Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lunar obligations
$11Mas prime
Lunar awards
25as prime
Its subcontractors
2$68K reported
Primes it works for
5$826K in subawards
Who it subcontracts to
VECTOR INTERFEROMETRY SPACE TECHNOLOGY USING AERO (VISTA)
NOBLE GAS DIFFUSION RESEARCH
Who it works for
- Purdue University$253K
COLLABORATION ON CONSTRAINING LUNAR CRATER SATURATION BY MODELING GRAIL POROSITY
THE NEXT STAGE OF X-RAY SPEED-READING: DEVELOPING A SISERO ACTIVE PIXEL MATRIX
PARTICIPATION IN DECODE: DEVELOPING AN ECOSYSTEM TO COMPUTE OPACITY DATA FOR EXOPLANETS THROUGH QUANTUM CALCULATIONS OF THE MOLECULAR LINE SHAPE PARAMETERS.
BENJAMIN WEISS FOCUSES ON THE FORMATION, EVOLUTION, AND HISTORY OF THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS ANDSMALL BODIES, WITH PARTICULAR INTERESTS IN PALEOMAGNETISM AND GEOMAGNETISM, PLANETARY GEOPHYSICS, METEORITICS, AND PLANETARY PALEOCLIMATE AND HABITABILITY. HE STUDIES METEORITES AND SAMPLES FROM EXTRATERRESTRIAL BODIES TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY OF THESE PLANETARY GEOPHYSICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES. HE WILL DEVISE PALEOMAGNETIC STUDIES OF 10 – 12 SELECT SMALL BENNU PARTICLES, WILL ANALYZE AND INTERPRET THE MEASUREMENTS, AND INFER THE BROADER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS. EDUARDO ANDRADE LIMA IS AN EXPERT IN SCANNING MAGNETIC MICROSCOPY AND INVERSE PROBLEMS FOR MAGNETIC DATA. HE FOCUSES ON DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTATION AND TECHNIQUES FOR HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION, HIGH SENSITIVITY PALEOMAGNETIC ANALYSES. HE WILL CARRY OUT THE MAGNETIC MICROSCOPY MEASUREMENTS AND THE SAMPLE PREPARATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE PALEOMAGNETIC STUDIES OF 10 – 12 SELECT SMALL BENNU PARTICLES USING ALTERNATING-FIELD METHODS AND SCANNING SUPERCONDUCTING QUANTUM INTERFERENCE DEVICE (SQUID) MICROSCOPY, WILL PROCESS THE DATA AND COMPUTE INVERSIONS TO ESTIMATE NET MAGNETIC MOMENT AND/OR MAGNETIZATION DISTRIBUTION, AND WILL ANALYZE AND INTERPRET THE RESULTS.
CONSORTIUM FOR ULTRACOLD ATOMS IN SPACE
Lunar awards as prime
| Award | Description | Period | Obligated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80NSSC19K0617 | THE VECTOR INTERFEROMETRY SPACE TECHNOLOGY USING AERO (VISTA) MISSION IS A 90 DAY CUBESAT MISSION IN A POLAR ORBIT THAT WILL ADVANCE OUR ABILITY TO PERFORM RADIO INTERFEROMETRY USING CUBESATS IN SPACE. THIS MISSION IS A TECHNICAL PATHFINDER THAT LEVERAGES THE NASA LCAS AURORAL EMISSION RADIO OBSERVER (AERO) CUBESAT PROJECT BY DUPLICATING THAT SATELLITE IN A BUILD-TO-PRINT MANNER. VISTA WILL LAUNCH AT THE SAME TIME AS AERO. THE EXPERIMENT WILL USE THE TWO CUBESATS IN ORBIT AND COMBINE THEM WITH GROUND BASED BEACONS AND RECEIVERS TO DEMONSTRATE THE PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES OF VECTOR SENSOR INTERFEROMETRY (VSI) RELATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES. CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS WILL BE PERFORMED EARLY