← LeaderboardsInvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
The Aerospace Corporation
$30,044,623
Total funding
56
Grants
Funding over time
peak $12.5M · FY2008–22$20M$15M$10M$5M$0
'08
'09
'10
'11
'12
'13
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
Funding mix
By agency
NASA$30,044,623 · 56
By mechanism
—$30,044,623 · 56
Investigators at The Aerospace Corporation
InvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Exposure= the full size of every grant they're on ($1M each).
Rising Stars
First grant in the last 5 yrs
Not enough data
Emerging Leaders
6–10 yrs in
Not enough data
All-Time
Most funded here, all years
Not enough data
Largest grants
RECENT OBSERVATIONS OF THE DUSKSIDE THERMOSPHERE HAVE REVEALED ADDITIONAL COMPLEXITY TO THE COUPLING BETWEEN THE IONOSPHERE/ THERMOSPHERE REGIONS. THERE ARE TWO DOMINANT INTERACTIONS IN THE LOW-LATITUDE DUSKS-SIDE IONOSPHERE/THERMOSPHERE: EQUATORIAL IONIZATION ANOMALY (EIA) AND EQUATORIAL TEMPERATURE AND WIND ANOMALY (ETWA). WHILE THE EIA HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY STUDIED UTILIZING BOTH OBSERVATIONS AND MODELS THE STUDY OF ETWA HAS BEEN LIMITED BECAUSE OF INFREQUENT OBSERVATIONS DUE TO A LACK OF SUITABLY-INSTRUMENTED SPACECRAFT AT APPROPRIATE ALTITUDES. THE LOW-LATITUDE IONOSPHERE/THERMOSPHERE ENHANCEMENTS IN DENSITY (LLITED) MISSION PROPOSES TO FILL THIS NEED BY PROVIDING BOTH IONOSPHERE AND THERMOSPHERE MEASUREMENTS FOR USE IN THE STUDY OF THE ETWA ITS ASSOCIATED COUPLING PHYSICS AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ETWA AND EIA. SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: LLITED WILL FOR THE FIRST TIME PROVIDE COINCIDENT MEASUREMENTS OF THE DUSKSIDE THERMOSPHERE/IONOSPHERE AT LOWER ALTITUDES PROVIDING A DETAILED EXAMINATION OF THE ETWA. THE MISSION S OVERALL GOAL IS TO CHARACTERIZE THE VARIABILITY AND THE COUPLING DRIVERS OF THE ETWA. SPECIFICALLY THE MISSION WILL: 1) DETERMINE THE MESOSCALE VARIABILITY OF THE ETWA AS A FUNCTION SEASON AND LON/LAT AS WELL AS ITS RELATIONSHIP TO EIA HEATING. 2) EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NEUTRAL WINDS (I.E. TIDES) AND THE EIA ZONAL STRUCTURE. 3) INVESTIGATE THE SMALL-SCALE WAVE FLUCTUATIONS IN NEUTRAL ATMOSPHERE QUANTITIES SUCH AS THOSE OBSERVED BY EARLIER MISSIONS TO DETERMINE IF THEY ARE SIMILARLY EXHIBITED IN THE IONOSPHERIC DENSITY. METHODOLOGY: WE PROPOSE A CUBESAT MISSION CONSISTING OF TWO 1.5U CUBESATS IN A LOW-INCLINATION ORBIT. EACH CUBESAT WILL HOST THREE PAYLOADS: AN IONIZATION GAUGE (IG) PLASMA PROBE (PP) AND GPS RADIO OCCULTATION SENSOR (GPSRO). THE IG WILL PROVIDE IN-SITU RELATIVE NEUTRAL PRESSURE FROM WHICH NEUTRAL DENSITY IS INFERRED. THE PP WILL PROVIDE IN-SITU ELECTRON DENSITY. THE IG AND PP SENSORS WILL CHARACTERIZE THE THERMOSPHERE/IONOSPHERE DENSITIES AT THE S/C. THE GPSRO WILL PROVIDE POSITION/NAVIGATION/TIME TO THE S/C ATTITUDE CONTROL SYSTEM AS WELL AS PROVIDE BACKGROUND IONOSPHERE DENSITY CONDITIONS FOR ADDED CONTEXT. WE PROPOSE TO LAUNCH THE TWO CUBESATS FROM THE ISS AND MAINTAIN A SEPARATION OF ~30 DEG LATITUDE IN ORDER TO SAMPLE THE IONOSPHERE/THERMOSPHERE AT MULTIPLE TIMES IN ORDER TO CHARACTERIZE THE ETWA EVOLUTION. THE OBSERVATIONS FROM LLITED WILL BE COMBINED WITH THE REMOTE SENSING OBSERVATIONS OF ICON TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE DATASET OF THE ETWA. RELEVANCE: LLITED DIRECTLY ADDRESSES TWO OF THE GOALS IN THE 2014 NASA SCIENCE PLAN: EXPLORE THE PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT FROM THE SUN TO THE EARTH AND THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONNECTIONS THAT LINK THE SUN THE EARTH PLANETARY SPACE ENVIRONMENTS AND THE OUTER REACHES OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM BY PROVIDING NEW MEASUREMENTS OF THE THERMOSPHERE/IONOSPHERE THAT WILL BE USED TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESSES BEHIND THE ETWA. THIS STUDY WILL ALSO IMPROVE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF SUN/EARTH CONNECTION SINCE THE CHANGES IN SOLAR ILLUMINATION (DAY/NIGHT) RESULTS IN VARYING PRESSURE/DENSITY GRADIENTS WHICH IN TURN DRIVE THE ETWA THROUGH FORCING IN THE THERMOSPHERE/IONOSPHERE$3,807,377
