Purdue University
Lunar obligations
$18Mas prime
Lunar awards
29as prime
Its subcontractors
6$2.5M reported
Primes it works for
8$2.3M in subawards
Who it subcontracts to
CHARACTERIZING HIGHWAYS & AUTOMATED NAVIGATION IN CISLUNAR ENVIRONMENT (CHANCE)
CHARACTERIZING HIGHWAYS & AUTOMATED NAVIGATION IN CISLUNAR ENVIRONMENT
COLLABORATION ON CONSTRAINING LUNAR CRATER SATURATION BY MODELING GRAIL POROSITY
COLLABORATION ON MODELING REGOLITH EVOLUTION DURING THE POST-BASIN EPOCH OF LUNAR HISTORY
- Albion College$129K
COLLABORATION ON MODELING REGOLITH EVOLUTION DURING THE POST-BASIN EPOCH OF LUNAR HISTORY
QUANTIFYING SOLAR-WIND-DERIVED WATER IN SPACE WEATHERED LUNAR SOILS
Who it works for
THE TEAM AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY WILL CONTRIBUTE EFFORTS TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES OF PARTICULATE SCIENCE AS WELL AS PROCESSING OF PARTICULATES UNDER HIGH THERMAL GRADIENTS AND RAPID SOLIDIFICATION CONDITIONS IN THE LUNAR ENVIRONMENT. THESE ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE STUDIES OF PARTICULATE FLOWABILITY AND PACKING AS WELL AS THERMAL STABILITY, DECOMPOSITION, AND REACTION KINETICS AT LOW AND HIGH THERMAL GRADIENTS AND SIMULATED LUNAR CONDITIONS. LASER POWDER BED FUSION SUPPLEMENTED BY ACOUSTIC LEVITATION WILL BE USED TO SIMULATE HIGH THERMAL GRADIENT AND SOLIDIFICATION CONDITIONS UNDER LOW GRAVITY TO STUDY MICROSTRUCTURE FORMATION WITH UNIFORM LUNAR REGOLITH DISPERSION IN AA2219 MATRIX. THESE EFFORTS WILL INCLUDE MICROSTRUCTURE, CHEMISTRY, RESIDUAL STRESS, AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION ACTIVITIES TO UNDERSTAND PROCESS-STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS FOR LUNAR REGOLITH/AA2219 COMPOSITES MANUFACTURED UNDER SIMULATED LUNAR CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION TO THESE ACTIVITIES, ULTRASONIC NONDESTRUCTIVE CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING OF ULTRASONIC WAVE PROPAGATION AND SCATTERING WILL BE LEVERAGED TO PREDICT ELASTIC PROPERTIES, MICROSTRUCTURE, AND COMPOSITION FOR MULTIMATERIAL/MULTIPROCESSED LUNAR REGOLITH/AA2219 SAMPLES. NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION VIA XRAY CT WILL AND DESTRUCTIVE MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION WILL BE CONDUCTED FOR VALIDATION PURPOSES. PRELIMINARY QUALITY AND MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE INDICES FOR ULTRASONIC QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN SPACE AS A FIRST STEP TOWARDS LIFE MANAGEMENT OF SPACE ASSETS.
COI WILL GUIDE THE EXECUTION OF THE ISALE SIMULATIONS
- Brown University$297K
COIS BRANDON JOHNSON AND DAVID MINTON ADVISE A GRADUATE STUDENT IN PERFORMING THE WORK DESCRIBED IN SECTION "FORMATION, EVOLUTION, AND CHARACTER OF REGOLITH". A PURDUE GRADUATE STUDENT WILL DO MUCH OF THE DAY-TO-DAY WORK ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TASK. COIS B. JOHNSON AND MINTON WILL ALSO AID WITH OTHER TASKS AS LISTED IN THE PROPOSAL. COI A. JOHNSON WILL CONDUCT THE LABORATORY STUDIES DESCRIBED IN SECTION "ORIGIN, EVOLUTION, AND ACCESSIBILITY OF VOLATILES". AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER WILL AID COI A. JOHNSON IN THE LABORATORY WORK. COIS A. JOHNSON, B. JOHNSON, MINTON AND THE PURDUE GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHER WILL ALL ALSO CONTRIBUTE SUBSTANTIVELY TO MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION.
CO-I MINTON'S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY WILL BE TO INCLUDE SUPERVISE THE PURDUE GRADUATE STUDENT AS THEY DEVELOP THE REQUIRED CAPABILITIES. THIS PROJECT WILL ENCOMPASS A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THEIR DISSERTATION RESEARCH. THE GRADUATE STUDENT WILL DEVELOP MODELS FOR IMPACT MELT GENERATION, TRANSPORT, AND THERMAL MODIFICATION IN CTEM, ASSISTING IN THE ANALYSIS OF CTEM SIMULATION DATA, AND ASSISTING IN THE PREPARATION OF PRESENTATIONS AND PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES. DR. MINTON WILL ALSO WORK WITH DR. ABRAMOV TO INCORPORATE HIS THERMAL MODELING RESULTS INTO THE CTEM CODE. THE PURDUE GRADUATE STUDENT WILL BE PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MODELING EFFORT DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL. THIS PROJECT WILL ENCOMPASS A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THEIR DISSERTATION RESEARCH. THE GRADUATE STUDENT WILL DEVELOP MODELS FOR THE PRODUCTION, TRANSPORT, THERMAL MODIFICATION, DESTRUCTION, AND SAMPLING OF IMPACT MELTS USING THE CTEM CODE. MUCH OF THE CAPABILITIES FOR MELT PRODUCTION, TRANSPORT, DESTRUCTION, AND SAMPLING HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED ALREADY AS PART OF THE DISSERTATION WORK OF MINTON"S CURRENT GRADUATE STUDENT YA-HUEI HUANG. THE NEW GRADUATE STUDENT WILL BUILD OFF OF THE CAPABILITIES DEVELOPED AS PART OF HUANG"S DISSERTATION RESEARCH. THE MAJORITY OF THE NUMERICAL WORK WILL BE PERFORMED AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY, USING THE ROSEN CENTER FOR ADVANCED COMPUTING (RCAC) COMMUNITY CLUSTER SYSTEM.
REPRESENTATIONS, THEORY, AND ALGORITHMS FOR AUTONOMOUS SPACE DOMAIN AWARENESS IN THE CISLUNAR REGIME.
BARRETT S. CALDWELL, PHD, PROFESSOR OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE PURDUE GROUP PERFORMANCE ENVIRONMENTS RESEARCH (GROUPER) LAB, IS THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FOR PURDUE EFFORTS IN SUPPORT OF THIS GRANT. THE FIRST YEAR OF THIS SUBCONTRACT WILL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES (E.G., LITERATURE REVIEW, RESEARCH PLAN DEFINITION) THAT WILL BE CONDUCTED PRIOR TO IRB APPROVAL (THIS PORTION OF WORK WILL NOT INVOLVE HUMAN SUBJECTS RESEARCH). PI CALDWELL HAS ESTABLISHED EXPERTISE AND MULTIPLE PRIOR NASA-RELATED GRANT PROJECT SUPPORT EXAMINING INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM-BASED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USE, DISTRIBUTED SUPERVISORY TASK COORDINATION, AND PROBLEM-SOLVING TASK BEHAVIORS, RELEVANT TO THIS GRANT. THEREFORE, THE PURDUE ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT THIS GRANT WILL BE BASED ON EMPIRICAL APPROACHES (BOTH QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE) TO ADDRESS PROCESSES, PRODUCTS, METRICS, AND STANDARDS FOR TEAM PERFORMANCE. THE TASKS LED BY PI CALDWELL WILL FOCUS ON THREE CRUCIAL ELEMENTS OF ANALYZING AND ASSESSING TEAM PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS: " ASSISTING DEVELOPMENT OF TEAM CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY AND INDIVIDUAL / GROUP INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS; " SUPPORTING AND COLLABORATING IN DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS AND INFORMATION FLOW MODELS OF TASK COORDINATION AND PERFORMANCE; " ASSISTING IN GENERATION OF BEHAVIORAL, FUNCTIONAL, AND OPERATIONAL MODELS OF TEAM PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES OVER TIME. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THESE ASPECTS OF TEAM-PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS ARE ASSESSED USING ECOLOGICALLY VALID ANALOGS. THEREFORE, THE PURDUE RESEARCH TEAM WILL FOCUS ON ASSISTING THE OVERALL RESEARCH GRANT IN IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING APPROPRIATE RESEARCH PARTNERS AND FIELD SITES TO CONSIDER FOR APPLICATION TO ANTICIPATED CISLUNAR SERVICING, ASSEMBLY, AND MAINTENANCE (CSAM) OPERATIONS. BASED ON COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY AND INTERVIEW MODELS, THE PURDUE TEAM WILL ASSIST IN ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE RESEARCH DATA COLLECTED FROM THOSE CSAM ANALOG FIELD SETTINGS. THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT PERIOD, THE PURDUE RESEARCH TEAM WILL ALSO SUPPORT THE PREPARATION OF SCIENTIFIC MATERIALS, INCLUDING JOURNAL MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS, CONFERENCE PAPER AND PRESENTATION SUBMISSIONS, AND OTHER TECHNICAL REPORTS AS REQUIRED BY NASA.
