Project Grant NNX08BA30G

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) program provides $300,000 to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to develop a novel non-hydraulic cementitious composite material called Lunar Thermochemically Activated Concrete (LTAC) for lunar construction applications. The project aims to utilize lunar in-situ resources to enable sustainable and cost-effective lunar infrastructure development, which is crucial for advancing human...

This three-year, $498,773 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) supports research to bridge locally stress-constrained topology optimization and additive manufacturing. Principal Investigator Princeton University will conduct research to develop unified stress-constrained topology optimization approaches that accommodate infinite load cases and spatially varying material properties. It will also validate optimized multi-material and...

This $256,000 Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program will support Onyx Aerospace Inc.'s development of an additively manufactured, non-toxic, advanced storable hybrid rocket propulsion system. Specifically, the company will develop a thermoplastic-based fuel with electrical ignition properties suitable for cubesats. They will test fuel formulations for compatibility with the ignition...

This $259,661 Project Grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Shared Services Center will fund the development of advanced entry and powered descent guidance technology for precise planetary landing at Purdue University from April 2021 through April 2022. The project aims to develop a highly implementable onboard optimal guidance approach that optimizes complete entry, powered descent, and landing trajectories in real-time to achieve fuel-optimal and precise landing for...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) Project Grant award to The Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund, doing business as Tulane University, provides $224,063 to develop a tough, lightweight self-healing modular panel system that can shield lunar habitats and vehicles against micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) impacts. The project aims to measure the thermal and flow properties of a polypropylene/carbon nanotube (PP/CNT) composite material,...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) Project Grant award of $200,198 to Louisiana State University (LSU) supports research on developing robotic construction technologies using 3D printed waterless concrete made from in-situ lunar and Martian materials. The two-year project aims to provide a fundamental understanding of the impacts of high-temperature sulfur concrete printing process parameters and extreme environmental conditions on the performance of 3D...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) provides $243,974 to New Mexico State University (NMSU) to develop advanced techniques for constructing resilient lunar habitats using 3D printing technologies. The primary objectives are to (1) quantify the uncertainties in additively constructed lunar structures operating under microgravity and extreme lunar conditions, and (2) establish and enhance the predictability and...

This Cooperative Agreement award is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) Federal Grant Program (CFDA 43.008). The $100,000 award will support the development of a finite element-based user material model for thermo-mechanically coupled fatigue damage accumulation in additively manufactured short-fiber thermoplastic composites. The project aims to bridge microstructural and macroscale properties to enable rapid assessment of the...

This $187,220 National Science Foundation project grant supports research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University to establish an optimal design framework for multi-functional composite structures. Leveraging kirigami cutting principles and snap-through multi-stability, the framework will expand performance capabilities for composites in aerospace, automotive, and robotics applications. Under the NSF Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), which supports innovation and excellence in...

Federal Grant Award Summary The Regents of the University of Minnesota received a $498,400 Project Grant (Award 24-ECF24FP-0022) from NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate under the Space Technology program (CFDA 43.012), with an award date of May 19, 2025 and a completion date of May 18, 2028. The project will conduct a laboratory-scale concept demonstration of directed energy propulsion utilizing metasurface lightsails, performed at the university's Minneapolis, Minnesota location....