtrusive manner directly and via tractable processing and have a high likelihood of providing flight surgeons with the information they can use to best assess crew cohesion, performance, and mental state. In Phase II, we will develop and then evolve a prototype ABCAT system by iterating through a cycle of gathering test data in experiments, evaluating its effectiveness with feedback from project personnel and NASA flight surgeons, and refining or redesigning aspects of the system to improve performance.
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is directed toward development of a novel microfiltration filter that has distinctively narrow pore size distribution, low flow resistance, low pressure drop and simple regeneration process.  The regeneration process, which requires minimal material and energy consumption, can be completely automated and the filtration performance can be restored within a very short period of time.  The overall system filtration efficiency is targeted towards the HEPA standards, where the HEPA filters cannot be regenerated effectively.
Studying the isotopic composition of materials is an established method to obtain detailed insight into formation and evolution processes in our Universe. Water may play a dominant role in unraveling these processes.
NASA has a pressing need for increasing the efficiency of launch range surveillance during mission launch operations. Difficulty in verifying a cleared range causes significant launch delay that may significantly affect the operation safety, cost and schedule. With the increase of workload on existing and/or newly-built spaceports, challenges in launch range clearance and surveillance call for new breakthrough in technologies to better serve for NASA's missions. 
We propose this SBIR to develop a novel "Smart Pan/Tilt/Zoom Visible/IR Sensor" platform, dubbed Smart PTZ(TM), especially suited for detection, tracking, recognition, and identification of persons and objects that have intruded areas of the range that must be cleared in order to conduct safe launch operations. 
Conventional optical sensors have limited field of views (FOV). They observe objects through a small solid angle. Simultaneous acquisition of target in panoramic view is not possible. Although optical amplification may provide detailed target image, detecting and tracking target(s) in a large area is difficult, resulting in lengthy search time, costly UAV maneuvers, low efficiency in verifying range clearance, even missing intruder due to limited FOV.  Increasing FOV, however, is a double-edged sword that leads to a decreased spatial resolution, causing difficulties in target recognition and classification. 
To resolve the simultaneous yet contradicting requirements on the FOV and image resolution for range surveillance applications, we propose a novel Smart PTZ sensor concept that meets both needs with unprecedented performance.  By integrating both wide FOV sensor and agile PTZ sensor within a compact package, together with a set of intelligent video analysis algorithms, the Smart PTZ sensor  would enable high performance target detection, tracking, recognition and classification, within a very large FOV (up to 360-degree) for NASA launch range clearance and surveillance.
Wake vortices are a critical constraint to aircraft separation and therefore airportal throughput, which is already at or near capacity at many major airports in the NAS. Improvements to current methods of spacing aircraft could significantly increase airportal capacity, but there is currently limited awareness of wake encounters and information with which to assess spacing in real-time or to design new spacing schemes. AeroTech proposes to improve situational awareness of wake vortices and enhance the prediction of wake vortex transport and decay by continuing development of the In Situ Wake Vortex Encounter Detection and Reporting System (VEDARS). The VEDARS will quantitatively detect wake encounters from flight data; downlink encounter reports in real-time to enhance ATC awareness and enable assessment of spacing schemes; and collect and report meteorological parameters from aircraft for use in wake transport and decay predictions. AeroTech is also proposing to improve the accuracy and reliability of reported wind speed and direction (and hence crosswind estimation) by improving and validating an estimator for sideslip angle. A reliable and accurate crosswind estimate is a key component in predicting the transport of wakes. By the end of Phase II, the operational feasibility concept for the VEDARS will have been established.
Future NASA exloration, planetary and astrophysics missions will require various enhancements in multi-stage cryocoolers. These include increased efficiency, reduced vibration and reductions in overall system mass and power consumption. For the small coolers required, pulse tube and Stirling coolers offer the best opportunities. At present, the efficiency of these coolers is limited by the effectiveness of low-temperature-stage regenerators. Below about 60 K, two factors play key roles in reducing the effectiveness of regenerators. One is that the heat capacity of most materials falls rapidly with decreasing temperature, thereby, severely limiting the number of useful materials to a few in common use. A second factor is that these commonly used materials are only available in powder form, a form known to raise reliability issues. In this effort, we will address both factors. We will use newly developed materials with high heat capacities at temperatures below 80 K, higher than that of commonly used materials. Further, we will develop novel low-temperature regenerator matrix configurations that will address both the aspect of high-efficiency and regenerator durability. Both the void fracton and the ratio of surface area to solid fracton of the regenerator matrix will be varied to achieve high efficiency.
This proposal addresses the need for miniature, narrow-linewidth, deep UV optical sources that operate at very low ambient temperatures for use in advanced in situ planetary science instruments for non-contact detection and classification of trace amounts of organic, inorganic, and biogenic materials using Raman and native fluorescence spectroscopic methods. The sources include aluminum gallium nitride semiconductor lasers and ultra-narrow-linewidth transverse excited hollow cathode lasers emi
This SBIR effort is focused on developing a Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) concept where-in ARTCCs can benefit from re-configuring airspaces based on Traffic Flow Management (TFM) restrictions, and the development of a preliminary Airspace Concept Evaluation System (ACES)-framework and initial algorithms to demonstrate that ARTCCs need to engage in a coordination framework of exchanging TFM restriction until they determine mutually-agreeable optimal airspace configuration. The development of algorithms that leverage and recognize the interactions and interdependencies between DAC and TFM is the key innovation of this effort. Some examples of expected operational improvements include 1) reduction in congestion and delays when sector capacities (Monitoring Alert Parameter or Dynamic Density) are violated, 2) reduction in controller workload and improved safety, 3) ability to accommodate user preferred routes and weather uncertainty and 4) achieve a balance between airborne delay and grounding holding delay. The SBIR Phase-I effort demonstrated how a combined DAC-TFM algorithm determines an optimal airspace configuration different from a DAC-only algorithm and could result in minimization of peak count and dwell time variance. The effort also included the design and preliminary implementation of a TFM model that uses ARTCC sector configuration to determine the delays that is generated, absorbed and propagated. The Phase II effort includes development of DAC-TFM framework as an enhancement to NASA's ACES- DADS (Dynamic Airspace Design Service) work and interaction of NASA's airspace partitioning DAC algorithms such as MxDAC, DAU slicing and Sector Combination algorithms with the TFM models using the same framework.
IAI is actively developing Software Defined Radio platforms that can adaptively switch between different modes of operation by modifying both transmit waveforms and receiver signal-processing tasks on the fly. The proposed software reconfigurable radio implementation technique and the system design will leverage IAI's experience in SDRs, RF design, signal processing and firmware design. Our innovation focuses on implementing maximum transceiver functionalities digital reconfigurable devices (FPGA), and minimizing the number of analog components. Our SDR designs are based on COTS components and are modular in nature. This makes it easier to upgrade smaller units of the design with development in state-of-the-art, instead of re-designing the entire SDR platform. The proposed innovations are: 
?	STRS implementation on COTS SDR platforms to realize NASA objectives of simultaneously capturing the benefits of SDR technology and the economies and benefits of an open architecture standard.
?	Integration of cognitive capabilities (with focus on STRS compliant implementation) for the SDR which have been developed under the Phase-I contract. This would include Adaptive Modulation and Coding, Automatic modulation recognition and Spectrum Sensing.
?	Reconfigurable digital transceiver design using high-speed FPGAs. This would enable multi-mode operation and scalable architecture for SDRs.
Wireless communication of small, nano and micro satellites will play a vital role to NASA mission and marketability of the satellite. The use of an Internet-based protocol, especially TCP/IP, can provide seamless network command and control continuity between terrestrial and space-based platforms and environments, as well as between distributed ground and space stations. However, long propagation and/or large transmission errors can significantly degrade current TCP/IP performance. In addition, current TCP is too complex to fit in a small footprint, which is required in microsats and nanosats. To address this NASA/ARC need for wireless networking technologies for small launch vehicles, Broadata Communications, Inc. proposes to develop a Small Space Platform Internet Protocol Stack with Space-Enhanced TCP technology (or SSP IP &amp; TCP in short) to dramatically increase TCP/IP performance (20 times improvements over standard TCP/IP was demonstrated in Phase I) and enable the use of TCP/IP for processor-footprint constrained spacecraft in NASA missions. The overall goal of this Phase II project is to further develop the SSP IP &amp; TCP technology, and to produce a full-scale, highly-optimized, IP embeddable SSP IP &amp; TCP prototype system for placement in NASA networks with micro- or nano-satellite platforms.  Our Phase II work plan is designed to complete SSP IP &amp; TCP development and to produce: (a) a miniature, nanosat integrateable, standalone embedded network system module that provides all SSP IP &amp; TCP functionalities and can directly meet NASA needs and resource-constraint integration requirements, and (b) a full-scale SSP IP &amp;TCP software package that supports multiple network communication interfaces and provides automated installation for Linux or Windows operation systems.
Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to synthesize, characterize, and test new ionic liquids and formulations as lubricants for aerospace applications.  The compounds will have low vapor pressures/outgassing and appropriate thermal stability.  Upon addition of the innovative ionic liquids to the base lubricants, a 20&#37; decrease in viscosity, friction coefficient, and wear will result.  Minimal corrosive effects of the formulations at will be observed.  The formulations will be shown more effective as liquid lubricants for use at low temperatures (-70oC) with long-term operational stability in aerospace systems.  Several new ionic liquids will be scaled and a novel formulation will be evaluated in a NASA test bed.  The technology will be at a TRL range from 3-4 upon completion of Phase II.
To meet multiple mission needs with limited resources, NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is pursuing smaller and more affordable spacecraft. The reduction of size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) of the radio frequency (RF) components required for a particular mission area allows the instrumentation package to be made more compact.
CRG has recently developed a new class of shape memory polymers (SMP) that are electrically activated, as opposed to the more mature thermally activated SMPs. Electrically activated shape memory polymers (EASMP) open a new design space of unexplored functionality beyond what has been considered for thermally activated materials.
We propose to develop and commercialize a new class of multilayer interference coating that is designed to provide high reflection efficiency in two disparate wavelength bands in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV), a so-called 'dual-band' EUV multilayer. A high-performance dual-band multilayer coating will allow for solar imaging or spectroscopy instruments that operate in two different EUV channels using a single instrument aperture.
The overall goal of the proposed effort is to develop and demonstrate rigorous model order reduction (MOR) technologies to automatically generate fully coupled, nonlinear, parameterized aeroservoelastic reduced-order models (ROMs) for smart material-based active structural control. The Phase I effort will focus on developing constituent nonlinear ROMs for aerodynamics, structural dynamics, and electromechanics of the smart materials, as well as an integration scheme for coupled aerodynamic, stru
Mezzo fabricates micro tube heat exchangers for a variety of applications, including aerospace, automotive racing, Department of Defense ground vehicles, economizers for ships, condensers, evaporators, liquid-liquid, liquid-air, recuperators, etc. Mezzo's expertise is designing, modeling and fabricating heat exchangers that use thousands, even tens of thousands, of stainless steel or nickel alloy micro tubes that provide performance advantages over competing technologies.
The innovation is an advanced Airborne Thematic Thermal InfraRed and Electro-Optical Imaging System (ATTIREOIS).  ATTIREOIS sensor  payload consists of two sets of advanced Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs) ?  a broadband Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS)  and a four (4) band Multispectral Electro-Optical Sensor (MEOS)  to approximate Landsat ETM+ bands 1,2,3,4, and 6, and LDCM bands 2,3,4,5, and 10+11.   The airborne TIRS is 3-axis stabilized system capable of providing 3D photogrammetric images with a 1,850 pixel swathwidth via pushbroom operation.  MEOS has a total of 116 million simultaneous sensor counts capable of providing 3 cm spatial resolution multispectral orthophotos for continuous airborne mapping. ATTIREOIS is a complete standalone and easy-to-use portable imaging instrument for light aerial vehicle deployment. Its miniaturized backend data system operates all ATTIREOIS sensor components, an INS/GPS, and an e-Gimbal Control Electronic Unit (ECU) with a data throughput of 300 Megabytes/sec. It has a volume of 0.03 m3 and a mass of 20 kg. The backend provides advanced onboard processing, performing autonomous raw sensor imagery development, TIRS image track-recovery reconstruction, LWIR/VNIR multi-band co-registration, and photogrammetric image processing. With proposed geometric optics and boresight calibrations, the ATTIREOIS data products are directly georeferenced with an accuracy of approximately one meter.
As the operational demands of liquid rocket engines increases, so too does the need for improved design and manufacturing methods for metal-to-composite nozzle extensions. The state of the art utilizes non-domestic composite materials for nozzle extensions. Although this solution does offer weight savings and increased performance, there is an increase in cost and the addition of Export regulations. Within this effort, Materials Research &amp; Design (MR&amp;D) is proposing an analytical study, coupled with subcomponent fabrication and testing, that would result in a design for a domestically available C-C nozzle extension and metallic-to-composite joint for the J-2X. The proposed study would investigate various mechanical attachment methods, such as mechanical fasteners and adhesives for both the CMC-to-metallic joint and the CMC-to-CMC joint. Additional aspects of the trade study would investigate various flange shapes and materials in order to reduce the critical stresses in the region.
We propose to design a low noise, two-side buttable, 64x64 readout multiplexer with the following key design features:

1-	By far the largest readout array developed for far IR detectors to date.  Four of these readout can be butted together to form a &gt;16k-pixel mosaic array satisfying the need of the next generation of astronomical instruments.

2-	Optimized for use with far infrared detectors requiring low bias levels.  The unit-cell design will maintain constant bias across the detector during the integration eliminating non-linearity and detector debiasing.  The design will also minimize pixel-to-pixel DC variations which improves the bias uniformity across all pixels of the array.

3-	Capable of operation at cryogenic temperatures at least as low as 1.6K.  Advanced monolithic cryo-CMOS technology will guarantee deep cryogenic operation with minimal impact on noise performance.

4-	Offers the potential of being directly hybridized to IR detector arrays using planar bump-bond technology.

This technology has been identified by NASA as well as the science and astronomy community as key for future far IR astronomy.  It fits well within the scope of the SBIR Subtopic S1.04 and will be a benefit to many large and small NASA missions including SAFIR/CALISTO and SOFIA.
NASA is developing algorithms and methodologies for efficient air-traffic management (ATM). Several researchers have adopted an optimization framework for solving problems such as flight scheduling, route assignment, flight rerouting, nationwide traffic flow management and dynamic airspace configuration. Computational complexity of these problems have led investigators to conclude that in many instances, real time solutions are computationally infeasible,  forcing the use of relaxed versions of the problem to manage computational complexity.
The primary objective of this research proposal is to accelerate optimization algorithms that play central roles in NASA's ATM research, by parallel implementation on emerging high performance computing (HPC) hardware. The proposed research effort will first identify optimization algorithms that are key to achieving NASA's ATM research objectives. The effort will then explore various avenues for parallelizing the optimization algorithms, and focus on algorithms most amenable for implementation on HPC hardware. The feasibility of implementing one or more optimization algorithms, and potential for further acceleration will be demonstrated on ATM problems of sufficient complexity, which will then form the basis for the Phase II prototype. Phase II work will develop an operational prototype of the algorithm implementation on HPC hardware, and deliver them to NASA for further evaluation.
According to the NASA Topic S3, "the Science Mission Directorate will carry out the scientific exploration of our Earth, the planets, moons, comets, and asteroids of our Solar System and beyond.  SMD's future direction will be moving from exploratory missions (orbiters and flybys) into more detailed/specific exploration missions that are at or near the surface (landers, rovers, and sample returns), that would require new vantage points, or that would need to integrate or distribute capabilities across multiple assets.  The demand for larger area coverage, higher resolution and multi-spectral capability in satellite remote sensing applications, and the demand for higher data rates in digital satellite communications networks continue to place ever increasing demands on onboard data handling and processing subsystems - 1 Gbps to 4 Gbps data rates are not uncommon and continually increasing. Further, satellite subsystems must be capable of reliable operation in the space radiation environment and will continue to be constrained by SWAP limitations. Shrinking development budgets and rapid development requirements are driving onboard data handling networks toward more flexible, non-proprietary architectures and interface standardization. Therefore, SPI proposes to develop a 10Gbps per channel optical transceiver and mating, multi-channel reprogrammable network interface card (NIC) that are RAD-tolerant to over 300KRad-Si TID, operate reliably from -25C to 85C.  Further, the NIC will be fully reprogrammable such that it may be reconfigured and utilized as an optical router, switch, or multi-protocol compatible gateway.
High speed robust very low power radiation hardened bus interconnects are required to accelerate on-board computations, further improve reconfigurability and upgrade capabilities of tracking systems, and provide easy system upgrade. The existing radiation-hardening techniques significantly degrade the achievable circuit's performance, reducing speed and increasing power consumption. In order to accelerate on-board computations, improve onboard autonomous navigation and time-transfer systems that can reduce DSN tracking requirements, ADSANTEC will develop Multi-Gigabit Rate Radiation Hard Bus supporting an open system architecture and providing a cost effective multi-gigabit interconnect. This development will be based on ADSANTEC's pioneering SERDES concept, supporting a variety of interfaces and operating broadband at any frequency. The design will be based on ADSANTEC's proprietary patent pending library of radiation hardened cells based on HBTs with fT=120/220GHz and will be fabricated in a commercial high-performance BiCMOS technology. Phase I was devoted for bus architecture design and computer simulations of the synchronization circuitry. The complete chip will be fabricated at tested the end of Phase II, and space (Class K) qualified at Phase II. The proposed SERDES is a revolutionary upgrade of the existing ADSANTEC's Bus solution scheduled for launch (LADEE Program) in May 2011.
The objective of this project is to develop a wireless intelligent dual-band photodetector system for advanced fire detection/recognition, combining UV/IR III nitride material photodiode structures controlled by FPGA portable circuitry, with a neural network identification capability. Spectral range, detector speed, spatial resolution become critical for fast fire detection as well as for avoiding costly false alarms. Current detectors are bulky, have low mechanical and temperature strength, and cannot be easily integrated into networks. Miniature, chip-based dual-color high-temperature visible- or even solar-blind optical sensor system would allow for fast and false alarm-free fire detection and recognition, thus providing a fast and reliable response in separated UV and IR bands with high spatial resolution, and "smart", artificial neural networks based signal analysis Moreover, development of such sensors will promote fabrication of multi-pixel dual-band UV/IR focal plane arrays with a visible- or solar-blind imaging capability.  This project will also consider integration the optical sensor system with existing state of the art smoke sensors for detection of smoldering (flameless) fires as well. One of the approaches for such integration is based on placing the remote high sensitivity dual-band UV/IR focal plane arrays integrated smoke detectors in areas that are prone to possible fires, such as aircraft or spacecraft engines and power circuits. These devices will then communicate with one central control system that analyses the nature and type of flame and sound an alarm accordingly. The second approach is to integrate the smoke and the high sensitivity dual-band UV/IR focal plane array detector into a unit controlled by one system, and then place them in a close proximity of possible fire sources.
Electronically steerable antennas are key to effective radio transmission at millimeter-wave frequencies. To enable communication with rovers, robots, EVA astronauts, and other highly maneuverable elements in planetary surface explorations, steerable antennas must be capable of full 360 degree (panoramic) azimuth scan. For base stations and fixed communication terminals, the antenna must be capable of producing multiple independently-steerable beams. Multi-beam antennas with passive beam-forming networks present ideal candidates for these scenarios, and are preferable to phased-array antennas from the points of view of multi-user capability and DC power consumption. In the framework of this SBIR project, Freeform Wave Technologies, LLC proposes to develop a panoramically steerable multi-beam antenna technology for NASA's K- and Ka-band mobile radios. The proposed technology is based on novel quasi-optical beam-forming concepts and can lead to compact, light-weight, and highly versatile antenna topologies. Analytical and computational tools and methodology for designing the beam-forming network will be developed (phase I), and 16-element array prototypes with single and multiple steerable beams will be designed and manufactured (in Phase II) for 18-40 GHz and 25.5-27 GHz frequency bands, respectively.
Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill present and future
aircraft safety objectives though automated  vehicle recovery while
maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of
unknown or  varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural
application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel
efficient, have longer operating ranges though  more flexible aircraft
structures.  This increased flexibility will result in structural modes
being in the same frequency range as the rigid body modes.  The
traditional non-adaptive control design approach to address the
aeroservoelastic (ASE) interaction of decoupling the rigid body and
structural dynamics  will not work. Furthermore, the application of
adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE
excitation leading to structural damage or failure.   Hence an
integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation,
flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works
in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and
safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear,
parameter-varying  (LPV) control to the design of the flight control,
load alleviation and flutter suppression algorithms. The Phase I and
Phase II research will focus on applying and extending LPV techniques to
model, design, analyze and  simulate control algorithms for flexible
aircraft. The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control
system with adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during
upsets while retaining the load  alleviation and flutter suppression
characteristics of the  nominally augmented aircraft.  Phase I will
develop a prototype LPV framework for modeling, analysis, control and
simulation and Phase II will develop a comprehensive LPV software tool suite.
The overall objective of the Phase 1 effort was to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the Advanced Carbothermal Electric (ACE) Reactor concept. Unlike state-of-the-art carbothermal reactors that use concentrated solar energy and/or laser energy to heat the regolith, the ACE Reactor uses an innovative method to electrically heat the regolith to temperatures over 1800:C within a thermally insulted environment, either with or without a crucible. Commercial high-temperature heating elements made from molybdenum disilicide (MoSi2) are designed to only operate in oxidizing atmospheres where a protective layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2) will form. In Phase 1, the ACE reactor used MoSi2 heating elements with a protective coating to allow them to operate in any type of environment (oxidizing, reducing, or vacuum). The ACE Reactor concept eliminates the problems encountered with traditional carbothermal hot-wall reactors and offers significant advantages over current carbothermal reactor approaches. By eliminating the need for a concentrated solar energy system, the ACE reactor offers a significantly lowers system mass and removes the need to keep optical surfaces clean. In addition to efficiently producing oxygen, the ACE reactor separates the processed regolith into metallic iron and a silicate glass that can be formed into structural components or shielding materials.
&lt;p&gt;
	Strategic technology development to support future ExEP projects.&lt;/p&gt;
To enhance aviation safety, numerous adaptive control techniques have been developed to maintain aircraft stability and performance in the presence of failures or damage. Flight evaluations of various adaptive controllers conducted by NASA and others have shown great promise. In some cases unfavorable pilot-vehicle interactions including pilot-induced oscillations have occurred. Susceptibility to such interactions is more likely when the pilot interacts with a highly nonlinear vehicle that may no longer have predictable response characteristics. To alleviate these unfavorable interactions, Systems Technology, Inc. proposes the Smart Adaptive Flight Effective Cue or SAFE-Cue. This innovative system provides force feedback to the pilot via an active control inceptor with corresponding command path gain adjustments. The SAFE-Cue alerts the pilot that the adaptive control system is active, provides guidance via force feedback cues, and attenuates commands, thus ensuring pilot-vehicle system stability and performance in the presence of damage or failures. Phase 2 will build upon a successful Phase 1 demonstration wherein SAFE-Cue configurations eliminated pilot-vehicle system oscillation tendencies allowing the evaluation pilots to focus on the task rather than maintaining control. In this proposed program, a prototype SAFE-Cue will be developed and evaluated with exemplar adaptive controllers using the Calspan Learjet In-Flight Simulator.
Development of an improved water management membrane for a static vapor feed electrolyzer that produces sub-saturated H2 and O2 is proposed.  This improved membrane can increase the performance and especially the durability of static vapor feed electrolyzers.  Static vapor feed electrolyzers greatly simplify electrolyzer systems as they eliminate the need for water/gas phase separation, which is particularly challenging in a zero gravity environment.  Maintaining water in the vapor phase greatly reduces membrane swelling which should increase durability.  Finally, by keeping water in the vapor phase the MEA is not exposed to ion and other contaminants that are carried by a liquid water stream, further increasing durability and simplifying the system by reducing the need for ultra-pure water.  
The primary goal of this Phase II program then is to demonstrate the enhanced performance and durability of a static vapor feed electrolyzer utilizing an improved water management membrane.
ElectroChem proposes a Phase II program to advance its Phase I effort, to develop a conductive water removal membrane to enable passive, high current density PEMFC operation.   Very good progress was demonstrated by the two approaches investigated:  1) Construct a carbon-based composite, higher bubble point membrane; 2) convert a polymer-based water removal membrane to a conductive  membrane (both approaches to meet the CWRM primary requirements of conductivity, water permeation, and "no gas leakage"). 

 In Phase I, coating the carbon with conductive/hydrophilic materials was very effective, resulting in CWRM's that met the conductivity and water permeation requirements and reduced gas permeation by 99.8&#37;.   A multilayer variation achieved "no gas permeation" at 40 psig.  In the  polymer approach, conductive material treatments were successful in increasing  conductivity.

In Phase II, we will 1) use quantitative control of the carbon coatings to advance the promising  carbon composite approach;  2) utilize individual layers with different properties to construct a multilayer CWRM; 3) investigate the use of a conducting polymer to increase bubble pressure.   
 
To produce a  polymer-based CWRM, an advanced pore modification technique will be used to enhance polymer acceptability of the conductive particles. The program will culminate with fuel cell testing of the CWRM's.
Colorado Power Electronics (CPE) has built an innovative modular power processing unit (PPU) for Hall Thrusters, including discharge, magnet, heater and keeper supplies, and an interface module. The innovations of this high-performance PPU are its resonant circuit topologies, magnetics design, modularity, and its stable and sustained operation during severe Hall effect thruster current oscillations. Laboratory testing at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has demonstrated discharge module efficiency of 96&#37; with is considerably higher than current state of the art.  The purpose of the Phase II project is to develop an Engineering Model HiVHAc PPU that includes a digital control interface unit (DCIU) to TRL 6. This will position CPE to manufacture a qualification model PPU as a Phase III project. The prototype digitally-controlled flow controller with a PC interface developed in Phase I will serve as the foundation for a combination DCIU-Flow module to be added to the PPU in Phase II. Thermal and vibration Finite element analysis (FEA) will be performed on the reduced-mass chassis designed in Phase I, and then a test brassboard PPU will be built and tested. Additionally, the control loops of the PPU will be analyzed and a stress analysis will be performed.  The test PPU will be a deliverable to NASA GRC.  The results of the analysis and testing will be used to design and build an engineering model flight-like PPU that includes flight-like wire harnessing schemes, EMI filtering, enhanced modularity and the new DCIU-Flow module. At the beginning of the project, the TRL of the PPU is between 4 and 5, the TRL of the DCIU is 2, and the TRL of the valve driver is 3.  At the conclusion of the Phase II effort the PPU/DCIU will be at TRL 6.
Many of the most challenging categories of propulsion system development are related to the prediction of interacting effects between the fluid loads, thermal loads, and the structural deflection. In practice, the interactions between technical disciplines are often not fully explored analytically, and the analysis in one discipline often uses a simplified representation of other disciplines as an input or boundary condition. For example, the fluid forces in an engine generate static and dynamic rotor deflection, but the forces themselves are dependent on the rotor position and its orbit. This practice ignores the interaction between the physical phenomena where the outcome of each analysis can be heavily dependent on the inputs (i.e., changes in flow due to deflection, changes in deflection due to fluid forces). Such a rigid design process also lacks the flexibility to employ multiple levels of fidelity in the analysis of each of the components. 

The goals for this project are to develop and validate an innovative design environment that has the flexibility to simultaneously analyze multiple disciplines, multiple components, with multiple levels of model fidelity.  Development and demonstration of such a system will provide substantially superior capabilities to current design tools.
The original Sublimator Driven Coldplate (SDC) design sought to provide significant mass savings over a traditional pumped fluid loop by combining the functions of a cold plate and a sublimator and eliminating the fluid loop (Leimkuehler, et. al., "Design of a Sublimator Driven Coldplate Development Unit," 2008-01-2169). The target application was to provide heat rejection for the ascent module of the Altair lunar lander vehicle during the lunar ascent mission phase. However, in order to provide heat rejection for the ascent module during the rest of the mission, it is desirable to keep the ascent module integrated with the fluid loop in the rest of the Altair vehicle. Therefore, we propose an Integrated Sublimator Driven Coldplate (ISDC) that can function as both a standard flow-through cold plate and a Sublimator Driven Coldplate. The ISDC builds on the original SDC concept by adding coolant layers so that it can be integrated with the pumped fluid loop on the rest of the vehicle. This approach provides mass savings by (1) combining multiple pieces of hardware into a single piece of hardware and (2) providing additional fault tolerance without the need for redundant hardware.
The Microcosm team will complete the simulation tool architecture early in Phase II, and in parallel begin to develop the simulation.  The tool is architected for carrying out performance analysis and rapid trade study assessments of competing navigation/timing architecture options for future NASA missions, incorporating state-of-the art radiometric, x-ray pulsar, and laser communications measurements, among others, in the Orbit Determination Toolbox (ODTBX) environment.  The solution centers on inclusion of a navigation layer as part of the communications architecture and on the maintenance and propagation of navigation states, time and associated uncertainties onboard each platform with filtering capabilities enabling updates based on any available measurements.  Such measurements include: direct state and uncertainty updates via ground communication, radiometric- and lasercom-based range and range rate data from communication with ground stations and other spacecraft, time transfer from ground stations and other spacecraft, X-ray pulsar-based navigation and time measurements (XNAV), and others as they become available. This would be game-changing for spacecraft autonomy enabling platforms to operate using onboard state information rather than relying almost entirely on ground based tracking and activity scheduling.  Additionally, architectures that include long-range intersatellite communication (e.g. relay spacecraft) can provide favorable geometries for significantly improved 3D precision navigation solar-system-wide.
Polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis units are currently
designed to require active water flow and phase separation, or are based
on a passive vapor transport mechanism that inherently limits
performance due to mass-transport limitations.  ElectroChem has
developed and successfully demonstrated a passive water transport
Integrated Flow Field concept (its IFF Structure) that controls the flow
of water through each cell, in a highly reliable, performance enhancing,
and gravity independent manner. By enabling the passive transport of
liquid water to and from the membrane, it simplifies the structure of
the electrolyzer system while avoiding performance limits due to mass
transfer problems that have plagued conventional electrolyzers.
ElectroChem will develop a high performance electrolysis unit that is
based on the passive transport of liquid water into, within, and out of
the cell.  A custom-designed IFF cell structure will be developed during
Phase I to refine approaches to optimized performance under a wide range
of conditions, including gravity independence, higher current, and
prolonged-period stable operation.  The Phase II program will focus on
multi-cell stack development and higher pressure modifications in
support of energy storage systems free of mechanical compressors and
water circulation pumps.
This program will mature and further develop structural syntactic foam insulated integral Thermal Protection System (TPS) designs and materials as an enabling technology for the highly reliable, reusable launch system.  This proposed SBIR program will build on Powdermet's extensive prior experience with SiC rigid insulators, CMCs, and ultrahigh-temperature coatings, combined with design modeling from MR&amp;D associates that identified positive directions needed in foam-supported integral structural TPS systems.
Space missions could benefit from improved lubricant technology. PSI intends to develop novel liquid lubricant formulations which are applicable for future NASA missions. Our concept is based upon use of nanofluid technology whereby stable, colloidal suspensions of additives are present in perfluoropolyalkylether (PFPE) base fluids. The additives will become sheared within minute scratches and grooves while separating surface asperities. At the conclusion of Phase I, we will have prepared ~ 10 nm diameter additives with ~ 115 m2/g and ~ 80 m2/g gravimetric surface areas, respectively. Their surface will have been chemically modified and shown stable from -65oC to +65oC. A 50&#37; reduction in friction and wear at steel surfaces upon dispersion of the additive to PFPE will have been demonstrated. PSI will have shown that the viscosity of Uniflor 8960 PFPE is maintained at 60 cSt 1 5&#37; upon formulation with the additive. PSI will have demonstrated that the particles maintain an average particle size of ~ 10 nm within PFPE, and would have settling times &gt; 5 years. The TRL at the beginning of the Phase I contract will be at 2, while the TRL at the completion of the Phase I contract will be at 3-4.
Plasma catalytic techniques are proposed for the extraction of oxygen from the abundant carbon dioxide contained in the Martian atmosphere (95&#37; CO2)..  The Phase I project will clearly demonstrate the feasibility of achieving these goals by focussing on key aspects of the technology, such as efficient microwave plasma catalytic conversion at relevant pressures and processing rates.  The Phase II program will advance the technology through a more in depth development effort to the point where a fully functional prototype will be assembled and tested.  Successful culmination of this effort will result in a self contained, energy efficient technique that can be utilized in robotic precursor missions to Mars to stockpile oxygen in support of future manned missions to the planet.
Teraphysics Corporation proposes to design and develop a microfabricated, 94 GHz, 25 W traveling wave tube (TWT) with 53&#37; efficiency for NASA applications.  In Phase I, we plan to prove feasibility by completing electrical designs of all major components.  In Phase II, we would complete the mechanical design, fabrication, assembly, and test of a laboratory model.  To successfully complete this program, Teraphysics will apply our expertise in vacuum electronics focusing in mm-wave and THz devices; expertise in high level, three-dimensional, computational modeling; novel, patent protected, helical TWT designs for mm-wave and THz operation; and novel, patent protected, helical TWT microfabrication techniques. In Phase I, the technology will advance from TRL 2 to 3.
Giner Electrochemical Systems (GES) proposes to develop a cathode liquid feed, proton-exchange membrane electrolyzer stack and system capable of producing 3,600 psi oxygen.  We propose to subcontract Hamilton-Sundstrand Human Space Systems (H-S) to share unique state-of-the-art technologies that provide the best path to meeting program objectives.  GES will share their data and expertise with high balanced pressure electrolyzers and H-S will contribute their data and expertise in high differential pressure electrolyzer systems. Based on the high pressure anode design concept developed in Phase I, GES will further develop the electrolyzer cell and stack design.  In parallel, H-S will develop the key subsystem and control components for a brassboard balance of plant.  The program will culminate in the fabrication, assembly, and demonstration of a brassboard high oxygen pressure generation system.
The primary goal of this SBIR effort is delivery of a compact, robust, highly efficient, fiber-coupled UV module to provide the required 355nm light for integration into HSRL's UV interferometric-based measurement system.  An additional goal of this effort is to prototype a compact, robust, fiber-coupled UV PLC module which produces the required spectrally formatted 355nm light for stabilization of the HSRL's UV interferometric filter, a component required for the accurate measurement of critical aerosol microphysical properties. This approach is enabled by AdvR's patented submount poling technique together with AdvR's integrated Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) technology. The UV PLC concept advances NASA's state-of-the-art lidar systems due to its compact, efficient, and reliable design, thus enabling use on small aircraft and future space-based platforms.
The primary objective of the proposed Phase II effort is to develop and deliver a ruggedized, single-frequency, mJ-level, 2050-nm master oscillator  power amplifier system suitable for coherent LIDAR applications. The laser system is based on a low-average power, pulsed, single-frequency, 2-um Ho-laser source. Pulsed operation of the Ho-oscillator is achieved via passive Q-switching using robust Cr2+-doped saturable absorbers. Development of such pulsed seed sources enables the design of compact, rugged, reliable and efficient LIDAR transmitters based on all-amplifier architecture.
Direct diode-pumping using the latest 1.9-um diode laser technology provides improved oscillator reliability and compactness. Efficient, Tm:fiber laser pumped, bulk Ho:YLF single-stage amplifier provides energy scaling to mJ level. The choice of a 2-um Ho-laser material (as opposed to 1.5-um Er-lasers) enables efficient power/energy scaling of the pulsed seed oscillator output in high-gain Ho-amplifiers. This approach decreases the number of amplifying stages, simplifies the overall design and packaging, and improves the electrical efficiency of the complete laser system as compared to the current technology.
Lightweight robotic excavators address the need for machines that dig,
collect, transport and dump lunar soil.  Robust and productive small
robots enable mining rich and accessible deposits of ice and other
volatiles buried near craters at the lunar poles, delivering resources to
produce propellant, and thus making space exploration sustainable. 
Lightweight excavators bridge the gap between prospecting and full-scale
ISRU.

A lightweight robot is proposed that excavates and delivers regolith with
production so superior to the state of the art as to enable realistic
lunar and planetary applications.  Demonstration of light weight will be
achieved by operating a low mass robot in Earth gravity reduced 5/6 by
offloading.

The significance of the proposed innovation is an approach that not only
performs the required tasks but is low in mass (30 kg to 150 kg).  Mass
constraints make productive excavation challenging.  However, innovative
designs incorporating transverse bucket-wheels, high payload composite
dump beds, and high-speed driving are game changers, enabling regolith
operations in low gravity.  Phase 1 experimental results show that payload
ratio and driving speed govern productivity of small robots.

Phase 2 will elevate TRLs from 3 at the beginning to an estimated 4 or 5
at end of contract.
Accurate real-time microbial monitoring of water environment is of paramount importance to crew health as well as to ensure proper functioning and control of the life support system during space exploration. The existing methods are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the devices used are bulky, consumable-hungry, and ill-suited for spacecraft deployment. We propose to develop and demonstrate a novel, fully automated, milli-/micro-fluidics-based sensor cartridge for sample preparation and detection of microbes in water. The final product will be compact, accurate, fully integrated and automated, power-effective, and fieldable in space environments. In Phase 1, key technology elements have been successfully demonstrated. Major components of the sensor cartridge were designed using a computational virtual-prototyping approach followed by state-of-the-art microfabrication and engineering. Experiments with microbial samples commonly found in space water environment were undertaken to demonstrate component functionality and to establish proof-of-concept of the proposed technology. In Phase 2, efforts will focus along two lines. First, component design optimization will be carried out with fabrication enhancements and extended testing and characterization for technology validation. Second, an integrated microfluidic cartridge and instrumentation capable of automated operation (sample processing and detection) will be developed. The prototype instrument will be demonstrated in both terrestrial and hypogravity environments (in collaboration with NASA researchers/facilities). A multi-disciplinary team with experience in all aspects of the proposed effort including fluidic system design, fabrication and experimentation, systems engineering, microbiology and spaceflight has been assembled to ensure successful completion of project milestones.
Marine phytoplankton are critical in sustaining life on Earth.  They are key drivers of the global biogeochemical cycles of carbon and other nutrients, and account for 50&#37; of global photosynthesis.   Phytoplankton growth is the fundamental component of the 'ocean biological pump'  one of the two primary mechanisms that cause the ocean to be a significant sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide.  Since different taxa occupy different ecological niches, identifying the major influences on the spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton groups is necessary to understand ecosystem function and the role of the oceans in global climate.   
Scientists employ various satellite sensors to measure the amount and distribution of chlorophyll a, an indicator of phytoplankton biomass in the ocean, but satellites only detect near-surface properties and therefore cannot adequately resolve the water column biomass and composition of phytoplankton species.  Small and robust sea-based instrumentation (the innovation of this work) provides this information, as well as valuable independent verification of the spaced-based data ("sea truth" data).  
The objective of this program is to develop a small, inexpensive, submersible, robust microflow cytometer (uFC) for quantitative detection of phytoplankton, to be initially deployed on the NSF Center for Coastal Margin Observation &amp; Prediction coastal ocean observatories (Oregon).  The device will be designed for long-endurance autonomous operation.  The proposed design has low power requirements, reduces or eliminates consumables, prevents of fouling, and reduces sensitivity to the environment.  
Our Phase 2 technical objectives are to (1) fabricate a complete uFC with all the subsystems necessary for extended autonomous operational deployment; (2) test our uFC on a coastal station operated by CMOP/OHSU. (3) Deploy our mFC on a submarine glider operated by CMOP/OHSU (4) Collect data at-sea, along the coast of Oregon/Washington.
This proposal describes a new concept to drive MEMS DMs using low-power, high-voltage multiplexing. Compared to other reported approaches, the proposed architecture will reduce power consumption by a factor of one hundred, to a level of a few hundred milliwatts. This estimate is supported by direct measurements obtained from prototype modules that were demonstrated in Phase I research.