TO UNDERSTAND THE OXIDATION STATE OF TRANSITION METALS IN VARIOUS APOLLO KREEP BASALTS, KREEP BRECCIAS, AND PLUTONIC SUITE ROCKS, CO-I THOMPSON AND THE PHD STUDENT WILL PREPARE SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS USING THE FOCUSED ION BEAM SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (FIB-SEM) AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY. THE PURDUE TEAM WILL PERFORM TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) TO IDENTIFY INVESTIGATE MICROSTRUCTURAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLES AND WILL USE ELECTRON ENERGY LOSS SPECTROSCOPY (EELS) TO PERFORM SPECTRUM IMAGING FOR THE OXIDATION STATE OF FE AND TI. CONTRIBUTION FROM DR. THOMPSON, PURDUE: CO-I THOMPSON AND THE GRADUATE STUDENT WILL COMPLETE THE FIB-SEM SAMPLE PREPARATION AND TEM ANALYSES USING INSTRUMENTATION IN THE BIRCK NANOTECHNOLOGY CENTER AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY. THOMPSON WILL THE LPSC MEETING IN Y2, Y3, AND Y4. FINALLY, CO-I THOMPSON AND THE STUDENT WILL ASSIST IN DATA ANALYSIS AND MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION.
PSI WILL WORK WITH PURDUE UNIVERSITY TO TEST LOW TEMPERATURE PERFORMANCE OF SILICON-BASED LITHIUM-ION POUCH CELLS IN ORDER TO CHARACTERIZE DISCHARGE PERFORMANCE AT TEMPERATURES AS LOW AS -185 °C. PURDUE WILL ASSIST WITH TESTING THESE CELLS USING THEIR CUSTOM LIQUID NITROGEN COOLED ENVIRONMENTAL CHAMBER. THIS DATA WILL ASSIST IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW TEMPERATURE BATTERY PACK CAPABLE OF OPERATING IN A WIDE TEMPERATURE WINDOWS (-230 °C TO 120 °C) NECESSARY FOR OPERATION DURING LUNAR/MARS SURFACE MISSIONS.
Lunar awards as prime
| Award | Description | Period | Obligated |
|---|---|---|---|
| FA95502310512 | (CFIRE) CHARACTERIZING HIGHWAYS & AUTOMATED NAVIGATION IN CISLUNAR ENVIRONMENT (CHANCE) | 2023-08-01 → 2027-01-31 | $4.5M |
| 80NSSC25K7201 | 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 → 2028-12-31 | $4.4M |
| 80NSSC24K1420 | 23-PICASSO23-0011 FINE-SCALE PIXEL ELEMENT MAPPING FOR MARS THE MOON AND OTHER BODIES WITH MINIATURIZED LIBS | 2024-08-12 → 2027-08-11 | $888K |
| 80NSSC21K1719 | *OBJECTIVE* THE PROPOSAL WOULD USE TOPOGRAPHIC DATA COLLECTED BY THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER AND KAGUYA SPACECRAFT AS CONSTRAINTS ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF LUNAR CRATERS ACROSS A LARGE RANGE OF SIZE SCALES RANGING FROM SMALL SIMPLE CRATERS THROUGH | 2022-01-01 → 2025-12-31 | $695K |
| 80NSSC21K0538 | LANDER-STYLE VEHICLE PLUME-STRUCTURE HEAT TRANSFER MONITORING KNOWLEDGE PAYLOAD PROPOSAL LEAD: STEVEN H. COLLICOTT PURDUE UNIVERSITY CO-INVESTIGATORS AND/OR COLLABORATORS AS MAY BE KNOWN AT THIS TIME: NONE LUNAR AND PLANETARY LANDER STYLE OF ROCKETS INHERENTLY PLACE LEGS CLOSE TO A ROCKET PLUME ESPECIALLY THE NEWEST GENERATION OF COMMERCIAL LUNAR LANDERS. THE RADIATIVE HEATING OF THE LEGS BY THE UNSTEADY PLUME FROM AN ACTIVELY GIMBALLED AND THROTTLED ROCKET MOTOR IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT WELL FOR FUTURE LANDING VEHICLES. THIS IS EVEN A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT IN-FLIGHT TESTING ON EARTH BECAUSE CROSS WINDS WHICH ARE OF COURSE ABSENT ON MOON AND NEARLY ABSENT ON MARS DELIVER ADDITIONAL AND ASYMMETRICAL HEAT TRANSFER FROM PLUME TO LEGS. MEASUREMENTS DURING FLIGHT TESTING ARE NECESSARY TO BUILD UP KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DIFFERENCE CONDITIONS FROM HIGH THRUST TO IDLE AND FROM CENTERLINE THRUST TO HARD-OVER GIMBALLED OPERATIONS. PROPOSED IS AN EXPANSION OF ONE PIECE OF EXISTING FLIGHT HARDWARE AT PURDUE TO ACCOMMODATE MANY MORE TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS ON LANDER LEGS DURING FLIGHT TESTS. THE PRESENT PAYLOAD HAS LAUNCHED TWICE ON EXOS TEST FLIGHTS NEITHER OF WHICH HAS REACHED INTENDED ALTITUDE BUT HAVE TRAVELLED WELL ABOVE ALTITUDES FLOWN REGULARLY TO DATE BY MASTEN AND RETURNED SAFELY. OUR DATA RETURNED TEMPERATURE AND LOW-RESOLUTION ACCELERATION DATA FROM BOTH DAYS. THIS PAYLOAD ONE OF TWO PARTS IN WHAT IS CALLED THE PURDUE RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL FACILITY ON EXOS ROCKETS OR PREFER IS EASILY DUPLICATED TO FLY ON MASTEN TO MEASURE MANY MORE CHANNELS OF TEMPERATURE THAN THE THREE IT MEASURES ON EXOS FLIGHTS. THREE POINTS SUFFICED FOR THE ORIGINAL PAYLOAD AND THE PROPOSED MODIFICATION WILL INCREASE THE CAPABILITY TO SEVERAL DOZEN SENSORS. THIS ALLOWS INSTRUMENTING OF ALL LEGS OF THE MASTEN VEHICLE. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT FOLLOWING GROUND-TESTING AT PURDUE TO ASSURE OPERATIONAL READINESS NUMEROUS FLIGHTS WILL BE MADE WITH ONE PAYLOAD ON PERHAPS MULTIPLE VEHICLES FROM MASTEN (OR ANY OTHER LANDER-STYLE ROCKET WHICH REACHES THE MARKETPLACE). WHEN MEASUREMENTS FROM NUMEROUS FLIGHTS AND CONDITIONS ARE COMPARED TO PREDICTIONS FROM MODELING THEN SPECIFIC MODEL IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE KNOWN TO BE NEEDED. | 2021-01-26 → 2025-10-30 | $616K |
| 80NSSC20K0863 | HERE WE PROPOSE TO QUANTIFY THE AMOUNT OF SOLAR WIND-DERIVED OH AND H2O IN SPACE WEATHERED LUNAR SOILS AND CORRELATE THESE MEASUREMENTS WITH SPACE WEATHERING FEATURES AND REMOTE SENSING DATA. | 2020-04-06 → 2025-04-04 | $599K |
| NNX15AL41G | WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A THREE-DIMENSIONAL REGOLITH EVOLUTION MODEL IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE AGE BIASES IN POST-IMBRIAN SAMPLES OF THE LUNAR REGOLITH. | 2015-06-01 → 2020-05-31 | $566K |
| 80NSSC25K7050 | 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 → 2027-12-31 | $566K |
| NNX16AN62G | SCIENTIFIC GOALS A LONG-STANDING PROBLEM IN LUNAR SCIENCE IS TO ACCURATELY MEASURE THE CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF IMPACTS THAT FORMED ON THE MOON SINCE ITS | 2016-08-16 → 2021-08-15 | $501K |
| 80NSSC23K1336 | SOURCES AND REPLENISHMENT OF LUNAR HYDRATION ON DIURNAL TIMESCALES | 2023-09-01 → 2027-08-31 | $465K |
