Definitive Contract NNA10DA80C

This is a Phase III SBIR contract awarded by NASA to Honeybee Robotics, Ltd. to integrate and remotely operate an existing SBIR-developed drill during a September 2015 integrated test at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), as well as develop an engineering test unit that meets the definition of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 for the Resource Prospector mission. The contract has a ceiling value of $1,919,112.00 and was awarded on May 26, 2015, with a final completion date of January 30, 2019. The...

This is a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to Honeybee Robotics, Ltd. for the development of a high-temperature (HT) rotary-percussive drill and pneumatic sample delivery system for use in Venus exploration. The $1,032,848 firm-fixed-price contract builds on prior SBIR work by Honeybee Robotics, which found that a HT trencher and blower-based pneumatic system were not feasible or carried high...

This is a $124,995 firm fixed-price STTR Phase I contract awarded by NASA to Intelligent Fiber Optic Systems Corporation (Ifos), a small business, to develop a robotic prospecting tool with fiber-optic based haptic sensing and in-situ analysis capabilities. The tool will be able to detect water, volatiles, metals, and organic compounds, and provide a basis for telegeology where a field geologist can remotely access the gathered data. The goal is to enable preliminary prospecting over a larger...

This firm-fixed-price SBIR Phase I contract was awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to Space Resources Extraction Technology, Inc., a small disadvantaged and woman-owned business. The $124,958 contract is for the development and testing of microwave technology to extract water and other volatiles from planetary permafrost, which can be used for human habitation, radiation protection, and in-space rocket propellant production. This will help reduce the high costs...

This is a $1,499,604.00 grant award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to Honeybee Robotics, Ltd. for the "Search for Life Using Submersible Heated (SLUSH) Drill" project. The SLUSH drill is a thermo-mechanical Europa probe being developed under NASA's SESAME project. The grant supports the continued development and testing of this specialized drilling system designed to break through and partially melt icy subsurface formations to enable exploration and...

This federal grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was awarded to Texas Tech University System to develop a heat flow probe that can be robotically deployed from a lander on the surface of Europa and other icy moons. The goal is to measure the heat transport through the ice shell to better understand the thermal evolution and potential subsurface ecosystems of these planetary bodies. The $955,776.63 grant will fund a 3-year research effort, starting at Technology...

This contract award to Astrobotic Technology Inc., a Pittsburgh-based company, is for a $124,943 STTR Phase I research project to develop a solution for subsurface prospecting by planetary drones. The innovation focuses on enabling robotic access and characterization of subsurface features, such as lava tubes, on other planets and bodies where real-time human control is not feasible due to communication latency. The technology has broad applicability for resource prospecting and survey missions,...

This is a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to Advanced Seismic Instrumentation and Research LLC, a small disadvantaged business. The $124,500.00 firm-fixed-price contract is for the development and testing of a miniaturized borehole seismometer to be deployed with a heat probe on the lunar surface. The seismometer will be designed to work with an existing gas jet drilling method to reach depths of up to...

This federal contract award, with a value of $749,927.00, was made by NASA to Honeybee Robotics, Ltd., a small business prime contractor, to mature the Planetary Volatiles Extractor (PVEX) corer technology from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 to TRL 5/6. The PVEX corer is a drill-based excavation approach with an integrated volatiles extraction plant, designed to address challenges with traditional in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) methods for mining and processing ice and icy-soil on...

This firm fixed-price purchase order was awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to Honeybee Robotics, Ltd., doing business as Honeybee Robotics Craft Mechanisms, a small business. The main objective is to develop a robust and effective sample acquisition system called the Europa Drum Sampler (EDUS) for the Europa Lander mission. The EDUS is based on a terrestrial roadheader design and includes a thwacker that generates percussive vibrations...