In the Phase II project we will scale up this innovative circuit DMs that Boston Micromachines Corporation (BMC) developed for NASA in support of the Terrestrial Planet Finding program. At the same time, we will reduce the driver's size in two successive stages of integration. In the first stage, we will implement a hybrid packaging approach in which a 993-actuator DM, HV amplifier, multiplexer components, and power supplies will all be co-located on a common multi-layered circuit board. With this driver we will demonstrate both low power consumption (~300mW) and high precision (~10pm). In the second stage of integration, we will design, fabricate, and test a High Voltage Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (HV-ASIC) version of the multiplexing architecture using a commercial foundry. We will combine a number of these 256 channel HV-ASIC modules into a driver for a 3063 actuator DM that is currently being developed by BMC to support NASA's coronography goals.
Space Micro proposes to build a radiation hardened by design (RHBD) flash memory, using a modified version of our RH-eDRAM Memory Controller to solve all the single event effects issues (SEU, SEFI and multiple bit errors) using either a RHBD process with NAND Flash cells. The RH-eFlash will be manufactured on known radiation characterized ASIC processes: examples being 130 nm or 65 nm TSMC or other US foundry equivalents. Using the TSMC example, the resulting RH-eFlash, fabricated on a 65 nm process, provides 512 Mbit to 1 Gbit of radiation hardened (SEU, SEFI, SEL and TID) NAND Flash memory. Operating temperature and packaging reliability is addressed through a thorough memory integrated circuit design (temperature) and post IC high-reliability package selections (i.e. ceramic packages). Note that this technology is portable to future available and radiation tested ASIC processes with even finer geometries and high density.
Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) capability via GPS services are used by NASA for (1) real-time on-board autonomous navigation, (2) attitude determination and (3) earth science including sea height and climate monitoring. It is expected that over the next two decades approximately 95&#37; of ALL space missions will operate within the GPS service envelope. GPS receivers will be "embedded" in most instruments and will require improved SWAP and   increased sensitivity for improved tolerance from large interferers and/or ruggedness to multipath errors. The RFIC developed in this Phase II will have 4 coherent GPS receivers on a single silicon die which improves the SWaP metric over the existing solution by 30x. In addition to supporting beam steering capability, it'll provide interference tolerance and signal recovery in multipath environment, such as those during positioning of precision equipment on the International Space Station (ISS). The other NASA programs that will benefit from this device are:
1.	Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission
2.	Sexton GPS receiver for Xray Telescope on ISS.
3.	COSMIC IIA,B Missions
4.	Jason III Mission for Oceanography

The schedule in this proposal will have the delivery of the initial prototype samples made available to NASA in 12 months.

Estimated TRL In: 3
Estimated TRL Out: 4
With the Titan Saturn System Mission, NASA is proposing to send a Montgolfiere balloon to probe the atmosphere of Titan.  In order to better plan this mission and create a robust optimized balloon design, NASA requires the ability to more accurately evaluate the convective heat transfer characteristics of the balloon operating in Titan's atmosphere.  Based on limitations and shortfalls of previous efforts, NASA has requested proposals for a test bed to support CFD validation.  Near Space Corporation (NSC) proposes to develop an innovative Titan Montgolfiere Terrestrial Test Bed (TMTT) with an innovative integrated sensor and data collection system to provide the required validation.  The balloon envelope design will leverage experience gained on past Titan prototypes, and incorporate a novel data acquisition system that will enable both direct and indirect measurements.  A combination of embedded sensors and infrared imaging will be used to provide both local and global surface measurements.  The embedded sensors will be used to calibrate the remote IR imaging, providing better visualizations with higher resolution and more accurate measurements.  The ground work for the system will be provided with model experimentation in Phase I and followed by the development of a full-size test bed in Phase II.
Technical Abstract: This project proposes to develop moisture insensitive, high performance, carbon fiber laminates for future missions.  Current space-qualified resins swell as moisture is absorbed.  Eliminating moisture induced swelling (i.e. strain) will permit reallocation of telescope error budget and simplify integration and test activities.  A relatively simple laminate production process is envisioned where eutectic alloy will replace traditional polymer resin matrix.  In terms of strain, eutectic alloys are insensitive to moisture absorption and possess tailorable properties.  Key fiber and alloy adjustments will  achieve the best blend between laminate moisture insensitivity, thermal and structural properties.
Future NASA space missions require advanced systems to convert thermal energy into electric power.  These systems must be reliable, efficient, and lightweight.  In response, we propose to develop an intercooled turbo-Brayton power converter with high efficiency and specific power.  The converter will use gas bearings to provide reliable, maintenance-free, long-life operation.  It will also consist of discrete components that can be packaged to fit optimally with other subsystems, and its continuous gas flow can communicate directly with remote heat sources and heat rejection surfaces without ancillary heat transfer components and intermediate flow loops.  Creare is well suited to succeed because we have a long history of developing advanced turbomachines, heat exchangers, and Brayton systems for challenging spaceflight applications.  We will complete design analyses, trade studies, fabrication trials, and preliminary designs for the components and converter assembly during Phase I, followed by fabrication and testing of a breadboard converter during Phase II.
Gas turbine engine technology is constantly challenged to operate at higher combustor outlet temperatures. In a modern gas turbine engine, these temperatures can exceed the blade and disk material limits by 600 &lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;F or more, necessitating both internal and film cooling schemes in addition to the use of thermal barrier coatings. Internal convective cooling is inadequate in many blade locations, and both internal and film cooling approaches can lead to significant performance penalties in the engine.
 
Micro Cooling Concepts has developed a turbine blade cooling concept that provides enhanced internal impingement cooling effectiveness via the use of micro-structured impingement surfaces. These surfaces significantly increase the cooling capability of the impinging flow, as compared to a conventional untextured surface. This approach can be combined with microchannel cooling and external film cooling to tailor the cooling capability per the external heating profile. The cooling system can then be optimized to minimize impact on engine performance.
The objective of the Phase I SBIR project is to develop sensors that can discriminate the presence of combustible gases like oxygen (O2) in hydrogen (H2) or H2 in O2 backgrounds. These sensors will meet NASA applications for on-orbit crew and mission safety. Currently, H2 and O2 are produced by electrolysis of water. The O2 is used in the environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) of spacecraft while the hydrogen is vented. H2 is a flammable gas while oxygen aids in combustion. InnoSense LLC (ISL) will utilize its Chemical Fingerprint (TM) sensor array fabrication technology in Phase I to engineer a miniature device with multi-analyte detection capability. The Phase I working model would be evaluated to demonstrate NASA use potential. Upon fine-tuning various parameters in Phase II, the system performance will be tested with a prototype hardware.  ISL has received technology endorsement letter from a prime contractor in the NASA application area.  For assuring success of this project, ISL has assembled a technical team with a cumulative 60 person-years of experience in developing commercially viable sensor systems.
Cloud computing has the potential to permit scientists to scale up to solve large science problems without having to invest in hardware and software infrastructure. Even though its use has become commonplace in the business realm, its use in HPC is still limited to a few applications. This project aims at developing, prototyping, validating, and commercializing the world's first cloud-enabled acceleration library of linear algebra solvers. Considering that linear algebra is the most common computational bottleneck in scientific software applications (more than 70&#37; of HPC cycles), the resulting Specialized Linear Algebra Cloud technology will directly impact numerous applications, such as the design of aerospace and automotive vehicles, exploration for new oil &amp; gas reserves, nuclear energy research, and the design of computer chips, among many others.

The Phase I work will incorporate innovations for removing the bandwidth bottleneck in the outsource model of a Specialized Linear Algebra Cloud. We will also design a core platform able to support solver-as-a-service technology in HPC environments. The Phase I technology will be evaluated in three different scenarios: (A) Infrastructure Cloud outsourcing computations to Specialized Clouds, (B) Infrastructure Cloud making use of internal Specialized Clouds, and (C) End-users accelerating code through direct access to Specialized Clouds.

Accelogic's novel numerical libraries are expected to provide next-generation speed/efficiency to existing cloud systems, with direct application to NASA programs, other government applications, and many valuable uses in academia and the private sector.  The Phase I proof-of-concept work should advance the technology from TRL 2 to TRL 3, and we expect to reach TRL 5 during Phase II. A world-class combination of experts in algorithm design, computer networks, and numerical analysis pursue these development goals.
XCOR has conducted extensive research and development, and material characterization analysis of a nonflammable, high-strength, lightweight thermoplastic fluoropolymer composite material, trademarked Nonburnite&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt;, which is suitable for making reusable, reliable, low cost cryogenic tanks and structures for space flight service.  XCOR's composite material is lighter than metal, and unlike graphite/epoxy, nonflammable. The material is immune to microcracking, has a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), and is capable of withstanding hundreds of cryogenic temperature cycles. Additionally, it is durable, repairable, and can withstand extreme hot and cold temperatures. The fluoropolymer composite maintains strength and flexibility at extreme temperatures (-260 to plus 280 degrees C/-436 to plus 536 degrees F).Low CTE also allows this composite to be built into a vehicle's primary structure. Used as the internal skin in a sandwich structure (Nonburnite, foam, and carbon/epoxy) the composite skin-foam-skin material provides both thermal insulation and structure. 
These features, along with the high strength-to-weight ratio, make it an enabling technology for building lighter, highly reusable, and more robust propellant tanks, thus reducing need for maintenance between flights. Further, XCOR believes significant commercialization opportunities exist for the material after its manufacturing processes have matured.
Future space exploration missions require advanced thermal control systems (TCS) to dissipate heat from spacecraft, rovers, or habitats to external environments. We propose to develop a lightweight, reliable TCS to effectively maintain cabin and equipment temperatures under widely varying heat loads and ambient temperatures.
Ophir's Phase I research was highly successful and all contract objectives and tasks were successfully completed.  In Phase II, Ophir proposes to continue this important research by developing and flight testing a multifunction, low-cost, laser radar capable of enhancing aviation safety by accurately measuring kinetic air hazards, providing supplemental air data, and enhancing ride comfort.  The innovation is providing a single, cost-effective sensor that has multiple-use functionality, in a package that is easily integrated onto commercial aircraft.  Conventional air data systems provide critical information to the aircraft for safe flight, but there are vulnerabilities, as evidenced by the recent Air France accident.  A more robust air data system for flight controls on aircraft is needed - particularly to measure airspeed in icing and severe weather conditions.  This proposed sensor also detects and quantifies kinetic air hazards which impact the safety of air traffic; enhances ride comfort while reducing airframe fatigue; decreases fuel consumption, and reduces the frequency and severity of encounters with turbulent events.  Building upon the Phase I design and performance trade studies, Phase II will finalize the prototype design, assemble the working prototype, perform Proof-of-Capability laboratory testing, package the prototype for flight testing and demonstrate the multifunction lidar technology in a representative flight environment (TRL 5).
This project will investigate an entirely new battery chemistry by developing A Martian Air Battery. Specifically the project will explore the concept of a Martian battery that utilizes in-situ resources to produce energy for NASA applications. Our experience producing high-energy air cathodes for our work with existing metal-air systems will be utilized during this program. Our established air cathodes will be modified, to accommodate a Martian environment, and incorporated into cells. Several different chemically composed cathodes will be investigated. The anticipated result of the phase 1 project is a new battery. Advantages of the proposed Martian battery include a light weight source for in-situ energy production.  In addition the conceptual battery will be capable of atmospheric gas collection and separation.
Volcanic research is a significant part of the &amp;quot;Earth Surface &amp;amp;
Interior&amp;quot; focus area of the NASA Earth Science program. After a
volcanic eruption, the smallest ash particles can remain in the
atmosphere for days to months affecting public health in the surrounding
regions and the radiation balance on Earth. Airborne volcanic ash
particulate matter (PM) also poses a major threat to aviation and would
therefore be essential to distinguish and identify by remote sensing and
in situ techniques. Vista Photonics in collaboration with New Jersey
Institute of Technology proposes to develop an innovative technology for
in situ characterization of PM in volcanic plumes, including measurement
of PM size distribution function and concentration. The Phase I study
will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technology and outline
the design of the Phase II prototype instrument. The successful
completion of this program will lead to development of a very
inexpensive compact PM measurement instrument suitable for use on a
variety of ground based and airborne platforms including remotely
operated aircraft and surface craft, and even disposable devices, such
as dropsondes.
Under Phase 1 of subject SBIR, Air-Lock, Incorporated will design a self donning and doffing Rear Entry Hard Upper Torso (REHUT) that interfaces with a suit port. This design will allow suited, pressurized crewmembers to mate/demate their suits to/from suit ports located on lunar or planetary habitats, rovers, etc. This is a significant activity because it minimizes concerns over dust entering the habitat during crewmember entry/exit and it maximizes the habitat's working volume by eliminating the need for airlocks. For the purpose of this SBIR, the baseline architecture being will focus on NASA JSC's MK-III advanced spacesuit and the suit port being utilized by the Lunar Electirc Rover (LER).
Large aperture aspheric optics are among the most susceptible optical surfaces to the accumulation of periodic surface artifacts during fabrication. Periodic features are created during the manufacturing process and lead to significant degradation in imaging performance. Most research on the topic addresses polishing, and in particular smoothing of periodic features. Our proposal addresses preventing such surface artifacts during the generating and grinding processes. Prevention upstream in the process can lead to significant cost reductions and simplification of downstream polishing processes.
The Phase-1 effort will study of how the introduction of an ELID in-situ tool dressing technique can prevent or minimize the creation of mid and high spatial frequency surface features in the process of fabricating glass and Silicon Carbide aspheric optics and replication mandrels. We propose to construct and test an experimental platform that allows us to characterize the benefits and tune the process. We expect the result of this work to prepare the way to apply this technology to meter-class optical mirrors and replication mandrels as part of a Phase-II effort and will contribute to a strategy of cost reductions necessary for insertion of segmented aspheric and glancing incidence optics in future telescope missions.
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 sensors?" 
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 install thermal sensors to the depths &gt; ~3 m, below the fluctuations of the surface thermal environment, with little thermal disturbance to the regolith. 
The proposed system is novel in two respects: 1) it utilizes a pneumatic (gas) approach, excavates a hole by lofting the lunar soil out of the hole, and 2) deploys the heat flow probe, which utilizes a coiled up tape with 10 equally spaced RTDs and a cone with thermal needle (for conductivity measurement) to reach &gt;3 meter depth. The system is a game-changer for small lunar landers; it exhibits extremely low mass, volume, and simple deployment. 
The pneumatic system takes advantage of the Helium gas used for pressurizing lander propellant. In vacuum experiments we found that 1g of gas at 5 psia could loft ~6000g of lunar soil simulant at &gt;10m/s.
This project is a partnership effort between American Energy Technologies Company (Illinois), Yardney Technical Products (Connecticut) and A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute of Drexel University (Pennsylvania).  The proposing team seeks to demonstrate tangible improvement in the performance of Lithium-Ion batteries by way of increasing their specific energy density beyond 300 Wh/kg at C/2 in the range of temperatures, at a minimum, from 60&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C to 0&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C.   The battery will use newly developed Silicon-doped, stabilized graphitic anode; Lithiated mixed oxide cathode, in its turn, doped with nano-sized cycling stability-enhancing additives; and an innovative inherently safe electrolyte system based on ionic liquids.  Special focus of the development effort shall be directed towards creation of scaleable Si-doped carbon material for the battery anode.   Cell optimization effort will focus on methodic rebalancing of the classic anode to cathode ratios, by devising unique, highly efficient cathode of increased thickness in support of operation of thin anode, whose specific capacity will vary from 300 to 2,000 Ah/kg at C/2.
For NASA's various types of coherent LIDAR applications, NP Photonics
propose to develop a 50 mJ monolithic 2 micron pulsed fiber laser
transmitter in 200 ns regime with transform-limited linewidth,
leveraging on NP's proprietary germanate active fibers. NP's patented
large core SM PM highly Tm-doped germanate glass fibers have high unit
gain and high stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS)-threshold. We will
use our proprietary single-frequency actively Q-switched fiber laser
seed in order to make the whole high power narrow linewidth pulsed fiber
laser transmitter compact and expandable to spaceborne or UAV platforms.
In Phase I, one new SM PM highly Tm-doped germanate fiber with 25 micron
core will be fabricated and used for the power amplifier stage in order
to demonstrate 1-5 mJ pulse energy and ~ 10 kW peak power for 200 ns
fiber laser pulses with SBS-free. In Phase II, 100 micron core germanate
fiber will be designed and fabricated in order to demonstrate 50 mJ
fiber laser pulses with 100's kW SBS-threshold and transform-limited
linewidth. In this project, NP Photonics will offer prototype/product
service to NASA by delivering 1-50 mJ monolithic 2 micron pulsed fiber
laser transmitter in 200 ns regime with transform-limited linewidth.
The scope of this project is to to develop a wide bandwidth, low power, and compact single board digital Fast Fourier Transform
spectrometer (FFTS) optimized for the signal processing requirements of next generation instruments and receivers on-board both earth observing and planetary exploration missions. We achieve our design objectives of wide bandwidth and real-time streaming performance in a compact and low power form factor by utilizing cutting edge ADC &amp; FPGA hardware solutions in combination with high performance FFT IP cores.
With the retiring of the shuttle fleet, up-mass and down-mass to ISS are at a premium. The space station itself has a limited lifecycle as well, thus long-term and/or high-risk development programs pose issues for science 'return on investment', if the technology cannot be adequately matured before the station is decommissioned. Thus innovative systems and technologies that minimize impact on limiting resources such as up-mass and down-mass, and can do so in the near- to mid-term, are highly desirable. One such area includes the various rechargeable battery systems on ISS used extensively for cameras, camcorders, laptops, communication systems and other portable science and diagnostic equipment. 

All new rechargeable batteries intended for use on ISS must undergo an extensive and costly qualification process, to ensure they meet safety criteria for charge, discharge, short-circuit, temperature, containment and other parameters. The associated recharging systems must also undergo rigorous safety analysis before obtaining flight approval. To alleviate this requirement, new battery powered equipment for ISS is often selected based on legacy technology already approved for crewed-space applications, and not on operational need. The use of shared battery resources (battery packs, battery chargers or both), for future ISS payloads could reduce or eliminate the time and cost needed to obtain battery system safety approval, and reduce the burden on valuable up-mass resources.

A common (universal) battery charging system for ISS, with the flexibility to accommodate current and future rechargeable battery requirements for payloads and equipment, could reduce the cost use of the ISS by future payload developers. This would not only simplify the safety and integration process for these programs, but also reduce up-mass by making use of existing ISS resources.
The cold cycle dilution refrigerator is a continuous refrigerator capable of cooling to temperatures below 100 mK that makes use of a novel thermal magnetic pump. The refrigerator will provide continuous cooling at temperatures below 100 mK. This technology will provide cooling for detectors on future infrared and x-ray astrophysics missions and will, in turn, enable NASA to better fulfill strategic sub-goal 3D ? to discover the origin, structure, evolution and destiny of the universe, and search for Earth-like planets.
The proposal is aimed at the development of a miniature high bandwidth
(1 MHz class) plasma sensor for flow measurements at high enthalpies.
This device uses a plasma discharge between two encapsulated electrodes
as the primary sensing element to measure various flow parameters
including mass flow. The advantages of the plasma sensor are that it
requires no frequency compensation up to its A.C. carrier frequency, has
an amplitude-modulated output that has excellent common-mode rejection
with a signal-to-noise ratio that is much better than a hot-wire, is
robust with no sensor element to break, can have a small spatial volume,
and is insensitive to temperature variations making calibration easier
than thermal-based sensors. This sensor has applications for
measurements in gas-turbine machinery, shock tubes, shock-boundary layer
experiments, high-enthalpy hypersonic flows, and in plasma-laden flows
such as on reentry vehicles. The output from the sensor is wirelessly
transmitted and can be remotely demodulated and converted into the
constituent mean and fluctuating components. The proposed effort is
designed to advance and expand the capabilities of the plasma sensor for
high Mach number flows.
This proposal relates to a new materials concept for an aluminum-carbon nanofiber composite, high thermal conductivity ultra lightweight material that will form the basis for robust, lightweight deployable metallic radiator designs.  Specifically, this program will result in availability of high thermal conductivity, low coefficient of expansion, extremely low density carbon nanotube-reinforced aluminum composites suitable for use in radiator panel facesheets, closeouts, supports and joints.
Advanced, robust, autonomous planning systems have not focused on the
scheduling decisions made by the planner.  And high quality, optimizing
schedulers have rarely been integrated with such planning systems and
only at a very coarse level.  Little research regarding interleaving
scheduling and planning has been done.  Meanwhile, we have studied and
implemented human scheduling decision processes over a 20 yr. period,
developing the Aurora scheduling architecture in the process, which
executes very rapidly and has solved scheduling problems in dozens of
diverse critical domains.  We propose to intimately integrate high
speed, high quality scheduling algorithms from Aurora with NASA's
existing EUROPA 2 architecture and expose high level descriptions of
individual scheduling decision methods to end-users, enabling users to
compose and configure these scheduling methods.  A combined
EUROPA-Aurora system would allow for more efficient plans and more
optimal scheduling.  It would allow EUROPA to better handle scheduling
problems in its current domains and be better applied to domains with
more significant scheduling issues.  Better schedules will get more
science done with the same time and resources.   In Phase I, we will
determine the requirements of the integrated EUROPA-Aurora system for
the types of domains that would most benefit from the integration and
will determine additional heuristics, algorithms, methods and techniques
needed for Aurora for those domains.  We will develop the Integration
Design, including determining, with NASA's input, whether it is most
beneficial to integrate Aurora with EUROPA directly or to port
algorithms from Aurora to EUROPA.  We will prove feasibility of the
integration by implementing an integration prototype and applying it to
two different domains to show its efficacy, generality, and
adaptability.  Two options that we are already familiar with are
planning/scheduling for ISS operations and autonomous spacecraft/robots.
We propose a reservoir cathode to improve performance in both ion and Hall-effect thrusters.  We propose to adapt our existing reservoir cathode technology to this purpose.  Reservoir cathodes are the only emission sources that are capable of providing the necessary current density (&gt;5.0 A/cm2) and life (&gt;100,000 hours) for next generation high-power thrusters.  More powerful thrusters are needed for interplanetary and lunar missions, including earth escape and near-earth space maneuvers.  Reservoir cathodes are able to provide sufficient new barium to the cathode surface to overcome the high barium removal rates in ion engines.  We have many years' experience developing reservoir cathodes.  The key challenge is the stresses exerted on the cathode tube due to differential expansion and large temperature excursions.  These lead to fracturing and weld failure.  Our innovation solves this problem. In Phase I, a prototype is built and tested.  In Phase II, we optimize for specific ion engines.
Rocketstar Robotics proposes the development of a gearbox that uses all ball rolling contact for the highest loaded output gear reduction stage(s), is dry film lubricated and limits peak stresses to the well documented threshold limitation of dry film lubricants.  Extensive test data exists in the literature for the reliable application of dry film lubricants in ball bearing applications.  A gear reducer that utilizes ball bearing gear elements as the gear reducers highest loaded components will provide high specific torque and reliable, long life performance consistent with existing test data.
Monitoring the health and wellness of mission pilots is a critically important function.  Space flight has an adverse effect on the human immune response.  During space flight the immune system weakens and some herpes viruses that are typically latent begin to appear in the saliva.  Currently, saliva samples are taken in space and preserved for post flight assay.  The presence of reactivated herpes virus in saliva samples is an indication of a weakening immune defense.  RST Bioscience LLC proposes an innovative in flight assay to monitor the efficacy of the immune system in-situ.    
RST Bioscience has designed a test that is perfectly suited for space flight.  The test will be small, light weight and easy to use.  The sample used in this test will be saliva, which can be easily collected through non-invasive means.  Results are delivered in minutes to hours.  The test is sterile and disposable, used sample is contained and disposed of along with the disposable kit.  There is no heavy equipment needed to process samples or read results.  The kit is self-contained.  Phase 1 will focus on assay development.  In phase 2 we will build and test a prototype of the disposable delivery device.
Ridgetop will develop a superior method for testing and qualifying columnar type of grid arrays such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) packaged in column grid array (CGA) and ceramic column grid array (CCGA) packages using any type of manufacturing process.  
The proposed innovation is an electrical test method that utilizes unassigned CGA or CCGA package pins as dedicated monitoring pins, with a dedicated Solder Joint Built-in-Self Test (SJ BIST) program in the FPGA. SJ BIST operates in real-time to detect faults, with zero false alarms, in those connections. Supporting software provides a visual status of the state-of-health of each pair of monitored pins. 
At the end of the Phase 1, there will be a prototype HALT definition, a modified SJ BIST firmware designed specifically for use in HALTs (as opposed to being subjected to HALT for evaluation), a designed board with FPGAs programmed with the modified SJ BIST firmware, a prototype software program to support SJ BIST HALTs, at least two electronic boards fabricated and populated for use in developing and testing the software program.
At the end of the Phase 2, the usefulness and accuracy of SJ BIST HALT will have been proven by the running of the defined HALT regimes.  And by working with industry representatives, SJ BIST HALT will be ready for commercialization by government agencies, by suppliers of electronic boards to government agencies, by commercial firms.
We design and demonstrate the feasibility of extending the open source Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE) to support the full range of capabilities now available to Java developers but for Fortran. We have experience in this process from having done analogous SBIR work for the Ada language with the Navy and Missile Defense Agency. As was the case for Ada, there is an existing but insufficient plug in for Fortran now available for Eclipse, namely Photran. We will leverage Harmonia's past work on Rise plug-in for Ada, c, C++ to create product that builds on Eclipse Photran as well as pFUnit and FUnit.

Facilities we will implement include annotating source code as an overlay to the existing code, so that developers learning about the code are free to mark it up without affecting the original code, and creating various views tracing execution, showing potential concurrency, etc. We also integrate unit testing, graphical editing of workflows to create scripts that are used with Fortran, support the analysis and porting of Fortran code to different target architectures, and provide a web service link to accommodate cases where the Fortran compiler runs on a different machine from the IDE. Our goal is a 25&#37; productivity improvement.
The identification of new, structurally sound, thermally stable materials for aviation applications will enable a wide range of technologies. The identification of new materials is hindered by the lack of information about compositions outside the existing composition space. New materials and new methodologies for selection of these materials are essential. Eltron will develop a correlational/theoretical approach to materials selection that follows its previous work in the selection of cathode electrocatalysts, oxygen evolving anodes for high temperature melts, solid electrolytes, and mixed ion/electron conducting materials. This approach will allow the exploration of composition properties space by the use of existing data. Phase I will develop and demonstrate a model for selection of new materials and confirm predictions by synthesizing new materials.
Water is one of the most crucial provisions that astronauts need to live and work in space, whether orbiting Earth, working at a lunar base or traveling to Mars. For long-duration human missions, drinking water can come from a variety of sources including treated humidity condensate, urine, hygiene water or makeup sources (e.g., water brought up from the ground or obtained through fuel cells). There are concerns that reclaimed water may contain trace toxic metals and/or the recovery and treatment processes may result in corrosion and leaching of metals during storage (methods for spacecraft guidelines). As a result, these systems must be continually monitored to ensure the health of the crew.

The overall objective of the proposed program is to develop a field compatible electrochemical sensor for the identification and measurement of trace heavy metals in the water. Phase I will investigate the optimal design configuration, electrode configuration, and operating conditions, which will enhance sensitivity and enable reproducible detection of the dissolved compounds such as cadmium, nickel, silver and zinc in water.  The proposed process can be carried out rapidly without the use of dangerous chemicals and will fulfill NASA's need.
To address the NASA LaRC need for innovative methods and tools for the diagnosis of aircraft faults and failures, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Active Integrated Diagnosis with Ensembles (AIDE) system, based on Bayesian network modeling, ensemble learning, and context-aware reasoning. This approach incorporates an active fault diagnosis system architecture, a block-level Bayesian-network-based context model, and a context-aware reasoning and severity assessment engine, which enable us to meet NASA aviation safety mission requirements for reliable and accurate diagnosis and assessment of adverse events with minimal uncertainty. The system offers constantly updated aircraft health context, which guides the active queries on aircraft health management systems to minimize the uncertainty along its progress path in the context model and make statistical inference and diagnosis, providing rank-ordered lists of diagnoses, severity assessments, and uncertainty measurements. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of active diagnosis of aircraft faults and failures by establishing context models and building and testing a preliminary prototype, which will demonstrate TRL-2 by the end of Phase I. Integration and validation issues will be explored through communication and collaboration with manufacturers. In Phase II, POC plans to develop a fully functional prototype, including software and supporting hardware, and demonstrate its fault diagnosis capability on a family of adverse events in the AirSTAR testbed. The results demonstrated will offer NASA the capabilities to diagnose and assess adverse events and improve aviation safety.
NASA has identified in-space cryogenic fluid management (CFM) as a high priority for technology development because the construction of an in-space propellant infrastructure is anticipated to dramatically decrease costs across a broad spectrum of missions.  This importance is reflected in the designation of CFM as a Flagship Technology Demonstration Mission (FTD-2) as well as a mission at the level of Crosscutting Technologies (CRYOTE).  Sierra Lobo proposes to develop a CFM testbed at the scale of an Edison Demonstration Mission (CryoCube) that would serve as a platform for a series of flight tests of many major CFM technologies.  The missions will be designed to be conducted as stand-alone satellites, without reliance on propellant transfer from an upper stage, in order to provide the greatest possible flexibility for launch vehicle selection.  Follow-up missions using dedicated small satellite launch vehicles could take advantage of the technology demonstrated during this SBIR program, and could be performed as funding becomes available instead of depending on the allocation in a large block.
In this SBIR Phase I effort, Los Gatos Research (LGR) proposes to
develop novel instrumentation based on laser absorption spectroscopy
techniques for ultrasensitive measurements of atomic and molecular
concentrations as well as gas temperature and velocity in high enthalpy
flows.  These autonomous instruments, based on high resolution laser
absorption spectroscopy, will provide highly accurate, real-time
quantification of several important species and thus enable the
validation and refinement of numerical physical and chemical kinetic
models, facilities diagnostics, and eventual development of
next-generation components and propulsion systems.   In Phase I, the
instrument will be fabricated and tested at LGR prior to integration
onto a ground-based high enthalpy test facility at NASA Ames.  The
system will then be refined and delivered to a NASA test site.  Final
Phase I work will involve developing a Phase II prototype capable of
making in situ measurements of multiple parameters in aerothermodynamics
test facilities.
Large, single-piece composite structures for NASA launch vehicles are currently very expensive or impossible to fabricate partly because of the capital (ovens, autoclaves, and tooling) needed to cure the part and maintain tolerances at cure conditions.  CRG proposes the use of recently developed, no-oven, no-autoclave composite processing technology to fabricate very large, high-performance, single-piece composite structures and tooling for NASA launch vehicles and other aerospace structures. This will reduce capital (plant, equipment, and tooling), operating, and labor-based manufacturing costs.  This technology enables rapid manufacturing of large, single-piece structures with no dependence on size-limiting infrastructure and offers the potential for on-site manufacturing.  CRG believes this technology to be equally beneficial for quick throughput in smaller sized, high-volume production; but the proposed focus will be large, low-volume production.  This technology proposes to surpass current efforts on out-of-autoclave composite processing technology in terms of both acquisition and operations cost to the end user. This will be accomplished through lower production costs and lightweight, unitized structures that require less maintenance. This three-phase program proposes to advance this technology from a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4 and a Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) of 3 to a TRL of 9 and a MRL of 9.
The proposed SBIR Phase I &amp; II programs will lead to the validation of a state-of-the-art Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model, coupled with a Ffowcs-Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) farfield acoustic solver, for supporting the development of advanced engine concepts, including innovative flow control strategies for attenuation of their jet noise emissions. The LES/FW-H model will be simultaneously validated against matched sets of flowfield and companion acoustic data acquired recently at NASA/GRC for round nozzles. The flowfield validation will include detailed comparisons against imagery, mean flow measurements and turbulence statistics. The end-to-end capability of the LES/FW-H noise prediction model will also be demonstrated by applying it to high aspect-ratio rectangular nozzle designs, proposed for testing at NASA GRC under the Fundamental Aeronautics Program. This critical validation will provide the foundation for proceeding to application of this innovative methodology in supporting the design and optimization of control concepts, e.g. chevrons, slot jets, fluidic chevrons, etc., as well as ultimately performing predictions of noise emissions from full-scale, realistic nozzles with complex exhaust flowpaths, airframe/propulsive jet interactions, etc.
The Mars Regolith Water Extractor (MRWE) is a system for acquiring water from the Martian soil. In the MRWE, a stream of CO2 is heated by solar energy or waste heat from a nuclear reactor and then passed through a vessel containing Martian soil freshly removed from the ground. The hot CO2 will cause water absorbed in the Martian soil to outgas, whereupon it will be swept along by the CO2 to a condenser chamber where ambient Martian cold temperatures will be used to condense the water from the CO2. The CO2 is then pumped back to the heater where it is reheated and recirculated back to the soil vessel to remove more water.  Measurements taken by the Viking mission showed that randomly gathered  Martian soil contains at least 1&#37; water by weight, and probably more than 3&#37;. This being the case, the MWRE should prove to be a highly effective way of acquiring water on Mars. By doing so, it will eliminate the requirement to transport hydrogen to Mars in order to make methane fuel, and allow all the propellant needed for a Mars to Earth return flight to be manufactured on Mars using a Sabatier/electrolysis (S/E) cycle, without any need for auxiliary oxygen production through zirconia cells, reverse water gas shift cycles, or other systems. This is highly advantageous since the S/E cycle is the simplest and easiest to implement of all Mars in-situ propellant production methods. The ability to extract water from Mars will also serve to supply the crew of a Mars missions with copious supplies of water itself, which after propellant, is the most massive logistic component of a Mars mission. By eliminating the need to transport fuel, oxygen, and water to Mars, the MWRE will have a major effect in reducing the mass, cost, and risk  or human Mars exploration.
The Optimax VIBE process is a full-aperture, conformal polishing process
incorporating high frequency motion that rapidly removes sub-surface
damage 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 to remove undesirable MSF errors while at the same time maintaining
the desired low spatial frequency form accuracy.
New low cost, low volume, low power, rugged electrospray thrusters will be ideal as actuators for precision thrusting, if provided with precision high voltage power supplies. The small thrusters show minimum thrusts of 1.2 nanoNewton, and thrusts scalable in a wide range to hundreds of microNewtons, with an ISp of 3500 sec. We propose in Phase I to develop, test and characterize with electrospray thrusters a high-precision high-voltage power supply optimized for fine  control of the thrusters, and designed to support accurate formation flying of space telescope elements, and precision alignment and stabilization of space platforms. The Phase I HV supply design will be developed in Phase II into a cubesat format Precision Electrospray Thruster Assembly including thrusters, and ready for flight tests. At the end of Phase II PETA units will be provided as protoflight avionics to be flown, tested and qualified.
The incorporation of viscous analysis in design is vital for a complete
understanding of aerodynamic problems.

This proposal offers to develop and integrate with RotCFD a method for semi-automatically generating grids suitable for viscous
analysis on complex configurations as well as parallelize the solver in RotCFD to take advantage of today's
multi-core machines.

The principle idea behind the semi-automation of the grid generation is to divide the geometry surface into patches and
generate body-conforming grids from these patches.

This partitioning allows for automatic generation of grids with
aspect ratios suitable for viscous flows.

Convection dominates the outer region, so unstructured Cartesian meshes
can be generated quickly and easily here.

The outer grid will be conformed to the inner grid so the entire grid
can be treated as one unstructured grid with an unstructured
solver, or as a hybrid grid with multiple zones and solvers.

In the hybrid approach, viscous solvers can be used for the inner zone
while the faster inviscid solvers can be used in the far-field.

In Phase I a proof-of-concept grid generator, and a conceptual methodology for solver
parallelization will be developed and demonstrated to work with RotCFD the
rotor aerodynamic design tool.

In Phase II, the features of the grid generator and solver will
be fully developed and expanded.
The purpose of the proposal is to apply multifunctional carbon
electromagnetic materials, including carbon nanotube electrical thread
(replaces copper wire) and carbon nanosphere chain magnetic material
(replaces iron cores), to build lightweight, high-performance carbon
electric motors and actuators for aircraft and spacecraft.
Incorporating these nanomaterials will replace heavy and bulky motors
that are constrained by high mass and inertia, and limited rotor speed
and acceleration.  The technical objective is to achieve 50-70&amp;#37; weight
reduction, super-inductance, extremely high magnetic fields, and
potentially operate at high speed driven by AC signals in the tens of
KHz frequency range.  Additionally, large size pancake carbon motors
could produce extreme torques and withstand the inertia forces of a
large diameter rotor. Some of the trade-offs of the carbon motor may be
lower efficiency, higher temperature operation or need for additional
cooling, and higher initial cost. We will investigate these factors in
Phase I. General Nano (GN) is one of two companies in the United State
capable of manufacturing the nanomaterials required to pursue the carbon
electric motors and actuators.  GN will partner with Parker Hannifin to
integrate the nanomaterials into commercial application.
Instruments flown on board NASA missions often do not measure quantities
of interest to scientists directly, but rather observable quantities. In addition,
instruments often introduce artifacts into the data and techniques are needed to
remove them. In both cases, scientifically relevant information can be
inferred by simulating a parameterized model and adjusting the parameters to
best match observed data. This minimization process of "fitting" a model to
data is computationally demanding, since it requires evaluating the often complex
models many times and minimizing a function of many variables. Fast, more efficient
fitting techniques are therefore required in order to fully harvest the scientific
output from NASA missions.

In this project, we will develop a fast, general-purpose parameter fitting software
tool suite taking advantage of inexpensive, high-performance graphics processing
units (GPUs). The goal of Phase I of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility
of model fitting on GPUs.  We will therefore prototype forward models, relevant
mathematical operators and the actual parameter adjustment algorithm on GPUs
and compare their performance to a pure CPU implementation. We will particularly
focus on ease of use for the scientist to migrate their applications to this infrastructure. 
During Phase I, the TRL will increase from 3 to 4. 