| 80NSSC19K0935 | OUR GOAL IS TO FURTHER DEVELOP TECHNIQUES NEEDED TO MEASURE AND INTERPRET COSMIC-RAY-PRODUCED (COSMOGENIC) NUCLIDES IN RETURNED SAMPLES. WE HAVE BEEN ROUTINELY MEASURING COSMOGENIC BOTH GALACTIC COSMIC RAYS (GCR) AND SOLAR COSMIC RAYS (SCR) - 10BE 26AL AND 36CL IN EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL MATERIALS FOR MANY YEARS. IN THE LAST THREE YEARS WE HAVE GREATLY IMPROVED OUR MEASUREMENT SENSITIVITY FOR ALL RADIONUCLIDES BY A FACTOR OF 2-3 AND WE CAN NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME MEASURE 41CA IN EXTRATERRESTRIAL MATERIALS. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GAS-FILLED-MAGNET (GFM) AT PRIME LAB HAS ENABLED THESE IMPROVEMENTS. WE ARE ALSO CONTINUING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A 53MN MEASUREMENT CAPABILITY. THE MEASUREMENT OF THESE COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES IN ASTEROIDAL AND LUNAR REGOLITH RETURNED SAMPLES PROVIDES KEY INFORMATION REGARDING THE EXPOSURE CONDITIONS AND DURATIONS OF THESE SAMPLES. BE-10 26AL 36CL 41CA AND 53MN EACH HAVE SPECIFIC PRODUCTION PATHWAYS THAT PROVIDE SPECIFIC INFORMATION: 10BE 26AL AND 53MN ARE PRODUCED BY HIGHENERGY GCR SPALLATION REACTIONS WHEREAS 41CA IS PRODUCED PRIMARILY FROM NEUTRON-CAPTURE REACTIONS ON 40CA. CL-36 IS PRODUCED BY BOTH PATHWAYS THE CL CONCENTRATION IMPACTS WHICH REACTION PATHWAY IS DOMINANT. AL-26 AND 53MN CAN ALSO BE PRODUCED IN THE UPPER CM OF ASTEROIDAL OR LUNAR SURFACE BY SCR. THE MEASUREMENT OF A SINGLE RADIONUCLIDE CANNOT BY ITSELF YIELD INFORMATION ABOUT BOTH EXPOSURE CONDITIONS I.E. DEPTH AND EXPOSURE DURATIONS BUT WITH A COMBINATION OF 3-4 NUCLIDES WE ARE ABLE TO PLACE STRONG CONSTRAINTS ON BOTH THE EXPOSURE CONDITIONS AND THE EXPOSURE DURATIONS. SINCE MOST RETURNED SAMPLES EXCEPT MANNED APOLLO SAMPLES ARE COLLECTED FROM UNKNOWN DEPTHS ON THE SURFACE OF A PLANETARY BODY IDENTIFYING THE SAMPLING DEPTH IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOT ONLY FOR COSMOGENIC NUCLIDE STUDIES BUT ALSO SPACE WEATHERING BIOLOGICAL AND RADIATION HISTORIES. THE COMBINATION OF THESE NUCLIDES IS CRITICAL IN IDENTIFYING MATERIAL THAT WAS EXPOSED UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS FROM WHICH IT WAS COLLECTED THAT IS MATERIAL THAT IS NOW ON THE SURFACE BUT WAS EXPOSED TO COSMIC RAYS FOR MUCH OF ITS HISTORY AT A DEEPER LOCATION. IT HAS BEEN PROPOSED THAT ASTEROID AND LUNAR REGOLITH ARE DYNAMIC; COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES WOULD BE KEY IN EVALUATING THIS HYPOTHESIS. OUR ULTIMATE GOAL IS THE FURTHER SOPHISTICATION OF AMS MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES ALLOWING HIGH SENSITIVE AND PRECISE MEASUREMENTS OF SAMPLES RETURNED BY HAYABUSA1 TO 25143 ITOKAWA BY THE OSIRIS-REX MISSION TO 101955-BENNU AND BY THE HYAYBUSA2 MISSION TO 162173 RYUGU AS WELL AS COMET AND LUNAR SAMPLE RETURN MISSIONS. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE BEEN USING THE GFM FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW AND WE HAVE IMPROVED THE DETECTION SENSITIVITY THERE IS YET OPPORTUNITY FOR FURTHER ADVANCES IN SENSITIVITY. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS ARE: IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DETECTION SYSTEM; IMPROVED STRIPPING EFFICIENCIES IN THE TERMINAL OF THE ACCELERATOR; AND INVESTIGATION OF ALTERNATIVE CHEMICAL FORMS OF THE CATHODE MATERIAL LEADING TO BETTER NEGATIVE ION YIELDS IN THE ION SOURCE. TO BE BETTER PREPARED FOR RETURN SAMPLES FROM ASTEROID AND LUNAR SURFACES WE WILL UNDERTAKE MEASUREMENTS IN SMALL REGOLITH SAMPLES FROM LUNAR SAMPLES. MEASUREMENTS OF RADIONUCLIDES IN THESE ANALOG SAMPLES WILL ENABLE US TO IDENTIFY BOTH MEASUREMENT AND INTERPRETATION ISSUES THAT NEED IMPROVING BEFORE SAMPLES ARRIVE. THE DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES AND METHODS WILL BE APPLIED TO FUTURE SAMPLE RETURN MISSIONS SUCH AS OSIRIS-REX HAYABUSA2 FUTURE COMET AND LUNAR SAMPLES MEASUREMENTS OF COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES IN IDP S AND GENESIS SAMPLES. THE DESCRIBED RESEARCH IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO NASA LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF RETURNED SAMPLES (LARS) PROGRAM IN ROSES-2018 INCLUDING DEVELOP NEW ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION OR COMBINATIONS OF ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS OR NEW COMPONENTS OF ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS LEADING TO SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRECISION AND TO ENABLE NEW TYPES OF MEASUREMENTS. | 2018-05-01 → 2024-04-30 | $464K |
| 80NSSC18M0122 | NASA PLANS FOR SPACE EXPLORATION HAVE EVOLVED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF THE LUNAR ORBITAL PLATFORM GATEWAY CONCEPT. THE GATEWAY CONCEPT INVOLVES MULTIPLE COMPONENTS THAT ENABLE A POTENTIALLY CREWED FACILITY IN A LIBRATION POINT ORBIT TO SERVE AS A HUB FOR CISLUNAR OPERATIONS BUT ALSO AS A NEXUS OR STAGING LOCATION FOR OPERATIONS TO DESTINATIONS BEYOND THE EARTH-MOON NEIGHBORHOOD. ALTHOUGH THE DETAILS AND PARAMETERS WILL LIKELY UNDERGO VARIOUS ADJUSTMENTS AND UPDATES SOME OF THE CORE ELEMENTS REMAIN CRITICAL FOR THE LONG-TERM PLANS TO ENGAGE HUMANS IN SPACE EXPLORATION AND EXPAND HUMAN OPERATIONS INTO CISLUNAR SPACE. THE CURRENT BASELINE ORBIT FOR THE PRIMARY LUNAR ORBITAL PLATFORM GATEWAY FACILITY IS A NEAR RECTILINEAR HALO ORBIT (NRHO). THE NRHO EXISTS WITHIN THE DYNAMICAL CONSTRUCTS OF A MULTI-BODY GRAVITATIONAL ENVIRONMENT; SUCH TRAJECTORIES ARE MEMBERS OF THE HALO FAMILY OF ORBITS IN THE EARTH-MOON SYSTEM AS PERTURBED BY THE SUN. HOWEVER THE NRHO IS ONLY ONE POSSIBLE TYPE OF MOTION IN CISLUNAR SPACE; OTHER TRAJECTORIES TRANSFER ARCS RELATIVE BEHAVIORS AND OPERATIONAL MANEUVERS IN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT ARE ALSO CRITICAL TO SUPPORT CISLUNAR ACTIVITIES. THE EXPANSION OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES INTO CISLUNAR SPACE IS THE BROADER BASIS FOR ESTABLISHING A TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR CISLUNAR SPACE REUSABLE EXTENSIBLE AND MAINTAINABLE. SUCH A TRANSPORTATION NETWORK REQUIRES ACCESS TO VARIOUS TRAJECTORIES AS WELL AS THE NAVIGATION TARGETING AND GUIDANCE CAPABILITIES TO FLY THEM. THIS EFFORT SUPPORTS THE CURRENT CONCEPT AS A STEP TO ENABLE THE USE OF A SAMPLE MULTI-BODY ORBIT E.G. THE NRHO AS A POTENTIAL BASELINE TRAJECTORY IN THE CISLUNAR REGIME BUT ALSO TO DELIVER SPACECRAFT TO THE LUNAR SURFACE AND VARIOUS OTHER TYPES OF ORBITS IN CISLUNAR SPACE WITH THE EVENTUAL OPTION TO REACH OTHER DESTINATIONS BEYOND THE MOON. | 2018-08-13 → 2023-12-31 | $439K |
