← LeaderboardsInvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Trans Astronautica Corporation
$1,878,833
Total funding
8
Grants
Funding over time
peak $1.1M · FY2016–21$2M$1.5M$1M$500K$0
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
Funding mix
By agency
NASA$1,878,833 · 8
By mechanism
—$1,878,833 · 8
Investigators at Trans Astronautica 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
BY FINDING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF NEW NEOS AND HUNDREDS OF LOW DV TARGETS FOR EXPLORATION AND RESOURCE HARVESTING THIS MISSION FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGES SOCIETY S VIEW OF THE LANDSCAPE OF SPACE.$499,700
· FY2021 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE LUNAR POLAR MINING OUTPOST (LPMO) IS A BREAKTHROUGH MISSION ARCHITECTURE THAT PROMISES TO GREATLY REDUCE THE COST OF HUMAN EXPLORATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION OF THE MOON.$499,224
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
PROBLEM DEEP SPACE HUMAN EXPLORATION IS UNAFFORDABLE: IN 2014 THE NASA ADVISORY COUNCIL ISSUED A FINDING THAT THE MISMATCH BETWEEN NASA S ASPIRATIONS FOR HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT AND ITS BUDGET FOR HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT IS THE MOST SERIOUS PROBLEM FACING THE AGENCY. SINCE THE TIME OF THAT ADVISORY NASA HAS CONDUCTED MANY MISSION AND SYSTEMS ANALYSES BUT HAS YET TO PUBLISH A SUSTAINED MISSION PLAN AND COST ANALYSIS THAT FITS WITHIN ANY BUDGET THAT CONGRESS WILL APPROVE. NASA S VISION OF HUMAN EXPLORATION REMAINS UNAFFORDABLE LARGELY DUE TO THE HIGH COST OF LAUNCHING LARGE QUANTITIES OF DRINKING WATER OXYGEN RADIATION SHIELDING AND ESPECIALLY ROCKET PROPELLANT FROM EARTH. SOLUTION: OPTICAL MINING OF ASTEROIDS PROVIDES AFFORDABLE MISSION CONSUMABLES AND RADIATION SHIELDING: AN EXCITING PROGRAM OF HUMAN EXPLORATION BEYOND LEO MIGHT INCLUDE AN OUTPOST AT THE TOP OF THE EARTH-MOON GRAVITY WELL OR ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON; HUMAN EXPLORATION OF NEAR EARTH OBJECTS IN THEIR NATURAL ORBITS; AND/OR A SERIES OF HUMAN MISSIONS TO THE MARS SYSTEM. WATER OXYGEN PROPELLANT AND SHIELDING CAN BE MADE IN SPACE FROM RESOURCES KNOWN TO BE PLENTIFULLY AVAILABLE IN ASTEROIDS AND PROBABLY IN THE MARTIAN MOON DEIMOS. OPTICAL MINING TECHNOLOGY IS A BREAKTHROUGH APPROACH TO HARVESTING THESE MATERIALS FROM ASTEROIDS BOULDERS AND REGOLITH IN MICROGRAVITY. IN OPTICAL MINING EXCAVATING AND PROCESSING ASTEROID MATERIALS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY HIGHLY CONCENTRATED SUNLIGHT WHICH WE HAVE SHOWN CAN BE USED TO DRILL HOLES EXCAVATE DISRUPT AND SHAPE AN ASTEROID WHILE THE ASTEROID IS ENCLOSED IN A CONTAINMENT BAG.$448,172