In the Phase II, we will then harden the prototypes developed in Phase I and provide alternative modeling algorithms to support a broader range of applications. In addition, we will work with scientists from various NASA missions, including the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III mission and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to accelerate their modeling needs. In addition to NASA missions, other federal or commercial applications
requiring to adjust model parameters to fit large sets of observed data will benefit from this project.
Cornerstone Research Group Inc. (CRG) proposes to continue the efforts from the 2010 NASA SBIR Phase I topic X5.03, "No-Oven, No-Autoclave (NONA) Composite Processing." NONA offers NASA the ability to manufacture composites without an oven or autoclave, which will significantly decrease manufacturing costs. Large, single-piece composite structures for NASA Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles are currently expensive to fabricate partly because of the capital equipment (ovens, autoclaves, and tooling) needed to cure the part and maintain tolerances at cure conditions. There are only a few autoclaves in the world large enough to support large composite fabrication, and they are already committed to long-term programs. The cost of building additional autoclaves is prohibitive, and inherent size constraints still remain.

CRG's innovative technology addresses these roadblocks by providing:  
- High-performance, 350F epoxy composite cured without oven or autoclave
- Decreased capital, operating, and labor costs
- No post cure required
- A scalable resin infusion process
- Increased part throughput
This project proposes to develop an occulter optical edge and optical edge measurement verification system suitable for astrophysics missions including JWST and the Occulting Ozone Observatory (O3). The optical edge has tight cross-section requirements in order to produce the correct diffraction as light passes over the edge.
To address NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's need for improved cost-effective, low mass and low volume devices or methods to store electrical energy onboard long duration (100-day mission) balloon flights at mid-latitudes and altitudes of 30-40 km, Luminit, LLC, proposes to develop a new carbon nanotube-based supercapacitor (CANS) with our mature chemical solution deposition (sol-gel) technology. This approach incorporates new CNT-sol-gel based electrode materials and alignment of CNT in the s
The proposed novel program will use measurements of the high-energy photon output from gamma-ray celestial sources to design a new, unique navigation system. This Gamma-ray source Localization-Induced Navigation and Timing, or "GLINT", concept provides deep-space vehicles the capability for self-navigation based upon measurements from observations of these source signals.
Naturally occurring in the stratosphere, ozone plays a significant role in many atmospheric reactions, cloud formation, and is the key player in shielding harmful UV radiation. In the troposphere, it is a criteria pollutant produced via photochemical smog reactions, and is key in the formation of organic aerosols from VOCs.
This proposal is for the development of a long range, multi-point
non-destructive system for the detection of subsurface flaws in metallic
and composite materials of modern aircraft. This system would improve
the test capabilities of NASA's ground facilities, specifically the
Flight Loads Laboratory (FLL). MetroLaser proposes to use a multi-beam
laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) capable of arbitrary beam patterns on the
target. This system coupled with acoustic or vibration excitation would
reveal changes in the stiffness of the material, which are related to
internal flaws within the material. This approach, based on the
well-known LDV technique, is unique and innovative in the way it
addresses the measurement requirement with multiple beams in an
arbitrary beam pattern for high-speed coverage of large target areas.
The Phase I work would consist of modeling, analysis and experimental
work to define the system architecture and the measurement strategy, and
would include developing a breadboard sensor to perform proof-of-concept
experiments. It would culminate with a conceptual design of a Phase II prototype.
Touchstone Research Laboratory, along with Alcan Rolled Products ? Ravenswood WV, has identified the Aluminum-Lithium Alloy 2050 as a potentially game-changing material replacement for current space structural alloys such as Aluminum-Lithium alloy 2195.  AA2050 is available in significantly thicker plate gauges than AA2195 and, as a result, can be machined or formed into ribs, stringers or other types of stiffened structures that have increased stiffness and as a result provide overall structural weight savings potential of approximately 15 to 20&#37;.  The AA2050, however, needs more development work and understanding in the area of cryogenic material properties, joining, and design potential to be considered for NASA mission vehicles.  Touchstone is proposing a Phase I effort to do cryogenic characterization testing, concept design, and computational modeling and analysis to demonstrate the feasibility of using AA2050 for increased-stiffness, reduced-weight space structures.
Adaptive control offers an opportunity to fulfill aircraft safety objectives though automated vehicle recovery while maintaining performance and stability requirements in the presence of unknown or varying operating environment. Future aircraft are a natural application of adaptive control. These aircraft will be more fuel efficient, have longer operating ranges though more flexible aircraft structures. This increased flexibility will tightly couple structural and rigid body modes. The traditional control approaches to address the aeroservoelastic (ASE) 
will not work due to this coupling. Furthermore, the application of adaptive control to these flexible aircraft may result in undesired ASE excitation leading to structural damage or failure. Hence an integrated flight control system is needed for gust load alleviation, flutter suppression and rigid body control of the aircraft which works in concert with the adaptive control system for improved resilience and safety. MUSYN proposes an integrated approach based on linear, parameter-varying (LPV) control to the design of integrated flight control algorithms. 
Phase II research is focused
on developing a fully functional prototype tool suite to model, identify, analyze, design, simulate and implement in real-time,  linear, parameter-varying (LPV) ASE controllers. 
The objective is to combine the integrated LPV flight control system with 
adaptive control to preserve rigid body performance during upsets while mitigating ASE effects. The prototype LPV tools will be used to analyze and design an inner-loop LPV
ASE and adaptive outer-loop controller for the MAD-MUTT test vehicle. The LPV designs will be validated in software-in-the-loop and
hardware-in-the-loop testing prior to their implementation and flight
test on the MAD-MUTT vehicle. The objective is to demonstrate the viability
of the LPV tools suite to analyze and synthesize integrated controllers for highly flexible aircraft.
Fiber Materials, Inc. (FMI) will develop an aerospace-grade carbon felt preform by employing application specific materials with effective processes and fabrication technologies.  Innovative combinations of materials and processes will result in thermal protection system (TPS) preforms that will enable a range of end applications. Future mission flight environments and designs, such as those anticipated for Mars EDL missions, will require a variety of TPS options to accommodate entry system designs.  The capability of the developed carbon felt preform solutions will address various vehicle shapes, integration methods and the ability to deploy a flexible TPS. Testing for mechanical and thermal robustness will be conducted in a two phase program approach. The Phase I program will assess materials, designs and processing options to be developed, and cost effective manufacturing and assembling methodologies.  The material approaches, design options, fabrication/assembly methods, Phase II work plan, Phase II proposal and final report are delivered at the conclusion of the Phase I program.  During the Phase II program, a mission-applicable preform utilizing the developed material system will be demonstrated.  The proposed materials, designs and methods are currently TRL &lt; 3. It is anticipated that TRL ?? 5 will be achieved at the conclusion of a successful Phase I and Phase II program.
Al-Li alloys are of interest for use in aerospace structures due to the
desirable combination of high strength and low density. However, high
strength Al-Li alloys exhibit an intergranular delamination fracture
mode which has limited widespread structural applications. Previous work
at NASA LaRC, under limited testing, found that the failures tend to be
between grains of the two Brass texture component variants. Taylor
Factor calculations show these to have severe strain incompatibility.
These grain orientations are known to develop as a preferred orientation
in Al-Li-X-Zr alloys during severe, hot rolling. This program will
verify the results and work with Industry to develop an alternative,
delamination-free process.
ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes an R\&amp;D effort to develop an Experimental Model Based Feedback Control (EMBFC) Framework for the flutter suppression and gust load alleviation (GLA). The resilience of the flight control law in the presence of aeroelastic/aeroservoelastic (AE/ASE) interactions can therefore be increased by the suppression of the aircraft's structural vibrations induced by the flutter mechanism and/or gust perturbation. Currently aircrafts with non-adaptive control laws usually include roll-off or notch filters to avoid AE/ASE interactions. However, if changes in the aircraft configuration are significant, the frequencies of the flexible modes of the aircraft may be shifted and the notch filters could become totally ineffective. With the proposed EMBFC framework, the flexible dynamics can be consistently estimated via system identification algorithms and its undesirable effects is suppressed through a robust feedback control law, while the whole systems stability is being maintained.  The proposed feedback control technique will be demonstrated with SuperSonic SemiSpan Transport S4T wind tunnel model for flutter suppression and gust load alleviation.
NASA intends to place small spacecraft (&lt;100kg) and very small spacecraft (&lt;15kg) into a variety of orbits.  Methods and technologies are needed to intentionally de-orbit these spacecraft at end of mission, or upon loss of control and function.  CTD has developed a family of highly mass efficient Roll-Out De-Orbiting devices (RODEO).  RODEO provides a dramatic increase in the deployed surface area, resulting in higher aerodynamic drag and significantly reduced time until satellite re-entry.  RODEO's composite booms self-deploy with no external spacecraft power, and the inherent simplicity of RODEO results in extremely low costs, low mass, and low power.
The objective of the proposed work (Phases I and II) is to develop uncertainty quantification methodologies and software suitable for use in CFD simulations of aerodynamic flows, ranging from sub-sonic to hypersonic. We will address both pressure and density-based methods, as well as the class of algorithms addressing all-Mach number flows. The software developed here will be based on an existing unstructured finite volume CFD solver, TETHYS, which has been developed by Jabiru Software and Services. A central focus of the proposal is the development and evaluation of generalized polynomial chaos (gPC) methodologies for uncertainty propagation.  In Phase I, we will develop non-intrusive sparse-grid based adaptive collocation techniques for all-speed flows to address the curse of dimensionality and to resolve discontinuities and non-linearities in random space. We will evaluate the feasibility of implementing stochastic Galerkin techniques non-intrusively through operator overloading. Phase I will address airfoil flow across the range of Mach numbers. Phase II will address more general implementations of  feasible approaches, application to more complex aerodynamics simulations, as well as implementation on parallel platforms.
Energid Technologies proposes the development of a digital simulation that can replace robotic vehicles in field studies.  This proxy simulation will model the dynamics, terrain interaction, sensors, control, communications, and interfaces of the robotic vehicle with the goal of making field studies easier and more thorough.  The simulation will be easy to use by simple execution on a networked PC.  It will be thorough in its ability to model a range of environments, from terrestrial to lunar, and through its ability to provide extensive sensor and truth data for analysis.  The effort will include the development of robot and environment models tailored to the simulation of field-study vehicles, and it will emphasize mimicking the network interfaces used by NASA.  The proxy simulation will be able to model multiple robots simultaneously, and included in the effort is the development of tools to support the control and visualization of multiple robots during field tests.  Energid will design the system and implement components for demonstration at the end of the Phase I.
Some commercial auscultation devices pick up all sounds without filtering out the background noise. Although the electronic stethoscopes made by 3M and Thinklab have some simple built-in filters, those filters cannot differentiate important internal body sounds from interfering background noise. Other devices used Doppler effects, which cannot be easily interpreted by physicians. We propose a high performance approach to enhancing auscultation capability. The idea is to utilize a second microphone to pick up the background noise and then use the microphone signals to improve the quality of stethoscope signals. There are several key advantages of our approach. First, the second mic is attached to a recorder, which is independent of the stethoscope. That is, the current stethoscope can still be used without any modifications. Second, the background noise level in the stethoscope will be reduced significantly, as we will apply advanced and fast algorithms to eliminate the background noise. Two algorithms will be evaluated. One is based on adaptive filtering, which is a time-domain approach. The other one is based on spectral subtraction with multi-band scaling. These algorithms have been applied by our team to speech enhancement applications in very noisy environments such as battlefield and also astronaut's helmet.
A highly efficient and lightweight dual bridge matrix power controller development is proposed that will provide high performance to a solar powered high altitude long endurance (HALE) unmanned air vehicle (UAV), Solar Deck 24-7, that can stay aloft for an indefinite period of time (Goal &gt; 5 years) without fuel. This UAV will be able to hover at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet and perform many of the reconnaissance, communications, and scientific data gathering tasks now performed by geosynchronous satellites at an altitude below low earth orbit thus attaining GEO below LEO. In this Phase I R&amp;D effort, we will define the key requirements and develop the preliminary designs for the dual bridge matrix converter for the UAV application. Simulation models will be developed based on the preliminary design to allow assessment of their performance in the UAV application. . At the end of this Phase I R&amp;D effort, we will have advanced the power controller design to the point where we will be ready to perform detailed design and analysis and build and demonstrate prototype unit during the Phase II effort.
ORBITEC proposes to develop, fabricate, and test a system to provide 99.999&#37; 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 reusable), and (3) it uses palladium membrane technology to separate the hydrogen from the methane stream (which makes the H2 effluent very pure). ORBITEC proposes the Hydrogen Generator by Methane Pyrolysis with Carbon Capture, herein referred to as the H2Gen system. 

During Phase 1 of this effort, ORBITEC will test the four major components of the system: the methane pyrolysis reactor, the carbon removal mechanism, the carbon capture device, and the hydrogen remover. The performance and efficiency of each component will be tested and characterized. 

Phase 2 will expand upon these efforts and a full-scale brassboard prototype will be developed and built, maintaining the efficiencies of the system while optimizing overall mass and volume.
In situ resource utilization (ISRU) is essential for several of NASA's future flagship missions.  Currently envisioned ISRU plants include production of oxygen from hydrogen reduction of lunar regolith and extraction of water from Martian regolith or asteroid material.  These ISRU processes require heating of the regolith to high reaction temperatures.  Once the reaction is complete, most thermal energy exits the system in the spent regolith batch and is therefore wasted.  Creare proposes to recover this heat and use it to preheat fresh regolith prior to entering the reactor.  Our novel heat recovery design is purely passive, robust, and compact to accommodate tight mass and volume constraints.  Our heat exchanger promises to recover 80&#37; of the otherwise wasted thermal energy.  This energy savings can either be used to reduce the power plant size or speed up the production rates of the ISRU system.  The Creare team has firsthand knowledge of the current ISRU research status and has the necessary background in mechanical design, heat exchanger design, as well as the facilities and commercialization expertise, to make this project a success.
This small business innovation research is intended to develop a long-life, highly efficient O2-CO cogeneration system to support NASA's endeavors to pursue extraterrestrial exploration (Moon, Mars, and Asteroids/Phobos).  The cogeneration system will be built using a Tubular, Negative Electrode-supported Solid-Oxide Electrolysis Cell (Tune-SOEC) employing MSRI's most promising degradation-resistant ceramic materials and a unique cell design.  The system will be capable of co-generating breathable oxygen and CO fuel directly from carbon dioxide extracted from the Martian atmosphere, lunar regolith/soil, or from the cabin air of extraterrestrial human missions at 750~850:C.  In Phase I, CO2 electrolysis degradation mechanisms will be investigated via nonequilibrium thermodynamic analyses and tests of Tune-SOECs with special embedded reference electrodes.  Unique solutions for long-term, high performance CO2 electrolysis will be developed and implemented.  In Phase II, a prototype O2-CO cogeneration system using the Tune-SOEC technology will be developed.  A proof-of-concept system will be demonstrated, cogenerating O2-CO directly from a CO2 source at temperatures ranging from 750:C to 850:C; showing the capability of using ISRU to generate 1 kg oxygen per day (enough to support 1 human).
Increasing the optical surface finishing precision and reducing surface roughness will greatly benefit astronomy telescope and other optical systems. Conventional optical finishing only delivers about 1/10 lambda surface flatness and is hard to handle arbitrary surface shape. To finish optical surface with low cost to an ultra high precision and to reach the capability of generating arbitrary surface shape such as the aspherical surfaces or special patterns, in this proposal, we propose the development of an innovative computer-controlled optical surface finishing system. We suggest using chemical reactive removal as the tool to remove the material on the optical surface, controlled by computer with a deterministic removal algorithm. In phase I, a prototype system with ultra high precision finishing capability, ~ 1/100 lambda (632.8nm) for surface figure and ~1/1000 lambda for RMS will be demonstrated. A 5~10 times improvement in surface roughness is expected over the current technique as the chemical removal is at the atomic or molecular level, rather than by particle bombardment on optical surface. The lower surface roughness will obviously reduce the scattering lose for the short wavelength range. In Phase II, we will extend the work to non-flat surfaces, ie, arbitrary shaped surfaces, and to other glasses and materials of interest to NASA.
Heat pipes are commonly used for transporting heat over relatively long distances with very low temperature drop.  One of the limitations of heat pipes is the capillary limit, which states that the sum of pressure drops of the working fluid cannot exceed the capillary head developed by the wick.  Since most of the working fluid pressure drop is incurred in flow through the wick, it is important to reduce the wick resistance as much as possible while still being able to transport the required thermal load. 
All heat pipes made today have the same wick throughout the heat pipe.  This facilitates manufacture, however it causes a great deal more resistance to liquid flow than is minimally required.  By breaking the wick up into several different regions in which the wick properties are different, a more optimal stepwise wick is proposed.  Preliminary calculations done by the PI indicate that the capillary limit of a heat pipe can be increased by a factor of 2x to 3.5x, depending on the number of discrete steps the wick is divided into.   The proposed program aims to demonstrate the improvement in capillary limit experimentally.
Numerous existing launch vehicles have excess performance that is not being optimized.  By taking advantage of excess, unused, performance, additional NASA experiments and missions can be enhanced with this excess ELV performance.  Designing an experimental platform for suborbital, hypersonic, and innovative payloads will bridge a technology gap in size and weight over current capabilities.  Commercially, there are many customers that will be able to take advantage of the increase in size and weight for experimental research onboard the experimental platform. To minimize the launch vehicle integration efforts, the design of the experimental platform will mimic the current processing methods of auxiliary interfaces to the launch vehicle.  During Phase I, SAS will be providing NASA with an adaptable cost effective experimental platform (expandable external payload carrier) design that may be used on a multitude of launch vehicles at a low risk and lower cost per pound then existing suborbital systems.  This TRL 3 design will consist of a feasibility concept, detailed analysis and modeling, and a system requirements document.  Path towards Phase II will be discussed, utilizing a hardware risk reduction approach.  During Phase II, SAS will be providing NASA an expected TRL 5 of the design for one of the current launch vehicles.
The objective of this effort is to identify, characterize and develop advanced semiconductor materials and fabrication process techniques, and design and produce a Gigabit (GB)-scale high density, radiation hardened (RH), SONOS-based nonvolatile memory (NVM) in a standard, high density CMOS technology with feature sizes approaching the 90nm technology node.  Highly reliable, RH SWAP-efficient, high-density NVM provides for the deployment of more capable, flexible and responsive hardware designs leading to improved mission performance and enhanced data storage capability with less system operational complexity and reduced system vulnerability to natural and weapons generated radiation environments.  By leveraging state-of-the-art (SOA) commercial NVM technologies and implementing a combination of these elements with the proper memory cell architecture, radiation hardened device design, and advanced fabrication processes, we are confident we can produce a 1Gb RH NVM using currently available CMOS process modules at or below the 
90 nm fabrication technology node.  The unique materials and process technologies to be investigated in our approach include composite high-k dielectric thin-film oxide materials, shallow trench isolation, atomic layer deposition, p-channel silicon-insulator-nitride-oxide-silicon (SINOS) NVM architecture, and RH CMOS peripheral circuitry.
While evaluating lunar ascent and descent stage propellant acquisition options in 2008 and 2009 for NASA GRC, IES conceived a novel, flexible screen propellant management device (PMD).  The concept provides a highly simplified and easy to build PMD as an alternative to a total communication device or one incorporating a start basket.  Water bench tests with a very primitive prototype yielded encouraging results, and additional, simple bench-level testing with LN2 was also encouraging.  An opportunity exists to refine the concept, develop a larger, more flight-like apparatus, and test it in a cryogenic tank currently being designed and subsequently intended for use on the Cryogenic Orbital Testbed (CRYOTE) experiment.  Designing a full size flight qualifiable flexible screen PMD under a Phase 1 SBIR effort, followed by hardware fabrication, qualification and flight demonstration on a flight test platform concurrently in development, will allow this concept to be demonstrated for a fraction of the cost that would be required for a dedicated flight of a flexible PMD experiment.  The concept TRL should move from 3 to 5 during Phase 1, and 5 to 7 during Phase 2.
Future instruments and platforms for NASA space applications will require increasingly sophisticated thermal control technology, and cryogenic applications will become increasingly more common. For example, the Single Aperture Far-IR (SAFIR) telescope and other cryogenic telescope missions must provide distributed cooling and multiple heat lift. Also, the management of cryogenic propellants requires distributed cooling through integrated heat exchangers for zero boil-off, densification and cooling of structural members. To address these requirements, we propose to develop a lightweight, continuous-flow cooling loop that can provide cooling and temperature control to multiple, distributed and broad area loads. This approach allows relatively simple mechanical and electrical integration and maintains high refrigeration system efficiency. The basis of the loop is a set of cold check valves that converts the oscillating pressure, which characterizes the operation of regenerative cryocoolers, into a quasi-steady pressure difference that can be used to drive a continuous flow of cold gas over distances of several meters. This Integrated Circulator (IC) has the potential secondary benefit of rapid and therefore precise load temperature regulation of multiple sensors or structures using actively controlled throttle valves to regulate the local gas flow.
The proposed innovation is for the development of a thermally-stable composite made of carbon fibers and elastomeric resin. This combination of materials will allow a composite with higher stiffness and strain compared with materials currently in use for space. The significance of this innovation is that the proposed material will enable more capable deployable structures, minimize complexity, mass, and cost. Specifically the work done in Phase I and Phase II will enable cost effective components and subsystem technologies for flight systems, such as large sunshields and external occulters in Phase III.  The objective of this project will be to develop technologies and methods that improve the design, fabrication, modeling, inspection, and testing of composite materials for space deployable structures. This includes methods of testing and modeling/characterization of the material in order to guide its formulation. The characterization of the new elastomeric composite will be accomplished through a series of standardized tests, supported by non-standard tests as required.
Two critical requirements for an effective airport surface management system are:
? The need to adapt plans both strategically and tactically because of time-varying uncertainty.
? The need to support coordination and collaboration among a number of different individuals, including controllers in the ATC Tower (ATCT), traffic managers in the ATCT, ARTCCs, TRACONs and ATCSCC, dispatchers and air traffic control coordinators at Flight Operations Centers, and ramp controllers/supervisors at airports.
NASA has developed algorithms to support such strategic and tactical adaptive planning for airport surface management.  This proposal seeks to complement and support this line of research and development through the definition of roles, responsibilities and procedures for coordination and collaboration among these individuals as they adapt airport departure queues at spots and runways to deal with evolving conditions.  It further seeks to design and complete formative evaluations for interface designs that make use of NASA's adaptive planning algorithms.
The objective of the Phase-I research is to design a multi-GHz high bandwidth Delta Sigma Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog converter using a deep sub-micron CMOS process. Since the Delta Sigma Modulation ADC samples in the multi-GHz range, direct sampling and conversion to digital of post LNA Microwave signals is possible. By targeting the ADC on a CMOS technology node (90nm, 65nm or 45nm), a complete all digital radio receiver and demodulator can be implemented on the same System on a Chip that performs host interface and higher network level protocols. Using Delta Sigma Modulation at GHz sampling rates eliminates the anti-aliasing filter requirement.  The all digital receiver eliminates I/Q imbalance due to the receiver and DC offset introduced by zero-IF architectures. In order to support multi GHz sampling rates in CMOS, advanced time interleaving, parallel Delta Sigma Modulators and shared integrator architectures are considered. Using Micro-RDC RHBD cells and design experience the digital filtering and decimation of the high frequency bit stream are hardened. The baseband filtering is implemented with temporal latch technology for SEU immunity. In this research various hardening techniques will be used to harden the analog sub-components in the Delta Sigma Modulator including investigating pipelining and parallel processing architectures for filtering and decimation which also address low power requirements.
High-performance radiation-hardened metamorphic InGaAs imaging arrays sensitive from the ultraviolet (UV) through the short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) will be developed. The proposed detector arrays will offer near-BLIP sensitivity, with R0A values comparable to HgCdTe detectors, but with superior sensitivity, better uniformity, lower dark current, and much better pixel yield. Typical InGaAs detectors have little response beyond 1650 nm due to the band edge of the InGaAs alloy composition that is lattice-matched to the InP substrate, and the InP substrate blocks short wavelength response below 950 nm in back-illuminated focal plane arrays. The proposed detector will employ low-dislocation-density metamorphic InGaAs to extend long wavelength response to 2.6 um. Chemical/mechanical substrate removal and a surface doping gradient designed to collect photocarriers generated near the light-entry surface of the detector will extend its short-wavelength response. Prototype single-element detectors and segmented arrays will be demonstrated in Phase I. In Phase II, material quality will be refined through additional manufacturing development, and large area arrays will be fabricated. By the end of Phase II, extended-spectral-range InGaAs imagers based upon the new metamorphic detector and a radiation-hardened readout integrated circuit (ROIC) will be demonstrated.
Voxtel anticipates that its technology will enter the program at TRL=3, finish Phase I at TRL=5, and exit the Phase II program at TRL=6.
For NASA missions requiring active control of segmented mirrors, optical
trusses and booms, coherent, laser-based approaches such as CW laser
interferometers have been preferred because they can provide very high
resolution relative position measurements.  Other approaches, such as
multi-color interferometers can provide absolute range measurements.
However, neither technique can measure multiple retroreflectors with a
single optical transceiver.  This has led to complex distributed
metrology systems, which are limited in usefulness.  Bridger Photonics
Inc. proposes to investigate a novel distributed metrology approach that
is uniquely enabled by its SLM-Series of actively stabilized swept laser
sources.  The technique, termed multi-point trilateration, uses a
frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) chirped laser radar to
determine the range to multiple reflectors that are illuminated
simultaneously by three or more large field-of-view transceivers.
Because Bridger's laser radar system can unambiguously determine the
range to multiple targets within the field-of-view with high accuracy,
trilateration can be utilized to estimate the three-dimensional (3D)
coordinates for all of the retroreflective targets within the
field-of-view.  Bridger provides two critical advantages for the
development of this distributed metrology system:  1) The world's
highest resolution laser radar system, which is crucial for determining
the range to the multiple retroreflectors, and 2) Proprietary processing
techniques that enable Cramer-Rao lower bound limited range estimation.
Under the proposed work plan, Bridger will provide an optimal design for
Transceiver/Retroreflector geometries and model the expected
performance, conduct demonstrations validating the system performance
and provide a space-qualifiable, compact system design that can be built
and delivered to NASA during a Phase II effort should the approach be feasible.
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells and electrolyzers are key technologies for NASA space systems utilizing hydrogen, oxygen, or water as reactants. In order to improve the life and reliability of the electrochemical stacks within these systems, as well as to reduce overall system mass/volume and cost, development of membrane-electrode-assemblies (MEAs) that are stable and highly efficient is critical. Currently, the state-of-the-art membranes used in fuel cell systems are perfluorocarbon sulfonate based materials such as Nafion&lt;SUP&gt;REG&lt;/SUP&gt; which show excellent stability and conductivity under hydrated condition at low temperature (T &amp;#8804; 80&amp;#730;C). However, higher operating temperatures (T &gt; 130&amp;#730;C) would provide several advantages for fuel cell operation. Advantages include higher operating currents, improved CO tolerance, simpler and more efficient heat management, simpler water management and potential use of non-platinum catalysts. In this program, EIC Laboratories will develop novel PEM membranes that are insensitive to hydration for use at elevated temperatures and which can be synthesized inexpensively in bulk.
Icing is one of the most significant hazards to aircraft.  There is still much research to be completed with regard to developing remote-sensing technologies for accurately identifying where icing conditions exist in clouds.  There is a need to provide in-situ measurements of cloud liquid water content to validate the remote measurements.  
Anasphere, Inc. proposes to develop a modernized version of the classic vibrating wire cloud liquid water content sensor.  This modernized version will apply updated technology to the measurement, and more importantly will add a droplet sizing capability that the original versions of these sensors lacked.  It will be designed to be compatible with a wide variety of radiosondes.
Phase I will see the development and laboratory testing of the improved probe, its incorporation into a droplet sizing system, and finally actual test flights into clouds.  Phase II work will involve developing more precise calibration methods, improving manufacturability, and extensive test flights.
The proposed innovation is a robust, bio-inspired, and self-contained sensor array for the measurement of shear stress.  The proposed system uses commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) components to create a distributed sensor array for the measurement of shear stress in either a flight or ground test environment.  The reusable sensor array requires no external wiring or power source.  The bio-inspired system is based on mimicking the sensitivity and response of a single hair fiber/receptor neuron to sense flow velocity very near a surface.  An array of the hair cell inspired shear sensors are embedded in a flexible, self-adhesive backed sheet of polymide substrate, which also contains a self-contained, battery operated acquisition system.  The self-contained blanket array can be quickly and easily applied to aircraft or vehicle surfaces in question.  No wiring, external power, or control is required.  After testing, the system can be quickly removed and reused.  In addition to measurement of shear stress, the sensor array should be able to determine laminar/turbulent boundary-layer transition locations, laminar/turbulent separation and reattachment lines, and shock locations.  The proposed bio-inspired shear sensor array promises to provide a robust, realizable, accurate, efficient, and cost effective measurement system.
This proposal concerns the fabrication of a hybrid battery capacitor (HBC) using Eltron's knowledge gained in battery and capacitor research. Energy storage systems are sought for use in remote robotic systems for planetary surface operations. HBCs offer improved performance while minimizing costs.

Eltron has developed two different technologies that will be combined to create a hybrid device. First, modified graphite nanofibers (MGNs) with high power density have been prepared for electrochemical capacitors. Second, Eltron has developed a patented, low-cost synthesis method for preparing high surface area LiFePO4 cathode materials. Incorporation of the MGN between the LiFePO4 particles will provide an improved electrically conductive network that will advance charge transfer throughout the electrode, improving power density, cycle lifetime, and discharge capacity. We will also partner with an electrolyte manufacturer that has proven wide temperature electrolytes that perform exceptionally well at low temperatures.

In Phase I composite electrode materials will be synthesized and characterized. Lab test cells will be constructed and tested using galvanostatic (charge discharge), EIS (electrochemical impedance), and wide temperature testing methods. In Phase II we will improve the performance of our HBCs and work with a manufacturer to produce prototype cells that will be delivered to NASA.
The proposed hyperspectral plus LWIR system will deliver high signal to noise performance, a wide spectral range, nominally 365 nm to 1.7 um, a single long wave IR band, low optical aberration  This sensor system is designed to fit within the size, weight, and power (SWaP) envelopes of small to medium sized UAS (such as the Sierra operated by NASA Ames Research Center) and manned light aircraft (such as the Cessna 172).  

The system is based on an anamorphic hyperspectral imager.  In addition to the UV/Vis/SWIR hyperspectral imager the system will include a single band Long Wave IR (LWIR) imager providing temperature information which is useful for a wide variety of environmental research, and extends the application of the instrument to a number of problems including disaster response, oil spill mapping and detection, and wild fire research.

With this NASA SBIR proposal we will develop the system specifically for environmental research and monitoring to a TRL 8 with the final six months of the Phase II dedicated to calibration, flight tests, and development of a certified installation for light aircraft.
The proposed research is in response to the In-flight Biological Sample Preservation and Analysis topic and offers a non-invasive, proven, space and cost and time effective approach to biological sample collection and preservation. Our proposal is to collect capillary whole blood from the fingertip in addition to urine samples, and to store these samples as dried spots on a custom wick-matrix. The process of sample collection is minimally invasive to non-invasive, and samples can be stored efficiently at ambient temperatures during space flight. A wide array of blood analytes can already be determined from these samples, but in addition, we propose to develop and validate further assays that meet the specific objectives of NASA, its scientists and clinicians.
Lynntech proposes to develop and demonstrate the ability of a compact, light-weight, and automated universal sample preparation module (USPM) to process samples from various sample matrices (blood, swab, etc) to yield high quality nucleic acids for downstream molecular detection and identification.  This unit allows previously complicated, labor-intensive, and time consuming processes to be carryout by a turn-key and closed system.  Current utilization of biological testing in the ISS is limited by available upmass, downmass, and crew time as well as by the capabilities of the interfaces and hardware already developed.  Our proposed sample preparation module can play a major role in achieving the reality of on-orbit molecular analysis techniques (gene array test, DNA analysis, DNA storage) that would extend and enable additional research and development activities in space, including the ISS.  This will enable near real-time space research studies such as space radiation exposure and enhanced pathogen (bacterial, fungal, viral) virulence in micro-gravity, to be performed without having to store and bring the samples back to earth for complete analysis.
NASA is investigating a Mars Sample Return Mission, consisting of at least three separate missions: 1) Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher, MAX-C (sample acquisition and caching), 2) A fetch rover and the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), 3) Earth Return Vehicle (ERV). 
The primary goal of the MAX-C mission is to acquire ~20 cores, 1cm diameter by 5cm long, and place them in a cache for return back to Earth. Before deciding which cores to return, scientists would also need to analyze rocks in-situ. The tasks required for the MAX-C mission therefore would include: 

1.	Acquisition of 1cm x 5 cm core for earth return
2.	Acquisition of a core for in-situ analysis
3.	Acquisition of rock powder for in situ analysis
4.	Brushing of rocks for in situ analysis (as done on MER)
5.	Abrading of rocks for in situ analysis (as done on MER)

In this proposal we are advocating an approach used every day in terrestrial applications; that is having a single appliance (drill) with many attachments (various bit types for coring, caching, abrading, brushing and powder acquisition) for different applications. This approach offers mass, cost and volume savings and thus will be particularly attractive to the MAX-C mission.
Maximizing network efficiency for NASA's Space Networking resources is a large, complex, distributed problem, requiring substantial collaboration. We propose the development of an innovative software tool that will support mission and scheduling personnel in developing, de-conflicting, optimizing, and maintaining space networks. We have developed an innovative networking and scheduling framework that facilitates the development of more intelligent and optimizing scheduling algorithms with a mixed-initiative architecture. This framework will be augmented to handle the complex and diverse constraints found in the space communications scheduling domain, allowing for accurate modeling. A mixed-initiative conflict resolution assistant will analyze the schedule, and suggest ways in which any conflicts might be resolved. Once a valid schedule has been produced, a multi-objective resource optimizer will refine the schedule to maximize mission satisfaction. Some of this technology has already been applied to the NASA Ground Network (space communications) scheduling and several domains including those involving similarly complex constraints, such as the problem of optimizing ballistic missile engagements, which includes complex line of sight (LOS) and range calculations between satellite-based sensors and three-dimensional ballistic missile trajectories.

