SBIR/STTR
Magnetometer for Balloons and UAVs, Phase I
Project Introduction
This Phase I SBIR project will investigate a new, low-cost approach to atomic magnetometry that is suited for operation from UAVs and research balloons. Atomic magnetometers have been available for decades, but they remain expensive and relatively power-hungry, restricting their use to a small range of platforms.
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Anticipated Benefits
Magnetic sampling of Earth's field from UAVs and stratospheric balloons. Static maps of fields are important for understanding Earth's lithosphere. Dynamic measurements are needed for research into energy dissipation of the magnetosphere into Electro-Magnetic Ion Cyclotron waves and Chorus waves. Such studies would combine our magnetometer measurements with data from other missions such as the Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission, BARREL, or the NOAA Polar Operational Environmental (POES) satellite. Airborne magnetometers are used in mineral exploration and for anti-mine and anti-submarine warfare. They are also used for artifact detection at archeologic sites. Other potential applications include low field magnetic resonance imaging for medical diagnostics and low field magnetic resonance spectroscopy for chemical analysis.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Kennedy Space Center
(KSC)
|
Lead Organization | NASA Center | Kennedy Space Center, FL |
| Southwest Sciences, Inc. | Supporting Organization | Industry | Santa Fe, NM |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Florida
-
Maryland
-
New Mexico
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Organizational Responsibility
Responsible Mission Directorate:
- Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
Lead Center / Facility:
- Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
Responsible Program:
- SBIR/STTR
Project Management
Program Director:
Program Manager:
Principal Investigator:
- David Hovde
Project Duration
Start: Feb 2012
End: Aug 2012
Technology Maturity (TRL)
| Start: | 2 |
| Current: | 2 |
| Estimated End: | 4 |
Applied Research
Development
Demo & Test
Technology Areas
Primary:
- TA 8 Science Instruments, Observatories, and Sensor Systems
- TA 8.3 In-Situ Instruments and Sensors
This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.