Grants Advance Moon to Mars Space Exploration
NASA Awards Nearly $1.5 Million to Academic, Non-Profit, and Business Organizations
Nearly $1.5 million has been awarded by NASA to academic, non-profit, and business organizations to advance state-of-the-art technology that will play a key role in the agency’s return to the Moon under Artemis, as well as future missions to Mars.
“The Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notice enables NASA to collaboratively work with U.S. industry and academia to develop needed technologies.” Daniel O’Neil, NASA
Twenty-four projects from 21 organizations have been awarded under NASA’s Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notices, or CANs. The awardees also will receive assistance from propulsion, space transportation, and science experts at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
“The Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notice enables NASA to collaboratively work with U.S. industry and academia to develop needed technologies,” said Daniel O’Neil, manager, NASA Marshall’s Technology Development Dual-Use CAN Program. “Products from these cooperative agreements support the closure of identified technology gaps and enable the development of components and systems for NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture.”
These innovative projects include ways to use lunar regolith for construction on the Moon’s surface, using smartphone video guidance sensors to fly robots on the International Space Station, identifying new battery materials, and improving a neutrino particle detector.
The following is a complete list of awardees:
Auburn University in Alabama
Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida
Florida International University in Miami
Fronius USA in Portage, Indiana
Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories in Tullahoma, Tennessee
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge
Morgan State University in Baltimore
Nanoracks (Voyager Space) in Houston
Northwestern University in Chicago
Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana
Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio
Tethon 3D in Omaha, Nebraska
University of Alabama in Huntsville
University of California in Irvine
University of Florida in Gainesville
University of Illinois in Chicago
University of North Texas in Denton
University of Tennessee in Knoxville
University of Tennessee Space Institute
Victory Solutions in Huntsville, Alabama
Wichita State University in Kansas
Funding was available for organizations focused on supporting entrepreneurial research and innovation ideas that could advance the commercial space sector and benefit future NASA missions.
Applications are now open for the 2024 solicitation cycle.