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At least 433 records · Page 24

KSC SBIR/STTR 2004 Program Year Report

The Kennedy Space Center Level III SBIR/STTR management staff is under the Technology Transfer Office within the Spaceport Engineering and Technology Directorate. The SBIR and STTR programs provide an opportunity for small high technology companies and research institutions to participate in Government-sponsored research and development (R&D) programs in key technology areas. The SBIR program was established by Congress in 1982 to provide increased opportunities for small businesses to participate in R&D programs, increase employment, and improve U.S. competitiveness. The program's specific objectives are to stimulate U.S. technological innovation, use small businesses to meet Federal research and development needs, increase private sector commercialization of innovations, and foster and encourage participation by socially disadvantaged businesses. Legislation enacted in December 2000 reauthorized the program and strengthened emphasis on pursuing commercial applications of SBIR projects. An SBIR Phase I contract is the opportunity to establish the feasibility and technical merit of a proposed innovation. Selected competitively, the Phase I contract lasts for 6 months and is funded up to $70,000. SBIR Phase II contracts continue the most promising Phase I projects based on scientific! technical merit, expected value to NASA, company capability, and commercial potential. Phase II contracts are usually for a period of 24 months and may not exceed $600,000. NASA usually selects approximately 40 percent of Phase I projects to continue to the Phase II level. Phase III is the process of furthering the development of a product to make it commercially available. The STTR program awards contracts to small business concerns for cooperative R&D with a nonprofit research institution. Research institutions include nonprofit research organizations, Federal laboratories, or universities. The goal of the program established by Congress is to facilitate the transfer of technology developed by a research institution through the entrepreneurship of a small business. The STIR program is smaller in funding than the SBIR program. While the proposal is submitted by the small business concern, at least 30 percent of the funding and work must originate with the research institution. STTR Phase I projects receive up to $100K for a one-year effort, and a Phase II contract receives up to $600K for two years.

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NASA SSERVI Contributions to Lunar Science and Exploration

NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) represents a close collaboration between science, technology and exploration that will enable deeper understanding of the Moon and other airless bodies as we move further out of low-Earth orbit. The new Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) will focus on the scientific aspects of exploration as they pertain to the Moon, Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and the moons of Mars. The Institute focuses on interdisciplinary, exploration-related science centered around all airless bodies targeted as potential human destinations. Areas of study reported here will represent the broad spectrum of lunar, NEA, and Martian moon sciences encompassing investigations of the surface, interior, exosphere, and near-space environments as well as science uniquely enabled from these bodies. We will provide a detailed look at research being conducted by each of the 9 domestic US teams as well as our 7 international partners. The research profile of the Institute integrates investigations of plasma physics, geology/geochemistry, technology integration, solar system origins/evolution, regolith geotechnical properties, analogues, volatiles, ISRU and exploration potential of the target bodies.

Exploration↗

Emerging markets for satellite data communications in the public service

The paper discusses some of the current and potential markets for satellite data communications as projected by the Public Service Satellite Consortium (PSSC). Organizations in the public service sector are divided into three categories, depending on their expected benefits and organizational changes due to increased satellite telecommunications use: A - modest institutional adjustments are necessary and significant productivity gains are likely; B - institutional requirements picture is promising, but more information is needed to assess benefits and risk; and C - major institutional adjustments are needed, risks are high but possible benefits are high. These criteria are applied to the U.S. health care system, continuing education, equipment maintenance, libraries, environmental monitoring, and other potential markets. The potential revenues are seen to be significant, but what is needed is a cooperative effort by common carriers and major public service institutions to aggregate the market.

Potter, J. G.↗

Data distribution satellite

The Data Distribution Satellite (DDS), operating in conjunction with the planned space network, the National Research and Education Network and its commercial derivatives, would play a key role in networking the emerging supercomputing facilities, national archives, academic, industrial, and government institutions. Centrally located over the United States in geostationary orbit, DDS would carry sophisticated on-board switching and make use of advanced antennas to provide an array of special services. Institutions needing continuous high data rate service would be networked together by use of a microwave switching matrix and electronically steered hopping beams. Simultaneously, DDS would use other beams and on board processing to interconnect other institutions with lesser, low rate, intermittent needs. Dedicated links to White Sands and other facilities would enable direct access to space payloads and sensor data. Intersatellite links to a second generation ATDRS, called Advanced Space Data Acquisition and Communications System (ASDACS), would eliminate one satellite hop and enhance controllability of experimental payloads by reducing path delay. Similarly, direct access would be available to the supercomputing facilities and national data archives. Economies with DDS would be derived from its ability to switch high rate facilities amongst users needed. At the same time, having a CONUS view, DDS would interconnect with any institution regardless of how remote. Whether one needed high rate service or low rate service would be immaterial. With the capability to assign resources on demand, DDS will need only carry a portion of the resources needed if dedicated facilities were used. Efficiently switching resources to users as needed, DDS would become a very feasible spacecraft, even though it would tie together the space network, the terrestrial network, remote sites, 1000's of small users, and those few who need very large data links intermittently.

