NASA funds five “game changing” technologies

NASA's Space Technology Program announced that it has funded five innovative "game-changing" technologies to advance our spaceflight capabilities. I'm particularly intrigued by the "Membrane Enabled Reverse Lung" since advancing life-support technologies and how they may transfer back to Earth applications is one of my particular areas of interest - but I have no other information than what is below. A bit surprised to see there are no awards for advanced energy systems.

NASA's STP is part of the Office of the Chief Technologist. Hat tip to Parabolic Arc for the find.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA’s Space Technology Program has selected five technologies that could revolutionize America’s space capabilities.

In March, NASA issued a call for proposal focused on sudden and unexpected innovations that hold a potential for providing a “game-changing” impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the agency’s space capabilities.

NASA has selected the following proposals for funding:

• “Representing and Exploiting Cumulative Experience with Objects for Autonomous Manipulation,” University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This technology could improve autonomous robotic operations using artificial intelligence during deep space missions.
• “Lightweight High Performance Acoustic Suppression Technology Development,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. This technology could suppress acoustic environments during launch. By reducing vibrations by acoustic suppression during launch, the amount of prelaunch vibration stress testing for onboard instruments also could be reduced.
• “Fast Light Optical Gyroscopes for Precision Inertial Navigation,” NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. This technology could enhance navigation capabilities for spacecraft by improving the performance of existing gyroscopes by a factor of 1,000.
• “EHD-Based Variable Conductance Thermal Interface Material,” The Boeing Company, El Segundo, Calif. The development of this thermal material could provide better heat management for spacecraft.
• “Membrane Enabled Reverse Lung,” Oceaneering Space Systems, Houston. This technology could reduce the number of life support systems needed for astronauts.

“NASA’s Space Technology Program is enabling our future in space by investing in revolutionary and game-changing technologies that could open new doors for how we live, work and investigate space,” said Michael Gazarik, director of the program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are confident these selected technologies, with their highly qualified research teams, will enable great new opportunities for the next chapter in NASA’s innovation story.”

The selected proposals take steps toward addressing critical technological barriers for advancing exploration and science missions, while also lowering the cost of other government and commercial space activities. Projects were selected through independent review of technical merit, alignment with NASA’s Space Technology Roadmap priorities and the technology objectives identified by the National Research Council in its review of these roadmaps.

Awards range from $125,000 to $1.8 million, with a total NASA investment of approximately $6 million through 2015. NASA’s Game Changing Development Program, located at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., is responsible for the management of these awards. For more information about this program, visit: http://go.usa.gov/RPS

The Game Changing Development Program is part of NASA’s Space Technology Program, which is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use in future science and exploration missions. NASA’s technology investments provide cutting-edge solutions for our nation’s future.

For information about NASA’s Space Technology Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/oct

via www.parabolicarc.com

Image: NASA

Comments

[באבלס]

The only way to shift the direction of climate change is to shift our energy investments. The International Energy Agency projects that $9-$15 trillion will be invested in the next few decades to meet the world's growing energy demand.Thank you shearing your article..

[Burke Burnett]

Thanks for your comment, and I agree. Pielke's Iron Law of Climate Policy ("When policies on emissions reductions collide with policies focused on economic growth, economic growth will win out every time. Efforts to sell the public on policies that will create short-term economic discomfort cannot succeed if that discomfort is perceived to be too great.") seems politically realistic even though I disagree that this is the most sensible way forward from a rational planetary perspective. The challenge, as you suggest, is how best to incentivize major public/private investment in low/zero carbon energy technologies so as to facilitate their wide-scale deployment over the next 30 years. There is no magic bullet, just a long slog - but it will be a slow-motion disaster without this reallocation of investment resources.