MULTIPLE YEAR AWARD WITH INCREMENTAL FUNDING FOR YEARS ONE TO FIVE. THIS PROPOSAL IS ENTITLED "PROJECT ESPRESSO: EXPLORATION SCIENCE PATHFINDER RESEARCH FOR ENHANCING SOLAR SYSTEM OBSERVATIONS." THIS IS AWARDED IN RESPONSE TO COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NOTICE_CAN_NO. NNH16ZDA009C NASA SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION RESEARCH VIRTUAL INSTITUTE_SSERVI CYCLE THREE. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR IS DR. ALEX H. PARKER WITH THE SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE_SWRI. PROJECT SUMMARY WE PROPOSE THE ESPRESSO PROJECT FOR SSERVI NODE THAT WILL PURSUE A BROAD RANGE OF PATHFINDING RESEARCH WITH SCIENCE AND OPERATIONS OBJECTIVES RELEVANT TO ENABLING AND ENHANCING EXPLORATION OF NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS_NEAS THE MOON AND THE MOONS OF MARS. THESE OBJECTIVES WILL BE ACHIEVED WITH A TIGHTLY INTEGRATED INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM TO DEVELOP IMPLEMENT AND CHARACTERIZED A SUITE OF ENABLING FACILITIES ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES AND INSTRUMENTATION TECHNOLOGIES. THE ESPRESSO OBJECTIVES ARE GUIDED BY THE FOLLOWING THREE THEMES:1_ENHANCING OPERATIONAL SAFETY.2_ENHANCING TARGET SELECTION SAMPLE SELECTION AND IN-SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION (ISRU) POTENTIAL.3_ENHANCING TARGET CHARACTERIZATION AND ANALYSIS CAPABILITIES.BY VIRTUE OF THE DISTRIBUTED INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM ENABLED BY THE VIRTUAL INSTITUTE MODEL ESPRESSO WILL SUPPORT A DIVERSE ENSEMBLE OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS GUIDED BY THESE THEMES. THE EIGHT ESPRESSO INVESTIGATIONS ARE:1_DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTED NANO-IMPACTORS FOR REMOTE GEOTECHNICAL HAZARD ASSESSMENTS.2_CHARACTERIZING GRAIN-SCALE THERMOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF TARGET BODY CONSTITUENTS.3_PREDICTING TARGET BODY LANDSLIDE HAZARDS BY ADAPTING TERRESTRIAL HAZARD ANALYSIS TOOLS.4_CHARACTERIZING IMPACT EJECTA DYNAMICS TO UNDERSTAND POTENTIAL SIZE- AND CHEMISTRY-DEPENDENT REGOLITH MOBILIZATION PROCESSES ON TARGET BODIES.5_EXPERIMENTALLY CHARACTERIZING TARGET BODY REGOLITH GARDENING AND CRATERING PROCESSES.6_MEASURING OPTICAL CONSTANTS OF TARGET BODY CONSTITUENT MATERIALS FOR QUANTITATIVE REMOTE COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF TARGET BODIES.7_CHARACTERIZING LASER INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY_LIBS RAMAN SCATTERING AND LASER-INDUCED FLUORESCENCE FOR IN SITU TARGET BODY COMPOSITION ANALYSIS.8_DETERMINING THE EXPLORATION ROLES OF FIELD LIBS AND RAMAN FOR SAMPLE SELECTION RESOURCE PROSPECTING AND HAZARD IDENTIFICATION.TO ENABLE INVESTIGATIONS 1 3 4 AND 5 SWRI HAS PARTNERED WITH INDUSTRY TO DEVELOP THE AIRBORNE SPACE ENVIRONMENT CHAMBER_ASEC A LARGE GENERAL-PURPOSE VACUUM CHAMBER FLOWN IN REDUCED GRAVITY AIRCRAFT TO PROVIDE ESPRESSO AND OTHER SSERVI TEAMS WITH ACCESS TO A SPACE-LIKE GRAVITY AND PRESSURE EXPERIMENT ENVIRONMENT. THERE ARE 12 PLANNED ASEC MICROGRAVITY FLIGHTS SCHEDULED UNDER THE SWRI INSTITUTIONAL CONTRIBUTION FOR ESPRESSO WITH ASED FLIGHT SPACE AVAILABLE FOR OTHER SSERVI EXPERIMENTAL PAYLOADS. EXPRESSO'S INVESTIGATIONS ARE DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO 20 OF THE SSERVI CAN SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION TOPICS AND ADDRESS AT LEAST SEVEN NASA STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE GAPS_SKGS INCLUDING SMALL BODY SKGS II.D-2 II.D-2 III.A-1 III.A-2 III.D-1 IV.A-1 AND NASA LUNAR EXPLORATION SKG III.C-1. ESPRESSO WAS DESIGNED TO CONSTRUCTIVELY INTEGRATE INTO THE SSERVI NETWORK BY EXPANDING CAPABILITIES AND FACILITIES AVAILABLE TO SSERVI AND WE HAVE DEVELOPED KEY COLLABORATIONS WITH FIVE EXISTING TEAMS.