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE LUNAR POLAR GAS-DYNAMIC MINING OUTPOST (LGMO) (SEE QUAD CHART GRAPHIC) IS A BREAKTHROUGH MISSION ARCHITECTURE THAT PROMISES TO GREATLY REDUCE THE COST OF HUMAN EXPLORATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION OF THE MOON. LGMO IS BASED ON TWO NEW INNOVATIONS THAT TOGETHER SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF AFFORDABLE LUNAR POLAR ICE MINING FOR PROPELLANT PRODUCTION. THE FIRST INNOVATION IS BASED ON A NEW INSIGHT INTO LUNAR TOPOGRAPHY: OUR ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THAT THERE ARE LARGE (HUNDREDS OF METERS) LANDING AREAS IN SMALL (0.5-1.5 KM) NEARPOLAR CRATERS ON WHICH THE SURFACE IS PERMAFROST IN PERPETUAL DARKNESS BUT WITH PERPETUAL SUNLIGHT AVAILABLE AT ALTITUDES OF ONLY 10S TO 100S OF METERS. IN THESE PROSPECTIVE LANDING SITES DEPLOYABLE SOLAR ARRAYS HELD VERTICALLY ON MASTS 100 M OR SO IN LENGTH (LIGHTWEIGHT AND FEASIBLE IN LUNAR GRAVITY) CAN PROVIDE NEARLY CONTINUOUS POWER. THIS MEANS THAT A LARGE LANDER SUCH AS THE BLUE MOON VEHICLE PROPOSED BY BLUE ORIGIN A BFR; OR A MODESTLY SIZED LUNAR ICE MINING OUTPOST COULD SIT ON MINEABLE PERMAFROST WITH SOLAR ARRAYS IN PERPETUAL SUNLIGHT ON MASTS PROVIDING AFFORDABLE ELECTRIC POWER WITHOUT THE NEED TO SEPARATE POWER SUPPLY FROM THE LOAD. .THE SECOND ENABLING INNOVATION FOR LGMO IS RADIANT GAS DYNAMIC (RGD) MINING. RGD MINING IS A NEW PATENT PENDING TECHNOLOGY INVENTED BY TRANSASTRA TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF ECONOMICALLY AND RELIABLY PROSPECTING AND EXTRACTING LARGE QUANTITIES (1 000S OF TONS PER YEAR) OF VOLATILE MATERIALS FROM LUNAR REGOLITH USING LANDED PACKAGES OF JUST A FEW TONS EACH. TO OBVIATE THE PROBLEMS OF MECHANICAL DIGGING AND EXCAVATION RGD MINING USES A COMBINATION OF RADIO FREQUENCY MICROWAVE AND INFRARED RADIATION TO HEAT PERMAFROST AND OTHER TYPES OF ICE DEPOSITS WITH A DEPTH-CONTROLLED HEATING PROFILE. THIS SUBLIMATES THE ICE AND ENCOURAGES A SIGNIFICANT FRACTION OF THE VOLATILES TO MIGRATE UPWARD OUT OF THE REGOLITH INTO CRYOTRAPS WHERE IT CAN BE STORED IN LIQUID FORM. RGD MINING TECHNOLOGY IS INTEGRATED INTO LONG DURATION ELECTRIC POWERED ROVERS. IN USE THE VEHICLES STOP AT MINING LOCATIONS AND LOWER THEIR COLLECTION DOMES TO GATHER AVAILABLE WATER FROM AN AREA BEFORE MOVING ON. WHEN ON-BOARD STORAGE TANKS ARE FULL THE VEHICLES RETURN TO BASE TO EMPTY TANKS BEFORE MOVING BACK OUT INTO THE FIELD TO CONTINUE HARVESTING. THE ROVER CAN BE BATTERY OPERATED AND RECHARGE AT BASE OR CARRY A LASER RECEIVER POWERED BY A REMOTE LASER. BASED ON THESE INNOVATIONS LGMO PROMISES TO VASTLY REDUCE THE COST OF ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A SIZABLE LUNAR POLAR OUTPOST THAT CAN SERVE FIRST AS A FIELD STATION FOR NASA ASTRONAUTS EXPLORING THE MOON AND THEN AS THE BEACHHEAD FOR AMERICAN LUNAR INDUSTRIALIZATION STARTING WITH FULFILLING COMMERCIAL PLANS FOR A LUNAR HOTEL FOR TOURISTS. .RGD MINING WILL ALLOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PRACTICAL SYSTEM THAT CAN BE CONSTRUCTED ON A MOBILE PLATFORM TO ENABLE THE USE OF A MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF RADIANT ENERGY WITH DIFFERENT PENETRATION DEPTHS TO CONTROL THE RELEASE OF WATER VAPOR FROM HARD LUNAR PERMAFROST IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT CAN BE TRAPPED AND CAPTURED BY A WATER COLLECTION SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH MICROWAVE EXTRACTION