Jet Propulsion Laboratory Awarded Contracts - Systems Engineering

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80NM0018D0004 - THIS CONTRACT IS THE SPONSORING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) AND THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (CONTRACTOR), A PRIVATE NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION, WHICH ESTABLISHES THE RELATIONSHIP FOR THE OPERATION OF THE FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER (FFRDC) KNOWN AS THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (JPL). THIS CONTRACT IS THE ONLY DOCUMENT THAT CONSTITUTES THE SPONSORING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES.

IDC - Operation of the Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) JPL - 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences

Contractor: California Institute of Technology (CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY)
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Effective date: 06/29/2018
Obligated Amount: $16.2B

NNN12AA01C - THIS CONTRACT IS THE SPONSORING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) AND THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (CONTRACTOR), A PRIVATE NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION, WHICH ESTABLISHES THE RELATIONSHIP FOR THE OPERATION OF THE FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER (FFRDC) KNOWN AS THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (JPL).

IDC - JPL FFRDC - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: California Institute of Technology (CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY)
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Effective date: 08/16/2012
Obligated Amount: $12.1B

NNX11CB28C - BEAR ENGINEERING PROPOSES TO ADVANCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF 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, SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED AT TRL 4 IN PHASE 1, OPERATES AND BEHAVES ENTIRELY DIFFERENTLY FROM ALL OTHER KNOWN ELECTRIC MOTOR DESIGNS AND IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 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 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. BY THE END OF PHASE 2, THE SYSTEM WILL BE DESIGNED, DEVELOPED AND TESTED AT TRL 6 WITH MARS ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS.

Definitive Contract - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: BEAR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 06/01/2011
Obligated Amount: $597.4k

NNX11CB20C - THE NASA JUPITER EUROPA ORBITER (JEO) CONCEPTUAL PAYLOAD CONTAINS A THERMAL INSTRUMENT WITH SIX DIFFERENT SPECTRAL BANDS RANGING FROM 8 M TO 100 M. THE THERMAL INSTRUMENT IS BASED ON MULTIPLE LINEAR ARRAYS OF THERMOPILE DETECTORS THAT ARE INTRINSICALLY RADIATION HARD; HOWEVER, THE THERMOPILE CMOS READOUT NEEDS TO BE HARDENED TO TOLERATE THE RADIATION SOURCES OF THE JEO MISSION. BLACK FOREST ENGINEERING (BFE) IS DEVELOPING A THERMOPILE READOUT TO TOLERATE THE JEO MISSION RADIATION SOURCES. ON PHASE II, BFE WILL TEST NEW CIRCUITRY FOR RADIATION HARDNESS, COMPLETE THE DESIGN OF A 1X128 THERMOPILE READOUT INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (ROIC) AND FABRICATE THE ROIC USING 180 NM CMOS TECHNOLOGY. THE PHASE II ROIC ALSO INCLUDES ON-CHIP 16-BIT ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION AND SERIAL DIGITAL OUTPUT FOR SYSTEM NOISE IMMUNITY. THE PHASE II ROIC WILL BE CHARACTERIZED TO MEET THE JEO THERMAL INSTRUMENT REQUIREMENT.

Definitive Contract - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: BLACK FOREST ENGINEERING LLC
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 06/01/2011
Obligated Amount: $599.9k

NNX11CF62P - 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 OC, SURVIVING CRYOGENIC TEMPERATURES OVER MISSION LIFE. PROPOSED INNOVATIVE ARCHITECTURE WILL USE AN EXISTING RADIATION TOLERANT/HARDENED FPGA TECHNOLOGY.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: B&A ENGINEERING SYSTEMS, INC.
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 02/18/2011
Obligated Amount: $99.7k

