Georgia Tech Research Corp
Who it subcontracts to
THE FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS OF REVEALS REQUIRE THE PARTICIPATION OF A RESEARCH AND HIS/HER LABORATORY AND COLLABORATORS AT UCF THAT HAVE EXPERIENCE IN THE AREAS OF SPACE MEDICINE AND METHODOLOGIES AND MATERIALS FOR RISK MITIGATION DURING HUMAN EXPLORATION, ASTROCHEMISTRY, SURFACE CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. DR. BELTRAN AND UCF COLLABORATORS HAVE EXPERIENCE NECESSARY IN THESE AREAS AND WILL BE ABLE TO CARRY OUT RESEARCH THAT IS CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF REVEALS. DR. BELTRAN'S AND HER COLLABORATOR'S KNOWLEDGE AND LABORATORY CAPABILITIES ARE AN ASSET TO THE PROJECT. DR. BELTRAN AND HER TEAM MEMBERS WILL PERFORM ALL RESEARCH TASKS REQUIRED FOR THE PROJECT DEFINED IN THIS SUBAWARD, INCLUDING LABORATORY AND OFFICE WORK ASSOCIATED WITH EXPERIMENTS AND PREPARATION OF DATA FOR PUBLICATION.
NOVEL SPACESUITS FOR HUMAN EXPLORATION SHOULD INCLUDE MULTIFUNCTIONAL, LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS WITH OPTIMAL MOBILITY/FLEXIBILITY, ROBUST RADIATION PROTECTION, HIGH-DURABILITY, ALONG WITH APPROPRIATE THERMAL AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITIES -DEVELOPMENT OF THESE MATERIALS AND VALIDATING THEIR PERFORMANCE IS THE OBJECTIVE OF REVEALS THEME II. TWO MAIN THRUSTS OF EFFORT AT UC DAVIS WILL SUPPORT THEME II. THE FIRST THRUST IS TASK 1: TO DESIGN, FABRICATE, AND CHARACTERIZE SUCH MATERIALS. DURING THE FIRST YEAR, WE WILL LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF NEW MATERIALS COMPOSED OF A POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITE REINFORCED WITH FUNCTIONALIZED GRAPHENE OXIDE AND POLYETHYLENE (PE) FIBERS. THIS INCLUDES THE THERMO/ELECTRIC/MECHANICAL DESIGN OF UPGRADES TO THE LA SAPONARA LAB ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING FACILITY, AND OUT-OF-AUTOCLAVE MANUFACTURING OF PANELS MADE OF ULTRA-HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYETHYLENE (UHMWPE) AND EPOXY, TO LEARN ABOUT HOW THESE BASELINE OFF-THE-SHELF MATERIALS BEHAVE IN THE RADIATION FACILITY AT DR. JAY LAVERNE'S LAB AT NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY. THE SECOND THRUST IS REVEALS THEME II TASK 4. IN THIS TASK, WE CONSIDER POTENTIAL USE-CASES FOR NOVEL MATERIALS DEVELOPED IN THEME II, TASK 1, AS APPLIED TO EVA SPACESUITS AND TO SURFACE CREW MOBILITY CONCEPTS. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL PROPOSE HOW AND WHERE THE TASK 1 MATERIALS MIGHT BE INCORPORATED INTO VEHICULAR SURFACE CREW MOBILITY CONCEPTS (BOTH PREVIOUSLY-PROPOSED AND NOVEL) TO ENHANCE MISSION SAFETY AND RELIABILITY.
AT UCB, DR. LIUZZO WILL PERFORM AIKEF HYBRID PLASMA MODELING OF EUROPA’S ELECTROMAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT FOR TIMES WHEN THE MOON IS LOCATED NEAR THE CENTER OF JUPITER’S MAGNETOSPHERIC PLASMA SHEET. CO-I LIUZZO WILL ALSO LEAD THE INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS FOR THIS SCENARIO. ADDITIONALLY, LUCAS WILL BE THE LEAD AUTHOR OF THREE OF THE EXPECTED PUBLICATIONS, TO BE SUBMITTED DURING THE SECOND AND THIRD YEARS OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT. A UCB UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT WILL WORK WITH CO-I LIUZZO ON VISUALIZING THE MODEL RESULTS.
THE FOCUS FOR THE UGA TEAM WILL BE TO PERFORM NEAR-FIELDS SPECTROSCOPY (NANO-FTIR, PHOTOLUMINESCENCE, AND RAMAN) ON IRRADIATED LUNAR SIMULANT SAMPLES AND DURANGO APATITE. DR. ABATE WILL LEAD THE TEAM AND SUPERVISE A GRADUATE STUDENT. COLLABORATOR PHILLIP STANCIL WILL ASSIST WITH SIMULATIONS OF NEAR-FIELD SPECTRA. EACH YEAR THE UGA TEAM WILL STUDY DURANGO APATITE AND IRRADIATED GEOCHRONOLOGY STANDARDS PREPARED BY OTHER CLEVER TEAM MEMBERS AS GIVEN IN PLAN BELOW, THOUGH THE SAMPLE ORDER BY VARY DEPENDING ON PRIORITY AND AVAILABILITY. YEAR 1: NEAR-FIELD SPECTROSCOPY AND SIMULATION OF DURANGO APATITE THE UGA TEAM WILL PROVIDE OF EACH LUNAR SIMULANT BEFORE AND AFTER IRRADIATION AND USE LITERATURE AND NEAR-FIELD SIMULATIONS TO INTERPRET RADIATION DAMAGE EFFECTS.
- University of Hawaii$115K
DR. SHUAI LI WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROPOSAL ENTITLED “CENTER FOR LUNAR ENVIRONMENT AND VOLATILE EXPLORATION RESEARCH (CLEVER)”. IN YEAR 1, DR. SHUAI LI WILL CONTRIBUTE TO TASK 1OF THEME 1. HE WILL CONTRIBUTE HIS EXPERTISE ON TASK 1: MEASURE ION, ELECTRON, PHOTON AND METEOROID IMPACT INDUCED FORMATION AND RELEASE OF HYDROGEN, METHANE AND WATER IN/ON LUNAR REGOLITH. SPECIFICALLY, DR. LI WILL PROVIDE HOW THE LUNAR SURFACE WATER CONTENT VARIES WITH THE CHANGES OF THE FLUX OF ION, ELECTRON, AND PHOTON THROUGH ANALYZING THE REMOTE SENSING DATA SUCH AS THE MOON MINERALOGY MAPPER (M3) DATA.
