New Mexico State University

Lunar obligations
$2.2M
as prime
Lunar awards
4
as prime
Its subcontractors
1
$69K reported
Primes it works for
0
none reported

Who it subcontracts to

  1. THE WORK PROPOSED HEREIN IS TO OVERSEE THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE APOLLO LUNAR LASER RANGING PROJECT AT APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY THROUGHOUT CALENDAR YEAR 2021, DURING WHICH TIME THE SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP OF THE PROJECT WILL TRANSITION FROM TOM MURPHY AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO (UCSD) TO STEPHEN MERKOWITZ AT NASA GODDARD. BELOW WE DESCRIBE THE SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE APOLLO PROJECT TO DATE AS WELL AS THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES FOR 2021

Who it works for

Not reported as a subcontractor on lunar awards.

Lunar awards as prime

AwardDescriptionPeriodObligated
80NSSC21K0551THE WORK PROPOSED HEREIN IS TO OVERSEE THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE APOLLO LUNAR LASER RANGING PROJECT AT APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY THROUGHOUT CALENDAR YEAR 2021 DURING WHICH TIME THE SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP OF THE PROJECT WILL TRANSITION FROM TOM MURPHY AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO (UCSD) TO STEPHEN MERKOWITZ AT NASA GODDARD. BELOW WE DESCRIBE THE SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE APOLLO PROJECT TO DATE AS WELL AS THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES FOR 20212021-01-29 → 2027-01-28$1.4M
80NSSC26K0711THE APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY LUNAR LASER-RANGING OPERATION (APOLLO) PROJECT HAS BEEN OPERATING CONTINUOUSLY SINCE 2006 AS THE PREMIER US-BASED LUNAR LASER RANGING (LLR) FACILITY. IN 2021 STEWARDSHIP OF THE STATION TRANSITIONED FROM UNIVERSITY OF CAL2026-07-01 → 2029-06-30$493K
2429924EPSCOR RESEARCH FELLOWS: @NASA: UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION OF ADDITIVELY-CONSTRUCTED LUNAR STRUCTURES FOR MICROGRAVITY WITH EXTREME CONDITION -THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FOR BUILDING STRUCTURES ON THE MOON USING 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES, FOCUSING ON UNDERSTANDING AND ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES POSED BY THE MOON'S UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT. BY INVESTIGATING THE MATERIALS AND CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR CONSTRUCTING RESILIENT LUNAR HABITATS, THE RESEARCH ADDRESSES FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES RELATED TO SPACE EXPLORATION AND SUSTAINABILITY. THIS PROJECT IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT NOT ONLY ADVANCES THE FIELD OF SPACE ENGINEERING BUT ALSO HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT SOCIETY BY FOSTERING INNOVATIONS THAT COULD BE APPLIED TO BUILDING DISASTER-RESISTANT STRUCTURES ON EARTH. THE STUDY SUPPORTS EDUCATION BY OFFERING MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAINING IN ENGINEERING, MATERIAL SCIENCE, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND PROMOTES DIVERSITY BY INVOLVING UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS IN STEM FROM NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY. FURTHERMORE, THE PROJECT ALIGNS WITH NSF'S MISSION TO PROMOTE SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS: BY IMPROVING OUR ABILITY TO CONSTRUCT HABITATS IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS, THIS RESEARCH SUPPORTS LONG-TERM HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION, CONTRIBUTING TO FUTURE MISSIONS TO MARS AND BEYOND, AND ENSURING THE SAFETY AND RESILIENCE OF BOTH EXTRATERRESTRIAL AND TERRESTRIAL STRUCTURES. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THIS RESEARCH ARE (1) TO QUANTIFY THE UNCERTAINTIES PRESENT IN ADDITIVELY CONSTRUCTED LUNAR STRUCTURES OPERATING UNDER MICROGRAVITY AND EXTREME LUNAR CONDITIONS AND (2) TO ESTABLISH AND ENHANCE THE PREDICTABILITY OF STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR AND THE RELIABILITY OF THESE STRUCTURES. THIS PROJECT WILL UNDERTAKE A COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION INTO THE VARIOUS UNCERTAINTIES AFFECTING THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING THOSE IN MATERIALS SUCH AS LUNAR REGOLITH AND POTENTIAL METAL ALLOYS SUCH AS MAGNESIUM ALLOY, ENVIRONMENTAL LOADS SUCH AS THERMAL LOADS AND MOONQUAKES, AND UNCERTAINTIES INHERENT IN THE STRUCTURAL GEOMETRIES AND ADDITIVE CONSTRUCTION PROCESSES. ADDITIONALLY, IT WILL EXAMINE UNCERTAINTIES ARISING FROM OUR EXISTING KNOWLEDGE, ESPECIALLY EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONDITIONS, AND EMPLOY CORRELATION MODELING TO UNDERSTAND THE INTERDEPENDENCIES AMONG THESE FACTORS. ADVANCED STATISTICAL METHODS, INCLUDING BAYESIAN APPROACHES, ALONGSIDE CUTTING-EDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES, WILL BE EMPLOYED TO MODEL THESE UNCERTAINTIES COMPREHENSIVELY. ONCE ESTABLISHED, THESE MODELS WILL BE USED TO CONSTRUCT PROBABILISTIC MODELS AND ANALYZE THE FRAGILITY OF PROPOSED LUNAR STRUCTURES UNDER THE SPECIFIC CHALLENGES POSED BY MICROGRAVITY AND EXTREME LUNAR CONDITIONS. THE INTELLECTUAL MERIT OF THIS PROPOSAL LIES IN ITS APPROACH TO SYSTEMATICALLY ADDRESS THE UNCERTAINTIES ASSOCIATED WITH MATERIALS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS CRITICAL TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF LUNAR STRUCTURES. THE INTEGRATION OF UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION WITH ADVANCED PROBABILISTIC MODELING PROVIDES A NOVEL METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK THAT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE PREDICTION AND MANAGEMENT OF RISKS IN EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONSTRUCTION. THIS RESEARCH WILL UTILIZE STATE-OF-THE-ART ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES, FACILITATED BY COLLABORATIONS WITH NASA'S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, TO PUSH FORWARD THE BOUNDARIES OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE IN SPACE HABITAT CONSTRUCTION. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.2025-01-01 → 2026-12-31$244K
80NSSC24M0146RFA-016 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF DIELECTRICS FROM LUNAR REGOLITH USING DRY AEROSOL DEPOSITION SOMD2024-09-02 → 2027-09-01$100K

Source: USAspending.gov prime award and subaward data (public domain), refreshed daily; last refreshed 2026-10-19 06:18 UTC.

Amounts are obligated to date, not contract ceilings. An award counts as lunar when its published description is about the Moon, and programs are tagged from that text; repeated or impossible subaward reports are shown but not summed. Subawards are only as complete as primes report them.