Space Technology

National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationSpace TechnologyGame Changing DevelopmentMonthly HighlightsAugust-September 2013Testing of ADEPT Ground TestArticle Begins at AmesAdaptable, Deployable Entry andPlacement Technology, or ADEPT, ledby NASA Ames, is a flexible wovenfabric heat shield that is mechanicallydeployed. The design is based on acarbon fabric already successfullytested at the Center’s Arc Jet facility.When used on a mission, this heatshield would be stowed in a morecompact shape until deployed like anumbrella before entering a planet’s at mosphere. Such a design would allowexploratory spacecraft larger than theCuriosity rover to successfully land onVenus, Mars, or other planets in oursolar system. For Venus missions,due to its low ballistic coefficient,ADEPT will enable delivery of sciencepayloads with peak decelerations of30 g’s, an order of magnitude reduc tion over heritage entry systems.Continued on page 2.Recently, the ADEPT team completed the assemblyof the ADEPT Ground Test Article.Photo Credit: NASA

ADEPT Ground Test ArticleContinued from page 1.Recently, the ADEPT team completed the assemblyof the ADEPT Ground Test Article. All instrumentationof the 2-m demonstration article was successfully in stalled and fully assembled. Flightlike carbon fabriccloth was integrated with the ribs to create 12-goreassemblies and over 30 successful stow and deploycycles were completed to understand the integratedsystem performance.NoseRibsCarbon fabric(tensioned over ribsStrutswhen deployed)Main bodyMechanically deployable decelerator.Photo Credit: NASAFrom left to right, Rita Sambruna and Wilt Sanders, of theScience Mission Directorate’s Astrophysics Division; TiborBalint and Steve Gaddis of Space Tech’s Game ChangingDevelopment Program; and far right, Jaya Bajpayee also ofthe Astrophysics Division, received an Honor Award in recog nition of groundbreaking collaboration across directorates.Image Credit: NASAHIADTestingatNASADrydenHIAD inflatablestructure testingbegan at NASADryden inSeptember.Data collectedfrom these testswill anchor theHIAD StructuralModel 1.0.Photo Credit: NASA2

Game Changer Recognized at LangleyMaterials engineer Mia Siochi from NASA Langely wasrecently recognized as a top innovator in technologytransfer.her work in Game Changing Development under theNanotechnology project.The technology area reports that support Nano technology provide perspective on increasing theunderstanding of what it takes to make structuralnanocomposites from carbon nanotube assemblages.Siochi, who works in the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch, received the award at an inventors’breakfast in August for having the most number of newtechnology reports submitted in 2012 by a Langleyemployee. The first four of the five technology areasthat Siochi reported on (listed below) were related toSiochi’s work in the fifth technology area on the listis related to research supported by the AeronauticsResearch Mission Directorate Seedling Fund.Mia Siochi’s Areas of Technology Transfer1. In Situ Mechanical Property Measurements ofAmorphous Carbon Boron Nitride Nanotube2. Sucrose Treated Carbon Nanotube and GrapheneYarns and Woven Sheets3. Conductive Polymer/Carbon Nanotube StructuralMaterials and Methods for Making Same4. Resistive Heating Assisted Epoxy Infiltration(RHAEI) for Epoxy/Carbon Nanotube StructuralComposites5. Enhanced Dielectric Barrier Discharge BodyForce Generation Using Nanofoam Material withInfused Catalytic LayerPhoto Credit: NASAMaterials engineer Mia Siochi from NASA Langely wasrecognized recently as a top innovator in technology transfer.STMD Administrator VisitsMichoud Assembly FacilityDr. Michael Gazarik, Associate Administrator (AA) forNASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorated visitedNASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans inAugust. His visit included seeing progress on the fa cilities and equipment used to manufacture NASA’sSpace Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft. Hetoured the vertical weld center and massive roboticweld tools, where state-of-the-art friction-stir weldingwill be used to manufacture the SLS core stage.Gazarik also toured NASA’s National Center forAdvanced Manufacturing (NCAM) and met RichardKoubek, the dean of Lousiana State University’sCollege of Engineering. NCAM is a NASA resource inLouisiana, which supports aerospace manufacturingresearch, development and innovation and importantpartnerships with industry and academia.Photo Credit: NASA Michoud Assembly FacilityDr. Michael Gazarik, AA for NASA’s Space Technology MissionDirectorate, visited NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in NewOrleans in August.3