DR. WILLIAM FARRELL SO THE SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE (SSI) IS A NAMED CO-INVESTIGATOR ON THE CENTER FOR LUNAR ENVIRONMENT AND VOLATILE EXPLORATION RESEARCH (CLEVER) PROPOSAL SELECTED FOR FUNDING TO BECOME PART OF NASA'S SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION RESEARCH VIRTUAL INSTITUTE (SSERVI). THIS PROPOSAL WAS LED BY PROFESSOR THOMAS ORLANDO FROM THE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. CLEVER LEVERAGES A COHESIVE AND DIVERSE TEAM OF INVESTIGATORS TO PROVIDE AN INTEGRATED SYSTEMS-LEVEL APPROACH TO CHARACTERIZING AND UNDERSTANDING THE LUNAR ENVIRONMENT AND VOLATILE INVENTORIES REQUIRED FOR NEAR-TERM HUMAN LUNAR EXPLORATION MISSIONS. THE RESOURCES AND KNOWLEDGE ARE ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED FOR THE SUSTAINABLE PRESENCE OF HUMANS ON THE MOON. CLEVER HAS THREE MAJOR THEMES: (1) SOLAR WIND AND METEORIC PRODUCTION OF VOLATILES, (2) SPACE WEATHERING EFFECT ON VOLATILE CONTENT, AND (3) GRAIN CHARGING AND DUST MITIGATION. DR. FARRELL HAS EXPERTISE IN PLASMA, VOLATILES, AND DUST CHARGING THAT WILL SUPPORT RESEARCH IN ALL THREE AREAS. HE WILL ESPECIALLY EMPHASIZE WORK IN THEME 1. SPECIFICALLY, HE IS THE LEAD OF TASK 4 OF THEME 1: MODEL SOLAR WIND AND IMPACT-INDUCED FORMATION AND RELEASE OF HYDROGEN, METHANE AND WATER IN/ON LUNAR REGOLITH. AS PART OF CLEVER, HE WILL ASSIST IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MERGED HYDROGEN AND HYDROXYL DIFFUSION MODEL TO DETERMINE WHERE HYDROGENATION TURNS INTO HYDROXYLATION AND HYDRATION. HE WILL ALSO DEVELOP A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DIFFUSION MODEL FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE CREATION OF METHANE AND OTHER HYDROCARBONS VIA THE H AND C ATOM COLLISIONS IN THE TOP PORTIONS OF THE LUNAR REGOLITH. HE WILL COMPARE THESE RESULTS WITH LADEE OBSERVATIONS AND FEED MODEL RESULTS FORWARD TO CLPS INVESTIGATIONS INCLUDING THE UPCOMING VIPER MISSION.
RADIATION EFFECTS AND VOLATILE EMISSIONS FROM ASTEROIDS AND LUNAR OBJECTS
" OBJECTIVE OR PURPOSE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK IS TO CHARACTERIZE LUNAR SAMPLES AT HIGH-RESOLUTION AND PERFORM IMAGING/SPECTROSCOPY AT WIDE ENERGY SCALES. " PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 10/01/21 -09/30/22 " REPORTING REQUIREMENT AND/OR OTHER DELIVERABLES: WE WILL PUBLISH OUR RESULTS IN PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS " WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS: THE STUDENT WILL BE PAID FOR A HALF-TIME GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP AND WILL SPEND ~20 HRS A WEEK ON THIS WORK. " A LIST OF DETAILED WORK REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE: TO PERFORM NANOSCALE SPECTROSCOPY AND IMAGING IN THE INFRARED, TO PERFORM NANOSCALE SPECTROSCOPY AND IMAGING IN THE VISIBLE AND NEAR-IR FREQUENCIES, TO PERFORM SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY IMAGING, TO PERFORM SIMULATION AND FITTING AND TO PERFORM DATA ANALYSIS
THE FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS OF REVEALS REQUIRE THE PARTICIPATION OF A RESEARCH AND HIS/HER LABORATORY THAT HAS EXPERIENCE IN THE AREAS OF EVA OPERATIONS, EVA OPERATIONS INTEGRATION, AND TESTING MECHANICAL, THERMAL AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS. DR. LAVERNE AND NOTRE DAME COLLABORATORS HAVE EXPERIENCE NECESSARY IN THESE AREAS AND WILL BE ABLE TO CARRY OUT RESEARCH THAT IS CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF REVEALS. DR. LAVERNE’S KNOWLEDGE AND LABORATORY CAPABILITIES ARE AN ASSET TO OUR CENTER.
DETAILED WORK REQUIREMENTS: CO-I DR. CAROL PATY WILL SERVE AS DEPUTY-PI AND THE DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH. SHE WILL FOCUS ON INTEGRATING THE THEME I AND II ACTIVITIES, AND COORDINATE OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, AS WELL AS CARRYING ON RESEARCH ACTIVITIES RELATED TO CALCULATING ENERGETIC PARTICLE FLUXES TO VARIOUS SURFACES IN SPACE. GOALS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED ON THIS PROJECT: - COORDINATE SCIENTIFIC EFFORTS FOR THEME I AND THEME II INFORMATION FLOW AND COHERENCE. - CREATE THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ESTABLISHING A ROBUST AND ORGANIZED OUTREACH PROGRAM FOR REVEALS. - CONTINUE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIMULATIONS FOR QUANTIFYING PLASMA DYNAMICS RELEVANT FOR IMPACT SPUTTERING AND SURFACE PROCESSING; INCLUDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHARGED PARTICLE TRACKING SIMULATIONS APPLICABLE FOR DETERMINING SPATIAL ENERGY FLUXES FROM A RANGE OF PLASMA SPECIES, AND ENERGY AND PITCH ANGLE DISTRIBUTIONS.
" STATISTICAL CHARACTERIZATIONS OF REGOLITH MIXING DEPTH AND COMPARISON WITH VOLATILE SUPPLY AND REMOVAL: WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THE MIXING DEPTH EVOLUTION DRIVEN BY LUNAR MICROMETEOROID IMPACT FLUXES. THE RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED TO THE PREDICTED VOLATILE SUPPLY AND REMOVAL BY THE REVEALS TEAM TO INFER THE CORRELATION BETWEEN REGOLITH MIXING AND VOLATILE EVOLUTION. " IMPACT PHYSICS ANALYSES ON HOW A MICROMETEOROID IMPACT CONTROLS THE THERMAL CONDITION AT THE IMPACT SITE: WE WILL PERFORM ISALE SHOCK PHYSICS HYDROCODE SIMULATIONS TO CHARACTERIZE THE TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION DRIVEN BY A MICROMETEOROID IMPACT. USING THE RESULTS, WE WILL INVESTIGATE HOW THE IMPACT-DRIVEN THERMAL EVOLUTION HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE WATER MOLECULE FORMATION CYCLE.