| 80NSSC21K1476 | THE MOON OFFERS AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO INVESTIGATE THESE PLANETARY PROCESSES THROUGH STUDY OF ITS CRUST. | 2021-09-01 → 2025-08-31 | $394K |
| NNX14AM86G | THE EVOLUTION OF LARGE IMPACT BASINS ON THE MOON, MERCURY, AND MARS IMPACT BASINS LARGE ENOUGH TO SIGNIFICANTLY ALTER THE GRAVITATION FIELD ARE UBIQU | 2014-07-08 → 2019-07-07 | $374K |
| 80NSSC25K7792 | 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 | 2025-08-11 → 2028-08-10 | $358K |
| NNX15AL61G | IMPACT CRATERING IS ONE OF THE MOST UBIQUITOUS PROCESSES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. IN ADDITION TO ABUNDANT PRIMARY IMPACT CRATERS ON THE SURFACE OF VIRTUALLY EVERY PLANET AND SATELLITE SMALLER SECONDARY CRATERS CREATED BY ROCK FRAGMENTS EJECTED FROM THE PRIMARY CRATER ARE EVEN MORE ABUNDANT. A CONTROVERSY IS CURRENTLY RAGING IN THE CRATER DATING COMMUNITY OVER THE CONTRIBUTION OF THESE SECONDARIES TO CRATER COUNTS FOR WHICH AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SIZE AND LOCATION OF SECONDARIES IN RELATION TO THE PRIMARY IS ESSENTIAL. IN ADDITION THE ANOMALOUSLY LARGE SECONDARY CRATERS ON MERCURY SUGGEST THAT ITS SURFACE IS DIFFERENT IN SOME YET UNDEFINED WAY FROM THAT OF THE MOON OR MARS. A FEW OF THE METEORITES THAT FALL ON EARTH ORIGINATED ON THE MOON AND MARS AND IN THE CASE OF MARS CONSTITUTE OUR ONLYSAMPLES OF THAT PLANET SO FAR. THESE METEORITES REPRESENT THE HIGH-SPEED TAIL OF THE EJECTA FROM IMPACTS ON THOSE PLANETS. EXCHANGE OF MATERIAL AND (PERHAPS) LIVING ORGANISMS BETWEEN PLANETS IS NOW RECOGNIZED TO OCCUR THROUGH SUCH HIGH-SPEED SOLID EJECTA. AT THE PRESENT TIME IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ACCURATELY RELATE THE SIZE OF EJECTA FRAGMENTS TO THEIR EJECTION VELOCITY THE SIZE OF THE PARENT CRATER OR THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF THE TARGET BODY. SEVERAL INVESTIGATIONS HAVE ESTABLISHED EMPIRICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN EJECTA FRAGMENT SIZES TO THEIR VELOCITY BUT SO FAR IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO ACCURATELY RELATE THESE SIZES TO THE TARGET MATERIAL PROPERTIES. IN PAST WORK THEPI PROPOSED A SPALL MECHANISM FOR PRODUCING LIGHTLY SHOCKED HIGH-SPEED EJECTA AND ESTIMATED THE EJECTA SIZE-VELOCITY RELATION FROM A LINEAR ELASTIC MODEL. ALTHOUGH THIS MODEL HAS BEEN WIDELY ACCEPTED THE FOUNDATION OF THE MODEL WHILE ADEQUATE FOR THE MID-1980S HAS MANY LIMITATIONS WHEN APPLIED TO THE HIGHEST VELOCITY EJECTA. IN THE PAST THREE YEARS NUMERICAL TOOLS HAVE BEEN CREATED THAT ARECAPABLE OF ADDRESSING THESE LIMITATIONS AND PROVIDING A FIRMER UNDERSTANDING OF THE LINK BETWEEN HIGH-SPEED EJECTA AND THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE IMPACT-GENERATED SHOCK WAVE AND THE FREE SURFACE OF THE TARGET PLANET. THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO APPLY MODERN SHOCK PHYSICS TOOLS TO EVALUATE THE RELATION BETWEEN THE PRIMARY IMPACT AND THE SIZE VELOCITY SHOCK LEVEL AND OTHER PROPERTIES (SUCHAS THE DURATION OF THE SHOCK) OF HIGH-SPEED IMPACT EJECTA. THIS RESEARCH RELIES ON THE IMPACT HYDROCODE ISALE A WELL-TESTED OPENSOURCE COMPUTER CODE DEVELOPED BY THE PI AND HIS COLLABORATORS OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES. THE CURRENT VERSION PERMITS BOTH 2D AND 3D SIMULATIONS THAT INCORPORATE DETAILED MATERIAL MODELS OF ROCK STRENGTH PORE COLLAPSE AND DILATANCY. FORMER PHD STUDENT AND THE PI PERFORMED PRELIMINARY COMPUTATIONS AT THE UNPRECEDENTEDLY HIGH RESOLUTION OF 800 CELLS PER PROJECTILE RADIUS AND CLEARLY RESOLVED THE INTERACTIONS OF THE INITIAL STRONG SHOCK WAVE WITH THE TARGET SURFACE AND TRACKED THE EVOLUTION AND SHOCK LEVEL OF EJECTA. WE PROPOSE TO FURTHER INCORPORATE THE GRADY-KIPP TENSILE FRAGMENTATION ALGORITHM INTO ISALE (THIS MODEL WAS USED IN THE OLDER LAGRANGIAN VERSIONS OF SALE BUT A NEW STRATEGY THAT DERIVES LOCAL STRAIN RATES FROM TRACER PARTICLES IS NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT IT IN THE MORE CAPABLE EULERIAN VERSION). THIS ALGORITHM PRODUCED ACCURATE ESTIMATES OF EXPERIMENTAL FRAGMENT SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS IN PAST RESEARCH AND SO IS VALIDATED. WE HOPE TO LEVERAGE ANALYTICAL SHOCK PROPAGATION MODELS IN ADDITION TO THE NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS TO PRODUCE A FLEXIBLE AND COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF EJECTA FRAGMENT SIZE-VELOCITY RELATIONS AND TEST THESE AGAINST THE EMPIRICAL DATA THAT IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY ABUNDANT. THIS RESEARCH IS RELEVANT TO ROSES C.3 EVOLUTION AND MODIFICATION OF SURFACES. THE RESULTS CUT ACROSS ALL ASPECTS OF IMPACT CRATERING AND ITS EFFECTS ON PLANETARY SURFACES AND THEIR EVOLUTION AS WELL AS THE INTERPRETATION OF THE PAST HISTORY OF MARS AND THE MOON FROM METEORITES. | 2015-07-25 → 2022-07-24 | $349K |
