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2022 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts 

Contents

22-2022 ISS-0001.....................................................................................................................................................1

Real-Time Assessment of In Orbit Space Vehicles...................................................................................................1

22-2022 ISS-0003.....................................................................................................................................................2

Turbulence decay of a bubble/sediment laden liquid in ISS microgravity...............................................................2

22-2022 ISS-0004.....................................................................................................................................................3

Miniature Robotic Surgery Technology Demonstration During Orbital Spaceflight ...............................................3

22-2022 ISS-0006.....................................................................................................................................................3

Evaluation of Biofilm Resistant Coatings for Spacecraft Water Systems................................................................3

22-2022 ISS-0007.....................................................................................................................................................4

EPSCoR ISS Solar Flare Acceleration Investigation through X-rays (EISSFLAIX).......................................................4

22-2022 ISS-0001

Real-Time Assessment of In Orbit Space Vehicles 

New Mexico State University 

Director/PI: Dr. Paulo Oemig

A significant step in addressing safety of commercial space vehicles is the development and testing the flight 

information recorder or black box . It is envisioned, that structural health monitoring system (SHM) would be 

an integral part of the black box and would record information on structural integrity during all stages of 

spaceflight and provide the real-time assessment. Consideration of SHM data is useful in pre-flight diagnostics, 

in-orbit operation and tuning and in the analysis of structural behavior (or disintegration) during the spacecraft 

reentry. SHM information would also play a prominent role in space vehicle re-certification for the next flight. 

This project builds on a previous experiment on ISS and is aimed to improve our understanding of space 

environment effects on SHM sensors, representative structure and system's damage detection capability by 

collecting structural dynamic information in real time. Rather long exposure to the space environment is 

necessary to infer these effects, which can be achieved by utilizing capabilities of the National Lab on ISS. Our 

previous experiment on MISSE-12 platform was only partially successful as no power was supplied to our 

payload by the platform s operator. Nevertheless, our experimental hardware has demonstrated flawless 

operation during pre-launch and post-flight diagnostic experiments confirming the utility of hardware after 1 

year in orbit. The new experiment proposes to collect real-time diagnostic data and conduct the structural 

dynamic experiment using newly developed miniaturized electro-mechanical impedance hardware not 

available on the previous flight. It is proposed that the vibration response of space structure is measured using 

the electromechanical impedance and the elastic wave propagation methods. It is anticipated that the 

proposed flight opportunity will enable development of methodologies for structural integrity assessment in 
 

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2022 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts 

space and determine diagnostic features for damage evaluation in the space environment. Data collected in 

the proposed experiment would benefit commercial space industry, government entities and academic 

institutions. Principal investigator is a mechanical engineering professor that has experience with payload 

analysis, development, integration and launch (1 stratospheric flight, 2 conducted and 1 underway (NASA FOP) 

suborbital flights and one partly successful ISS 1 year LEO flight. 

 

22-2022 ISS-0003

Turbulence decay of a bubble/sediment laden liquid in ISS microgravity 

University of Delaware 

Director/PI: Dr. William Matthaeus 

Science PI: Dr. Tyler Van Buren 

NASA MD: ISS 

To better understand the fundamentals of turbulence particle interaction, we propose to quantify turbulence 

decay in a microgravity environment, provided by the International Space Station (ISS), using a liquid laden 

with particles that are both more and less dense than the base fluid. 

There are numerous natural phenomena and applications impacted by turbulence particle interaction. On the 

coast, sediment beds and turbulent flow alter optical clarity, affect fauna, and control beach erosion. In the 

ocean, surface air-sea interactions through bubble injections and sea spray ejections play a crucial role in 

controlling synoptic scale meteorology and climatic trends. In the atmosphere, water droplet interaction with 

turbulence leads to droplet coalescence and warm rain precipitation. In space, the wake of comets has 

turbulent flow characteristics in the presence of smaller comets and plasma clouds. Additionally, as we do 

more space exploration we will encounter more fluid transport in low gravity environments. Understanding 

the fundamental characteristics of turbulence particle interactions is vital in advancing our ability to explain 

and predict such phenomena. 