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
IDENTIFICATION USING A HIGH-PREFORMANCE THERMAL INFRARED IMAGING SPECTROMETER - PI JOHN HACKWELL A$3,284,578
· FY2008 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
WE PROPOSE TO DEMONSTRATE IN SPACE A NEW AND HIGHLY SENSITIVE 2X8 HGCDTE ELECTRON AVALANCHE PHOTO DIODE (E-APD) ARRAY DEVELOPED BY DRS-RSTA THAT HAS HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY AND SINGLE PHOTON LEVEL RESPONSE AT IR WAVELENGTHS FROM 1 TO 4 MICRONS. CURRENTLY THERE ARE NO SPACE-QUALIFIED PHOTON LEVEL COUNTING DETECTORS AT>1-MICRON THAT ARE COMPATIBLE WITH LONG-TERM SPACE OPERATION. FOR THIS REASON THE ICESAT-2 MISSION CONVERTED ITS 1-MICRON LASER INTO THE GREEN WHICH SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE INSTRUMENT'S POWER AND COMPLEXITY. FUTURE NASA MISSIONS SUCH AS ICESAT ASCENDS LIST AND OTHERS WILL GREATLY BENEFIT FROM THESE PHOTON-SENSITIVE IR DETECTOR ARRAYS.WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THE DETECTOR RESPONSE TO 1-2 MICRON SOURCES AND MEASURE ITS DARK CURRENT AS A FUNCTION OF TIME IDEALLY 1 YEAR ON ORBIT IN THE INTEGRATED SPACE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT. WE WILL USE A 3U CUBESAT FROM THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION THAT WILL CONTAIN A DRS TECHNOLOGIES 2X8 HGCDTE E-APD ARRAY SENSOR HOUSED IN A DEWAR-COOLER ASSEMBLY FOR OPERATION AT 80K. THE CUBESAT WILL HAVE ATTITUDE KNOWLEDGE CONTROL AND GROUND CONNECTIVITY IDENTICAL OR IMPROVED OVER THE THREE AEROCUBE-4 SATELLITES CURRENTLY ON ORBIT. OUR PROPOSAL DIVIDES THE MISSION INTO SEPARATE COST OPTIONS. THE BASELINE MISSION TESTS DEVICE PERFORMANCE SOLELY WITH 1-2 MICRON SOURCES LOCATED ON THE CUBESAT. OPTION 1 ADDS SENSOR STIMULATION FROM GROUND SOURCES PROVIDING A MORE COMPLEX AND REALISTIC USAGE SCENARIO. OPTION 2 ADDS A LENS ARRAY TO THE DETECTOR IMPROVING ITS EFFICIENCY. OPTION 3 ADDS COST FOR AN ATHENA LAUNCH IN 2015. THE PROPOSED DETECTOR FOR THIS FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION WILL ENTER AS TRL 5/6 WHEN IN JUNE 2013 AND EXIT AT TRL 8/9 BY APRIL 2016.$3,211,968
· FY2014 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
WE PROPOSE A THREE-YEAR CUBESAT MISSION DAILI TO STUDY DYNAMICAL CHANGES IN THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION IN THE APPROXIMATE 140 TO 290 KM ALTITUDE REGION. DAILI IMPLEMENTS A NEWLY DEVELOPED TECHNIQUE RECENTLY PUBLISHED IN GRL TO MEASURE THE ABSOLUTE O2 DENSITY AT MID AND LOW LATITUDES. THE TECHNIQUE UTILIZES THE RATIO OF TWO BRIGHT DAYGLOW EMISSIONS A PORTION OF THE O2A (0 0) BAND AT 765 NM AND THE OI REDLINE AT 630 NM. THIS WILL ALLOW THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE MEASUREMENT OF O2 DENSITY IN THE 140 TO 200 KM ALTITUDE REGIME (THE THERMOSPHERE GAP REGION) WHERE ATMOSPHERIC NEUTRAL DENSITY MEASUREMENTS ARE SCARCE. THE REDLINE IS ALSO SENSITIVE TO IONOSPHERIC DENSITY AT ALTITUDES ABOVE 200 KM SO THIS TECHNIQUE WILL ALSO PROVIDE DAYTIME/NIGHTTIME IONOSPHERIC DATA FOR COMPARISON TO MODELS. VARIATIONS OF THE ALTITUDE PROFILES OF O2 AND THE REDLINE CAN BE USED TO STUDY TIDAL AND PLANETARY WAVE VARIABILITY THROUGHOUT THE MEASUREMENT REGIME AS WELL AS TRANSPORT OF NEUTRAL O2 FROM HIGH TO LOW LATITUDES DUE TO GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY. THE DATA WILL BE COMPARED TO STATE-OF-THE ART