NASA SBIR 2003 Solicitation

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Scott K Lindemann
slindemann@michiganaerospace.com
1777 Highland Drive, Suite B
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2285
(734)975-8777
U.S. Citizen or Legal Resident: Yes

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Michigan Aerospace Corporation has developed spaceflight qualified compact tunable Fabry-Perot interferometers for a number of applications, from ranging direct detection Doppler wind LIDAR applications to IR spectroscopy. Under a previous phase I SBIR, Michigan Aerospace developed a design for a spaceflight qualified lightweight tunable Fabry-Perot etalon for cryogenic applications utilizing reaction bonded silicon carbide for the etalon mount and support rings and successfully delivered a mount and rings cast from silicon carbide for use in a phase II, or another application, to house an etalon. Under the proposed phase II effort, Michigan Aerospace will develop and fabricated a lightweight, rugged tunable Fabry-Perot interferometer that will be spaceflight qualified. Also, under this proposed phase II effort, Michigan Aerospace will design and produce a digital etalon controller. Further, Michigan Aerospace will produce a detailed plan by which the digital etalon controller design can be transitioned from demonstration unit to flight qualified hardware.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 100 WORDS)
In 2003/2004, Michigan Aerospace Corporation has responded to over 50 requests for quotation from domestic and foreign customers. This represents approximately $2.5 million in new business.

The lightweight Fabry-Perot interferometer to be developed under the proposed SBIR program will have extensive commercial applications ranging from laboratory use to airborne and space-borne natural gas pipeline leak monitoring and trace gas detection, to optical fiber communication. Some possible applications include:

? Ground and space based gas pipeline leak detection.

? Optical fiber communication multiplexing.

? Trace gas detection and analysis.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 100 WORDS)
The proposed Phase II effort has several potential applications for future NASA space missions as well as other airborne and ground based instruments. The silicon carbide etalon and digital controller can be utilized in all applications that require a Fabry-Perot etalon. This includes all high resolution future, passive and active, remote sensing instruments, such as direct detection Doppler wind lidars that are slated for space, manned and unmanned aircraft, such as UAVs. Additional applications include infrared remote sensing of trace gases such as ozone, carbon monoxide, and methane as well as other applications involving astronomical spectroscopic observations.