2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 1

Table of Contents

AL - 17-EPSCoRProp-0003..............................................................................................................................................2

Micro-Magnetic Driven Design of Multi-Component Magnetic Alloys for Advanced Electric Propulsion................2

ND - 17-EPSCoRProp-0007.............................................................................................................................................3

Derive phytoplankton size classes, detrital matter, particulaste organic matter and particulate inorganic matter 

from ocean color observation...................................................................................................................................3

MT - 17-EPSCoRProp-0013 ............................................................................................................................................5

Satellite-guided hydro-economic analysis for integrated management and prediction of the impact of droughts 

on agricultural regions ..............................................................................................................................................5

WY - 17-EPSCoRProp-0016 ............................................................................................................................................7

Igniting a New Era of Planet Discovery with FHiRE: A Precision Spectrograph at the WIRO Telescope ...................7

NV - 17-EPSCoRProp-0024.............................................................................................................................................9

Life in Salts: a Multidisciplinary Investigation of Microorganisms and Biosignatures in the Death Valley Salt Pan .9

LA - 17-EPSCoRProp-0029............................................................................................................................................10

Production of Fuels and Other Life Support Products Using Wastewaters as a Feed into a Space-Based 

Biochemical Conversion System (BIOSYS)...............................................................................................................10

LA - 17-EPSCoRProp-0030............................................................................................................................................12

Understanding and Quantifying Carbon Export to Coastal Oceans through Deltaic Systems ................................12

NE - 17-EPSCoRProp-0034 ...........................................................................................................................................14

MORS: Modular Robotic Suit as an Exercise System for Maintenance of Muscle Strength of Astronauts during 

Long-Term Space Missions......................................................................................................................................14

KS - 17-EPSCoRProp-0037............................................................................................................................................15

Efficient and Compact Thermal and Water Management Systems using Novel Capillary Structure for Space 

Technology ..............................................................................................................................................................15

NH - 17-EPSCoRProp-0041...........................................................................................................................................17

Application of antifreeze proteins and mimetic peptides in anti-icing surface coating..........................................17

VT - 17-EPSCoRProp-0042 ...........................................................................................................................................19

Critical Gas-Surface Interaction Problems for Atmospheric Entry ..........................................................................19

SD - 17-EPSCoRProp-0045 ...........................................................................................................................................20

Wireless Body Area Network in Space: Development of Wireless Health Monitoring System with Flexible and 

Wearable Sensors....................................................................................................................................................20

OK - 17-EPSCoRProp-0048...........................................................................................................................................22

Space-borne Antennas & Circuits for Condensed Radars and STEM (SPACERS).....................................................22

SC - 17-EPSCoRProp-0050............................................................................................................................................24

Nanomaterials-based hybrid energy storage devices and systems for space applications ....................................24
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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AL - 17-EPSCoRProp-0003

Micro-Magnetic Driven Design of Multi-Component Magnetic Alloys for 

Advanced Electric Propulsion

HEOMD, ARMD, STMD

Director: John Gregory

Sc-I: Claudia Mewes

Electric based propulsion has emerged as a strategic investment for NASA Aeronautics for the design 

and implementation of ultra-efficient aircraft to assist our nation in the transition to low-carbon 

propulsion. In electric motors, magnetic materials assist in the conversion of electrical energy to 

mechanical energy. During this conversion, alternating current energy losses occur which would be 

substantially reduced through the proposed development of a new class of (Fe,Co)-based amorphous 

and nanocrystalline magnetic composites. Such new materials will be a key requirement for NASA as it 

aims to improve the efficiency of electric motors that scale from the kilowatt to megawatt levels as 

outlined in NASA’s next generation electrical and hybrid aircraft technical readiness plan. To provide a 

systematic development of these alloys, faculty at The University of Alabama (UA) will team with Glenn 

Research Center (GRC) scientists and engineers to create a synergistic partnership that leverages 

expertise and infrastructure at each institution. UA will lead a materials-by-design approach based on 

atomistic and micro-magnetic models that will predict the optimal phase distributions within these 

magnetic composites. Through the use of modern computational tools, we will be able to accelerate the 

experimental direction of processing of these alloys that will be done in partnership at the NASA facility. 

To assist NASA’s processing control needed to achieve the modeled composite microstructures, UA will 

provided targeted phase transformation and kinetic studies of crystallization that will quantify the 

effects of annealing temperature and times on microstructural evolution. Furthermore, the analytical 

characterization of the materials will be forward fed back to our models to accurately capture the 

physics that gives rise to various magnetic attributes. Through joint UA-NASA magnetic characterization, 

we will verify, validate, and refine our models to the physically measured properties, with UA providing 

unique broadband thermomagnetic resonance studies that will reveal the loss performance in our 

alloys. This research positions UA-NASA as a formidable leader in nanocomposite magnetic material 

development through a closed loop interaction of modeling-processing-characterization. Through this 

research, the national workforce development in science and engineering will be strengthened by 

supporting the rising generation of STEM students as well as outreach programs that will inspire the 

next generation of scientists and engineers.
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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ND - 17-EPSCoRProp-0007

Derive phytoplankton size classes, detrital matter, particulaste organic matter 

and particulate inorganic matter from ocean color observation

SMD, STMD

Director: James Casler

Sc-I: Xiaodong Zhang

The Earth’s oceans have absorbed nearly half of anthropogenic CO2 released into the atmosphere. One 

of the most important oceanic processes in sequestering atmospheric CO2 is net primary production by 

phytoplankton that fix inorganic carbon into organic matter in the sun-lit, surface ocean and its 

subsequent vertical transport to the ocean’s interior. To better understand and quantify this biological 

pump requires detailed knowledge of spatial and temporal variations of phytoplankton community 

structure and other carbon pools. Ocean color remote sensing has revolutionized our understanding of 

global distribution of phytoplankton biomass and rates of primary production. However, significant 

uncertainty remains because (i) primary production varies among different phytoplankton species, 

which cannot be estimated adequately using a single measure of total biomass; (ii) other carbon pools, 

such as dissolved organic carbon, also play a role; and (iii) presence of mineral particles alters fluxes of 

organic carbon.