MODELS TO HELP IN THEIR EVALUATION. DAILI WILL ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING SCIENCE OBJECTIVES. (1) DETERMINE THE O2 DENSITY FROM 140 TO 180 KM AT MID AND LOW LATITUDES ON A DAILY BASIS AND COMPARE WITH MODELS SUCH AS MSIS AND TIME-GCM. (2) MEASURE THE ALTITUDE VARIABILITY OF TIDES AND PLANETARY WAVES FROM 140 TO 180 KM WHERE MEASUREMENTS BY OTHER MEANS ARE SCARCE. (3) DETERMINE THE LATITUDINAL AND ALTITUDINAL EXTENT OF THE TRANSPORT OF NEUTRAL O2 DURING GEOMAGNETICALLY ACTIVE PERIODS. (4) DETERMINE VARIATIONS IN THE F-REGION ELECTRON DENSITY PROFILE IN RESPONSE TO TIDES AND PLANETARY WAVES ABOVE 200 KM. THE 6U DAILI PAYLOAD CONSISTS OF A TWO-CHANNEL PHOTOMETER OCCUPYING ABOUT 2 U THAT IMAGES THE EARTH'S LIMB OVER A 6 DEGREE FOV ONTO DIFFERENT REGIONS OF A SINGLE CCD EACH COLOR CHANNEL OCCUPYING ABOUT 180 X 180 PIXELS. AT A NOMINAL LIMB DISTANCE OF 2300 KM THE FOV IS NOMINALLY FROM 140 TO 290 KM IN ALTITUDE OVER A 150 KM HORIZONTAL SPAN. A SUNSHADE WHICH OCCUPIES ABOUT 3U EXTERIOR TO THE OPTICS EXCLUDES SCATTERED LIGHT FROM THE SUN THE HARD EARTH AND LOW ALTITUDE CLOUDS. THE AEROSPACE CUBESAT BUS TAKES UP THE REMAINING SPACE. THE BUS SATISFIES ALL POWER THERMAL AND POINTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CAMERA OPERATION INCLUDING A STAR SENSOR AND ATTITUDE CONTROL SYSTEM CAPABLE OF PAYLOAD POINTING TO BETTER THAN 0.1 DEGREE. THIS POINTING SYSTEM WILL ALLOW HIGHER OR LOWER ALTITUDES THAN THE NOMINAL RANGE TO BE OBSERVED IF DESIRED. THE DAILI DATA RATE WILL BE ABOUT 5 MBYTES/DAY. IT IS PROPOSED THAT DAILI BE LAUNCHED FROM THE ISS USING THE NANORACKS CUBESAT DEPLOYER GIVING A NOMINAL 51-DEGREE INCLINATION ORBIT AT 400 KM ALTITUDE. THE DESIGN LIFE OF DAILI IS AT LEAST ONE YEAR. THE RECEIVED DATA WILL BE STORED AND PROCESSED AT AEROSPACE AND THEN COMPARED TO STATE-OF-THE ART MODELS INCLUDING AURIC TIMED GCM AND GLOW TO MEET THE OBJECTIVES. THE DAILI EXPERIMENT DIRECTLY ADDRESSES NASA S STRATEGIC GOAL 2.2 TO STUDY THE SUN AND ITS INTERACTIONS WITH THE EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM IN PARTICULAR THE GOAL OF ADVANCING UNDERSTANDING OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL PROCESSES OF THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT. THE COMPOSITION AND IONOSPHERIC DATA PROVIDED BY DAILI WILL FURTHER OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SUCH PROCESSES IN THE LOWER THERMOSPHERE WHERE MEASUREMENTS ARE SCARCE. THE WIDE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE DATA PROVIDED BY DAILI OVER THE COURSE OF ITS MISSION WILL IMPROVE THE ACCURACY OF OPERATIONAL MODELS OF BOTH THE NEUTRAL DENSITY AND THE IONOSPHERE.$3,104,718
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) FOR GTOSAT: A 6U CUBESAT IN GEOSYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER ORBIT TO STUDY RADIATION BELT DYNAMICS A PROPOSAL TO BE SUBMITTED TO NASA S HELIOPHYSICS TECHNOLOGY AND INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT FOR SCIENCE (H-TIDES) OPPORTUNITY PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 01 FEB 2018 - 31 JAN 2022 (4 YEARS TOTAL) AEROSPACE IS PARTNERING AS A CO-INVESTIGATOR (COI) INSTITUTE WITH NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER TO PROPOSE A 4-YEAR 6U CUBESAT MISSION WITH THE PRIMARY SCIENCE GOAL OF ADVANCING OUR QUANTITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF ACCELERATION AND LOSS OF RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS IN THE EARTH S OUTER RADIATION BELT. FROM A NEAR-EQUATORIAL GEOSYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER ORBIT (GTO) GTOSAT WILL MEASURE ELECTRON SPECTRA AND PITCH ANGLES OF BOTH THE SEED AND THE ENERGIZED ELECTRON POPULATIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY USING AN INNOVATIVE