In gravity, particles with relatively large or small density settle or rise in the surrounding liquid, making it hard 

to measure the impact of these particles on the underlying turbulence. Without gravity, we can focus on the 

turbulence-driven particle trajectories leading to an improved understanding of turbulence cascade. Currently, 

micro or no-gravity experiments are limited to numerical simulations or parabolic trajectory flights. The former 

lacks validation data and the latter lacks sufficient time (up to 20 s per parabola) to observe long-term decay 

and reach statistical convergence. We propose an experiment to quantify the decay and statistical 

characteristics. 

The proposed experiment will be launch ready within one year, will be completely automated requiring no 

crew intervention, require less than 75 W of power, and fit inside a traditional 3U CubeSat volume (100 by 100 

by 350 mm). The experiment consists of two liquid-filled cylinders, one having a concentration of dense 

sediment and the other having a concentration of gas bubbles. Flow velocities will be measured with Particle 

Image Velocimetry using a set of miniature high-speed cameras and an LED light sheet for illumination. 
 

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2022 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts 

Turbulence will be created by counter-rotating bladed plates at the ends of the cylinders creating a von K rm n 

flow. Both steady-state and decaying turbulence flow states will be measured. The experiment will be entirely 

automated, minimizing effort from space station personnel. 

Of particular interest are how the particles impact the turbulence decay rate and how energy is transferred 

between turbulence scales. Proper statistical convergence requires multiple trials for each case, making the ISS 

with constant true microgravity an ideal environment for the experiments as compared to parabolic flights. An 

exact replica of the experiment with trials conducted at the University of Delaware will provide an opportunity 

to fully test the facility and provide data in a gravity environment to compliment the ISS experiments. 

22-2022 ISS-0004 

Miniature Robotic Surgery Technology Demonstration During Orbital Spaceflight 

The University of Nebraska at Omaha 

Director/PI: Dr. Scott Tarry 

This proposal outlines a technology demonstration to test robotic surgery in flight on the International Space 

Station (ISS). Interventional surgery will become necessary as humans travel farther and longer in space. These 

experiments will utilize a new miniature surgical robot and robotic endoscope camera that could enable an 

Operating Room in a Shoebox. The surgical robot has been developed with years of NASA support and is now 

part of a startup company that is in an FDA-approved clinical trial for use in terrestrial applications. 

The demonstration will consist of four simulated surgical tasks using a miniature surgical robot aboard the ISS. 

Two tasks require the robot to manipulate and cut simulated tissue of known loads, to determine the impact 

of weightlessness on the forces and torques required. The remaining two tasks will help determine how robot 

precision and dexterity is impacted by zero-gravity. Both capabilities are critical to successful surgical 

outcomes. 

Data collection will be conducted on earth as well as on the ISS using identical equipment. Finally, key metrics 

for each environment will be quantified and compared using the data recorded during each experiment, so the 

impact of zero-gravity can be determined. The system is designed to fit inside an Express Rack Locker and be 

performed autonomously requiring only installation/removal from the flight crew. This demonstration will be 

the culmination of years of NASA sponsored projects including terrestrial testing, Zero-G flight testing, and 

teleoperation between a NASA astronaut at JSC and the University of Nebraska. 

 

22-2022 ISS-0006 

Evaluation of Biofilm Resistant Coatings for Spacecraft Water Systems 

University of Idaho 

Director/PI: Dr. Matthew Bernards 
 

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2022 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts 

Novel biofilm mitigation strategies for incorporation into spacecraft water systems are desired by NASA, to 

prevent the formation of biofilm during long duration exploration missions. One approach for preventing 

biofilms is to eliminate the adhesion of bacteria to surfaces via nonfouling polymers, which have demonstrated 

bacteria resistance in Earth-based investigations. Our hypothesis is nonfouling thin film polymer coatings will 

demonstrate enhanced resistance to bacteria adhesion and biofilm formation for water system components 

under microgravity conditions. This hypothesis will be directly assessed in this ISS investigation for stainless 

steel substrates using Ralstonia pickettii and Burkholderia cepacia bacteria strains. 