IN THE AERO MISSION LIFETIME SO THAT THE DATA COLLECTED CAN ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE ON ORBIT AERO CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION EFFORT. ..FOLLOWING THE INITIAL SPACE INTERFEROMETRY DATA COLLECTION THE VISTA SATELLITE WILL PERFORM PRIMARY ACTIVITIES TO COLLECT DATA RELEVANT TO RISK REDUCTION AND PLANNING FOR FUTURE LOW FREQUENCY HELIOPHYSICS RADIO CONSTELLATION MISSIONS. THESE INCLUDE COLLECTION OF RAW DATA WITH THE AERO SPACECRAFT OVER THE AURORAL ZONE FOR INTERFEROMETRIC ANALYSIS AND IMAGING OF AURORAL KILOMETRIC RADIATION (AKR). THESE MEASUREMENTS CAN AUGMENT BOTH EVENT COVERAGE THE ANGULAR RESOLUTION AND THE TIME RESOLUTION OF AERO MEASUREMENTS. THEY WILL ALSO PROVIDE DATA TO TEST ALGORITHMS FOR INTERFEROMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF AURORAL RADIO EMISSIONS FROM ORBIT. VISTA WILL ADDITIONALLY IMPLEMENT PERIODIC SAMPLING OF THE LOW FREQUENCY RADIO ENVIRONMENT IN ORBIT TO CHARACTERIZE SIGNALS DIRECTIONS OF ARRIVAL AND THE ABILITY TO NULL STRONG SIGNALS USING THE VECTOR SENSOR. THE NULLING CAPABILITY IS CRITICAL FOR OPERATION OF A LOW FREQUENCY SATELLITE CONSTELLATION NEAR TO THE EARTH AS OPPOSED TO A MORE ISOLATED LOCATION SUCH AS ON THE LUNAR FAR SIDE. ..OUR TECHNICAL APPROACH IS TO USE THE UNIQUE CAPABILITIES PROVIDED BY THE ELECTROMAGNETIC VECTOR SENSOR (EMVS) PLANNED FOR THE AERO MISSION. THIS SENSOR PROVIDES THE ABILITY TO MEASURE ANGLE OF ARRIVAL AND POLARIZATION INFORMATION FROM A COMMON RF PHASE CENTER USING SIX ORTHOGONAL DIPOLE AND LOOP ANTENNAS. THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM THE VECTOR SENSOR CAN BE USED TO ENABLE FUTURE INTERFEROMETRIC CONSTELLATIONS WITH LESS THAN HALF THE NUMBER OF SATELLITES WHEN COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL DIPOLE OR TRIPOLE ANTENNA BASED SYSTEMS. THIS IS DUE TO THE INCREASED DEGREES OF FREEDOM AVAILABLE THAT ARE INHERENT IN AN RF SENSOR MEASURING THE FULL INFORMATION CONTENT OF AN ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE. DEMONSTRATION OF VECTOR SENSOR INTERFEROMETRY AND IMAGING IS A KEY NEXT STEP BEYOND AERO. ..THE VISTA MISSION S DATA ACQUISITION STRATEGY WILL BE SIMILAR TO THE AERO SATELLITE BUT WILL FOCUS ON OBTAINING ADDITIONAL RAW RF VOLTAGE LEVEL DATA. THE DATA THAT ARE COLLECTED WILL FOCUS ON INTERVALS THAT ENABLE DEMONSTRATION OF KEY INTERFEROMETRIC MEASUREMENTS. TO ACCOMPLISH THE DATA COLLECTION WE WILL DOUBLE THE USE OF THE MSU SYSTEM AND ENABLE THE 18M WESTFORD RADIO TELESCOPE AS AN S-BAND GROUND STATION. GROUND BASED ASSETS WILL ALSO BE USED TO PROVIDE A CONTROLLED RADIO BEACON AND ADDITIONAL INTERFEROMETRIC BASELINES. IN PARTICULAR THE USE OF BOTH SPACE AND GROUND BASED BASELINES MAY ENABLE US TO PROVIDE CLOSURE PHASE AND AMPLITUDE CALIBRATION FOR THE MEASUREMENTS WHEN IONOSPHERIC REFRACTION IS PROPERLY MODELED. FROM A HELIOPHYSICS TECHNOLOGY PERSPECTIVE SPACE RADIO INTERFEROMETRY IS NECESSARY FOR SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF RADIO EMISSION FROM THE SOLAR CORONA INNER HELIOSPHERE AND ALSO EMISSIONS FROM OTHER PLANETARY BODIES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM SUCH AS THE EARTH JUPITER AND SATURN. . | 2019-03-01 → 2024-12-31 | $3.7M |