COMPACT ENERGETIC PARTICLE DETECTOR. A BOOM-MOUNTED FLUXGATE MAGNETOMETER WILL PROVIDE 3-AXIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE AMBIENT LOCAL MAGNETIC FIELD. THESE HIGH QUALITY PARTICLE AND FIELD MEASUREMENTS ENABLE DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF SPECTRAL AND PITCH ANGLE EVOLUTION OF THE OUTER RADIATION BELT AND CALCULATION OF PHYSICALLY SIGNIFICANT QUANTITIES SUCH AS PHASE SPACE DENSITY (PSD) AND ITS RADIAL GRADIENTS WHICH ARE NECESSARY TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN RADIAL TRANSPORT AND IN-SITU MODES OF ELECTRON ENERGIZATION. GTOSAT WILL FLY IN A HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL GTO WITH NOMINAL APOGEE NEAR 6.6 RE. A LIKELY OFFEQUATORIAL INCLINATION MEANS GTOSAT WILL SAMPLE THE PARTICLE DYNAMICS OF THE OUTER RADIATION BELT BEYOND 6.6 RE WELL BEYOND THE VAN ALLEN PROBES PROVIDING TWO RADIAL PROFILES OF THE RADIATION BELTS EVERY ORBIT (~11 HOURS). AEROSPACE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR A HARDWARE DELIVERABLE FOR THIS PROJECT: THE ENERGETIC PARTICLE INSTRUMENT THAT WILL BE USED TO OBSERVE ELECTRONS IN THE ENERGY RANGE FROM 200 KEV TO 2 MEV. IN ADDITION TO THE FUNDING REQUIRED FOR THAT DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY AEROSPACE S FUNDED CONTRIBUTION WILL ALSO CONSIST OF CONSULTATION DURING THE MISSION AND SPACECRAFT DEVELOPMENT EXPERTISE ON EARTH'S OUTER RADIATION BELT ELECTRONS AND SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS FOR THE DATA SET AFTER IT IS PRODUCED. THE PARTICLE TELESCOPE TO BE DEVELOPED BY AEROSPACE WILL BE A NEAR IDENTICAL COPY OF THE MAGEIS MEDIUM FLIGHT INSTRUMENT DEVELOPED FOR NASA S VAN ALLEN PROBES. THROUGHOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MISSION AND INSTRUMENTS AEROSPACE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN TEAM MEETINGS AND DESIGN REVIEWS. AEROSPACE SCIENTISTS WILL ALSO SERVE ON THE GTOSAT SCIENCE TEAM AND CONTRIBUTE TO IN FLIGHT CALIBRATIONS AND DATA ANALYSIS OF GTOSAT DATA AFTER LAUNCH AND DISSEMINATION OF GTOSAT RESULTS TO THE GREATER SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. WORK BREAKDOWN: YEAR 1: DESIGN OF INSTRUMENT YEAR 2: MANUFACTURE CALIBRATE TEST AND DELIVER INSTRUMENT YEAR 3: OPERATIONS SUPPORT YEAR 4: SCIENCE TEAM EFFORT DATA ANALYSIS AND DISSEMINATION$800,724
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
VISIONS: UNDERSTANDING THE SOURCES OF THE AURORAL WIND AEROSPACE CO-I: THIS G/LCAS CO-1$769,402
· FY2009 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE PRIMARY SCIENCE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT ("AURORAL JET") IS TO UNDERSTAND THE TWO DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE CURRENT CLOSURE INS$642,000
· FY2014 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS FROM THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A NEW TIME OF FLIGHT BY ENERGY MASS SPECTROMETER USING A NEW TECHNOLOGY: CARBON SOLID STATE DETECTORS (DIAMOND DETECTORS). THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROJECT WILL FURTHER TEST A NEW INSTRUMENT CONCEPT USING DIAMOND DETECTORS IN A TIME OF FLIGHT BY ENERGY MASS SPECTROMETER. DIAMOND DETECTORS ARE A RELATIVELY NEW TECHNOLOGY AND THEY HAVE MANY BENEFITS OVER THE STANDARD SILICON AND GERMANIUM SOLID STATE DETECTORS. DIAMOND DETECTORS HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER RADIATION TOLERANCE COMPARED TO SILICON AND GERMANIUM DETECTORS AND CRITICAL TO THIS PROPOSED PROJECT DIAMOND DETECTORS HAVE MUCH FASTER RESPONSE TIMES ON THE ORDER OF 10 PS (1E-11 SECONDS). WHEN COMBINED WITH COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE ULTRA-FAST PREAMPLIFIERS AND ELECTRONICS WE HAVE ALREADY DEMONSTRATED IN THE LAB THAT TWO OF THESE DETECTORS CAN BE