DTRS5600T0001
THIS IS MODIFICATION NUMBER 06 TO CONTRACT NUMBER DTRS56-00-T-0001. THE PURPOSE OF THIS MODIFICATIONS IS TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO THE MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY CONSORTIA TO ADD SPATIAL DATA CENTER FOR REMOTE SENSING AND SPATIAL DATA SERVICES. THE CENTER WILL PERFORM PROJECTS TO INTEGRATE REMOTE SENSING AND SPATIAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES. THIS FUNDING WAS EARMARKED IN OST FY 04 BUDGET. RSPA WILL MANAGE THE CENTER. Mississippi State University
$650.0k 9/8/04 9/8/06 9/8/04 NNK12EA35C
OTHER FUNCTIONS - THE LAUNCH SERVICES PROGRAM (LSP) FUNDED THE INITIAL PHASES OF A CRYO-TRACKER MASS GAUGING SYSTEM (MGS) FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO DEVELOP THE RGCT CONCEPT (PHASE 1) AS AN MGS FOR A CRYOGENIC ORBITAL TESTBED, WITH THE INTENT OF USING THE TESTBED AS A TRUE FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION IN SPACE OF THE RGCT AND MGS DESIGNS. PHASE I AND II OF THIS PROJECT DEVELOPED THE FINAL DESIGN OF THE RGCT ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT UNIT (EDU). PHASE IIIA WILL FABRICATE THE DESIGNED EDU AVIONICS AS A PROTOTYPE TEST/FLIGHT UNIT. THE OBJECTIVES AND REQUIREMENTS OF THIS CONTRACT ARE TO BUILD PROTOTYPE FLIGHT AVIONICS HARDWARE, SUITABLE FOR SUPPORT OF IN-SPACE DEMONSTRATIONS THAT WILL BE BASED UPON THE DESIGN OUTPUTS OF PREVIOUS DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS. THE PROTOTYPE APPROACH TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN THIS EFFORT WILL PERMIT THE FABRICATION AND TESTING OF HARDWARE, FOR SUBSTANTIATION OF THE DESIGN AND HARDWARE FLIGHT WORTHINESS. THE TASKS INCLUDED IN THIS TECHNICAL APPROACH WILL BE CONDUCTED USING QUALIFIED KEY PERSONNEL. THE PROJECT ENGINEERING TO BE PERFORMED WILL INCLUDE INTERNAL TRACKING MEETINGS, AN INTERNAL KICK-OFF MEETING, AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES. THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING TO BE CONDUCTED INCLUDES PERFORMANCE OF A FINAL DESIGN REVIEW TO VERIFY AND VALIDATE CHANGES MADE AFTER THE PRELIMINARY AND CRITICAL DESIGN REVIEWS YET PRIOR TO CREATION AND FABRICATION OF THE PROTOTYPE. BACKGROUND: THE FIRST STEP IN PERFORMING AN ANALYSIS WITH EMIT IS TO CREATE THE NECESSARY MODELS FOR ALL OF THE RF SYSTEMS OF INTEREST. EMIT'S PARAMETRIC MODELS PROVIDES A WAY TO BEGIN THIS PROCESS WITH A MINIMUM OF DATA ON THE SYSTEMS OF INTEREST, BUT IT CAN STILL BE A CHALLENGE TO OBTAIN THIS DATA AND CREATE THE MODELS IN A TIMELY FASHION. THE NATURE OF EMIT'S PARAMETRIC RF SYSTEM MODELS IS THAT AS MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE IN THE FUTURE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RF SYSTEMS (E.G., VENDOR SUPPLIED DATA, MEASUREMENTS, ETC.) IT CAN EASILY BE ADDED TO THE MODELS IN THE LIBRARY TO INCREASE THE MODEL'S FIDELITY. DELIVERABLES: 1. EMIT LIBRARY ARCHIVE THAT INCLUDES CREATED RF SYSTEM MODELS FOR AGREED UPON LSP RELATED RF SYSTEMS OF INTEREST A. MODELS WILL BE PARAMETRIC IN NATURE B. BASED ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA FOR THE SYSTEMS OF INTEREST C. IN CASES WHERE LIMITED INFORMATION MAY BE AVAILABLE ON SPECIFIC RF SYSTEMS, THE DEVELOPER WILL APPLY ITS