METHODS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED IN THE PAST THEY HAVE TYPICALLY REQUIRED PRIOR EXCAVATION OF SUBSTRATE MATERIAL OR DID NOT INCLUDE METHODS TO PREVENT RE-TRAPPING OF WATER BY COLD REGOLITH. BY USING A MULTI FREQUENCY RADIANT SYSTEM RGD PROVIDES A VARIABLE HEATING PROFILE THAT SUBLIMATES WATER VAPOR IN LAYERS FROM THE TOP DOWN AND ENCOURAGES EVOLVED WATER TO MIGRATE INTO CRYOTRAPS IN THE VEHICLE WHILE MINIMIZING REFREEZING OF THE WATER VAPOR IN THE SURROUNDING SUBSTRATE. THIS DESIGN COMBINES SUBSURFACE ICE PROSPECTING VIA LOW VOLTAGE DC SUBSURFACE SENSING INTEGRATED WITH TRL-6 DRILLS FOR DETECTION AND VOLATILE GAS COLLECTION IN A SINGLE VEHICLE. WE ESTIMATE THAT ROVERS SIZED FOR A NEW GLENN OR SLS PAYLOAD FARING WOULD MASS BETWEEN 2 AND 5 TONS AND WOULD EACH BE CAPABLE OF HARVESTING BETWEEN 20 AND 100 TIMES ITS MASS PER YEAR IN WATER. .$124,982
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE RESEARCH PROPOSED HERE WILL SUPPORT EFFORTS TO DEVELOP LARGE SPACE HABITATS WITH AMPLE GREEN SPACE AND ROBUST AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS.$124,900
· FY2021 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE HIGH COST OF TRANSPORTATION TO SPACE MISSION TARGETS IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE FACING BOTH PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES SEEKING TO ESTABLISH NEW INDUSTRIES IN SPACE AND NASA PLANNERS SEEKING TO BUILD AN AFFORDABLE BUT EXCITING PROGRAM OF HUMAN EXPLORATION BOWERSOX 2014 SQUIRES 2014. THERE EXISTS A POPULATION OF RESOURCE RICH NEAR EARTH ASTEROIDS THAT IS FAR MORE ENERGETICALLY ACCESSIBLE TO EARTH THAN THE SURFACE OF THE MOON OR ANY OTHER BODY. THESE STEPPING STONES TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM CONTAIN MILLIONS OF TONS OF HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE RESOURCES THAT COULD PROVIDE PROPELLANTS AND OTHER CONSUMABLES TO SOLVE THE IN SPACE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM LOVE 2014. HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE NEO RESOURCES MAY BE KEY TO OPENING THE SOLAR SYSTEM TO AFFORDABLE EXPLORATION AND LARGE SCALE INDUSTRIALIZATION. ANALYSIS IS NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE DEGREE TO WHICH ASTEROID ISRU CAN PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN ENABLING SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY BEYOND LEO. CAREFUL STUDY OF THE POSSIBLE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF THIS POTENTIALLY IMPORTANT NEW RESOURCE IS ALSO NEEDED TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR NASA MISSIONS PLANNERS. IN THE PROPOSED STEPPING STONES STUDY WE WILL ANALYZE MARKET MECHANISMS PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS NON TRADITIONAL COMMERCIAL ENTITIES ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND COMPETITIVE STRESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE TECHNOLOGY TO EXPLOIT NEAR EARTH ASTEROID RESOURCES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SELF SUSTAINING REUSABLE SPACE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK. ANY TRANSPORTATION ARCHITECTURE THAT CAN