USED TO MEASURE THE TIME OF FLIGHT AND ENERGY DEPOSIT OF>10 MEV HEAVY IONS OVER A DETECTOR SEPARATION DISTANCE OF<10 CM. THOSE LAB TESTS SERVED AS A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT OF THE SUCCESSFUL FUNCTIONALITY OF THE CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF THE NEW INSTRUMENT WHICH RAISED THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL (TRL) OF THIS CONCEPT TO TRL-3.WE ARE PROPOSING TO CONTINUE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS NEW INSTRUMENT CONCEPT AND DESIGN AND DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE INSTRUMENT THAT WILL BE TESTED IN A RELEVANT LAB ENVIRONMENT RAISING THE TRL TO TRL-6. IF SUCCESSFUL THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT WILL RENDER THIS INSTRUMENT READY FOR INCLUSION ON PROPOSED MISSIONS OF OPPORTUNITY. THE PROTOTYPE INSTRUMENT WILL BE DESIGNED WITH EFFICIENCY IN MIND WITH OUR GOAL BEING AN INSTRUMENT WITH SIZE WEIGHT AND POWER SPECIFICATIONS THAT WILL ALLOW IT TO BE FLIGHT-TESTED ON A FUTURE CUBESAT MISSION. THE INSTRUMENT DESIGN WILL BENEFIT FROM AEROSPACE S DECADES-LONG PARTICIPATION AND LEADERSHIP IN ENERGETIC PARTICLE TELESCOPE DESIGN; IT WILL INCORPORATE THE STATE-OF-THE-ART ELECTRONICS AND MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY THAT AEROSPACE HAS DEVELOPED OVER ITS WELL-ESTABLISHED HISTORY DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTS FOR ENERGETIC PARTICLE DETECTION. FURTHERMORE WE WILL TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF AEROSPACE S LONG-STANDING PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LAB 88-INCH CYCLOTRON FACILITY WHERE WE WILL TEST THE PERFORMANCE OF THE INSTRUMENT AT DISCRIMINATING THE MASS AND MEASURING THE ENERGY OF A COCKTAIL OF DIFFERENT>10 MEV IONS (INCLUDING PROTONS). THIS PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PROVIDE AN ENTIRELY NEW TYPE OF INSTRUMENT FOR THE DETECTION AND VERY HIGH ENERGY IONS PROVIDING A VERY ACCURATE MEASURE OF THE INCIDENT ION ENERGY AS WELL AS DISCRIMINATING THE MASS OF THE IONS ENABLING ION COMPOSITION STUDIES OF ENERGETIC POPULATIONS SUCH AS SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLES (SEPS) TRAPPED RADIATION IN PLANETARY MAGNETOSPHERES AND POTENTIALLY EVEN ANOMALOUS COSMIC RAYS. THE PROPOSED PROJECT ALSO TESTS A NEW TECHNOLOGY DIAMOND DETECTORS AND BROADENS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE POTENTIAL USES FOR THIS TECHNOLOGY IN THE PROCESS.$625,000
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
POLAR CEPPAD EXTENDED MISSION$574,127
· FY2008 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THIS DOCUMENT DESCRIBES WORK TO BE PERFORMED BY THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION IN SUPPORT OF AN INVESTIGATION PROPOSED BY THE NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CE$537,855
· FY2016 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE SCINTILLATION PREDICTION OBSERVATIONS RESEARCH TASK (SPORT) WILL MAKE PROGRESS ON THE VERY COMPELLING BUT DIFFICULT PROBLEM OF UNDERSTANDING PRECONDITIONS LEADING TO EQUATORIAL PLASMA BUBBLES. THESE IONOSPHERIC STRUCTURES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED FOR DECADES. THEY ARE THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF RADAR REFLECTIONS IN THE EQUATORIAL F-REGION IONOSPHERE AND CAUSE STRONG SCINTILLATIONS ON RADIO SIGNALS PASSING THROUGH THEM. THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BACKGROUND IONOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AND THE IRREGULARITY REGIONS WHICH MAY INFLUENCE THEIR GROWTH TO HIGH ALTITUDES ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. SPORT WILL ADDRESS TWO SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE PHENOMENA: (1) WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE IONOSPHERE THAT GIVES RISE TO THE GROWTH OF PLASMA BUBBLES THAT EXTEND INTO AND ABOVE THE F-PEAK AT DIFFERENT LONGITUDES? (2) HOW ARE PLASMA IRREGULARITIES AT SATELLITE ALTITUDES RELATED TO THE RADIO SCINTILLATIONS OBSERVED PASSING THROUGH THESE REGIONS?$527,487