Stevens, Grady H.↗

Papers presented to the International Colloquium on Venus

This volume contains short papers that have been accepted for the International Colloquium on Venus, August 10-12, Pasadena, California. The Program Committee consisted of Stephen Saunders (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Sean C. Solomon (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Chairmen: Raymond Arvison (Washington University); Vassily Moroz (Institute for Space Research); Donald B. Campbell (Cornell University); Thomas Donahue (University of Michigan); James W. Head III (Brown University); Pamela Jones (Lunar and Planetary Institute); Mona Jasnow, Andrew Morrison, Timothy Pardker, Jeffrey Plaut, Ellen Stofan, Tommy Thompson, Cathy Weitz (Jet Propulsion Laboratory); Gordon Pettengil (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); and Janet Luhmann (University of California, Los Angeles).

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High Resolution Studies of Sunspots and Flux Tubes

This contract started as a three-year research study of sunspots and magnetic flux tubes in the solar atmosphere, using tunable filter images collected with a CCD camera during observing runs at the Canary Islands observatories in Spain. Scientific results are reported at conferences and published in the appropriate journals. The contract is being performed by the Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (S&AL), part of the Lockheed Palo Alto Advanced Technology Center (ATC) of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space (LMMS). The principal investigator is Dr. Alan Title, and the research is done by him and other scientific staff at S&AL, often in collaboration with visiting scientists and students from other institutions. An extension to the contract has been awarded for developing the Solar Lite technology demonstration telescope, a 1-meter solar telescope with silicon carbide optics made at the Vavilov Optical Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. The highlights during this reporting period included the continuation of the fabrication efforts on the Solar Lite optical components at Vavilov State Optical Institute, including the completion of the Gregorian telescope field stop. A visit was made to the Vavilov Institute to review the progress and inspect the optical components.

Source record↗

The Chemistry of Early Self-Replicating Systems

The NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) in Exobiology is a consortium of scientists at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), The Salk Institute for Biological Studies (Salk) and The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). All three institutions are located in close geographical proximity in La Jolla, California. The NSCORT/Exobiology is administered through the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Since its inception in January 1992, the NSCORT in Exobiology has made major contributions with respect to the question of how life began on Earth. The Principal Investigators (PIs) and their associated Fellows have published numerous articles in peer reviewed journals on topics relevant to Exobiology. They have presented papers and sponsored symposia at several meetings of national and international scientific societies. A total of 30 undergraduate, 12 graduate and 15 postdoctoral Fellows have been supported by the NSCORT. The Fellows have met on their own at least once a month to discuss Exobiology topics and research progress. The NSCORT has arranged seminars and evening discussion meetings, and offered an undergraduate class on "Biochemical Evolution" as well as graduate courses dealing with topics in Exobiology. A visiting scientist program has allowed 11 scientists from the U.S. and 4 foreign countries to conduct cooperative research with the various PIs. An active outreach program has been initiated, which includes an Exobiology high school level teaching module and curriculum guide, and an elementary school level booklet about basic atomic structure and formation of the universe, Sun and Earth. A World Wide Web Homepage (http://www-chem.ucsd.edu/-nscort/ NSCORT.html) has been developed, which describes the NSCORT activities, research programs and Fellowship opportunities. The various activities of the NSCORT in Exobiology have received wide-spread coverage in both the scientific and public media. The major function of the NSCORT is the training of young scientists in the field of Exo- biology. Thus, the bulk of the $1,000,000 annual budget is used to support the research and training of undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral Fellows who are selected on a competitive basis. About five Fellows at each level are supported each year. Our goal is to train scientists whose major research interest is Exobiology, but whose mastery in the classical fields of chemistry, biology and earth science is so strong that they outstanding candidates for either graduate school or academic tenure-track positions in departments at leading national and international Universities. Applicants for these Fellowships are solicited by advertisements in journals such as Science and Nature and in organizational newsletters such as the one published by the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (ISSOL), by contacting academic and NASA colleagues working in Exobiology or related fields and by recruiting students who have already been admitted into the various academic programs with which the PIs are affiliated.