The ultimate goal of this proposed effort is to improve the space networking scheduling and execution capability.  The goals of the Phase I research are to further understand the current and future space networking domain, including user interactions and collaboration, to investigate integration requirements, and to elaborate the heuristics, algorithms and techniques for improved space networking, and analyze them as to their feasibility. Other goals are to define the metrics for space networking performance, further prove the feasibility through prototype development, and develop the Phase II system design.
Monolithic Integrated SiC Super Junction Transistor-JBS diode (MIDSJT)
devices are used to construct 500 &lt;!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
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&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;
C capable motor control power modules for direct integration with the
exploration rovers required to operate in Venus-like environments. The
Phase I of this proposed work will focus on the integrated MIDSJT device
development and high-temperature packaging. Phase II will focus on the
integration of the MIDSJT devices to construct full 3-Phase Inverter
Motor Control Modules. Although SiC is the semiconductor material of
choice for fabricating high-temperature (&amp;gt; 150 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;
C) power electronics, existing SiC MOSFET and JFET based transistor
device technologies perform poorly at temperatures exceeding 200 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;
C. The proposed gate oxide-free Integrated MIDSJT device technology will
overcome several problems associated with existing SiC device
technologies by: (A) exhibiting desirable normally-OFF operation yet
best-in-class on-state characteristics at temperatures as high as 500 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;
C, (B) eliminating parasitic inductances/capacitances associated with
interconnecting discrete devices, and (C) eliminating high-temperature
gate oxide reliability issues. Special device designs and fabrication
processes will be investigated in this work for reliable device
operation at 500 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;
C.  Novel power device packaging techniques in the areas of power
substrate, die-attach, chip metallization and wire bonds will be
explored to demonstrate reliable module operation at 500 &lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;
C after several thermal cycles.
In this Phase I SBIR, Firehole Technologies will develop proof-of-concept modeling framework for a multiscale physics-based modeling tool for predicting foreign object damage in ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). We will accomplish this by adapting the core technology, multicontinuum theory (MCT), from our existing industry-leading software analysis tool, Helius:MCT, to the problem of impact damage in CMCs. Our approach will involve modeling the composite at three levels: constituent level (fiber, matrix, interphase), mesostructure-level (fiber tow architecture), and macrostructure level (impact test of a multi-ply laminate). The mesostructure and macrostructure will be modeled using an explicit finite element analysis code. The constituent level modeling will be carried out using MCT, which permits constituent stresses and strains to be exactly determined from composite-average strain. The objective of the Phase I effort is to develop the modeling framework and compare predicted results with published experimental results. In-depth study of ceramic physics, development of an experimental validation program, and commercialization of the software would be part of a Phase I effort.
The need to accurately predict aeroelastic phenomenon for a wide range of Mach numbers is a critical step in the design process of any aerospace vehicle. Complex aerodynamic phenomenon such as vortex shedding, shock-turbulence interaction, separation, etc. dominate at transonic and supersonic Mach numbers and hence the need to address these phenomena is of utmost importance in the modeling process. Research is proposed for the development and implementation of state of the art, large-eddy-simulation (LES) based computational models for problems in nonlinear aeroelasticity. Highly efficient and accurate subgrid-scale (SGS) models will be incorporated into the flow solver and coupled with high fidelity structure solvers to predict aeroelastic phenomena such as transonic flutter, limit cycle oscillations, etc. The SGS models proposed are based on eddy-viscosity and non-eddy-viscosity models and they will both be assessed for accuracy and robustness in the context of nonlinear aeroelasticity. The implications of the proposed work include using highly accurate turbulence models with efficient finite element models of structure to solve problems in nonlinear aeroelasticity. The application of the proposed innovations spans the range of flight, from subsonic to supersonic transport vehicles. Anticipated results include 1) the implementation of the proposed LES methodology into current aeroelastic toolset 2) application of the proposed work to large-scale simulation and comparison with experiment and lower fidelity RANS-based aeroelastic simulations and 3) advancement of the state of knowledge for nonlinear problems in aeroelasticity.
Pyrotechnically actuated valves are triggered on or off by firing an explosive charge that rapidly releases large amounts of high-pressure, gas.  Pyrovalves are generally used for critical safety functions in almost all liquid and solid rocket systems and are designed to be fail-proof and provide extremely reliable actuation.  However due to the lack of mature analysis tools, current design practices and safety analysis are heavily based on empiricism and are testing driven.  The innovation proposed here is a comprehensive design and analysis tool that can characterize the transient performance of pyrotechnic actuators and provide a virtual test bed to assess performance and functional margin of these systems.  The objective under this effort would be to develop a comprehensive three-dimensional transient tool that would simulate the gas ?dynamic interactions with combustion, and model thermal effects in the valve material.  For more complex initiator designs where multiple initiators may be fired, the tool could be used to identify "skew" effects resulting from the offset between the initiator firings.  Since pyrovalves are ubiquitous and necessary for any rocket system, the tools and technology developed here would be useful to a broad variety of programs of core interest to NASA including the constellation program.
Current combustor design simulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving fuel-lean combustion have entailed using large amounts of dedicated CPU resources for extended time periods due to the expense of solving detailed, strongly-coupled, chemical kinetic models.  Such models are inherently data parallel, and much faster solutions can be obtained using low-cost graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware without loss of accuracy.  This proposal describes development of a user-friendly software toolkit that facilitates implementing detailed or reduced fuel chemistry solvers directly onto GPUs to substantially accelerate CFD simulation runtimes.  The approach is significant because it provides a cost-effective path to substantially reduce the wall-clock times currently bottlenecking high-fidelity combustion simulations.  It accommodates the incorporation of self-contained, real fuel kinetic mechanisms and validated chemistry solvers, written using standard GPU-recognized program language extensions such as CUDA and OpenCL, for use in CFD analyses with minimal end-user code modifications.  Using inputs that are Chemkin-format compatible, the proposed software toolkit will generate portable, GPU-enabled kernels that can be directly compiled into existing CFD codes, such as the National Combustion Code (NCC), to accelerate detailed combustion simulations for improved design support.
Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) proposes a novel efficient, compact, and lightweight Microlith&lt;SUP&gt;REG&lt;/SUP&gt;-based CO2 separator and methanation reactor to separate CO2 from the Martian atmosphere and convert the CO2 with H2 to methane and water vapor with high CO2 conversion and high CH4 selectivity. This offers a lightweight, compact, and efficient implementation of a Mars atmosphere-fed adsorption/Sabatier/electrolysis solution for producing fuel and oxygen. CO2 conversion is expected to be &amp;#8805;90&#37; with near 100&#37; CH4 selectivity at high throughputs and at low operating temperatures (&amp;#8804;~350&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C). The technology will allow use of Martian in-situ resources for producing rocket propellant, reactants, and life support needs such as oxygen to significantly extend the duration and range of human/robotic planetary exploration. PCI has separately developed a regenerable CO2 separator and a CO2 methanation reactor through SBIR projects for the space station and spacecraft applications, demonstrated to be superior (i.e., lower power consumption, lighter, and smaller size) to existing technologies such as pellets and microchannels. This integrated system can contribute significantly to NASA's Martian in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) architecture, offering a potential major step forward towards establishing a human outpost in Mars.
Given the constraints associated with current airborne host platforms, a technological solution is needed for efficiently obtaining meteorological data at targeted locations and altitudes.  A combination of using manned and unmanned aircraft with guided dropsondes is a promising and achievable path forward for meeting this need.  Guided dropsondes have significant implications to advance research in nearly all scientific disciplines requiring in situ atmospheric measurements.  Compared to conventional free-fall dropsondes that rely on parachutes, guided dropsondes could offer speed controlled descents combined with loiter abilities.  This can potentially yield time averaged data for a particular region?a feature not currently available with current dropsonde technology.  The guided dropsonde's ability to move to targeted areas of interest gains sensors an unprecedented level of access to extreme areas and events.  Being able to move to a designated area will also offer the potential to retrieve the guided dropsonde, giving it the capability to become an in situ sampler.  For volcanic eruptions or pollution studies, this can become a powerful new tool where few options, if any, currently exist.
An innovative thin-film magnetic thermometer with integrated superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) readout is described for fast, precision temperature measurements in the 10 mK range. The compact thermometer consists of a miniature DC SQUID susceptometer with a dilute paramagnetic alloy deposited in one of the two series-configured gradiometric SQUID pickup loops that form the SQUID inductance. Directly sensing the magnetic signal with the SQUID eliminates losses that would otherwise occur by transformer-coupling the signal to a remotely located SQUID, usually operating at a higher temperature and consequently with a higher noise floor. In addition, a novel superconducting flux concentrator deposited on top of the paramagnetic alloy homogenizes and concentrates the magnetic flux density in the paramagnet and reduces the inductance of the pickup coil, both of which improve the sensitivity and signal to noise ratio as compared with previous miniature susceptometer designs. The innovative magnetic thermometer design is expected to achive a temperature resolution well below 1 5K/Hz=.
Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) is a CCSDS standard scheme for space missions requiring very bandwidth efficient communications using transceivers with strict size, weight, and power restrictions.  GMSK provides a constant envelope signal that passes unaltered through system nonlinearities, allowing efficient power amplifier operation without extensive filtering and predistortion.  Unfortunately, current off-the-shelf GMSK and related continuous phase modulation (CPM) receivers (e.g., multi-h CPM) operate far from predicted theoretical performance and suffer from frequent link dropouts.  CPM performance issues are mostly attributable to a failure to adequately model and mitigate against transmitter, channel, and receiver impairments, including fixed-point processing effects, and to generate reliable soft-decision information for decoding.  To maximize performance given CCSDS turbo or LDPC coding and eliminate communications dropouts, a soft-decision generating GMSK demodulator with carefully designed impairment estimation and compensation is proposed.
Recent advances in airport surface surveillance have motivated the creation of new tools and data sources for analysis of Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations. The Surface Operations Data Analysis and Adaptation (SODAA) tool, which is being used by NASA to conduct airport ATC operations analysis, is a prime example of one such analysis tool. What is missing from ATC operations analysis, however, is accessible and reliable data regarding the clearances issued by the controller and other communication that is conducted with the pilot that influences the behavior that is seen in the surveillance data. The current command and control paradigm for managing air traffic in the National Airspace System (NAS) is highly dependent on voice communication. This approach has benefited the development of ATC over the last century in a number of ways, including a low level of required aircraft equipage and the ability to handle contingency situations and adapt to new requirements easily due to the flexibility and adaptability of the human air traffic controllers and pilots. However, the reliance on voice communication in ATC operations presents challenges to the researcher who is trying to obtain data and conduct detailed analyses of ATC operations. In this proposal, we draw on existing Mosaic ATM expertise and tools to perform automatic speech recognition of ATC clearances. The recognized ATC clearances will be associated with the flight that is the subject of the clearance, time-stamped and encoded into an analysis database. The SODAA tool will be used as the platform for storage and analysis of this verbal clearance data.
Piezoelectric actuators constructed with the "smart material" PZT offer many potential advantages for use in NASA cryo-valve missions relative to conventional electromagnetic-driven mechanical actuators.  In addition to their very high resolution (a benefit to nanopositioning applications for many years), they offer potential advantages for miniaturization and reduction of heat load as compared to electromagnetic actuators.  While some notable successes have been achieved in adapting piezoelectric actuators to cryogenic applications, the technology needs further innovation, development, and validation in order to reach a readiness level that can realistically be considered for use in future missions.
Variation in strain rate with temperature, CTE mismatch relative to structural materials, and problems with protective coatings make use of PZT in cryogenic environment difficult.  Thorough characterization of existing PZT material and proposed improvements to coatings and structural materials used with PZT transducers offer the potential for higher performance and reliability.  With these improvements, it will be practical to use piezoelectric actuators in applications such as high force cryo-valves that can not presently be considered.
VIP Sensors proposes to develop a Fiber Optic Pressure Sensor Array for measuring air flow pressure at multiple points on the skin of aircrafts for Flight Load Test applications. The array consists of multiple micro-miniature optical MEMS pressure sensors interconnected by a common optic fiber to an interrogation system located inside the airplane. 
The proposed optical pressure sensors are essentially flat, light weight, fully passive (no electrical power), and EMI/RFI immune, they exhibit superior performance regarding accuracy, dynamic range and noise. They are inherently self identifiable; the interrogation system knows what data belongs to what sensor.
The proposed sensor array technology is applicable to different types of optical sensors (accelerometers, strain, temperature, etc). Each sensor in the array is designed to work at preset optical wavelengths; they are read by the interrogation system using Wave Division and/or Time Division Multiplexing.
Testing of aircrafts requires a large numbers of sensors. Each sensor needs four to six wires to interconnect to signal conditioners. For large measuring systems, this means very large numbers of wires that add weight and occupy space.
The proposed FO sensor  array system not only has the potential to significantly improve pressure measurements for Flight Load Testing, but its novel  technology of micro-miniature networking  sensors will benefit many other aircraft ground and flight testing applications.
Under this SBIR program, Ridgetop will introduce the first low-cost, low-power, and lightweight data monitoring solution for rotorcraft diagnostics. The solution is an integrated MEMS-based sensors fabricated by a MEMS-first CMOS process methodology. The device measures temperature, shock, and vibration from multiple sensors integrated onto a single substrate that also contains submicron-scale CMOS electronics for the associated readout and data storage functions. High-sensitivity MEMS structures will be developed, and associated sense amplifiers that exploit low power transistors biased to operate in the subthreshold regions will be introduced. Further scaling in power is achieved by leveraging ultra-small geometries available in modern processes (e.g., 130 nm minimum feature length and below).
Ridgetop Group will design a rad-hard Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) for spacecraft power management that is functional over a temperature range of -230 to +130 &lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C. This ASIC is intended to work in conjunction with a Fuel Cell power system and battery back-up to provide uninterrupted power to critical modules in Space.
Ridgetop will combine Radiation Hardening (RH) techniques with Large Scale Integration (LSI) methodologies to build a power management system for spacecraft applications onto a single monolithic circuit. The significance of this innovation is a single reliable component (ASIC) that will meet platform requirements for high voltage, wide operating temperature range, and radiation tolerance (minimum 100 krads Total Ionizing Doze (TID), 100 MeVcm2/mg Single Event Latchup (SEL). During phase 1, we will select two functional blocks from within a representative NASA power management system as test cases. Designs for these blocks will be developed and validated through SPICE circuit and radiation simulations, using technology files provided by a commercial foundry.
In phase 2, Ridgetop will deliver working prototype integrated circuits (ICs) that meet and exceed the above requirements.
The AquaScan, a miniaturized UV/VIS/NIR hyperspectral imager will be built for deployment on a UAV or small manned aircraft for ocean coastal remote sensing applications.  The hyperspectral system includes a data acquisition system with remote operation capability proving a real-time waterfall display of the hyperspectral scans.  OKSI teamed with Scripps Institution of Oceanography to define and design a sensor that explicitly meets the performance requirements needed for ocean remote sensing of coastal regions, but can also be used for terrestrial remote sensing.  Specifically, some key requirements called for: 1) high spatial resolution (&lt; 1 meter), 2) high spectral resolution (&lt; 10 nm), UV  NIR coverage (300  1000 nm), 4) high sensitivity for low reflectivity of ocean surfaces, 5) provide simultaneous downwelling solar radiation measurements, and 6) allow for operating mode that avoids specular reflections off ocean surface.  
The AquaScan design was completed during the Phase I effort.  During Phase II the sensor will be manufactured, tested, calibrated, and prepared for flight testing.  The system will then be demonstrated during several airborne tests off the Southern California coast.  The tests will include measurements of spatially/spectrally unique ocean phenomena including red tide blooms and river plume run-offs after heavy rain storms.  Coordinated ship-based remote sensing and in situ measurements will take place concurrently with the newly developed miniature UV/VIS/NIR airborne measurements. The ship-based measurements will serve as ground truth for validation/verification.  In addition, OKSI will attempt to coordinate data collections with satellite passes (e.g., MODIS, MERIS, SeaWiFS).  Comparison with satellite data will serve as validation and demonstration of the capability to support future satellite programs (e.g., GEO-CAPE).
Optical Physics Company (OPC) has developed new silicon carbide (SiC) foam-based optics with hybrid skins that are composite, athermal and lightweight (FOCAL) that provide an enabling capability for performing NASA space missions that will require 2 to 3 meter class cryogenic mirrors for infrared telescopes.  The key development in the Phase I program was the replacement of OPC monolithic SiC skins with SiC fiber reinforced/SiC CVD hybrid skins on 1.5" coupons, 4" flat and then 12" powered optics.  This innovation avoids scale-up problems that include the inherent stress in the monolithic skins which can result in skin cracking during the substrate manufacturing and finishing processes, the non-uniformity of the .040"-.050" thick monolithic skins that typically require .010"-.015" of material removal before a continuous surface can be achieved for optical finishing, the long schedule of manufacturing the mirror substrate, and the large $2M/m2 cost to produce the polished mirror.  The hybrid skin technology provides increased skin strength and toughness to enable the foam based technology to produce meter class mirrors without skin cracking.  The manufacturing time and CVD chamber cost are reduced because premanufactured SiC fibers are used to provide the bulk of the skin mass rather than laying down a monolithic skin atom by atom via CVD.  The net effect is to produce a SiC FOCAL mirror substrate that is stronger, tougher, scalable to meter class, and potentially better than 50&#37; faster and cheaper to manufacture.  OPC proposes to demonstrate that the hybrid skin technology developed in Phase I can be successfully applied to manufacture a 22" diameter F/2 spherical SiC FOCAL hybrid skin substrate and then polish it into a precision mirror on a Phase II program.
Current and future NASA exploration flight missions require Avionics
systems, Computers, Controllers and Data processing units that are
capable of enduring extreme low temperature environments of Deep space,
Lunar and Martian surfaces.  With recent technological advances in Field
Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), it has become possible and feasible to
architect complete System on a Chip (SoC) using a single FPGA.  Large
FPGAs have increased number of gates per square inch with reduced power
consumption per gate and include Processors with soft and hard IPs,
Arithmetic modules, sizeable onboard memory and A/D included. Our
proposal in particular responds to the technologies sought that enable
NASA's long duration missions to low temperature and wide temperature
environments.  This Development is required under the technology
prioritization list for Extreme Environment Technology. As outlined in
this proposal we will explore innovative approaches and introduce new
technologies that will enable engineers to build high-reliability and
high-performance, cold capable Space and Avionics  data acquisition and
computers systems that are able to operate and perform in extreme cold
temperature range beyond the standard military specification of -55 &lt;!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
                      "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"&gt;
&lt;sup&gt;o&lt;/sup&gt;
C, surviving cryogenic temperatures over mission life.  Proposed
innovative architecture will use an existing Radiation Tolerant/Hardened
FPGA technology.
Rotorcrafts form a unique subset of air vehicles in that a rotorcraft's
propulsion system is used not only for propulsion, but it also serves as
the primary source of lift and maneuvering of the vehicle.  No other air
vehicle relies on the propulsion system to provide these functions
through a transmission system employing a single critical load path
without duplication or redundancy.  Thus it is critically important to
monitor the drivetrain components in rotorcraft propulsion systems in
order to detect the onset of damage or abnormal conditions.  We propose
to develop an analyzer for rotorcraft health monitoring.  Our proposed
device, an oil debris monitor that relies on optical means to monitor
the fluid content, will provide a means to monitor the gear and bearing
wear that is common in rotating machinery.  This device will be based on
fluid analyzers previously developed for industry.  Our sensor will
provide a means to detect the onset of failure using optical techniques.
It will be more sensitive than electromagnetic sensors.  In addition it
will be able to detect all debris, metallic and non-metallic, including
those generated by hybrid ceramic bearings, and will be able to do this
even in the presence of air bubbles.  Unlike other optical sensors, our
device will be fabricated from a glass monolith and will, by its very
nature, stay aligned forever, even when submitted to severe vibrations
and shocks.  Within the glass monolith our sensor will integrate the
equivalent of two optical instruments, one optimized for large
millimeter-size debris and one for smaller micron-size debris.
Algorithms will be developed to merge the data provided by the two
optical channels and to present a simple cohesive health assessment.
Generating land and ocean data products from NASA multispectral and hyperspectral imagery missions requires atmospheric correction, the removal of atmospheric transmission and scattering effects that contaminate the measurements.  This program led by Spectral Sciences, Inc. (SSI) addresses the challenges of high-speed, high-accuracy atmospheric correction for NASA's current (e.g., Hyperion, ALI) and future (e.g., HyspIRI, LDCM) VSWIR spectral imaging instruments through speed, portability and science upgrades to SSI's FLAASH code.  Applications include Direct Broadcast of data products generated on board the planned HyspIRI mission, which will avoid the time-consuming bottleneck of hyperspectral image telemetry. By combining FLAASH with a new radiation transport look-up table, and adding geographic information to the metadata stream, a unique, near-real-time capability would be developed and demonstrated on the NASA Elastic Cloud or Infrastructure As A Service.  We will also address the issue of in-scene aerosol optical depth variation in atmospheric correction of very large-area images from HyspIRI and other sensors.  In Phase II the software would be implemented on a flight processor to prototype HyspIRI Direct Broadcast.  The software will be TRL 3 at the contract start; the Phase I product will be TRL 4 for space operation, TRL 5 for ground operation.
The prevailing approach to non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of aircraft components is to set an inspection schedule based on what is generally known about the component in question.  Engineers perform tests on samples, get field reports, and include a safety factor based on criticality.  Then, when the schedule dictates, the component is inspected and a binary decision is made: Back in service?  Or retooled/scrapped?
	
	Unfortunately, this approach throws away much of the useful information that can be gathered from non-destructive evaluation.  When a component is inspected, a detailed picture of the current health of the component is generated.  However, the engineer would have to characterize and integrate the flaw data into the CAD model of the component for this information to be useful for predictive modeling.  This is a time-consuming process, especially considering the sheer number of aircraft components inspected each year.  Cybernet Systems is uniquely positioned to solve this problem, possessing the multi-disciplinary experience necessary to do so.

We propose to leverage our experience with Sikorsky's inspection process, as well as our work in the fields of motion tracking and position/orientation determination for augmented reality, to design and build a system that is able to determine component orientation, track sensor head position/orientation, quantify sensor data, and update the component CAD model to represent the results of the non-destructive evaluation
SSCI proposes to develop and test a Configuration Optimization for Balanced Runway/Route Assignments (COBRA) tool, which includes analysis and planner algorithms for optimizing runway selection and arrival/departure paths considering the neighboring airports in the metroplex that are competing for slots in the National Airspace System (NAS). Current practices are largely devised under the context of locally optimal planning, i.e. the plans are designed to yield as large a number of safe operations to a single airport during peak loads as possible. COBRA provides a semi-global look at the problem, considering that, periodically, what is best for a single airport may be not be the best plan for the system as a whole. 

During Phase I we will focus our efforts on 1) Formulating the Problem for a subset of Los Angeles metroplex, for which flight-data is available, 2) Algorithm development using a fast-time Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) to determine which routes provide the fewest conflicts and most efficient use of the terminal airspace, 3) Testing algorithms against Los Angeles metroplex scenarios, and 4) Providing thorough documentation of results. COBRA solutions will map flights to routes within a particular runway configuration and runway assignment. Another layer of the solver will review the nominal runway selection to determine if further balancing might be advantageous for surface operations. Designs will be flexible to incorporate a wide base of airportal constraints and objectives such as wind conditions, approved routes plans, airport surface geometry, and flight restrictions (e.g. noise abatements, separation requirements, etc.), and will be extensible to other metroplexes. Phase II work will seek to extend COBRA to a full metroplex, include uncertainty in the optimization, and test the algorithms against time-varying constraints.
Vescent Photonics propose to design and build revolutionary non-mechanical, electro-optic (EO) laser scanners that will be suitable for space based laser ranging, with a specific focus on the upcoming Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) mission.  The success of past and current space based lidar missions (e.g., ICESat, CALIPSO, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, MESSENGER) has demonstrated the utility of lidar.  LIST, which will provide a high-resolution (5 meters horizontal and 10 centimeters vertical) topographic map of the Earth, will enable a vast array of important research including: detection of active faults, global shifts in vegetation patterns, coastal erosion, assessment of wildfire risk, and many more. To realize this (with the preferred scanned approach) new scanner technology is required. The scanner must provide 1000 resolvable spots at a rep rate of 10 kHz and must survive launch and maintain calibrated operation throughout the multiyear mission lifetime. Mechanical scanners are too slow and fragile, and current EO scanners provide insufficient resolution.  The goal of this SBIR is to develop (from a current TRL 3 to 4 at end of phase I and 6 and end of phase II) and provide new EO scanners that will be suitable for LIST and other NASA lidar needs.
NASA needs reliable, accurate navigation for launch vehicles and other missions. GPS is the best world-wide navigation system, but operates at low power making it susceptible to intentional and unintentional interference. Toyon proposes to develop an anti-jam front-end that uses Space-Time Adaptive Processing to suppress interference, and implement it in a compact, low-cost package.

This design will work with any existing GPS receiver, although higher performance can be achieved by tightly integrating a GPS receiver module with the anti-jam functionality. Toyon's Miniature Integrated Direction-finding Attitude-determining Anti-jam System (MIDAAS(TM)) obtains position, velocity, attitude, and time (PVAT) measurements directly from GPS signals. The ultra-tightly coupled (UTC) navigation architecture fuses all sensor data. Integrating this system with the anti-jam module makes the system inherently robust to interference and the resulting position and attitude estimate more accurate.
A variety of ISRU operations will utilize lunar regolith as feedstock.  The proposed centrifuging step-screw conveyor concept will provide a well controlled robust, reliable, dust-free method of transporting loose regolith over short distances (up to 10's of meters) at any inclination angle, ranging from vertical-up to vertical-down.  The method offers immediate variable flow-rate control, including complete reversal of the direction of the solids flow without changing the rotation rate of the conveyor drive.  This novel approach for transporting loose granular solids can provide a reliable means of moving regolith from a lower to an upper hopper ? a stated NASA need for oxygen production from regolith.  This SBIR project will demonstrate the feasibility of the basic variable-flow-rate centrifuging step-screw.  Planned follow-on Phase-2 development will optimize the shape of the step-screw blades to minimize wear and power requirements and couple the basic step-screw with a reliable pre-screening method to reject material greater than 5mm in size. The unit could be sized for Oxygen production scale operations (50kg/hr) or for construction-scale operations (300kg/hr).  This conveying technology has very low frictional losses compared to conventional screw conveyors.  The basic modular design allows any number of individual modules to be Daisy-chained together, with arbitrary, abrupt, changes in angle from zero to 180&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt; at each module transition.  Each succeeding leg can go at any arbitrary direction or inclination, even vertically up or down, always maintaining precise, adjustable solids flow control.  Centrifuging step-screw conveyors could be used in any solids-transport situation where conventional screw augers, bucket elevators, or short conveyor belts are the current transport means being considered.  The potential advantages include robust operation, and precise control of solids flow rates with minimal set of moving parts.
This Phase I Small Business Innovative Research project proposes to develop a multiscale computational methodology capable of accurate prediction of the properties and performance of insulating ablative materials that are used to protect the re-entry of vehicles from excessive thermal loads. In particular, this effort will focus on multi-million atom, reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of pyrolysis of phenolic resins enhanced with carbon nanotubes (CNT). The results will reveal the role of CNT interface on the reaction and the thermo-mechanical properties. The derived interfacial strength characteristics will then be incorporated into continuum-level simulations. The outcome of Phase I will provide a benchmark to perform MD simulations on pyrolysis of resin composites and methodology development to link atomistic-level with continuum-level simulations. Phase II will involve MD simulations on multi-walled, functionalized CNTs in cross-linked resin, optimization of the multi-scale modeling methodology and experimental validation. The outcome of the multiscale computational program will involve a detailed parametric study to find optimal parameters at multiple scales including: nanofiller diameter size, volume fraction and functionalization of nanotubes and ?]m-sized carbon fibers. These parameters will be optimized to best meet Orion vehicle!&s TPS challenges. The team involves engineers from ACT and researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Verification and Validation is a multi-disciplinary activity that encompasses elements of systems engineering, safety, software engineering and test.  The elements that go into the V&amp;V of a complex, software intensive product come out of activities that are performed by all of these disciplines while also spanning the complete system development cycle.  As modern systems become more reliant on software intensive solutions to perform mission and safety critical functions, the effort that is required for system certification experiences a corresponding increase.  These systems are expected to perform correctly and safely while being flexible and portable enough to go though system refresh cycles and evolvable enough to take on new system functionality throughout the system lifecycle.  .
We propose a method of addressing this challenge with advanced modular safety cases to specify system safety properties and support the V&amp;V of those properties with argument and evidence chains. The modular safety cases make use of formal specification of safety claims and use contracts to formalize the dependencies between the case modules.  These cases can be used to form powerful verification and validation arguments for a system that are maintainable and can be used to support incremental V&amp;V techniques.
Research is proposed for the development and implementation of state of the art, reduced order models for problems in
nonlinear aeroelasticity. Highly efficient and accurate aeroelastic simulation tools will be constructed based upon the
mathematical formalism of optimal prediction theory and a novel implementation of a filtered harmonic balance solution
methodology. The implications of the proposed work include orders of magnitude reduction in computational time, with minimal
loss of accuracy, for time periodic problems in nonlinear aeroelasticity. The application of the proposed innovations spans the
range of flight, from high-speed transport vehicles, to small-scale, flapping Micro-Air vehicles. Anticipated results include 1) the
implementation of the proposed reduced order methodology into both a standard grid-based aeroelastic tool and a material
point method monolithic aeroelastic solver for the production of technology ready, multi-flow regime aeroelastic simulation
tools 2) application of the proposed work to large-scale simulation and comparison with experiment and "full-order" aeroelastic
simulations and 3) advancement of the state of knowledge for nonlinear problems in aeroelasticity in both the subsonic, low
Reynolds number regime and transonic high Reynolds number regime.
Silicon carbide (SiC) and other wide band-gap semiconductors offer great promise of high power rating, high operating temperature, simple thermal management, and ultra-high power density for both space and commercial power electronic systems. However, this great potential is seriously limited by the lack of reliable high temperature device packaging technology. The objective of this proposed research is to develop a ultra-compact, hybrid power module packaging technology based on the use of double leadframes and direct leadframe-to-chip transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding that allows device operation up to 450&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C. The Phase I research plan will include: 1) material selection; 2) electrical, mechanical, and thermal design of a half-bridge prototype module; 3) packaging process development using volume manufacturing processes; 4) stress and thermal modeling and analysis; 5) material characterization under high temperature and high temperature cycling; and 6) cost estimation and comparative analysis with competing technologies. The unique advantages of this innovative solution include very high current carrying capability, low package parasitic impedance, low thermo-mechanical stress at high temperatures, double-side cooling, and modularity for easy system-level integration. The new power module will have a very small form factor with 3-5X reduction in size and weight from the prior art.
Under this SBIR project a new chemistry for Li-ion cells will be developed that will enable a major advance in secondary battery gravimetric and volumetric energy density with improved safety and reliability.  By the completion of the Phase I effort the feasibility of the chemistry to achieve energy densities in excess of 300 Wh/kg and 600 Wh/l will have been demonstrated in lab cells, corresponding to a TRL of 3 to 4.  A Phase II effort will involve further optimization of the chemistry and cell designs and extensive evaluation of 18650 or larger size cells incorporating the new chemistry.
Phase I of the proposal describes plans to develop a state of the art transmitter for the W-Band and KA -Band Cloud Radar system. Our focus will be concentrated in the design of a dry high voltage assembly including both the power supply and modulator part of the system, thus eliminating the oil, which adds weight and presents complicated sealing problems during environmental conditions during system operatation. The system will be suitable for operatation at ground and aircraft environments and during extreme temperature ranges from -40 degrees centigrade to + 85 degrees centigrade. The simulation will represent actual testing conditions under EIK loading. The second part of our effort will be directed to develop an FR high power amplifier and a sophisticated combiner to direct the output energy to the antenna. The success of this part of our effort will result in the replacement of the EIK tube which is the most expensive part of our system with an RF power amplifier system.
Broadband focal plane arrays, operating in UV-to-SWIR wavelength range, are required for atmospheric monitoring of greenhouse gases. Currently, separate image sensors are used for different spectral sub-bands: GaN for UV, Si for visible, and InGaAs for SWIR, requiring expensive component-level integration for hyper-spectral imaging. Also, the size of the InGaAs focal plane arrays is currently limited by the InP substrate area.

We propose a GaAs/InGaP/InGaAs based photodiode on standard GaAs substrates for large-format (4096 x 4096) focal plane arrays with the following characteristics:
(1) Wavelength = 0.25 to 2.5 micron;
(2) Quantum Eficiency &gt; 30&#37; in UV (0.25 to 0.4 micron), &gt; 80&#37; in Visible (0.4 to 0.9 micron), and &gt; 70&#37; in IR (0.9 to 2.5 micron) subbands;
(3) Photodiode Area (single element) = 15 x 15, 25 x 25, and 50 x 50 micron square;
(4) RoA &gt; 35 Ohm-cm^2 at 300K; and
(5) Bandwidth &gt; 1 GHz. 
Additionally, feasibility of UV-to-SWIR graded optical filters will be investigated. 

Based on P.I.'s experience on SCIAMACHY, this project will enable one image sensor for 8 spectroscopic channels currently orbiting on European Space Agency's ENVISAT. Also, feasibility of large-format image sensors on GaAs substrates will be demonstrated.
We propose an improved cathode based on our novel theory of the role of scandium oxide in enhancing emission in tungsten impregnate cathodes.  Recent results have demonstrated the efficacy of nano-particle scandium oxide, but a detailed theory on mechanism has been lacking.  Our theory explains published data and point to an optimized cathode which we here propose to build and test at our facility.  The cathode is the performance limiting component in high frequency linear beam amplifiers such as traveling wave tubes and klystrons.  Bandwidth, data rates, numbers of channels, frequency and output power requirements are going up.  The performance of linear beam amplifiers is acutely limited by the cathode limitations.  Scandate cathodes offer a way to increase emission from current limits of about 10 A/cm2 to about 50 A/cm2.
Large deployable telescopes such as NASA's 9.2m and 16.8m segmented ATLAST systems require commensurately large deployable sunshades for thermal control and to prevent stray light from contaminating the desired science images. Existing deployable structures technologies are too heavy and expensive to provide advanced observation platforms with the supporting systems they require to function properly.
Aerospace and Bonded Structures (ABS), Inc. will team with QinetiQ North America (QNA) to provide NASA with a versatile, self-deploying Optical Barrel Assembly (OBA) and shroud that can be applied to a wide range of telescope scales and configurations. The HOODS system consists of a strain energy self-deploying composite truss structure and the insulation and light baffle material that protects the sensitive optical components.
The phase I program will define an OBA architecture compatible with the ATLAST overall system deployment and operational approach. The ABS team will build a representative section of deployable truss structure and test it in a laboratory environment. The test results will be used to extrapolate the full system performance. Phase II will expand on the Phase I results to develop a scaled full system HOODS system prototype.
Mars Sample Return poses some of the most challenging operational activities of any NASA deep space mission. Rendezvous of a vehicle with a sample canister in order to return the canister to Earth requires a variety of complex mathematical processing on a changing data set, coupled with the need to safely and effectively handle a large range of off-nominal conditions and spacecraft faults. Light speed delay isolates the spacecraft from real-time operator intervention, while inertial and situational uncertainties demand reactivity not required of typical spacecraft sequencing systems. These mission features call for a new class of sequence capability: Reactive Rendezvous and Docking Sequencer (RRDS).

RRDS  melds the rule-based reactivity needed for rendezvous and docking with sequence characteristics common to more traditional missions. Rules watch for conditions in order to react to the current situation, allowing a wide range of complex activities and safety-related responses to be concisely represented without complex procedural programming.

Built atop JPL's VML 2.1, RRDS uses state machines to react to a variety potential conditions simultaneously. Conditions include out-of-envelope inertial behavior, hardware malfunctions, flight software errors, and ground wave-off, among others. Responsibility for commanding elements aboard the spacecraft is divided among state machines called managers, coordinated together by a flight director which the ground commands.

Underlying flight software for navigation, thruster allocation, inertial checking, attitude estimation and control, contact detection, docking mechanisms, and the like receive direction from the managers. This mediated control causes the system to reactively operate in modes with proper ordering of activities. Reactive operations are represented explicitly by states and transitions defining the managers, and do not require use of explicitly timed activities.
In response to the need for actuators, particularly, gear heads, that can operate in the harsh Venusian environment for extended periods of time, on the order of several days to weeks, Honeybee Robotics proposes to develop and demonstrate an extreme temperature compatible gear head. The proposed effort will consider the novel design of gear bearings, which is capable of handling wide range speeds and loads requirements, but will also incorporate standard bearings as a means of constraining relative axial motions of the gears.  The high gear reductions possible within a single stage, coupled with the already compact size make this innovation ideal for spaceflight hardware where size and weight are at a premium, specifically to the extreme conditions of Venus. 
During Phase I, a first-generation prototype gear head will be designed, built, and tested in Venus-like conditions (486oC temperature and mostly CO2 gas environment). Phase I testing will verify the feasibility of the design and confirm that the gear head can operate at 486oC for an extended period of time.  In a potential Phase II effort, an extreme environment compatible gear head will be developed to TRL 6.  Fully developed and optimized versions of this gear head, when integrated with the offeror's high temperature motors, could be used to actuate drills, robotic arms, and other devices outside of an environment-controlled landed platform on the surface of Venus.
N&amp;R Engineering will investigate the feasibility of cooled ceramics, such as ceramic matrix composite (CMC) turbine blade concepts that can decrease specific fuel consumption while reducing NOX emissions.  The conflict between efficiency and emissions will require a careful balancing of material selection, turbine inlet temperature, and cooling air. Parametric aero-thermal and structural analyses of selected ceramic blade concepts will be performed to identify blade design and cooling concepts, and to quantify vane and rotor cooling flow rates.  Tailoring of the cooling flows allows for optimization of efficiency and emission reductions.   Both internal only and film cooling flows will be determined for a range of material properties, loads, and mainstream air and coolant temperatures. Probabilistic thermal/structural analysis will identify the sensitivity of heat transfer and structural parameters to uncertainties in blade thermal conductivity and other material properties, as well as loads and geometry. The proposed effort goes beyond previous laboratory demonstrations of cooling concepts by determining more precisely ceramic blade cooling required to achieve specified performance metrics.  The methodology will be developed to a level that will permit validation in an environment relevant to commercial jet engines.  This will take the TRL from a current level of 4 to 5.
Lightweight structures has enormous potential for space vehicles applications as the reduction of weight from metallic structures add to vehicle performance, reduce launching and maintenance costs. The high strength, superior stiffness, and lightweight characteristics of carbon fibers have created enormous interest as reinforcing element for use in various structures of polymer matrix composites. Majority of the commercial carbon fibers are produced from a PAN and pitch precursors. Since carbon fiber is the key constituent material in composite materials that contribute to the load carrying capability of composite structures any improvements in carbon fiber properties and manufacturing process is vital for the further improvement and application of composite structures. In this SBIR Phase I project we propose to develop pitch-based nanocomposite carbon fibers and use them for manufacturing of composite cylinders via a filament winding technique. These nanocomposite carbon fibers and the associated composite structures will possess excellent structural, thermal and electrical conductivity properties.   Preliminary research results indicated that the proposed idea is very promising. The results of the proposed research will contribute to NASA's goal of performance enhancement, and reduction of launching and maintenance costs.
Sentient will develop an enhanced prediction of gear tooth surface fatigue life with rigorous analysis of the tribological phenomena that contribute to pitting failure.  Advanced mixed-elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) models that are capable of fully describing the tribology of the mating gear teeth will be utilized to determine the influence of surface roughness and asperity interaction on the stresses driving the degradation of the surface. These factors are not rigorously addressed by currently available solutions.  The lubrication analysis will be coupled with a damage accumulation algorithm that takes into account fatigue initiation at the level of the material microstructure.  This integrated software will be the world's first physics-based gear tooth life estimation model with rigorous consideration of lubrication and pitting/scuffing damage progression in nominally loaded and misaligned gears. When complete, an end-user of the software will input the design parameters of a gearbox along with a mission load spectrum, and the software will output the estimated service lives of its gears.  If the historical or anticipated load spectrum happens to change, the altered spectrum can be input and the life recomputed.  This flexibility provides the most accurate and up-to-date estimations of both the current gearbox health and of the remaining life.
We propose that a virtual environment is necessary to allow NASA robot engineers and operators to study rover design concepts, develop user interfaces and focus on providing the highest possible level of situational awareness and telepresence possible. The two main areas of research for this virtual environment focus upon: 
?	determining the appropriate level of modeling and simulation required for the environment, and 
?	the on-going use of the virtual world as a sandbox or testbed for robot experimentation and analysis. 
We intend to research and develop GameSAT, a game technology based virtual world sandbox to study rover design concepts and perfect the user interfaces, situational awareness and telepresence needed to use those rovers in a lunar mixed human/robot environment. GameSAT is envisioned to interface with existing systems to allow current NASA tools to operate a virtual rover in our simulation, a rover on the test range or the moon seamlessly ? invisible to the current control tools.
C-CAT, which has proven carbon-carbon fabrication capabilities, will investigate use of ACC-6 High Melt oxidation protective system on carbon-carbon for use on the Cryogenic and Non-Toxic Storable Propellant Space Engine nozzle and nozzle extensions.  

ACC-6 High Melt is a carbon-carbon coating application that embeds HfC,ZrB2 in the outer layers.  This material system has been tested in Arc Jet environment at over 3000 degrees F, for more than 24 minutes with little to no erosion.  ACC-6 High Melt has shown to be the best performing high temperature material system, and still retains the ease of manufacturing associated with carbon-carbon.

