Wednesday, June 15, 2016

OT- Luna Innovations awarded multiple SBIR contracts with NASA and Other US Government Agencies



My Note:
I had heard a rumor that Luna received $500,000 in SBIR contract funds from NASA. I can't confim that this number is accurate, but I did find Luna did receive 6 SBIR contracts from various US Government agencies in 2016. You can see the list here:
http://sbir.nasa.gov/content/luna-innovations-inc

(I did find another link which states the amount of each award is not yet publicly available.)

The following is the first award on the list.

PROPOSAL NUMBER:
16-1 T6.01-9730
RESEARCH SUBTOPIC TITLE:
Space Suit Environmental Protection Garment Materials and Technologies
PROPOSAL TITLE:
Environmentally Protective Fabrics for Spacesuits

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (SBC):
RESEARCH INSTITUTION (RI):
NAME:
Luna Innovations, Inc.
NAME:
North Carolina State University
STREET:
301 1st Street Southwest, Suite 200
STREET:
NCSU Office of Sponsored Programs
CITY:
Roanoke
CITY:
Raleigh
STATE/ZIP:
VA  24016 - 1921
STATE/ZIP:
NC  27695 - 7514
PHONE:
(540) 769-8400
PHONE:
(919) 515-2444
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Dr. Bryan Koene
koeneb@lunainc.com
3157 State Street
Blacksburg, VA 24060 - 6604
(540) 558-1699
CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Ms. Shirley Evans
submissions302@lunainc.com
301 1st Street SW Suite 200
Roanoke, VA 24016
- 1921
(540) 961-6724
Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract: 
Begin: 4 
End: 6
Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics 
Space Suit Environmental Protection Garment Materials and Technologies is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words) 
Luna is addressing NASA's need to develop new multifunctional textiles for improved Environmental Protection Garments (EPG). Previous protective suits such as the Apollo era EPG or currently used Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) provide thermal and micrometeoroid protection, but are intended only for short duration use. NASA plans for a future manned Mars mission will potentially require extended protection for up to 500 days. Critical capabilities for these textiles include improved i) dust mitigation to protect from potentially corrosive or abrasive particles in the Martian regolith, ii) cut and puncture resistance to protect the suit bladder from damage from sharp edges of tools and rocks, and iii) durability for extended use. Luna will develop a multifunctional textile composite that will achieve these stringent goals, while maintaining comfort and mobility. Our team will combine several well developed technologies into a practical textile design, which will provide excellent protection from dust, fire, chemical exposure, and cut/puncture. These will be integrated to minimize weight and maximize flexibility such as to not prohibit, degrade, or interfere with the use of equipment.
POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) 
This development is focused on new environmentally protective spacesuits specifically for Mars missions. Whereas the textiles based technologies will be optimized for this environment, the general development will make these amenable for use on the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) with the International Space Station.
POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) 
Luna will produce a practical protective textile composite designed specifically for NASA missions. The individual and composite technologies developed will have a wider use for commercial protective fabrics. It is anticipated that these textiles could be used to provide protection to general use for environmental cleanup garments, first responder's uniforms, as well as general use and chemical protective military uniforms.
TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)
Protective Clothing/Space Suits/Breathing Apparatus
Textiles


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