NNX11CF31P - NASA HAS DEVELOPED SPACE-BASED THERMAL INSTRUMENT SPECTROMETERS BASED ON THERMOPILE DETECTORS LINEAR ARRAYS THAT ARE INTRINSICALLY RADIATION HARD. MICRO-BOLOMETERS ARE KNOWN TO OFFER VERY HIGH SENSITIVITY DUE TO HIGH THERMAL ISOLATION AND LOW THERMAL MASS HOWEVER ARE AT PRESENT INFERIOR TO THERMOPILES FOR SPACE-BASED SPECTROMETERS. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE HIGH PERFORMANCE IN LINEAR ARRAY SPECTROMETER APPLICATIONS, BOLOMETERS NEED IMPROVEMENT IN THREE AREAS: REDUCED 1/F NOISE, STABLE PERFORMANCE OVER A WIDE SYSTEM TEMPERATURE RANGE, AND IMPROVED RADIATION HARDNESS. BLACK FOREST ENGINEERING ON PHASE I WILL DESIGN BOLOMETER AND READOUT CIRCUITRY FOR LINEAR ARRAY SPECTROMETER APPLICATIONS REQUIRING HIGH PERFORMANCE IN A RADIATION ENVIRONMENT WHILE ALSO ADDRESSING SIGNAL STABILITY/CALIBRATION AND OTHER MISSION REQUIREMENTS. THE PREDICTED PERFORMANCE WILL BE COMPARED TO THERMOPILE ARRAYS AND RECOMMENDATIONS MADE FOR A PHASE II DEMONSTRATION IN ONE OR MORE BANDS OF THE JEO THERMAL INSTRUMENT OR OTHER NASA SPECTROMETER APPLICATIONS. THE BOLOMETER SPECTROMETER ARCHITECTURE WILL ALSO OFFER MONOLITHIC CONSTRUCTION ON 200 MM DIAMETER SILICON WAFERS AND REDUCED CROSS-SCAN PITCH IF DESIRED TO SUPPORT HIGHER SPATIAL RESOLUTION AND WIDER FOV APPLICATIONS.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: BLACK FOREST ENGINEERING LLC
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 02/17/2011
Obligated Amount: $100k

NNX10CE13P - 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.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: STREAMLINE AUTOMATION, LLC
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/27/2010
Obligated Amount: $100k

NNX10CE19P - 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.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: BEAR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/27/2010
Obligated Amount: $99.9k

NNX10CE16P - BEAR ENGINEERING PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A SIMPLE, ROBUST, EXTREME ENVIRONMENT COMPATIBLE, MECHANICAL LOAD CELL TO ENABLE THE CONTROL OF CONTACT FORCES FOR PLACEMENT OF SAMPLING SYSTEMS AND INSTRUMENTS AGAINST TARGET LOCATIONS. THE LOAD CELL WILL BE USED TO PROVIDE PRESET PRELOADS AND DYNAMICALLY CONTROL THE REACTION FORCE TO A PLATFORM UPON WHICH A SAMPLING SYSTEM OR INSTRUMENT IS MOUNTED. THE NOVEL DEVICE HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO WORK SOLELY BY MECHANICAL MEANS USING SPRING PRELOADED ELECTRICAL CONTACTS TO CREATE 6, 9, 12 OR 18 DISCRETE LOAD SENSING LEVELS, DEPENDING ON DESIGN PARAMETERS. WHEN ANY OF THE LOAD THRESHOLDS HAS BEEN REACHED, THE CORRESPONDING ELECTRICAL CONTACT CHANGES STATE FROM NORMALLY OPEN OR NORMALLY CLOSED. THE LOAD CELL IS COMPLETELY SEALED AND HAS SIMILAR SIZE, SHAPE AND STRAIN DISPLACEMENTS AS TRADITIONAL STRAIN GAGE LOAD CELLS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THIS NEW DESIGN WILL HAVE A DIAMETER RANGING FROM 2 TO 3 INCHES (DEPENDING ON DESIGNED FORCE LEVEL) AND A THICKNESS OF ABOUT A TO 1 INCH. STRAIN DISPLACEMENT AT FULL LOAD IS EXPECTED TO BE ABOUT 0.003 INCH. FOR FUTURE MARS, VENUSIAN OR OTHER PLANETARY SAMPLING MISSIONS, THE ROBUST LOAD CELL WOULD BE A KEY COMPONENT IN ENSURING AND MAINTAINING PROPER CONTACT WITH ROCKS OR SAMPLES OF INTEREST AND IT WILL BE DEVELOPED TO TRL 4 AT THE END OF THE PROPOSED EFFORT. A POTENTIAL PHASE 2 WILL ADVANCE THE DESIGN TO TRL 6.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: BEAR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/27/2010
Obligated Amount: $77.2k