Bada, Jeffrey L.↗

Analysis of Returned Comet Nucleus Samples

This volume contains abstracts that have been accepted by the Program Committee for presentation at the Workshop on Analysis of Returned Comet Nucleus Samples, held in Milpitas, California, January 16-18, 1989. Conveners are Sherwood Chang (NASA Ames Research Center) and Larry Nyquist (NASA Johnson Space Center). Program Committee members are Thomas Ahrens (ex-officio; California Institute of Technology), Lou Allamandola (NASA Ames Research Center), David Blake (NASA Ames Research Center), Donald Brownlee (University of Washington, Seattle), Theodore E. Bunch (NASA Ames Research Center), Humberto Campins (Planetary Science Institute), Jeff Cuzzi (NASA Ames Research Center), Eberhard Griin (Max-Plank-Institut fiir Kemphysik), Martha Hanner (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Alan Harris (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), John Kerrid-e (University of Califomia, Los Angeles), Yves Langevin (University of Paris), Gerhard Schwehm (ESTEC), and Paul Weissman (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Logistics and administrative support for the workshop were provided by the Lunar and Planetary Institute Projects Office.

Chang, Sherwood↗

Third Annual HEDS-UP Forum

The HEDS-UP (Human Exploration and Development of Space-University Partners) program has been instituted to build new relationships between university faculty and students and NASA in support of the Human Exploration and Development of Space. The program provides a mechanism whereby university students can explore problems of interest to NASA through student design projects, led by a university professor or mentor, and aided by the HEDSUP staff. HEDS-UP advises on the type of project that is of interest and provides contacts to NASA and industry professionals who may serve as mentors to the student project. Students become acquainted with objectives, strategies, development issues, and technologic characteristics of space exploration programs. In doing so, they are preparing themselves for future engineering challenges and may well find that the program is on their critical path to professional advancement. Many of the ideas are novel and are of interest to NASA. Industry finds in HEDS-UP a mechanism to meet many bright and enthusiastic students who are about to enter the work force. The universities become more involved with space exploration and the students are encouraged to include an outreach element in their work, to bring their efforts and their excitement to others in their universities or in their communities. The climax of the HEDS-UP program each year is the HEDS-UP Forum, held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Here, the university teams bring their projects - written reports, oral reports, models, prototypes, and experiment demonstrations - to show to one another and to NASA and industry participants. NASA, industry, and academic professionals present discussions of problems of current interest to space exploration. All meet informally around the posters that each of the teams brings to the Forum. This year the HEDS-UP Forum was held May 4-5 at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. Thirteen university teams from twelve universities participated. Eleven teams were undergraduate teams; two were composed of graduate students. Each team contributed a 20-page written report, and these reports are reproduced in this volume. The specially invited NASA presenters included Mr. John Connolly, Dr. David McKay and Dr. Donald Henninger of the NASA Johnson Space Center, Dr. Paul Spudis and Dr. Steve Clifford of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, and Dr. Pascal Lee of the NASA Ames Research Center.

Duke, Michael B.↗

Improving science literacy and education through space life sciences

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) encourages open involvement by scientists and the public at large in the Institute's activities. Through its Education and Public Outreach Program, the Institute is supporting national efforts to improve Kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) and undergraduate education and to communicate knowledge generated by space life science research to lay audiences. Three academic institution Baylor College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine and Texas A&M University are designing, producing, field-testing, and disseminating a comprehensive array of programs and products to achieve this goal. The objectives of the NSBRI Education and Public Outreach program are to: promote systemic change in elementary and secondary science education; attract undergraduate students--especially those from underrepresented groups--to careers in space life sciences, engineering and technology-based fields; increase scientific literacy; and to develop public and private sector partnerships that enhance and expand NSBRI efforts to reach students and families. c 2001. Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA Discipline General Space Life Sciences↗

A Virtual Bioinformatics Knowledge Environment for Early Cancer Detection

Discovery of disease biomarkers for cancer is a leading focus of early detection. The National Cancer Institute created a network of collaborating institutions focused on the discovery and validation of cancer biomarkers called the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN). Informatics plays a key role in enabling a virtual knowledge environment that provides scientists real time access to distributed data sets located at research institutions across the nation. The distributed and heterogeneous nature of the collaboration makes data sharing across institutions very difficult. EDRN has developed a comprehensive informatics effort focused on developing a national infrastructure enabling seamless access, sharing and discovery of science data resources across all EDRN sites. This paper will discuss the EDRN knowledge system architecture, its objectives and its accomplishments.