We propose to develop advanced inversion algorithms to infer global distributions of phytoplankton in 

three size classes (micro, nano, and pico), colored detrital matter, dissolved and particulate matter from 

remotely sensed ocean color data to support the studies of oceanic sequestration of atmospheric CO2. 

Dr. Xiaodong Zhang, a Professor with the Department of Earth System Science and Policy at the 

University of North Dakota will lead this effort as the Science-Investigator. His prior studies have led to 

the development of individual algorithms based on the field measurements that derive phytoplankton 

size classes and colored detrital matter from the spectral absorption coefficients and derive size and 

composition distribution of various biogeochemical stocks from the volume scattering functions. We will 

refine, revise and combine these individual algorithms into applications that can be used for satellite 

ocean color observation. Specifically, the developed algorithms will allow the retrieval of (i) 

phytoplankton concentrations in three size classes of micro (> 20 Âμm), nano (2 o 20 Âμm) and pico (< 2 

Âμm) ranges; (ii) absorption at 410 nm and spectral slope of the colored detrital matter; (iii) 

backscattering by very small particles (of sizes < 0.2 Âμm); (iv) concentrations of particulate organic 

matter (POM) and particulate inorganic matter (PIM). The first two products will be estimate from ocean 

color o derived spectral absorption coefficient and the last two product from ocean color oderived 

spectral backscattering coefficient. We will test the developed algorithms over global ocean and 

estimate the associated uncertainty using collocated NASA ocean color observation and field 

measurements as well as additional field experiments.

The proposed project aligns with the areas of interest of the Earth Science Division of the Science and 

Exploration Directorate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). In particular, it is relevant to the 

focus of NASA’s Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry program and NASA’s upcoming PACE satellite 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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mission. Dr. Jeremy Werdell at NASA GSFC, the Project Scientist for the PACE mission, will collaborate 

with us. His research and knowledge on in-water bio-optical algorithm development and validation of 

remotely-sensed data products will provide well-need expertise on satellite algorithm development and 

testing with NASA’s ocean color data.
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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MT - 17-EPSCoRProp-0013

Satellite-guided hydro-economic analysis for integrated management and 

prediction of the impact of droughts on agricultural regions

SMD

Director: Angela Des Jardins

Sc-I: Marco P Maneta

The management of water resources among competing uses presents a complex technical and policy 

challenge that is amplified by economic and population growth, and climate change. With current water 

sources across the western U.S. under increasing pressure or fully committed, future water 

management options will shift from developing new water supplies to improving management of 

existing resources. Integrated hydro-economic models capable of simulating the hydrologic system in 

irrigated and non-irrigated regions and the response of water users, especially farmers, to hydrologic 

constraints and economic and policy incentives, provide a framework to understand biophysical and 

socioeconomic implications of changing water availability.

Satellite earth observations provide critical information to advance understanding of the hydrologic 

cycle and the water supply system. Unfortunately, satellite-based methods to forecast agricultural water 

demands in response to variation in water supplies have been limited by a lack of calibrated models that 

can anticipate human behavior, particularly how farmers allocate land and water. In this proposal we 

provide solutions to these limitations and contribute to improving the socioeconomic dimensions of the 

NASA Earth Sciences Program by developing transformative decision support tools that integrate the 

effects of climate and farmer adaptive behavior in the study of regional water supply and demand 

systems. We will implement an integrated hydro-economic model of agricultural production driven by 

ground observations, multi-sensor satellite observations, outputs from regional climate models, and 

socioeconomic data. Our modeling approach overcomes the limitations of current decision support 

systems for agricultural water management, and provides policymakers and natural resource managers 

with satellite data-driven, state-wide, operational models capable of anticipating how farmers allocate 

water, land, and other resources when confronted with new climate, policy rules, or market signals. It 

also quantifies how farming decisions affect agricultural water demands, the water supply system, and 

other water users. 

The backbone of our method is an economic model of agricultural production adapted to ingest 

satellite-based remote sensing estimates of crop acreage, yield and evapotranspiration in a continuous, 

operational manner. Biophysical constraints to production (e.g. water available for irrigation, 

precipitation, energy) are provided by an integrated hydrologic model and by regional and global climate 

datasets. We will apply these methods to quantify drought related impacts on agricultural practices and 

socioeconomic behavior across cropland areas in Montana, which are representative of the 

intermountain west. Although we will initially focus in this area, the developed methods are flexible and 

extendable to other agricultural regions.
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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Our proposal responds to the current NASA EPSCoR solicitation by making innovative use of NASA Earth 

science data and models to develop improved water management strategies that promote a secure and 

sustainable use of water supplies for agriculture in Montana. It will also establish a statewide cluster of 

researchers that will develop capacity from other NASA programs, and from other federal and state 

agencies, and regional stakeholders. Maximal NASA EPSCoR impact in Montana will be achieved by 

leveraging the outreach capacity developed by other EPSCoR initiatives such as the Montana Institute on 