NNX09CA88C - FLASH 3D PLANETARY ENTRY, DESCENT AND LANDING SENSOR HARDENING ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS INC. (ASC) IS A SMALL BUSINESS THAT HAS DEVELOPED A NUMBER OF 3D FLASH LADAR SYSTEMS. FLASH LADAR VIDEO CAMERAS ARE 3D VIDEO CAMERAS THAT RETURN RANGE AND INTENSITY INFORMATION FOR EACH PIXEL IN REAL TIME, AND IS FUNCTIONALLY EQUIVALENT TO 16000 RANGE FINDERS ON ONE CHIP. ACTUAL DATA COLLECTED, AT THE JPL MARS YARD, USING ASC'S COMPACT FLASH LADAR SYSTEM DEMONSTRATED IN A PREVIOUS NASA PHASE I SBIR EFFORT CONFIRM THAT THE ASC FLASH LADAR VIDEO CAMERA (FLVC) SYSTEM CAN MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY, DESCENT AND LANDING (EDL). THE FLVC'S SMALL SIZE, LOW POWER AND VERY FAST RANGE DATA FRAME RATE (30HZ) THE SENSOR CAN BE CONFIGURED FOR A VARIETY OF EDL MISSIONS. AN EXISTING PHASE TWO EFFORT IS FABRICATING A COMPACT FLVC FOR DELIVERY TO NASA FOR FIELD TESTING, HOWEVER THE SYSTEM IS NOT HARDENED. THE PROPOSED PHASE 2 EFFORT WILL PRODUCE A SPACE QUALIFIED SENSOR ENGINE WHICH CAN BE INTEGRATED WITH THE SYSTEM BEING DELIVERED TO NASA. THE SENSOR ENGINE IS THE BREAK-THOUGH ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR THE FLVC. THE SENSOR ENGINE WILL BE FABRICATED, TESTED AND USED TO UPGRADE THE CAMERA JPL. AS A RESULT OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS, THE TRL LEVEL OF THIS SENSOR WILL BE AT 6-7. FLASH LADAR IS IDEAL FOR DETERMINING REAL-TIME SPACECRAFT TRAJECTORY, SPEED AND ORIENTATION TO THE PLANET SURFACE, AS WELL AS EVALUATING POTENTIAL HAZARDS AT THE LANDING SITE IS REQUIRED FOR PRECISION LANDING. SLOPED GROUND, CRATERS, ROCKS AND SURFACE COMPOSITION ARE AMONG THE POTENTIAL HAZARDS. THE "FRAMING CAMERA" NATURE, OF FLASH LADAR SYSTEMS, MAKES THEM WELL SUITED AS HAZARD AVOIDANCE SENSORS FOR EDL. FLASH LADAR CAN PROVIDE A DIRECT, REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT OF THE ALTITUDE OF THE SPACECRAFT DURING DESCENT AS WELL AS SURFACE RELATIVE VELOCITY AND ORIENTATION, WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY MAPPING THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE TERRAIN BELOW TO IDENTIFY LANDING HAZARDS AND PROVIDE LOCALIZATION INFORMATION.

Definitive Contract - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: Advanced Scientific Concepts (ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS, INC)
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 02/20/2009
Obligated Amount: $749.1k

NNX09CA89C - ONE-METER CLASS DRILLING FOR PLANETARY EXPLORATION 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.

Definitive Contract - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: HONEYBEE ROBOTICS, LTD. (HONEYBEE ROBOTICS LTD)
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 02/02/2009
Obligated Amount: $749.3k

