Federal award (DEFINITIVE CONTRACT, fiscal year 2021)
Recipient: CONNECTICUT ANALYTICAL CORPORATION
Awarding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Funding agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration / National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Period of performance: 2018-04-19 to 2021-12-30
Current total value of award: $749019
Description: E014042 THIS PROPOSAL EVOLVED AS A RESULT OF A CONVERSATION WITH A NASA SCIENTIST REGARDING PLANS FOR A MISSION TO ONE OF SEVERAL ICY MOONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM TO SEEK SIGNS OF LIFE BASED ON OBSERVED WATER PLUME EMISSIONS. IN PREPARATION FOR SUCH A MISSION, SPACECRAFT WILL HAVE TO PASS THROUGH CLOUDS OF ICE PARTICULATES, WHICH WILL POSE CHALLANGES IN ORGANIC SPECIES COLLECTION, AND POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO INSTRUMENTS. ACCORDINGLY, THERE IS A NEED FOR SIMULATING THE PRODUCTION OF HYPER VELOCITY ICE IN THE SIZE RANGE OF 50NM THROUGH 2 MICRONS. THE NASA AMES VERTICAL GUN RANGE WAS DESIGNED TO PROPELL SOLID PROJECTILES FOR STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF METEORITE IMPACTS ON CELESTIAL BODIES AND POTENTIAL MICRO-METEOROID DAMAGE TO SPACECRAFT.  AT THE FAR END OF THE BARREL, A GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION IS USED TO COMPRESS HYDROGEN GAS TO AS MUCH AS 1 MILLION TIMES ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE, FIRING A PROJECTILE PELLET AT SPEEDS BETWEEN 7,000 AND 15,000 MPH . THIS APPROACH IS NOT SUITABLE FOR ICE PARTICLES, SO WE HAVE DEVELOPED A NOVEL ICE GUN USING ELECTROSPRAYS THAT CAN ACHIEVE A HYPER VELOCITY NET RESULT WITHOUT DAMAGE TO THE SAMPLE GRAIN.