NASA STTR 2021-II Solicitation

Proposal Summary

Proposal Information

Proposal Number:
21-2- T6.07-2266
Phase 1 Contract #:
80NSSC21C0123
Subtopic Title:
Space Exploration Plant Growth
Proposal Title:
A Smart Spectral Polarimetric Imager for Autonomous Plant Health Monitoring
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):
Space Lab Technologies, LLC
5455 Spine Road, Suite ME
Boulder CO  80301 - 3312
Phone: (720) 745-9321
RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
University of Florida
207 Grinter Hall, PO Box 115500
FL  32611 - 5500
Phone: (352) 392-9267

Principal Investigator (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)

Name:
Adam Escobar
E-mail:
adam@spacelabtech.com
Address:
5455 Spine Rd, Ste ME Boulder, CO 80301 - 3312
Phone:
(720) 309-8475

Business Official (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)

Name:
Christine Escobar
E-mail:
chris@spacelabtech.com
Address:
5455 Spine Rd, Ste ME Boulder, CO 80301 - 3312
Phone:
(720) 309-8475
Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) :
Begin: 5
End: 6
Technical Abstract (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)

For future long-duration space exploration missions, NASA expressed the need for plant systems that may provide a nutrient dense supplement to crew diet and possibly other life support functions, such as CO2 removal, O2 production, water recovery, and waste recycling.  Current and future infrastructure for plant growth include chambers with controlled environments.  To ensure optimal growing conditions in these chambers, the plants will require precise monitoring of health throughout the plant life cycle.  These monitoring systems will need to operate autonomously with little crew involvement.  Current plant monitoring instruments include multispectral and hyperspectral sensing that require post-process algorithms to detect physiological phenomena.  In Phase I, Space Lab Technologies (Space Lab) and the Space Plants Lab at the University of Florida (UF) investigated an improved approach for monitoring space plant health using a smart spectral polarimetric (SSP) imager to monitor morphological features and stresses.  The Phase II work builds upon the prototypes and analyses completed in Phase I, which includes a deliverable of an engineering demonstration unit (EDU) to NASA Kennedy Space Center.  The EDU is compact and intended for use in the ground-based plant growth chamber equivalents of the Advance Plant Habitat (APH) or VEGGIE.

Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
  • Plant Health Monitoring in Space Habitats
  • Space Crops Food Safety
  • Spacecraft Structural Stress or Fracture Detection
  • Remote Sensing of Earth
  • Planetary Science
Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
  • Agriculture - Crop Health
  • Controlled Environment Agriculture
  • Food Processing and Safety
  • Mechanical Stress and Fracture Detection
  • Industrial Process Monitoring
  • Laboratory Polarized Spectrometer for Research
Duration: 24

Form Generated on 09/07/2022 16:37:04