EXPERIENCE IN WORKING WITH MANY TYPES OF RF SYSTEMS TO CREATE MODELS BASED ON 'TYPICAL' PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS FOR RF SYSTEMS OF THAT PARTICULAR TYPE 2. TECHNICAL REPORT A. DOCUMENTS ALL OF THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION USED IN THE CREATION OF THE LIBRARY B. DESCRIBES ANY ASSUMPTIONS AND/OR LIMITATIONS IN THE MODELS ANTICIPATED PROJECT MILESTONES: THE NEED DATES FOR THE END-ITEM DELIVERABLES ARE SHOWN BELOW. CONTRACTOR SHOULD DEVELOP AND INCLUDE WITH THEIR PROPOSAL A SCHEDULE TO MEET THE DATES SHOWN BELOW. ATP - NASA WILL PROVIDE CONTRACTOR WITH A LIST OF NON-PROPRIETARY TYPES OF SYSTEMS ON TYPICAL SPACECRAFT AND VEHICLES. ATP + 2 MONTHS PROVIDE A PRELIMINARY DATA BASE PLANS TO LSP FOR REVIEW/APPROVAL ATP + 8 MONTHS 1. EMIT LIBRARY ARCHIVE THAT INCLUDES ALL OF THE AGREED UPON RF SYSTEMS OF INTEREST. 2. TECHNICAL REPORT THAT DOCUMENTS ALL OF THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION USED IN THE CREATION OF THE LIBRARY AND DESCRIPTIONS OF ANY ASSUMPTIONS AND/OR LIMITATIONS IN THE MODELS. Delcross Technologies, LLC
$49.9k 4/19/12 1/30/13 4/19/12 NNK12EA61C
OTHER FUNCTIONS - INTEGRATED MULTI-LAYER INSULATION (IMLI), A NEXT GENERATION MLI TECHNOLOGY, IS BEING DEVELOPED BY QUEST PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CORP (QUEST) AND BALL AEROSPACE. IMLI USES PROPRIETARY DISCRETE SPACER TECHNOLOGY WITH LOW THERMAL CONDUCTANCE MICROMOLDED POLYMER SPACERS (SHOWN IN FIGURES 1 AND 2) TO REDUCE HEAT LEAK, CONTROL LAYER SPACING AND DENSITY, AND FORM A ROBUST BONDED-UP STRUCTURE. IMLI IS A HIGH PERFORMANCE MLI REPLACEMENT FOR NASA AND OTHER AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS, OFFERING HIGHER PERFORMANCE, FEWER LAYERS, LOWER MASS AND MORE REPEATABLE PERFORMANCE THAN NETTING-BASED MLI. IMLI HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY PROVEN FEASIBLE, AND HAS MOVED FROM TRL2 TO TRL6. IT HAS DEMONSTRATED ~50% LOWER HEAT LEAK PER LAYER THAN CONVENTIONAL MLI, IN A ROBUST, REPEATABLE, LOWER COST STRUCTURE. THERMAL PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN VALIDATED BY NASA KSC CRYOGENICS TEST LAB, AND IMLI COUPONS ARE CURRENTLY BEING ACQUIRED BY KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (KSC), MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (MSFC), AND GLENN RESEARCH CENTER (GRC) IN SEVERAL ADVANCED INSULATION/CRYOGENIC FLUID MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. TWO U.S. PATENTS ON IMLI AND LRMLI HAVE BEEN ISSUED (U.S. NO. 7,954,301 AND U.S. PATENT APPLICATION 12/493,852), ONE MORE PATENT IS IN PROSECUTION, AND TWO MORE PATENTS ARE IN INTERNAL DISCLOSURES PREPARING FOR PATENT FILING. QUEST AND BALL AEROSPACE JOINTLY OWN THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. LOAD RESPONSIVE MULTI-LAYER INSULATION (LRMLI), HAS COMPLETED A NASA SBIR PHASE II PROGRAM, WHICH SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED THE FEASIBILITY OF THE LRMLI CONCEPT (SHOWN IN FIGURE 3) IN WHICH DYNAMIC INSULATION PROVIDES BOTH HIGH THERMAL INSULATION IN-ATMOSPHERE AND ULTRA-HIGH PERFORMANCE ON-ORBIT, IS A POTENTIAL SOFI REPLACEMENT, AND IS BEING DEVELOPED FOR IN-AIR APPLICATIONS SUCH AS LAUNCH VEHICLES DURING GROUND HOLD AND LAUNCH