SDC has developed this proposal to closely align with NASA's future mission roadmap, and to be an enabling technology for additional missions. SDC has specifically targeted the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), a mission where NASA aims to redirect a near-earth asteroid into a stable orbit around the moon by removing a mass from the asteroid, as the selected technology insertion point based on NASA's developmental timeline for the mission. There are a number of critical structures associated with the ARM spacecraft and its mission objectives, including the lifting hardware, solar array support structures, and COPVs. SDC is also aware of NASA's interest in the integration of FOSGs with composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs). SDC has a number of contracts geared toward COPV development, and has been working toward FOSG integration through these contracts. SDC believes that the combination of technologies developed through the COPV contracts with the proposed algorithm development effort could yield NASA an integrated FOSG for COPV monitoring.
In addition to the listed NASA applications, this technology could be used on any structure or vehicle of interest. Any aircraft, especially those with a focus on composite structures, such as the 787, could benefit from this technology.
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