Phase one of the project will consist of the design of the experimental payload and it will last nine months. The 

starting point for the payload design is an existing ISS payload, which is currently onboard the ISS. The current 

design will be updated to include increased dimensions and three total bacteria growth chambers. These 

chambers will be used to evaluate bacteria adhesion and biofilm formation for both single and co-culture of 

the two species under investigation in the proposed work. Phase two of the project encompasses the NASA 

Flight Safety Review. This phase includes the completion of all safety paperwork and additional demonstration 

experiments to validate the experimental design. This phase will overlap Phase 1 and is anticipated to take six 

months. The payload is expected to be cleared for flight within the first year of project activities. The final 

Phase of this project is the final payload assembly effort, launch activities, and evaluation of the results upon 

payload return. This phase is critical as it will include the evaluation of the adherent bacteria and biofilms via 

fluorescent staining and confocal microscopy approaches. The final phase is anticipated to take up to one year, 

resulting in an overall project timeline from initiation through final characterization of two years. 

Critical differences between the proposed effort and an ongoing ISS experiment by the PI include the use of 

stainless steel substrates which are applicable to the water recovery system, an improvement to the 

nonfouling chemistry through the incorporation of a novel cross-linker molecule, and the evaluation of two 

bacteria species which have been routinely identified in isolates from the ISS water recovery system. The 

successful demonstration of the bacteria resistance of nonfouling thin film polymer coatings has the potential 

to be a transformative approach for reducing bacteria born disease transmission for both space and 

Earthbased applications. 

 

22-2022 ISS-0007 

EPSCoR ISS Solar Flare Acceleration Investigation through X-rays (EISSFLAIX) 

Montana Space Grant Consortium 

Director/PI: Dr. Angela Des Jardins 

PROPOSAL SUMMARY 

EISSFLAIX Investigation: The EPSCoR ISS Solar Flare Acceleration Investigation through X-rays (EISSFLAIX 

(pronounced ice flakes )) investigation is a transformative mission to reveal intricate morphology of solar flare 

acceleration at high spectral resolution and at unprecedented spatiotemporal scales by deploying a high

cadence, high-sensitivity, dedicated full-sun hard X-ray (HXR) burst detector on International Space Station 
 

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2022 NASA EPSCOR ISS

Proposal Abstracts 

(ISS). Montana State University (MSU) will build and deliver the scientific instrument that will reveal fast 

temporal variations in solar hard X-ray flux over a period of 12-months near the maximum of Solar Cycle 25 at 

an unprecedented cadence revealing fine-scale details of solar particle acceleration during solar flares. The 

instrument operates for 1-year on ISS returning a treasure trove of high time resolution HXR bursts on 

hundreds of solar flares ranging from GOES C- to X-Class. When combined with simultaneous high-resolution 

imaging observations of the solar transition region/upper chromosphere in optical or ultraviolet passbands 

obtained by space- or grounded-based telescopes like (IRIS) and (DKIST) the EISSFLAIX investigation will 

provide crucial information of the spatial structure and magnetic environment of HXR spikes, and lead to 

progress in understanding properties of source regions and acceleration mechanisms of non-thermal 

electrons. EISSFLAIX observations and metadata is to be made available through the Virtual Solar Observatory, 

an element of NASA Open Data Portal. Results will be published in the open scientific literature. 

The investigation contributes to the internationally recognized research infrastructure in solar and space 

physics at Montana State University (MSU) and provide additional experiential training opportunities for 

undergraduate students. High tech activities like these provide economic development within the state of 

Montana, which is evolving from being historically a ranching and resource extraction jurisdiction.