Ecosystems and by the Montana Water Center to transfer research products to end users, and to 

provide science-based solutions to the challenges faced by water managers in the state of Montana. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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WY - 17-EPSCoRProp-0016

Igniting a New Era of Planet Discovery with FHiRE: A Precision Spectrograph at 

the WIRO Telescope

SMD

Director: Shawna McBride

Sc-I: Hannah Jang-Condell

Nearly 3,500 planets are now confirmed in close to 3000 other planetary systems. For the vast majority 

of these systems only a single planet is known, and only a tiny minority have accurately measured 

masses. Astrophysical research teams formerly satisfied with exoplanet discovery are now beginning to 

ask deeper questions about planetary system architecture. Is our solar system structure typical? What 

processes shape the formation and evolution of planetary systems? These questions can be answered 

by measuring orbits and masses for multiple planets in many systems. The University of Wyoming's 2.3-

meter WIRO (Wyoming Infrared Observatory) telescope is ideally suited to acquire the long-term, highcadence observations that will be required to make progress in this frontier area of astrophysics. The 

field of exoplanet discovery is poised to grow rapidly, so much so that NASA has begun funding 

spectrographs at ground-based observatories, and JWST and WFIRST will spend much of their missions 

characterizing planets.

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission will launch in 2018 and discover at least 5000 

nearby small exoplanet candidates around bright stars during its 2-year mission. Since TESS will only 

carry out photometry to detect brightness variations during a planet transit in front of a host star, a 

great deal of ground-based work will be needed to eliminate false positives and measure the masses of 

bona fide planets. Specifically, planet masses will be measured using high-resolution spectroscopy by 

detecting radial velocity (RV) signatures, or the Doppler â€œwobbleâ€• of the host star as it is pulled by 

its orbiting planet. NASA estimates that several hundred candidates will require intensive spectroscopic 

observations. Knowing exoplanet masses is necessary before astronomers, collaborating with geologists, 

atmospheric scientists, and exobiologists, can infer their densities, chemical compositions, and

atmospheres. This is truly an interdisciplinary field, offering UWyo astronomers a golden opportunity to 

create collaborations with these other scientists both within UWyo and externally. We propose to build 

and install a new echelle spectrograph, the Fiber High Resolution Echelle spectrograph (FHiRE), at WIRO 

which stands to play a major role in the coming decades of planet spectroscopy. 

Funding from this EPSCOR proposal would enable us to transform a basic echelle spectrograph having a 

velocity precision of about 100 m/s into a planet-hunting powerhouse with the 1 m/s precision required 

to detect Jupiter or Saturn analogs around Sun-like stars, or an Earth-mass planet in a 10-day orbit 

around a low-mass star. The key to achieving this high precision is the construction of a vacuum 

chamber for FHiRE to stabilize the spectrograph with a temperature-stabilized Thorium-Argon lamp for 

precise velocity calibration. Addition of a next-generation octagonal optical fiber will also help achieve 

this benchmark. With these upgrades, we can achieve 1 m/s RV precision, enabling us to find Solar 

System analogs and embark on a decades-long research program in support of NASA satellite missions. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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The technologies involved are well-understood and in use currently on other planet-hunting 

spectrographs such as the European HARPS. 

During the three-year grant period, our team will complete the FHiRE instrument, commission it, write 

the necessary data reduction software, and embark on a long-term exoplanet survey in collaboration 

with NASA centers and the TESS Follow-up Observing Program (TFOP). Specifically, we will join the 

Recon Spectroscopy and Precise Radial Velocity Work sub-groups. By working with the TFOP teams, we 

will coordinate our efforts with the TESS Science Team and other groups around the world. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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NV - 17-EPSCoRProp-0024

Life in Salts: a Multidisciplinary Investigation of Microorganisms and 

Biosignatures in the Death Valley Salt Pan

SMD

Director: Lynn Fenstermaker

Sc-I: Henry J Sun

Recent data from Mars indicate seasonal flows of brine in hillslopes (i.e., recurring slope lineae), raising 

the possibility of extant life in the shallow subsurface. Questions postulated include the following: Could 

the concentration of salts, notably calcium perchlorate, be too high even for halophilic bacteria because 

of their chaotropic (toxic) properties? How do we find the most promising sites? What does an 

evaporite/salts-inhabiting microbial community look like? Would such biology leave mineral as well as 

organic biosignatures that could be detected by the instruments on current and proposed missions? This 

proposed project will characterize a high fidelity terrestrial analog in which these questions could be 

addressed. Specifically, we propose to characterize a recently discovered, layered, endo-evaporitic 

microbial community in the Badwater Basin (Death Valley) and its environment. 

Objectives are to (1) identify the microorganisms and redox energy in the different layers; (2) determine 

their tolerance for Mars-relevant major cations and ions, including Ca and perchlorate; (3) study 

formation of the biogenic mineral rosickyite (gamma sulfur) and S isotopic fractionations associated with 

the sulfur biogeochemical cycle and look for other biogenic minerals; (4) develop a thermal-hydrological 

model for salinity in evaporite as a function of precipitation and evaporation; (5) test NASA lifedetection instruments, including SHERLOC, a spectrometer for Mars 2020; and (6) engage Nevada school 

teachers so they can inspire their students to pursue careers in STEM disciplines. 

