 |
| [PHOTO: JD Hancock/CC BY 2.0] |
Washington: NASA wants to know how you can improve the International
Space Station as a technology test bed.
NASA's International Space Station National Laboratory and Technology
Demonstration offices are asking for proposals on how the space station may be
used to develop advanced or improved exploration technologies. NASA is also seeking
proposals about how new approaches, technologies and capabilities could improve
the unique laboratory environment of the orbiting outpost.
The annoucement will provide successful proposers access to the space station's
microgravity environment, crew support and robotic servicing. It closes Sept.
30.
"The space station is a world-class facility and critical to NASA's plan
to extend humanity's presence beyond low-Earth orbit," said Andrew Clem of
the Technology Demonstration Office in the International Space Station Program
at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This is an opportunity for
researchers, inventors and designers to demonstrate a technology needed for
future human spaceflights or to improve an existing space station capability."
NASA will review submissions throughout the year as they are received. The
agency will cover launch and integration costs for selected proposals.
Successful submissions also may be eligible for limited additional funding.
Proposed technologies should help advance exploration and research capabilities
aboard the space station. Concepts must fit within existing NASA standards for
mass and volume to meet requirements for current launch vehicles. Suggested
areas include in-space propulsion; space power and energy storage; components
of highly reliable, closed-loop, human health, life support and habitation
systems; thermal systems; robotics, telerobotics, and autonomous systems; and
human exploration destination systems.
Proposals for new exploration technologies could include strategies to reduce
mass, maintenance and power requirements, while also increasing efficiency,
reliability and safety. The idea could be a new technology or a new, improved
use of existing space hardware. Proposals also may have the potential to yield
benefits for humanity, such as testing a new material or stimulating economic
growth.
Alternately, proposers could address improvements to the existing capabilities
of the U.S. National Laboratory, such as new uses for existing experiment tools
and infrastructure aboard the orbiting outpost, or potential efficiencies like
advances in data communications. Other possibilities include ground equipment
for space studies, in-orbit analytical tools, three-dimensional cell and tissue
culture hardware, or improvements or new uses for existing station research
resources.
The enhancements sought in this announcement will further efforts by the Center
for the Advancement of Science in Space to promote research aboard the
station's U.S. National Laboratory.