SUMMARY: SUBRECIPIENT (JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY) WILL PROVIDE SERVICES USING DR. CHARLES A HIBBITTS IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS. HE WILL USE THE LABORATORY AND COMPUTER FACILITIES LOCATED AT THE APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY. IN ADDITION, HE WILL USE HIS EXPERTISE IN THE FIELDS OF PLANETARY SCIENCE AND LABORATORY SPECTROSCOPY. DR. HIBBITTS WILL WORK WITHOUT SUPERVISION THROUGH EMAIL INSTRUCTIONS FROM DR. ORLANDO FOR THE DURATION OF THE AWARD. SERVICES TO PROVIDE: 1. WE WILL SUPPORT EXPERIMENTS AT GIT RELATED TO TASK 2 WITHIN THEME 2: "MAPPING OPTICAL SIGNATURES WITH VOLATILE RELEASE FROM ICY REGOLITH SIMULANTS FOR PROVIDING GROUND TRUTH FOR PRIME-1, VIPER AND OTHER LUNAR MISSIONS" VIA INITIAL, EXPLORATORY MEASUREMENTS USING THE LABSPEC LABORATORY FACILITY AT JHU APL. DR HIBBITTS WILL PERFORM THE SPECIFIC TASKS OF CONDUCING REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY (350 NM TO 8000 NM) ON CRYOGENIC INTIMATE MIXTURES OF WATER ICE AND ONE HIGHLAND SIMULANT AND ONE MARE SIMULANT, WITH THE WATER ICE MIXTURE AT 2, 5 AND 10 WT%. GIVEN TIME, WE WILL EXPLORE WATER ICE GRAIN SIZE DEPENDENCIES ON THE REFLECTANCE PROPERTIES. SPECTRAL MEASUREMENT WILL BE MADE FROM ~ 130K TO WARMER NONCRYOGENIC TEMPERATURES TO OBSERVE HOW THE SPECTRA EVOLVE WITH THE LOSS OF WATER ICE. THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL DIRECTLY SUPPORT THE INTERPRETATION OF DATA RETURNED FROM THE VIPER NIRVSS INSTRUMENT AND FUTURE EXPLORATIONS INTO LUNAR PSRS SUCH AS THE TRAILBLAZER MISSION THAT WILL OBTAIN ORBITAL REFLECTANCE MEASUREMENTS IN THE INFRARED TO 3600NM. 2. ASSIST IN THE PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS. 3. VIRTUALLY ATTEND ANY CLEVER TEAM ALL-HANDS MEETING.
DR. GRIMA WILL ASSIST IN TRAINING THE GRADUATE STUDENT IN WORKING WITH RAW ALTIMETRY DATA AND RADAR STATISTICAL RECONNAISSANCE (RSR) ANALYSIS. HE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO WRITING CONFERENCE ABSTRACT AND PAPERS IN YEARS 1, 2 AND 3.
Who it works for
- Auburn University$612K
COLD-TOLERANT ELECTRONICS AND PACKAGING FOR LUNAR SURFACE EXPLORATION
- Purdue University$575K
CHARACTERIZING HIGHWAYS & AUTOMATED NAVIGATION IN CISLUNAR ENVIRONMENT
ICE SHELL STRUCTURE OF EUROPA AS INFORMED BY THE JUNO MICROWAVE RADIOMETRY EXPERIMENT
BUILD MULTIPHYSICS MODELS
Lunar awards as prime
| Award | Description | Period | Obligated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80ARC017M0007 | MULTIPLE YEAR AWARD WITH INCREMENTAL FUNDING FOR YEARS ONE TO FIVE. THIS PROPOSAL IS ENTITLED RADIATION EFFECTS ON VOLATILES AND EXPLORATION OF ASTEROIDS AND LUNAR SURFACES REVEALS. THIS IS AWARDED IN RESPONSE TO COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NOTICE CAN NO. NNH16ZDA009C NASA SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION RESEARCH VIRTUAL INSTITUTE SSERVI CYCLE THREE 3. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IS DR. THOMAS M. ORLANDO WITH THE GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION GIT. PROJECT SUMMARY: RECENT SPACE EXPLORATION MISSIONS HAVE REVEALED VOLATILE DEPOSITS ON SEVERAL SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS INCLUDING THE MOON MARS MERCURY AND NEAR EARTH ASTEROIDS (NEAS). MOST OF THESE AIRLESS I.E. ZERO-ATMOSPHERE OBJECTS ARE UNDER CONSIDERATION BY NASA AS DESTINATIONS FOR FUTURE HUMAN EXPLORATION. THESE OBJECTS ARE BOMBARDED BY RADIATION (I.E. SOLAR WIND GALACTIC AND SOLAR COSMIC RAYS) AND THE INTERACTION OF RADIATION WITH THEIR SURFACES CAN ALTER AND EVEN PRODUCE VOLATILES. MORE IMPORTANTLY THE CONSTANT RADIATION ASSAULT POSES OBVIOUS LIFE-THREATENING AND PROGRAM-LIMITING HEALTH RISKS. AS A MEMBER OF THE SSERVI THE REVEALS TEAM WILL EXPLORE THE FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS CORRELATED WITH RADIATION PROCESSING OF NATURAL REGOLITH AND MAN-MADE COMPOSITE MATERIALS. THE REVEALS TEAM WILL FOCUS ON TWO INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH THEMES EACH COMPRISED OF MULTIPLE TASKS THAT WILL BE CARRIED OUT IN AN INTEGRATED SYSTEMS APPROACH.THEME 1 INTERACTION OF RADIATION AND MICROMETEORITES WITH SURFACE OF AIRLESS BODIES THE SOLAR WIND INTERACTION WITH REGOLITH HAS BEEN IMPLICATED AS A POSSIBLE SOURCE OF VOLATILES (I.E. WATER) THAT CAN BE TRAPPED AND SEQUESTERED IN THE NEAR SURFACE REGION OF THE MOON AND POSSIBLY DEMOS PHOBOS AND NEAS. THE RELEVANT PHYSICAL PROCESSES AND DRIVING INTERACTIONS ARE UNCLEAR. THEREFORE THEME 1 WILL FOCUS ON THREE TASKS: 1) EXAMINE SOLAR WIND MICROMETEORITE PROCESSING OF AIRLESS BODY SURFACES AND DUST IRRADIATION SOURCES 2 DEVELOP MOLECULAR MODELS DESCRIBING RADIATION INDUCED TRANSFORMATION OF REGOLITH 3 EXAMINE THE ROLE OF CHARGING AND ELECTRIC FIELDS ON VOLATILE FORMATION/RELEASE AND 4) TEST SOLAR COLLECTION PANELS AS AN IN SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION STRATEGY OF PRODUCING WATER FROM REGOLITHTHEME 2 DEVELOPING AND TESTING NEW MATERIALS FOR IMPROVED SAFETY AND HEALTH DURING HUMAN EXPLORATION HUMAN EXPLORATION MISSIONS BEYOND NEAR EARTH ORBIT CANNOT OCCUR