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
A HIGH-LEVEL SCIENCE GOAL FROM NASA S HELIOPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY IS TO DETERMINE THE DYNAMICS&COUPLING OF EARTH S MAGNETOSPHERE IONOSPHERE &ATMOSPHERE&THEIR RESPONSE TO SOLAR&TERRESTRIAL INPUTS.$524,384
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
LIBS BASED TOOL FOR VERIFICATION AND DECONTAMINATION OF SPACECRAFT. IN SOME CASES THE APPROVED CLEANING METHODS PRESCRIBED BY THE NASA PLANETARY PROTECTION OFFICE (PPO) TO MEET THE MAXIMUM BIOLOADING REQUIREMENT ON HIGHER CATEGORY MISSIONS MAY BE NOT BE POSSIBLE WITH CURRENT LIFE-DETECT INSTRUMENTS THAT CARRY BIO CHIPS. THIS IS BECAUSE THE CHIPS CANNOT BE BAKED OR EXPOSED TO CHEMICALS. MOREOVER A HARDWARE RE-CONTAMINATION OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS REQUIRES RE-CLEANING WHICH MAY NOT BE PRACTICAL AFTER SYSTEMS INTEGRATION. WE WILL PROPOSE THE APPLICATION OF MULTI-PULSE MODULATED LASER INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY (LIBS) TO DESTROY BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION WITHOUT SUBSTRATE DAMAGE AND TO CREATE A LIBS SPECTRAL LIBRARY FOR SPACECRAFT MATERIALS THAT WILL ENABLE IN SITU VERIFICATION OF THE DE-CONTAMINATION PROCESS DURING CLEANING. USING THE AEROSPACE CORPORATIONS RENOWNED LASER AND DETECTOR CAPABILITIES COUPLED WITH LASER AMPLITUDE MODULATION AND MULTIPULSE TECHNIQUES ALREADY DEVELOPED WE HAVE ASSEMBLED AN ADVANCED LIBS SYSTEM THAT COULD BE MINIATURIZED AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE. WE PLAN TO APPLY THE ADVANCED LIBS SYSTEM TO CREATE A SPECTRAL LIBRARY FOR SPACECRAFT MATERIALS AND KNOWN BIO-CONTAMINATION. KEY GOALS ARE CHARACTERIZING LIBS DAMAGE THRESHOLDS FOR LIKELY SUBSTRATES AND DEVELOPING A SPECTROSCOPIC PROCESS THAT UTILIZES MULTI-COLOR MULTIPULSE AND TIME DOMAIN DELAY EXCITATION TO ACHIEVE THE BEST DETECTION LIMIT FOR VERIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS AT THE SAME TIME. LIBS (ALSO KNOWN AS EMMA) IS A MICROANALYSIS TOOL THAT OPERATES BY ANALYZING THE SIGNATURE OF THE LASER PRODUCED PLASMA TO CHARACTERIZE THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION IN METALS ROCKS (E.G. MARS 2020 ROVER) AND MATERIALS. LIBS RELIES ON FLORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY WITH ITS INHERENTLY HIGH DETECTION LIMITS. LIBS IS USEFUL BECAUSE ONLY NANO TO PICOGRAMS OF MATERIAL NEED TO BE REMOVED WITH MINIMAL SAMPLE PREPARATION. A KEY BYPRODUCT IS THE FORMATION OF THE PLASMA WHICH THIS PROPOSAL WILL DEMONSTRATE AS A MEANS TO REMOVING BIOLOGICALS FROM SURFACES. IN MOST LIBS TOOLS THE LASER REPETITION RATE IS KEPT LOW TO ALLOW THE PLASMA TO QUENCH BETWEEN LASER SHOTS. THIS INCREASES THE SIGNAL TO NOISE FOR SPECTRUM GATHERING. OUR PROPOSED APPROACH INCORPORATES TIME-DOMAIN MODULATION OF THE LASER REPETITION RATE AND AMPLITUDE TO FEED THE PLASMA FOR BIOLOGICAL REMOVAL WITH IN-BETWEEN SPURTS OF LOWER-REPETITION RATE SPECTRUM GATHERING. MOREOVER WE INTEND TO ENHANCE THE LIBS TECHNIQUE BY FURTHER DEVELOPING OUR DOUBLE PULSE MULTI-COLOR EXPOSURE THAT WILL ALLOW CHARACTERIZATION OF SPECIES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO IONIZE. THESE RESULTS ARE POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE AEROSPACE CORP HAS DEVELOPED A DEEP KNOWLEDGE BASE IN PRECISE FOCUSED NANOSCALE LASER ABLATION TECHNIQUES THAT IS WORLD CLASS. WE HAVE DESIGNED A LIBS SYSTEM WITH SIGNIFICANTLY MORE VERSATILITY (MULTIPLE WAVELENGTHS AND RELATION