ASCENT AND LH2 POWERED AIRCRAFT. LRMLI IS PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY OF QUEST AND BALL AEROSPACE, AND IS THE BASIS FOR A FAMILY OF ADVANCED INSULATION SYSTEMS THAT USE THE UNIQUE LOAD BEARING CAPABILITY OF THIS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING SUPPORTING A THIN VACUUM SHELL, SUPPORTING BALLISTIC LAYERS FOR MICROMETEOROID/ORBITAL DEBRIS SHIELDING, AND SUPPORTING A VAPOR COOLED SHIELD FOR ULTRA HIGH PERFORMANCE THERMAL INSULATION SYSTEMS. THE UNIQUE APPLICATION OF IMLI/LRMLI TECHNOLOGIES TO THE LOAD BEARING MULTILAYER INSULATION (LB-IMLI) FOR THE REDUCED BOIL-OFF LIQUID HYDROGEN STORAGE REQUIRES A THOROUGH REVIEW, UNDERSTANDING OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROGRAM, STRUCTURAL AND THERMAL ANALYSIS OF THE LOAD RESPONSIVE MLI SYSTEM SUPPORTING THE MASS OF THE VAPOR COOLED SHIELD AND OUTER MLI, AND EVALUATION OF HOW TO MEET ALL REQUIREMENTS WITH INDUSTRY STANDARD SAFETY MARGINS. QUEST/BALL AEROSPACE DISCRETE SPACER TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE OPTIMIZED FOR A NUMBER OF FACTORS INCLUDING HEAT LEAK AND STRUCTURAL STRENGTH REQUIREMENTS. Quest Product Development Corporation
$329.8k 5/10/12 2/28/13 11/19/12 NNK12EA26C
KNOWING THAT USEFUL RESOURCES, SUCH AS WATER, CARBON MONOXIDE, AND HYDROGEN ARE AVAILABLE ON THE LUNAR SURFACE AND OTHER LOCATIONS AROUND THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS IMPORTANT; HOWEVER, QUESTIONS REMAIN TO BE ANSWERED BEFORE IN SITU UTILIZATION OF THESE RESOURCES IS PRACTICAL. SPECIFICALLY, IT IS NECESSARY TO KNOW (1) WHAT VOLATILES ARE PRESENT AND IN WHAT QUANTITIES, (2) HOW THEY ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AND UNDER THE SURFACE, AND (3) WHAT MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS COULD INFLUENCE FUTURE ISRU DESIGNS. THE LUNAR VOLATILE CHARACTERIZATION DEMONSTRATION, REGOLITH AND ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE & OXYGEN AND LUNAR VOLATILES EXTRACTION (RESOLVE) MISSION WILL BE DESIGNED TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AS THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP TOWARD HUMAN EXPLORATION OF AND EXPANSION INTO THE SOLAR SYSTEM. ASTROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY INC. IS NOW PERFORMING A PHASE 2 SBIR (NNX11CB55C) TO DESIGN, FABRICATE AND TEST A PROTOTYPE POLAR MOBILITY PLATFORM. THE PROTOTYPE WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH A BUCKET WHEEL TO EXCAVATE BULK QUANTITIES OF LUNAR REGOLITH THAT CAN BE FED INTO A PROCESSING PLANT TO EXTRACT WATER AND OTHER VOLATILES FOR SUPPORT OF ROBOTIC AND CREWED EXPEDITIONS. CREATING A PARALLEL DESIGN FOR THIS POLAR MOBILITY PLATFORM WITH RESOLVE INSTEAD OF THE BUCKET WHEEL ENABLES NASA TO EXPLOIT THE FUNDS ALREADY SPENT AND TO BE SPENT ON CREATING THE BUCKET-WHEEL VARIATION. BOTH APPLICATIONS OF THE POLAR MOBILITY PLATFORM REQUIRE IT TO BE ABLE TO PRECISELY NAVIGATE TO SUSPECTED OR KNOWN RESOURCES, TO AVOID HAZARDS THAT WOULD DAMAGE LOW-HANGING EQUIPMENT, TO AUTONOMOUSLY REESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS IF INTERRUPTED BY TERRAIN BLOCKAGES, AND TO MANAGE POLAR-SPECIFIC POWER AND THERMAL CHALLENGES. Astrobotic Technology Inc.
$96.6k 2/13/12 6/29/12 2/13/12