| 80NSSC19K0938 | SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: SPACE WEATHERING ALTERS THE COMPOSITION MICROSTRUCTURE AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF GRAINS ON AIRLESS BODY SURFACES. INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF SPACE WEATHERING IN RETURNED SAMPLES IS CRITICAL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF THE PLANETARY SURFACES FROM WHICH THOSE MATERIALS ARE SOURCED. OUR CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF SPACE WEATHERING IS CONSTRUCTED FROM A COMBINATION OF RETURNED SAMPLE ANALYSES AND EXPERIMENTS THAT SIMULATE SPACE WEATHERING PROCESSES IN THE LABORATORY. OUR CHARACTERIZATION OF NATURAL SAMPLES HAS LONG FOCUSED ON LUNAR REGOLITHS AND MORE RECENTLY ON GRAINS FROM ASTEROID ITOKAWA. SUCH ANALYSES HAVE CONCENTRATED ON MINERALS THAT DOMINATE LUNAR AND ORDINARY-CHONDRITE REGOLITHS E.G. SILICATES SUCH AS OLIVINE PYROXENE AND PLAGIOCLASE. HOWEVER A KEY GROUP OF MINERALS HAS GONE WITHOUT DETAILED EXAMINATION: SULFIDES. .RECENT EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED BY OUR GROUP AND OTHERS HAVE INDICATED THAT THE MICROSTRUCTURAL AND CHEMICAL RESPONSE OF SULFIDES TO SPACE WEATHERING CONDITIONS DIFFERS SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THEIR SILICATE MINERAL COUNTERPARTS. SIMILARLY THESE EXPERIMENTS SUGGEST THAT SULFIDES PLAY AN IMPORTANT IF NOT DOMINANT ROLE IN THE SPACE WEATHERING OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS THAT ARE ANALOGOUS TO SAMPLES WE EXPECT TO RETURN WITH THE OSIRIS-REX AND HAYABUSA2 MISSIONS. IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RESPONSE OF SULFIDES TO SPACE WEATHERING WE PROPOSE TO CHARACTERIZE SULFIDE GRAINS FROM ASTEROID ITOKAWA RETURNED BY THE HAYABUSA MISSION. WE WILL PERFORM DETAILED STUDIES OF THE COMPOSITIONAL AND MINERALOGICAL CHANGES IN SULFIDE GRAINS AS A RESULT OF SPACE WEATHERING USING A COMBINATION OF FOCUSED ION BEAM SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (FIB-SEM) AND TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM). THESE ANALYSES WILL BE COMPLEMENTARY TO OUR ONGOING EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES SIMULATING SPACE WEATHERING OF SULFIDES IN THE LABORATORY. ANALYSES OF THESE SAMPLES WILL NOT ONLY MAXIMIZE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF THE HAYABUSA MISSION BUT WILL ALSO PROVIDE VALUABLE INSIGHT RELEVANT TO THE EVENTUAL ANALYSIS OF RETURNED SAMPLES FROM THE OSIRIS-REX AND HAYABUSA2 MISSIONS. .IN ADDITION TO THE ANALYSES OF SPACE WEATHERED SULFIDES WE PROPOSE TO STUDY IN DETAIL THE MODIFICATION OF SOLAR FLARE TRACKS UNDER DIFFERENT THERMAL CONDITIONS. SOLAR FLARE TRACKS HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED IN LUNAR SAMPLES AND IN HAYABUSA SAMPLES AND THEIR PRESENCE ENABLES US TO PUT CONSTRAINTS ON THE RESIDENCE TIMESCALES FOR GRAINS IN THE UPPER MM S OF THE REGOLITH ON AIRLESS BODY SURFACES. HOWEVER SOME PROCESSES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO ALTER AND/OR ERASE THE RECORD OF THESE TRACKS SUCH AS ANNEALING. WE PROPOSE TO PERFORM IN SITU HEATING EXPERIMENTS IN THE TEM USING COMMON PHASES IN RETURNED SAMPLES TO STUDY THE EVOLUTION AND DESTRUCTION OF SOLAR FLARE TRACKS. WE WILL PERFORM BOTH THERMAL SHOCKS AND LONGER DURATION LOW-TEMPERATURE HEATING EVENTS TO UNDERSTAND THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH SOLAR FLARE TRACKS ARE ALTERED IN RETURNED SAMPLES. SUCH EXPERIMENTS ARE CRITICAL FOR INTERPRETING ANALYSES OF ALREADY-RETURNED AND FUTURE-RETURNED SAMPLES AND WILL ENABLE AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF REGOLITH DYNAMICS ON SMALL BODIES SUCH AS ITOKAWA BENNU AND RYUGU. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO SEARCH FOR SOLAR FLARE TRACKS IN RETURNED STARDUST SAMPLES WHICH COULD PROVIDE IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE SURFACE RESIDENCE TIMES FOR GRAINS ON COMETS. .RELEVANCE: THE PROPOSED WORK IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO THE SCOPE OF THE LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF RETURNED SAMPLES PROGRAM AS IT WOULD INCLUDE DIRECT ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES ALREADY RETURNED TO EARTH AND ADDRESSES THE NASA STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE TO ASCERTAIN THE CONTENT ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE SCIENCE GOAL TO ADVANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM OPERATE INTERACT AND EVOLVE . . | 2019-05-01 → 2024-04-30 | $345K |
| FA95502510101 | (YIP) INFORMATION-DRIVEN AUTONOMOUS CISLUNAR SPACE DOMAIN AWARENESS | 2025-09-29 → 2028-09-28 | $300K |
| NNX15AP29H | DUE TO ITS POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE WHILE REDUCING MASS SPACE PROGRAMS WORLDWIDE ARE CONSIDERING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TWO-PHASE THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. BY CAPITALIZING ON A FLUID'S LATENT HEAT AS WELL AS SENSIBLE TWO-PHASE SYSTEMS CAN OFFER VAST IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTH HEAT ACQUISITION AND REJECTION COMPARED TO THEIR TRADITIONAL SINGLE-PHASE COUNTERPARTS. BEFORE THESE SYSTEMS CAN BE IMPLEMENTED HOWEVER AN INCREASE IN BOTH THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF AVAILABLE DESIGN TOOLS IS NECESSARY. THESE TOOLS ARE CRITICAL FOR DETERMINING HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS PRESSURE DROP AND CRITICAL HEAT FLUX (CHF) IN FLOW BOILING ALL OF WHICH ARE INTEGRAL TO THE DESIGN OF THERMAL CONTROL SYSTEMS. IN PARTICULAR THE IMPACT OF THE DIFFERENT GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS COMMONLY SEEN IN SPACEFLIGHT ON THESE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS ISN'T WELL UNDERSTOOD. MANY EXISTING MODELS SHOW POOR RESULTS WHEN APPLIED IN MICROGRAVITY DISPLAYING THE NEED FOR NEW PREDICTIVE TOOLS THAT CAN ACCURATELY CAPTURE SYSTEM BEHAVIOR IN A BROAD RANGE OF GRAVITATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL UTILIZE THE PURDUE UNIVERSITY BOILING AND TWO-PHASE FLOW LAB'S (PU-BTPFL'S) FLOW BOILING AND CONDENSATION RIG WHICH CAN BE OPERATED BOTH ON THE GROUND AND IN PARABOLIC FLIGHT. BY CONTROLLING THE ANGLE OF DESCENT PARABOLIC FLIGHTS CAN BE USED TO SIMULATE A RANGE OF GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS INCLUDING MICROGRAVITY LUNAR GRAVITY AND MARTIAN GRAVITY. IN ADDITION TO GATHERING HEAT TRANSFER DATA FLOW VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES WILL BE EMPLOYED TO HELP CAPTURE AND CLASSIFY THE DIFFERENT FLOW REGIMES ENCOUNTERED. THESE REGIMES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO DEPEND GREATLY ON FLOW ORIENTATION FOR BOILING AND CONDENSATION AS WELL AS HEATER ORIENTATION FOR FLOW BOILING. THESE FACTORS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MICROGRAVITY. THE DATA GATHERED IN DIFFERENT GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP MECHANISTIC MODELS AND ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL METHODS. THESE TOOLS CAN THEN BE APPLIED TO THE DESIGN OF ADVANCED THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR SPACE SYSTEMS HELPING TO MAKE THE NEXT GENERATION OF SPACECRAFT BOTH LIGHTER AND CAPABLE OF HANDLING DEVICES WITH HIGHER ENERGY DENSITY THAN IS CURRENTLY POSSIBLE. THE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED BY THIS STUDY WILL PRIMARILY BENEFIT NASA TECHNICAL AREA (TA) 14 THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. SPECIFICALLY TA-14.2 THERMAL CONTROL SYSTEMS WILL SEE THE GREATEST IMPACT FROM THIS WORK. BECAUSE THERMAL CONTROL SYSTEMS ARE INTEGRAL COMPONENTS OF SO MANY DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES HOWEVER THE WORK WILL ALSO IMPACT THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE THAN HALF OF THE OTHER SPECIFIED TECHNICAL AREAS (AS SHOWN IN FIG. 6 OF NASA TA-14 DOCUMENT). BECAUSE OF THIS POTENTIAL TO GREATLY INFLUENCE THE DESIGN OF A BROAD RANGE OF TECHNOLOGIES THE WORK DONE IN THIS STUDY TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF TWO-PHASE THERMAL CONTROL SYSTEMS WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON ALL FUTURE SPACE MISSIONS. | 2015-08-01 → ? | $282K |
| 80NSSC18K1153 | SIMILAR TO EXPLORERS THAT TRAVELED FAR FROM THEIR HOMELANDS TO REACH OUT AND UNDERSTAND THE NEW WORLD COUNTLESS ROBOTIC PROBES HAVE BEEN SENT BY HUMANS INTO DEEP SPACE ON EXPLORATION AND SCIENCE MISSIONS. HOWEVER EXPANDING BEYOND LOW-EARTH ORBIT (LEO) TO EMBRACE A MORE FAR-REACHING PERMANENT PRESENCE--A SHIFT BEYOND EXPLORATION MISSIONS--IS A NEAR-TERM GOAL. AN INCREASINGLY PERMANENT HUMAN PRESENCE IN THE REGIONS BEYOND LEO SIMILAR TO THE FIRST COLONISTS THAT STRIVED TO BUILD LASTING COMMUNITIES IN THE NEW WORLD NECESSITATES THE STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT OF SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE AND AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY. A DYNAMICAL UNDERSTANDING OF ORBITS IN THE EARTH-MOON NEIGHBORHOOD THAT CAN SUSTAIN LONG-TERM ACTIVITIES AND TRAJECTORIES THAT LINK LOCATIONS OF INTEREST FORMS A CRITICAL FOUNDATION FOR THE CREATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT A LASTING HUMAN PRESENCE. THE DEEP SPACE GATEWAY (DSG) A FUTURE LONG-TERM HABITAT OR HUB IN AN ORBIT NEAR THE MOON IS EXPECTED TO SERVE AS A STAGING LOCATION FOR ACTIVITIES AND MISSIONS WITHIN CISLUNAR SPACE. EXPANDING FROM THIS HUB NEAR THE MOON NASA'S GOALS FOR THE DEEP SPACE TRANSPORT (DST) AIM TO ALLOW FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF HUMANS BETWEEN LOCATIONS IN CISLUNAR AND TRANSLUNAR SPACE WITHIN THE NEXT DECADE. TO ENABLE THE EXPANSION OF A HUMAN PRESENCE BEYOND LOW-EARTH ORBIT AND INTO DEEP SPACE UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEX MULTIBODY DYNAMICAL REGIME IN CISLUNAR SPACE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF TRAJECTORY PLANNING AND TARGETING IS CRITICAL. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH EFFORT AIMS TO DEVELOP A METHODOLOGY TO MOVE THROUGH CISLUNAR SPACE BETWEEN DESTINATIONS OF INTEREST WHILE IMPLEMENTING INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES TO INCORPORATE REALISTIC MISSION CONSTRAINTS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS TRAJECTORY DESIGN APPROACH WILL ALLOW FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF FUNDAMENTAL MOTION IN CISLUNAR SPACE THAT APPLIES ACROSS MANY MISSIONS (INCLUDING DSG/DST OPERATIONS) ENABLING A MORE INFORMED DESIGN APPROACH RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON A POINT SOLUTION FOR EACH MISSION. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PLAN ALSO AIMS TO DELIVER TRAJECTORY TARGETING APPROACHES WITHIN A FRAMEWORK THAT IS APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS MISSIONS AND THAT CAN INCORPORATE A NUMBER OF TYPES OF MISSION CONSTRAINTS. THESE TARGETING APPROACHES WILL ALLOW FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ADVANCED TRAJECTORY CONCEPTS AND ENABLE ADAPTABILITY IN COMPLEX DESIGNS. A SIMULTANEOUS APPROACH FOR DESIGNING THE PATH UNDERSTANDING TARGETING OPTIONS AND INCORPORATING CONSTRAINTS ALLOWS FOR A STREAMLINED MISSION DESIGN FLOW FROM CONCEPT TO IMPLEMENTATION. NASA IS IN NEED OF TOOLS TO MODEL MISSION OBJECTIVES AND GOALS COMPARE MISSION PATHS AND DETERMINE THE VALUE OF A MISSION CONCEPT. IN DIRECT RESPONSE TO THIS OBJECTIVE THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ALLOWS FOR MANY VIABLE TRAJECTORY OPTIONS TO BE EXPLORED AND COMPARED DURING THE PRE-MISSION PATH-PLANNING PHASE THEREBY LEADING TO AN INFORMED PROCESS FOR SELECTION OF THE MISSION BASELINE. AFTER THE BASELINE PLAN IS DEVELOPED NASA WILL BENEFIT FROM A CAPABILITY TO RAPIDLY RE-PLAN MISSION TRAJECTORIES AND ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES AS CONDITIONS CHANGE PROBLEMS ARISE OR NEW OPPORTUNITIES EMERGE. THE PROPOSED TARGETING APPROACH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THESE GOALS AND ENABLE TRAJECTORY RE-PLANNING AND COMPUTATION FOR BOTH CREWED AND ROBOTIC MISSIONS BOTH ONBOARD AND FROM THE GROUND | 2018-08-01 → ? | $234K |
| 80NSSC23K1368 | DETERMINING THE ORIGIN AND BEHAVIOR OF WATER IN SPACE WEATHERED RIMS OF LUNAR SOILS | 2023-09-01 → 2026-08-31 | $150K |
| 80NSSC20K1198 | CURRENT PLANNING FOR LUNAR AND MARTIAN MISSIONS IS TO LAND MULTIPLE CRAFT AT A SINGLE LOCATION IN CLOSE PROXIMITY | 2020-08-01 → ? | $132K |