The proposed project is interdisciplinary o including molecular, physiological, geochemical, and 

hydrological components. Astrobiologists at the Ames Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory as 

well as planetary mission participants from other institutions will be engaged via two mechanisms: (1) 

the three students will be co-mentored by a NASA collaborator, including a visit to the collaborator’s 

laboratory to perform experiments using mission-relevant technologies and (2) these technologies will 

be tested in year three during the field campaign. These substantive collaborations between Nevada’s 

three research institutions and NASA centers will provide the basis for subsequent joint proposal 

submissions to a variety of programs at NASA and NSF. This proposed project addresses a stated 

strategic goal of NASA: to search for life on Mars, and a major goal of the Nevada Governor’s economic 

plan: workforce development and teacher training, especially in STEM disciplines.
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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LA - 17-EPSCoRProp-0029

Production of Fuels and Other Life Support Products Using Wastewaters as a 

Feed into a Space-Based Biochemical Conversion System (BIOSYS)

STMD

Director: Gregory Guzik

Sc-I: Mark Zappi

Human exploration activities on celestial bodies, such as the Moon and Mars, will produce human life 

support-derived wastes and consume fuel, water, and oxygen. Key waste streams to be expected 

include (1) Black Water (toilet-derived); (2) Food Wastes (kitchen-derived); and, (3) Grey Water (aka. 

hygiene water). Further, water and oxygen will both need to be conserved and recycled. Therefore, to 

sustain human life during extended off-Earth excursions, recovery of the carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen 

along with the microchemicals making up the food, water, and air provided to the astronauts is needed 

to reduce the frequency of expensive makeup deliveries of these life support products. The technology 

used to recover resources must operate using compact, low weight designs; utilize minimal energy and 

oxygen footprints; be simple to operate with low maintenance; and, recover a high percentage of the 

life support resource chemicals that can placed back into beneficial use. The ideal system should also be 

flexible and contain built-in failsafe mechanisms that can adjust as unplanned events occur; yet, 

maintain operational capacity.

The proposed Biochemical Conversion System (BIOSYS) will effectively treat all human activity-derived 

waste (black water, grey water, and food waste streams) while producing beneficial by-products: fuels, 

recycled potable water, oxygen, protein cake, and machinery lube oils. The BIOSYS concept is based on a 

series of successful projects performed by the Project Team over the past 15 years that focused on 

converting wastewater into value-added products. The key development goals for the BIOSYS project 

are (a) be energy and oxygen use neutral; (b) have a compact process footprint and low payload weight; 

(c) be capable of treating water and air to reusable qualities; and, (d) be capable of producing coproducts that can also be used for life support.

The primary BIOSYS concept design utilizes a series of treatment steps to convert wastewater 

constituents and cabin CO2 into recovered beneficial life support products. The design is composed of 

both anaerobic and aerobic bioreactor units; lipids extraction; a microalgae reactor; and an adsorption 

polishing step. This design results in the treatment of the contaminants in the water to essentially zero 

concentrations. Several products will be produced as system outputs: (1) Hydrogen - fuel for fuel cells; 

(2) Methane - also as fuel for fuel cells or potentially fed into the aerobic bioreactor for producing more 

protein and/or lipids; (3) Recovered O2 - recycled back into the cabin environment; (4) Lipids -

Production of “green” lube oils or used as a nutraceutical; (5) Protein Cake (with or without lipids) - a 

food source; (6) Soil Amendments - fertilizer; and, (7) Recovered Water - recycled as potable water. One

challenge could be oxygenating the aerobic unit which causes an oxygen sink that may be too costly. 

Hence, to reduce energy/oxygen use, a design option which eliminates the aerobic stage and replaces it 

with a passive solids separator will be considered.
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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The research plan involves evaluation of each unit operation performance via small reactor systems 

operated using a wide variation of feed rates and composition to test normal and stressed performance. 

Optimized individual units will be integrated into a bench system that will, in turn, be evaluated for its 

operational performance under stress. Mass and energy balances across the entire system and in 

between each unit operation will be used to optimize the performance of the bench system. A pilot 

system will be constructed based on the work done in the bench phase and its performance will be 

evaluated. Payloads and systems operation protocols will be evaluated and included as part of a 

comprehensive design evaluation. Publications including reports, peer-reviewed papers, and 

presentations will be key products along with outreach to recruit future STEM majors interested in 

space exploration. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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LA - 17-EPSCoRProp-0030

Understanding and Quantifying Carbon Export to Coastal Oceans through 

Deltaic Systems

SMD

Director: T. Gregory Guzik

Sc-I: Zuo Xue

This project focuses on critical carbon processes at the interface of human-natural ecosystems, 

addresses the transport of carbon through the land-sea interface, and supports the NASA major 

strategic goal to advance understanding of Earth. Lateral export of carbon from delta-dominated 

systems to the coastal ocean is still largely unknown. This carbon export driven by river discharge is 

considered in global carbon budgets a â€œleakageâ€• from the biosphere-atmosphere interaction that 

eventually ends buried in marine sediments and stored over long timescales. We propose to investigate 

two contrasting coastal sites across one of the world’s most dynamic systems o the Mississippi River 

Delta plain - to evaluate carbon cycle at different stages of delta evolution: 1) the Barataria Bay region 

where the coastline is experiencing significant subsidence and land loss, and 2) the Wax Lake Delta 

region where a fast prograding delta is expanding. These two sites are analogues of contrasting 

response to climate change, sea-level rise, and human activity. Understanding these two contrasting 

environment is critical to assess the role of delta systems in carbon export to the coastal oceans at a 

global scale.