GCD Students Enjoy Tech Filled SummerGame Changing Development Program projectssupported more than 150 students this past year—ranging from high school seniors to undergraduatesto postdoctorals. NASA’s investment in education—specifically science, technology, engineering, andmath, is a top priority within the Agency. Here’s a lookat some of the interns who got to experience spacetechnology firsthand during summer internships:Photo Credit: NASAPhoto Credit: NASADeboshri Sadhukhan, a junior at the University of Akron,supported the Advanced Space Power Systems project thissummer. Sadhukhan helped with the testing of the powerprocessing boards as they are fabricated and followed thebuilding of the power processing unit chassis.Chris Buck, a sophomore computer engineering studentat Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va.,helped develop an improved interactive computer model ofdeployable solar arrays using Mathematica while interning atNASA Langley.Photo Credit: NASAPhoto Credit: NASAJonathan Reardon, a senior mechanical engineering student,investigated mechanisms for deployment of high power solararrays for the Solar Electric Propulsion project.Chris Flatley, a summer intern from Maryland, supported theHigh Performance Spaceflight Computing task at NASA JPLthis summer. Here, Flatly worked on coding a benchmark thatwill be used to evaluate hardwired designs for a future NASAflight computer.4

Photo Credit: NASAStudents who supported the HIAD project at NASA Langley duringthe summer pose for a picture inside an inflatable torus.Photo Credit: NASAGame Changing Program Office interns Ryan Ligon (left),from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, andJoey Donatelli, from Virginia Commonwealth University,supported NASA’s successful Tech Day on the Hill in July.Resource Management Office SummitPhoto Credit: NASAIn August, the STMD Resource Management Office team held its annual summit at NASA Langley where the team focused onimproving processes and support of STMD projects.5

Game Changing Education and Public OutreachMarshall’s Innovation & Technology DayThe Composite Cryotank Technologies and Demon stration (CCTD) project participated in NASA Marshall’sInnovation & Technology Day on Sept. 12. The boothMSFC Center Director Patrick Scheuermannvisits the CCTD booth.was manned by CCTD project personnel including JohnFikes, deputy project manager; Justin Jackson, projectengineer, and Lynn Machamer, project coordinator.Photo Credit: NASAPhoto Credit: NASASteve Newton and Jennifer Edmunson of 3D Printing In Zero Gstaffed a booth at the MSFC Tech Day. The ManufacturingInnovation Project also exhibited alongside them.Rocketsto RacecarsThe Game Changing DevelopmentProgram Office supported NASALangley’s participation in theRockets to Racecars event at theRichmond International Raceway.Here, retired astronaut and currentAA for Education at NASA, LelandMelvin, stops by the booth to posewith R2.Photo Credit: Amy McCluskey6

Game Changing Education and Public OutreachRobots Win Big at Annual Space ConferenceNASA’s Space Technology Mission Directoratesupported the AIAA Space 2013 conferencein San Diego in September. At the conferencethe Robonaut 2 team received the Space Automation & Robotics Award. R2 Project ManagerRon Diftler (left, below) accepted the award onbehalf of the team. Game Changing Commu nications Manager Amy McCluskey staffed theSTMD exhibit, which featured an articulated R2model (right). Diftler also gave a short presenta tion of the Robo-Glove and demonstrated it forthe audience (bottom right).Photo Credit: NASAPhoto Credit: AIAA Space 2013Photo Credit: NASAG!nOameFor more information, contactAmy McCluskeyCommunications ManagerGame Changing Development Program OfficeNASA Langley Research Center757 864 .gov7

Sucrose Treated Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Yarns and Woven Sheets 3. Conductive Polymer/Carbon Nanotube Structural Materials and Methods for Making Same 4. Resistive Heating Assisted Epoxy Infiltration (RHAEI) for Epoxy/Carbon Nanotube Structural Composites 5. Enhanced Dielectric Barrier Discharge Body