NEXT GENERATION OF CRYOGENIC ACTUATOR TECHNOLOGY (CAT) REQUIREMENTS CALL FOR A WIDE RANGE OF OPERATING TEMPERATURES FROM -296 C (LIQUID HE) TO 116 C (MAX ON MOON SURFACE). SUCH A LARGE RANGE IS CHALLENGING FOR CONVENTIONAL PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATORS AS LOW TEMPERATURES DRASTICALLY DECAY THEIR PIEZOELECTRIC COEFFICIENT AND AT HIGH TEMPERATURES (NEAR THE CURIE TEMPERATURE) THE DEVICES WILL BE DEPOLARIZED AND BECOME COMPLETELY INOPERABLE. THESE PERFORMANCE DEGRADATIONS ARE ESPECIALLY SIGNIFICANT IN CONVENTIONAL POLYCRYSTALLINE PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO ADVANCE NASA S PORTFOLIO OF CAT BY CREATING A NOVEL ACTUATOR BASED ON THE CONVERSE FLEXOELECTRIC BEHAVIOR OF MOLYBDENUM DISULPHIDE (MOS2) THIN FILMS. AS A UBIQUITOUS SOLID LUBRICANT THAT IS FAMILIAR TO THE AEROSPACE COMMUNITY FOR ITS DRY AND VACUUM-COMPATIBLE RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (PI) PROPOSES THE USE OF CORRUGATED MOS2 THIN FILMS AS THE ACTIVE MATERIAL IN A NEW CLASS OF SPACE-COMPATIBLE ACTUATORS WHICH THE PI TERMS FLEXOELECTRIC CAT OR FCAT. SPECIFICALLY THE PI PLANS TO UTILIZE THE THUS-FAR UNDERAPPRECIATED PHENOMENA OF THE CONVERSE FLEXOELECTRIC EFFECT TO ENABLE SELF-LUBRICATING ACTUATION UNDER CRYOGENIC AND VACUUM CONDITIONS. AS A RESULT OF MOS2 S UNIQUE TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES AS WELL AS HIGHLY DEFORMABLE NATURE DUE TO ITS VAN DER WAALS LAYERED STRUCTURE THE PROPOSED FCAT WILL ENABLE LONGER SERVICE LIFE AND MORE CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE UNDER VACUUM AND CRYOGENIC CONDITIONS. SIMULTANEOUSLY THE PROPOSED FCAT ADDRESSES THE THREE RESEARCH FOCI OF TOPIC 2. CRYOGENIC ACTUATOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT INCLUDING (1) THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL ACTUATOR TECHNOLOGY BY (2) APPLICATION OF A NEW MATERIAL SYSTEM AND CONFIGURATION AND (3) USING A NEW BUT FAMILIAR TRIBOLOGICAL MATERIAL. THE PROPOSED FCAT IS A SIGNIFICANT DEPARTURE FROM TRADITIONAL PIEZOELECTRIC TECHNOLOGIES SINCE FCAT IS NOT LIMITED FROM THE TRADITIONAL NON-CENTROSYMMETRIC MATERIAL REQUIREMENT FOR PIEZOELECTRIC DEVICES. THE INNOVATION ARISES FROM THE COMBINATION OF MATERIAL SELECTION (SELF-LUBRICATING MOS2) ACTUATION MECHANISM (CONVERSE FLEXOELECTRICITY) AND GEOMETRIC DESIGN (CORRUGATION AND FLATTENING OF THE MOS2 FILM). SINCE THERE IS NO BULK MATERIAL DEFORMATION (ONLY LOCALIZED BENDING) AND THE MOS2 IS SELF-LUBRICATING THERE WILL BE MINIMUM HEAT DISSIPATION. THIS NOT ONLY AVOIDS THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL LUBRICATION OR GREASES BUT ALSO MITIGATES THE RISK FOR PARTICULATE OR DEBRIS GENERATION. THE PROPOSED FCAT DESIGN IS ALSO A SIGNIFICANT DEPARTURE FROM PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT DEMONSTRATING THE FLEXOELECTRIC EFFECTS USING BEAMS AND CANTILEVERS WHICH DOES NOT LEND TO SCALING FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS. IN ALL THE PROPOSED FCAT DEVICE BRINGS IMPROVEMENTS TO PERFORMANCE (TOTAL STROKE) RELIABILITY (MECHANICAL/THERMAL CYCLING FATIGUE) LOWER MASS/VOLUME (LESS MATERIAL THAN BULK PIEZO) FOR NEXT GENERATION CAT REQUIREMENTS. THE PI ANTICIPATES THAT THE RESULTS GENERATED FROM THE PROPOSED TASKS WILL BE DIRECTLY READY FOR NASA EVALUATION AND PROTOTYPING. IN PARTICULAR THE RESULTS FROM TASK 2 WILL BE DIRECTLY APPLICABLE TO RELATIVELY SMALLER STROKE APPLICATIONS SUCH AS MIRROR CONTROL AND FINE-POSITIONING SYSTEMS. FURTHERMORE THE SCALABLE FCAT ARCHITECTURE IN TASK 3 WILL EXTEND THIS CAPABILITY TO LARGER STROKE APPLICATIONS SUCH AS BULK COMPONENT ACTUATION ROBOTIC MOTION AND INSTRUMENTATION POINTING AND TRACKING.