"" independent assessment of msnw's magnetoshell aerocapture concept (MAC) for placing "large" payloads in mars orbit for subsequent surface delivery. The purpose of this independent assessment is…

This federal contract award to the National Institute of Aerospace Associates (NIA), a non-profit research organization, is for an independent assessment of MSNW, LLC's magnetoshell aerocapture concept (MAC) for delivering large payloads to Mars orbit. The purpose is to determine if the MAC can effectively confine a plasma and enable sufficient momentum exchange to achieve the desired drag performance. The $99,616.76 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract was awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Langley Research Center. NIA has subcontracted a portion of the work to Purdue University, an academic research institution. This award is not associated with a set-aside program. The independent assessment, which builds on prior NASA-funded work by MSNW through the Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs, aims to validate the MAC concept before MSNW potentially pursues large-scale experimental testing.

"" independent assessment of msnw's magnetoshell aerocapture concept (MAC) for placing "large" payloads in mars orbit for subsequent surface delivery. The purpose of this independent assessment is to determine if the magnetoshell configuration can 1) effectively confine a plasma; and 2) create the collision cross section and charge exchange between incoming neutrals and confined ions to enable sufficient momentum exchange. The objective is to confirm the results by msnw, LLC for becoming a smarter buyer for entry, descent, and landing (EDL) concepts involving plasma and magnetoshells. Since 2012 (funded through the NASA innovative advanced concepts (NIAC) and small business innovative research (SBIR) programs) msnw has conducted numerical analysis and small scale experiments of its MAC showing up to a factor of 1000 drag. Msnw, LLC has published its results and is seeking a phase 2 SBIR effort to validate its analysis via large scale testing. An independent assessment of the results to date would help greatly in determining any flaws in msnw's current assumptions or modeling approaches, prior to committing additional funds necessary for large scale experiments such as a flight test.