University of California, Davis
Who it subcontracts to
No subawards reported under its lunar awards.
Who it works for
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.
DR. STEPHEN ROBINSON IS A UC DAVIS PROFESSOR WHO WILL SUPPORT THIS PROJECT IN THE DEFINITION, PLANNING, EXECUTION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING OF THIS NASA-FUNDED RESEARCH. SPECIFICALLY, DR. ROBINSON WILL WORK UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF DR. STANKOVIC TO ACCOMPLISH THE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC AIMS OF THE PROPOSED WORK: AIM 1: TO DETERMINE, THROUGH CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY IN EARTH-BOUND ANALOGS FOR IN-SITU LUNAR BASE CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATIONS, HOW PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS ARE DEVELOPED AND USED ACROSS A VARIETY OF OPERATIONAL TASKS AND SITUATIONS RELEVANT TO FUTURE LONG DURATION SPACEFLIGHT EXPLORATION, AND TO IDENTIFY WHICH INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM SKILLS ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO PERFORMING TASKS IN BOTH NORMAL AND EMERGENCY CONDITIONS. AIM 2: TO DEVELOP A SET OF METRICS AND MEASURES OF PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS FOR BOTH INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS, IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP OF INDIVIDUAL COGNITIVE PROCESSES/SKILLS TO TEAM COGNITIVE PROCESSES/SKILLS, AND TO DESCRIBE HOW THESE SKILLS CHANGE OVER TIME. AIM 3: LEVERAGING THE INSIGHTS GAINED IN AIMS 1 & 2, WE WILL DEVELOP A SET OF TRAINING GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, INCLUDING FOR THE EFFECTIVE INTERFACE WITH ON-BOARD SUPPORT SYSTEMS. PROFESSOR ROBINSON WILL ALSO SUPPORT THIS PROPOSAL BY SELECTING AND EMPLOYING A UC DAVIS ENGINEERING GRADUATE STUDENT, WHO WILL SERVE AS AN INTEGRAL MEMBER OF THE RESEARCH TEAM, AND WHOSE MASTER"S THESIS WILL BE BASED ON THIS RESEARCH.
Lunar awards as prime
| Award | Description | Period | Obligated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80NSSC21K1373 | HUMAN-GUIDED ROBOTIC ARM OPERATIONS WILL BE ESSENTIAL FOR LONG-DURATION HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT INCLUDING LEO CIS-LUNAR AND MARTIAN ORBITS | 2021-06-02 → 2025-09-30 | $1.0M |
| 80NSSC21K0356 | PROPOSAL FOR TOPIC 1: SUPPORTING SUSTAINABLE LUNAR EXPLORATION AND THE EXPANSION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY INTO CIS-LUNAR SPACE A. PROPOSAL TITLE: CAPTURING HUMAN ADAPTATIONS IN NOVEL GRAVITATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS IN SPACE (CHANGES) B. PROPOSED EFFORT AND | 2020-12-31 → 2024-05-31 | $824K |
| 80NSSC20K1501 | EXPOSURE TO THE SPACEFLIGHT ENVIRONMENT ADVERSELY AFFECTS MANY ASPECTS OF PHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR. INCLUDED AMONG THESE DELETERIOUS CHANGES ARE ALTERATIONS IN CIRCADIAN AND SLEEP/WAKE FUNCTION THAT NOT ONLY EXACERBATE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PERFORMANCE DECREMENTS BUT ALSO CORRELATE WITH DISRUPTED METABOLISM AND ELEVATED AGING BIOMARKERS. ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY (AG PRODUCED VIA THE CENTRIPETAL ACCELERATION OF CENTRIFUGATION) HAS LONG BEEN PROPOSED AS A COUNTERMEASURE TO MITIGATE OR EVEN PREVENT THESE DELETERIOUS CHANGES DURING SPACEFLIGHT AND HAS PROVED SUCCESSFUL IN A LIMITED STUDY ON MICE IN THE AREAS OF MUSCLE AND BONE. PLANNING FOR A MISSION TO MARS RAISES THE ADDITIONAL QUESTION OF HOW EFFECTIVE THE MARTIAN GRAVITATIONAL ENVIRONMENT WILL BE IN COMBATTING MICROGRAVITY INDUCED DEFICITS. FINALLY IN ORDER FOR AN AG COUNTERMEASURE TO BE SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED THE PARAMETERS OF AG EXPOSURE MUST BE EXPERIMENTALLY DEFINED. THIS PROGRAM SEEKS TO ELUCIDATE THE DOSE-RESPONSE CURVE FOR AN AG EXPOSURE COUNTERMEASURE USING AN ESTABLISHED MOUSE MODEL AND CENTRIFUGE ABOARD THE ISS. WE PROPOSE TO RECORD CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS OF BODY TEMPERATURE FOOD INTAKE REST/ACTIVITY AND OTHER VIDEO-RECORDED BEHAVIORS DURING 4 WEEKS OF AG EXPOSURE PRODUCED VIA CENTRIFUGATION IN UP TO FOUR SEQUENTIAL ISS STUDIES AS WELL AS TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF AG ON CLOCK GENES UNDERLYING CIRCADIAN FUNCTION. ADDITIONAL OUTCOME MEASURES USING 'OMICS ANALYSES (E.G. PROTEOMICS AND TRANSCRIPTOMICS) ON SELECT TISSUES POST FLIGHT WILL BE USED TO EXAMINE REGULATORY FACTORS AND BIOMARKERS RELATED TO THE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL MEASURES. DATA FROM THE SUBJECTS EXPOSED TO AG WILL BE COMPARED WITH COHORTS STUDIED IN MICROGRAVITY ON THE SAME MISSIONS AS WELL AS TO TERRESTRIAL GROUND CONTROLS. FOUR AG LEVELS ARE PROPOSED ALLOWING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN AG COUNTERMEASURE DOSE-RESPONSE CURVE. THE AG LEVELS WE PROPOSE TO TEST INCLUDE LUNAR (0.17G) MARTIAN (0.38G) AND TWO ADDITIONAL LEVELS INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN MARTIAN AND TERRESTRIAL. THIS SERIES OF STUDIES WILL BE THE FIRST TO ESTABLISH A DOSE RESPONSE RELATIONSHIP FOR AN AG COUNTERMEASURE AS WELL AS TO BEGIN TO ANSWER THE QUESTION OF WHETHER SUCH COUNTERMEASURES WOULD ALSO BE NECESSARY DURING LUNAR OR MARTIAN HABITATION. | 2020-08-04 → 2026-05-31 | $652K |