The objectives of this project are to (1) Quantify different forms of carbon (dissolved vs. particular, 

organic vs. inorganic) and nitrogen fluxes from two deltaic sites to the coastal ocean; (2) Evaluate carbon 

transformation along salinity gradients; (3) Connect delta carbon and nutrient export to the coastal 

ecosystem using a coupled numerical modeling approach; (4) Improve satellite algorithms to couple 

remote sensing information with biogeochemical processes in land and oceanic environments; and (5) 

Use state-of-the-art remote sensing data to evaluate coastal wetland (above ground) biomass and 

carbon storage. We plan to achieve these objectives by combining remote sensing, oceanography, 

carbon cycling, and biogeochemistry to understand key biogeochemical processes regulating water and 

carbon cycling in subtropical deltaic/coastal systems and to project water and carbon cycle’s response to 

climate change.

The work will leverage and bolster existing NASA investments in observations and modeling of physical 

and biogeochemical ocean processes. In particular, we address Earth Science objectives 3 

(â€œDetecting and predicting changes in Earth’s ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, including land 

cover, biodiversity, and the global carbon cycleâ€•) and 4 (â€œEnabling better assessment and 

management of water quality and quantity to accurately predict how the global water cycle evolves in 

response to climate changeâ€•) under the NASA Strategic Goal to â€œAdvance understanding of 

Earthâ€• as identified in the NASA 2014 Science Plan. This work is also aligned with the area of interests 

of several NASA centers including the Goddard Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Project outcomes will contribute to the development of systematic approaches for exploiting next-
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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generation remote sensing missions with higher spatial, temporal, and waveband resolution. The project 

will forge collaborative partnerships between Louisiana State University, the â€œflagshipâ€• university 

of Louisiana, and Southern University - Baton Rouge, lead institution for the largest Historically Black 

Colleges and Universities (HBCU) system in the nation. This project emphasizes students and faculty 

exchange, benefit teaching and research effectiveness, promotes diversity, and enhances scientific and 

technological understanding on the United States coast that is most vulnerable to the changing climate. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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NE - 17-EPSCoRProp-0034

MORS: Modular Robotic Suit as an Exercise System for Maintenance of Muscle 

Strength of Astronauts during Long-Term Space Missions

HEOMD, STMD

Director: Scott Tarry

Sc-I: Jose Baca

The project described in this proposal targets the Human Health Countermeasures element, particularly, 

the Risk of Impaired Performance Due to Reduced Muscle Mass, Strength & Endurance. It targets gap 

M9: Identify and validate exploration countermeasure hardware for the maintenance of muscle 

function, and gap M7: Develop the most efficient and effective exercise program for the maintenance of 

muscle function. The Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) and Space Technology Mission 

directorates’ goals and the Human Research Program’s (HRP’s) goals closely align with the objectives of 

this project, i.e., Research and Technology Development to Support Crew Health and Performance in 

Space Exploration Missions. The HRP is dedicated to discovering the best methods and technologies to 

support safe and productive space travel. HRP’s goal is to provide human health and performance 

countermeasures, knowledge, technologies, and tools to enable safe, reliable, and productive human 

space exploration. The desired center will be JSC within the Human Adaptation and Countermeasures

Division headed by Dr. Bloomberg.
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

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KS - 17-EPSCoRProp-0037

Efficient and Compact Thermal and Water Management Systems using Novel 

Capillary Structure for Space Technology

HEOMD

Director: Leonard Miller

Sc-I: Gisuk Hwang

NASA requires next-generation spacecraft technologies, including efficient and compact thermal and 

water management systems, to extend human presence in space. NASA has employed liquid-vapor, 

phase-change-based thermal and water management systems, but limited performance per surface area

(i.e., low heat flux) requires bulky systems and additional control systems. This results in complex and 

expensive spacecraft, CubeSat, spacesuit, and habitat designs. Improving evaporator and condenser 

performance using capillary forces would create lightweight thermal and water management systems 

that would function in space. Similar scientific and engineering challenges occur in sustainable energy, 

environmental, and industrial systems on Earth, including efficient electricity production, water boilers,

water desalination, smart buildings, electronics packing, and food production. To solve these compelling 

research problems and address societal needs, research infrastructure will be established by five 

Assistant Professors with joint expertise at three Kansas (KS) research Universities [Wichita State 

University (WSU), Kansas State University (KSU), and University of Kansas (KU)], along partners at two 

NASA centers [Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), Glenn Research Center (GRC)], two KS industries (WireCo, and 

Cargill, Inc.), and education centers (Cosmosphere, a NASA science museum in KS, and outreach centers 

at WSU/KSU/KU). This new research infrastructure in KS will stimulate research activities and empower 

a future Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) workforce to solve research challenges 

for NASA over the next 30 years.

The proposed research will develop innovative evaporators and condensers using bimodal wick 

structures that enable (a) very high heat flux removal (1 kW/cm2) with extremely low thermal 

resistances (0.01 K/[W/cm2]) at large scales (>100 cm2), and (b) waste water recycling and humidity 

control. These research objectives directly address NASA’s technological needs, including Heat Pipe 

Capillary-Based Loops (TA 14.2.2.5), Two-Phase Pumped Loop System Develop (TA 14.2.3.2), Micro- and 

Nano-Scale Heat Transfer Surface (TA 14.2.2.10), and Water Recovery and Management (TA 6.1.2), and 

Habitation (TA 6.1.4). Enhanced performance will reduce the weight and size of thermal and water 

management systems for successful future NASA missions and sustainable economic growth in KS.