| 80NSSC20K1386 | SPACE WEATHERING MODIFIES THE CHEMICAL MICROSTRUCTURAL AND SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF GRAINS ON THE SURFACES OF AIRLESS BODIES AND IS DRIVEN BY MICROMETEORITE IMPACTS AND SOLAR WIND IRRADIATION (HAPKE 2001). OPTICALLY THIS PROCESS CAUSES THE ATTENUATION OF CHARACTERISTIC ABSORPTION BANDS AND REDDENING AND DARKENING OF REFLECTANCE SPECTRA. IN ADDITION TO SPECTRAL CHANGES SPACE WEATHERING CAUSES THE FORMATION OF FE NANOPARTICLES (NPFE) VESICULATED TEXTURES AND AMORPHOUS RIMS ON GRAIN SURFACES. PREVIOUS STUDIES OF RETURNED SAMPLES AND LABORATORY SIMULATIONS OF SPACE WEATHERING PROCESSES HAVE FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS OF THIS PHENOMENON ON THE SILICATE MINERALS WHICH DOMINATE LUNAR SOILS (E.G. LOEFFLER ET AL. 2016 KELLER ET AL. 1997 NOGUCHI ET AL. 2011). HOWEVER THE SITUATION IS LESS CONSTRAINED FOR MINERALS FOUND ON MORE COMPOSITIONALLY-COMPLEX REGOLITHS E.G. CHONDRITIC BODIES. EXAMPLES OF THESE UNDERSTUDIED MINERALS INCLUDE FE- AND FE-NI SULFIDES (TROILITE PENTLANDITE PYRRHOTITE) AND FE-OXIDES (MAGNETITE). THESE MINERALS HAVE ALL BEEN IDENTIFIED IN RETURNED SAMPLES FROM S-TYPE ASTEROID ITOKAWA IN CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITE METEORITES THOUGHT TO BE ANALOGS OF THE TARGET BODIES OF THE HAYABUSA2 AND OSIRIS-REX MISSIONS OR IN REMOTELY SENSED DATA FROM THESE ASTEROIDS (BLAND ET AL. 2004 NOGUCHI ET AL. 2011 2014 LAURETTA ET AL. 2019). DESPITE THEIR PREVALENCE IN OUR SAMPLE COLLECTION THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR OF SULFIDES AND FE OXIDES UNDER SPACE WEATHERING CONDITIONS ARE STILL POORLY UNDERSTOOD. TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RESPONSE OF THESE PHASES TO SPACE WEATHERING PROCESSES IN TASK 1 I WILL PERFORM LABORATORY SIMULATIONS OF MICROMETEORITE IMPACTS AND SOLAR WIND IRRADIATION USING PULSED-LASER AND ION-IRRADIATION RESPECTIVELY ON SULFIDE AND FE-OXIDES MINERALS. I WILL THEN USE TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) TO CHARACTERIZE THEIR MICROSTRUCTURAL AND CHEMICAL RESPONSE TO THESE SIMULATED WEATHERING EVENTS. IN TASK 2 I WILL INVESTIGATE THE MICROSTRUCTURAL AND CHEMICAL FEATURES IN NATURALLY SPACE WEATHERED SULFIDE-BEARING GRAINS FROM ASTEROID ITOKAWA RETURNED BY THE HAYABUSA MISSION. I WILL USE ULTRAMICROTOMY AND FOCUSED ION BEAM SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (FIB-SEM) TO PREPARE THE SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS IN THE TEM AND I WILL USE ENERGY DISPERSIVE X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY (EDS) TO ANALYZE THEIR CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. COMBINING RETURNED SAMPLE ANALYSES WITH LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS WILL ALLOW ME TO ATTRIBUTE SPECIFIC CHEMICAL AND MICROSTRUCTURAL FEATURES IN NATURALLY SPACE-WEATHERED SAMPLES TO INDIVIDUAL CONSTITUENT PROCESSES. THIS COMPARISON WILL ENABLE ME TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OF MICROMETEORITE IMPACTS AND SOLAR WIND IRRADIATION IN THE SPACE WEATHERING OF ASTEROIDAL REGOLITHS. THE PROPOSED ANALYSES WILL MAXIMIZE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF THE HAYABUSA MISSION AND WILL HELP US PREPARE FOR SAMPLE RETURN FROM THE ONGOING OSIRIS-REX AND HAYABUSA2 MISSIONS. THESE RESULTS WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF REMOTE SENSING DATA OF AIRLESS BODIES SURFACES AND HELP BUILD A MODEL FOR SPACE WEATHERING ACROSS THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM. THIS RESEARCH IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO THE NASA LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF RETURNED SAMPLES (LARS) PROGRAM AND WILL DIRECTLY ADDRESS SECTION 2 (ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES) OF APPENDIX C.18 (NNH19ZDA001N-LARS) OF THE ROSES-2019 NRA. MY GOAL IS TO MAXIMIZE THE SCIENCE DERIVED FROM PLANETARY SAMPLE-RETURN MISSIONS BY PERFORMING DIRECT ANALYSIS OF SAMPLES ALREADY RETURNED TO EARTH SPECIFICALLY WITH PARTICLES COLLECTED BY THE HAYABUSA MISSION | 2020-09-01 → 2023-08-31 | $130K |
| NNX17AI79G | CO-I MINTON'S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY ON THIS PROJECT IS TO OVERSEE THE NUMERICAL MODELING EFFORT USING THE CRATERED TERRAIN EVOLUTION MODEL (CTEM). IN PARTICULAR USING CTEM TO VALIDATE THE DIFFUSION MODEL FOR LUNAR CRATERING IS A VITAL COMPONENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF WHAT PROMISES TO BE A USEFUL LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION CODE FOR CRATERED TERRAINS. CO-I MINTON WILL USE CTEM TO EXPLORE MODEL PARAMETERS THAT CAN MATCH OBSERVATIONS OF THE MOON THAT WILL BE DERIVED AS PART OF THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION. THIS INVESTIGATION IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF CTEM CODE DEVELOPMENT AND QUALIFICATION AND MINTON WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OVERSEEING THE REQUIRED CTEM CALIBRATION AND VERIFICATION TESTS. THE EXPLORATION OF LINEAR VS. NON-LINEAR DIFFUSION MODELS IN DETERMINING WHAT WE HAVE DETERMINED TO BE A SCALE-DEPENDENT RATE OF DIFFUSION IN SETTING THE SO-CALLED "EMPIRICAL SATURATION CURVE" WILL BE A PRIMARY TASK FOR WHICH MINTON BE RESPONSIBLE FOR. IN ADDITION HE WILL BE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT AND CONTRIBUTOR TO THE DATA ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION AND PUBLICATION PREPARATION AS PART OF ALL OTHER TASKS. ALL CTEM SIMULATIONS DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL WILL BE PERFORMED AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY USING THE ROSEN CENTER FOR ADVANCED COMPUTING (RCAC) COMMUNITY CLUSTER SYSTEM. CODE DEVELOPMENT FOR CTEM IS LARGE COMPONENT OF MINTON'S RESEARCH EFFORT AND ANY PUBLICATION ARISING FROM THIS PROJECT THAT USES THE CODE WILL INCLUDE CO-AUTHORSHIP BY MINTON. MINTON MAY ALSO BE LEAD AUTHOR ON ANY PUBLICATIONS WHERE CTEM IS THE PRIMARY METHOD USED IN THE INVESTIGATION | 2017-03-17 → 2021-03-16 | $104K |
| 80NSSC25K7350 | 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. | 2024-12-01 → 2026-11-30 | $100K |