EFFECTIVELY CAPITALIZE ON NEO RESOURCES MUST INCLUDE ASTEROID ISRU TECHNOLOGY REUSABLE SPACE TUGS AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT USE ASTEROID RESOURCES FOR PROPELLANT AND OTHER EXPENDABLES. ONE EXAMPLE OF SUCH AN ARCHITECTURE THAT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY NASA TECHNICAL REVIEW TEAMS AS INNOVATIVE AND WELL CONCEIVED IS APIS ASTEROID PROVIDED IN SITU SUPPLIES SERCEL 2014. THE APIS ARCHITECTURE INCLUDES A NEW APPROACH TO ASTEROID ISRU CALLED OPTICAL MINING SERCEL 2015. A CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION ASSOCIATED WITH APIS HAS RECENTLY BEEN PERFORMED BY THE PI OF THIS PROPOSAL UNDER NASA SPONSORSHIP AND FULL SCALE GROUND DEMONSTRATION BY TRANSASTRA CORPORATION IS PLANNED FOR FALL OF 2015 UNDER PRIVATE SECTOR FUNDING. MINING VEHICLES CALLED HONEY BEES USING THE APIS ARCHITECTURE ARE BEING DESIGNED BY THIS PI UNDER A SEPARATE NASA GRANT. WORKER BEES IS A SPACE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK DESIGN COMPRISED OF REUSABLE SPACE TUGS ORBIT TRANSFER VEHICLES THAT UTILIZE WATER PROVIDED BY HONEY BEES AS PROPELLANT IN SOLAR THERMAL ROCKET ENGINES. WORKER BEES IS DESIGNED TO REDUCE LAUNCH COSTS BY LARGE MULTIPLES FOR THE DELIVERY OF BOTH PRIVATE SECTOR SPACECRAFT AND NASA HUMAN EXPLORATION SYSTEMS BEYOND LEO REPLACING THE FUNCTION AND THE REQUIRED LIFT MASS OF ROCKET UPPER STAGES. WORKER BEES WILL CIRCULATE THROUGH MULTI LEGGED ROUTES BETWEEN AN ISRU PROPELLANT CACHE IN CIS LUNAR SPACE LEO AND DESTINATION ORBITS. BECAUSE IT HAS ALREADY BEEN CONCEPTUALLY DESIGNED BY THE PI OF THIS PROPOSAL THE APIS ARCHITECTURE WILL BE USED AS A TEST CASE IN THE PROPOSED STEPPING STONES STUDY AND AS A POINT OF DEPARTURE FOR RUNNING FINANCIAL SCENARIOS.$99,982
· FY2016 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
PROBLEM DEEP SPACE HUMAN EXPLORATION IS UNAFFORDABLE: IN 2014 THE NASA ADVISORY COUNCIL ISSUED A FINDING THAT THE MISMATCH BETWEEN NASA S ASPIRATIONS FOR HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT AND ITS BUDGET FOR HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT IS THE MOST SERIOUS PROBLEM FACING THE AGENCY. SINCE THE TIME OF THAT ADVISORY NASA HAS CONDUCTED MANY MISSION AND SYSTEMS ANALYSES BUT HAS YET TO PUBLISH A SUSTAINED MISSION PLAN AND COST ANALYSIS THAT FITS WITHIN ANY BUDGET THAT CONGRESS WILL APPROVE. NASA S VISION OF HUMAN EXPLORATION REMAINS UNAFFORDABLE LARGELY DUE TO THE HIGH COST OF LAUNCHING LARGE QUANTITIES OF DRINKING WATER OXYGEN RADIATION SHIELDING AND ESPECIALLY ROCKET PROPELLANT FROM EARTH. SOLUTION: OPTICAL MINING OF ASTEROIDS PROVIDES AFFORDABLE MISSION CONSUMABLES AND RADIATION SHIELDING: AN EXCITING PROGRAM OF HUMAN EXPLORATION BEYOND LEO MIGHT INCLUDE AN OUTPOST AT THE TOP OF THE EARTH-MOON GRAVITY WELL OR ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON; HUMAN EXPLORATION OF NEAR EARTH OBJECTS IN THEIR NATURAL ORBITS; AND/OR A SERIES OF HUMAN MISSIONS TO THE MARS SYSTEM. WATER OXYGEN PROPELLANT AND SHIELDING CAN BE MADE IN SPACE FROM RESOURCES KNOWN TO BE PLENTIFULLY AVAILABLE IN ASTEROIDS AND PROBABLY IN THE MARTIAN