Innovative evaporator and condenser designs require the combination of expertise in thermofluid 

sciences, advanced manufacturing, and image-based diagnostics. The proposed approach includes 

bimodal wicks to sustain liquid films for evaporation and remove condensed liquid in condensation. 

Bimodal wicks include micro-scale particles combined into larger, millimeter-scale structures for 

capillary wicking in space and on Earth. This work is enabled by laser-based, additive manufacturing to 

quickly prototype bimodal wicks, and X-ray-microtomography-based, 3D nondestructive analysis 

methods to characterize pores. The team will work together to fundamentally understand and create 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 16

wicking structures with superior thermal performance that can be economically manufactured in space 

or on Earth. This work will train five graduate and five undergraduate students in an inter-university 

partnership combining experimental and theoretical approaches. The team has experience recruiting 

underrepresented students and will continue their successful strategies. The proposed education 

program will highlight this NASA research to hundreds of undergraduate students through coursework 

and several NASA student summer internships. Outreach programs in thermal science, manufacturing, 

and image-based diagnostics will be implemented in summer camps at the Cosmosphere and all three 

universities. The combination of research-based outreach and educational programs will create a 

pipeline to ensure a strong KS STEM workforce. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 17

NH - 17-EPSCoRProp-0041

Application of antifreeze proteins and mimetic peptides in anti-icing surface 

coating

ARMD, STMD

Director: Antoinette Galvin

Sc-I: Krisztina Varga

Uncontrolled icing of surfaces can cause catastrophic impacts on ground and air transportation, utility 

networks, and communication transmissions throughout civilian and military sectors. The proposed 

project aims to achieve more profound understanding and control of the icing process via development 

of new protein-conjugated hybrid materials. The proposed research is highly multidisciplinary and will 

benefit from the synergy of investigators. Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are ice-binding proteins produced 

in certain fish, insects, bacteria, and plants that live in cold climates and contribute to their freeze 

resistance. AFPs irreversibly bind to the surface of ice crystals preventing their growth and inhibiting ice 

recrystallization during temperature fluctuations (i.e. restructuring of small crystals into large lattices). 

AFPs have the unique property of depressing the freezing point of water without significantly altering 

the melting point, known as thermal hysteresis. AFPs retain their function when conjugated to polymers 

or surfaces, and we hypothesize that the incorporation of AFPs and antifreeze peptides onto a solid 

matrix (glass or polymer) will enhance antifreeze activity and protein stability. The results of this study 

will contribute to a better fundamental understanding of ice-binding and ice-growth inhibition by hybrid 

materials and lead to the future rational design of new cryo-functional materials.

The multidisciplinary team is uniquely qualified to carry out the proposed research due to their expertise 

in structural biology, biochemistry, polymer and peptide synthesis, surface chemistry, spectroscopy, 

microscopy, as well as their long research interest in studying the freezing process, ice nucleation, 

antifreeze activity, and the interaction of water with small molecules or macromolecules. AFPs will be 

produced using molecular biology techniques while short peptides and functionalized polymers will be 

synthesized by reaction engineering techniques. AFP and polymer structure will be characterized by 

NMR spectroscopy. Functionalized tailor-made polymers with multiple copies of grafted AFPs and 

peptides will be characterized by differential scanning calorimetry for thermal hysteresis activity of AFPpolymer conjugates and the interaction of water with AFPs. The antifreeze properties of the same AFPs 

and peptides anchored to glass and metal surfaces will also be measured and contrasted to their 

performance un-anchored in solution. Low temperature microscopy, ice nucleation studies, and ice 

adhesion measurements to the hybrid AFP or peptide conjugates will be measured in the Ice Adhesion 

Facility at CRREL, allowing us to gain insight into field performance of these AFP based hybrid materials 

both in space and terrestrial applications. We propose to characterize two AFPs (e.g. desert beetle and a 

plant), which most likely act by a different mechanism, which we anticipate will lead to a better 

fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanism of antifreeze activity.

The proposed research is well in line with the missions of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission 

Directorate (ARMD), the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), Human Exploration and 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 18

Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD), and the Glenn Research Center (GRC). The project will make 

significant and direct contributions to the development of anti-icing technology with applicability in 

ground transportation and aviation, planetary exploration, and maintenance of instrumentation on the 

space station. Broader potential applications of AFPs include cryoprotection for improving the quality of 

freeze-dried (or frozen) foods, medications, biological materials (e.g. blood), and low temperature 

preservation of humans during long space travels. Microscopic and higher organisms genetically 

engineered with AFPs become cold resistant, which would optimize their survival in harsh conditions 

(e.g. ice caps of Mars) if humans were to colonize another planet. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 19

VT - 17-EPSCoRProp-0042

Critical Gas-Surface Interaction Problems for Atmospheric Entry

HEOMD, STMD

Director: Darren Hitt

Sc-I: Jason Meyers

The scale of current planetary exploration missions is limited by existing Entry, Descent and Landing 

(EDL) technology to payloads on the order of the recent Mars Science Laboratory Rover. Future efforts 

require that new EDL systems, such as inflatable decelerators, be developed now so that the technology 

will be mature in time for implementation on planned missions. However, all current and proposed EDL 

systems are inherently limited by a lack of knowledge of fundamental gas-surface interactions. Many 

surface reaction rates driven by hot plasma gases remain largely uncertain, owing to the difficulty of 

measuring such rates in ground test facilities at conditions that are relevant to the flight environment. 