knowledge systems↗

RAEGE: An Atlantic Network of Geodynamical Fundamental Stations

Project RAEGE (Red Atlantica de Estaciones Geodinamicas y Espaciales) intends to set up a Spanish-Portuguese network of four Geodetic Fundamental Stations in Yebes (1), Canary Islands (1), and A cores Islands (2), as part of the developments needed for the IVS VLBI2010 scenario. It is envisaged that each Geodetic Fundamental Station will be equipped with one radio telescope of VLBI2010 specifications (at least 12-m diameter, fast slewing speed, but also able to operate up to 40 GHz), one gravimeter, one permanent GNSS station, and, at least at the Yebes site, one SLR facility. The National Geographical Institute of Spain (IGN) has experience in VLBI, having been a member of the European VLBI Network since 1993 and being one of the founding institutions of the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE), and it has been participating in geodetic VLBI campaigns with the 14-m radio telescope in Yebes since 1995. A new 40-m radio telescope has been built and was recently put into operation. It regularly participates in IVS sessions. There is infrastructure available for the new stations at Yebes and the Canary Islands. An agreement between IGN, the Portuguese Geographical Institute (IGP), and the Regional Government of the A cores ensures that the RAEGE project can become a reality by 2013.

Gonzalez, Jesus Gomez↗

A National Virtual Specimen Database for Early Cancer Detection

Access to biospecimens is essential for enabling cancer biomarker discovery. The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) comprises and integrates a large number of laboratories into a network in order to establish a collaborative scientific environment to discover and validate disease markers. The diversity of both the institutions and the collaborative focus has created the need for establishing cross-disciplinary teams focused on integrating expertise in biomedical research, computational and biostatistics, and computer science. Given the collaborative design of the network, the EDRN needed an informatics infrastructure. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the National Cancer Institute,and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) teamed up to build an informatics infrastructure creating a collaborative, science-driven research environment despite the geographic and morphology differences of the information systems that existed within the diverse network. EDRN investigators identified the need to share biospecimen data captured across the country managed in disparate databases. As a result, the informatics team initiated an effort to create a virtual tissue database whereby scientists could search and locate details about specimens located at collaborating laboratories. Each database, however, was locally implemented and integrated into collection processes and methods unique to each institution. This meant that efforts to integrate databases needed to be done in a manner that did not require redesign or re-implementation of existing system

distributed↗

ESMD Space Grant Faculty Report

The strength of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate ESMD Faculty Project lies in its ability to meet National Aeronautics Space Administration NASA's Strategic Educational Outcome 1 by developing a sustainable and long-term integration of student involvement at academic institutions with all NASA Centers. This outcome is achieved by a three-fold approach: 1) by collecting Senior Design projects pertaining to Constellation work performed at each of the ten NASA Centers, 2) by engaging students at Minority Serving Institutions in the art of systems engineering and systems design of technologies required for space exploration, and 3) by identifying potential internships at each Center relative to exploration that provide students who are supported by their institutional Space Grant to engage in on-going mission-level and explorative systems designs. The objectives of the ESMD Faculty Project are to: 1. Aid the Centers (both Education Offices and associated technical organizations) in providing relevant opportunities for the ESMD Space Grant Program to support student and faculty in Senior Design projects 2. Enable better matches between the ESMD work required and what the Space Grant Consortia can do to effectively contribute to NASA programs 3. Provide the Space Grant Consortia an opportunity to strengthen relations with the NASA Centers 4. Develop better collective understanding of the U.S. Space Exploration Policy by the Center, Space Grant, faculty, Education Office, and students 5. Enable Space Grant institution faculty to better prepare their students to meet current and future NASA needs 6. Enable the Center Education Offices to strengthen their ties to their technical organizations and Space Grant Consortia 7. Aid KSC in gaining a greater and more detailed understanding of each of the Center activities Senior Design projects are intended to stimulate undergraduate students on current NASA activities related to lunar, Mars, and other planetary missions and to bring out innovative and novel ideas that can be used to complement those currently under development at respective NASA Centers. Additionally, such academic involvement would better the prospects for graduating seniors to pursue graduate studies and to seek careers in the space industry with a strong sense for systems engineering and understanding of design concepts. Internships, on the other hand, are intended to provide hands-on experience to students by engaging them in diverse state-of-the-art technology development, prototype bread-boarding, computer modeling and simulations, hardware and software testing, and other activities that provide students a strong perspective of NASA's vision and mission in enhancing the knowledge of Earth and space planetary sciences. Ten faculty members, each from a Space Grant Consortium-affiliated university, worked at ten NASA Centers for five weeks between June 2 and July 3, 2008. The project objectives listed above were achieved. In addition to collecting data on Senior Design ideas and identifying possible internships that would benefit NASA/ESMD, the faculty fellows promoted and collected data when required for other ESMD-funded programs and helped the Center's Education Office, as,needed. 4