ACC-6 High Melt has been manufactured in small scale leading edge experiments, but has yet to be demonstrated in large components.  Manufacturability of large scale components remains as the main question to be answered for this material system.  For Phase I, C-CAT proposes to build subsections of a nozzle extension representing the attach flange and the exit diameter of approximately 40" diameter. Success will be achieved by manufacturing the aforementioned subsection using ACC-6 High Melt with no voids or spalling of coating.  This successful demonstration will provide the path for scale-up to a full size prototype nozzle extension for Phase II.
Technological innovations have enabled a wide range of aerial vehicles that can be remotely operated. Viable applications include military missions, law enforcement, border patrol, weather data collection, telecommunications, land use imaging, and cargo transport. NASA and other organizations have invested heavily in this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) research. UAVs can be flown in the National Airspace System (NAS) today, but only with special permission from the FAA ? a process that often takes 60 to 90 days. Moreover, permission is often contingent on heavy restrictions, such as accompanying the UAV with a manned chase plane, thereby nullifying the cost savings of a UAV. Full fruition of UAV technology will require incorporation of UAVs into mainstream air traffic management (ATM) practices, including traffic flow management flow control programs and possible creation of special use airspace (SUA). In this SBIR, we propose a UAV-to-traffic flow management (UAV-TFM) interface. This allows traffic managers to anticipate and track UAVs. In turn, this allows UAV operators to understand the their impact on commercial air traffic and their involvement in traffic management activities.
This project will provide a new method for testing flow/no-flow conditions and other gravity-driven flow behavior of Lunar or planetary regolith under reduced gravity, through the use of surrogate regolith simulants which mimic the effects of reduced gravity.  New calibration data for numerical flow simulation models will also be obtained.  The new low-g simulants will provide readily accessible, inexpensive means to verify that equipment intended to function under reduced gravity conditions, will actually function as intended when deployed in the 'real' application environment.  Drop towers or parabolic flights are the only current viable methods available to create reduced gravity environments for testing equipment, without involving actual flights in space; but they have severe restrictions on test duration, volume and expense.  Recent simulations, drop tower tests, and centrifuge tests have demonstrated that granular materials tend to act more 'cohesive' at reduced gravity.  This change in behavior at reduced gravity, is not due to a change in cohesive strength of the material, rather it is due to a reduction in the gravity driving force inducing material to flow.  Under reduced gravity, reduced flow rates and/or flow stoppages are observed in hoppers; and, in rotating drum flows large clumps and large avalanches develop, which are not seen for the same material at one-g.  The large fine-fraction, and potentially increased surface energies, of in-situ regolith material already increase the likelihood of flow stoppages, or no-flow conditions, occurring within in-situ resource utilization processing equipment.  The additional risk of flow stoppages because of reduced gravity is difficult to test terrestrially.  The low-gravity-emulating surrogate regolith simulants developed and verified under this research, and the calibrated numerical simulation models, will offer new, inexpensive, methods to test whether solids will flow or not under reduced gravity.
NextGen Aeronautics, Inc. is proposing an alternate architecture for inflatable lunar habitats that takes advantage of inflatable beam technologies currently being used in various military, aerospace, and commercial applications.  Current technology uses a fiber-reinforced elastomeric composite capable of containing high gas pressure, giving the beams the strength needed to form a robust structure that can withstand being buried by regolith for radiation/micrometeorite protection. NextGen's novel approach is to join multiple beams, forming a continuous cellular arched structures or a series of connected rings to form cylinders. Key advantages of this approach include: ability of structure to maintain strength and stiffness independent of pressure in habitable volume, double wall construction preventing puncture of internal/external wall, ability to isolate leaks in affected elements without compromising habitat pressure or structural integrity, possible use of water or other radiation absorbing material to fill beams, and relative ease of creating a rigid structure by filling the beams with foam. We will achieve TRL of 2 in Phase I and technology transition to TRL of 5 in Phase II. NextGen team's strength lies in related prior work, and with investigators who have an exceptional background in inflatable structures and low-stowed volume designs.
There currently exists no end-to-end reactor/power conversion monitoring
system that can provide both autonomous health monitoring, but also
in-situ sensor calibration and response time testing without human
interface.  One of the key challenges facing space nuclear power systems
is their extremely remote location and requirement for multi-year
missions.  The current benchmark system has a mission life of at least 8
years during which time there is no opportunity for repair, sensor
calibrations, or any maintenance of any kind.  By contrast,
terrestrial-based nuclear power plants undergo periodic outages during
which time sensor calibrations can be performed.  Current technology
relies heavily on real-time human interaction, monitoring and control.
Due to the long communication times between the Earth and Moon, or Mars,
real-time human control is not possible.  Therefore, these emerging
programs have a critical need to develop autonomous health monitoring
and control technology. Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation
proposes to develop a modular signal processing platform that will
enable robust system monitoring.  The proposed system, once fully
developed, will be able to detect system anomalies, based on advanced
analytical and empirical analysis and will enable autonomous reactor
operation and corrective action.
Accurate estimates of the vibroacoustic loading placed on space vehicles and payloads during launch require knowledge of the rocket noise source properties.  Given the extreme nature of acoustic environments near the plume, data sufficient to characterize the noise source region have been difficult to acquire.  Without these data, structures may be designed to handle an insufficient or excessive vibroacoustic loads, resulting in either an overbuilt structure (and extra weight), or an under-designed vibration isolation system that could result in damaged cargos.
Current energy base acoustic probe designs have limited frequency bandwidth due to physical limitations.  A new set of probe designs is proposed that incorporate both a new physical probe design but also a more advanced signal processing methodology that will significantly increase the usable frequency bandwidth of the probes while reducing the manufacturing and maintenance costs of the probes.
The probe system will also include the design of a complete data acquisition system capable of recording data under the harsh conditions present in typical rocket motor test firings.
The proposed innovation is a methodology to incorporate variable fidelity structural models into steady and unsteady aeroelastic and aeroservoelastic analyses in order to utilize the appropriate level of fidelity for the problem at hand.  Some aeroelastic problems require detailed finite element modeling of the structure and servoelastic systems, or a detailed FEM may be the only structural model available.  Other problems, such as efficient modeling of wind tunnel models and flight vehicles or multidisciplinary optimization (MDO), benefit from the relative simplicity of reduced order structural models.  The unique value of this innovation is the ability to rapidly and repeatedly handle the significant difficulty of moving from a detailed model to a reduced order model and then carrying any subsequent design or optimization changes back to the higher order detailed structural model. The proposed methodology will automate the process of projecting lower order model changes, for example after an MDO application, back to the original (source) higher order model.  The methodology will contribute to integrated design optimization tools that can synergistically vary the simulation fidelity to find optimum solutions using design variables from more than one discipline.
The primary objective of the proposed Phase I effort is to develop and demonstrate a low-average power, pulsed, single-frequency, 2-um Ho-laser source for application as a front end in coherent LIDAR systems. Development of such pulsed seed sources is critical for the design of compact, rugged, reliable and efficient LIDAR transmitters based on all-amplifier architecture.
Pulsed operation of the Ho-oscillator is achieved via passive Q-switching using robust Cr2+-doped saturable absorbers. Such seed oscillators allow generation of ns-width pulse trains at kHz repetition rates. Direct diode-pumping using the latest 1.9-um diode laser technology provides improved oscillator reliability and compactness. 
The choice of a 2-um Ho-laser material (as opposed to 1.5-um Er-lasers) enables efficient power/energy scaling of the pulsed seed oscillator output in high-gain Ho-amplifiers. This approach decreases the number of amplifying stages, simplifies the overall design and packaging, and improves the electrical efficiency of the complete laser system as compared to the current technology.
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I effort will investigate the feasibility of using electro-optic (EO) beam scanning element to control coupling into a fiber as a fiber coupled pulse shaper.  The goal of the pulse shaper is to reduce a 4-6ns pulse to 0.4-0.6ns pulse at 1064nm and/or 532nm at input powers at the 2mJ level.   The highest utility of the proposed pulse shaper is its programability allowing it to deliver different pulse widths and different pulse shapes.  Although this approach to pulse shaping inherently truncates the power of the input pulse, the shaper will find its greatest value in investigating the optimal pulse shape and parameters in a given optical system.  As an added benefit, this technology can be directly morphed into a new type of Q-switch for solid state lasers requiring fewer optics, lower drive voltage and high damage threshold.  The proposed effort is broken down into 3 primary tasks: 1) fabricate EO scanning elements, 2) assemble a benchtop pulse shaper for characterization and 3) Investigate drive electronics with sub ns rise times and moderately high voltage.
PI at ArkLight proposes a novel approach to photon counting detectors at
near-IR (1-1.8 m) and mid-IR (3-4 m) with single photon sensitivity,
representing an innovative Lidar technology for ASCENDS mission. She
will convert the input signals at 1.27 m and 1.57 m to those at 579 nm
and 634 nm, respectively, within a periodically-poled LiNbO3 wafer,
pumped by a Nd:YAG laser at 1.064 m or a 200-mW InGaAs laser at 980 nm.
The anticipated results for Phase 1 include demonstrations of efficient
frequency up-conversion from 1.27 m and 1.57 m to 579 nm and 634 nm,
determination of fundamental limits to noise equivalent powers,
performance of the proposed detection system after optimizations, a
final design of an ultra-compact detection system after considering e.g.
an intracavity configuration, and reports. Beginning/end (Phase 1): TRL
1/3. The anticipated results for Phase 2 include implementation and
testing of the ultra-compact detection system, measurement and analysis
of noise equivalent powers and photon sensitivities, expansion of
detection wavelengths to 1-1.8 m and 3-4 m, feasibility analysis of
single-photon sensitivity, design, implementation, and testing of a
battery-powered, cell-phone-sized, and integrable detection system with
single photon sensitivity being achieved, to be tested in space-based
platforms, and reports.
ZONA Technology, Inc. (ZONA) proposes to develop an integrated flight dynamics simulation capability with nonlinear aeroelastic interactions by combining a flight dynamics model and an added-on nonlinear aeroelastic solver in a Simulink environment.  This nonlinear aeroelastic solver is generated by interacting a nonlinear structural reduced order model (ROM) with a Neural-Network-based (NN-based) aerodynamic ROM, called the ROM-ROM procedure, to provide the incremental aeroelastic forces and moments to a given flight dynamics model. In this way, the flight dynamics model is kept with minimum changes so that this integrated flight dynamics simulation remains in the frame work of a 6 degrees-of-freedom simulation environment.  The nonlinear structural ROM employs a so-called ELSTEP/FAT procedure that operates on a nonlinear finite element method, such as MSC.Nastrans solution 106 to construct a set of modal-based nonlinear stiffness matrices.  The NN-based aerodynamic ROM is generated using a system identification technique operating on a CFD code to evaluate the weights and biases in a two-layer feed-forward neural network system.  The end product is called NL-DFS which can simulate the key aeroelastic coupling mechanism between nonlinear structural dynamics and nonlinear unsteady aerodynamics with classical rigid body dynamics of a slender, flexible and sizable aircraft in nonlinear aerodynamic flight conditions.
One of the major problems perceived for Trex Enterprises chemical vapor composite silicon carbide mirrors is the cost of machining, lightweighting and polishing the mirrors.  Trex proposes to demonstrate a new ceramic matrix composite honeycomb panel silicon carbide that nearly eliminates the machining and lightweighting steps.  Web thickness of the new material is less than 1-mm, and core geometries (pocket depth, pocket size) are easily tailored.  We will also attempt to demonstrate a breakthrough in our chemical vapor deposition process that results in conventional CVC SiC&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; facesheets that are optically figured, i.e., replicated, and which require minimal polishing.  We estimate that the new material will be 3-10 times lighter than bulk silicon carbide and have a net production cost on the order of $38K per square meter.  Even at double this price it exceeds NASA's goal of $100K per square meter.  The new product will be trademarked HoneySiC&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt;.  Phase I will start at TRL 2 (Technology concept) and mature to TRL 3 (Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof of concept).
Ridgetop Group will leverage its proven Electromechanical Actuator (EMA) prognostics methodology to develop an advanced model-based actuator prognostic reasoner (MAPR). Ridgetop's concept is a self-contained, embedded prognostic reasoner with a passive connection to common avionic data busses. By monitoring actuator health in real time and providing early warning of incipient fault conditions, the proposed MAPR would enable condition based maintenance (CBM) of critical avionic flight control systems and support safer, more reliable next generation air transportation. 
The novel approach will effectively decouple the passive prognostic reasoner from the target flight control system, or actuator, and will support multiple avionic data bus interfaces, such as MIL-STD-1553, easing adoption, validation, integration, and support. Potentially, a single MAPR could monitor multiple flight control systems, reducing overall sensor costs. Furthermore, an embedded MAPR implementation with field upgradeable firmware would support evolving interface standards and prognostic health measurement capabilities. Finally, the proposed MAPR architecture is ideally suited for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, which dramatically accelerates technology readiness and commercial introduction.
We propose agent-based game-theoretic approaches for simulation of strategies involved in multi-objective collaborative traffic flow management (CTFM). Intelligent agents represent two types of entities / players: FAA Traffic Management Unit (TMU) representatives, and Airline Operations Center (AOC) coordinators. The software modules resulting from this work are intended to be part of the NASA ARC multi-agent simulation toolkit for CTFM. The goal is to utilize game theory to understand the behavior of AOCs so that the CTFM system may be designed to yield improved performance of the NextGen AirSpace without compromising safety. We consider a spectrum of information sharing cases, from complete information sharing to incomplete information sharing where AOCs limit the transparency of their strategies to the FAA TMU. This agent-based simulation software will enhance the ability of the FAA (and other parties including NASA) to design proper collaboration protocols and incentives by studying the effects of different strategies by both types of players. We call this a "co-opetition" simulation tool since it allows analysis of competitive strategies between AOCs, while providing insights into how the TMU can promote greater cooperation by the AOCs for the common good. We should emphasize that the intent of the proposed software is NOT to design effective AOC strategies since that will be determined by the individual airlines, and not the CTFM system designers.
It is proposed to develop desensitized optimal filtering techniques and to implement these algorithms in a navigation and sensor fusion tool kit. These proposed desensitized optimal filtering techniques include recent advances in robust and/or adaptive generalized Kalman and Sigma-Point filters for non-Gaussian  problems with uncertain error statistics, as well as a proposed new technique to desensitize the Kalman filter with respect to parameter uncertainties using a robust trajectory optimization approach called Desensitized Optimal Control. These techniques will be implemented in a relatively generic environment which enables the user to import dynamics and measurement models necessary to apply these filtering techniques to a particular navigation and sensor fusion problem. A variety of sensor models and noise distributions will be available for the user to select, and Monte-Carlo analysis capability will be built into the tool kit to enable statistical performance evaluations. The tool kit will also have a modularized structure so that the modules can be readily integrated with other applications.
State of the art Radiation Hardened by Design (RHBD) techniques do not account for wide temperature variations in BiCMOS process.  Silicon-Germanium BiCMOS process offer inherent advantages for operation in radiation environments where single event transient and total iodization dose effects on the circuit are important. Recent access to libraries of wide temperature and RHBD BiCMOS designs provide the reference data for developing radiation aware automation design automation. Lynguent's efficiency gains in compact model composition have enabled radiation domain experts to transfer observed radiation effects from TCAD simulators into the commercial circuit simulators. These compact models are augmented with radiation effects such as the ISDE 90 nm Bulk CMOS Bias Dependent Charge Sharing SET Effect. These rad-aware models are used within the LynRad Fault Analyzer, taking into account circuit schematics, layout and cosmic ray scenarios.  Extending this design automation to a BiCMOS AMS designs is the logical next step in establishing radiation awareness over wide temperature.  Previous investigations were limited to circuits with a small number of transistors that could be simulated in mixed TCAD-SPICE environments. Consequently, scaling the LynRad Radiation Fault Analyzer to larger, more complex AMS circuits is a key aspect of this investigation.
Improving the acoustical environment is critical in aeronautics. Airports and aeronautical systems manufacturers are facing ever-increasing demands to reduce noise levels.  Aeronautical applications require the use of large arrays of high quality microphones with a large dynamic range.  These arrays are expensive.  The advent of lower cost microphones that meet the users' specifications would dramatically improve the ability of engineers seeking to quantify the acoustic impact of either their designs or their facilities (e.g., airports) to make data driven decisions to improve any adverse conditions. 

We seek to develop commercially viable, piezeoelectric micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) microphones capable of withstanding the high amplitude sound pressure levels and adverse environmental conditions found in ground testing of the acoustics of aeronautical systems.  The acoustical specifications of these microphones (measured by noise floor, linearity, sensitivity) will met or exceed those of existing microphones.  Our microphone is a shift from the capacitive sensing scheme that is used in nearly every microphone in use today.  

Piezoelectric MEMS microphones have significant advantages, over an above their small size (&lt;4 mm x mm). Piezoelectric MEMS microphones require no polarization (unlike capacitive sensors), a significant price advantage when considering implementation in large arrays.  In addition, the piezoelectric MEMS microphones can withstand the higher temperatures needed for lead-free re-flow soldering ? a significant advantage over electrets (that cannot withstand these high temperatures).  This microphone, therefore, holds the promise of superior acoustical performance, lower cost than current technology, ease of implementation into large arrays, and seamless integration into modern microelectronics manufacturing procedures.
Prior to human arrival, lunar robots will conduct a variety of precursor operations. Some of these will need supervision from Earth. After humans arrive, robots will continue to follow a mix of autonomy, local control, and ground control. For best utility, a strong model is needed of the expected responses of the robots to various commands. Such a model enables procedure authors to verify expected outcomes, enhances situational awareness for remote operators in the presence of time delay, and provides a mechanism for planning. We propose a simulation module for assisting an operator across a time delay.
The proposed innovation is a hybrid simulation module to replace the current "Behavioral Sim" in JSC's Predictive Interactive Graphical Interface (PIGI).  PIGI helps an operator compensate for lunar-scale time delay, and is part of NASA's "RAPID Workbench". The Behavioral Sim acts as an oracle, taking initial conditions and a sequence of commands and producing trajectories and expected final location of the robot. We propose to provide functionality to (1) keep and reason about the robot's internal state; (2) model relevant aspects of the robot's workspace; (3) reason at a high level about manipulation; and (4) model the uncertainty cone of the predictions.
This SBIR proposal addresses the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) of gallium nitride (GaN) films using nitrogen-enriched metal solutions. Growth of GaN from solutions offers the possibility of drastically reducing the density of line defects.  As these defects adversely affect both breakdown voltages and electron velocities, their reduction can significantly increase the performance of high power Ka-band HEMT structures used for satellite communications.  

To achieve low defect densities in GaN films and efficient, large scale manufacturing, IIIAN will utilize new chemical growth methods based on nitrogen-enriched metal solutions, in particular the Ca-Ga-N ternary system.  In the binary calcium-gallium alloy system it is possible to achieve a nitrogen atomic fraction of 2&#37; at 900 oC and 2 bar.  This is a significantly higher fraction than is possible in pure gallium solutions. For example, a temperature of ~1700 oC and pressure of ~10 kbar are necessary to achieve even 0.1&#37; atomic nitrogen fraction in pure gallium solvent.
NASA has a need for technologies that will enable them to repair damage to composite structures. Fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials are fast gaining ground as preferred materials for the construction of aircraft and spacecraft. In particular, the use of composites as primary structural materials in several technology-demonstrator front-line aerospace projects worldwide has provided confidence leading to their acceptance as prime materials for aerospace vehicles. Respectively, materials and tools that can provide rapid, permanent or temporary repairs of composite structural damage in a space environment should follow the wide utilization of composites in airspace vehicles. This proposed project will result in the development of a fast cure repair kit for composites (C-kit) that will consist of the basic composite fabric preimpregnated (prepreg) with an ultraviolet (UV) light-curing resin, a dispenser containing UV curable resin with properties close to the basic matrix resin, and a battery-operated portable, efficient single light emitting diode (LED) as the source of UV radiation. The prepreg material, which will be in the form of tape and precut patches, and the resin will be stored separately in protective dispensers. The cure of each layer of repair material will take less than a minute. Surface cleaning materials will also be included in the kit. In this project, IOS will collaborate with a manufacturer devoted specifically to the development of UV cured adhesives for specific high end applications. This work will extend the knowledge and experience previously attained by the IOS/ SGL team in the development of light-curing adhesives for Navy ships corrosion protection and for corrosive barrier restoration in Navy fleet composite materials.
Neva Ridge Technologies proposes to develop a suite of software tools for the analysis of SAR and InSAR data, focused on having a robust and adopted capability well in place for scientists by the era of the NASA DESDynI spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mission.  The software will take advantage of the latest technologies associated with graphics processor units (GPUs) to drastically accelerate desktop processing performance.  The growth in both GPU hardware performance and software development tools far exceeds those for general CPUs and other computer systems.  Our effort will take advantage of this externally driven growth throughout the next decade.  Under the proposed paradigm, users will access raw data via the internet using the developed software tool and process this data locally on a desktop computer augmented with an inexpensive GPU system.  The local software will be designed for both ease of use and flexibility allowing scientists to produce their particular InSAR products from archived raw data very quickly. The software process flow will be developed by Neva Ridge in conjunction with NASA InSAR scientists, and will be open to supported scientists who would like to add or modify internal algorithms.  Neva Ridge will maintain the software in an ongoing support role, and will incorporate the new and updated InSAR algorithms as nominated by scientists.  Under this Phase I effort, we will demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by prototyping the main flow of InSAR processing steps using a GPU-accelerated system and will design process flows for many InSAR applications.
We propose to build a compact, rugged field-deployable laser photoacoustic spectrometric (LPAS) sensor for continuous, real-time measurements of multiple chemical components, and perform field tests to qualify it for dynamic monitoring of Water Vapor, Carbon Dioxide (12CO2 and 13CO2), Carbon Monoxide, Methane, Ozone, Reactive and Trace Gases. 

Our sensor will be based on our laboratory LPAS instrument (at technology readiness level TRL-4)that has already demonstrated successful alcohol detection in presence of water vapor. It utilizes a tunable infrared laser (interband cascade or quantum cascade), a high sensitivity photoacoustic cell with an air sampler and an efficient algorithm to rapidly complete high sensitivity, selective multi-component measurements in under a minute.  In Phase I we will carry out extensive laboratory tests of LPAS with standard samples, and a comprehensive analysis of the sensor performance using a model to determine the limit of detection (LOD) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the sensor and establish its feasibility. A rugged and portable prototype sensor (TRL-5) will be built in Phase II. It will be field tested in open environment with artificially loaded target gases (TRL-6) and characterize the sensor.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are assuming more numerous and increasingly important roles in global environmental and atmospheric research.  There is a corresponding growth in equipment needs for UAVs so that they may meet their mission goals.  Some critical measurement needs can only be satisfied by in-situ measurements.  Key examples of such measurements include detailed atmospheric profiles, point meteorological conditions on the surface, and in-situ measurements for calibration and validation of remote sensing systems.  
	A scalable dropsonde launcher will be developed that will be able to fit a range of UAVs.  It will be able to launch a variety of dropsondes derived from Anasphere's existing radiosonde and dropsonde families.  Dropsondes for high-precision, high-density, and surface-based measurements will be developed.  
	Phase I will involve designing a launcher that uses an existing Anasphere dropsonde and fits into a representative UAV provided by Vanilla Aircraft.  The launcher will be demonstrated in the laboratory and in a high-speed airflow environment.  
	The ultimate result of the project will be a dropsonde system that can be fitted to many NASA UAVs and enable them to gather in-situ atmospheric profiles and surface measurements using dropsondes.
New Frontiers and Discovery class science missions cover a broad range of scientific objectives and mission destinations.  To address NASA's need for advanced propulsion systems that can effectively operate in both near Earth as well as to outer planets and other celestial bodies, NASA-GRC has been developing a wide throttle range High Voltage Hall Accelerator called HIVHAC.  This thruster is envisioned to operate at power levels from 300 W to 3.5 kW while providing specific impulse ranging from 1200 to 2700 seconds.

The key subsystem of any electric propulsion (EP) device is the DC-DC power converters referred to as the Power Processing Unit (PPU).  The enabling feature in the development of the PPU is a discharge converter that capable of delivering the wide Isp and power throttle range envisioned for advanced EP missions.

Therefore, in this Phase I SBIR, Busek proposes to design, build and test a discharge power converter capable of operating over a 200-700Vdc; 0.3-3.5 kW output range while maintaining efficiencies of 96.5 to 98&#37;.  Based on our analysis, our experience with the proposed topology and the requirements of flight electronic packaging we predict the specific mass of the discharge converter module to be 1.2kg/kW yielding a total mass of 4.2 kg
Hot Corrosion of turbine engine components has been studied for many
years.  The underlying mechan-isms of Type I Hot Corrosion and Type II
Hot Corrosion are increasingly well-understood.  Nickel-based
superalloys have shown strong resistance to high temperature oxidation
attack and, of course, excellent high temperature strength.  Modern
turbine engine designs that seek to achieve better fuel efficiency in
part by increasing turbine inlet temperatures are strong candidates for
nickel-based superalloy turbine disk materials.  As disk temperatures
approach 700C, designers must consider the likelihood and effects of
Type II corrosion.  Type II corrosion is typically characterized by
localized corrosion pitting caused by melting of sulfur-containing
salts.  Type II hot corrosion pits have been shown to decrease the
fatigue resistance of superalloys due to initiation of fatigue cracks at
hot corrosion pits.  However, the rigorous analytical models and tools
needed by turbine engine designers to predict Type II corrosion pit
formation and fatigue life degradation due to corrosion pits are not
currently available.   Barron Associates, Inc. and its research partners
propose to develop corrosion pitting and fatigue life models for
nickel-based superalloys subjected to Type II hot corrosion.  The models
will be commercia-lized and made available to the research and
development community.
In-situ studies of the rocks, minerals, and soil on the Moon's surface provide a wealth of information during field geology and the 
mining phase for planetary resource identification. Sensitive optical spectroscopic instruments such as X-ray fluorescence 
spectrometers coupled with UV fluorescence spectroscopy is vital for lunar science. Many moon rock samples contain mineral oxides 
in the forms of Al2O3, TiO2, FeO, MnO, MgO, Cr2O3, Na2O and CaO. Further tests have shown that some of them exhibit 
fluorescence when exposed to UV light. 
Traditional UV fluorescence spectroscopy used in analysis of organic and inorganic materials utilizes power hungry, bulky lasers. 
Recently introduced UV-LED and semiconductor UV lasers with powers &gt; 10 mW are small, reliable, and power efficient making them 
ideal for use in space exploration. Redondo Optics Inc, a world leader in design and development of fluorescent scientific 
instruments, proposes to develop a highly innovative and sensitive, light-weight, hand-held space qualified frequency domain 
fluorescence lifetime measurement system for NASA using heterodyne cross correlation technique. The instrument also includes an 
ultra miniature 340-780 nm spectrophotometer. The combined spectrometer utilizes lowest power COTS electronics components for 
fast and accurate estimation of fluorescence lifetimes to identify the rocks spectral signature.
The proposed program will develop highly reliable, hermetic, Si3N4 ceramic multichip modules to integrate commercially available SiC power devices to build power electronic modules for reliable operation above 500:C in extreme environments of space exploration.  The Phase I program will demonstrate a reliable direct bond copper (DBC) process for Si3N4 substrates, develop high current carrying hermetic feedthroughs, an innovative transient liquid phase (TLP) die attach, and a monometallic wire bonding capable of reliable operation above 500:C; and fabricate and test a hermetic single-chip module.
CO2 control for during ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA) on mars is challenging. Lithium hydroxide (LiOH) canisters have impractical logistics penalties, and regenerable metal oxide canisters weigh too much.  Cycling bed systems and permeable membranes that are regenerable in space vacuum cannot vent on Mars due to the high partial pressure of CO2 in the atmosphere. Although sweep gas regeneration is under investigation, the feasibility, logistics penalties, and failure modes associated with this technique have not been fully determined. 
TDA Research, Inc. proposes to develop a durable, high-capacity regenerable sorbent that can remove CO2 from the breathing loop.  The system design allows sorbent regeneration at or above 6 torr, eliminating the potential for Martian atmosphere to leak into the regeneration bed and into the breathing loop. 
In the proposed work, we will synthesize sorbent formulations to remove CO2 from the breathing loop of the PLSS and evaluate the performance of these sorbents under representative conditions (adsorption and regeneration under sub-atmospheric pressures across the desired temperature differential).  We will explore the methods to prepare these sorbents on engineered structures to increase durability and promote better heat transfer during the thermal regeneration process.  We will perform a minimum of 1,000 adsorption/regeneration cycles to demonstrate the life of these sorbents.  Finally, we will carry out a detailed engineering analysis and design to assess the technical viability of the concept.
During this program Fiber Materials, Inc. (FMI&lt;SUP&gt;REG&lt;/SUP&gt;) will develop practical methods for preparing Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) materials for joining thermal protection system (TPS) segments and penetrations of the heat shield assembly.  Current and future mission flight environments and designs, such as those for Mars Science Laboratory Aeroshell (MSLA) and anticipated for New Frontiers and Mars EDL missions, will be assessed.  Capability of developed solutions will address mechanical and thermal robustness, and surface recession under mission defined conditions. The Phase 1 program will evaluate joining and gap-fill materials, assess joining designs that can be cost effectively manufactured and assembled, define assembly methods and test joining material performance.  The joining design and material approaches, test results, assembly methodology, and Phase 2 work plan will be delivered at the conclusion of the Phase I program.  During the Phase 2 program, a mission scale PICA sub-assembly utilizing the developed joining system will be demonstrated, and representative assembly coupons will be tested under flight conditions.  The proposed materials, designs and methods are TRL !\ 3. It is anticipated that TRL !] 7 will be achieved at the conclusion of a successful Phase 1 and Phase 2 programs.
Simulation-based design optimization has been steadily maturing over the past two decades, but not without its own unique and persistent challenges. The proposed project will develop a novel solution to one of the long-standing bottlenecks in simulation-based design optimization. Particularly, we will develop a flexible geometry toolkit for shape parameterization and modification as required for design optimization. With our discrete geometry toolkit, shape modifications will be achieved via an elegant and intuitive "plug-and-play" approach, providing engineers with a wide variety of options for shape parameterization, shape deformation, and geometric constraint imposition. Our geometry toolkit will be composed of independent modules and will be easily integrated into existing or future analysis and design environments. Our approach will offer a modular and intuitive means to interactively synthesize appropriate modifications to discrete geometry shapes in a design optimization setting including the specification of geometric constraints and interdisciplinary data transfer.
This small business innovation research is intended to develop and proof the concept of a highly efficient, high temperature rechargeable battery for supporting Venus exploration missions.  The proposed battery will be built upon a tubular, alkali metal ion-conducting, highly refractor, beta"-alumina-solid-electrolyte (BASE) sandwiched between an alkali metal anode and a metal salt cathode.  In Phase I, BASE tubes possessing high strength, highly conductive, and high resistance to moisture and carbon dioxide attack will be fabricated and optimized using a novel coupled-transport process.  Upon assembly with suitable electrochemical couples, battery cells will be tested and evaluated in a temperature range from 450:C to 600:C, followed by performance optimization.
Impact Technologies, LLC in collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology, proposes to develop and demonstrate a flight-worthy hardware prototype of a miniature, low cost/weight/ power device that provides stable and highly accurate near continuous positioning, attitude, and inertial measurements while being subjected to highly dynamic maneuvers and high vibration effects. In contrast to conventional methods that utilize either unreliable magnetic field sensors or extensive ground-based real-time tracking and control units that are expensive, large and power-consuming to operate, our innovative design focuses on identifying the gravitational vector onboard in real-time to bound sensor drift errors to achieve high degree of accuracy. The objective is achieved by a unique design that combines a dual-arc low-cost accelerometer array with three-axis rate gyros and GPS. Advanced filtering techniques such as the Unscented Kalman Filter are proposed to estimate sensor bias and drift effects. High vibration effects are estimated and eliminated by subtracting the imposed loading from the accelerometer measurements to provide a highly robust system in the presence of highly dynamical and vibrational conditions. Testing of the prototype system includes shaker table laboratory and hardware-in-the-loop tests along with an optional relevant vehicle platform test with support from NASA.
Durable high temperature materials are required for reusable hypersonic structural thermal protection systems. In particular, temperatures exceeding 2700:F, and approaching 3000:F, are targeted for capable structural materials that can survive stresses on the order of 10 ksi (70 MPa) for at least 100 hours in an oxidizing environment.  Such materials have been identified as an enabling material for future hypersonic vehicles  As this application is structural, a strong degree of damage tolerance is desired, and thus ceramic matrix composites
are the primary choice due to the desire for reduced weight, high temperature strength and oxidation resistance. Silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide matrix (SiC/SiC) composites are believed to be the most suitable solution due to meeting the requirements
with the limitations of creep at the highest temperatures/loads, and oxidative attack at stresses that exceed the materials proportional limit. The proposed effort will define the temperature-stress limit of SiC/SiC composites, and examine methods to further extend this limit.
Pressurized space suits impose high joint torques on the wearer, reducing mobility for upper and lower body motions.  Using actual space suits in training or experimentation is problematic due to the expense, bulk, weight, and difficulty in donning/doffing.  The goal of this project was to demonstrate a novel method for simulating space suit joint torques, which are non-linear and vary with angular position.  We designed a knee joint simulator using McKibben actuators with active control (also known as artificial muscles), which are cylindrical pneumatic actuators constructed of flexible rubber with an inextensible weave that causes the cylinder to contract longitudinally when pressurized.  A commercial knee brace was used as an exoskeleton to mount the actuators.  One actuator was mounted anterior to the knee to provide resistance to flexion, and a second actuator was mounted posterior to the knee to provide resistance to extension.  The active controller read angle input from a potentiometer mounted to the brace and output the appropriate pressures for each actuator to provide the needed torque.  The knee joint was installed on MIT's Robotic Space Suit Tester (RSST), a full-sized anthropometric robot equipped with torque and angle sensors on each of the joints.  Results from testing indicated that the torque vs. angle relationship achieved using the actively controlled spacesuit joint simulator was qualitatively similar to the non-linear trend observed in prior testing of the EMU on the RSST. We conclude that the use of these actuators potentially results in higher fidelity than passive actuation.
Improving the acoustical environment is critical in aeronautics. Airports and aeronautical systems manufacturers are facing ever-increasing demands to reduce noise levels.  Aeronautical applications require the use of high quality microphones with a large dynamic range, sometimes in large arrays.  These arrays are expensive.  The advent of lower cost microphones that meet the users' specifications would dramatically improve the ability of engineers seeking to quantify the acoustic impact of either their designs or their facilities (e.g., airports) and to make data driven decisions to improve any adverse situation. 

In our Phase-I SBIR, we showed the technical feasibility of a commercially viable, piezoelectric micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) microphones capable of withstanding adverse conditions found in ground testing of the acoustics of aeronautical systems. In the Phase II project, we will implement design changes to improve these sensors.  We will develop efficient deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) procedures to increase our yield and lower costs.  We will develop scalable packaging techniques so that the devices can be economically assembled into a completed device.  Finally, the reliability and robustness of these microphones will be determined.  Each of these tasks will advance us toward our goal of producing a commercially viable product with outstanding acoustical performance.
Combinatorial methods are proposed to develop advanced Aqueous Oxidation Catalysts (AOCs) with the capability to mineralize organic contaminants present in effluents from current and future primary wastewater treatment processes at temperatures less than 70aC, pressures below 20 psig, and contact times under 30 minutes.  The Phase II effort will build upon the successful Phase I feasibility demonstration and identify rate-limiting factors for contaminant oxidation identified in the best Phase I AOCs.  A new series of combinatorial catalysts will be prepared with the goal to systematically improve catalyst performance.  Improvements will focus on contaminant and reaction byproduct adsorption, mass transfer resistances, and reaction rate limitations associated with noble metal concentration, dispersion, and support interaction.  A second-generation combinatorial library with 102 AOCs will be prepared based on this analysis.  Oxidation activity will then be compared using a difficult to oxidize ersatz solution containing contaminants known to occur in the current U.S. water processor aboard the ISS.  These tests will select the best AOC based upon analysis of oxidation kinetics.  This AOC will undergo long-term testing to verify performance.  Scale-up activities will follow, resulting in a full-scale, deliverable prototype.  The advanced AOC will lower water processor ESM and provide multiple commercial opportunities.
Mars Sample Return poses some of the most challenging operational activities of any NASA deep space mission. Rendezvous of a vehicle with a sample canister in order to return the canister to Earth requires a variety of complex mathematical processing on a changing data set, coupled with the need to safely and effectively handle a large range of off-nominal conditions and spacecraft faults. Light speed delay isolates the spacecraft from real-time operator intervention, while inertial and situational uncertainties demand reactivity not required of typical spacecraft sequencing systems. These mission features call for a new class of sequence capability: Reactive Rendezvous and Docking Sequencer (RRDS).

RRDS  melds the rule-based reactivity needed for rendezvous and docking with sequence characteristics common to more traditional missions. Rules watch for conditions in order to react to the current situation, allowing a wide range of complex activities and safety-related responses to be concisely represented without complex procedural programming. Responsibility for commanding elements aboard the spacecraft is divided among sequenced state machines called managers, coordinated together by a flight director which the ground commands.

Underlying flight software for navigation, thruster allocation, inertial checking, attitude estimation and control, contact detection, docking mechanisms, and the like receive direction from the managers. This mediated control causes the system to reactively operate in modes with proper ordering of activities. Reactive operations are represented explicitly by states and transitions defining the managers, and do not require use of explicitly timed activities.

Phase II of this SBIR will produce a Class B version of the underlaying VML 2.2 flight software capable of executing the RRDS state machines. It will also produce Class C versions of the associated VML compiler and Offline VM execution system for deployment onto flight projects.
This proposal responds to subtopic O2.02 "Propulsion Technologies" and the stated need to develop component technologies that will lead to future propulsion systems that are reliable and have adequate performance without requiring excessive specialized handling equipment and procedures or needing to push materials and designs to the limits of their capabilities. We propose the development of a low part count and low energy Catalytically Initiated Combustor (CIC) that can serve as a rocket engine igniter as well as the basis for a family of low cost and highly reliable launch vehicle and satellite thrusters. We propose a 6-month Phase I program to 1) demonstrate reliable ignition and operation of our baseline CIC with hydrogen, methane, and propane fuels, 2) demonstrate reliable ignition and operation of our baseline CIC under cold gas inlet conditions, 3) demonstrate extended duration hot fire testing and durability of our CIC design over multiple ignition cycles, and 4) demonstrate rapid pulsed operation necessary for a launch vehicle or space craft thruster application. Under our proposed Phase I effort, we will also conduct a market survey of potential customers and define a flight weight CIC with maximum commercial utility as either an igniter or small thruster.
Masten Space Systems proposes to create a terrestrial plume impingement testbed for generating novel datasets for extraterrestrial robotic missions.  This testbed would allow rocket plume interactions with lunar, martian, and asteroid surface simulants in a fully instrumented, easy to access, and low cost environment using Masten Space's existing VTVL suborbital launch vehicles.

The testbed will allow entry, descent and landing groups both inside and outside of NASA a low cost way of testing in situ regolith surface treatment, plume deflection, and ground effect mitigation technologies. The testbed will be optimized for testing ISRU based methods for launch/landing pad manufacturing such as optimal "paver" size and shape, life cycle management for pad materials, size and shape of hardened regolith bricks, and manufacturing methods.