NNX09CE18P - INNOSENSE LLC (ISL) PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A MINIATURIZED, MULTI-ANALYTE SENSOR FOR NEAR REAL-TIME MONITORING OF ANALYTES IN THE SPACECRAFT ENVIRONMENT. THE PROPOSED INNOVATIONS WILL BUILD ON ISL'S PAST NASA SBIR PROJECT TO DEVELOP AN OXYGEN SENSOR FOR AIRCRAFT FUEL TANKS AND DOE FUNDED PROJECT TO DEVELOP A CARBON DIOXIDE SENSOR FOR UNATTENDED REMOTE DEPLOYMENT. IN THIS PROJECT ISL WILL INCORPORATE THE DISPARATE SENSORS ON A SINGLE CHIP AND DEVELOP A SPACE-WORTHY SENSOR ARRAY. THROUGH ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT, ISL WILL EXPAND CAPABILITIES OF THE SYSTEM TO MONITOR CHEMICAL, MICROBIAL AND PARTICULATE CONTENT IN THE SPACECRAFT ENVIRONMENT. THE PROPOSED PHASE I STUDIES WILL DEMONSTRATE THE SENSOR ARRAY APPROACH BY DETECTING OXYGEN, CARBON DIOXIDE AND MOISTURE SIMULTANEOUSLY AT THE LOW PARTS PER MILLION (PPM) LEVELS WITH A SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO (SNR) OF AT LEAST 3. A PROTOTYPE SENSOR ARRAY SYSTEM WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND FIELD-TESTED DURING PHASE II. TO ASSURE SUCCESS OF THIS PROJECT, INNOSENSE LLC HAS ASSEMBLED AN ENGINEERING TEAM WITH A CUMULATIVE 80 PERSON-YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DEVELOPING COMMERCIALLY VIABLE OPTICAL SENSOR SYSTEMS.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: INNOSENSE LLC
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/21/2009
Obligated Amount: $100k

NNX09CE09P - ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS INC. (ASC) IS A SMALL BUSINESS, WHICH HAS DEVELOPED A NUMBER OF 3D FLASH LADAR SYSTEMS. FLASH LADAR SENSORS ARE 3D VIDEO SYSTEMS THAT RETURN RANGE AND INTENSITY INFORMATION FOR EACH PIXEL IN REAL TIME, AND IS FUNCTIONALLY EQUIVALENT TO 16000 RANGE FINDERS ON ONE CHIP. ACTUAL DATA COLLECTED, AT THE JPL MARS YARD, USING ASC'S COMPACT FLASH LADAR SYSTEM DEMONSTRATED IN A PREVIOUS NASA PHASE I SBIR EFFORT CONFIRM THAT THE ASC FLASH LADAR VIDEO CAMERA (FLVC) SYSTEM CAN MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ENTRY, DESCENT AND LANDING (EDL). THE FLVC'S SMALL SIZE, LOW POWER AND VERY FAST RANGE DATA FRAME RATE (30HZ) MAKE THE SENSOR IDEAL FOR EDL MISSIONS. FLASH LADAR 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. SLOPED GROUND, CRATERS, ROCKS AND SURFACE COMPOSITION ARE AMONG THE POTENTIAL HAZARDS. THE "FRAMING CAMERA" NATURE, OF FLASH LADAR SYSTEMS, MAKES THEM WELL SUITED AS HAZARD AVOIDANCE SENSORS FOR EDL. AN EXISTING PHASE TWO EFFORT IS FABRICATING A COMPACT FLVC FOR DELIVERY TO NASA FOR FIELD TESTING, HOWEVER THE SYSTEM IS NOT HARDENED. A PROPOSED PHASE 2 EFFORT WOULD PRODUCE A SPACE QUALIFIED SENSOR ENGINE WHICH CAN BE INTEGRATED WITH THE SYSTEM BEING DELIVERED TO NASA. THE SENSOR ENGINE IS THE BREAK-THOUGH ENABLING TECHNOLOGY FOR THE FLVC. THIS PROPOSED EFFORT WILL DEVELOP TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE THE SENSORS MEASUREMENT ACCURACY. ASC WILL DEVELOP IMPROVED CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES, IMPROVED SENSOR NON-UNIFORMITY AND IMPROVED ON-BOARD REAL TIME AUTOMATIC RANGE CORRECTION. THIS WILL TARGET RANGE RESOLUTIONS OF BETTER THAN 1CM AND RANGE ABSOLUTE ACCURACY BETTER THAN 3CM. THE PHASE 2 EFFORT WOULD DELIVER TO NASA A COMMERCIAL BASED SYSTEM WITH THE ENHANCEMENTS DEVELOPED DURING PHASE 1