Guo, Jiang↗

Lessons Learned in Decadal Planning in Space Science

This summary has been prepared by the workshop rapporteurs as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop. The planning committee's role was limited to planning and convening the workshop. The views contained in the report are those of individual workshop participants and do not necessarily represent the views of all workshop participants, the planning committee, or the National Research Council. This summary was written using video recordings of the entire workshop proceedings. Speakers attributed in this summary were not asked to review the workshop summary before its release. This workshop summary has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the summary meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this summary: George Paulikas, The Aerospace Corporation (retired), Marcia Rieke, University of Arizona, Kunio Sayanagi, Hampton University, Marcia Smith, Space and Technology Policy Group, LLC, and Warren Washington, National Center for Atmospheric Research. Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they did not see the final draft of the workshop summary before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Kenneth Kellermann, National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Appointed by the NRC, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authors and the institution.

Groswald, Lewis↗

Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) Risk Management

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) project is an international collaboration to build and fly a polarization sensitive X-ray observatory. The IXPE Observatory consists of the spacecraft and payload. The payload is composed of three X-ray telescopes, each consisting of a mirror module optical assembly and a polarization-sensitive X-ray detector assembly; a deployable boom maintains the focal length between the optical assemblies and the detectors. The goal of the IXPE Mission is to provide new information about the origins of cosmic X-rays and their interactions with matter and gravity as they travel through space. IXPE will do this by exploiting its unique capability to measure the polarization of X-rays emitted by cosmic sources. The collaboration for IXPE involves national and international partners during design, fabrication, assembly, integration, test, and operations. The full collaboration includes NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Ball Aerospace, the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Italian Institute of Astrophysics and Space Planetology (IAPS)/Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the University of Colorado (CU) Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), Stanford University, McGill University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The goal of this paper is to discuss risk management as it applies to the IXPE project. The full IXPE Team participates in risk management providing both unique challenges and advantages for project risk management. Risk management is being employed in all phases of the IXPE Project, but is particularly important during planning and initial execution-the current phase of the IXPE Project. The discussion will address IXPE risk strategies and responsibilities, along with the IXPE management process which includes risk identification, risk assessment, risk response, and risk monitoring, control, and reporting.

IXPE↗

Exploring the Solar System from Wherever You Are

NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) represents a close collaboration between science, technology and exploration that will enable deeper understanding of the Moon and other airless bodies as we move further out of low-Earth orbit. The Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) focuses on the scientific aspects of exploration as they pertain to the Moon, Near Earth Asteroids (NEA's) and the moons of Mars. The Institute research areas are centered on interdisciplinary, exploration-related science of airless bodies targeted as potential human destinations. Areas of study represent the broad spectrum of lunar, NEA, and Martian moon sciences encompassing investigations of the surface, interior, exosphere, and near-space environments as well as science uniquely enabled from these bodies.The SSERVI central office is based at NASA Ames in Silicon Valley a hot spot for innovative and cost-savings approaches to space exploration and rapid advances in technology development. The administrative staff at the central office forms the organizational hub for the domestic and international teams and enables the virtual collaborative environment. The SSERVI teams are supported jointly from NASA's Science Mission Directorate and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. Teams are funded for five years. Calls for proposals are issued every 2-3 years to allow overlap between generations of institute teams. Interactions with geographically dispersed teams across the U.S., and global partners, occur easily and frequently in a collaborative virtual environment. This talk will provide a closer look at research being conducted by the current US teams, our 8 international partners and information about future opportunities to participate in SSERVI.

Pendleton, Y. J.↗

NASA SSERVI: Bridging Science and Human Exploration

The NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) is a virtual institute focused on research at the intersection of science and human exploration, training the next generation of exploration scientists, and developing the broad scientific and technical community. Part of SSERVI’s mission is to act as a hub for opportunities that engage the larger scientific and exploration communities in order to form new interdisciplinary, research-focused collaborations. This talk will describe the research efforts of the SSERVI domestic teams that constitute the U.S. complement of the Institute and how the Institute engages the community through workshops, conferences, online seminars and classes, student exchange programs and internships. In addition, this talk will discuss SSERVI’s current international partnerships, a key part of its global mission.

SSERVI↗