The 30 kW Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Torch Facility at UVM is designed to allow such 

measurements. Using laser-spectroscopic measurement techniques, the facility has produced 

quantified reaction rates for a number of critical reactions. We propose to study oxygen and nitrogen 

recombination on such surfaces in Mars atmosphere plasma tests. This activity will address the 

apparent “super-catalytic” behavior of surfaces by isolating and quantifying the different surface 

reaction mechanisms at such conditions. A second experimental effort will assess nitrogen 

recombination on common heat shield materials, including PICA char and Fiber-form. The experimental 

results will then be integrated into a finite rate, surface chemistry kinetics framework within the existing 

UVM NGA/ARTS code. This numerical effort also will be used to study gas-surface interaction chemistry 

with multiple, competing reactions paths and to explore surface energy accommodation.
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 20

SD - 17-EPSCoRProp-0045

Wireless Body Area Network in Space: Development of Wireless Health 

Monitoring System with Flexible and Wearable Sensors

HEOMD, STMD

Director: Edward Duke

Sc-I: Yanxiao Zhao

The goal of this project is to develop a wireless body area network combined with flexible and wearable 

sensors that will comprise a health monitoring system for spacesuits. The project is directly related to 

priorities in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and the Space Technology 

Mission Directorate of NASA. To address our goal, we have assembled a multi-institution and 

multidisciplinary research team from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T), South 

Dakota State University (SDSU), and University of South Dakota (USD), along with collaborators at four 

NASA research centers (Johnson Space Center, Glenn Research Center, Ames Research Center, and 

Langley Research Center) and three industry partners (ILC Dover, L3 Communication Systems-West, and 

Nanopareil LLC). This collaboration is well positioned to address the grand challenges in technology and 

science of wireless communication, sensor development, nanomaterials, and occupational health for a 

next-generation health monitoring system relevant to NASA missions. 

This project proposes an integrated research plan to (1) design and implement a robust, efficient, and 

secure wireless body area network of sensors for collection and transmission of real-time and multidimensional physiological data of human bodies; (2) develop prototype wireless sensor nodes of 

wearable biomedical and strain sensors that are lightweight, conformable, ï¬‚exible, and stretchable; (3) 

integrate innovative wearable sensor nodes into the wireless body area network and evaluate the 

performance of network; and (4) build new research infrastructure and capability for wireless sensing 

systems and ï¬‚exible sensor development in South Dakota. In addition to the research goals, the other 

objectives of the project are (1) to provide high-quality research and education for K-12, undergraduate 

and graduate students; (2) to strengthen the science, engineering and healthcare programs at SDSM&T, 

SDSU and USD; (3) to foster close partnership with NASA research centers, industry, and academia; and 

(4) to initiate new technology commercialization and promote economic development in South Dakota.

The outcome of the project will enable a wireless network system for real-time and multi-dimensional 

monitoring of the physiological parameters of the human body, which will provide key technologies for 

evaluation of health impacts of the space environment on astronauts. Additionally, this project will 

contribute significantly to the research and education infrastructure of South Dakota, further strengthen 

the relationship with NASA by creating recruitment opportunities for NASA research centers, and 

promote economic development in the state. These outcomes are directly relevant to NASA's 

Technology Roadmap area TA 6: Human Health, Life Support and Habitation Systems; as well as other 

areas including TA 4: Robotics and Autonomous Systems; TA: 8 Science Instruments, Observatories, and 

Sensor Systems; and TA: 12 Materials, Structures, Mechanical Systems, and Manufacturing. This project 

is also directly related to research foci of the "2020 Vision: The South Dakota Science and Innovation 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 21

Strategy" in Human Health and Nutrition, Materials and Advanced Manufacturing, and Information 

Technology and Cyber Security. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 22

OK - 17-EPSCoRProp-0048

Space-borne Antennas & Circuits for Condensed Radars and STEM (SPACERS)

SMD, HEOMD

Director: Andrew Arena

Sc-I: Hjalti H Sigmarsson

The University of Oklahoma (OU) team’s partners at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) are 

currently designing EcoSAR, a new polarimetric, interferrometric, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system 

that will provide unprecedented two- and three-dimensional fine scale measurements of terrestrial 

ecosystem structure and biomass. The design of this radar was conceived in approximately 2010, with a 

vision that a terrestrial radar would be developed first, which would pave the way for the design of a 

space-borne radar in the future. A recent partnership between members of the OU team and GSFC 

resulted in the development of advanced digital radar techniques for EcoSAR. These techniques have 

enabled a new class of radar operations that improved science, enhanced system performance, 

facilitated a path for space-borne implementation, and pushed technology beyond the current state-ofthe-art, while keeping the costs low.

