{"project":{"acronym":"","projectId":9526,"title":"Compact Vacuum Pump for Titan Lander Missions","primaryTaxonomyNodes":[{"taxonomyNodeId":10743,"taxonomyRootId":8816,"parentNodeId":10740,"level":3,"code":"TX08.1.3","title":"Optical Components","definition":"Optical component technologies are ultimately aimed at finding breakthrough technologies that can enable entirely new instrument or observatory architectures. Optical component technologies are grouped in the following categories: ultraviolet imaging, wide field of view imaging for near-Earth asteroids, and instruments for quantum interferometry. These improvements in optical components must complement improvements in associated detectors.","exampleTechnologies":"Mirrors, lenses, interferometers, gratings, prisms, fibers, dynamic pointing components (e.g. field steering mirrors), active optical elements, advanced surface technologies (e.g. frequency selective surfaces and composites), ground metrology and systems","hasChildren":false,"hasInteriorContent":true}],"startTrl":3,"currentTrl":6,"endTrl":6,"benefits":"Numerous commercial applications exist for the proposed compact vacuum pump, primarily to support portable analytical instruments such as mass spectrometers and leak detectors. Current-generation devices are limited by the size and mass of their high vacuum and rough pumps, or else use less capable absorption pumps. Building a small, low mass, low-cost, and low-power high vacuum pump whose performance is tuned to the needs of miniature detectors and can exhaust to greater than 1 atmosphere is expected to greatly expand the market for such devices. The pump technology to be developed under this proposal will be used in instruments being developed by some of our partners in portable mass spectrometers for use by the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
The pumping system developed during this project is tailored to provide the vacuum necessary for a number of instruments, notably miniature mass spectrometers, leak detectors, miniature electron microscopes, etc. Such instruments are of scientific interest on future missions (e.g., to Titan), for Earth atmospheric sampling, for volcano emission monitoring, for ISS environmental monitoring, and for numerous other missions.","description":"For a number of years Creare has developed, fabricated, and tested highly miniaturized, high vacuum pumps specifically designed for mass spectrometers used on NASA Mars missions. These pumps would also be useful on other missions to planets and satellites with atmosphere, such as Titan, as well as terrestrial applications on Earth. In order to allow these high vacuum pumps to operate in high-pressure environments such as exist on Titan and Earth, the vacuum pump needs to be supplemented with a rough pump that can take its exhaust and compress it to 11.5 atm. This project aims to design, fabricate, test, and deliver such a compact vacuum pump system that can generate a high vacuum, on the order of 1e-8 torr, and exhaust directly to an Earth or Titan atmosphere. The pump will be assembled in a very compact, robust, and low-power package. Our Phase I project clearly demonstrated the feasibility of our innovative design by demonstrating the performance of a rough pump and designing a compact vacuum system for use on Earth or other planetary bodies with atmospheric pressure greater than 1 atm. During Phase II of this project, we will build a complete benchtop pumping system that meets the requirements.","startYear":2011,"startMonth":6,"endYear":2014,"endMonth":6,"statusDescription":"Completed","principalInvestigators":[{"contactId":370381,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Paul","lastName":"Sorensen","fullName":"Paul H Sorensen","fullNameInverted":"Sorensen, Paul H","middleInitial":"H","primaryEmail":"phs@creare.com","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programDirectors":[{"contactId":206378,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jason","lastName":"Kessler","fullName":"Jason L Kessler","fullNameInverted":"Kessler, Jason L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jason.l.kessler@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programExecutives":[{"contactId":215154,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jennifer","lastName":"Gustetic","fullName":"Jennifer L Gustetic","fullNameInverted":"Gustetic, Jennifer L","middleInitial":"L","primaryEmail":"jennifer.l.gustetic@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"programManagers":[{"contactId":62051,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Carlos","lastName":"Torrez","fullName":"Carlos Torrez","fullNameInverted":"Torrez, Carlos","primaryEmail":"carlos.torrez@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"projectManagers":[{"contactId":220583,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Jessica","lastName":"Gaskin","fullName":"Jessica Gaskin","fullNameInverted":"Gaskin, Jessica","primaryEmail":"Jessica.A.Gaskin@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false},{"contactId":461333,"canUserEdit":false,"firstName":"Theresa","lastName":"Stanley","fullName":"Theresa M Stanley","fullNameInverted":"Stanley, Theresa M","middleInitial":"M","primaryEmail":"theresa.m.stanley@nasa.gov","publicEmail":true,"nacontact":false}],"website":"","libraryItems":[],"transitions":[{"transitionId":66030,"projectId":9526,"partner":"Other","transitionDate":"2011-06-01","path":"Advanced From","relatedProjectId":8512,"relatedProject":{"acronym":"","projectId":8512,"title":"Compact Vacuum Pump for Titan Lander Missions","startTrl":5,"currentTrl":6,"endTrl":6,"benefits":"Numerous commercial applications exist for the proposed compact vacuum pump, primarily to support portable analytical instruments such as mass spectrometers and leak detectors. Current-generation devices are limited by the size and mass of their high vacuum and rough pumps, or else use less capable absorption pumps. Building a small, low mass, low-cost, and low-power high vacuum pump whose performance is tuned to the needs of miniature detectors and can exhaust to greater than 1 atmosphere is expected to greatly expand the market for such devices. The pump technology to be developed under this proposal will be used in instruments being developed by some of our partners in portable mass spectrometers for use by the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