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: Advanced Scientific Concepts (ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS, INC)
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/21/2009
Obligated Amount: $99.9k

NNX09CD99P - PRECISE THRUST ACTUATION BY A MICRO RF ION ENGINE BUSEK PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A RADIO-FREQUENCY DISCHARGE, GRIDDED MICRO ION ENGINE THAT PRODUCES N 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 0.03 N 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.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: BUSEK CO., INC.
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/14/2009
Obligated Amount: $100k

NNX09CE04P - HIGH REFLECTIVITY, BROAD-BAND SILVER COATING 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.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: SURFACE OPTICS CORP. (SURFACE OPTICS CORP)
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/09/2009
Obligated Amount: $99.6k

NNX09CE15P - SMALL, LIGHT-WEIGHT PUMP TECHNOLOGIES FOR MARS ASCENT VEHICLES 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 AND LOW-COST PUMP THAT CAN BE EITHER BE INTEGRAL TO THE THRUST CHAMBER, OR INSERTED IN A MODULAR MANNER WITH EXISTING SYSTEM COMPONENTS TO PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS FOR MARS ASCENT VEHICLES.

Purchase Order - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: ASTRA SPACE, INC. (VENTIONS LLC)
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/09/2009
Obligated Amount: $99.7k

NNX09CA81C - COLLOID THRUSTER FOR ATTITUDE CONTROL SYSTEMS (ACS) AND TIP-OFF CONTROL APPLICATIONS BUSEK PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER A COMPLETE ENGINEERING MODEL COLLOID THRUSTER SYSTEM CAPABLE OF THRUST LEVELS AND LIFETIMES REQUIRED FOR SPACECRAFT OPERATIONAL TASKS SUCH AS TIP-OFF DE-TUMBLING AND ATTITUDE CONTROL. THE SELF CONTAINED THRUSTER SYSTEM SHALL BE CAPABLE OF DELIVERING 75AUN WITH SUFFICIENT TOTAL IMPULSE TO DE-TUMBLE SPACECRAFT SUCH AS LISA. THE PROPOSED PHASE 2 WORK BUILDS UPON A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PHASE 1 EFFORT WHERE THE KEY PRINCIPALS OF THE INNOVATION, A PROPELLANT ISOLATION MEMBRANE AND A PASSIVE CAPILLARY FEED SYSTEM, WERE UNEQUIVOCALLY DEMONSTRATED. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM IS COMPLETELY PASSIVE WITH NO MOVING PARTS AND REQUIRES NO VALVES TO ENSURE ITS HIGH RELIABILITY. IN ORDER TO INHIBIT PROPELLANT CONTAMINATION PRIOR TO OPERATION IN SPACE, A UNIQUE ISOLATION MEMBRANE WILL SEPARATE PROPELLANT FROM THE EMITTER. UPON HEATING THE ISOLATION MEMBRANE DISSOLVES, ALLOWING PROPELLANT FROM A COLLOCATED RESERVOIR TO FLOW FORWARD TO THE ELECTROSPRAY THRUSTER WITHOUT CONTAMINATION. THE THRUSTER CONSISTS OF AN ARRAY OF SELF ADJUSTING EMISSION SITES THAT ARE ACTIVATED BY APPLICATION OF AN ELECTRIC FIELD THAT INITIATES EMISSION. THE DELIVERED THRUST IS MODULATED BY VARYING THE APPLIED ELECTRIC FIELD. THE SIGNIFICANT INNOVATIONS OF THE PROPOSED COLLOID THRUSTER INCLUDE: A COMPACT, LOW POWER, MODULAR THRUSTER SYSTEM CONTAINING NO MOVING PARTS, WHICH IS CAPABLE OF DELIVERING SUFFICIENT THRUST FOR SPACECRAFT TIP-OFF CONTROL AND ACS APPLICATIONS.

Definitive Contract - 541712 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)

Contractor: BUSEK CO., INC.
Contracting Agency/Office: National Aeronautics and Space Administration»Mission Support Directorate»NASA Shared Services Center
Effective date: 01/06/2009
Obligated Amount: $600k

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