WITHOUT A VALIDATED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING ASTRONAUT HEALTH RISKS DUE TO RADIATION. THIS REQUIRES CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SPACE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF RADIATION PROTECTION METHODOLOGIES AND THE ABILITY TO PREDICT AND MONITOR THE RADIATION ABSORBED BY ASTRONAUTS ON A REAL-TIME AND MISSION-INTEGRATED BASIS. AS OF 2016 THE DEEP-SPACE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT IS REASONABLY CHARACTERIZED BUT RADIATION PROTECTION MATERIALS FOR HUMAN HABITATS AND SPACE-SUITS HAVE NOT BEEN FULLY DEVELOPED AND CHARACTERIZED AND REAL-TIME RADIATION MONITORS ARE IN THEIR INFANCY. FOR EXAMPLE REAL-TIME AREA RADIATION MONITORS ARE CURRENTLY UTILIZED ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WITH INCONSISTENT RESULTS AND THEY ARE NOT INTEGRATED WITH SPACE-SUITS. DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG FLEXIBLE AND RADIATION PROTECTIVE MATERIAL IS ALSO LAGGING. THEREFORE THEME 2 WILL FOCUS ON ASSESSING AND MITIGATING HUMAN RADIATION RISKS BY 1 TESTING REGOLITH AS A POTENTIAL SHIELDING MATERIAL 2) DEVELOPING CHARACTERIZING AND TESTING NOVEL COMPOSITE MATERIALS FOR SUPERIOR MECHANICAL THERMAL AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES 3 INTEGRATING THE BEST POLYMER COMPOSITES AS MODIFICATION TO EXISTING SPACE-SUITS AND 4 DEVELOPING REAL-TIME LOW WEIGHT AND LOW POWER CONSUMPTION RADIATION MONITORING DEVICES USING GRAPHENE AND OTHER 2D MATERIALS. | 2017-08-18 → ? | $5.9M |
| 80NSSC23M0229 | CENTER FOR LUNAR ENVIRONMENT AND VOLATILE EXPLORATION RESEARCH (CLEVER) | 2023-08-08 → 2028-08-07 | $4.8M |
| 80NSSC25K7618 | EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES. DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS | 2025-03-15 → 2028-03-14 | $636K |
| NNX16AR59G | THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO ADDRESS THE EXECUTION OF REPETITIVE ROUTINE AND POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS TASKS BY ROBOTS OPERATING IN CREWED LOW EARTH ORBIT LUNAR AND MARS-BASED DEPLOYMENTS. CURRENT PRACTICES IN DEPLOYING ROBOTIC SPACE SYSTEMS ARE LIMITED TO MANUAL TELEOPERATION BY CREW IN CO-LOCATED SETTINGS AND THE USE OF CAREFULLY HAND-CRAFTED STRUCTURED CONTROL SEQUENCES FROM GROUND CONTROL. BOTH APPROACHES ARE COSTLY IN TERMS OF CREW TIME AND EFFORT AND ARE NOT SCALABLE FOR LONG-TERM CO-ROBOT DEPLOYMENTS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH SEEKS TO IMPROVE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS BY LOWERING DEPLOYMENT TIME INCREASING ROBUSTNESS OF ROUTINE OPERATIONS AND INCREASING SUPPORT FOR HUMAN ASTRONAUTS BY ENABLING A ROBOT TO LEVERAGE THE INPUT IT OBTAINS FROM HUMAN OPERATORS TO INCREMENTALLY INCREASE OPERATIONAL AUTONOMY. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH FOCUSES ON TECHNIQUES FOR IDENTIFYING WHAT INFORMATION IS NEEDED TO IMPROVE TASK PERFORMANCE DECISION MECHANISMS FOR SELECTING BETWEEN CREW AND GROUND CONTROL INTERACTIONS DEVELOPMENT OF INTERFACE METHODOLOGIES FOR TASK RECOVERY INTERACTIONS AND ALGORITHMIC METHODS FOR IMPROVING AUTONOMY BASED ON THE ACQUIRED INSTRUCTIONS. | 2016-10-03 → 2020-10-02 | $560K |
| 80NSSC25K7199 | EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. | 2024-10-18 → 2027-10-17 | $504K |
| 80NSSC25K7873 | EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS | 2025-06-01 → 2028-05-31 | $496K |
| 80NSSC20K0463 | THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CONSTRAIN THE INFLUENCE OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD PERTURBATIONS NEAR EUROPA ON THE DYNAMICS OF ENERGETIC IONS NEAR THE MOON AND ON THE SPUTTERING (ION EROSION) RATE OF ITS SURFACE. | 2020-02-01 → 2024-01-31 | $328K |
| 80NSSC18K0968 | BASED ON A COMBINATION OF NUMERICAL MODELLING AND CASSINI OBSERVATIONS WE PLAN TO STUDY THE EMISSION MORPHOLOGY OF ENERGETIC NEUTRAL ATOMS (ENAS) FROM TITAN'S ATMOSPHERE. THESE EMISSION PATTERNS CONTAIN AN ADMIXTURE OF INFORMATION ON THE PARTICLE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS AND THE DRAPED MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATION NEAR TITAN I.E. THE ENA IMAGES TAKEN BY CASSINI CAN BE REGARDED AS SNAPSHOTS OF TITAN'S PLASMA INTERACTION REGION ON A GLOBAL SCALE. IN THE FIRST PART OF THE PROJECT WE WILL SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF THE DRAPED MAGNETIC FIELD NEAR TITAN ON THE ENA EMISSION PATTERN. THE STRUCTURE OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS NEAR TITAN IS DETERMINED BY ASYMMETRIES DUE TO LARGE PICK-UP ION GYRORADII AS WELL AS THE MOON'S CHANGING DISTANCE TO THE CENTER OF SATURN'S MAGNETODISK CURRENT SHEET AND ITS ORBITAL POSITION. THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATION NEAR TITAN WILL BE COMPUTED WITH AN ESTABLISHED HYBRID (KINETIC IONS FLUID ELECTRONS) MODEL OF THE MOON'S INTERACTION WITH SATURN'S MAGNETOSPHERIC PLASMA. FOR VARIOUS SETS OF UPSTREAM PLASMA/MAGNETIC FIELD CONDITIONS WE WILL THEN CALCULATE THE ENA EMISSION FLUX THROUGH A CONCENTRIC SPHERE AROUND TITAN. TO ISOLATE THE IMPACT OF THE DRAPED AND ASYMMETRIC