| 80NSSC20K1846 | THIS PROPOSAL WILL SUPPORT THE RESEARCH WORK OF THE PI DR DAVID E. SMITH AND THE CO-I PROFESSOR MARIA T. ZUBER AND THEIR MANAGEMENT OF THE LOLA SCIENCE AND INSTRUMENT TEAM OF THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER (LRO) MISSION. THE RESEARCH OF THE PI | 2020-10-01 → 2028-08-31 | $1.6M |
| 80NSSC20M0071 | DR. NEWMAN WILL BE THE LEAD FOR ASSESSING CONCEPTS OF OPERATIONS CAPABILITIES AND RELATED HUMAN-ROBOTIC INTERACTIONS (HRI) IN SUPPORT OF LUNAR ROBOTIC ISRU EXPLORATION. SHE WILL LEAD THE RESOURCE WORK ON HUMAN MACHINE COLLABORATION (HMC) CONCEPTS | 2020-02-01 → 2024-10-15 | $842K |
| NNX15AL62G | A MANIFESTATION OF PLANETARY DIFFERENTIATION IS THE DYNAMO PROCESS, THE INDUCTIVE GENERATION OF MAGNETIC FIELDS IN FLUID CORES. ALTHOUGH THE MOON TOD | 2015-07-25 → 2020-07-24 | $589K |
| 80NSSC21K0154 | THE INDUCTIVE GENERATION OF A GLOBAL MAGNETIC FIELD BY THE MOTION OF CONDUCTING FLUID IN A PLANETARY CORE IS KNOWN AS THE DYNAMO. ALTHOUGH THE MOON TODAY HAS NO GLOBAL MAGNETIC FIELD RECENT PALEOMAGNETIC MEASUREMENTS OF APOLLO SAMPLES INDICATE THAT THE MOON GENERATED A DYNAMO FROM AT LEAST 4.25 TO 1.92 BILLION YEARS AGO (GA). FURTHERMORE SAMPLE MEASUREMENTS SUGGEST THAT PRIOR TO ABOUT 3.5 GA A PUTATIVE HIGH-FIELD EPOCH EXISTED WHEN THE FIELD INTENSITY MAY HAVE REACHED ~70 MICROTESLAS (UT) (EARTH-STRENGTH). HOWEVER BECAUSE METALLIC MINERALS IN LUNAR SAMPLES ALTER WHEN HEATED IN AIR NEARLY ALL PREVIOUS PALEOINTENSITY DETERMINATIONS FROM SAMPLES OLDER THAN ~3.3 GA HAVE EMPLOYED NON-HEATING TECHNIQUES WHICH HAVE UNCERTAINTIES RANGING UP TO AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE OR MORE FOR SOME SAMPLES. DYNAMO SCALING LAWS INDICATE THAT IF THE MOON S DYNAMO WERE GENERATED BY CONVECTION IN THE CORE ITS SURFACE FIELD SHOULD NOT HAVE CONTINUOUSLY EXCEEDED ~10 UT OVER THE PERIOD 4.2-3.5 GA. THEREFORE IF THE FIELD INDEED CONTINUOUSLY REACHED SUCH VALUES OF>70 UT AS TENTATIVELY SUGGESTED BY EXISTING DATA THEN TWO POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS ARE (I) THE LUNAR CORE GENERATED A CONVECTIVE DYNAMO BUT ONE THAT ONLY INTERMITTENTLY REACHED SUCH HIGH FIELDS DURING THIS PERIOD OR (II) THE LUNAR DYNAMO WAS DRIVEN BY A PROCESS OTHER THAN CORE CONVECTION THAT WAS CAPABLE OF CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCING STRONGER FIELDS. ALTERNATIVELY (III) THE HIGH APPARENT PALEOINTENSITIES ARE IN ERROR AND THE FIELD NEVER ACTUALLY EXCEED 10 UT. ANY OF THESE 3 OUTCOMES WOULD HAVE MAJOR IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOON S ORIGIN THERMAL HISTORY INTERIOR STRUCTURE ORBITAL HISTORY AND THE PHYSICS OF DYNAMO GENERATION. THE KEY TO RESOLVING THIS ISSUE IS TO OBTAIN ACCURATE (<10% UNCERTAINTY) PALEOINTENSITIES. SUCH ACCURACIES COULD BE OBTAINED IF LABORATORY HEATING COULD BE CONDUCTED WITHOUT ALTERING THE SAMPLES. WITH THIS GOAL WE RECENTLY