National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Small Business Innovation Research 2002 Program Solicitations

TOPIC A5 Space Transfer and Launch Technologies

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A5.01 Lightweight Engine Components
A5.02 Reusable Launch Vehicle Airframe Technologies
A5.03 Nuclear and Exotic Propulsion
A5.04 Ground Testing of Rocket Engines

Technology development for future generations of space transportation vehicles is necessary for the United States of America to recapture the majority of the space launch business. Development focused on increasing safety and reliability while decreasing the costs of space transportation systems is key to achieving delivery of robust, functional vehicles in the future. Technology advancement for Launch and In-Space propulsion, Spacecraft Airframe, and Ground Testing is sought to the meet the goals for space transportation. This includes propulsion related technologies that may enable new missions or launch concepts, or may provide very large performance improvements.

A5.01 Lightweight Engine Components
Lead Center: MSFC

Ceramic matrix composite materials are projected to significantly increase safety and reduce costs simultaneously, while decreasing weight for space transportation propulsion. Innovative material and process technology advancements are required to enable long life, reliable, and environmentally durable materials. Specific areas of technology development that are of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Actively cooled combustion devices and flow path CMC components, or components lined with CMCs which can contain pressure (e.g. turbopump housings, gas paths structures, integral injectors and chambers).
• Development of functionally formed components; CMCs with optimal and hybrid fiber tows and architectures, interface coating systems, inhibitors, matrices, and environmental barrier coatings which best suits function of the component for a specific portion of the component (e.g. CMC face sheet with PMC backing, high conductivity material transitioned to low conductivity material in the same component, etc).
• Sealing and/or joining of CMCs to metals and ceramics for cooled components, manifolding, blisks, and end user specified components accounting for fiber directions, surface conditions of the materials to be seal/joined, system loads and environments, and potential interactions between the materials to be sealed/joined (both during processing and subsequent use).
• Development of turbomachinery components such as inserted CMC blades and integrally bladed disks, and
• Low cost (with metrics), rapid, scalable, repeatable CMC fabrication process development for the preceding applications. Clearly state how the process quality will be measured and validated from batch to batch or with respect to time. Note any limitations.

Ideally, technology development will include design, analysis, fabrication and testing of components, subsystems, and engine systems to enable full assessment and accountability of the technology product and fundamental findings with respect to their value toward reaching NASA's goals. Composites are desired composed of fibers selected by end users such as high strength carbon fibers, SiC fibers, or hybrid tows or architectures. Environmentally durable fiber interface coating systems yielding optimal composite life and composite performance with respect to cost and time for fabrication are desired. Ceramic based matrices, containing silicon- and/or refractory-compounds are of interest. Where applicable, proposals should include the following:

• Explanation of how aspects of similar, previous efforts are leveraged.
• Identification and explanation of key issues and how they are mitigated within the technology developed.
• Explanation of how the technology developed will address key issues and mitigate risks for targeted/candidate propulsion systems with respect to NASA goals.
• Identification of path to prove assessment and accountability of the technology product with respect to their value toward reaching NASA's goals.
• Identification of potential end users that would integrate the technology product(s) into a propulsion system.
• Listing of all deliverables. When components or systems are delivered to NASA for potential testing and analyses, plans for manifolding (for cooling and gas ducting), attachment and hardware assembly, and technology integration are sought. Desired deliverables include: Components, test data, and material analyses as appropriate, hoop or flat tensile stress-strain curves, interlaminar shear, and other coupon test data, microscopic analysis images, edge loaded tensile specimens (maximum of nine).
• Justification for selection of matrix material constituents, fibers, interface coatings, fabric architecture, etc.
• For process development, inclusion of a flexible, process development matrix (e.g. which variables changed and how many processing trials).
• Correlation of processing variables to flexible, detailed test matrices (include in reports also).
• Verification of processes with microscopic analysis (e.g., microprobe, SEM, XRD, TEM, etc.) and macroscopic analysis (e.g., tensile strength, stress-oxidation, thermal mechanical fatigue, inter-laminar shear strength, thermal and physical properties, etc.).
• Verification of specific end-use application by testing for permeability, thermal shock, etc.
• Evaluation of components and/or coupon material using nondestructive characterization techniques, and
• Explanation of manufacturing scale-up necessary for the ultimate full-size target components.

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A5.02 Reusable Launch Vehicle Airframe Technologies
Lead Center: LaRC
Participating Center(s): MSFC

Next generation space transportation systems must address the significant challenge of significantly reducing the cost of space access while providing orders-of-magnitude improvements in safety. To accomplish these goals, the airframes/spaceframes for future launch vehicles and upper stages must be reusable and incorporate advanced technologies in materials and structural concepts, validated, safe structural analysis and design technologies, and improved manufacture of large-scale, advanced structures; and must utilize advanced control, health monitoring, and maintenance technologies to enable low cost and safe operations. To facilitate the improvement of safety, the uncertainties in airframe loads, responses and failure mechanisms must also be reduced so that design margins that contribute to safety can be quantified with an accuracy much greater than is possible today. The conflicting requirements of low cost and safety must also be balanced with the need for performance sufficient for space transportation vehicles.

Airframe systems of primary interest in this subtopic include innovative concepts in reusable cryogenic propellant tanks, and "integrated thermal structures" (i.e., airframe structures, such as integral cryogenic tanks, intertanks, wings/fins, thrust structures, fairings, control surfaces and leading edges that are hot structures or have the reentry thermal protection system closely integrated with the structure). Proposals for innovative research in design and mechanics, and in materials technologies addressing these airframe systems are solicited. Proposals of specific interest in this subtopic include one or more of the following items:

Design and Mechanics

• Specialized modeling, analysis, and design tools for integrated structural, thermal, thermal-structural, or acoustic responses, and innovative measurement and test methods for design validation. Application of methodology to circular and multi-lobed, membrane cryogenic tanks, and for conformal, non-membrane tanks is of special interest.
• Novel methods for prediction and testing of material and structural durability and damage tolerance with emphasis on cryogen leakage, environmental degradation, combined thermal-mechanical loads, and operation beyond nominal design conditions; and related methods to repair damaged structures.

Materials Technologies

• Significant advances in critical properties for high-temperature nickel, iron, and titanium alloys, intermetallics, refractory metals, Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs), Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs), Metals and Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) along with their related processing into useful product forms for fabrication into the airframe systems of interest.
• Materials technologies focused on advanced, high temperature materials compatible with cryogenic and gaseous hydrogen and oxygen; and for composite tanks, focused on cryogen leakage prevention and/or detection and/or sealing.
• Practical processing methods for large-scale manufacture of cryogenic tanks with efficient and reliable joining, and process development for advanced forming such as out-of-autoclave manufacture for composites, and near-net-shape and free-form fabrication for metals.

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A5.03 Nuclear and Exotic Propulsion
Lead Center: MSFC
Participating Center(s): GRC, JPL

This subtopic focuses on innovative, advanced propulsion technologies, devices and systems that could lead to rapid and affordable in-space transportation, and ambitious exploration of the solar system and beyond. Technologies that offer significant improvements in propulsion system power densities and/or specific impulse over current space propulsion systems are sought. Concepts that can be applied to high-payoff commercial spin-offs and applications are of particular interest. Proposals should include analyses addressing feasibility and mission suitability, and plans for demonstrating concept feasibility via test/experiment. Areas of interest include:

• High-power, multi-megawatt nuclear electric propulsion systems. Technologies include, but are not limited to high-power density nuclear energy sources; advanced energy conversion techniques; and high-performance electric and plasma thrusters (e.g., ion, Hall, MPD, pulsed inductive and other electromagnetic thrusters).
• Nuclear thermal propulsion. Technologies include, but are not limited to, solid-core nuclear thermal rocket fuels, components and systems; gas-core thermal rockets; external pulsed plasma propulsion; and nuclear-based MHD cycles for high-power density energy production.
• Fusion propulsion. Technologies may include pulsed and steady-state fusion propulsion concepts and systems; efficient, lightweight laser and particle-based drivers; lightweight thermal radiators; and hybrid fission/fusion concepts.
• Antimatter propulsion. Technologies may include: highly-efficient techniques for antimatter production; long-duration antimatter storage and transportation; and methods for utilizing antimatter as a propulsion energy source.
• Advanced propellants and high-energy density materials. Technologies include, but are not limited to advanced high-energy-density propellants; propellant combinations recovered in situ from extraterrestrial resources; and advanced cryogenic propellant storage/transfer techniques.
• Beamed energy propulsion. Technologies may include laser propelled vehicle systems and components; microwave energy transmission and energy conversion; and application of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) interactions for thrust generation, drag reduction and power generation.
• Sails. Technologies include, but are not limited to magnetic, laser, microwave and plasma sail systems; lightweight, high-strength, high-temperature materials; and high-power, space-based lasers.
• "Breakthrough" propulsion. Application of newly discovered scientific phenomena to propellantless space transportation; travel near theoretical velocity limits; and energy production far beyond the capabilities of known nuclear sources.

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A5.04 Ground Testing of Rocket Engines
Lead Center: SSC

The goal of this subtopic is to identify and develop new technologies that can significantly increase the capabilities for improved rocket engine ground testing and safety assurance while reducing costs. Specific areas of interest include the following:

• New, innovative non-intrusive sensors for measuring flow rate, temperature, pressure, rocket plume constituents, and detection of effluent gas. Sensors must not physically intrude at all into the measurement space. Sub-millisecond response time is required. Temperature sensors must be able to measure cryogenic temperatures of fluids (160R for LOX and 34R for LH₂ ) under high pressure (up to 12,000 psi) and high flow rate conditions (2000 lb/sec, 333 ft/sec) for LH₂ . Pressure sensors must have a range of up to 12,000 psi. Rocket plume sensors must determine gas species, temperature, and velocity for H₂ , O₂ , RP1, and hybrid fuels.
• On-line (real time) sampling and analysis of high pressure, high flow rate liquid oxygen-nitrogen mixtures. There is a significant need for real time, totally non-intrusive instrumentation for high pressure, high flow rate liquid oxygen (LOX) systems, having the capability to detect the presence of other chemical species present in the LOX, which may have been introduced through the pressurization process. An example would be the detection of N₂ in a LOX flow, where N₂ is used to pressurize the LOX delivery system. The technology should be expandable to include other rocket engine propellants.
• On-line particulate contamination sampling for facility propellant (LOX and LH₂ ) and gas systems (He, H₂ , O₂ , and N₂ ). A requirement exists for instrumentation that can detect, in real time, the presence of contaminants in the 30 micron to 100 micron range as these propellants and gases flow through facility piping. Sub-millisecond response time and ability to withstand cryogenic temperatures (down to 34R) and high pressures (up to 12,000 psi) are required features.
• Miniature front-end electronics to support embedding of intelligent functions on sensors. Requirements include computational power comparable to a 200 MHz PC with 32 MB of RAM or similar non-volatile storage, analog I/O (at least two of each, with programmable amplification, anti-aliasing filters, and automatic calibration), digital I/O (at least eight), communication port for Ethernet bus protocol (one high speed and one low speed), support for C programming (or other high-level language), and development kit for PC. Physical size should not occupy a volume larger than 4"x 4"x 2".
• New and innovative acoustic measurement techniques and sensors for use in a rocket plume environment. Current methods of predicting far-field and near-field acoustic levels produced by rocket engines rely on empirical models and require numerous physical measurements. New methods are required that can accurately predict the acoustic levels using fewer measurements. New, innovative techniques based on energy density measurements rather than pressure measurements show promise as replacements for the older models.
• Modeling of atmospheric transmission attenuation effects on test spectroscopic measurements. Atmospheric transmission losses can be significant in certain wavelength regions for radiometric detectors located far from the rocket engine exhaust plume. Consequently, atmospheric losses can result in over-prediction of the incident radiant flux generated by the plume. Accurate atmospheric transmission modeling is needed for high-temperature rocket engine plume environments. The capabilities should address both the losses from ambient atmosphere and localized environments, such as condensation clouds generated by cryogenic propellants.
• Methods and instrumentation for rocket plume spectral signature measurements. There are requirements to develop enhanced capabilities in the area of rocket exhaust plume spectral signature measurements. Emphasis is on developing data acquisition, analysis, display software, and systems to support infrared spectrometers, imaging systems, and filter radiometer systems. Overall system concepts should include instrument system calibration methodologies and data uncertainty analysis.
• Materials and components for high-pressure (up to 6000 psi), high-purity (90%+) hydrogen peroxide service. Materials, including seals, valve materials, and coatings that can withstand long-term hydrogen peroxide contact are required. Components for hydrogen peroxide service, including isolation valves, ball valves, and relief valves, which are designed for minimum number of sumps and seals, and clean flush-through, are required.

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