FIELD CONFIGURATION NEAR TITAN WE WILL COMPARE THE RESULTS TO THE EMISSION PATTERNS CALCULATED FOR SPATIALLY HOMOGENEOUS ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS. WE WILL ALSO MODEL THE IMPACT OF SHORT-SCALE TIME VARIATIONS IN TITAN'S ELECTROMAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT ON THE TRAJECTORIES OF THE ENERGETIC PARENT IONS. THE SECOND PART OF THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THE GENERATION OF SYNTHETIC ENA IMAGES FOR SPECIFIC TITAN FLYBYS AND THEIR COMPARISON AGAINST IMAGES TAKEN BY THE CASSINI ION AND NEUTRAL CAMERA (INCA). IN THIS WAY WE SHALL CONSTRAIN THE POTENTIAL OF ENA OBSERVATIONS TO CHARACTERIZE THE VARIOUS ASYMMETRIES OF TITAN'S INDUCED MAGNETOSPHERE ON A GLOBAL SCALE. THE MAGNETIC FIELD OUTPUT FROM THE HYBRID MODEL WILL ALSO BE COMPARED AGAINST CASSINI MAGNETOMETER DATA THEREBY SIMULTANEOUSLY CONSTRAINING THE ASYMMETRIES OF TITAN'S INDUCED MAGNETOSPHERE ON A LOCAL SCALE. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: THIS PROJECT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CASSINI INCA AND MAGNETOMETER DATA FROM NUMEROUS TITAN FLYBYS. THE SYNTHETIC ENA FLUX MAPS GENERATED DURING THIS EFFORT WILL PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR A SYSTEMATIC DECOMPOSITION OF THE VARIOUS EFFECTS (DIFFERENT MAGNETOSPHERIC UPSTREAM REGIMES ASYMMETRIES DUE TO LARGE PICKUP ION GYRORADII) THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE IMAGES TAKEN BY THE INCA CAMERA. THE COMPARISONS BETWEEN HYBRID MODELLING RESULTS AND CASSINI MAGNETOMETER DATA WILL PERMIT AN INDEPENDENT CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ASYMMETRIES INVOLVED IN TITAN'S PLASMA INTERACTION AT A LOCAL SCALE. THUS THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION WILL MAKE SIGNIFICANT USE OF/GREATLY ENHANCE THE INTERPRETATION OF DATA RETURNED BY CASSINI'S INSTRUMENTS AS REQUIRED IN SECTION 1.1 PAGE C.10-1 OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT FOR THE CASSINI DATA ANALYSIS (CDAP) PROGRAM. IN ADDITION THE PROPOSED MODEL OF THE ENA EMISSION MORPHOLOGY WILL SIGNIFICANTLY "FACILITATE THE INTERPRETATION OF DATA FROM THE MISSION" AS REQUIRED IN SECTION 1.1 OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR CDAP (CF. PAGE C.10-1). THUS THIS WORK HAS SIGNIFICANT RELEVANCE TO THE CASSINI DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM AND IS THEREFORE RELEVANT TO NASA. | 2018-07-01 → 2022-06-30 | $316K |
| NNX17AF84G | A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF TITAN'S MAGNETIC ENVIRONMENTWE PLAN TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE OF THE AMBIENT MAGNETIC FIELD CONDITIONS ALONG TITAN'S ORBIT AND THE FIELD PERTURBATIONS WITHIN THE MOON'S INDUCED MAGNETOSPHERE BY APPLYING A COMBINATION OF CASSINI MAGNETIC FIELD (MAG) DATA ANALYSIS AND HYBRID (KINETIC IONS FLUID ELECTRONS) PLASMA SIMULATIONS. IN THE FIRST PART OF THE PROJECT WE WILL APPLY THE CLASSIFICATION TECHNIQUE OF SIMON ET AL. (2010) TO ALL AVAILABLE CROSSINGS OF TITAN'S ORBIT AND DETERMINE WHETHER THESE CROSSINGS TOOK PLACE IN A CURRENT SHEET OR A LOBE-TYPE MAGNETOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. THESE RESULTS WILL THEN BE COMBINED TO AN EMPIRICAL MODEL OF TITAN'S MAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT PROVIDING THE PROBABILITY FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF EACH ENVIRONMENT CATEGORY AS A FUNCTION OF SATURNIAN LOCAL TIME AND SEASON IN THE SATURNIAN YEAR. THIS MODEL WILL BE COMPARED TO AN ANALOGOUS SURVEY OF THE MAGNETOSPHERIC ELECTRON POPULATIONS ALONG TITAN'S ORBIT (SMITH AND RYMER 2014). THE SECOND PART OF THE PROJECT DEALS WITH A SYSTEMATIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE EXTENSIONS AND MAGNITUDES OF THE FIELD PERTURBATIONS IN TITAN'S RAMSIDE MAGNETIC PILE-UP REGION AND WAKESIDE MAGNETOTAIL. BY TRANSFORMING MAG DATA INTO A DRAPING COORDINATE SYSTEM THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE LOCAL MAGNETIC FIELD ORIENTATION THE DEPENDENCY OF THESE STRUCTURES ON TITAN'S ORBITAL POSITION ON THE DISTANCE TO THE MOON AND ON THE TYPE OF THE MAGNETOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT (CURRENT SHEET MAGNETODISK LOBE) WILL BE INVESTIGATED. CASSINI MAG DATA FROM ALL TITAN FLYBYS WILL THEN BE SUPERIMPOSED TO GENERATE AVERAGED PROFILES OF THE MOON'S INDUCED MAGNETOSPHERE WHEN EXPOSED TO A CERTAIN TYPE OF PLASMA ENVIRONMENT. IN THE THIRD PART OF THE PROJECT THESE PROFILES OF TITAN'S INDUCED MAGNETOSPHERE WILL BE COMPARED AGAINST THE OUTPUT OF A HYBRID SIMULATION OF TITAN'S PLASMA INTERACTION. IN THIS WAY WE SHALL INFER WHETHER THE SUPERPOSITION OF MAG DATA FROM MULTIPLE FLYBYS ALLOWS TO CONSTRUCT A QUANTITATIVELY CONSISTENT THREE-DIMENSIONAL PICTURE OF THE AVERAGE STATE OF TITAN'S INDUCED MAGNETOSPHERE. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: THIS PROJECT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CASSINI MAGNETOMETER DATA FROM ALL AVAILABLE CASSINI CROSSINGS OF TITAN'S ORBIT. DATA FROM MULTIPLE FLYBYS WILL BE COMBINED TO CHARACTERIZE THE AMBIENT MAGNETIC FIELD NEAR TITAN AND THE RESPONSE OF THE MOON'S INDUCED MAGNETOSPHERE TO DIFFERENT AMBIENT FIELD REGIMES. BY COMPARING OUR RESULTS AGAINST THE AVAILABLE CATEGORIZATIONS OF THE ELECTRON POPULATIONS NEAR TITAN THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO FACILITATE THE UNDERSTANDING OF CASSINI ELECTRON DATA FROM THE TITAN FLYBYS. THUS THE DATA ANALYSIS COMPONENT OF THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION WILL MAKE SIGNIFICANT USE OF/GREATLY ENHANCE THE INTERPRETATION OF DATA FROM CASSINI'S INSTRUMENTS AS REQUIRED IN SECTION 1.1 PAGE C.10-1 OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT FOR THE CASSINI DATA ANALYSIS (CDAP) PROGRAM. IN ADDITION THE HYBRID MODELLING COMPONENT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY "FACILITATE THE INTERPRETATION OF MISSION DATA" AS REQUIRED IN SECTION 1.1 OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR CDAP (CF. PAGE C.10-1). THUS THIS WORK HAS SIGNIFICANT RELEVANCE TO THE CASSINI DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM AND IS THEREFORE RELEVANT TO NASA. | 2017-02-03 → 2021-02-02 | $307K |
| 80NSSC17K0772 | ALTHOUGH OBSERVATIONS FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE (HST) IN DECEMBER 2012 SUGGESTED THE PRESENCE OF WATER VAPOR PLUMES AT THE SOUTH POLE OF THE JOVIAN MOON EUROPA THIS FINDING COULD NOT BE CONFIRMED DURING SEVERAL FOLLOW-UP CAMPAIGNS. ONLY VERY RECENTLY ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE OF PLUMES AT EUROPA WAS FOUND IN HST DATA. HOWEVER THE MECHANISM THAT GOVERNS THE ACTIVITY VARIATIONS OF THESE VENTS IS YET TO BE REVEALED. TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF PLUMES AT EUROPA AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE MOON'S MAGNETOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT THIS PROJECT WILL EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY TO INDEPENDENTLY CONSTRAIN THE PROPERTIES OF THESE PLUMES THROUGH IN-SITU PLASMA AND MAGNETIC FIELD OBSERVATIONS FROM PAST (GALILEO) AND FUTURE (JUICE EUROPA CLIPPER) SPACECRAFT MISSIONS. BY APPLYING A HYBRID SIMULATION MODEL (KINETIC IONS FLUID ELECTRONS) WE WILL SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS HOW DIFFERENT PLUME SOURCE STRENGTHS AND LOCATIONS WOULD MODIFY THE PLASMA AND MAGNETIC FIELD PERTURBATIONS GENERATED BY THE INTERACTION OF EUROPA'S ASYMMETRIC GLOBAL ATMOSPHERE AND INDUCED DIPOLE WITH THE AMBIENT MAGNETOSPHERIC PLASMA. ESPECIALLY WE WILL MODEL THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENT PLUME CONFIGURATIONS ON THE AMBIENT PLASMA FOR VARIOUS DISTANCES BETWEEN EUROPA AND JUPITER'S PLASMA SHEET. WHEN EUROPA IS LOCATED AWAY FROM THE CENTER OF THE SHEET THE MOON'S IMMEDIATE MAGNETIC ENVIRONMENT IS DOMINATED BY THE DIPOLE FIELD INDUCED IN ITS CONDUCTING SUBSURFACE OCEAN. WE WILL DETERMINE WHETHER THIS INDUCED FIELD CAN OBSCURE THE VISIBILITY OF POSSIBLE PLUMES IN MAGNETIC FIELD DATA. IN ADDITION WE WILL ANALYZE TO WHAT DEGREE LARGE-SCALE ASYMMETRIES IN EUROPA'S GLOBAL ATMOSPHERE CAN COMPLICATE THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE MAGNETIC AND PLASMA SIGNATURES GENERATED BY PLUMES. BASED ON THE MODEL WE WILL ALSO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF POSSIBLE PLUMES ON THE CURRENT SYSTEMS AND MAGNETIC FIELD SIGNATURES IN EUROPA'S DISTANT ALFVEN WINGS THEREBY EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY TO USE DATA FROM DISTANT FLYBYS FOR A "REMOTE" CHARACTERIZATION OF PLUMES. | 2017-11-01 → 2021-10-31 | $283K |
| 80NSSC25K7696 | EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS | 2025-05-01 → 2028-04-30 | $268K |
| 80NSSC24K1376 | THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DESIGN AND DEMONSTRATE A PROTOTYPE LUNAR SURFACE REACTOR THAT CAN PROCESS SALVAGED ORBITAL DEBRIS INTO COMMODITY FEEDSTOCK MATERIAL WHICH MEETS PURITY STANDARDS REQUIRED BY IN-SPACE MANUFACTURING | 2024-08-01 → 2028-07-31 | $250K |
| 80NSSC25K7541 | THE ROSES FUNDING OPPORTUNITY GOALS ARE: EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGENCY S EXPLORATION INITIATIVE FOCUSING ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF ON AND FROM THE MOON LUNAR ORBIT MARS AND BEYOND. ADVANCE DISCOVERY IN EMERGING FIELDS BY IDENTIFYING AND EXPLOITING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES DEVELOP A DIRECTORATE-WIDE TARGET-USER FOCUSED APPROACH TO APPLIED PROGRAMS INCLUDING EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATIONS SPACE WEATHER PLANETARY DEFENSE AND SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. | 2025-02-20 → 2028-02-19 | $242K |
| FA95502310590 | (MINERVA) "UNDERSTANDING MULTI-STAKEHOLDER REGIME FORMATION: THE CASE OF CISLUNAR SPACE" | 2023-08-28 → 2025-03-12 | $238K |
| 80NSSC21K1267 | IN LIGHT OF THE ARTEMIS 2024 MISSION AND IN PREPARATION FOR CREWED MISSIONS TO MARS ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING HAS GATHERED MOMENTUM FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ON OTHER CELESTIAL BODIES. | 2021-08-16 → 2024-05-03 | $210K |