MOON DEIMOS. OPTICAL MINING TECHNOLOGY IS A BREAKTHROUGH APPROACH TO HARVESTING THESE MATERIALS FROM ASTEROIDS BOULDERS AND REGOLITH IN MICROGRAVITY. IN OPTICAL MINING EXCAVATING AND PROCESSING ASTEROID MATERIALS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY HIGHLY CONCENTRATED SUNLIGHT WHICH WE HAVE SHOWN CAN BE USED TO DRILL HOLES EXCAVATE DISRUPT AND SHAPE AN ASTEROID WHILE THE ASTEROID IS ENCLOSED IN A CONTAINMENT BAG. PHASE 1 ACCOMPLISHMENTS: IN OUR PHASE 1 WORK WE DEMONSTRATED OPTICAL MINING IN THE LABORATORY AND PERFORMED MISSION AND SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF OPTICAL MINING TO HUMAN EXPLORATION MISSIONS. OUR MISSION ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THE MOST ACCESSIBLE NEAR EARTH OBJECTS (NEOS) CAN BE USED TO PROVIDE NASA WITH MISSION CONSUMABLES FOR HUMAN EXPLORATION IN DEEP SPACE WITH THE POTENTIAL OF SAVING UP TO $10B/ YR OR $150B OVER THE 15 YEAR OPERATIONAL LIFE CYCLE OF A HUMAN EXPLORATION PROGRAM. THIS SAVINGS ALONE WOULD BE ENOUGH TO TRANSFORM NASA S VISION OF HUMAN EXPLORATION FROM BEING UNAFFORDABLE TO BEING AFFORDABLE WITHIN BUDGETS THAT CONGRESS CAN APPROVE. PHASE 1 TECHNICAL WORK INCLUDED A FULL SCALE (8 KW) OPTICAL MINING DEMONSTRATION USING A HIGH FIDELITY CI-TYPE ASTEROID SIMULANT IN VACUUM USING SUNLIGHT FROM A 10 M DIAMETER SOLAR CONCENTRATOR WITHOUT MECHANICAL CONTACT OR DOWNFORCE. THIS WORK CONFIRMED OUR PHYSICS BASED MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF THE EXCAVATION AND VOLATILE EXTRACTION PROCESS AND SCALABILITY OF RESULTS FROM 36 PRIOR SMALL SCALE ( 1 CM DIAMETER) DEMONSTRATIONS AND TESTS. PHASE 2 PLANS: IN OUR PHASE 2 WORK WE WILL COMPLETE MISSION AND SYSTEM ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF OPTICAL MINING TO AN EXCITING PROGRAM OF HUMAN EXPLORATION AND WE WILL MATURE THE TECHNOLOGY OF OPTICAL MINING TO THE POINT AT WHICH NASA CAN BASELINE THIS APPROACH FOR AN AFFORDABLE PROGRAM OF HUMAN EXPLORATION. OUR MISSION STUDIES WILL ADDRESS THE PRODUCTION VIA OPTICAL MINING MISSIONS TO EXTRACT AND RETRIEVE RESOURCES CONSUMABLE PROCESSING STORAGE AND APPLICATION OF CONSUMABLES TO HUMAN EXPLORATION MISSION IN CISLUNAR NEO AND MARTIAN SPACE. THE MISSION STUDIES WILL BE TIGHTLY COUPLED WITH OUR LABORATORY WORK. LABORATORY WORK WILL INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION OF A 30 KW OPTICAL MINING TEST APPARATUS IN OUR LABORATORY AND INTEGRATION WITH OUR HIGH QUALITY VACUUM CHAMBER FOR A TEST PROGRAM INVOLVING OPTICAL MINING.$51,756
· FY2017 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
PROBLEM: THESE ARE THREE PRIMARY REASONS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR NASA TO DEVELOP BETTER WAYS TO LOCATE AND CHARACTERIZE NEAR EARTH OBJECTS (NEOS). FIRST NEOS ARE AN IMPACT HAZARD TO THE EARTH AND CONGRESS HAS MANDATED THAT NASA FIND 90 PERCENT OF ALL THE OBJECTS OVER 140 METERS BY THE END OF 2020. NASA WILL FAIL TO MEET THIS MANDATE BECAUSE OF THE HIGH COST OF CURRENT ASTEROID SURVEY APPROACHES. SECOND MEASURING THE NEO POPULATION DISTRIBUTIONS IN SPACE WILL UNLOCK THE ANSWERS TO CRITICAL QUESTIONS DEALING WITH THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. FINALLY NEOS ARE EXCITING CANDIDATES AS TARGETS FOR HUMAN EXPLORATION AND THEY REPRESENT A VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED RESOURCE OF VALUABLE MATERIAL FOR RADIATION SHIELDING PROPELLANT AND LIFE SUPPORT CONSUMABLES THAT COULD MAKE NASA S ENVISIONED DEEP SPACE HUMAN EXPLORATION PROGRAM AFFORDABLE. CURRENT MODELS SUGGEST THAT FOR EVERY>140 M NEO SUCH AS THOSE TARGETED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL MANDATE THERE ARE ABOUT TWENTY INTERMEDIATE SIZED (>40 METER CLASS) OBJECTS. INTERMEDIATE SIZED OBJECTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO IMPACT THE EARTH WITH DETRIMENTAL EFFECT BUT ARE NOT EFFICIENTLY IDENTIFIED BY CURRENT SURVEY METHODS. ONE SUCH EXAMPLE WAS THE CHELYABINSK METEOR WHICH HIT RUSSIA IN 2013 DAMAGING 7 000 BUILDINGS AND INJURING 1 491 PEOPLE. GOING FURTHER DOWN THE SIZE SCALE FOR EACH 140 M OBJECT THERE ARE OVER>1 000 TEN METER OBJECTS AND MORE THAN>8 000 FIVE METER OBJECTS. DUE TO THEIR LARGE NUMBERS THESE SMALLEST OF NEOS ARE THE MOST LIKELY TO BE HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE AS SPACE RESOURCE AND HUMAN EXPLORATION TARGETS AND BECAUSE THEIR SIZE MAKES THEM EASIER TO CAPTURE AND WORK WITH USING REASONABLY SIZED EQUIPMENT THEY ARE IDEALLY SUITED AS SOURCES OF ISRU SPACE RESOURCES. UNFORTUNATELY NO SKY SURVEYS OR METHODS CURRENTLY BEING CONDUCTED OR PLANNED CAN FIND A SIGNIFICANT FRACTION OF THESE MOST PLENTIFUL AND VALUABLE BUT ELUSIVE SMALL VOLATILE RICH TARGETS. SUTTER CHANGES ALL THAT. CONCEPT: TO SOLVE THIS CRITICAL UNMET NEED WE ENVISION A NEW TYPE OF LOW COST HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPOUND TELESCOPE THE COMPOUND SYNTHETIC TRACKER (CST) WHICH WE PROPOSE FOR A SERIES OF NEW SPACE MISSIONS THAT TAKES ADVANTAGE OF RECENT ADVANCES IN ELECTRONICS CUBESAT TECHNOLOGY LASER COMMUNICATIONS AND OFF-THE-SHELF OPTICS FOR CAMERA ZOOM LENSES. THE FIRST SPACE MISSION CONCEPT WE PROPOSE BASED ON CST IS THE SUTTER SURVEY NAMED AFTER THE SUTTER S MILL DISCOVERY WHICH LED TO THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH. THE SUTTER SURVEY PROJECT CAN LEAD TO A GOLD RUSH IN SPACE TO EXPLOIT THE RESOURCES OF THE SMALL HIGHLY ACCESSIBLE NEOS THAT WE INTEND TO FIND AND CHARACTERIZE. AS DEPICTED IN THE SUMMARY CHART OUR CONCEPT INVOLVES A CONSTELLATION OF THREE CUBESAT SCALE SPACECRAFT IN HELIOCENTRIC SPACE EACH 120 DEGREES APART IN THE PLANE OF THE ECLIPTIC WITH A SEMI-MAJOR AXIS OF ABOUT 0.95 AU. WE ESTIMATE THAT THIS ENTIRE CONSTELLATION CAN BE BUILT FOR LESS THAN $50M LAUNCHED AS PIGGY BACK PAYLOADS AND PERFORM LIKE THE BILLION DOLLAR 8 M APERTURE LARGE SYNOPTIC SURVEY TELESCOPE (LSST) GROUND BASED TELESCOPE AT FINDING AND TRACKING SMALL DARK ASTEROIDS. BEYOND SUTTER SURVEY IS SUTTER EXTREME A NEW HORIZONS CLASS MISSION THAT PERFORMS BEYOND THE FLAGSHIP LEVEL TO INCREASE THE DISCOVERY RATE OF DANGEROUS IMPACTORS BY MORE THAN 24X AND FIND AND CHARACTERIZE MORE THAN 7 500 NEW NEOS EVERY YEAR.$30,118
· FY2017 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration