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2021 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts

Contents

21-ISS 2021-0002.....................................................................................................................................................1

Enhanced Active Tissue Equivalent Dosimeter (eATED) for Space Crew Dosimetry...............................................1

21-ISS 2021-0007.....................................................................................................................................................2

Microgravity Demonstration of a Novel In-Space Food Production System...........................................................2

21-ISS 2021-0009.....................................................................................................................................................3

Reliability evaluation of the integrated photonic receiver subsystems with all-optical signal processors ............3

21-ISS 2021-0011.....................................................................................................................................................4

NASA EPSCoR ISS: Microgravity Experiment to measure the Speed of Sound inside simulated Asteroid Regolith 

in the ISS environment (MESSAR)..........................................................................................................................4

21-ISS 2021-0014.....................................................................................................................................................6

KRUPS: ISS Flight for Instrument Testing.................................................................................................................6

21-ISS 2021-0015.....................................................................................................................................................7

Properties and Performance of Solder Joints Produced in Reduced-Gravity Environments: ISS Flight 

Opportunity ...........................................................................................................................................................7

21-ISS 2021-0002

Enhanced Active Tissue Equivalent Dosimeter (eATED) for Space Crew Dosimetry

Dr. Andrew Arena

Oklahoma State University

The Radiation Physics Laboratory at Oklahoma State University proposes to develop and demonstrate an 

enhanced version of the Active Tissue Equivalent Dosimeter (ATED) previously flown aboard the ISS in 2018 

under NASA EPSCoR grant NNX6AD50A, ""Demonstration of the OSU Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter 

for Space Crew Dosimetry aboard the International Space Station."" Although this previous flight experiment 

met most of the objectives listed in our 2016 proposal, the length of the experiment, originally planned for 6 

months, was significantly reduced due to damage to the instrument following deployment on ISS. The 2018 

flight of the ATED led to a number of lessons learned that will be addressed in the enhanced Active Tissue 

Equivalent Dosimeter (eATED) proposed herein. More significantly, the eATED will possess a new, unique 

capability not available in previous space radiation dosimetry instrumentation--the ability to discriminate 

between measurements produced by charged particles (energetic protons, alpha particles and heavy ions) and 

secondary neutrons. 

Charged particle/neutron discrimination is a unique capability not available in any tissue equivalent dosimeter 

that has previously operated aboard manned spacecraft like the ISS. This capability will permit validation of 
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2021 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts

radiation transport models, as well as providing a better understanding of the relative contributions of 

different particle types to the absorbed dose and biologically weighted dose equivalent received by crew 

members during space flight. Finally, it will permit assessment of the contributions from secondary neutrons to 

crew radiation exposure as a function of different space weather conditions, e.g. solar particle events or 

geomagnetic storms.

 

21-ISS 2021-0007

Microgravity Demonstration of a Novel In-Space Food Production System

Dr. Angela Des Jardins

Montana Space Grant Consortium

The overarching goal of this project is to demonstrate the use of a novel bioreactor technology for growing 

high-protein food on the International Space Station (ISS). The bioreactor technology has been demonstrated 

on Earth to efficiently convert mission-relevant feedstocks, like plant, human and food waste, into thick (> 6 

mm) high-protein, edible, fungal biomats. A flight experiment is now needed to demonstrate bioreactor 

efficacy under low-Earth orbit conditions, and thus evaluate the effects of both micro-gravity and space 

radiation on bioreactor performance. The bioreactor is relatively simple, does not require energy during 

fermentation (other than possibly temperature control), requires little water, and rapidly grows dense, easily 

harvested, consolidated biomats for food with little to no remaining waste. The technology capitalizes on the 

unique growth characteristics of an extremophilic, filamentous fungus isolated from a geothermal spring in 

Yellowstone National Park, named strain MK7. Strain MK7 is an FDA Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) food 

ingredient and is now available to the US public as a breakfast sausage, with the product line expected to 

significantly expand by the end of the year.

The bioreactor technology was developed by Sustainable Bioproducts LLC (SBP), Montana State University 

(MSU) and BioServe Space Technologies during a NASA supported collaborative research project titled A 

Robust Biofilm-Biomat Reactor for Conversion of Mission Relevant Feedstocks to Products (NASA STTR Phase 

I and II Award # 80NSSC20C0031). The Aim of the ongoing NASA STTR-supported research is the advancement 

and scale-up of the proprietary bioreactor technology so that it can be used in space for food production. The 

bioreactor is currently at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5, with the prototype bioreactor successfully 

demonstrated on Earth. 

The flight study will require no crew involvement other than installation and removal of a Plate Habitat (PHAB) 

into an ISS incubator. PHABs are robust, flight-proven containers used for performing spaceflight biology 

experiments with more than 100 individual PHABs successfully flown. The PHAB technology will serve as a safe 

secondary containment box for housing the MK7 fungal bioreactors. The final hardware validation and safety 

evaluation steps are anticipated to be completed, with the system ready to fly, in less than one year. The 

mission approach is to preload the bioreactor with inoculum and nutrient medium, seal the bioreactor within a 

PHAB, freeze the PHAB at -20 �C to place culture in stasis, and handover the payload to NASA for transport to 

the ISS in a frozen state. The PHAB can be stored frozen onboard the ISS for up to one month before initiation 

of the experiment to allow for maximum operations flexibility. To initiate the experiment, the PHAB will simply 
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2021 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts

be placed in a Space Automated Bioproduct Lab (SABL) incubator and incubated at + 27 �C for five days. After 

incubation and growth, the PHAB will be refrozen and stored in a freezer until the eventual return to Earth in a 

frozen stable state. Retrieved biomat samples will be evaluated by MSU students, staff and faculty, and by SBP 

scientists. Parameters to be evaluated include those most relevant to food, such as, nutrient and metabolite 

composition, biomat macro- and micro-structure, and textural analysis. The requested EPSCoR funds will 

support collaborative research among academia and industry in Montana, and would foster procurement of 

additional grant funds to advance this promising novel technology for space.

21-ISS 2021-0009

Reliability evaluation of the integrated photonic receiver subsystems with all-optical signal 

processors

Prof. William Matthaeus

University of Delaware

While the radiation environment in low-Earth orbit, e.g. aboard the International Space Station (ISS), has been 

studied in great detail, a similar level of detail is lacking regarding the ionizing radiation environment in the 

Earths atmosphere. To put it bluntly, we know far more about the radiation environment 400 km above our 

heads than at 40 km above our heads. Suborbital flight provides an opportunity to measure the steady state 

atmospheric ionizing radiation environment (SSAIRE) between 20 and 120 km, thereby providing important 

information regarding the SSAIRE that have seldom been addressed in the past. Such measurements will allow 

us to validate computer models of the SSAIRE and will provide important information regarding the impact of 

the SSAIRE on thehealth of high altitude aircrew and passengers and on possible effects of the SSAIRE on 

radiation sensitivity avionics. In addition, suborbital tourism is on the cusp of becoming a reality and 

passengers on flights to the highest altitudes in our atmosphere will naturally be concerned about their 

radiation exposure during such flights. Measurements made aboard suborbital flights can directly address and 

alleviate their concerns regarding radiation exposure in the upper atmosphere. We propose to demonstrate a 

version of the Active Tissue Equivalent Dosimeter (ATED) designed specifically for measuring ionizing radiation 

exposure in the atmosphere aboard a Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital flight. ATED is a tissue 

equivalentproportional counter (TEPC) developed by the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Radiation Physics 

Laboratory (RPL) under a 2007 NASA EPSCoR grant NNX07AT66A, Tissue Equivalent Detectors for Space Crew 

Dosimetry and Characterization of the Space Radiation Environment. ATED previously operated aboard the ISS 

in 2018 under NASA EPSCoR grant NNX6AD50A Demonstration of the OSU Tissue Equivalent Proportional 

Counter for Space Crew Dosimetry aboard the International Space Station. Figure 1 shows a representative 

sample of the results obtained during the 2018 ISS ATED experiment. The atmospheric ionizing radiation 

version of ATED, henceforth referred to as AirTED, is designed to be produced in larger numbers so that it may 

be deployed for radiation monitoring purposes aboard multiple commercial, business and military aircraft, as 

well as high altitude UAVs, balloons and suborbital vehicles. For this reason, numerous changes to the design 

have been made in order reduce instrument cost, size and mass, as well as implement a number of lessons 

learned from the ISS flight. In addition to the AirTED, we propose to fly a Liulin-b21 Mobile Dosimetry Unit 

(MDU), a compact Si spectrometer produced by the Space Research and Technology Institute, Bulgarian 
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2021 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts

Academy of Sciences (SRTI-BAS). In terms of their sensitivity to ionizing radiation, the Liulin b21 and the AirTED

can be seen as complimentary. The AirTED is sensitive to radiation of LET e1 keV/mm including heavy ions, 

secondary neutrons and lower energy protons. LET or linear energy transfer is the amount of energydeposited 

by a radiation particle per unit path length as it traverses a material (sensitive volume of a detector in this 

case) and is directly proportional to absorbed dose, the principal quantity used in measuring ionizing radiation. 

The Liulin-4 is sensitive to charged particles and energetic x/g-rays with signal between 0.1 to 40 keV/mm, 

including high energy protons, electrons and positrons, charged pions and muons encountered in the upper 

atmosphere. By using both of these compact detectors together, we will be able to measure the total 

absorbed dose and other biologically-weighted dosimetric quantities over the whole of the LET spectral range 

relevant to radiation protection of passengers and crew in the upper atmosphere.

21-ISS 2021-0011

NASA EPSCoR ISS: Microgravity Experiment to measure the Speed of Sound inside simulated 

Asteroid Regolith in the ISS environment (MESSAR)

Dr. Gerardo Morrello

University of Puerto Rico

Many of the small asteroids in the Near-Earth space (so-called Near-Earth Asteroids or NEAs) are known to be 

rubble piles, i.e. composed of a granular material. The understanding of the strength and dynamics of these 

rubble piles is strongly linked to unraveling the mysteries of the formation of our Solar System, supporting ongoing NASA missions to small bodies (e.g. OSIRIS-REx, Lucy), as well as evaluating planetary defense options in 

case of an impact threat.

In the proposed project, we aim at understanding how seismic waves travel through these rubble-piles, 

modifying their shapes and surfaces. Impact-induced seismic waves are a surface modification process that is 

particularly important on small asteroids due to their low surface gravity and small volume. Seismic 

disturbances can destabilize loose material resting on slopes, causing downhill flows; generate crater 

degradation and erasure, which impacts surface dating techniques; segregate and sort particles via the Brazil 

Nut Effect; and potentially lift particles off the asteroid surface, generating activity as observed by OSIRIS-REx 

on asteroid Bennu. In addition, seismic waves can modify the shape of small rubble-piles, heightening 

equatorial ridges or generating local peaks.

A key parameter characterizing seismic waves is their travel speed in a given material, the speed of sound. In 

granular materials, this speed of sound has been shown to depend on the grain composition and size, and in 

particular on the force chains developing under a confining pressure. For this reason, the speed of sound also 

depends on the ambient gravity level, which is on the order of 10-5g, g being the acceleration of gravity at the 

surface of the Earth, at the surface of small rubble-pile asteroids. 

Due to the above, it is proposed to develop an experiment on the ISS to characterize the speed of sound in 

high-fidelity simulants reproducing material composing these rubble-pile asteroids, in the relevant gravity 

conditions.
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2021 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts
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2021 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts

21-ISS 2021-0014

KRUPS: ISS Flight for Instrument Testing

Prof. Alexandre Martin

University of Kentucky

"Thermal protection systems (TPS) are required to mitigate the extreme heating encountered during 

hypersonic entry into the Martian, Venusian, and outer planet atmospheres as well as for manned and samplereturn missions into the terrestrial atmosphere. The design of an efficient TPS remains one of the most 

challenging tasks of planetary exploration missions. Over the last 50 years, only a handful of high-speed entry 

experiments have been performed. Not only were these flights part of elaborate and costly exploration 

programs, but the TPS tested were at the final stage of design. In order to reach that stage, extensive ground 

test campaigns had to be performed, using arc-jet and hypersonic tunnel facilities, but none were flight 

proven. There is clearly a need to provide a low-cost test-bed to quickly and reliably evaluate TPS materials, 

test instruments, and provide orbital flight validation data.

The Kentucky Re-entry Universal Payload System (KRUPS) is a small entry capsule designed as a technology 

test-bed, built at the University of Kentucky. For this first incarnation, KRUPS has been designed to test TPS 

material and instrumentation. KRUPS recently completed three sounding rocket sub-orbital flights, aimed at 

testing various sub-systems. Three of these capsules are currently on their way to the ISS, to test them at 

orbital velocities. The overall objective of the proposed project is to take the project one step further by 

reconfiguring the capsule to qualify instruments. More specifically, a spectrometer will be used to monitor the 

composition of the atmosphere around the capsule, during an ISS return.

The proposed project leverages NASA EPSCoR RA investment by 1) using the modeling codes developed 

through these investments to design and size the TPS of the capsule and 2) gathering flight data acquired to 

provide additional validations for these codes. It is also a direct follow-on of an ISS EPSCoR 2018 project."
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2021 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts

21-ISS 2021-0015

Properties and Performance of Solder Joints Produced in Reduced-Gravity Environments: ISS 

Flight Opportunity

Dr. Tomas Gonzales-Torres

Iowa State University - Iowa Space Grant Consortium

"A study combining experiment and modeling is proposed to study how solidification defects (porosity) are 

produced during soldering of electrical contacts under reduced gravity. Soldering is a rapid process in which 

the solder material is molten for only a few seconds, and the molten metal is used to metallurgically bond two 

components together without melting the components themselves. Solder joint porosity is a common but 

undesirable feature naturally arising from the use of fluxes and is more insidious in soldering joints formed 

under low-gravity conditions. Commercial soldering processes require the use of fluxes to suppress oxidation 

and promote wetting, which is necessary for effective solder spreading and joint-gap filling during solder 

reflow. Under typical soldering conditions, rapid reflow temperatures results in flux volatilization and bubble 

formation. Under the presence of gravity, liquid solders tend to mix vigorously during the reflow period due to 

buoyancy-driven natural convection. This is beneficial, as any voids or bubbles that form due evaporated fluxes 

are quickly swept to free surfaces, and are thus removed from the solder joint. In the absence of gravity, fluid 

motion is greatly reduced, driven mainly by solidification volume change, thermally induced density gradients, 

and Marangoni effects. With slower mixing, voids and bubbles are not swept away and become entrapped in

the interior of the solder joint upon solidification. This entrapped porosity dramatically degrades the thermal 

and electrical properties of the solder and severely reduces the mechanical integrity of the joint. Such porosity 

is seen in conventional (Earth gravity) solder joints, but is much more prevalent in solder joints produced 

under reduced-gravity conditions. As a result, any solder joints made under reduced gravity (such as in-orbit 

repair of electronic devices, tubing, and mechanical joints) are at risk of having their electrical or mechanical 

performance characteristics substantially degraded by entrapped porosity, increasing the manifold associated 

risks of subsequent device failures on astronauts and equipment in the unforgiving environment of space.

The present proposed work builds on an existing NASA Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) grant for studying 

solders in terrestrial vs. microgravity environments, and will utilize the MaRVIn test platform to conduct 

controlled soldering experiments on ground vs. onboard the International Space Station (ISS). This study, in 

addition to applying novel materials characterization methods that quantify the negative impacts on the joint 

performance, will extend the earlier efforts to minimize joint defects through rational design of the soldering 

process parameters and through active mitigation techniques using acoustic vibration of the molten solder 

during the soldering process. This is hypothesized to help remove voids and bubbles before they are frozen in 

place as the solder joint cools (in essence, this is the core problem that we seek to solve). To best design and 

test this mitigation technique, we will model the process through simulations that permit us to identify as 

many of the optimal process parameters as we can before we seek to conduct tests under reduced gravity. 

The understanding gained from this work will allow us to develop electronics repair capabilities essential for 

future long-duration human exploration missions in (and beyond) low Earth orbit (ex: Moon, Mars). We will 
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Proposal Abstracts

engage in comprehensive STEM professional development activities that leverage and feed back into the 

technical activities at Iowa State University and contribute to NASA and STEM workforce development.