NASA has selected proposals for the
creation of two multi-disciplinary, university-led research institutes that
will focus on the development of technologies critical to extending human
presence deeper into our solar system.
The new Space Technology Research
Institutes (STRIs) created under these proposals will bring together
researchers from various disciplines and organizations to collaborate on the
advancement of cutting-edge technologies in bio-manufacturing and space
infrastructure, with the goal of creating and maximizing Earth-independent,
self-sustaining exploration mission capabilities.
“NASA is establishing STRIs to research and
exploit cutting-edge advances in technology with the potential for
revolutionary impact on future aerospace capabilities," said Steve
Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission
Directorate in Washington. "These university-led,
multi-disciplinary research programs promote the synthesis of
science, engineering and other disciplines to achieve specific
research objectives with credible expected outcomes within five years. At the
same time, these institutes will expand the U.S. talent base in areas of
research and development with broader applications beyond
aerospace."
Each STRI will receive up to $15 million
over the five-year period of performance. The selected new institutes are:
Center for the Utilization of
Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES)
As NASA shifts its focus from low-Earth
orbit to deep space missions, the agency is investing in the development of
technologies that will allow long-duration mission crews to manufacture the
products they need, rather than relying on the current practice of resupply
missions from Earth.
The CUBES institute will advance research
into an integrated, multi-function, multi-organism bio-manufacturing system
to produce fuel, materials, pharmaceuticals and food. While the research
goals of the CUBES institute are to benefit deep-space planetary exploration,
these goals also lend themselves to practical Earth-based applications. For
example, the emphasis on using carbon dioxide as the base component for
materials manufacturing has relevance to carbon dioxide management on Earth.
The CUBES team is led by Adam Arkin,
principal investigator at the University of California, Berkeley, in
partnership with Utah State University, the University of California, Davis,
Stanford University, and industrial partners Autodesk and Physical Sciences,
Inc.
Institute for Ultra-Strong
Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP)
Affordable deep space exploration will
require transformative materials for the manufacturing of next-generation
transit vehicles, habitats, power systems, and other exploration systems.
These building materials need to be lighter and stronger than those currently
used in even the most advanced systems.
Results of this research will have broad
societal impacts, as well. Rapid development and deployment of the
advanced materials created by the institute could support an array of Earthly
applications and benefit the U.S. manufacturing sector.
US-COMP is a multidisciplinary team of 22
faculty members led by Gregory Odegard, principal investigator at the
Michigan Technological University, in partnership with Florida State
University, University of Utah, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Florida A&M University, Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Institute of
Technology, University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University,
University of Colorado and Virginia Commonwealth University. Industrial
partners include Nanocomp Technologies and Solvay, with the U.S. Air Force
Research Lab as a collaborator.
These awards are funded by NASA’s Space
Technology Mission Directorate, which is responsible for developing the
cross-cutting, pioneering, new technologies and capabilities needed by the
agency to achieve its current and future missions.
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