RATES) AND POTENTIALLY MUCH LOWER BACKGROUND WITH HIGHER DETECTION LIMITS THEN THAT FOUND IN THE LITERATURE. WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED ITS FUNCTIONAL USE ON AL SI AND KAPTON. WE WILL PROPOSE A PROGRAM TO CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE WAVELENGTH AND REPETITION RATE EFFECTS TO OPTIMIZE THE SYSTEM FOR VARIOUS MATERIALS AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATES THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO PLANETARY PROTECTION THE GOAL IS TO DEMONSTRATE A CLEANING AND VERIFICATION METHOD FOR PLANETARY PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS THROUGH THE FOLLOWING INVESTIGATION: TEST A NUMBER OF SPACECRAFT MATERIALS AND NATIVE BACTERIA WITH RESULTING SPECTRA COMPARED WITH THAT IN LITERATURE BEGIN TO ESTABLISH A SPECTRAL LIBRARY OF MATERIALS AND A PROCESS FOR OBTAINING THE BEST DETECTION LIMITS QUANTIFY DETECTION LIMITS PURPOSE OUR ADVANCED LIBS SYSTEM WITH SOFTWARE/HARDWARE CONTROL THAT COUPLES LASER AMPLITUDE MODULATION AND MULTIPULSE TECHNIQUES SUCH THAT THEY ARE OPTIMIZED FOR PLANETARY PROTECTION APPLICATIONS.$523,896
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
UNEXPECTED OBSERVATIONS BY THE MMS/FEEPS SENSORS OF MULTIPLE DISPERSIVE ENERGETIC ELECTRON SIGNATURES [FENNELL ET AL. 2016] HIGHLIGHTED THE EXISTENCE OF "MICROINJECTIONS". THAT IS ELECTRONS ORGANIZED INTO CLUSTERS OF TEMPORAL ELEMENTS WHERE THE HIGHEST ENERGY ELECTRONS ARE OBSERVED FIRST FOLLOWED BY EVER LOWER ENERGY ELECTRONS UNTIL THEY MAP OUT ENERGY VERSUS TIME PROFILES REMINISCENT OF CLASSIC SUBSTORM INJECTIONS BUT ON A MUCH SHORTER TIME SCALE AND USUALLY REPETITIVE. THEY OCCURRED IN THE MIDNIGHT TO DUSK LOCAL TIME SECTOR ABOVE ~8 RE GEOCENTRIC. AN INTRIGUING FEATURE WAS THAT THE MICROINJECTION ELECTRONS WERE DOMINANTLY FIELD ALIGNED. THE DISPERSIVE NATURE OF THE ELECTRONS LED FENNELL ET AL. [2016] TO ARGUE THAT THEIR INJECTION HAD OCCURRED FAR FROM THE OBSERVATION POINT AND THAT THEY GRADIENT-CURVATURE DRIFTED TO THE MMS FLEET. DRIFT TRACINGS INDICATED THAT THEY WERE GENERATED NEAR THE MAGNETOPAUSE BOUNDARY SUNWARD OF DUSK AND MIGHT BE ASSOCIATED WITH KELVIN-HELMHOLTZ INSTABILITIES ULF WAVES OR FLUX TRANSFER EVENTS. IT WAS ALSO SPECULATED THAT THESE MICROINJECTIONS MIGHT PLAY A ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEED ELECTRON POPULATION THAT IS ULTIMATELY ACCELERATED TO HIGHER ENERGIES TO MAKE UP THE OUTER ZONE RADIATION BELT. FROM THOSE INITIAL OBSERVATIONS ONE COULD NOT DETERMINE KEY FEATURES OF THE PROCESS NAMELY: HOW THE ELECTRON MICROINJECTIONS WERE GENERATED WHERE THEY WERE GENERATED AND WHY THEY WERE FIELD ALIGNED. MICROINJECTIONS HAVE A VARIABLE RANGE OF ENERGY-TIME SIGNATURES. WITHIN MICROINJECTION CLUSTERS ONE OFTEN OBSERVES THAT THEIR TEMPORAL PROFILES CAN CROSS EACH OTHER INDICATING THEY DRIFTED DIFFERENT DISTANCES. THIS IMPLIES THERE CAN BE MORE THAN ONE SOURCE REGION ACTIVE AT THE SAME TIME OR THAT THE SOURCE REGION ITSELF IS MOVING AS IT "THROWS OFF" MULTIPLE ELECTRON INJECTIONS. SOME MICROINJECTIONS HAVE A DOUBLE PEAKED SPECTRUM WHICH DISPERSES IN TIME. THESE MIGHT BE OVERLAPPING INJECTIONS OR INJECTIONS OF A SOURCE POPULATION THAT ALREADY HAD A SPECTRAL PEAK. IN ADDITION THE REPETITION RATE OF MICROINJECTIONS IN A CLUSTER DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE CONSTANT. THE OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST THERE ARE INTERVALS WHERE THE TIME BETWEEN MICROINJECTIONS IS SHORTER OR LONGER WITH THE SLOWER REPETITION RATE BEING UP TO TWICE AS LONG AS THE AVERAGE FOR A CLUSTER. ALL SUCH FEATURES MUST BE RELATED TO THE GENERATION PROCESS. THUS WE PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING INVESTIGATIONS. 