DEVELOPED A CONTROLLED-OXYGEN FUGACITY THERMAL DEMAGNETIZATION SYSTEM. FURTHERMORE WE HAVE RECENTLY RECOGNIZED THAT GLASSY LUNAR REGOLITH BRECCIAS HAVE OPTIMAL MAGNETIC RECORDING PROPERTIES DUE TO THE FINE SIZES OF THEIR CONSTITUENT METAL GRAINS. APPLYING THIS CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE HEATING APPARATUS TO THREE REGOLITH BRECCIAS WE HAVE RECENTLY OBTAINED THE FIRST ACCURATE HEATING-BASED LUNAR PALEOINTENSITIES FOR THE PERIOD AFTER 2 GA. HERE WE PROPOSE TO CONSTRAIN THE INTENSITY OF THE EARLY LUNAR DYNAMO AND OR REFUTE THE EXISTENCE OF A HIGH-FIELD (I.E. TENS OF UT) EPOCH USING CONTROLLED-ATMOSPHERE THERMAL PALEOINTENSITY ANALYSES. WE WILL ANALYZE FOUR GLASSY LUNAR BRECCIAS OLDER THAN 3.4 GA THAT ARE LIKELY TO HAVE HIGH-FIDELITY RECORDS OF THE GLOBAL LUNAR FIELD SPANNING>0.2 BILLION YEARS OF HISTORY. WE WILL CONDUCT THIS WORK AS PART OF TWO TASKS: TASK 1. MEASURE THE PALEOINTENSITY OF THE LUNAR FIELD USING PALEOMAGNETIC ANALYSES TASK 2. CONSTRAIN THE AGES OF THE PALEOINTENSITIES USING AR-BASED GEOCHRONOMETRY. IF WE FIND THAT THE LUNAR FIELD OVER THE PERIOD ~3.4-4.9 GA WAS EITHER CONTINUOUSLY PRESENT BUT WEAKER THAN ~10 UT OR ELSE GREATER THAN 10 UT BUT ONLY INTERMITTENTLY THEN THIS WOULD INDICATE THAT THE EARLY DYNAMO COULD HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY CORE CONVECTION [OUTCOME (I) ABOVE]. ALTERNATIVELY IF WE FIND THAT THE DYNAMO SURFACE FIELD WAS CONTINUOUSLY STRONGER THAN ~10 UT OVER THIS PERIOD THIS WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE DYNAMO WAS GENERATED BY A PROCESS OTHER THAN CORE CONVECTION [OUTCOME (II)]. FINALLY IF WE FIND (III) THAT ALL PALEOINTENSITIES DURING THIS PERIOD ARE ACTUALLY WEAKER THAN ~10 UT THEN THIS WOULD BE COMPATIBLE WITH A CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING CORE CONVECTION DYNAMO. | 2020-10-26 → 2025-10-25 | $520K |
| 80NSSC25K0347 | 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 AGENCYS 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. | 2025-10-01 → 2028-09-30 | $431K |
| 80NSSC17K0773 | THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM IS TO USE PHASE EQUILIBRIUM EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF MELTING OF LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN (LMO) CUMULATES. A SERIES OF CUMULATE COMPOSITIONS THAT SPAN THE MIDDLE TO LATE STAGES OF LMO SOLIDIFICATION HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR INVESTIGATION. WE WILL MELT THE LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN CUMULATES OVER A RANGE OF PRESSURES (0.5 3.5 GPA) AND TEMPERATURES (1060 1680 C). WE WILL SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE OF VARYING THE AMOUNTS OF TRAPPED LIQUID. THE EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CARRIED OUT USING BOYD-ENGLAND END-LOADED PISTON CYLINDERS IN BOTH IRON AND GRAPHITE CAPSULES IN ORDER TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF VARYING FO2 IN THE HIGH TI AND HIGH FE COMPOSITIONS. WE WILL THEN USE THE EXPERIMENTALLY DETERMINED PRESSUREDEPENDENT MELT COMPOSITIONS AS INPUTS INTO A QUANTITATIVE 3-COMPONENT MAJOR ELEMENT CUMULATE REMELT MIXING MODEL WHICH WILL ALSO TAKE FRACTIONAL CRYSTALLIZATION INTO ACCOUNT. THIS MODEL WILL CONSTRAIN THE PROCESSES THAT GAVE RISE TO THE ORIGIN OF AND COMPOSITIONAL VARIABILITY WITHIN THE 25 LUNAR ULTRAMAFIC GLASS GROUPS. | 2017-09-28 → 2021-09-27 | $405K |