| 80NSSC25K7247 | DELAYS IN SPACE/GROUND COMMUNICATION DUE TO SIGNAL LATENCY WILL PRESENT A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE TO THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN ARTEMIS CREWS AND SUPPORT PERSONNEL ON EARTH. PAST RESEARCH EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF SIGNAL LATENCY OBSERVED THAT THE QUALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF REMOTE TEAM MEMBERS' COMMUNICATION SUFFERED IRRESPECTIVE OF THE DELAY DURATION OR MEDIA (VOICE OR TEXTING). HOWEVER THIS WORK FOCUSED ON LATENCIES MORE CHARACTERISTIC OF MARS MISSIONS THAN THE SHORTER DELAYS CHARACTERISTIC OF LUNAR EXPLORATION. BECAUSE THE DELAY AT THE MOON WILL BE QUITE SHORT SPACE CREWS AND GROUND SUPPORT MAY BE INCLINED TO COMMUNICATE VIA VOICE AS THEY CURRENTLY DO IN ISS OPERATIONS. HOWEVER A SMALL STUDY OF REMOTE COLLABORATION SUGGESTS THAT LATENCIES EVEN AS SHORT AS 3 SECONDS COULD DEGRADE THE QUALITY OF TEAM MEMBERS' VOICE COMMUNICATION AND IMPAIR THEIR ABILITY TO MAINTAIN COMMON GROUND -- WHICH IS ESSENTIAL FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND PERCEPTIONS OF CONNECTEDNESS BETWEEN REMOTE TEAM MEMBERS. THE LATTER ASPECT SEEMS PARTICULARLY PERTINENT IN LIGHT OF RESEARCH INDICATING THAT SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SPACE CREW AND MISSION SUPPORT ON EARTH ARE CRITICAL TO THEIR EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION. THE AIM OF THE PROPOSED EFFORT IS TO EXPLORE THE VIABILITY OF VOICE COMMUNICATION UNDER LOW SIGNAL LATENCIES REPRESENTATIVE OF LUNAR MISSIONS AND TO EXAMINE BRAIDING A SOFTWARE-DELIVERED TEXT COMMUNICATION TOOL AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO VOICE COMMUNICATION UNDER THESE LATENCIES. BRAIDING WAS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO FACILITATE SPACE/GROUND COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION AND TO PROMOTE A SENSE OF COPRESENCE AND CONNECTEDNESS BETWEEN REMOTE TEAM MEMBERS DESPITE SIGNAL LATENCY. AS A PROXY FOR SPACE/GROUND COLLABORATION THE PROPOSED WORK WILL FOCUS ON THE PRIVATE MEDICAL CONFERENCE (PMC) A TYPE OF OPERATIONAL CONVERSATION THAT NOT ONLY HAS VITAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS FOR CREWS DURING EXPLORATION MISSIONS BUT ALSO REQUIRES ORGANIZED AND COHERENT COMMUNICATION HAS MEASURABLE PERFORMANCE COMPONENTS AND RESTS ON THE PERCEPTION OF BEING ENGAGED IN A REAL CONVERSATION WITH A REAL PERSON. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL INVOLVE A HUMAN-IN-THE-LOOP DESIGN USED SUCCESSFULLY IN PAST RESEARCH ON REMOTE COMMUNICATION. THE STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLINE WITH CURRENT NASA FLIGHT SURGEONS AND WILL INVOLVE TWO TEST SESSIONS ABOUT ONE WEEK APART. PAIRS OF PARTICIPANTS WILL FORM A SPACE/GROUND TEAM ROLE-PLAYING A PMC UNDER VARIOUS SIGNAL LATENCIES USING BRAIDING OR VOICE COMMUNICATION DEPENDENT ON TEST SESSION. PMC SCENARIOS WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH THE HELP OF A SUBJECT-MATTER EXPERT AND WILL INVOLVE AN AMBIGUOUS HEALTH ISSUE EXPERIENCED BY THE ASTRONAUT AND REQUIRING DIAGNOSIS BY THE FLIGHT SURGEON (MD). THE PARTICIPANT ROLE-PLAYING THE ASTRONAUT WILL RECEIVE MEDICALLY RELEVANT INFORMATION SUFFICIENT FOR THE MD PARTICIPANT TO IDENTIFY THE UNDERLYING CAUSE ( CORRECT DIAGNOSIS AS PER SCENARIO DESIGN) FROM SEVERAL PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATIONS. THE STUDY DESIGN WILL ENABLE US TO (1) DETERMINE WHETHER SHORT LATENCIES UNDERMINE THE VIABILITY AND BENEFITS OF VOICE COMMUNICATION DURING PMCS IN CONTRAST TO BRAIDING AND (2) COMPARE SUBJECTIVE (E.G. RATINGS OF COMMUNICATION QUALITY AND COPRESENCE) AND OBJECTIVE MEASURES (E.G. COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS AND TASK PERFORMANCE) OF VOICE VS. BRAIDING FOR PMCS. IT IS HYPOTHESIZED THAT BRAIDING WILL BE EQUAL TO SYNCHRONOUS VOICE COMMUNICATION ON ALL MEASURES AND SUPERIOR TO VOICE UNDER TIME DELAY. THE PROPOSED WORK RELATES TO THE EXPECTED BENEFITS OF BRAIDING AS AN EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURE TO THE RISKS OF COMMUNICATION DELAYS TO THE FUNCTIONING OF THE SPACE/GROUND TEAM AND TO CREW HEALTH DURING ARTEMIS MISSIONS. SPECIFICALLY THE WORK WILL ADDRESS HRR GAPS TEAM-105--NEED TO IDENTIFY COUNTERMEASURES TO SUPPORT TEAM FUNCTION--AND BMED 106--IDENTIFY EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO MAINTAIN PERSONAL RELATIONS/INTERACTIONS TO MITIGATE ADVERSE C/P/PSY/N OUTCOMES DURING INCREASINGLY EARTH-INDEPENDENT LONG DURATION MISSIONS. | 2024-10-01 → 2026-04-30 | $150K |
| 80NSSC24M0066 | EVALUATION OF LUNAR MAPS AND TERRAN RELATIVE NAVIGATION ALGORITHMS | 2024-05-01 → 2026-04-30 | $149K |
| 80NSSC22M0269 | SIMULATING ELECTROSTATICALLY CHARGED GRAIN INTERACTIONS WITH SURFACES ON THE MOON | 2022-10-01 → 2024-09-30 | $127K |
