NASA SBIR 2005 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
GFT, LLC
310 E. South Street
Pennville ,IN 47369 - 9465
(260) 731 - 1450

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Philip   Griffith
phil@gftco.com
310 E. South Street
Pennville, IN  47369 -9465
(260) 731 - 1450

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The development of highly flexible thermal insulation materials with multifunctional properties based in polyimide polymers and designed to provide significant radiation abatement is proposed. These new material forms provide their enhanced properties while ensuring benign behavior in adverse thermal environments ranging from cryogenic to elevated temperatures. In addition, the introduction of radiation abating materials into the polymeric precursor or foam provides a protective element not available in current state-of-the-art insulation materials. The proposal team provides a fundamental understanding of the chemistry and physics of polyimide foams, the test facilities for measurement of structural and mechanical properties and production facilities sufficient to produce materials in volume necessary for prototype tests in NASA applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
NASA applications include cryogenic and thermal insulation for deep space vehicles and earthbound launch systems; space suit insulation; cryogenic and thermal protection for radiation sensitive components; multifunctional flight deck and passenger compartment insulation aboard aircraft, launch vehicles, and CEV designs; noise and vibration abatement material for launch vehicle payloads.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
Non-NASA applications include cryogenic insulation for the LNG and other liquefied gas production and transport industries; multifunctional insulation for military and commercial aerospace and marine entities; radiation shielding for the electronics industries; acoustic deadener for the automotive industry; flame resistant acoustic foam for the entertainment industry; acoustic and flame resistant ceiling tiles for building construction; home attic and wall insulation once product matures later in its lifecycle.

NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING

Composites Fluid Storage and Handling In-situ Resource Utilization Instrumentation Launch and Flight Vehicle Manned-Manuvering Units Multifunctional/Smart Materials Portable Life Support Propellant Storage RF Radiation Shielding Materials Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics Reuseable Solar Suits Tankage Thermal Insulating Materials