| 80NSSC25K7571 | 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 | 2025-01-13 → 2027-01-12 | $397K |
| 80NSSC25K7560 | 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. | 2025-01-13 → 2028-01-12 | $391K |
| 80NSSC20K1417 | THIS PROPOSAL WILL MODEL HOW THE IMPACT-DRIVEN REDISTRIBUTION OF PRISTINE CRUSTAL AND UPPER MANTLE MATERIAL IS REFLECTED IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE LUNAR SURFACE. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THREE FOCUSED TASKS. IN TASK 1 WE WILL DEVELOP OUR INITIAL CONDITIONS AND IMPACT MODEL. WE WILL DEVELOP SIX MODELS FOR THE ORIGIN (SYMMETRY OF LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN (LMO) CRYSTALLIZATION) AND EVOLUTION (DEGREE OF OVERTURN) OF THE LUNAR CRUST AND MANTLE FROM PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED LMO HYPOTHESES. WE WILL DEVELOP A UNIQUE STRUCTURE OF CUMULATE STRATIGRAPHY AND COMPOSITION FOR EACH MODEL THAT SATISFIES A MASS BALANCE OF THE BULK LUNAR COMPOSITION. WE WILL ALSO ADD MULTI-COMPONENT TRACKING TO THE MATERIAL TRACKING CODE THAT SCIENCE-PI HUANG IMPLEMENTED IN THE IMPACT BOMBARDMENT CODE CRATERED TERRAIN EVOLUTION MODEL (CTEM) AS PART OF HER PH.D. IN TASK 2 WE WILL CONSTRAIN THE INITIAL COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE MOON BY MODELING THE MIXING OF MATERIALS BETWEEN FELDSPATHIC HIGHLANDS TERRANE SOUTH POLE-AITKEN BASIN TERRANE AND PROCELLARUM KREEP TERRANE AND COMPARING OUR RESULTS TO LP-GRS TH FEO AL2O3 AND TIO2 ABUNDANCE MAPS&GRAIL CRUSTAL THICKNESS MAPS. IN TASK 3 WE WILL STUDY THE GENESIS AND TIMING OF PKT BY INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF PUTATIVE IMPACT GENESIS ON THE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TH FROM PKT INTO THE HIGHLANDS. | 2020-09-01 → 2025-08-31 | $369K |
| 80NSSC18K1186 | THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF ELECTROSPRAY THRUSTERS FOR GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OF MICROSATELLITES SUCH AS CUBESATS. A PROPULSION SYSTEM CAN BE CREATED WITH ELECTROSPRAY THRUSTERS THAT CAN PROVIDE BOTH PRIMARY PROPULSION AND ATTITUDE CONTROL FOR A CUBESAT IN LESS THAN 200CC OF VOLUME AND 100G OF MASS. WITH SUCH A SYSTEM CUBESATS WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY FOR HIGH PRECISION (SUB-ARCSECOND) POINTING CONTROL AND INDEPENDENT LOW THRUST MANOEUVRES FOR RENDEZVOUS OR MISSIONS TO THE MOON WITH VOLUME FOR SCIENTIFIC PAYLOAD. THE RESEARCH DONE AS PART OF THIS PROJECT CAN ALSO BE EXTENDED TO APPLICATIONS OUTSIDE OF THE CUBESAT FORM FACTOR SUCH AS HIGH PRECISION POINT FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF SPACE TELESCOPES. TWO SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS OF ELECTROSPRAY THRUSTERS