Phase I will include surveying potential users for requirements, conducting one simple "bench" test to validate those requiremens, and documenting an initial testbed design in anticipation of a Phase II proposal. During Phase I the testbed itself will go from TRL 2 to 5.  Additionally the single bench test article will go from 3 to 6.
Aerius Photonics and its partners propose the development of a high resolution, radiation hardened 3-D FLASH Focal Plane Array (FPA), with performance expected to be &gt; 6Mrad total incident dose (TID), and will be able to perform at extremely low temperatures (-230C) without the need for a warm box. This TID performance at cold temperatures is the result of utilizing silicon germanium (SiGe) bipolar technology for the ROIC implementation, and will be the largest SiGe imaging ROIC ever designed and demonstrated. This ROIC will be hybridized with an appropriate selected detector array to produce a FPA of unprecedented TID performance. The TID performance will allow for reduced size, weight, and power (SWaP) for lunar and deep space instruments, thus saving fuel for the mission. The resulting FPA can be utilized in instruments for the Europa-Jupiter System Mission (EJSM), including the near-IR imaging spectrometer, and wide angle, high resolution camera (HRC). It can also be used in flash lidar applications for 3-D mapping to help with hazard avoidance, and for a rover operating during the lunar night in one of the permanently dark polar craters, where optical (passive) cameras could not operate.
The proposed project builds upon the work done in Phase I with the development of a C-SiC CMC honeycomb material that was successfully tested for mechanical properties at both ambient and high temperature.  The further study expands to include the development of an SiC-SiC honeycomb using the proven infiltration process of the Phase I project.  In the proposed project, an SiC prepreg will be engineered that can be formed into a honeycomb and then infiltrated with SiC to form a ceramic SiC-SiC honeycomb.  The honeycomb will then be tested mechanically at ambient temperature and high temperature.  This testing will include cycling the material to determine property falloff.  C-SiC and SiC SiC will be compared in this study.  The thermal characteristics, such as conductivity and emissivity, will also be tested.  The integration of such a material into hypersonic and other structures is a key area of the research; therefore a bonding study is included in the current proposal.  Several bonding technologies and processes will be investigated and tested mechanically as well as cycled to determine durability.  The goal of the study is to provide a sandwich level technology that can be integrated into hypersonic vehicle structures and acreage.
Designing complex systems, such as those used by NASA, requires a coordinated effort among a variety of engineering teams.  In order to be successful, the human-computer interactions in these systems need to follow a principle-based design process.  In Phase II, TiER1 and Alion propose to continue development on HFE-AT, renaming it and creating a Human Factors Analysis Support Tool (H-FAST), which will provide human factors guidance and support to engineering design teams.  This tool will be used throughout the design lifecycle, and will provide inputs to engineers and program managers to help them identify and avoid potential human factors problems early in the design process.  It also will provide detailed guidance regarding human factors evaluations, and it will store data and provide feedback on the results of these evaluations.  H-FAST will improve the engineering design process by providing engineers with easy access to detailed human factors methods, relevant research, and subject matter expert contact information.  This will empower engineers to create more usable systems, thus reducing the number of design iterations and resulting in higher-quality products.
The Lunar Organic Waste Reformer (LOWR) utilizes high temperature steam reformation to convert all plastic, paper, and human waste materials into useful gases. In the LOWR, solar thermal concentrators are used to heat steam directly to 600 C, after which the steam is mixed with a small amount of oxygen and injected into a reactor which is being fed with waste materials via a lock hopper. At the high temperatures, the oxygenated steam will react with all organic materials to produce a gas mixture largely composed of hydrogen, CO and carbon dioxide. After removing the remaining steam from the product stream via condensation, the gases are dusulfurized and then fed to a catalytic reactor where they can be combined with hydrogen to produce methane, methanol, or other fuels.  Both the necessary hydrogen and oxygen for the process can be produced by electrolysis of part of the water content of the waste material, which is extracted from the wastes directly by the reformer itself. With effective recycling of the steam, no consumables are lost in the process. All products are liquids or gases, making the system highly reliable and subject to automation. In the proposed Phase 2 program, Pioneer Astronautics will build a full-scale end-to-end LOWR system capable of turning 10 kg of waste per day into methane and oxygen.
In response to the need for actuators that can operate in the harsh Venusian environment for extended periods of time, Honeybee Robotics conducted extensive research and testing to resolve the tall poles in developing an extreme temperature gear.  During the Phase I effort, multiple gear material and lubrication candidates were tested under load in Venus-like conditions (486&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C temperature and mostly CO2 gas environment).  Test results verified the feasibility of a design and confirmed that, with proper material and lubrication selection, the gear head could operate at 486&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C for an extended period of time.  In a potential Phase II effort, material and lubrication study will continue as well as a high temperature bearing study.  At the end of the Phase II, an extreme environment actuator, including a HT motor, HT sensor for commutation and multi-stage HT gear head, will be developed and tested to TRL 6.
While past research has demonstrated the utility and benefits to be gained with the application of advanced rotor system control concepts, none have been implemented to date on a production military or commercial rotorcraft.  A key contributor to this fact is the inherent cost associated with installation and maintenance of these control systems, since many system designs require the replacement of a helicopter's rotor blades, rotor hub components, or both.  The proposed work addresses this deficiency through the development of an on-blade full-span camber control system that reaps many of the known benefits of advanced rotor control in a retrofit design approach that has the potential to achieve production status due to its lower risks and costs compared to previous system concepts.  The design leverages past work in the use of smart-material actuated bistable tabs for rotor blade tracking, with a newer integral actuation concept that will lead toward a more robust and flightworthy design.
The key innovation of this project is the application of advanced Bayesian methods to integrate real-time dense stereo vision and high-speed optical flow with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to produce a highly accurate planetary rover navigation system. The software developed in this project leverages current computing technology to implement advanced Visual Odometry (VO) methods that will accurately track much faster rover movements. Our fully Bayesian approach to VO will utilizes information from the images than previous methods are capable of using. Our Bayesian VO does not explicitly select features to track. Instead it implicitly determines what can be learned from each image pixel and weights the information accordingly. This means that our approach can work with images that have no distinct corners, which can be a significant advantage with low contrast images from permanently shadowed areas. We have shown that the error characteristics of the visual processing are complementary to the error characteristics of a low-cost IMU. Therefore, the combination of the two can provide highly accurate navigation.
PI at ArkLight proposes to implement photon counting detectors at near-IR (1-1.8 microns) and mid-IR (3-4 microns) with single photon sensitivity based on frequency up-conversion during Phase 2, representing an innovative Lidar technology for ASCENDS mission. By working with Prof. Ding at Lehigh University, PI will explore fundamental limits to quantum efficiencies for up-conversion detection at 1.57 microns. She will implement, characterize, and optimize single up-conversion device capable of detecting 1.57 microns and 1.27 microns. She plans to achieve detections of CO2 and O2 using implemented up-conversion device. She will investigate fundamental limits to noises for up-conversion detections. She will compare among PPLN, PPKTP, and PPLT as up-conversion media. She will expand detection wavelengths to cover ranges of 1-1.8 microns and 3-4 microns. She plans to introduce novel techniques for improving performances of up-conversion devices. She will investigate versatility of up-conversion devices under harsh environments. To achieve all these objectives, she has laid out a detailed work plan describing all the specific tasks necessary. Through optimizations, she will achieve the quantum efficiency of 50&#37;, dark count rate of 50 Hz, bandwidth of GHz, electrical consumption of &lt; 1 W, weight of &lt; 1 lb, and dimension of 7x4x4 (all in inches).
Mobile communications systems require programmable embedded platforms that can handle computationally demanding signal processing codes without the burden of high power consumption. As hardware performance improves, technology trends have shifted functionality from the gate level up to software, as demonstrated by the emergence of software defined radio. Traditionally, these platforms rely on FPGAs and DSPs, but such architectures bring with them significant software development challenges. Application demands for radiation mitigation and fault tolerance exacerbate programmability issues. Low-power general purpose processors offer improved programmability, but cannot meet performance requirements. 
Our solution, Resilient, provides a sweet spot with its manycore-based software defined radio. Resilient is a software defined radio for space based on rad-hard multi-core digital processing. Resilient has a number of key characteristics and capabilities. Firstly, it is based on the Maestro rad-hard multicore processor. Maestro will provide about 100 times the throughput of the current state of the art in rad-hard general purpose processors. Secondly, Resilient is a highly flexible radio, providing uninterrupted real time multimode operation, over-the-air reconfiguration and adaptability, and STRS compliance. It can also serve as a highly programmable research stage prototyping device for new waveforms and other communications technologies. Finally, Resilient can also support non-communications codes on its high performance multicore processor, co-located with the communications workload, reducing the SWaP of the overall system by aggregating processing jobs to a single board computer.
This proposal leverages a highly successful Phase 1 feasibility effort to further develop a system that satisfies the cold-start requirements of scramjet engines.  The system provides energy-dense, low volume hydrocarbon fuel conditioning based on the hydrolysis reaction of triethylaluminum (TEA) with water.  TEA is an organometallic liquid that reacts exothermically with water and burns readily in air.  In Phase 1, we demonstrated the hydrolysis of TEA in JP fuel within an integrated mixing/injection apparatus to heat and vaporize the liquid hydrocarbon fuel prior to injection in a regeneratively cooled scramjet, as well as auto-ignition of the mixture at elevated TEA concentrations.  In Phase 2 we propose to more completely characterize the performance capability of the Phase 1 system using several hydrocarbon fuels to gather data for the design and fabrication of a palletized system.  Testing of the palletized system in a direct connect scramjet rig will then be conducted to demonstrate engine ignition capability and to compare the system to other ignition systems under consideration for scramjet vehicles.   Packaging in candidate flight vehicles will be carried out using 3D solid modeling to provide gravimetric and volumetric information and to provide designs for practical integrated, safe storage and dispense arrangements.
In this SBIR project, APEI, Inc. is proposing to develop a high efficiency, rad-hard 3.8 kW silicon carbide (SiC) power supply for the Power Processing Unit (PPU) of Hall Effect thrusters.  This program specifically targets the design of a PPU for the HiVHAC (High Voltage Hall ACcelerator) thruster, with target specifications of 80-160V input, 200-700V / 5A output, efficiency greater than 96&#37;, and peak power density in excess of 2.5 kW/kg.  The PPU under development utilizes SiC JFET power switches; components which APEI, Inc. has irradiated under TID conditions to greater than 3 MRad with little to zero change in device performance.
NASA needs compact nuclear reactors to power future bases on the moon and/or Mars. These reactors require robust automatic control systems using low mass, rapid response, in-core reactor power monitoring sensors and radiation tolerant sensor interrogation systems that do not yet exist.  Luna proposes to develop a new type of fiber optic miniature neutron flux and gamma flux sensor, which will have significantly faster response than recently developed fiber optic radiation sensors.  The new sensors will maintain the advantages of current fiber optic reactor sensor technology, including small size for in-core sensor distributions, high temperature performance (above 600&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C), and immunity to electrical noise in the presence of ionizing radiation.  During Phase II Luna will optimize the sensor design and the interrogation system for high temperature in-core monitoring of both gamma flux and neutron flux with internal thermal compensation and in-situ thermal calibration. At the end of Phase II, Luna will deliver a lightweight sensor interrogation system, utilizing experimentally verified radiation hardened components wherever possible, and including an analog output signal for interfacing with standard reactor control electronics.
KWJ offers this proposal for a very low power but very practical "nano-watt" MEMS sensor platform for NASA requirements. The proposed nano-sensor platform is ultra low power and has a long sensor lifetime for extended battery life or power-harvester operation. The extremely fast response time of the sensor (&lt;100 nsec) will be utilized in this SBIR as a possible new and innovative avenue to create selectivity for TCDs. This approach would only be available to very fast detectors like the new KWJ MEMS detector. The sensor is a platform technology designed for multiple analyte measurement on a single chip.  In addition to cryogenic system leak detection for CH4, H2, and He, the platform can address trace levels of N2, O2, and H20 in gaseous helium purge streams. The SBIR project creates products and spin offs for NASA, industrial, and medical applications.
ElectroChem proposes to develop oxidation resistant, electrically
conductive, hydrophilic coatings in PEM fuel cells and in PEM
electrolyzers.  The use of hydrophilic coatings can improve the
transport of the water within the cells resulting in higher
electrochemical performance. However, the successful development of
oxidation resistant hydrophilic coatings will be the key requirement due
to the fuel cell and electrolyzer oxidation environment Oxidation
resistant coatings will be developed on metal substrates using both
inorganic and organic coating processes using conductive hydrophilic
materials.   In these processes, cross-linking of the inorganic and
organic materials with the metallic substrate is a key to successfully
obtaining coatings with excellent performance and durability.  Advanced
methods will be developed to control the degree of cross-linking and
retaining hydrophilicity in order to obtain the required oxidation
resistance for the electrically conductive, hydrophilic coatings. All
coatings developed in Ph I will be tested for oxidation resistance,
conductivity, and hydrophilic character.  In Ph II, the most promising
coatings will be evaluated via their performance in PEM non-flow-through
fuel cells and in electrolyzers.
This project addresses the need for higher data rate recording capability, increased correlation speed and flexibility needed for next generation VLBI systems. 
The proposed solution utilizes an innovative software defined platform with standard interfaces to commodity hardware, using advances in multi-core, multi-processing, and graphics processors, technology, combined with streaming data and storage concepts developed in the defense community. 
The result is an open architecture, commodity hardware based software defined, flexible correlator and data recorder at low cost that provides future scalability and maintainability. The system will have separable well defined components that can be changed over time increasing system life while decreasing maintenance cost. 
Performance target is to do &gt;8gbps continuous recording, enable 16gbps recording and show even higher speed in burst mode, then provide a feasibility study for a software correlator capable of 32 stations at 16gbps per station, all with commercially off the shelf components
The innovations proposed here are Ka-band (38 GHz) group III-nitride power FETs and the dislocation density reducing epitaxial growth methods (LPE) needed for their optimal performance and reliability.

Ka-band power transistors with &gt;60&#37; Power Added Efficiency (PAE) are not commercially available. The primary limitations to their manufacture are lack of mature process technology at major GaN foundries for sib-100nm lithography necessary for gate definition, and the difficulty of obtaining low dislocation density GaN templates in a suitable wafer size format (3-inch SiC and 6-inch Si) for mass production.  Demonstration of Ka-band operation in the group III-nitrides has, to date, been primarily the realm of academic research labs.  IIIAN's proposal bridges the gap between commercially available nitride foundry capabilities and pure research by utilizing proven process technology at RFMD for processes not requiring deep, submicron lithography and utilizing state-of-the-art nanofabrication technology available at the University of Minnesota's NanoFabrication Center.
Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. (CRG) demonstrated feasibility in the reduction of noise attributed to drainage slots in jet engine acoustic liners. This was accomplished through the development of design rules for optimum slot design and concept development of the implementation of adaptive material technologies to control slot dimensions. CRG brought this
technology to a technology readiness level (TRL) 2 after the Phase 1 effort and will bring a TRL 4 after the Phase 2 effort. The Phase 1 effort provided simulated data for the acoustic designer to start to understand and develop preliminary models on the effects of drainage slots to the liner's acoustic impedance characteristics. This data has provided justification to pursue adaptive solutions that will counteract the adverse effects of drainage slots through adaptive means. In Phase 2, CRG will refine the design, scale up fabrication, demonstrate a full-scale operationally relevant aircraft part, and analyze manufacturing costs as part of a comprehensive Technology Insertion Plan.
Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. (CRG), proposes to develop self-deploying, composite structures for lunar habitats, based on CRG's Veritex(TM) materials. These structures will provide a rigid, durable habitat that will reduce the risk of mechanical failure due to crew or environmentally induced damage compared with inflatable structures that are more susceptible to punctures and damage from micrometeoroid impacts. Veritex is a composite material consisting of common reinforcement fibers, such as e-glass, carbon, Kevlar(R), or high-strain capable fabrics, and one of CRG's shape memory polymers (SMP). Veritex materials will return to a memorized shape when raised above a specific activation temperature. This unique feature enables the use of Veritex(TM) as a primary lunar structure for its predictability and repeatability, which will offer quick, self-deploying lunar habitat that can return to a rigid enclosure after the deployment process. The development of expanding composite habitats will offer increased packing efficiency compared with fully rigid structures that lack expandable characteristics and waste valuable cargo space. This habitation structures technology will achieved Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 during Phase 1 with proof-of-concept feasibility studies and will achieve a TRL of 5 during Phase II.
CRG's shape memory polymer (SMP) tooling technologies, Smart Tooling, offer cutting-edge manufacturing solutions that can meet the construction needs of all future composite platforms and systems. Development and implementation of Smart Tooling, Smart Mandrels and SMP Bladders, offers end users significant opportunities to save direct expense for tooling cost and manufacturing labor to fabricate complex geometry and trapped composites. CRG's concept for a high temperature mandrel product is to leverage a proven Smart Mandrel process and replace the current material system with a novel SMP capable of remaining rigid at the 350 F laminate cure temperatures then softening following cure for extraction.
Deployable Space Systems (DSS), in partnership with ATK Space and EMCORE, is focusing on the design development and optimization of the most promising advanced space photovoltaic subsystem now available: EMCORE's ultra-thin 33&#37; BOL-efficient Inverted Metamorphic Multijunction (IMM) solar cell that is interconnected into module form and integrated onto an advanced flexible blanket (gore); specifically for implementation on the lightest solar array structural system currently in use, ATK's UltraFl
HELIOS Program
Numerous advances have been made in recent years in the areas of flight deck design, aircraft modeling, resilient control, and vehicle health management.  The combination of these complementary technologies promises to revolutionize aircraft systems and operations safety in the decades ahead.  However, the task of safely integrating these technologies is becoming increasingly difficult as their level of complexity, degree of automation, and demands from their operational environment grow. The Next Generation Air Transport System (NextGen), while providing significant benefits in terms of increased capacity and safety, will exacerbate this situation due to the large numbers of new and existing systems that will be required to interoperate.
The multidisciplinary nature of these systems is a significant factor that makes analyzing their safety characteristics extremely difficult. While many development tools exist to conduct deep analyses within individual disciplines, there is a lack of tools available for deep analysis of complex multidisciplinary designs. The proposed research seeks to create a new class of development tool that will allow designers of complex systems-of-systems to explore the dynamic interactions between system components to uncover systemic vulnerabilities, precursory conditions, and likely outcomes.
The Phase I project generated an initial implementation of the software package Idea, an Integrated Design and Analysis Environment that could be used to model complex interdependencies between flight deck operations, flight deck controls and display, and the underlying physical components of the aircraft. The proposed Phase II effort will mature this software and expand its capabilities, resulting in a flexible, standards-compliant tool that is ready for beta testing and subsequent commercialization. It will focus on enhancements that support cross-disciplinary modeling and analysis of safety-critical human-automation systems.
NASA space exploration missions require the electronics for avionic systems, components, and controllers that are capable of operating in the extreme temperature and radiation environments of space and planetary surfaces. To design wide-temperature, radiation-hardened (rad-hard) electronics and predict the characteristics and reliability in these extreme environments, advanced models and simulation tools are required at multiple levels. Analog and mixed-signal circuits for space exploration have not been adequately addressed to date. The proposed project aims to design, develop, validate, and demonstrate novel Radiation Hardened By Design (RHBD) analog/mixed-signal, RF and digital integrated circuits (ICs) aimed for application in NASA relevant extreme environments. In Phase 1, CFDRC, in collaboration with Georgia Tech, accomplished the following: (1) enhanced and demonstrated CFDRC's unique physics-based mixed-mode simulation tools (NanoTCAD coupled with Cadence Spectre) for predicting transient radiation response of benchmark analog circuits based on silicon-germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS technology; (2) leveraged experimental radiation/temperature data collected under the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) SiGe project to validate new low-T device physics models in NanoTCAD and understand associated physical phenomena; and (3) developed preliminary RHBD concepts for single-event hardening, including the novel inverse-mode cascode (IMC) SiGe HBT. In Phase 2, we will demonstrate and validate the improved physics-based models for temperature range from -230&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C to +130&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C, and apply them to evaluate and develop RHBD designs over the expected operating range. New RHBD devices employed in analog, RF and digital circuits will be fabricated in prototype chips and tested over a wide temperature range and in a radiation environment, and delivered as a component library for NASA use.
Chronos Technology (Div. of FMI, Inc.) proposes to design, fabricate and deliver a conceptually proven, practical, and commercially available solution for a novel compact, radiation hardened, stable, low power, programmable crystal oscillator (RPXO), for high reliability space &amp; extreme temperature applications. Our proposed device will be offered in a robust miniature 5x7mm industry standard surface mount package (0.24 grams only). We have engaged in the Phase I study to further refine the approach with more confidence which concludes that the proposed solution would also offer compelling features such as scalable (wide) frequency range (100KHz to 250MHz), and dual output logic compatibility (CMOS &amp; LVDS). The compelling features of our device features include drastically improved reliability and quicker availability. 
The overall design of the RPXO includes a radiation hardened SiGe ASIC that operates over the extreme temperature range of -230C to +150C and holds all the necessary functions of a crystal driver circuit, synthesizer, and output buffers. The ASIC uniquely provides dual output logic compatibility (CMOS and LVDS). All aspects of radiation hardness such as TID, ELDERS and SEU have been researched and addressed in the phase 1 study. The SiGe ASIC is integrated with a high reliability and radiation hardened crystal resonator in a highly compliant yet robust miniature package.
Ridgetop Group developed a top-level design of a rad-hard application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for spacecraft power management that is functional over a temperature range of -180 to +130 &lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C. This ASIC is intended to work in conjunction with a fuel cell power system and battery backup to provide uninterrupted power to critical modules in space.
Ridgetop has designed a novel integrated circuit for the power management of space systems. This design combines custom circuit modules with silicon-proven IP to create a system-on-chip solution. This application will be a single monolithic circuit designed for fabrication on the IBM 5AM SiGe process. The significance of this innovation is a single reliable component (ASIC) that will meet platform requirements for high voltage, wide operating temperature range, and radiation tolerance (minimum 100 krads total ionizing dose (TID), and 100 MeVcm2/mg single-event latchup (SEL)). Ridgetop has been working with a prime contractor to identify and flow-down mission requirements for the power management ASIC. 
During Phase 2, a final prototype unit will be fabricated to these specifications, and units will be packaged, tested, and silicon validation results will be produced. 
Estimated TRL at beginning and end of Phase 2 contract: Begin: 3, End: 6
Advanced Materials Technology, Inc (AMTI) responds to the NASA SBIR solicitation X8 "Space Cryogenic Systems" under subtopic X8.01, "Cryogenic Fluid Transfer and Handling".  The proposed Phase II SBIR program is aimed at developing new cryogenic insulations for passive thermal control, resulting in zero boil-off storage of cryogens.  The passive thermal control will serve to limit the heat leak into the cryogenic storage system.  The proposed technology is expected to increase reliability, increase cryogenic system performance, and is capable of being made flight qualified for the flight systems and to meet Exploration Systems mission requirements.   We will continue to use the technical approaches that have shown tremendous potential during the successful Phase I effort.  Our key approach will be based on the development, fabrication, and characterization of organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposite microfoams.  In the Phase I program, we successfully demonstrated the feasibility of fabrication of these new foams with significantly improved morphology and thermo-mechanical properties.  The proposed approach will utilize environmentally friendly blowing agents.   The closed cell structure of these novel foams will prevent the occurrence of cryopumping.  The proposed effort will further enhance and optimize the novel microfoams, scale up the optimized materials, and culminate in the fabrication of prototype materials to demonstrate the readiness and maturity of our techniques.
Thermal analysis is increasingly used in the engineering of spacecrafts at every stage, including design, test, and ground-operation simulation. Currently used high-fidelity modeling and simulation tools at NASA are computationally prohibitive and not fully compatible with integrated analysis of spacecrafts. We propose to develop and demonstrate an innovative Model Order Reduction (MOR) software to automatically generate nonlinear reduced thermal models for spacecraft analysis. The underlying principle of our approach is to project the original full models onto a characteristic, low-dimensional subspace, yielding reduced models with markedly low computational orders. 

During Phase 1, key technology elements were developed and proof-of-concept was successfully demonstrated. A MOR engine encapsulating carefully selected nonlinear MOR algorithms, a reduced model solver and a verification module along with facile data exchange interfaces, were developed in an integrated software environment. By way of whole-satellite (LISA) case studies, critical evidence was established that reduced thermal models enable unprecedented speedup (10500X) and accuracy (&lt;0.3&#37;) for spacecraft analysis and design. In Phase 2, MOR engines will be optimized for enhanced computational performance. Robust constituent linear algorithms and domain-wise projection spaces will be developed to improve simulation stability and accuracy. New MOR capabilities to address variable-dependent models and parameterized MOR to accommodate design perturbations will be investigated. Our MOR software will be extensively verified and demonstrated for complex spacecraft thermal analysis. An application programming interface (API) will be developed in close collaboration with leading NASA vendors (C&amp;R Technologies) to facilitate technology insertion and transition.
While VPX shows promise as an open standard COTS computing and memory platform, there are several challenges that must be overcome to migrate the technology for a space application.  For the Phase I SBIR, SEAKR investigated the 3u VPX architecture for the space environment for advanced memory and processing systems.  The SBIR investigation focused on researching innovative switch fabric architectures, identifying and qualifying the building blocks for a space qualified VPX system, and addressed some of the challenges associated with VPX flash memory modules.  The areas of innovation that have been addressed are outlined below:
	Research and evaluate the basic building blocks required for a high speed switch VPX architecture
	Explore advanced EDAC and innovative wear leveling techniques for commercially upscreened flash memory for space applications
	Evaluate different techniques for very high speed flash memory access rates

The Phase II SBIR will build on the Phase I study to produce a deliverable engineering model of a 3U VPX flash memory module.
Adverse aeroservoelastic interaction is a problem on aircraft of all types causing repeated loading, enhanced fatigue, undesirable oscillations and catastrophic flutter. Traditionally, to suppress adverse aeroservoelastic interaction, notch and/or roll off filters are used in the primary flight control system architecture. This solution has pitfalls; rigid body performance is degraded due to resulting phase penalty and it is not robust to off nominal behavior. In Phase I, an approach was developed that is entitled, Modal Isolation and Damping for Adaptive Aeroservoelastic Suppression (MIDAAS). This adaptive technique determines an optimal blend of multiple outputs that effectively isolates a problematic lightly damped mode and simultaneously determines an optimal blend of multiple inputs to suppress the problematic mode via feedback. Adverse effects on aircraft rigid body performance are minimized, resulting in virtually no phase penalty. MIDAAS was validated against aeroservoelastic F/A-18C aircraft models with varying stores configurations and demonstrated very successful performance. In the proposed Phase II program, a robust real-time adaptive aeroservoelastic suppression solution will be developed with a buildup approach that includes further MIDAAS enhancements, extensive validation studies utilizing a high-fidelity CFD-based aeroelastic model of the NASA X-53 aircraft, and extensive validation studies utilizing real-time pilot in the loop simulation capability.
Loss of control is a significant cause of aviation accidents attributed to a large percentage of fatalities in the commercial aviation sector. Recently, Barron Associates, Inc. (BAI) has developed a system for unmanned aerial vehicles that autonomously executes recovery strategies to rapidly restore nominal flight. During Phase I, BAI sought to extend this system to manned vehicles by developing a joint human-automated (H/A) system. The goal of this system is to assist the crew during the recovery process by conveying information about recovery procedures in an intuitive and unobtrusive manner. BAI developed crew-specific extensions to the automated system both at the architecture and interface level. The architecture defines what information is delivered to the crew. The interface defines how this information is presented to the crew. Metrics were defined to measure the quality of the recovery and crew experience. Phase I pilot-in-the-loop experiments have shown there is the potential for significant performance gains and workload reduction if the joint H/A recovery system is used to guide the pilot through the recovery process. Phase I experiments were limited in scope. During Phase II, BAI would like to build upon these results by demonstrating that gains become even more pronounced in a realistic cockpit environment. This will require migrating to a higher-quality simulator and more accurately simulating the duties of the crew. The team will target ATPs (Airline Transport Pilots) during Phase II and expand the subject population so that the benefit of the system can be explicitly quantified. While integration into the cockpit is the ultimate goal for this system, BAI believes that the joint H/A recovery system can be of immediate use as a training aid. As part of the experimental build-up, BAI would also like to show that the use of the joint H/A recovery system during training translates into improved pilot recoveries when the system is not active.
Hot Corrosion of turbine engine components has been studied for many years.  The underlying mechan-isms of Type I Hot Corrosion and Type II Hot Corrosion are increasingly well-understood.  Modern turbine engine designs that seek to achieve better fuel efficiency in part by increasing turbine inlet temperatures are strong candidates for nickel-based superalloy turbine disk materials.  As disk temperatures approach 700C, designers must consider the likelihood and effects of Type II corrosion.  Type II corrosion is typically characterized by localized corrosion pitting caused by melting of sulfur-containing salts.  Type II hot corrosion pits have been shown to decrease the fatigue resistance of superalloys due to initiation of fatigue cracks at hot corrosion pits.  However, the rigorous analytical models and tools needed by turbine engine designers to predict Type II corrosion effects are not currently available.
The overall objective of this research program will be to develop DARWIN-HC  a probabilistic Type II hot corrosion, fatigue cracking, and fatigue life prediction software tool for nickel-based superalloy turbine disks.    The Phase I research was based on data provided by both NASA and the research team. The key Phase I innovations included enhanced probabilistic models that are explicitly parameterized by the relevant environmental and material variables.  The models are a significant step towards modeling the spatial and temporal evolutions of corrosion pits  setting the stage for the development of fatigue life prediction capability.    Whereas the existing DARWIN software contains probabilistic models of hard alpha anomalies in titanium disk materials, DARWIN-HC will feature the probabilistic models of defect distributions due to Type II hot corrosion, which can lead to fatigue crack initiation.  In Phase II, the team will create a functional DARWIN-HC prototype software application for evaluation by NASA and industry.
Broadband focal plane arrays, operating in UV-to-SWIR wavelength range, are required for atmospheric monitoring of greenhouse gases. Currently, separate image sensors are used for different spectral sub-bands: GaN for UV, Si for visible, and InGaAs for SWIR, requiring expensive component-level integration for hyper-spectral imaging. Also, the size of the InGaAs focal plane arrays is currently limited by the InP substrate area. 

We propose to develop a 640 x 512 UV-to-SWIR focal plane array sensor using GaAs substrate having following photodiode performance: (1) Cut-on Wavelength = 0.25 micron; (2) Cut-off Wavelength = 2.5 micron; (3) RoA &gt; 35 Ohm-cm^2 at 300K; and (4) Quantum Eficiency &gt; 30&#37; in UV (0.25 to 0.4 micron), &gt; 80&#37; in Visible (0.4 to 0.9 micron), and &gt; 70&#37; in IR (0.9 to 2.5 micron) subbands. 

