Space Act Agreements can greatly benefit the advancement of research and development efforts. These flexible arrangements allow NASA to work cooperatively with industry and academia in either a reimbursable or nonreimbursable structure. In 2007, GRC signed 95 Space Act Agreements valued at over $10.5M with aerospace companies, universities, and other government agencies.
The IPP Partnership Seed Fund is an initiative to enhance NASA’s ability to meet missions’ technology goals by providing seed funding to address barriers and initiate cost-shared, joint-development partnerships.
The following 6 GRC projects were selected out of 38 partnership awards. IPP is contributing $1.5 million, with an additional $2 million of industry effort, and $3.8 million in NASA program funding, for a total value of $7.3 million in support of these projects.
Researchers at GRC and Goodyear* are collaborating to understand the types of lunar and Earth vehicles that could use the wire mesh, airless/rubberless tires developed in the 1960s for the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle. The project includes the modeling, building, and testing of several prototypes toward future exploration of the Moon as well as Earth-based passenger vehicles.
Producing Life Support and Propulsion System Consumables for Lunar and Planetary Outposts
Northern Centre for Advanced Technology, Inc. (NORCAT), Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
This collaboration between GRC and the NORCAT*, will result in technology approaches for “mining” native resources on lunar and planet-ary surfaces to produce mission consumables, such as oxygen and water, to dramatically reduce the mass, risk, and cost of extended-duration missions.
Low-Density Turbine Blade Superalloys to Improve Engine Performance and Reduce Emissions
Honeywell Aerospace, Phoenix, Arizona
The GRC project team is partnering with Honeywell Aerospace* to scale up a new NASA-patented blade alloy that meets or exceeds performance of current alloys with significantly reduced density, improved performance, reduced fuel burn, and reduced emissions for subsonic aircraft.
Reducing Aircraft Noise With Foam-Metal Acoustic Liner
Williams International, Walled Lake, Michigan
A small, business jet–class turbofan engine will be supplied by Williams International* to allow NASA to test the use of foam-metal liners in close proximity to the rotor with the goal of achieving a significant reduction in aircraft noise.
Parker Hannifin, Cleveland, Ohio; Aspen Aerogels, Northborough, Mass
Researchers at GRC are working with Parker Hannifin and Massachusetts-based Aspen Aerogels* to advance a NASA-developed technology for cross-linking aerogel composites with polymers. The resulting material could be used in thermal and acoustic insulation as well as in lightweight, damage-resistant multifunctional structures for aircraft, space suits, cryogenic storage tanks, and other aeronautic and space applications (see ICB Exceptional Cases).
Space Power System Pallet for Demonstrating Fuel Cells, Lithium-Ion Batteries, and Advanced Thermal Management Technologies
To meet mission requirements for advanced energy storage systems and thermal management approaches, this team is designing a space power systems pallet that incorporates an advanced proton exchange membrane fuel cell, a lithium-ion battery with an advanced charge control management system, and advanced thermal technologies. It will be used to space-validate critical technologies under development.
An Update on 2006 Seed Fund Winners
Alternative Fuels for Next-Generation Combustor Applications Completes Successful Initial Tests
Pratt & Whitney
IPP participation enabled the NASA Subsonic Fixed Wing Program to expand their test program of the Pratt & Whitney* ultra-high bypass ratio engine to include the impact of using a 50/50 blend of Fischer-Tropsch* fuel. The emissions and performance results are currently being analyzed, but the testing has demonstrated, for the first time, that a 50/50 blend of Fischer-Tropsch fuels can run in advanced engines with no combustor or fuel-compatibility issues.
New Lithium-Ion Batteries With Enhanced Safety and Power Density for Future NASA and Aerospace Missions
Jet Propulson Laboratory, A123 Technologies, ABSL Space Products, and Northrup Grumman Space Technology
Extensive tests of the A123 Technologies* commercial-off-the-shelf, high-power, lithium-ion cell technology have corroborated their superior cell-level safety attributes and high-rate performance, which are relevant in addressing potential future NASA exploration mission needs. Improvements have also been made to the low-temperature performance of the baseline cell chemistry.
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