ARE CONSIDERED IN THE PROPOSAL: LOW-THRUST TRAJECTORIES TO LUNAR ORBIT AND HIGH PRECISION POINTING. BOTH APPLICATIONS EXTEND ON PREVIOUS WORK DONE IN THE SPACE PROPULSION LABORATORY AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. THE PROPOSED SOLUTION FOR LOW-THRUST TRAJECTORIES IS TO MATCH GEOMETRIES OF AN ORBIT INTEGRATED FORWARDS IN TIME FROM EARTH AND AN ORBIT INTEGRATED BACKWARDS IN TIME FROM THE MOON. HIGH PRECISION POINTING WILL BE INVESTIGATED THROUGH IMPROVING A MAGNETICALLY LEVITATING BALANCE TO ALLOW FOR MORE ACCURATE STATE ESTIMATION AND THEREFORE MORE ACCURATE ATTITUDE CONTROL. COMPLETION OF THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE IMPACT NOT ONLY FOR IN-SPACE PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY BUT ALSO FOR LOW-COST SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PROVIDING A SYSTEM THAT SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE CAPABILITIES OF THE CUBESAT FORM FACTOR. | 2018-08-01 → 2022-07-31 | $270K |
| NNX14AL74H | AS MANKIND CONTINUES MAKING STRIDES IN SPACE EXPLORATION AND ASSOCIATED TECHNOLOGIES THE FREQUENCY DURATION AND COMPLEXITY OF HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION MISSIONS WILL CONTINUALLY INCREASE IN THE YEARS TO COME. WHETHER IT IS A RETURN TO THE LUNAR SURFACE EXPLORING AN ASTEROID OR VISITING MARS AND ITS TWO MOONS EFFICIENT COLLABORATION BETWEEN ASTRONAUTS AND ROBOTIC SYSTEMS WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO THE SUCCESS AND EFFICIENCY OF FUTURE HUMAN MISSIONS. IMPROVEMENTS IN HUMAN-ROBOT INTERFACING AND INTEGRATION CAN ALSO HAVE SUBSTANTIAL NEAR-TERM BENEFITS AS SEVERAL NEW ROBOTIC SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE DEXTRE ROBONAUT 2 AND SMART SPHERES HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS. THE CENTRAL OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO ENHANCE HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION IN ROBOTIC SYSTEMS IN SPACE IN ORDER TO UNLOCK THE FULL POTENTIAL OF CURRENTLY DEPLOYED ROBOTIC PLATFORMS AS WELL AS TO BENEFIT HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION MISSIONS IN THE FUTURE. IN SUPPORT OF ACHIEVING THIS OBJECTIVE THE SPECIFIC AIMS AND PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION METHODS OF THE RESEARCH ARE: 1.DESIGN A SAFETY SYSTEM CAPABLE OF ENSURING SAFE AND COMFORTABLE HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION BY MONITORING VARIOUS PARAMETERS SUCH AS SEPARATION DISTANCE CLOSING RATE AND THE HUMAN S VISION FIELD IN ORDER TO INTELLIGENTLY ADJUST THE ROBOT S MOTIONS. 2.DEVELOP AN INTENT RECOGNITION CAPABILITY BASED ON BEHAVIORAL MODELS WHICH UTILIZE TASK-LEVEL KNOWLEDGE AND OBSERVABLE PARAMETERS SUCH AS GAZE DIRECTION POSTURE GESTURES AND SPEECH TO ACTIVELY PREDICT ASTRONAUT INTENT AND RESPOND ACCORDINGLY. 