Tag: Space Technology Mission Directorate

OSAM-1 Partnership Opportunity: Request for Information 

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1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA is exploring potential partnerships for alternate use cases for the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) flight hardware, test facilities, and experienced personnel. Through a Request for Information for OSAM-1 Partnerships released Sept. 5, 2024, NASA seeks interest from U.S. organizations that will benefit commercial, civil, and national objectives, thereby advancing domestic leadership in In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities.   A comprehensive list of OSAM-1 resources and technologies organizations can consider using are outlined in the…

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NASA Seeks Input for Astrobee Free-flying Space Robots

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4 Min Read NASA Seeks Input for Astrobee Free-flying Space Robots iss069e010815 (May 16, 2023) — UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut and Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi observes a free-flying Astrobee robotic assistant during the testing of its operations for an upcoming student competition to control the robotic devices. Credits: NASA NASA is seeking input from American companies for the operation and use of a system of free-flying robots aboard the International Space Station as the agency continues to foster scientific, educational, and technological developments in low Earth orbit…

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NASA Awards $1.25 Million to Three Teams at Deep Space Food Finale

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Interstellar Lab, a small business comprised of team members from France, Texas, and Florida, took home the $750,000 grand prize for their food system, NUCLEUS, which uses a multi-pronged approach to growing and harvesting food outputs for astronauts on long-duration human space exploration missions. Credit: OSU/CFAES/Kenneth Chamberlain NASA has awarded a total of $1.25 million to three U.S. teams in the third and final round of the agency’s Deep Space Food Challenge. The teams delivered novel food production technologies that could provide long-duration human space exploration missions with safe, nutritious,…

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NASA Invites Media, Public to Attend Deep Space Food Challenge Finale

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NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge directly supports the agency’s Moon to Mars initiatives. Credit: NASA NASA invites the media and public to explore the nexus of space and food innovation at the agency’s Deep Space Food Challenge symposium and winners’ announcement at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, Aug. 16.  In 2019, NASA and the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) started the Deep Space Food Challenge, a multi-year international effort to develop sustainable food systems for long-duration habitation in space including the Moon and Mars.…

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NASA Opportunities Fuel Growth and Entrepreneurship for Bronco Space Club Students

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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Bronco Space team assembles its Bronco Ember technology, which uses a short-wave infrared camera with AI to improve early wildfire detection. Credit: Bronco Space NASA’s public competitions can catalyze big changes – not just for the agency but also for participants. Bronco Space, the CubeSat laboratory at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California, matured more than just space technology as a result of winning funds from NASA’s TechLeap Prize competition. It grew from its roots in a…

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NASA’s Laser Relay System Sends Pet Imagery to, from Space Station

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Using NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system, pictures and videos of cherished pets flew through space over laser communications links at a rate of 1.2 gigabits per second — faster than most home internet speeds. NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Christina Koch, and Kjell Lindgren, along with other agency employees, submitted photos and videos of their pets to take a trip to and from the International Space Station. The transmissions allowed NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program to showcase the power of laser communications while simultaneously testing out a…

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NASA Selects Technology Transfer Services Contractor

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Credits: NASA NASA has awarded the Consolidated Agency Technology Transfer Services contract to Summit Technologies & Solutions, Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia, to provide support for the agency’s Technology Transfer Program. The performance-based firm-fixed price contract has a potential mission services value of $26 million and a maximum potential indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity value of $55 million. The contract begins on Saturday, June 1, with a one-year base period followed by four one-year option periods that may be exercised at NASA’s discretion. Summit Technologies & Solutions will provide NASA tech transfer support at multiple…

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NASA’s Optical Comms Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles

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6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is shown in a clean room at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 8, 2022. DSOC’s gold-capped flight laser transceiver can be seen, near center, attached to the spacecraft. NASA/Ben Smegelsky NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment also interfaced with the Psyche spacecraft’s communication system for the first time, transmitting engineering data to Earth. Riding aboard NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, the agency’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration…

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NASA Invites Media to Learn About New Tech Mission Powered by the Sun

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A new NASA mission is testing a new way to navigate our solar system by hoisting its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is led by the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The microwave oven-sized CubeSat is scheduled to launch aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. The launch window opens at 3 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, April 23 (10 p.m. UTC). Successful deployment and operation…

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NASA Artemis Mission Progresses with SpaceX Starship Test Flight

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SpaceX launched the third integrated flight test of its Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage from the company’s Starbase orbital launch pad at 8:25 a.m. CT on March 14. This flight test is an important milestone toward providing NASA with a Starship HLS for its Artemis missions. SpaceX As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign to return humans to the Moon for the benefit of all, the agency is working with SpaceX to develop the company’s Starship human landing system (HLS), which will land astronauts near the Moon’s South Pole…

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