| 80NSSC18K1265 | THE MOON HAS BEEN GREATLY ALTERED BY LARGE IMPACTS THAT NOT ONLY CHANGE THE LUNAR SURFACE BUT THE MANNER IN WHICH TOPOGRAPHY AND CRUSTAL THICKNESS IS ALTERED RECORDS SOME OF THE MOST BASIC PROPERTIES OF THE MOON AT THE TIME OF IMPACT (~4 GA FOR MOST LARGE BASINS) SUCH AS ITS THERMAL GRADIENT AND ITS RHEOLOGY. PREVIOUS IMPACT MODELING OF EXCAVATION THROUGH TRANSIENT CRATER COLLAPSE SUGGESTS THAT BASIN DIAMETERS AND CRUSTAL THICKNESS VARIATIONS ARE PRIMARILY DUE TO IMPACTOR SIZE AND VELOCITY THE THICKNESS OF THE PRE-IMPACT CRUST AND THE LUNAR THERMAL GRADIENT AT THE TIME OF IMPACT. HOWEVER THE FINAL DEPTH OF BASINS IS NOT REACHED FOR 10S OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AFTER COOLING AND ISOSTATIC READJUSTMENT. THESE PROCESSES ARE CONTROLLED BY THE HEAT OF IMPACT THE BACKGROUND THERMAL GRADIENT AND THE TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT VISCOSITY STRUCTURE. THE THERMAL GRADIENT IS THUS THE UNIFYING PARAMETER IN BOTH PHASES OF BASIN EVOLUTION AND CAN BE CONSTRAINED THROUGH SELF-CONSISTENT MODELING OF THE COMPLETE EVOLUTION OF A SUITE OF BASINS THAT RANGE IN SIZE AGE AND PROVINCE. THERE ARE TWO PUZZLING CHARACTERISTICS OF LUNAR BASINS: (1) THERE IS AN IDEAL BASIN DIAMETER FROM WHICH MASCONS (EXCESS MASS AT THE BASIN CENTER) DEVELOP (THE GOLDILOCKS QUESTION) AND (2) NEARSIDE BASINS ARE GENERALLY LARGER THAN FARSIDE BASINS (THE BASIN SIZE DICHOTOMY QUESTION). FOR THE GOLDILOCKS QUESTION WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT IMPACT BASINS WILL ONLY EVOLVE INTO MASCONS WHEN A MECHANICAL COUPLING FORMS BETWEEN THE INNER AND OUT BASIN DUE TO COOLING PRIOR TO SIGNIFICANT ISOSTATIC UPLIFT. AFTER TRANSIENT CRATER COLLAPSE THE INTERIORS OF MOST BASINS ARE FOUND TO BE IN A SUB-ISOSTATIC STATE AND NORMALLY ISOSTATIC UPLIFT CANNOT EXCEED ISOSTATIC EQUILIBRIUM. HOWEVER THE FORMATION OF THIS MECHANICAL COUPLING ALLOWS THE ISOSTATIC UPLIFT OF THE CRUSTAL COLLAR (THE THICKENED REGION OF CRUST NEAR THE OUTER BASIN) TO GIVE AN ASSIST TO THE INNER BASIN ALLOWING IT TO RISE INTO A SUPERISOSTATIC STATE (A MASCON). OUR HYPOTHESIS SEEKS TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS HAPPENS OVER A LIMITED RANGE OF BASIN SIZE. | 2018-09-01 → 2020-08-31 | $87K |
| 80NSSC25M7050 | THIS OPPORTUNITY SEEKS TO BUILD KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGIES REQUIRED TO TRAVERSE AND NAVIGATE THE COMPLEX CISLUNAR DYNAMICAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE JOINT OPERATION OF THE ARTEMIS AND GATEWAY EFFORTS. THIS PROGRAM AIMS TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR NOVEL SOLUTIONS TO BOTH COMPUTE AND FLY ALONG TRAJECTORIES WITHIN THE INHERENTLY CHAOTIC DYNAMICAL SYSTEM THAT GOVERNS THAT REGION OF SPACE FOR MISSION DESIGN AND GUIDANCE NAVIGATION AND CONTROL APPLICATIONS. | 2025-01-01 → 2029-12-31 | $85K |
| 2435453 | IUCRC PLANNING GRANT PURDUE UNIVERSITY: CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN EMERGING SUSTAINABLE SPACE TECHNOLOGIES (CRES2T) -SPACE INFRASTRUCTURE PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT-ENABLING SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND ADVANCING COMMUNICATIONS, REMOTE SENSING, GEOPHYSICAL AND ASTROPHYSICAL APPLICATIONS. THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IN THE LAUNCH OF SPACE OBJECTS IN ORBITS AROUND THE EARTH OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS HAS MADE SPACE MORE CONGESTED AND HAS CONTRIBUTED TO INCREASED SPACE DEBRIS. ADDITIONALLY, THE INCREASED GOVERNMENT AND COMMERCIAL INTEREST IN LUNAR AND MARS MISSIONS POSE BOTH POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND RISKS TO SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE SPACE OPERATIONS. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN EMERGING SUSTAINABLE SPACE TECHNOLOGIES (CRES2T), A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, AND PURDUE UNIVERSITY, IS TO RESEARCH NOVEL CONCEPTS AND ASSOCIATED TECHNOLOGIES THAT ENABLE SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE USE OF SPACE FOR HUMANITY. CRES2T RESEARCHERS WILL INVESTIGATE THE INTRICATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE DESIGN, AUTONOMY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND MODELING AND SIMULATION TO ENABLE SAFE IN-SPACE ASSEMBLY, SERVICE AND MANUFACTURING (ISAM) WHILE ADDRESSING THE UNIQUE CHALLENGES POSED BY THE HARSH SPACE ENVIRONMENT. THE SECONDARY GOAL OF THIS CENTER IS TO STIMULATE THE NEXT-GENERATION WORKFORCE BY TRAINING THE NEXT-GENERATION WORKFORCE IN THIS CRITICAL AREA OF NATIONAL NEED. CRES2T ACTIVITIES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IMPACT THE NEW GLOBAL SPACE ECONOMY, CREATE NEW JOBS, AND ADVANCE OUR NATION?S ECONOMIC, SCIENTIFIC, TECHNOLOGICAL, AND NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS. THE CRES2T ACTIVITIES WILL FOCUS ON AN ECOSYSTEM WHERE RESEARCHERS NOT ONLY CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUAL TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO SUSTAINABLE SPACE OPERATIONS BUT ALSO FOCUS ON INTEGRATING DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN A SEAMLESS MANNER TO ACCELERATE TRANSITIONING OF THESE ADVANCES TO COMMERCIAL ENTITIES. THE RESEARCH THRUSTS AND THE OPERATION OF CRES2T ARE FORMULATED TO ADDRESS THE COMPLEX AND RAPID COMMERCIAL PULLS INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING SPACE TECHNOLOGY. PURDUE UNIVERSITY?S COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING IDENTIFIED THE EMERGING SPACE SECTOR AS A CRITICAL AREA FOR ITS ENTIRE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING. THROUGH THE PURDUE ENGINEERING?S CISLUNAR INITIATIVE, PURDUE IS LEVERAGING ITS EXISTING STRENGTHS IN MISSION DESIGN, SPACE DEBRIS ANALYSIS AND PROPULSION TO ADVANCE ACCESS TO CISLUNAR SPACE; CHARACTERIZE AND ENABLE THE UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES FROM THE MOON AND NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS; AND CONCEIVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE NECESSARY FOR CISLUNAR SPACE DEVELOPMENT AND HABITABILITY. AS THE ORBITAL ECONOMY GROWS, NEW CHALLENGES ARE ALSO EMERGING IN SPACE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND POLICY, AND DEFENSE OF THE NATION?S SPACE-BASED ASSETS. PURDUE TEAM WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH OTHER SITES (PENN STATE AND TEXAS A&M) TO TEST THESE TECHNOLOGIES IN A SEAMLESS MANNER AND DEVELOPING THE US OPERATIONAL WORKFORCE THROUGH STUDENT INTERNSHIPS, ANNUAL WORKSHOPS, SHORT COURSES, AND VIRTUAL TUTORIALS. 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 PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD. | 2025-03-15 → 2027-09-30 | $24K |
| 80NSSC25K0108 | 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 | 2025-05-23 → 2026-04-20 | $10K |