The goal of the proposed effort is to combine the recently developed digital radar techniques with new 

and innovative, adaptive radar hardware to help NASA move towards space-borne applications of new 

radar systems like EcoSAR. This will be achieved by splitting the effort into five tasks: 1) Transmit/receive 

module development. The transition from terrestrial to space-borne necessitates higher transmitter 

power levels, which will result in signal degradation due to non-linear behavior of the electronics as well 

as increased power consumption. These issues will be addressed by designing a new high-efficiency 

power amplifier with improved linearity from using digital predistortion. 2) Radar fairing design, flight 

experiments, and data collection. NASA’s Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR-2) will 

be used to test engineering ideas and collect high quality radar datasets. In order to achieve that, 

DBSAR-2 needs to be prepared for flight. A fairing will be designed and flight experiments performed. 3) 

Space-borne antenna design. For any antenna to be deployed in space, its size and weight are major 

concerns. A new miniaturized antenna design will be pursued and an adaptive matching network will be 

designed and integrated. The purpose of the matching network is to increase the angular scanning 

capabilities of the radar. Scientifically, this will allow the radar to create imagery at wider angles. 4) 

Waveform optimization. The quality of the waveform used in the SAR algorithms will be analyzed and 

optimized. Mathematical optimization methods will be utilized to determine what kind of waveform is 

best-suited for optimal system performance. 5) Meteorological sciences. In this task, previously 

collected terrestrial data from surface, airborne, and current NASA space-borne remote sensing 

platforms will be analyzed. A key component of the work will serve to bridge the critical design elements 

and engineering requirements of the hardware design with the encompassing needs of the scientific 

community focused on ecosystem dynamics in relation to critical drivers including weather, climate, and 

available water resources.
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 23

The students, who will be under the guidance of the OU team and the NASA mentors, are the common 

link between NASA and university education mission. By training students in the classroom and lab, they 

will learn about new technologies and go on internships at the GSFC. These internships are crucial to the 

success of this effort, as they are one of the primary mechanisms by which knowledge from OU is 

directly transferred to the labs at NASA. This directly supports the NASA 2014 Strategic Plan’s focus on 

the development of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. 

The OU team is diverse, consisting of a mixture of assistant professors and full professors from three 

universities across the state of Oklahoma. World class facilities are available to the team both at the 

Advanced Radar Research Center in Norman, and the Unmanned Systems Research Institute in 

Stillwater. 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 24

SC - 17-EPSCoRProp-0050 

Nanomaterials-based hybrid energy storage devices and systems for space 

applications 

HEOMD, STMD 

Director: Cassandra Runyon 

Sc-I: Apparao M. Rao 

Project Outline: Energy storage systems are critical for all robotic and crewed missions which comprise 

up to ~30% of a spacecraft's mass. Many state-of-the-art (SOA) energy storage systems are limited by 

their low efficiency, heavy components, and a high degree of sensitivity to extreme environments, 

however. Most SOA energy storage technologies need improvement in specific energy, safety, reliability, 

and durability (Hill et al. NASA Technology Roadmaps: Technology Area 3; May 2015). This project will 

address these limitations through the development and integration of nanomaterial-based hybrid 

energy storage devices with energy generation technologies for efficient power management. 

Alignment with NASA and SC EPSCoR priorities: This project is well aligned with the following NASA 

Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) priorities: (1) Space Power and Energy Storage Roadmap, 

Technology Area (TA) 3, (2) Nanotechnology (TA 10), and (3) Thermal Management Systems Roadmap, 

TA 14; and the SC Science and Technology Strategic Plan Vision 2025 (R&D, Education and Outreach, and 

Economic Development). 

Project Objectives: (1) To establish a strong and sustaining research and development program that 

builds upon our existing strengths and collaborations with NASA, specifically in energy storage devices 

for space applications. The project objectives will be achieved through the integration of: (a) multiple 

project elements ranging from materials development to device or component level demonstration 

performed jointly by the team, our NASA and industrial (Cornell Dubilier, Inc.) partners; and (b) 

educational energy programs developed at Clemson and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College 

(OCTech) with hands-on technology transfer through our industrial collaborators (such as Cornell 

Dubilier, Inc.) to promote human resource development within SC. (2) Our most challenging goal entails 

sustaining the program beyond EPSCoR support, which we will achieve through the establishment of a 

NASA funded energy center between the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute, the Clemson University 

International Center for Automotive Research, and the OCTech robotics and automated manufacturing 

division. 

Method of Approach: The fundamental limitation of today's batteries is the lack of lightweight 

recyclable electrode materials that can store and rapidly deliver high amounts of charge safely for at 

least a thousand cycles without degradation. We will addresses these challenges through the 

development of: 1) high-capacity nanostructured cathodes (e.g., NMC) and anodes (e.g., Si) for Li-ion 

batteries, 2) engineered current collector-active material interfaces (CCAMI), 3) boron nitride-based 

thermal management nanomaterials to prevent localized hot spots and evenly distribute the heat within 

a battery pack, and 4) battery thermal management systems for real-time monitoring, estimation and 
 2018 EPSCOR RESEARCH PROPOSAL ABSTRACTS 

page 25

control, with the ultimate goal to significantly downsize the battery pack while ensuring the same 

performance and safety. 

Expected Outcomes: This project will establish a self-sustaining research cluster on energy and power 

storage for applications relevant to NASA and other federal agencies. We will leverage our existing 

partnerships with NASA scientists, local industrial partners, and national lab collaborations (Oak Ridge 

and Savanna River) for sustaining this program through a federally funded research center. We expect 

that this project will lead to blueprints for batteries with a longer lifecycle and higher energy and power 

density. Importantly, this project will improve both cathodes and anodes to achieve safer and highenergy density Li-ion batteries. Nanomaterials-based novel thermal management systems for battery 

packs will be developed with enhanced capability to monitor and optimize battery pack usage. Lastly, 

this project will establish new energy certification programs to train underrepresented minorities and 

promote a 21st century energy workforce.