| 80NSSC25M7005 | NAVIGATING TO OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES PARTICULARLY DURING ENTRY DESCENT AND LANDING REQUIRES IN-SITU RELATIVE MEASUREMENTS BETWEEN THE SPACECRAFT/LANDER AND THE TARGET BODY. TYPICALLY THESE TAKE THE FORM OF OPTICAL TERRAIN RELATIVE NAVIGATION (TRN) MEASUREMENTS WHICH REQUIRE DETAILED MAPS OF THE SURFACE BEING OBSERVED. NASA'S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER LUNAMAPS PROJECT HAS BEEN CREATED TO DEVELOP TECHNIQUES FOR BUILDING AND EVALUATING NAVIGATION MAPS FOR THE LUNAR SURFACE (AND THE SURFACES OF OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES).THE LUNAMAPS PROJECT IS DEVELOPING A PIPELINE TO EASE CONVERSION OF ORBITAL IMAGERY DATA INTO HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS OF THE LUNAR SURFACE USING THE AMES STEREO PIPELINE (ASP). | 2024-08-20 → 2026-01-31 | $105K |
| 80NSSC24PC293 | LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS OF LUNAR POWER GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION STUDY. | 2024-09-03 → 2025-04-30 | $100K |
| 2209792 | COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FRAMEWORKS: SIMULATING AUTONOMOUS AGENTS AND THE HUMAN-AUTONOMOUS AGENT INTERACTION -THIS PROJECT AUGMENTS THE CHRONO COMPUTER SIMULATION PLATFORM IN TRANSFORMATIVE WAYS. CHRONO'S PURPOSE IS TO PREDICT THROUGH SIMULATION THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN MECHATRONIC SYSTEMS, THE ENVIRONMENT THEY OPERATE IN, AND HUMANS WITH WHOM THEY MIGHT INTERACT. THE OPEN-SOURCE SIMULATION PLATFORM IS SLATED TO BECOME A COMMUNITY-SHARED VIRTUAL INVESTIGATION TOOL USED TO PROBE COMPETING ENGINEERING DESIGNS AND TEST HYPOTHESES THAT WOULD BE TOO DANGEROUS, DIFFICULT, OR COSTLY TO VERIFY THROUGH PHYSICAL EXPERIMENTS. CHRONO HAS BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE USED IN MULTIPLE FIELDS AND DISCIPLINES, E.G., TERRAMECHANICS, ASTROPHYSICS; SOFT MATTER PHYSICS; BIOMECHANICS; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; CIVIL ENGINEERING; INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING; AND COMPUTER SCIENCE. SPECIFICALLY, IT IS USED TO ENGINEER THE 2023 VIPER LUNAR ROVER; RELIED UPON BY US ARMY EXPERTS IN EVALUATING ITS WHEELED AND TRACKED VEHICLE DESIGNS; USED IN THE US AND GERMANY IN THE WIND TURBINE INDUSTRY; AND INVOLVED IN DESIGNING WAVE ENERGY CONVERSION SOLUTIONS IN EUROPE. UPON PROJECT COMPLETION, CHRONO WILL BECOME A SIMULATION ENGINE IN GAZEBO, WHICH IS WIDELY USED IN ROBOTICS RESEARCH; OPERATE ON THE LARGEST DRIVING SIMULATOR IN THE US; EMPOWER RESEARCH IN THE BIO-ROBOTICS AND FIELD-ROBOTICS COMMUNITIES; AND ASSIST EFFORTS IN THE BROAD AREA OF AUTOMOTIVE RESEARCH CARRIED OUT BY A CONSORTIUM OF UNIVERSITIES AND COMPANIES UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF THE AUTOMOTIVE RESEARCH CENTER. THE EDUCATIONAL IMPACT OF THIS PROJECT IS THREEFOLD: TRAINING UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE, AND POST-DOCTORAL STUDENTS IN A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY FASHION THAT EMPHASIZES ADVANCED COMPUTING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT; ANCHORING TWO NEW COURSES IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE CONTROL AND SIMULATION IN ROBOTICS; AND BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN COMPUTING THROUGH A RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM ON THE CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON THAT ENGAGES TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FROM RURAL HIGH-SCHOOLS. INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY ARE FUELED BY QUALITY DATA. AT ITS CORE, THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO INCREASE THE SHARE OF THIS DATA THAT HAS SIMULATION AS ITS PROVENANCE. IN THIS CONTEXT, A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM OF 40 RESEARCHERS AUGMENTS AND VALIDATES A PHYSICS-BASED SIMULATION FRAMEWORK THAT EMPOWERS RESEARCH IN AUTONOMOUS AGENTS (AAS). THE AAS OPERATE IN COMPLEX AND UNSTRUCTURED DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS AND MIGHT ENGAGE IN TWO-WAY INTERACTION WITH HUMANS OR OTHER AAS. THIS PROJECT ENABLES CHRONO TO GENERATE MACHINE LEARNING TRAINING DATA QUICKLY AND INEXPENSIVELY; FACILITATES COMPARISON OF COMPETING DESIGNS FOR ASSESSING TRADE-OFFS; AND GAUGES CANDIDATE DESIGN ROBUSTNESS VIA TESTING IN SIMULATION OF CORNER-CASE SCENARIOS. THESE TASKS ARE ACCOMPLISHED BY UPGRADING AND EXTENDING CHRONO TO LEVERAGE RECENT COMPUTATIONAL DYNAMICS INNOVATIONS, E.G., A FASTER INDEX 3 DIFFERENTIAL ALGEBRAIC EQUATIONS SOLVER; A NEW APPROACH TO SOLVING FRICTIONAL CONTACT PROBLEMS; A REAL-TIME SOLVER FOR HANDLING FLEXIBLE-BODY DYNAMICS IN SOFT ROBOTICS VIA NONLINEAR FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS; A BEST-IN-CLASS SIMULATOR FOR TERRADYNAMICS APPLICATIONS; RELIANCE ON JUST-IN-TIME COMPILING FOR PRODUCING EXECUTABLES THAT ARE BOTH PROBLEM- AND HARDWARE-OPTIMIZED; A NOVEL WAY FOR USING MIXED DATA REPRESENTATIONS FOR PARSIMONIOUS STORING OF STATE INFORMATION; AND A SCALABLE MULTI-AGENT FRAMEWORK THAT ENABLES GEOGRAPHICALLY-DISTRIBUTED, OVER THE INTERNET, REAL-TIME SIMULATION OF HUMAN-AA INTERACTION. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA. | 2022-07-01 → 2025-06-30 | $100K |
| 80MSFC19M0044 | PROJECT TITLE: "PROPOSAL FOR COLLABORATION BETWEEN GEORGIA TECH AND MSFC TO DEVELOP A CONFIGURABLE PROPULSION SYSTEM CONTROLLER FOR LUNAR FLASHLIGHT" | 2019-09-03 → 2020-09-20 | $31K |