A number of current NASA initiatives seek to reduce the size and power requirement of scientific instruments. In particular, NASA has identified the development of organic analysis instrumentation, such as mass spectrometers and supporting equipment (e.g., vacuum systems) as a key enabling technology focus to support a lander mission to Titan. Success in these efforts will lead to new generations of sensors that can be deployed on smaller, less expensive platforms, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), balloons, microspacecraft, and miniature interplanetary probes. Our proposed compact vacuum pump directly supports these goals by reducing the size, mass, and power consumption of vacuum pumps required to run these instruments on planets with significant atmospheres (e.g., Titan and Earth). In addition, the pump technology that we will develop under this program can support the development of a NASA/GSFC, next-generation, laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometer that has significantly improved capabilities and robustness for in situ astrobiology missions which is being funded under the NASA ASTID program.","description":"NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and commercial industry have a pressing need for miniaturized, rugged, low mass, power efficient, high vacuum systems that can achieve vacuum pressures as low as 10E-8 torr while exhausting to greater than 1 atm. Advances in sensor technology at NASA and other government laboratories, in academia, and in industry, have led to the development of very small mass spectrometer detectors. However, the vacuum systems to support these sensors remain large, heavy, and power hungry. To meet this need, Creare proposes to build a compact vacuum pump based on the innovative combination of a turbomolecular pump to achieve hard vacuum pressures; a molecular drag pump to compress the gas through the transition regime of the gas; and a regenerative pump that compresses the gas further to exhaust to pressure greater than 1 atm. The pump represents an order-of-magnitude reduction in mass, volume, and power over current, commercially available, state-of-the-art vacuum systems that provide pumping over the same pressure range. Our unique vacuum pump design is based on technologies previously demonstrated at Creare that are combined in an innovative way to achieve the goal of providing vacuum pressures as low as 10E-8 torr while exhausting to greater than 1 atm in a small, low mass, power efficient package.","startYear":2010,"startMonth":1,"endYear":2010,"endMonth":7,"statusDescription":"Completed","website":"","program":{"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","active":true,"description":"
The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
","programId":73,"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"STMD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"responsibleMdId":4875,"stockImageFileId":36648,"title":"Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer"},"lastUpdated":"2024-1-10","releaseStatusString":"Released","viewCount":620,"endDateString":"Jul 2010","startDateString":"Jan 2010"},"infoText":"Advanced from another project within the program","infoTextExtra":"Another project within the program (Compact Vacuum Pump for Titan Lander Missions)","dateText":"June 2011"},{"transitionId":66031,"projectId":9526,"transitionDate":"2014-06-01","path":"Closed Out","closeoutDocuments":[{"title":"Final Summary Chart","file":{"fileExtension":"pdf","fileId":306087,"fileName":"SBIR_2009_2_FSC_S1.09-9459","fileSize":218785,"objectId":66031,"objectType":{"lkuCodeId":1841,"code":"TRANSITION_FILES","description":"Transition Files","lkuCodeTypeId":182,"lkuCodeType":{"codeType":"OBJECT_TYPE","description":"Object Type"}},"fileSizeString":"213.7 KB"},"transitionId":66031,"fileId":306087}],"infoText":"Closed out","infoTextExtra":"","dateText":"June 2014"}],"responsibleMd":{"acronym":"STMD","canUserEdit":false,"city":"","external":false,"linkCount":0,"organizationId":4875,"organizationName":"Space Technology Mission Directorate","organizationType":"NASA_Mission_Directorate","naorganization":false,"organizationTypePretty":"NASA Mission Directorate"},"program":{"acronym":"SBIR/STTR","active":true,"description":"The NASA SBIR and STTR programs fund the research, development, and demonstration of innovative technologies that fulfill NASA needs as described in the annual Solicitations and have significant potential for successful commercialization. If you are a small business concern (SBC) with 500 or fewer employees or a non-profit RI such as a university or a research laboratory with ties to an SBC, then NASA encourages you to learn more about the SBIR and STTR programs as a potential source of seed funding for the development of your innovations.
The SBIR and STTR programs have 3 phases:
The SBIR and STTR Phase I contracts last for 6 months with a maximum funding of $125,000, and Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding of $750,000 - $1.5 million.
Opportunity for Continued Technology Development Post-Phase II:
The NASA SBIR/STTR Program currently has in place two initiatives for supporting its small business partners past the basic Phase I and Phase II elements of the program that emphasize opportunities for commercialization. Specifically, the NASA SBIR/STTR Program has the Phase II Enhancement (Phase II-E) and Phase II eXpanded (Phase II-X) contract options.
Please review the links below to obtain more information on the SBIR/STTR programs.
Provides an overview of the SBIR and STTR programs as implemented by NASA
Provides access to the annual SBIR/STTR Solicitations containing detailed information on the program eligibility requirements, proposal instructions and research topics and subtopics
Schedule and links for the SBIR/STTR solicitations and selection announcements
Federal and non-Federal sources of assistance for small business
Search our complete archive of awarded project abstracts to learn about what NASA has funded
Still have questions? Visit the program FAQs
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