1. WE WILL ANALYZE THE COMPLETE SET OF MICROINJECTIONS OBTAINED BY MMS FROM JULY 2015 THROUGH NOV. 2017. WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THEIR SPATIAL-TEMPORAL FEATURES AND THE CONDITIONS IN THE INTERPLANETARY MEDIUM AND INSIDE THE MAGNETOSPHERE WHEN THEY OCCURRED. 2. WE WILL USE DRIFT CALCULATIONS IN FIELD MODELS TO INFER WHERE THESE MICROINJECTION POPULATIONS CAME FROM AND WHERE THEY GO AFTER PASSING THE MMS SATELLITES. WE CAN THEN CHECK OTHER OBSERVATIONS LIKE THOSE FROM VAN ALLEN PROBES GOES GEOTAIL AND THEMIS TO HELP DEFINE THE SOURCE POPULATION AND HELP DETERMINE IF THE MICROINJECTIONS MAINTAIN THEIR IDENTITY AS THEY DRIFT BEYOND MMS. 3. WE WILL USE THE INFORMATION GAINED TO UNRAVEL THE GENERATION PROCESS OR PROCESSES USING MODELS TO INVESTIGATE THE PHYSICS AND TO PINPOINT THEIR SOURCE REGION(S). FOR EXAMPLE WE WILL TRACE PARTICLES THROUGH THE FIELDS FROM GLOBAL MHD AND RCME MODELS TO INFER THE ENERGY CHANGES AND PARTICLE ORGANIZATION BY THE KELVIN-HELMHOLTZ ACTIVITY ULF WAVES AND FLUX TRANSFER EVENTS THEY PREDICT. THESE STUDIES DIRECTLY SUPPORT THE MMS GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE RECONNECTION AND BOUNDARY PROCESSES PLAY IN THE TRANSPORT AND ENERGIZATION OF THE PLASMA ACROSS THE MAGNETOPAUSE AND WITHIN THE OUTER MAGNETOSPHERE. IN ADDITION THE STUDIES CONTRIBUTE DIRECTLY TO THE DECADAL SURVEY'S GOALS OF DETERMINING THE DYNAMICS AND COUPLING OF THE EARTH'S MAGNETOSPHERE AND IONOSPHERE IN RELATION TO THE SOLAR TERRESTRIAL INPUTS AND CHARACTERIZING WHAT MAY BE A UBIQUITOUS PROCESS THAT OCCURS THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE AT MAGNETIZED PLANETS.$495,000
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE PRESSURE CONTROL CAPABILITY OF A CRYOGENIC LIQUID STORAGE TANK IN LOW GRAVITY VIA TWO PRESSURIZATION SCHEMES: PRESSURIZATION DIRECTLY TO THE ULLAGE AND SUBSURFACE PRESSURIZATION. BOTH PRESSURI$487,717
· FY2021 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THIS EFFORT WILL FURTHER DEVELOP THE ACTIVE MEMBRANE SPACECRAFT CONCEPT CALLED "BRANE CRAFT" INITIALLY STUDIED IN A NIAC PHASE I GRANT. THE BRANE CRAFT IS AN ESSENTIALLY TWO-DIMENSIONAL SPACECRAFT WITH INTEGRATED SOLAR CELLS POWER SYSTEM COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND AND CONTROL ATTITUDE DETERMINATION ATTITUDE CONTROL ELECTRIC PROPULSION AND SHAPE CONTROL SYSTEMS. THE PHASE II EFFORT WILL ANALYZE AND DOCUMENT THE BENEFITS LIMITATIONS MISSION OPERATIONS AND SIZE-SCALING OF BRANE CRAFT FOR REMOVAL OF ORBITAL DEBRIS AND WILL ATTEMPT LABORATORY DEMONSTRATIONS OF THIN FILM ELECTRONICS FOR COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND AND CONTROL POWER CONDITIONING SENSING AND SHAPE CONTROL. WE WILL IDENTIFY THE MOST PROMISING FABRICATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOP A TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP AND PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.$475,493
· FY2017 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
MUCH OF THE TRANSPORT, ACCELERATION, AND LOSSES OF THE ELECTRONS TO FORM THE EARTHS RADIATION BELTS IS THOUGHT TO OCCUR DUE TO INTERACTIONS BETWEEN T$448,377
· FY2016 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
JAMES CLEMMONS / THE AEROSPACE CORPORATIONNEUTRAL-ION COUPLING AND WIND SHEAR EFFECTS IN THE DAYTIME LOWER IONOSPHERETHIS INVESTIGATION WILL EXPLOR$413,000
· FY2009 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
WE PROPOSE TO SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE WHETHER DIFFUSE ELECTRON AURORAL PRECIPITATION IN THE IONOSPHERE AND TRAPPED ELECTRON FLUXES OF 1 KEV TO 1$394,818
· FY2016 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE ATOMIC PLANAR POWER FOR LIGHTWEIGHT EXPLORATION (APPLE)$392,074
· FY2022 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration