National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Small Business Innovation Research & Technology Transfer 2003 Program Solicitations
TOPIC A5 Computing, Information and Communications Technology
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A5.01 Human-Automation Interaction in Aerospace Systems
A5.02 Nanotechnology
NASA's Computing, Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Program will enable scientific research, space exploration, and aerospace technology research greater success at less cost and with increased return through development and use of advanced computing, information and communications technologies. Goal-Directed Systems: smarter more adaptive systems and tools that work collaboratively with humans in a goal-directed manner to achieve NASA's twenty-first century mission/science goals, including: robotic exploration; human-robotic exploration; safe, cost-effective operation of all launch vehicles; Earth-orbiting satellites monitoring relationships associated with planetary phenomena; and development of methodologies to enhance the capacity, safety and security of our National Airspace System (NAS). Seamless Access to NASA Information Technology Resources: seamless access to ground-, air-, and space-based distributed hardware, software, and information resources allow scientists and engineers to focus on make new discoveries in science, design next generation space vehicles, control missions or develop new concepts for the NAS. High Rate Data Delivery: broad, continuous presence and coverage for high rate data delivery from ground, air, and space-based assets directly to the users enabling NASA's twenty-first century missions, including: distributed network of observing spacecraft to provide real-time multi-sensor information directly to users; multi-gigabit Internet-based communications in near-Earth orbit; high rate communications from spacecraft traveling to our outer planets including intra-planetary networks for surface exploration; and development of the NAS Communication, Navigation and Surveillance Architecture to meet 2015 air travel demands. Strategic Research: research, develop, and evaluate a broad portfolio of fundamental information and bio/nanotechnologies for infusion into future NASA missions.
A5.01 Human-Automation Interaction in Aerospace Systems
Lead Center: ARC
Aerospace systems rely increasingly on supervisory monitoring and control of automated systems supporting individual and distributed decision making. Innovative proposals that are relevant to NASA aviation and space missions are sought in the following areas:
- Formal methods of analyzing flight deck and ground control human-automation interaction design
- Large-scale simulation of human-in-the-loop decision-making in the National Airspace System
- Individual and team performance modeling, visualization and prediction for design and operations
- Model-based intelligent tutoring approaches to human-automation interaction
- Data mining and visualization tools that extract causal human factors underlying aerospace mishaps from large amounts of text or quantitative data
- Human-system interaction supporting collaboration among humans as well as between humans and synthetic agents.
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A5.02 Nanotechnology
Lead Center: ARC
Participating Center(s): GRC, JPL, JSC, LaRC
Nanotechnology is the science of creating functional materials, devices and systems through control of matter on the nanometer (atomic) scale and the exploitation of novel phenomena and properties (physical, chemical and biological) at that length scale. Control of organization at the atomic level provides the opportunity to create function-specific materials at the micro and macro scales. Nanotechnology is not simply another step toward top-down‚ miniaturization; it represents a fundamental change in approach that exploits new behaviors dominated by quantum mechanics, material confinement, and large interfaces.
Nanotechnology is expected to have a profound impact on all NASA Enterprises by enabling revolutionary, lighter, smaller spacecraft; powerful, small, low-power consuming computers; radiation-hardened electronics; nanoelectronics; nanosensors and instruments, high-power density fuel cell, biosensors for astrobiology and astronaut health monitoring; biomedical sensors and in-vivo medical devices; novel nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS); and advanced materials for aerospace vehicles and space launch vehicle structures.
NASA's missions for Space Science, Earth Science and Aerospace Technology development have pushed the state of the art for extraordinary computational speed and memory capacity for at least two decades. The Space Science mission has the added requirement for computing devices that must have low power consumption, unparalleled reliability, and resistance to harsh radiation environments.
Nanotechnology provides radical new approaches to size reduction and speed improvements through materials manipulation at the atomic scale. Possible candidates arising from potential advances in nanoelectronics include molecular computing (e.g., carbon nanotube, nanowire and molecular electronics-based electronics), and artificial quantum-structure systems. These concepts can be realized through the concurrent development and fabrication of the underlying nanoelectronic building blocks (e.g., gates, interconnects), new system architectures and associated algorithms.
Specific interests for the 2003 solicitation include technology developments directed toward the above applications, including:
- Exploiting the extraordinary mechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical, and chemical properties of nanostructures including nanotubes (e.g., carbon, silicon carbide, boron nitride), and nanowires.
- Controlled growth, characterization, dispersion and functionalization of nanostructures (e.g., nanotube and nanowire) for electronics, computing and sensing applications.
- Application of molecular and nanoelectronics devices for chemical, gas, and biosensors.
- Atomic chain electronics and sensors.
- Nanophotonics, including nanowire lasers.
- Fabrication processes (including biomolecular processes) for depositing metals for electrical or other surface properties.
- Design, development, fabrication and low-cost manufacturing processes of nanoelectronic components, connectors, switches and wires.
- Development of fault-tolerant, radiation resistant nanoelectronic and computing devices.
- Fuel cell, batteries, and thermoelectric converters
- Applications of nanomaterials for life support (including gas and water purification) and extravehicular activity.
- Thermal Management nanomaterials (heat rejection, heat management and thermal protection). Interface and packaging technologies which enable nanocomponent and nanosystem development for integration into macro-scale structures and instruments.
- Integration of nanodevices including sensors, communications and processing systems.
- Integration of nanoelectronic components with conventional electronic devices (e.g., CMOS).
- Modeling of nanoelectronic devices and hybrid nanoelectronic-microelectronic technologies.
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