Based on P.I.'s experience on SCIAMACHY, this project will enable one image sensor for 8 spectroscopic channels currently orbiting on European Space Agency's ENVISAT.
The proposed project is aimed at investigating ways to accelerate the creation of SysML based models that can be used for model checking and more generally for Model-Based System Engineering. In the past few years, multiple projects in the ISHM domain as well as the operations domain (Procedure V&amp;V) have started to leverage the power of model checking through the use of the Finite State Machines (FSM) formalism. These models have been typically developed manually by subject matters experts in the different spacecraft systems and subsystems. This is a significant hindrance to the widespread use of models for any targeted application. The envisioned suite of tools would allow non experts to derive the appropriate SysML models for their intended use. In addition to providing a generic library of space systems models, methods to customize these models to the specific target system, our proposal will also design tools that enable the automatic or semi automatic extraction of appropriate information from different source, thus significantly accelerating the development and the usage of such models.
Advanced reconfigurable/reprogrammable communication systems will require use of commercial sub 100 nm electronics.  Legacy radiation tolerant circuits fail to provide Single Event Upset (SEU) immunity at speeds greater than 500 MHz.  New base level logic circuits are needed to provide SEU immunity for high speed circuits afforded by sub 100 nm technology.  A completely new circuit and system approach called Self Recovery Logic is proposed for development herein which is able to function at the full speed afforded by the fabrication process and able to tolerate SEU impacts not possible with legacy circuits.  Moreover, a truly fault tolerant system is proposed which is projected to replace Triple Modular Redundancy as the on-chip means for fault tolerance.  With the proposed building blocks in place, advanced reconfigurable and reprogrammable high speed devices can be implemented.  A multiprocessor with advanced error correction and data compression capability is proposed for future development.
Flight Deck i-Glasses is a color, stereoscopic 3-D display mounted on
consumer style eye glass frames that will enhance operator performance
and multi-modal interface research for NextGen operators.  This
innovative project will prove that Microvision's new Pico Display Engine
and new waveguide optic technologies mounted on commercial eyeglass
frames will create a novel visual interface system where users can
toggle information between left- or right-eye and view information in
either a bi-ocular or 3-D stereo mode as required.  Leveraging the state
of the art monocular goggle display, Microvision will identify
commercial eye frames engineering requirements to determine size, weight
and center-of-gravity constraints and then research what optics,
electronics, mechanical and system interface alternatives exist.
Alternate designs of Pico Display Engine and electronic modules will be
investigated.  A simplified optical relay approach and waveguide optical
concepts design will be researched. At the conclusion of Phase 1,
Microvision will report the scientific and technical feasibility
findings and will provide bench-top demonstration of candidate Phase 2
waveguide optics technologies.  Finally, needed research/research and
development tasks required to build a Phase 2 prototype will be identified.
ORBITEC proposes to develop and demonstrate a novel cooling concept called Lattice Regenerative Cooling Methods (LRCM) for future high thrust in-space propulsion systems. Incorporation of ORBITEC's innovative lattice structures in the fabrication of thrust chambers for expander cycle engine systems will maximize the heat transfer into the coolant fluid, expand design options, enable substantial cost savings, and reduce lead times for component fabrication.
Translume, in collaboration with Dr Joseph Needoba, Oregon Health and Science University, proposes to develop a microfluidic colorimetric sensor for the quantitative measurement of important inorganic nutrients in estuaries, coastal waters, and oceans. The technology will first be demonstrated using the relatively simple analytical approach for measuring nitride.
Fundamental understanding of noise generation and the development of noise reduction technology requires the development of tools that can analyze simultaneously the relationship between the turbulent flow field and the pressure field both near and far.  In this proposal we will demonstrate how Wavelet Stochastic Estimation (WSE) is the most optimal method for correlating the source region to the sound field when using a microphone array and Particle Image Velocimetry.  WSE first transforms the far-field pressure signal into the wavelet domain which then enables both temporal and frequency information to be correlated with the flow field.  By adding the frequency information to the correlations, it becomes easier to extract the contribution from the large-scale structures and thus relate their dynamics to noise generation. We also demonstrate how WSE can be used with flow structure identification methods, such as the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), to further improve the link between the sound field and the turbulent flow field. The proposed technology supports the Fundamental Aeronautics Program by improving noise prediction and measurement methods.  The technology will be available for both subsonic and supersonic vehicles, with particular emphasis on noise sources generated from shear flows.
This SBIR Phase I project will demonstrate monolayer and dual layer coating of SiC fiber by leveraging Laser Chemical Vapor Deposition techniques developed by Free Form Fibers for direct fiber production. Ceramic fibers, particularly SiC, must be coated in order to protect the fibers from oxidizing environments, and to allow their use in SiC CMC's. FFF's LCVD techniques can be modified for fast, high purity coating. The Phase I effort includes creating a custom reactor that leverages FFF's existing gas precursor delivery infrastructure, and passing existing monofilament SiC fiber through the reactor to coat with BN in real time. Reversing direction and coating the coated fiber with SiC will be done for dual layer coating. Phase II would scale the process to serially dualcoat a unidirectional moving parallel array of hundreds or thousands of moving fibers. If successful, industry would finally have a reliable in-line approach to fiber coating prior to tow production, because spreading and coating already-sized tows is nearly impossible. Based on prior coating experience and other related proposals, Phase I work would take us from TRL3 to TRL4. Phase II could take us to TRL4 or TRL5, either on a FFF or other commercial fiber production facility.
CADNexus proposes to develop an Integrated Variable Fidelity Conceptual Design tool.  The application will enable design and analysis of unconventional and advanced concepts in the conceptual design phase.  The application will be integrated not only in the conceptual design phase but throughout the entire design process from conceptual design, to preliminary design, to detailed design.  The integration across design stages is accomplished by development of a component library that will store detailed aircraft shapes and components as well as rich metadata about the components, their attributes, and any other pertinent data.  The library will enable designers to generate candidate design concepts given a set of mission requirements or other characteristics.  In addition to performance analysis of a conceptual design the tool will also provide and evaluation of risk by projecting the probability that the design may not satisfy its mission requirements.
FMI has developed graded density CBCF preforms for graded density phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA) material to meet NASA's future exploration mission requirements for higher performance ablative TPS.  Graded Preform PICA (GPP) will be achieved by the continued development of lightweight, graded density carbon preforms which will decrease the overall areal mass of the resulting TPS material while enhancing its thermal performance capability.  The preform material designed to achieve this goal is comprised of a more mechanically robust, ablating outer layer and a lower weight, lower thermal conductivity inner layer than state-of-the-art PICA material. The ablative outer layer and thermal inner layer will be integrated in a continuously cast, monolithic material with equivalent capability for resin impregnation and conversion to PICA as the baseline existing preform material (FiberForm&amp;#174;).  During the proposed Phase II program, FMI will continue to develop its capability to produce graded density preform material to achieve TPS areal mass reductions estimated between 17-25&#37; relative to PICA with the goal of improving ablation performance. The developed preform materials will be converted to GPP and then characterized mechanically, thermally, and tested for ablation performance.  In addition to providing a pathway for these enhancements to tile acreage PICA TPS ablator material, FMI will incorporate the developed processing methodology to produce near net-shaped cast PICA TPS material preforms with a reduced density gradient compared to baseline manufacturing techniques.
This Phase I effort seeks to develop DFB laser master oscillators at the novel wavelength of 12050 nm.  Two prototypes will be built, tested, and delivered .  Currently, DFB laser chips are not available COTS at this wavelength.  However, EM4 has identified a stock of devices that may be used for initial proof-of-concept testing.  Due to the very large size of optical isolators at this wavelength, an isolator will not be included in the package.
To improve the working performance, increase efficiency, reduce cost, and track system health status and failure modes of advanced propulsion systems; miniaturized, robust sensing systems for measuring and monitoring physical parameters, such as pressure, would be highly advantageous. Technical challenges for developing reliable sensing systems lie in extremely harsh working conditions the micro sensors must operate.  In addition to high temperatures and pressures, these conditions include oxidation, corrosion, thermal shock, fatigue, fouling, and abrasive wear.  High temperature (300-1350oC) capacitive pressure sensors are of particular interest due to their inherent suitability for wireless readout schemes. The objective of this proposed work is to develop a capacitive pressure sensor based on SiCN, a new class of high temperature ceramic materials, which possess excellent mechanical and electric properties at high temperatures (up to1600 :C). The Phase I effort will include an evaluation of sensor designs and fabrication concepts, and the experimental evaluation of proof of principle scale prototypes. This technology, which is currently at TRL 2, will be advanced to TRL 4 at the end of Phase I.
In this proposal, AlphaSense, Inc. (AI) and the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) detail the development of RF front end based on MEMS components for miniaturized digital EVA radio. Key innovations of our approach include: a) the use of a novel parallel receiver front end architecture based on MEMS components, b) a novel design of a high Q mixer-filter for RF mixing and IF filtering, and c) the implementation of band pass filter and voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) using CMOS fabrication technique.  Consequently, the proposed EVA radio has the following merits: a)Small size, light- weight and low power consumption, b)High sensitivity and frequency selectivity, c)Good device reliability, and d)Easy device fabrication and low manufacturing cost.
The purpose of this project is to develop a wideband digital spectrometer
to support space-born measurements of planetary atmospheric 
composition. The spectrometer is based on a superconducting digitizer 
and a digital autocorrelator. The digitizer will be able to handle the entire
6 -18 GHz band by operating above the Nyquist frequency (target: 30 
GSamples/s). The superconducting circuits will be based on 
Niobium-based Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ) technology. They will 
be implemented without substantially impacting the cryogenic sensor 
package. The data from the superconducting digitizer will be processed 
by a 128-lag autocorrelator. During the Phase I performance period, we 
will determine whether the autocorrelator is best implemented using the
RSFQ autocorrelator circuits we developed for the National Science 
Foundation, or the polyphase implementation we recently produced using 
fast FPGAs. The criteria for downselecting the best design will be the 
projected  Signal-to-Noise ratios and the relative added terms to the 
system noise temperature. 
Our choice of Niobium superconductor technology will enable one single
technology to implement the TerraHertz mixer, the digitizer, and the 
fast manipulation of digital data on a low-power low-temperature platform.
LaunchPoint Technologies, Inc. (LaunchPoint) proposes to develop synthesis methods and design architectures for distributed control systems in precision spacecraft formations. Implementation of precision spacecraft formations requires distribution of sensing, communication, and actuation capabilities between the spacecraft composing  formation. Distributed architecture demands that each spacecraft maintains an estimate of states of other members of the formation for mission coordination, reconfiguration, and collision avoidance. We propose to design distributed estimation architectures that are able to provide a formation control system with reliable formation state estimates and monitor the formation components for faults and failures. LaunchPoint will extend the existing state-of-the-art techniques and tailor them to the specific NASA needs. The proposed design methods will provide the distributed estimators with a well-defined level of accuracy and guarantee stability of the complete distributed closed-loop system. Communication constraints and uncertainties for inter-spacecraft communication links will be explicitly considered and the developed design methods will allow trade-off between communication complexity and the formation performance. The developed methods will be applied for design of the distributed system for one of the NASA missions. The designed estimator will be tested in simulations for the practical mission scenarios and with the presence of realistic disturbances, communication, and sensor noises.
In this Phase I project, Kaitech proposes to design a Water Properties Sensor (WPS) sensing system to synchronously measure the spectral inherent and apparent optical properties and the physical properties of oceanic, coastal, and fresh water. This single instrument will provide oceanographers with a small, easy to deploy, affordable, and adaptable integrated sensing system to collect and measure geospatial information of the in situ water's fundamental marine processes.
This phase I research proposes an efficient approach to develop a reliable chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process for HfB2-HfC-SiC matrices for carbon fiber composites and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes for depositing coatings for the same compositions, and; second, to design, fabricate, and evaluate ultra-refractory CMCs consisting of a carbon fiber reinforcement reinforcing a functionally graded matrix of HfB2-HfC-SiC graded to SiC.  These advanced, lightweight materials are likely enabling for future propulsion goals.  The HfB2-HfC-SiC monolithic material has been shown to exhibit high temperature performance superior to all other materials tested under reentry conditions.  The oxidation layer formed on these monolithic compositions was extremely tenacious, displaying no spallation after cooling from 2200:C.  It is thought that if deposited as the matrix of a carbon fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composite, the oxide layer will prevent the ingress of species that will degrade the interfacial debond layer and the carbon fiber, allowing for the retention of mechanical properties under extreme temperatures and oxidizing environments.  Thermodynamic modeling will allow for efficient optimization of the deposition conditions; High temperature oxidation testing of the fabricated composites at 4500:F will provide needed feedback to improve the design for the Phase II work.
Deployable Space Systems (DSS) and EMCORE as a key subcontractor will focus the proposed SBIR program on the creation and optimization of a lightweight ~33&#37; efficient IMM multi-junction photovoltaic flexible blanket assembly specifically for future NASA Space Science missions that demand ultra-lightweight and high voltage operability.  The proposed IMM PV flexible blanket assembly when coupled to an optimized structural platform will produce revolutionary array-system-level performance in terms of high specific power (&gt;500 W/kg BOL at the array level, or &gt;1000 W/kg BOL at the blanket assembly level), lightweight, high deployed stiffness, high deployed strength, compact stowage volume (&gt;50 kW/m3 BOL), reliability, modularity, adaptability, affordability, and rapid commercial readiness. Once successfully validated through the proposed Phase 1 and Phase 2 programs, DSS's lightweight IMM PV blanket assembly technology will provide incredible performance improvements over current state-of-the art, and in many cases will be mission-enabling for future NASA and non-NASA applications.
NASA seeks advanced high strength and toughness composite materials with the highest microcrack resistance at cryogenic temperatures suitable for use in fuel containment of liquid oxygen, hydrogen, and methane.  Nanotrons Corporation, in collaboration with Prof. Bungki Kim at NSF nanomanufacturing research center in University of Massachusetts Lowell, proposes to develop lightweight functionalized graphene sheets-polymer nanocomposite materials for advanced composite cryotanks.  By uniformly dispersing high performance functionalized graphene sheets through novel polymer matrix the new lightweight nanocomposite will be fabricated and should exhibit significantly increase resin strength and modulus and reduce coefficient of thermal expansion of polymer resin.  The resultant nanocomposite material can much increase the resistance to microcracking at cryogenic temperature in ways it has never done before.  The new composite materials also provide additional advantages in forming an impermeable barrier to gas and liquid molecules ideal for fuel tanks.  Nanotrons' proposed new multifunctional nanocomposite based carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite cryotanks will replace the currently used aluminum-lithium cryotanks providing significant weight savings and can be economically scaled-up for manufacturing.  Phase I will demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.
Advanced Materials Technology, Inc (AMTI) responds to the NASA SBIR solicitation X8 "Space Cryogenic Systems" under subtopic X8.01, "Cryogenic Fluid Transfer and Handling".  The proposed Phase I SBIR program is aimed at developing new cryogenic insulations for passive thermal control, resulting in zero boil-off storage of cryogens.  The passive thermal control will serve to limit the heat leak into the cryogenic storage system.  The proposed technology is expected to increase reliability, increase cryogenic system performance, and is capable of being made flight qualified for the flight systems and to meet Exploration Systems mission requirements.   We propose to develop advanced closed cell organic/inorganic hybrid microfoams offering affordable cost, lightweight, high strength, low thermal conductivity, high thermal stability, and easy processability which will result in improved efficiency and reliability of the cryogenic systems.  The proposed approach will be environmentally friendly and will not emit any volatile organic compound (VOC).   The closed cell structure of these novel foams will prevent the occurrence of cryopumping.   Once the feasibility of fabrication of strong, lightweight cryogenic insulating materials by the proposed technology is demonstrated in Phase I, we shall scale-up this technology in a Phase II program to meet the NASA's requirements.
As NASA develops next generation space exploration systems as part of the Constellation program, new prognostics and health management tools are needed to ensure reliability, safety, mission success, and fault tolerant reconfiguration capabilities. Electrical power systems constitute a critical division of the exploration systems in enabling reliable ground and settlement operations. Even with the added hardware redundancy in the design, early diagnostics at the component level and application of fault tolerant techniques at the system level are imperative in providing an integrated reliability solution. Moreover, the proposed technology is highly adaptable across many systems of the Constellation program, including the Orion crew exploration vehicle, Altair Lunar Lander, and the lunar surface vehicles. This effort proposes an ambitious plan to improve the state-of-the-art in power system and converter (silicon and wide band gap based) in built-in-test (BIT) capabilities, enhance reliability assessment, and minimize fault propagation. Impact is proposing to develop the power system BIT capabilities based on: 1) high frequency ringing characterization in power devices, 2) an L1 norm based algorithm to monitor power quality, primarily in the converter, and 3) a dynamic differential current sensor to predict component aging and failure. These BIT techniques will continuously provide system and component level health assessment, which will be fed into the "Health Manager Reasoner" module to analyze the severity of fault and invoke the appropriate response to avoid system-wide failure propagation and enable reconfiguration techniques to promote mission completion. These techniques are mindful of the strict power, cost, size, and weight requirements for space exploration systems. They are designed to be embedded into the current configuration with minimal hardware and utilize unused processing resources.
During this phase I SBIR effort unique proven lattice and bandgap engineering techniques will be utilized to epitaxially grow InAlAs / InGaAs on GaN substrate for the design and fabrication of high power reconfigurable transceiver single MMIC.
The Universal Combustion Device Stability (UCDS) Process is the culmination of more than 40 years of research and provides the means to understand the complex dynamics and processes inside any chemical propulsion system, including liquid rockets, solid rockets, hybrid rockets, turbojet combustors and augmentors, and even scramjets.  In addition to predicting whether a combustion chamber will oscillate and how large the amplitude of the oscillation will be, UCDS provides insight into WHY a device oscillates.  With this type understanding, it is possible to design for stability in any chemical rocket, turbojet or scramjet.
GTL proposes to apply the UCDS&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; Process to create a clean-sheet design for a new stable liquid rocket engine that is suitable to use as an Ascent Engine for Altair.  Rather than starting with preconceived notions or heritage constraints, GTL shall exercise the UCDS tools to establish detailed injector design guidelines that will ensure stable operation.
This will include definition of functions that define mass injection distribution, vaporization/atomization profile, heat release characteristics, feed system response and many other parameters.  By following these requirements in an injector design, the mechanisms that drive oscillations will be minimized, while the damping mechanisms are maximized, thereby maximizing stability margin.
Spark ignition of a bi-propellant rocket engine is a classic, proven, and generally reliable process.  However, timing can be critical, and the control logic, additional electronic components and wiring adds complexity, cost and weight.  These factors can be especially undesirable for small attitude or reaction control engines.  The proposed innovation uses a novel method to excite a piezo-ceramic crystal using the initiation of propellant flow to the engine.  When the propellant valves are opened, the precise timing of the spark relative to propellant flow, as well as the flow start transient, are governed by the geometry of the device.  Hence, precise, repeatable start conditions should be achieved with no additional control logic or complexity.  Furthermore, the piezo-ceramic crystal is integral to (and embedded in) the igniter body, thereby completely eliminating external wiring and associated complexity.  A bench-top demonstration of one manifestation of the device (incorporating only one very simple moving part) has already demonstrated basic feasibility.  Other manifestations with no moving parts what-so-ever (at the macroscopic scale) may also be viable, and will be investigated.  Phase 1 TLR advancement goal is from 3 to 5, with Phase 2 goal of 7.
DSS's innovative Elastic Deployable Composite Tubular Roll-Out Boom will provide revolutionary performance when compared to conventional state-of-the-art technologies, and will significantly enhance operations and capability for future NASA missions.  The proposed Roll-Out Boom is strong, stiff, lightweight, thin, scalable, compactly-stowed, and fabricated from ultra-lightweight composite materials.  The Roll-Out Boom can be used as a self-deploying antenna, electric field antenna, linear actuator, grapple arm, gravity gradient boom, camera support, inspection aid, or as an actuator/structure for deploying payloads, antennas, solar arrays, instrument benches, solar sails, and sunshades.  The Roll-Out boom is a very simple concept that integrates an innovative deployment synchronization system to provide controlled, reliable and repeatable deployments, to produce deployments always in a predictable/known direction.  The Roll-Out Boom provides exceptional structural performance in a small lightweight package, and is a direct replacement to current state-of-the-art systems.  Boom sizes envisioned can be from 0.5-inch to 12-inches in diameter (or greater), with lengths from 1-m to 50-m long (or longer).  The significance of the proposed technology and program will enable future NASA and non-NASA missions by providing a revolutionary and positive performance impact to the end-user, and allow for the rapid insertion of this mission-enabling technology for future applications.
The need exists for a fast drying, robust, low gloss, black, high emissivity coating that can be applied easily on aircraft rocket nozzles and nozzle extensions.  Based on their 40+ years of experience with loaded polymers, particle dispersion and surface gloss control, scientists at Materials Technologies Corporation recently developed DURACON&amp;#61652;, a high emissivity, high thermal diffusivity, low-gloss infrared black coating. We now propose an innovative process for the deposition of a current DURACON formulation to enhance its emmittance mass index, ruggedness, uniformity, as well as adhesion to the substrate at extremely high temperatures to the levels desired by the NASA.
Makel Engineering, Inc. (MEI) and Penn State University (PSU) propose to develop a highly sensitive spectrometer based on glow discharge emission for the detection/classification of gas and aerosol species in post-fire cleanup scenarios.  This device would complement technology that is already under development for intelligent fire detection and would provide a robust system to simultaneously monitor the reduction of carbon monoxide and other toxic species by fire cleanup filtration systems.  
MEI and Dr. Randy Vander Wal of PSU are actively developing a glow-discharge based detection system for DoD (NAVAIR) that will be extremely compact (&lt;1 lb.) and provide highly sensitive detection of explosives and the potential to detect a broad range of chemical and biological agents. This system is a microhollow glow discharge-based electronic sniffer (MHGD Sniffer) and provides the basis for the proposed NASA effort.
SBIR Phase I Project proposes a new passive microwave airborne sensor for in flight icing hazard detection, Microwave Radiometer for Aviation Safety. A feasibility study of a relatively inexpensive, small in size, robust, energy efficient instrument with reliable calibration, easy to use, and with minimal maintenance requirement is proposed.
Extensive radiative transfer modeling will be carried out. The results of modeling will be used to optimize instrument design, parameters such as frequency of operation, individual channels polarizations, scene sampling strategy (scanning mode), antennae beamwidths, and potential use of auxiliary data will be evaluated. Phase I objective is a preliminary three dimensional model of the instrument.
Barron Associates, in partnership with the University of Washington, proposes integrating a small vibrating element into an EVA glove to create a surrogate for the tactile sense lost behind the insulating and protective layers.  This vibrotactile display will stimulate the neuro-receptors in the user's fingertips, with various waveforms, or "tactors," conveying sensations such as impact or surface roughness.  By restoring the sense of touch to gloved crewmembers, the system will demonstrate increased performance and reduced user fatigue compared to conventional data entry systems.  The proposed technology enables user interfaces that are adaptable to a wide range of tasks, including surface navigation, document editing, communications, and telerobotic control.  The Phase I prototype is a pathfinder, overcoming technical hurdles and reducing risks, for an evolved system compatible with integration into future NASA concepts for EVA suits.  The prototype targets two key technological challenges to an operational system:  tactile cueing and motion sensing.  The proposed effort will demonstrate the feasibility of integrating these systems into advanced EVA concepts, and examine the benefit of tactile cueing for relevant data entry tasks.  The Phase I program builds a foundation for potential Phase II demonstration of an advanced tactile EVA data entry system by suited crewmembers on the ISS.  At the end of Phase I, NASA will be able to make an informed decision on the merits of proceeding to on-orbit evaluation.
The health and integrity of aircraft sensors and instruments play a critical role in aviation safety.  However, inaccurate or false readings from these same sensors/instruments can lead to improper decision-making resulting in serious if not fatal consequences. This proposal offers a research and development (R&amp;D) effort to demonstrate the feasibility of using advanced data analysis techniques to identify failures in pitot tubes resulting from blockage, icing, or moisture.  These data analysis techniques will use existing electrical signals of pitot tube sensors that result from measured processes during in-flight conditions and/or induced signals in pre-flight conditions to detect anomalies in the sensor readings.

The proposed method for detecting pitot tube anomalies is referred to as the "noise analysis" technique.  This technique has been validated and is currently and routinely used by the proposing firm and others for detecting sensing line blockages of pressure transmitters in nuclear power generating stations; a very similar issue to the concern associated with pitot tube blockages.  

Typically, the output of a sensor that is measuring a process (e.g. air flow) contains two components: a static (DC) component that represents the process parameter, and a dynamic (AC) component.  Through the use of the dynamic component of existing electrical signals, the dynamic response of the sensor can be measured in the frequency domain.  As the sensor becomes blocked or degraded, changes to the dynamic response can be observed.  Specific examples of this are given in the proposal.
  
Another consideration in this proposal is diagnosing pitot tube sensor anomalies in pre-flight conditions.  In pre-flight checks, the pitot tubes reside in mild conditions and will not be measuring a turbulent process.  As such, a technique is proposed to induce this type of noise on the sensor input and analyze the resultant output using the same noise analysis technique.
Invocon proposes the Surface-borne Time-Of-Reception Measurements
(STORM) system as a method to locate the position of lightning strikes
on aerospace vehicles.  Initially developed as a hypervelocity impact
location system, the baseline technology lends itself to simple
adaptation for lightning location.  It uses Time-Of-Arrival (TOA)
measurements of the charge wave front imparted on a structure to
triangulate the location of lightning attachment.  Additional capability
can be added to the triggering circuitry that will characterize the
lightning strike in order to increase situational awareness for flight
crews and provide maintenance crews with information vital to determine
the health of an aircraft.  This is particularly important for new
airframes manufactured from composite materials that have not be fully
characterized over the full lifetime of the aircraft.
Giner Electrochemical Systems (GES) proposes to develop a cathode liquid feed, proton-exchange membrane electrolyzer stack and system capable of producing 3,600 psi oxygen.  In preparation for this Phase I effort, we propose to collaborate with Hamilton-Sundstrand Human Space Systems (H-S) to share unique state-of-the-art technologies that provide the best path to meeting program objectives.  GES will share their data and expertise with high balanced pressure electrolyzers and H-S will contribute their data and expertise in high differential pressure electrolyzers. Based on this exchange, GES would modify its electrolyzer performance model.  In a third task, GES will build two single cell electrolyzers with GES and H-S components.  One stack will be dedicated to balanced pressure operation, while a second unit would be dedicated to high differential pressure (oxygen over hydrogen) operation.  A full experimental matrix will be conducted on these units in a cathode liquid feed configuration.  Balanced pressure operation would be conducted at GES facilities (from atmospheric to 2,000 psi).  Differential pressure testing would be conducted in H-S facilities (at pressures between 2,000 and 3,600 psi).  Data would then be integrated into the GES analysis code, and be available as a design analysis tool for future phases of the program.
This proposal is submitted for developing low impedance, miniature
bandpass RF frequency filter via MEMS technique, in applications of
SMAP, Aquarius follow-on, DESDynI, or Advanced L-band SAR and interferometers.
Prime Research LC (PRLC), Virginia Tech (VT), and the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) propose to develop an ultra-low power radio/radar based on a CMOS ultra-wideband impulse radar (UWIR).  The system will be highly compact, consume very little power, perform accurate ranging and asset tracking capability, and provide high capacity communications.  Combined with PRLC's power harvesting technologies, the PRLC/VT/UTA team will deliver a high quality and robust product for space applications.
The future of the NASA space program includes longer and more invasive missions into space, with a goal to return to the moon's surface by the year 2015.  Long duration storage of large quantities of cryogenic fluids for propulsion, power, and life-support is an essential requirement for these missions.  The behavior of active and passive cryogenic management is paramount to the thermal status of a spaceship and cryotanks storage.  Efficient and reliable insulation materials are key to the success of long missions into space.  Aspen Aerogels proposes to develop a durable and cost effective hybrid aerogel/MLI insulation system for cryogenic storage in space applications.  The proposed hybrid insulation system will withstand micrometeoroids impacts and will outperform the MLI in cases of vacuum loss.  During the Phase II Program, extensive work will be dedicated to the developing a system level solution for installation of the flexible hybrid insulation system onto cryotank surfaces to minimize seams, and thermal leaks.  Development of the proposed novel cost effective insulation package will provide NASA with a long-term cryogenic propellant storage thermal control solution for applications in low earth orbit (LEO), and on the lunar surface.
SA Technologies will employ a two-part solution including measures and models for evaluating crew autonomy in exploratory space missions. An integrated measurement and modeling approach will support NASA scientists in determining the optimal levels of crew autonomy under various mission conditions and constraints. Research results will produce a measurement application that provides multiple standard and custom tools for direct assessment of team autonomy and related constructs like team processes, social and performance outcomes, workload and situation awareness. The computer-based measurement application will support data collection, review, and high-level analysis of results. The models of crew autonomy will be theoretical and computer-based. Prescriptive, theoretical models support understanding the interrelationships among the key factors associated with performance and crew autonomy. Computer models will include important mission parameters and operationally-defined levels of crew autonomy to enhance capability for predicting outcomes associated with various crew autonomy levels. Phase I research will focus on defining factors associated with mission outcomes and crew autonomy levels, along with development concepts for the measurement application and modeling tool.  Phase II will involve development of a functional prototype of the Crew Autonomy Measures and Models (CAMM).
NASA has been involved in extensive research efforts to develop advanced concepts, technologies, and procedures for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The research focus area Airspace Super-Density Operations (ASDO) pertains to highly efficient operations at the busiest airports and terminal airspace. Deterministic analysis of the proposed NextGen concepts may not be sufficient, as inability of aircraft to adhere to flight schedules exactly and operational uncertainties may significantly alter the effectiveness of the proposed concepts.  
The primary objective of this research proposal is to create a High-Fidelity Queuing Model of the Terminal Area and a Framework for Performing Time-Varying Stochastic Analysis of Terminal Area Operations with regards to Input Schedule and Operational Uncertainties. This Queuing Model can be used to evaluate the interaction and combined performance of multiple NextGen concepts in the ASDO research focus area. 
The Phase I effort will develop a sample Queuing Network Model for a moderately complex terminal area, e.g. JFK. The utility of the developed Queuing Model and Analysis Techniques will be illustrated using two case-studies in the JFK terminal area. Phase II research effort proposes to develop integrated surface/terminal area queuing model of a Metroplex. Stochastic analysis of the Metroplex will be accelerated in Phase II using Graphics Processing Units.
Microcosm will develop a deep space navigation and timing architecture and associated simulation, incorporating state-of-the art radiometric, x-ray pulsar, and laser communications measurements.  The solution will center on the maintenance and propagation of navigation states, time and associated uncertainties onboard each platform with filtering capabilities enabling updates based on all available data.  Such data would include: direct state and uncertainty updates via ground communication, radiometric- and lasercom-based range and range rate data from communication with ground stations and other spacecraft, time transfer from ground stations and other spacecraft, and X-ray pulsar-based navigation and time measurements (XNAV).  This would enable significant improvements in spacecraft navigation and time determination for the majority of systems without access to GPS, and would improve solutions for systems with GPS.  With inter-vehicle communication, the line-of-sight (LOS) navigation precision achievable with current radiometric techniques can be achieved in the direction normal to the LOS from the Earth.  XNAV enables onboard measurements for improved or autonomous navigation and time determination.  Phase I will develop the architecture, performance estimates, and simulator requirements and preliminary design.  Phase II will focus on detailed simulation development and on the transition of the capabilities into key NASA tools.
Aurora Flight Sciences proposes to incorporate aspirated compressor technology into a high altitude, long endurance (HALE) concept engine.  Aspiration has been proven to increase the stage loading of gas turbine compressors and fans, potentially allowing weight reduction through the reduction of compression stages or through the reduction of stresses through decreased spool speeds.  Additionally, aspiration has the potential to increase the low Reynolds number capability of an engine through improved control of the viscous boundary layer.  Low Re capability is important for the performance of high altitude engines operating in low density air, as well as of lower power, micro-scale engines. Although the component level benefits of aspiration have been experimentally verified and the design techniques established, the issues surrounding the integration of the technology in an engine system have yet to be adequately addressed.  The performance benefit of aspiration to an engine system will depend on the details of how bleed air from the compressor is utilized elsewhere in the engine cycle.  The maximum benefit of the technology will also depend on the net weight reduction achievable once all supporting subsystems are taken into account. Aurora proposes to investigate the interdependences between aspiration flow requirements, weight reduction, and overall cycle efficiency as part of an optimization effort to maximize the capability of a HALE engine.  The effort will define the benefits of compressor aspiration in a low Reynolds number environment and provide the rational for using the HALE mission as a launch application for this promising technology.
To provide reliably secure communications, development of quantum optical devices for encrypted ground-to-space communications is a necessity.  The overall goal of this NASA effort is to develop and deliver efficient, single-pass quantum optical waveguide sources capable of backward quasi-phase-matched interactions for generation of high purity photon pairs for use in an on-demand photon source to enable high-rate long-distance encryption key distribution.  The new devices will produce down-conversion entangled photon pairs with enhanced spectral properties and low attenuation, providing the key technology required for development of an on-demand heralded photon source.  Furthermore, the waveguide-based technology is compact, robust, and power efficient for future deployment on space-based platforms to provide provably, unconditionally secure quantum encryption to satisfy requirements for the NASA topic Transformational Communications Technology.
Innovative Technology Applications Company and Drs. P. Morris and K. Brentner will make improvements in noise prediction and measurement methods for subsonic and supersonic vehicles. Possible areas of application for the finished product include aerodynamic noise from fans, jets, turbomachinery, engine cores, propfans, propellers, and airframe components.  The proposed Phase I work will result in a proof-of-concept demonstration of a tool which will enable the NASA customer to gain deeper insight into aerodynamic noise sources and develop improved methods for experimentally detecting them. Ultimately, this will enable improved source identification techniques and greater understanding of the physics associated with the data obtained from experimental phased array microphone arrays.  The approach taken by the proposed work to accomplish these goals is to use an unsteady simulation of nearfield unsteady flow to feed a Ffowcs Williams-Hawking solver. The acoustic field is then propagated to a numerical phased array of microphones and the data recorded just as it would in a wind tunnel or flyover experiment. The data is then processed according to the state-of-the-art data reduction methods and the resulting predictions of noise sources compared to the detailed data from the unsteady simulation to gain
additional insight.
The Small Business Innovative Research Phase I proposal seeks to develop a compact mid-infrared laser spectrometer to benefit Earth science research activities. To capitalize on emerging aerial platforms, a miniaturized and ruggedized mid-infrared laser spectrometer using novel, fiber-coupled, solid state lasers will be designed to improve performance over traditional tunable diode laser systems requiring cryogenic cooling. It will measure priority gases specifically listed in the subtopic.
Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) proposes to develop a novel, efficient, and lightweight catalytic Sabatier CO2 methanation unit, capable of converting a mixture of CO2 and H2 to methane and water with targeted CO2 conversions of &amp;#8805;90&#37; at high throughputs and at low operating temperatures (&amp;#8804;350&lt;SUP&gt;o&lt;/SUP&gt;C). In the spacecraft cabin air revitalization system (ARS), the utilization of CO2 to produce life support consumables, such as O2 and H2O, via Sabatier process as part of the CO2 Reduction Assembly (CRA) is an important aspect for long-term manned space explorations. The maturation of this technology will significantly reduce the need of re-supply from Earth. Sabatier reaction is highly exothermic and is limited by the thermodynamic equilibrium; therefore, the ability to control and maintain axial reactor temperature and catalyst surface temperature is crucial for obtaining good reactor performance and preventing catalyst deactivation. The proposed program will build on the short contact time kinetic benefits of Microlith&lt;SUP&gt;REG&lt;/SUP&gt; technology (patented and trademarked by PCI) and PCI's proven catalyst coating development process from prior NASA programs, to demonstrate a proof-of-concept toward delivering a modular, compact, and durable Sabatier CO2 reduction prototype to NASA.
Tech-X proposes to develop a comprehensive Fortran testing and 
refactoring infrastructure that allows developers and scientists to
leverage the benefits of a comprehensive Integrated Developer
Environment (IDE).  An intriguing aspect of the infrastructure is 
the integration of performance measurement and monitoring from within
the IDE that allows developers to get immediate feedback about 
tests, the overall application and modifications due to refactoring.  Our goal isto promote modern software engineering methodology to a broad spectrum ofFortran users.
The infrastructure will facilitate refactoring newly developed and legacy codes correctly and accurately for single and multi-processor applications and will provide facility for both unit 
and regression testing. Major benefits to refactoring include creating robust codes that are more easily ported to different hardware and software platforms and promoting extensibility and collaboration. For example, refactoring code to remove common blocks allows porting to multi-core architectures with increased thread safety while promoting best software engineering practices.

By leveraging the existing capabilities of pFUnit (an xUnit variant that 
supports Fortran) and Photran (a Fortran Integrated Development Environment and Eclipse plugin) we will be able to quickly contribute to the Fortrandeveloper community, whos feedback we hope to use to guide our product development.
NASA is interested in the development of advanced instruments and instrument components for planetary science missions.  Specifically, an area of importance in relation to in situ sensors and sensor systems is instrument deployment on a variety of space platforms, which include orbiters, flyby spacecraft, landers, rovers, balloon, other aerial vehicles, subsurface penetrators, and impactors.  These instrumentation and space platforms are to be used in the exploration of inner and outer planets and their moons, comets, asteroids, etc.  As a direct consequence, the instrumentation systems are subjected to space and planetary environmental extremes including temperature, pressure, radiation, and impact stresses during operation.  In particular, NASA is soliciting instrument development that provides advancements in several specific areas.  One of these areas is "Radiation mitigation strategies, radiation tolerant detectors, and readout electronics components for candidate instruments for the Europa-Jupiter System Mission (EJSM)".

We intend to answer NASA's need for a suitable radiation resistant ROIC technology for future planetary science missions through the integration of advanced radiation hardening technologies incorporating radiation hardening by design (RHBD) technologies, as well as the use of an advanced multi-gate integrated circuit technologies.  Additional focus will be on the reduction of cost, size, weight, and power.
Boulder Nonlinear Systems (BNS) proposes to use its electro-optic component and subsystem expertise to transition a patented heterodyne detection scheme previously conceived by BNS for LIDAR to application in satellite based laser communications. The proposed effort will leverage past and present contracts in free space optical communication and space qualification of components.  The proposed transceiver, which can be demonstrated with COTS components, is independent of platform orientation and path length differences.  In addition BNS will investigate replacing the transceiver's conventional crystal modulator with a low voltage polymer electro-optic modulator.

The proposed work plan entails demonstration of the path length and orientation insensitivity of the detection scheme as well as implementation of an electro-optic polymer based modulator for 1550 nm laser radiation. In addition to the proof of principle demonstration, Boulder Nonlinear Systems proposes to perform a design study to determine the size, weight and power of the transceiver subsystem and develop a road map for space qualification of the technology.  A follow-on Phase II effort would result in a prototype laser communication subsystem with potential for satellite based application.
It is proposed to advance manufacturing science and technology to improve yield and optical surface figure in high actuator count, high-resolution deformable mirrors (DM) required for wavefront control in space-based high contrast imaging instruments. As the scale of batch fabricated, polysilicon surface micromachined MEMS DMs increases to thousands of actuators the associated increase in devices size limits the achievable yield due to micro-scale defects introduced during the manufacturing processes and large unpowered surface figure errors. In Phase I research, major obstacles preventing scalability of microfabrication processes to large arrays will be overcome by developing a polysilicon deposition process to reduce and control defect density to maximize the yield of a 1027 segment Tip-Tilt Piston DM with 3081 actuators and to determine the practical limits of the tool set and compatibility of this process for the manufacture of MEMS DMs with &gt;104 actuators. Manufacturing processes to minimize unpowered surface figure errors will be developed to (1) reduce substrate curvature induced DM surface figure errors through control of deposition and polishing processes to balance the front and backside film thickness, and (2) reduce polishing induced DM surface figure errors by modifying the device wire routing layout design to maintain uniform pattern density across the device area to achieve uniform material removal rates in the polishing process. Successful completion of the Phase 1 work will enable the design and manufacture of a 1027 Tip-Tilt-Piston deformable mirror required for NASA's visible nulling coronagraph instrument in a Phase 2 effort.
Boston Micromachines Corporation (BMC), a leading developer of unique, high-resolution micromachined deformable mirrors (DMs), will develop a compact, low-power, high-voltage multiplexed driver suitable for integration with those DMs in space-based wavefront control applications. The proposed driver architecture will drastically reduce power consumption and size. Based on parameters measured using an existing 993-actuator DM that BMC developed for NASA in support of the Terrestrial Planet Finding Coronagraph program, and using projections from preliminary experiments conducted for this proposal, we predict at minimum a hundred-fold reduction in power consumption in the prototype driver to be produced in Phase I, and a tenfold reduction in size, while maintaining high precision, reducing electronics driver cost, and reducing interconnection complexity. Additional reductions in power consumption and another tenfold reduction in size will follow in Phase II work when the core design is transferred to implementation in application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) format.

Phase I work involves collaboration between BMC and Boston University (BU). A leading electrostatics research group at BU will develop a novel multiplexed high-voltage driver architecture that comprises a significant departure from previous MEMS DM drivers. A single D/A converter and high-voltage amplifier module will drive the entire array through a row-column addressing scheme. This approach will reduce operational power consumption by two orders of magnitude from ~80W to ~0.8W. We will also integrate the DM and the mirror into a compact package. The MEMS DM and the electronics will be co-mounted on the same PC board. This will reduce driver volume by an order of magnitude, from ~20,000cc to 2000cc. It will also eliminate the need for high density cabling and buffer amplifiers used to drive them, simplifying system operation and further reducing power consumption and size.
Structural health monitoring (SHM) methods have been limited for wide-area applications due to the implied infrastructure, including sensors, power/communication cables, and acquisition/computation units.  Particularly for mass-sensitive space applications such as Ares V, every gram can matter when scaling-up to cover 10 meter diameter composite sections.  The payoff of a reliable real-time SHM system would be an abort trigger, which could be implemented to save precious cargo if structural anomalies are detected.  This system would be installed upon composite component fabrication to track health during shipping/integration, and continue to monitor during launch.  Metis Design Corporation (MDC) has demonstrated point-of-measurement datalogging and cable-free sensor-busing during prior SBIR work, which minimizes the mass of sensor hardware and infrastructure.  During the proposed research, MDC will further exploit this SHM architecture to fully satisfy Ares V mission specifications.  This SBIR would focuses on optimizing sensor geometry and placement as well as customizing testing and algorithm parameters to obtain the desired monitoring coverage, accuracy and reliability with minimal mass.  A large portion of the research will focus on constructing and inspecting models for the various structural configurations being considered by NASA. The SBIR would conclude with a "blind" detection demonstration on a representative test article.
Removal of impurities from water has been studied extensively by NASA in the context of water recovery from wastewater. However, the Water Recovery System and Urine Processor Assembly currently used in the International Space Station can only recover as much as 90&#37; of the water (Carter, 2009). Complete dewatering is not possible for these technologies since they are not designed for handling solids and processing is stopped before precipitates form. The only water recovery process that can handle solids is the Air Evaporation System (AES) which uses porous rayon wicks but its performance is severely limited by its low thermal conductivity and susceptibility to microbial growth. We propose to improve on the AES by designing an evaporation system using thermally conductive porous media. The high surface area and porosity of these porous media coupled with the use of vapor-compression distillation results in a novel system that can recover almost 100&#37; of the water at the desired purity with high energy efficiency and minimal consumables.

Makel Engineering and Cornell University are proposing the use of two processes, (1) freeze-concentration and (2) porous media evaporation, to produce water that meets electrolysis purity requirements needed for oxygen production from lunar regolith. While freeze-concentration systems have been shown to be effective in purifying water for terrestrial applications, we believe that our proposed process is the first to power the freezing-melting cycle by a thermoelectric heat pump. Our innovative system will exploit the property of thermoelectrics to reverse their heating and cooling sides, leading to the reuse of the enthalpy of fusion and simple equipment design.  In principle, our process will operate at high energy efficiency, recover more than 99&#37; of the water from the feed at the desired purity, and use no consumables.
The continued development of automated sample acquisition and handling tools is of critical importance to future robotic missions on Mars, the Moon, Venus, and other planetary bodies. In response to the need for a compact, low mass, low power, and low weight-on-bit coring device, Honeybee Robotics proposes to develop an arm-deployed and arm-stabilized rotary-percussive coring tool. By using a robotic arm to deploy the coring tool into rock or soil targets and stabilize the tool while operating, the coring tool's internal deployment (or "z") axis and external stabilization devices can be removed, resulting in a more compact, lower mass device. Also, adding percussion to the coring tool will reduce average weight-on-bit and energy consumption over the duration of the coring operation. The flexibility afforded from a rover or lander arm to target outcroppings, and the relatively higher TRL of surface coring tools (vs. deeper subsurface drills), make surface coring, especially with an arm-deployed coring tool, a particularly attractive option for near term planetary exploration. The proposed Phase I activities will focus on 1) validating the ability to drill and produce cores in hard rock from a compliant robotic arm mock-up via laboratory testing, and 2) identifying and performing a trade study on vacuum-compatible, low mass percussive mechanism options for the coring tool.
This project targets the development of a highly sensitive gas sensor to monitor atmospheric nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is an important species in Earth science research. It is one of the four principal greenhouse gases that result from human activities. It is the primary source gas for nitrogen oxides in the stratosphere, a useful dynamical tracer and a powerful greenhouse gas. It is the only long-lived atmospheric tracer of human perturbations of the global nitrogen cycle. Atmospheric mixing ratios for nitrous oxide are around 320 parts-per-billion (ppb). Though it's atmospheric concentration is much smaller than that of the most cited green house gas carbon dioxide, it is an effective greenhouse gas having a Global Warming Potential of 296 over a 100-year time span. Vista Photonics proposes to develop a compact, low weight, highly sensitive, in situ monitor for nitrous oxide.
Next generation air traffic management systems are expected use multiple software tools and quantitative methods for managing traffic flow in the National Airspace. NASA and other aerospace research centers are involved in developing advanced numerical algorithms for strategic traffic flow management. These algorithms can be invoked at fixed time intervals, or can be employed whenever adverse traffic flow conditions occur. In order to avoid spurious responses, the control algorithms should be used only when actual traffic flow problems are likely to arise, and not in response to normal flow variations. Queuing models describe the aggregate stochastic behavior of the national airspace, and can provide not only mean flow characteristics, but also the expected variations. This proposal advances the development of a queuing model-based methodology for triggering traffic flow management algorithms. The approach , based on the measured state of the national airspace system. The approach exploits recently-developed queuing models of the NAS, together with recent advances in estimation theory. 
	Phase I research will demonstrate the feasibility of developing the traffic flow management triggering system using a simulation model of the national airspace system. Phase II research will integrate this methodology with NASA's traffic flow management algorithms, and assess the overall system performance n the ACES environment. Algorithms and software developed under the SBIR project will be delivered to NASA at the end of Phase II work.
This SBIR project addresses the need for a system that will provide automated lunar surface stabilization via hybrid microwave heating.  Surface stabilization is paramount to future lunar missions due to severe complications from dust on the Apollo space missions.  This project focuses on development of a microwave surface solidification device, which could be incorporated into a roving system, to provide adequate working planes  for robotic and manned operations.
Phase I will demonstrate microwave system feasibility using advanced computer modeling and sophisticated laboratory experimentation with lunar simulant.  Research will target surface heating of deep powder beds to best simulate in-situ use.  Microwaves coupled with radiant heat sources will maximize heating efficiency.   Hybrid microwave heating models will provide process optimization, direct correlations to lunar regolith heating, and a foundation for advanced automated control systems.   
Ceralink has assembled a team including research partner Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and commercialization partner Gerling Applied Engineering to successful bring this technology from a TRL 2 to a TRL 4 in Phase I. The team is well positioned to achieve TRL 6 with prototype demonstrations by the completion of Phase II, and ultimately deliver a fully functioning system.
Thermophotovoltaic(TPV) energy conversion produces electrical power from heat energy in a simple, low maintenance manner ideal for certain NASA applications. Currently, thermophotovoltaics suffer from low efficiencies, where only a small fraction of the total thermal energy is converted to electrical energy. One key to improving efficiency is to match the emitter spectrum more precisely to the conversion characteristics, using engineered metamaterial emitters. Metamaterials have shown great promise as efficient narrow-band selective emitters that can provide the improved spectral match between emitter and converter. To address the opportunity afforded by a novel metamaterials-based TPV emitter film, Nanohmics Inc. and Dr. Gennady Shvets at The University of Texas at Austin propose to develop the TAloNTM Emitter, a high-temperature,  ultra-thin thermal emitter of infrared radiation for TPVs. Despite its simplicity and amenability to straightforward fabrication, our design encompasses all the advantages mentioned above: extremely highly selective emission, tunability of emission frequency, sub-wavelength size, and large field enhancement inside the metamaterial. Films will be constructed using the highly scalable process of "roll-to-roll" deposition and nanoimprint lithography using highly thermally stable materials such as tungsten and aluminum nitride.
MassTech, Inc. proposes to develop a Lidar Wind Profiler for standoff sensing of concurrent 3-component wind velocities using an eye-safe, rugged, reliable optical device. We propose to use a multi-beam lidar system to obtain aerosol backscatter data from the flowfield and to develop a time-lag cross-correlation algorithm to extract three-component velocity measurements. In addition, we propose to determine the feasibility of measuring atmospheric turbulence, cloud ceiling as well as the location and intensity of aircraft wake vortices from the lidar backscatter data, in combination with the derived wind data products. In Phase I, a breadboard prototype will be designed and built to demonstrate proof-of-concept of obtaining velocity measurements from a representative flowfield and the results will be validated using sonic and cup-and-vane anemometers. This breadboard will be used to benchmark the system requirements for the design of an ALV prototype that will be built in Phase II and tested in an experimental test facility such as a wind tunnel. These measurements will be validated by comparing with anemometers and existing test data, along with computational predictions. Key design goals are reliability, eye-safety, portability and low cost.
Research Support Instruments, Inc. (RSI) proposes the Gyroscopic Inertial Micro-Balance Azimuth Locator (GIMBAL) program to use an innovative encapsulated spinning wheel micro-gyroscope as a Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&amp;C) actuator for small spacecraft use.  While macro-size gyroscopes, including fiber ring gyros, have achieved navigation-grade performance, Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) gyros have been limited to rate-grade performance, particularly in long-term bias drift.  This is often attributable to quadrature error, which is a result of cross-coupling between drive and sense axes (Yazdi 1998).  GIMBAL is particularly suited to addressing this, since it does not rely on the vibratory structure common in MEMS gyros.  Instead, it uses a true spinning wheel for the proof mass, which will not have any mechanical linkages between axes.     This will result in a bias drift much smaller than encountered in current MEMS-sized gyros.  The Phase I GIMBAL program will involve design, fabrication, and test of the key encapsulated micro-gyro technology as well as system design of the GN&amp;C component. In Phase II, the complete gyro sensor will be designed and built, and detailed tests and demonstrations will resolve design issues for the final design. The result will be a GN&amp;C component that will address a critical need in future NASA science missions.
Critical to the success of delivering on the promise of deep space optical communications is the creation of a stable and reliable high power multichannel optical uplink/beacon.  Optical Engines proposes to demonstrate in phase 1 a 1kW compact and low cost fiber amplifier suited to the uplink application.  This will be accomplished through the use of Optical Engines proprietary Multi-Fiber Coupled 2.5kW laser diode stacks, its Etched Taper All Fiber Combiner Technology and a custom designed Photonic Crystal Fiber.  By building upon existing fiber amplifier work this demonstration can be accomplished in the Phase 1 time frame. From this demonstration, a 4 channel 4kW total power amplifier array will be constructed during phase II to be integrated into existing NASA deep space communications up link infrastructure.
We propose to build a high-power, room temperature compact continuous wave terahertz local oscillator for driving heterodyne receivers in the 1-5 THz frequency window. The local oscillator is based on the recently discovered terahertz emission of a high-power infra-red vertical external-cavity optically-pumped surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) when operated under dual-wavelength emission. The dual IR wavelength separation can be easily controlled by placing a thin etalon in the VECSEL cavity and the THz signal (corresponding to the beat frequency) is generated via a nonlinear periodically-poled lithium niobate crystal placed in the cavity. The VECSEL semiconductor gain element is designed and optimized to generate on the order of kilowatt internal circulating infra-red fields in the VECSEL cavity thereby generating tunable THz power in the milliwatt ranage. It is anticipated that this source will have wide applications within NASA and the broader commercial community.
This SBIR Phase I effort will develop and demonstrate an innovative shape memory alloy (SMA) periodic cellular structural technology.  Periodic cellular structures (PCS) will be designed and tailored to determine if additional shape memory performance benefits can be derived from the underlying macro-structure when fabricated from SMA's.  These structures will be manufactured using an advanced reactive metal casting technology that will allow complex-shaped, integral bulk structures to be fabricated with the requisite composition-microstructure-properties needed for shape memory performance.  Casting also offers a relatively low-cost approach for fabricating near net-shape components.  The fabricated SMA structures will be characterized for resulting microstructure-properties in order to determine how to best design such PCS to better exploit SMA's for use in aerospace applications.
Analytical Services and Materials, Inc. (AS&amp;M) is proposing to develop and validate a process that can extend the fatigue life of and potentially self-heal existing fatigue damage of aluminum and titanium alloys.  The genesis of the proposed process is research conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center that developed a low melting point coating that flows into the crack when activated.  The fatigue crack growth was postulated to be reduced due to a combination of adherence of the healing material to the crack surfaces (crack bridging) and filling of the crack with the healing material (crack closure).  This process was demonstrated to reduce the crack growth rate (i.e., extend fatigue life) by a factor of 2 to 4x in inert environments.  The proposed Phase I program will deliver experimental evidence of a self-healing material system and a preliminary design for an integrated healing activation system.  The original research will be extended to operational environments and loading conditions with the goal of developing a system by the end of Phase II that will be viable for operational testing.
In support of NASA's vision for space, the goal of this project is to research and prototype a multi-component localization system which uses radiometry and vision for global pose estimation in Selenographic coordinates. The radiometry based pose localization alone will exhaustively study the combination of satellite networks and terrestrial networks to extract the maximal information for the purpose of localization. The vision system will use terrain matching allowing for a global pose estimation capability independent of external infrastructure like satellites or beacons. The overall system will allow low level information exchange between radiometry and vision and provide fault tolerance to remove the influence of faulty sensor data. The proposal aims to create a component based end-to-end plug-and-play architecture which looks at the minutiae of a localization module to create a rugged technology upon which other systems like navigation can be built.
Cryogenic propellants, orbital cryogenic fuel depots and the ability to store, transfer, handle and refuel spacecraft in orbit are critical to NASA future missions beyond Low Earth Orbit.  There are numerous new technologies required to achieve needed cryogenic fluid management capabilities allowing future extended spaceflight missions. There are known concerns about the technology readiness of critical cryogenic fluid management (CFM) technologies in micro-gravity. The NASA Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer technology demonstration program is an orbiting laboratory that can investigate CFM technologies in space, and provides an opportunity to advance in-space CFM technologies. The testbed can provide a cost effective means to mature numerous new technologies, flight test and reduce risk for their use in NASA missions.  Integrated MultiLayer Insulation (IMLI) is a new next generation thermal insulation offering higher thermal performance, lower mass and a more robust structure than current MLI. IMLI could use a conformal blanket design with IMLI panels and temperature-matched layer panel seaming.

This proposal is for the design, fabrication, testing and evaluation of novel conformal high-performance IMLI thermal insulation blankets for a CRYOTE-like Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer demonstration testbed. A sequence of steps to mature IMLI technology, measure performance in a realistic environment, and plan development of prototypes leading a technology demonstration flight are outlined. Further development of IMLI would aid in the maturing of the passive thermal control aspect of cryogenic fluid management, advancing CFM technologies and reducing risk for future NASA missions and commercial spacecraft, launch vehicles, orbital fuel depots and cryogenic space instruments.
The major components of manmade aerosols are created by the burning of coal and oil.  These aerosols are recognized to have a significant climatic impact through their effects on solar and terrestrial radiation.  The accurate speciation and measurement of the composition of these aerosols is an important first step in understanding and managing these pollutants. This proposal focuses on the development of a detection system specifically for the collection, speciation and identification of gas phase and aerosolized organics. The proposed portable system will be approximately 1/10 the size and 1/5 the cost of traditional bench top analytical units and will be capable of sample collection and battery operation without the need for compressed bottled gas.  The Seacoast system will integrate its proprietary chemicapacitive sensor array technology and commercial sensors with a preconcentration/chromatography system, combining selectivity from a diverse sensor array with a miniature sampling system for amplified sensitivity. The specific components will be: 1) vapor collection pump, 2) sample preconcentrator capable of being heated quickly and in stages, 3) capillary column to separate the chemicals released from the preconcentrator and provide selectivity, 4) the chemical sensor array containing Seacoast's chemoselective microcapacitors or "chemicapacitors" and metal-oxide-based detectors, 5) integrated user interface. The system will be designed to be modular so as to allow further expansion with other sensor technologies.  In addition the Seacoast system utilizes air, sampled from its environment, as a carrier gas thus requiring no bottled gas for increased portability and ease of use.  The system will be capable of both gas phase (sampling from the environment) and liquid phase (from direct injection of possible source pollutants) operation.
Durable high temperature materials are required for hypersonic engine and structural thermal protection systems.  In particular, 2700:F or greater capable structural materials that can survive stresses on the order of 10 ksi (70 MPa) for at least 100 hours in an oxidizing environment have been identified as an enabling material for future hypersonic vehicles with a long term desired target of 3000:F.  As these applications are structural, a strong degree of damage tolerance is desired, and thus ceramic matrix composites are the primary choice due to the desire for reduced weight, high temperature strength and oxidation resistance. Silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide matrix (SiC/SiC) composites are believed to be the most suitable solution due to meeting the requirements with the exception of creep at the highest temperatures/loads. The proposed effort will modify the SiC fiber preform by the addition of a fraction of more creep resistant carbon fibers.  The Phase I will encompass engineering the appropriate level of hybridization in a C-SiC/SiC composite, producing and evaluating the ceramic composite material for hypersonic vehicle applications, including stress rupture at temperatures of 2700:F or greater.
The proposed project is aimed at investigating ways to accelerate the creation of SysML based models that can be used for model checking and more generally for Model-Based System Engineering. In the past few years, multiple projects in the ISHM domain as well as the operations domain (Procedure V&amp;V) have started to leverage the power of model checking through the use of the Finite State Machines (FSM) formalism. These models have been typically developed manually by subject matters experts in the different spacecraft systems and subsystems. This is a significant hindrance to the widespread use of models for any targeted application. The envisioned suite of tools would allow non experts to derive the appropriate SysML models for their intended use. In addition to providing a generic library of space systems models, methods to customize these models to the specific target system, our proposal will also design tools that enable the automatic or semi automatic extraction of appropriate information from different source, thus significantly accelerating the development and the usage of such models.
We propose the development of a capability which will allow ecosystem managers to share a map view in terms of location, magnification level, and data layers (to include local data and sources) throughout the community of COAST users. This capability will foster collaboration and allow rapid disseminate data to support operations, research, and analysis.

Using a proven methodology (ref: Part 5: Related R/R&amp;D) for gathering user requirements to drive development of appropriate solutions, the initial stage will involve collecting the task and purpose of the Environmental Managers utilizing the COAST software for determining  priorities of work to meet needs.  The creation of Use Cases will effectively capture this information in a method that can effectively convey scientific purpose into Information Technology (IT) requirements.  These documents will provide an archive of needs that the end user requires while performing their tasks.  From the Use Cases, working prototypes will be developed as proof of technology.  These prototypes will allow ecosystem managers to provide direct feedback during the development lifecycle.

The final product will be a COAST map sharing plug-in which has been defined by the ecosystem managers and refined throughout its development to ensure that it fulfills the needs of the user community.  The effect is a shorter development cycle that meets or exceeds user expectation and provides the framework for further enhancements.
High throughput, fast detection and characterization of inorganic and organic biomarkers have become important challenge for future lunar robotic rover exploration and planetary missions. To allow for rapid sample characterization on the Moon and Mars, the in situ non-destructive Raman detection technique is a highly desirable sensing tool for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. However, current Raman systems deployed in the field are inadequate due to deleterious fluorescence interference. Fluorescence is often several orders of magnitude more intense than Raman scattering signals and its broad structures spectrum could be difficult to remove from Raman spectra. We propose to develop a new infrared fiber-optic Raman sensor that can eliminate fluorescence with significantly improved Raman sensitivity for fast field detections.  The proposed concept is based on recent technology advances in fiber lasers, fiber optic Raman probes and infrared detector arrays.  Innovative infrared fiber-optic Raman sensor enables highly sensitive fluorescence-free Raman analysis and offers flexible remote detection, so that the field spectrometer's overall performance would be intact and extremely flexible for planetary missions. No dispersive Raman system today offers the unique fluorescence elimination for rapid in-situ fiber-optic remote detection.
Operational Technologies Corporation (OpTech) proposes to expand its current NASA Phase 2 SBIR handheld fluorometer and bone marker fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-DNA aptamer assay system to include detection of bacteria, fungi, and parasites that may contaminate astronauts' water supplies. For Gram positive bacteria, teichoic acids and peptidoglycan will serve as targets.  For Gram negative bacteria, common lipopolysaccharide moieties such as 2-keto-3-deoxyoctanate (KDO antigen) will be targeted for aptamer development.  Similarly, for fungi, cell wall chitin will be used to select highly specific FRET-aptamers from a randomized DNA library.  Parasites such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia will require more specific whole cell or surface protein aptamer selection approaches, but OpTech has recently demonstrated detection of 30 E. coli bacteria per ml using such an approach under NSF Phase 1 SBIR funding.  Prototype assays will be lyophilized in plastic cuvettes and capped under vacuum or otherwise sealed to prevent opening in negative pressure environments.  Lyophilization with trehalose or other excipients will extend shelf-life to greater than 2 years for these rapid (15 minute) one step (homogeneous) FRET assays that will be quantified with an ultrasensitive commercial handheld fluorometer. Data can be displayed on the handheld reader and downloaded to a laptop computer.
Lithium (Li) metal-based rechargeable batteries have many advantages over Li-ion systems including significantly higher energy density, lower cost, and the option of using positive electrode materials that do not have to be pre-lithiated.  Unfortunately, Li metal electrodes form metal dendrites upon cycling, compromising battery safety and limiting cell life.  TH Chem, Inc. (THC) proposes to team with Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technologies (NMT) to develop a novel, low-cost approach to stabilization of Li metal anodes for high performance rechargeable Li batteries.  Novel electrolyte additives will be selected and utilized in Li cell electrolyte systems, promoting formation of protective coating on Li metal anodes for improved cycle and safety performance.  In Phase I, electrolyte additives will be selected and studied trough assembly and electrochemical evaluation of Li cells.  The PI and his team have extensive experience in lithium battery chemistries and technologies.
We propose the development of an analysis testbed to integrate simulation tools, such as ACES, with aviation environmental effects models, such as the Aviation Environmental Design Toolkit (AEDT), to provide a "360-degree" evaluation of new operational concepts.  The testbed will be demonstrated by producing a "360-degree" evaluation of advanced NextGen concepts such as four-dimensional trajectories (4DTs), dependent arrivals to parallel or converging runways, continuous descent arrivals (CDAs), time-based merging and spacing, flow corridors, and many other NextGen operational improvements.
The  Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) has placed a high priority on determining the nature, distribution and transport of volatiles on the moon.   The objective of this proposal is to create chip scale gas chromatographs for lunar exploration.    Under DARPA support, Cbana has created a new class of microGCs that are smaller than ever before and yet show performance similar to those of full scale commercial GCs.  In the proposed work we will redesign the GCs so that they can  separate and detect the likely volatiles on the moon.   A key step will be to replace the single GC column in our current device with 3 columns in series integrated into the same package in the proposed device.    We will develop methodology to construct columns with the proper coatings and  integrate them into a single package.    We will also explore the effects of the temperature gradients on the columns in the harsh environment near the lunar poles.  The will enable cbana to design devices that will be effective on the moon in phase II.
The innovation is to embed a MEMS IMU Sensor Chip into a reaction wheel to measure its spin rate as well as wheel attitude rate. We propose to use a reaction wheel such as the NASA Goddard reaction/momentum wheel (SMEX) because of its high degree of development and capability for static and dynamic balancing. The IMU Sensor Chip will derive stability from the inertia of the wheel resulting in greater precision and accuracy. During Phase I we propose to integrate the two entities and test the operation of the MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers of the IMU Sensor Chip to demonstrate the benefits of the union. In addition to attitude sense and control, the combination would also improve GN&amp;C and enable autonomous operation in GPS-denied environments.
We propose an all-fiber based 2.05-micron single frequency, narrow linewidth seeder laser with 10 nm tuning range and 5GHz frequency modulation for next generation LIDAR system. Highly Tm-doped fiber laser is used as a resonant pump source in order to reduce the phase noise and laser linewidth.  An environment insensitive package will be used to minimize the laser phase noise and linewidth.  Ho3+-doped fiber is used for seed laser generation, due to its strong emission at 2.05 micron. A Piezo attached to Ho-doped fiber is used to modulate the frequency to 5 GHz with speed up to 10KHz.     

The single frequency 2.05-micron fiber laser can be used to build coherent laser radars and Differential Absorption Lidars (DIALs) to perform instant measurement of velocity and concentration of CO2 and other gases , aerosols, clouds.  The high-speed frequency modulation (5 GHz) of single frequency fiber laser used as local oscillator covers tuning over a selected CO2 absorption line.  The large wavelength tuning range (10 nm) also enable scientists and engineers to explore the feasibility of using such laser for other remote sensing applications.
Inconsistent radius of curvature of replicated, composite reflector panels limit application of composites to large, segmented telescope apertures. This project proposes to characterize, compensate for, and optimize the behavior of affordable, graphite composite reflector sandwich panels suitable for large aperture, sub-millimeter space and earth science instruments.  Advances in understanding and optimizing sandwich panel behavior may enable science missions to obtain new levels of technical performance.  Future NASA missions including the Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope (CCAT) and Global Atmospheric Composition Mission (GACM), require 1 to 4 meter aperture, submillimeter-wavelength, primary reflector (mirror) segments.
CFDRC and TRLA are proposing to develop, design, and test a mass-optimized isotensoid inflatable structure that makes maximum utilization of materials in providing tailored stiffness and rigidity for hypersonic entry vehicles. The proposed inflatable structure is a hybrid isotensoid pressure restraint employing an impervious cloth-reinforced barrier structure enveloped by an integrated array of high-tenacity tendons. The segregation of material functions provides greater design flexibility to meet stiffness and thermal protection requirements, while the external grid of cordage tendons provides mass- and load pathway-optimized containment of the structure's global pressure loads.  
	
The focus of the Phase I effort is to develop and demonstrate the isotensoid inflatable structure, complete with thermal protection hardware and load bearing attachment fittings for guidance and control hardware. The tendon materials will be evaluated for their strength at high temperatures while cloth structural materials will be evaluated for their stiffness and thermal insulation properties to produce a truly multifunctional structural enclosure. Integrated fluid-structure-thermal simulations will be conducted with CFDRC's validated tools to provide insight into the aerodynamic, material stress and localized heating effects on the model and to verify/optimize the proposed design. Phase II activities will focus on fabricating and testing a prototype of the proposed inflatable structure to validate the design robustness and capability for larger payload masses. Pre and post testing multidisciplinary simulations will be conducted to verify and optimize the design. Additional simulations will be conducted for verification under exact flight conditions.
A Mars ascent vehicle (MAV) uses solid rocket motors to propel soil samples into orbit, but the motors cannot provide steering.  Cold gas thrusters are used for initial steering and spin stabilization for the final stage of flight.  This approach is heavy and results in a spinning sample container in orbit, which is difficult to recover.  Wickman Spacecraft &amp; Propulsion Company (WSPC) proposes innovative hot gas thrusters for steering that use the gases from the solid rocket combustion chambers.  This approach reduces weight and provides a non-spinning orbiting container to increase mission success probability.

WSPC is the only company with hot, metalized gas valve technology.  The MAV valves must handle metalized gases at 5,600 F.  Minuteman motor experience and WSPC tests indicate that thin layers of tungsten in discrete valve locations would work for this application.   WSPC will create a layout of a MAV hot gas TVC system to ensure the weight is less than the baseline cold gas system.  Valve materials will be tested with the MAV propellant to ensure the valve operates properly.  Phase II will be the testing of the TVC system with the first stage MAV solid rocket motor to simulate a MAV ascent into orbit.
InnoSense LLC (ISL) proposes to fabricate a composite aerogel foam. This material is designed to be impact resistant, non-brittle, non-water-retaining and insulating for cryogenic propellant storage tanks at a reduced life cycle cost. Since typical liquid rocket fuels consist of liquified hydrogen and oxygen, the proposed material must be able to insulate and maintain cryogenic temperatures. Here, ISL proposes to utilize traditional solvent exchange aerogel protocols to "co-foam" silica and a polymeric additive material. The composite material will maintain the thermal properties of traditional aerogels, and also exhibit an increased flexibility due to the incorporation of a porous polymer additive. The Phase I project will demonstrate that it is feasible to fabricate inexpensive, high performance cryogenic insulation foam through traditional aerogel processing techniques. In addition, this material should exhibit high mechanical performance required for fuel tank applications. Process optimization and field-testing will move forward in Phase II in collaboration with a major NASA prime contractor.
Acoustic survey is now performed using hand-held devices once every two months on the international space station (ISS). It takes quite a lot of precious crew time and the sporadic monitoring program is not adequate. 
This Phase I proposal is concerned with developing an automated sound level and noise exposure monitoring system running on a ZigBee-compliant wireless sensor network. In the proposed research, we will focus on 
a preliminary design of the monitoring terminal that integrates the functionalities of microphone, data sampling, and signal processing along with data communication through a ZigBee wireless channel. Sufficient compliance of the developed sound level meter and noise dosimeter with the related ANSI standards will be tested and demonstrated. This
plan takes advantage of our broad knowledge in acoustic signal processing and ZigBee wireless sensor network, and will benefit from our experience 
and skills with the development of embedded digital signal processing systems using either FPGA (field programmable gate array) or DSP (digital signal processor). The Phase I effort will provide a foundation for prototype design to be conducted in Phase II.
Trajectory-based operations (TBO) are at the forefront of the Next Generation Air Traffic Management System (NextGen). The vision of NextGen is one in which pilots will be responsible for following 4-dimensional (4D) trajectories while maintaining separation from other aircraft and weather. Ongoing research focuses heavily on the infrastructure and procedures required to conduct 4D TBO; however, new flight deck displays are going to be needed to support pilots who will be faced with the challenge of making more complex, strategic decisions than are required in current-day operations. In response to this challenge, Aptima proposes to develop a Trajectory-Based Operations Adaptive Information Display (TBO-AID). TBO-AID will incorporate innovative display techniques that address the (1) unique information needs associated with conducting 4D operations (e.g., crossing a specific navigation fix at a specific time); (2) uncertainty and risk associated with weather and mixed-equipage conditions, key challenges for conducting 4D TBO; (3) potential advantages gained through multimodal information presentation; and (4) need for model-based, situationally aware display adaptation to support information processing and decision making. Anticipated results of commercializing this effort include increasing the safety and efficiency of air traffic and expanding the maximum number of aircraft potentially in flight at a given time.
Recent testing involving Hyper Velocity Impacts has resulted in the capture of broad band high frequency energy resulting from the impact of projectiles onto targets.  These test impacts have been demonstrated from 3 to 7 kilometers per second at both NASA WSTF and Sandia National Labs.  In all cases, radio frequency (RF) energy was captured as radiated from the impact and conducted from the impact by the target material.  If these broad band impulses of energy can be received and analyzed, it will be possible to locate the point of impact.
The problem lies in the processing of a "messy" broad band signal.  The innovation herein is that these signals may be "cleaned up" and become useful by means of passive RFID Surface Acoustic Wave circuits.
A SAW device, commonly used for inexpensive inventory coding and security entry systems can be excited by the energy from an HVI.  The result would be transmission of a unique code, distinguishable from RF noise and other encoded SAW responses by a receiver/decoder.  SAW devices are inexpensive, require no power, and are physically small and robust.  They can be manufactured in quantity at low cost (as demonstrated by the commercial use of the devices as throw-away inventory markers).  SAW devices placed over the surface of vehicles or structures exposed to HVI impacts could detect the HVI RF impulses and respond with a unique code that would identify the location of the impact.
Thus, an impact detection and location system could be implemented where the RF impulse energy from a HVI is used to encode and transmit a signal to a passive receiver that would provide useful information on the location and magnitude of the HVI.
To best execute this program, Invocon is joined by another small business ? ASRD.  This company is a major player in RFID SAW device design and fabrication planning.  Both companies have a successful history of product development for both NASA and commercial customers
Inverted Metamorphic (IMM) solar cells have achieved high efficiency at very low mass, but integration of the thin crystalline photovoltaic device into a flexible panel has been a challenge.  The objectives of this SBIR are to mechanically package the IMM cell into a flexible laminated panel, and to assemble modular building blocks of these panels into a deployable array structure.  The thin module development includes optimizing multifunctional materials for the substrate and superstrate to provide appropriate structural support as well as properties for insulation, transparency, surface conductivity, emissivity and environmental durability.  The laminated IMM panels build on electrical interconnection development from parallel programs to assemble body-mounted or deployable arrays using a modular concept.  The emphasis on modularity and lamination objectives will provide enhanced consistency, qualification traceability, and manufacturing technology that is amenable to process control and lowered cost.  In the Phase 1 effort selects the optimized material for each layer of the substrate and superstrate, validates  the materials' predicted performance, laminates IMM coupons and submodules, and tests them in basic environments, such as thermal cycling and bend radius.  Phase 1 also performs the conceptual design of the roll-out array using state-of-the-art deployable array structure such as those from the selected Phase 1 subcontractor, Deployable Space Systems of Goleta, CA.   The Phase 2 effort will perform a full-scale array design, including deployable structure, and build a deployable engineering ground demonstration model, including flight qualifiable materials and some active IMM thin modules.  Phase 2 also includes a set of ground verification testing on coupons, submodules and modules to show durability in other harsh space environments, such as VUV, protons, plasma, atomic oxygen, and life thermal cycling.
Lightning Ridge Technologies, working in collaboration with The
Innovation Laboratory, Inc., extend Automatic Dependent Surveillance
Broadcast (ADS-B) into a safe, secure, authenticated system.
Historically, ADS-B has been criticized for its inability to guarantee
safe and secure surveillance in all operational conditions.  The
technology presented in this proposal provides an integrity check on all
ADS-B data that is independent of all primary surveillance modes and is
100&amp;#37; robust to all GPS spoofing attacks.  An important by-product of
that integrity check provides us with the further ability to do
aircraft-to-aircraft relative positioning that is more accurate and more
reliable than any civilian system in existence today.  The ADS-B
integrity check and the aircraft-to-aircraft positioning can provide a
further basis on which to enhance the safety of the National Airspace
System (NAS).
Diffractive waveplates are optical components made of thin films of
anisotropic materials by modulating their optical axis orientation in
the plane of the waveplate. The family of diffractive waveplates wherein
this modulation is axially symmetric  vector vortex waveplates (VVWs)
impart a spiral phase modulation at a light beam propagated through the
waveplate. As a result, the intensity of radiation is sharply decreased
at the axis of the beam by many orders of magnitude, depending on the
topological charge and quality of the VVW. Such transparent phase
components can be successfully employed in coronagraphy allowing imaging
of exoplanets at diffraction angle limit of their separation from the
bright host star using small aperture telescopes, and they will allow
increasing the imaging capability of large telescopes. To achieve this
potential, VVWs shall possess with negligibly small singularity size (~
2 micrometer) and be spectrally broadband in a large aperture (~ 25 mm).
We propose to prove the feasibility of developing such components based
on azobenzene photoalignment materials, liquid crystal polymers, and the
optical printing technology that employs linear-to-axial polarization
conversion. This feasibility will be proven in the Phase 1 by
demonstrating achromatic VVWs in 700-900 nm spectral range and &amp;lt;10
micrometer singulary size.
Large amplitude, unsteady heating loads and steep flow gradients produced in regions of  shock-wave/turbulent boundary-layer interaction (SWTBLI) pose a serious and challenging problem for designers of hypersonic vehicles. Characterizing SWTBLI flow features, such as the size of flow separation, is important for design evaluation and CFD validation. Tao Systems and CUBRC propose to develop a wide-bandwidth, thin-film heat transfer sensor system that quantifies the high frequency SWTBLI at duplicated flight conditions. This effort combines Tao Systems' high frequency-response/high-sensitivity electronics and signal processing techniques with the unique expertise of CUBRC in high-speed, high-enthalpy flows to obtain spatiotemporal information for the development of physics-based turbulence models.
The operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the National Airspace System (NAS) is a growing area of research for NASA, but the need for substantial amounts of research on the UAV-in-NAS concept is overwhelming. Furthermore, the quantity and nature of research questions on UAV-in-NAS operations are somewhat unpredictable as this research progresses, thereby requiring NASA to have flexible research tools and adaptable methodologies. To address these issues, we propose to develop the UAV-TEST toolset (User-Augmented Visualizations for Targeted Evaluation of Systems and Technologies). UAV-TEST will be a user-centered methodology that helps streamline the research process for UAV-in-NAS research at NASA and enhances the process of generating and connecting new measures, research questions, and visualizations. This concept will be instantiated within a flexible, low-cost toolset that seamlessly integrates with current research tools at NASA. The ultimate goal of the UAV-TEST product is to enable researchers to obtain clear and rapid assessments of key human factors issues in simulated flight environments. In Phase I, we will design this concept and develop a proof of concept demonstration. In Phase II, we will develop a functional prototype that can be used alongside actual NASA studies, particularly within the UAV-in-NAS research areas.
The COLLADA&lt;SUP&gt;TM&lt;/SUP&gt; open industry XML standard for 3D Graphics Exchange is applied for representation, combination and analysis of geophysical information from disparate sources in 4-Dimensions. COLLADA Computing provides a common linear framework for representing and associating COLLADA spatial-temporal objects from the atmospheric, oceanic, space and geologic domains. Once translated into COLLADA objects, disparate data can be combined and utilized to create cross-domain products regardless of the original coordinate system or data geometry, and can be viewed with any Virtual Globe that supports the COLLADA industry standard. COLLADA Computing algorithms will be developed in the JAVA language to support mathematical and topological operations on these COLLADA spatial objects on multiple compute platforms and operating systems. Linear approximations are applied within spatial tolerance limits for geometric position to enhance compute edfficiency. Using primarily the Affine Transformation, COLLADA Computing on extracts of very large datasets may be sufficient to create many derived products for initial review and analysis. The Phase 1 COLLADA Computing prototype will be demonstrated using Google Earth.  Compatibility is also anticipated with the NASA World Wind JAVA SDK when an open source COLLADA geometry engine is added to that capability.
This project will develop a high-temperature tolerant electrically-insulating coating for magnet wires. The Phase I program will result in a flexible, inorganic coating for copper, nickel, aluminum and their alloy wires that can be wound to produce magnets with superior thermal resistance. Eltron will produce a conformal insulating coating that permits continuous operation at temperature of at least 500 deg. C (932 deg. F), which exceeds current SOA coatings by 100&#37;. According to NEMA, magnet wire is required for the production of 90&#37; of all electricity. As industry attempts to shrink process size and increase output from these devices, their operating temperatures increase and conventional wire insulation tends to fail. High-temperature magnet wire allows for continuous operation under these environments. Few competitors exist that are producing magnet wire capable of functioning in this temperature range.
NASA has a serious unmet need for miniature biologic sensors capable of
on orbit sample analysis and in situ, real time analysis of astronaut
health.  We propose an alternative way to monitor the health or illness
of the crew members that would provide continuous monitoring of blood
analytes. This information can be transmitted back to ground control in
real time. The method could bypass the need to preserve biological
specimens.  This novel multivariate system would measure the optical
rotation of laser polarized light reflected from human skin as well as
scattering and absorption characteristics directly related to the
concentration of certain blood analytes that reliably indicate the state
of health of the individual.
Earth Science Technology Programs
Through extensive research conducted by Mosaic ATM in the area of Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC), we have identified the significant benefit of the use of Dynamic Density (DD) as the DAC objective function. The use of DD as the objective function allows the DAC algorithm to directly address critical aspects of sector design beyond simple balancing of the flight counts. These sector design considerations include the alignment of sector boundaries with flow direction, proximity of conflict points to sector boundaries, and boundary alignment with respect to vertical traffic movement. By using DD as the objective function, we generate a multi-objective optimization approach that considers both efficiency and complex controller workload issues. The SectorFlow DAC algorithm has performed well in NASA's DAC algorithm comparison experiments. However, due to the additional computational complexity caused by the use of DD as the objective function, only limited application of DD as the objective function was conducted. In this proposed SBIR effort, Mosaic ATM will apply a massively parallel computing architecture to the DAC algorithm using DD as an objective function to demonstrate and evaluate both the computational advantages of massively parallel processing, and the benefits of using DD as the objective function in DAC.
Since the launch of the first X-ray focusing telescope in 1963, the
development of grazing incidence X-ray optics has been crucial to the
development of the field of X-ray astronomy.  The recent Decadal Survey
also highlights the important contribution that X-ray astronomy can make
in addressing some of the most pressing scientific questions about black
holes, cosmology and the ebb and flow of energy and matter in the
evolving universe, and recognizes the research needed to mature the key
enabling technology of X-ray optics.  The proposed development directly
addresses this need by providing a unique detector designed specifically
to support the development of the next generation of X-ray telescopes,
which will allow researchers and engineers to characterize such X-ray
telescopes with high accuracy, and thereby optimize their performance
and best utilize their gathered data.  By the end of the Phase I/Phase
II program we will have developed a fully calibrated detector ready for
use at various facilities, including NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
and other NASA-funded research centers such as the Harvard Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics and Columbia University.  The estimated
technology readiness levels (TRLs) at the beginning and end of the Phase
I contract are 4 and 5, respectively.
Abstract
Intelligent Automation Inc. (IAI) proposes an innovative Security-Enhanced Autonomous Network Management (SEANM) scheme for reliable communication in space networking. The SEANM scheme allows the system to adaptively reconfigure its network elements based upon awareness of network conditions, policies, and mission requirements. Existing network management tools in space networking are generally focused on specific missions and/or domains and hence do not provide an integrated and consistent solution for the future NASA space networks. Moreover, to reduce operation costs, autonomous network management is necessary. However, the related research and implementations are still at early stage and demands further investigation. In addition, due to the inherent characteristics of space networks, security aspects that are valid in the traditional networks are not fully suitable to space networks. A novel network management solution with advanced scalability and security is necessary for heterogeneous space networks. The objective of the proposed SEANM scheme is to develop an autonomous network management system so as to provide reliable and efficient support for the science and exploration mission in the future NASA space networks.
The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of a fully packaged microelectromechanical (MEMS) gyroscope with a 7 milliarcsecond pointing accuracy?sufficient for space and terrestrial telescope pointing applications. This new environmental resistant packaged (ERP) resonant gyroscope will have a small size, weight and power (SWAP) with a mass of around 6 grams and a volume of 3.1 cm3 (fully packaged and with drive electronics) at a cost of ~$500 per axis in volume production. This would be 1/200th of the size and 1/40th of the price of the current state of the art. In phase I, the feasibility of achieving a 0.001 degree Celsius temperature stability will be investigated using the oven control feature of the ERP. This level of temperature control will mitigate the sensor's long term drift (bias drift). In Phase II through some small changes in the gyroscope layout and optimizations in the control electronics, a gyroscope system will be fabricate which is optimized for pointing applications. These optimized resonant gyroscopes will be integrated into the ERP package with its improved oven control capability. The goal will be to transition into preproduction runs after Phase II.
The long-term objective of this program is to develop flexible, lightweight, single-junction solar cells using quantum structured designs that can achieve ultra-high efficiencies (approaching 45&#37;) while avoiding the current matching issues that plague high-efficiency multi-junction devices.  Ultra-low dark currents and record-high open circuit voltages have recently been achieved with a novel III-V material structure that includes both an InGaAs quantum well absorber and an extended wide band gap emitter.  By enhancing absorption in the narrow band gap well, power conversion efficiencies in single-junction quantum solar cells can potentially exceed those of multi-junction photovoltaic devices.  The objective of the Phase I SBIR effort is to design and prototype a high performance quantum well solar cell device incorporating advanced light trapping techniques.  To enhance light trapping, we will leverage both an established epitaxial liftoff process and unique optical coatings to scatter light laterally into waveguide modes within the InGaAs well region of the device.
The outstanding properties of silicon carbide (SiC) include excellent specific strength, extreme chemical resistance, tremendous hardness, and retention of its high strength at very high temperatures. The brittleness typically associated with a ceramic can be mitigated by forming composites with either carbon or SiC fibers. However, the processes for forming SiC matrix composites limit the size and complexity of the resulting shapes. It is therefore necessary to develop techniques for efficiently joining SiC matrix composite parts. Many such methods have been proposed over the past 25 years, but none is satisfactory, and it remains an active area of research. The joints formed so far either require extremely high temperatures to manufacture or result in unsatisfactory mechanical properties. TDA is herein proposing a route that will result in a pure SiC bond, and will achieve it without requiring any external heat source. As such the joint will be robust, and have the same temperature capabilities and mechanical properties as the matrix. The technology will have met the criteria for exiting technical readiness level (TRL) 3, and some of the criteria for TRL 4, by the end of the Phase I period.
We propose to utilize guard ring electrode structures and a new film growth technique to create improved polycrystalline mercuric iodide detectors for background suppression by active anticoincidence shielding in gamma-ray spectrometers. Two proposed NASA missions will require anticoincidence shielding for x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers: the High Energy Telescope of the EXIST (Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope) mission, and the Space Science Vision Mission expected to visit Titan, one of Saturn's moons. Shielding improves the performance of x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers by reducing the effect of charged particle interactions which cannot be distinguished from true x-ray and gamma-ray interactions by the spectrometer. Active shields produce a blanking signal when a charged particle is detected, so that the signal from the spectrometer can be ignored during the spectrometer's charged-particle interaction. While it is well know that this technique produces significant improvement in x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometer performance, the technology to implement it is lacking. The attributes of mercuric iodide make it an excellent candidate for anticoincidence shielding detectors. Because of its detection characteristics, light weight, small size, low cost, robustness, and ease of application to non-planar geometries, this material can replace the costly, heavy, and bulky scintillator/photomultiplier tube (PMT) systems currently in use.