3.VALIDATE THE EFFICACY OF THE DEVELOPED SYSTEMS BOTH UNDER NOMINAL CONDITIONS AS WELL AS WITH LOCALIZATION UNCERTAINTY THROUGH SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTATION BY UTILIZING QUANTITATIVE MEASURES OF HUMAN-ROBOT FLUENCY EFFICIENCY AND SAFETY. THIS RESEARCH IS MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO THE OBJECTIVES STATED IN NASA S ROBOTICS TELE-ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS SPACE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP IN PARTICULAR THE HUMAN-SYSTEMS INTEGRATION SECTION. WITHIN THIS SECTION THE SAFETY TRUST &INTERFACING OF ROBOTIC/HUMAN PROXIMITY OPERATIONS SUB-SECTION DESCRIBES THE NEED FOR SAFE PHYSICAL INTERACTIONS WHICH IS HIGHLY RELEVANT TO THE FIRST AIM OF THIS RESEARCH. THE INTENT RECOGNITION&REACTION SUB-SECTION ON THE OTHER HAND DESCRIBES THE IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNIZING ASTRONAUT INTENT AND REACTING TO IT IN AN INTELLIGENT WAY WHICH IS RELEVANT TO THE SECOND AIM. | 2014-08-01 → ? | $264K |
| 80NSSC24K1360 | AS LUNAR OPERATIONS INCREASE IN SUPPORT OF ARTEMIS MISSIONS THERE WILL BE MORE UNCREWED VEHICLES OPERATING ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON | 2024-08-29 → 2028-08-28 | $239K |
| 80NSSC25K7517 | 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. | 2025-01-01 → 2026-12-31 | $214K |
| 80NSSC25K7538 | 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 | 2025-01-01 → 2026-12-31 | $211K |
| 80NSSC25K7499 | 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. | 2025-01-01 → 2026-12-31 | $187K |
| 80NSSC23K1363 | TESTING THE IMPACT PLASMA HYPOTHESIS FOR MAGNETIZATION ON THE MOON AND ASTEROIDS | 2023-09-01 → 2027-08-31 | $150K |
| 80NSSC18K0682 | THE PROPOSAL REQUESTS SUPPORT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF SMALL LASER REFLECTOR ARRAYS FOR LUNAR AND PLANETARY MISSIONS WITH THE NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER. THE SCOPE OF THE WORK WILL INCLUDE POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF THESE ARRAYS WHEN DEPLOYED ON PLANETARY SURFACES. THE PROPOSED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE IS 1.0 YEARS BEGINNING APRIL 2018 FOR A TOTAL OF $100 000. | 2018-04-01 → 2026-03-31 | $150K |
| 80NSSC25K7703 | 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 | 2025-02-14 → 2027-02-13 | $150K |
| 80NSSC24K1766 | 24-EPALS24-0002 SYNTHESIZING FRAMEWORKS OF SUSTAINABILITY FOR FUTURES ON THE MOON | 2024-10-01 → 2025-09-30 | $138K |
| 80NSSC19K1169 | THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED FOR ADVANCED PORTABLE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS (PLSS) AND THERMAL MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITY (EVA) ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON OR MARS | 2019-08-01 → ? | $61K |
| 80NSSC25K0099 | 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 AGENCYS 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. | 2025-07-01 → 2027-06-30 | $38K |
| 80NSSC25K0101 | 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. | 2025-07-01 → 2027-06-30 | $38K |
| 80NSSC25K0057 | 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 | 2025-07-01 → 2027-06-30 | $38K |
| 80NSSC25K7405 | 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 | 2024-11-19 → 2025-11-18 | $36K |