Federal award (DEFINITIVE CONTRACT, fiscal year 2022)
Recipient: LASER & PLASMA TECHNOLOGIES LLC
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: 2018-09-10 to 2024-03-01
Current total value of award: $849298
Description: NASA HAS SUPPORTED SEVERAL INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS FOR EXPLORATION OF MARS OTHER EXTRATERRESTRIAL BODIES.THIS EXEMPLIFIES THE IMPORTANCE OF NEW INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS FOR SUCCESSFUL ADVANCEMENT OF NASA MISSIONS.WITH THIS IN MIND LASER&PLASMA TECHNOLOGIES SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED FEASIBILITY OF INTEGRATING LIBS&RAMAN INSTRUMENTS INTO OPTICAL BASED HYBRID SPECTROSCOPE THAT MEETS NASAS DESIRE FOR TARGETED ELEMENTAL AND COMPOUND DETERMINATION.THROUGH PHASE II EFFORTS THIS UNIQUE HYBRID INSTRUMENT WILL HAVE LIGHTWEIGHT COMPACT DESIGN AMENABLE FOR INTEGRATION INTO A MARS ROVER TYPE PLATFORM THAT THE HEAD OF THE INSTRUMENT CAN BE POSITIONED BY THE ROVERS ROBOTIC ARM TO THE TARGET OF INTEREST WHILE DATA IS SENT TO THE MAIN UNIT WITHIN THE BODY OF THE ROVER FOR ANALYSIS & STORAGE.FOR FUTURE MANNED MISSIONS,THE HYBRID INSTRUMENT MAY ENABLE RECOGNITION OF IMPORTANT ELEMENTAL MINERALS FOR MINING AND COMPOUNDS THAT MAY BE USED FOR LOCALLY SOURCED AGRICULTURE. ANOTHER APPLICATION IS COLLECTION OF FLUORESCENT DATA, ALLOWING NASA TO EXPLORE BIOLOGICAL COMPOUNDS THAT MAY BE PRESENT IN MARTIAN SOILS IN MINUTE QUANTITIES.MAJOR ADVANTAGES OF A DUAL INSTRUMENT INCLUDE MORE RAPID AND ACCURATE DATA COLLECTION FROM PRECISE TARGETS,MINIMAL DAMAGE TO SUBSTRATE MATERIALS & AVOIDANCE OF SWITCHING BETWEEN DIFFERENT SYSTEMS.IN ADDITION TO BENEFITS IN NASA MISSIONS,THIS NOVEL INSTRUMENT MAY IMPROVE TARGET IDENTIFICATION, COMPOSITIONAL MEASUREMENT IN MARKET CURRENTLY UTILIZING STANDALONE SPECTROSCOPY SUCH METAL RECYCLING,CHEMICAL PROCESSING,ARCHEOLOGY, MINING OPERATIONS,HISTORICAL ART PHARMACEUTICALS MEDICAL RESEARCH OTHERS.THIS SYSTEM ALSO HAS APPLICATIONS FOR THE DOD WHERE THE HIGH LASER INTENSITY LIBS ASPECT OF THE INSTRUMENT COULD INSPECT AND THEN DRILL THROUGH COATINGS TO ANALYZE SUBSURFACE TARGETS, PROVIDING VALUABLE INFRASTRUCTURE DATA ON COATINGS AND SUBSURFACE CORROSION AS WELL AS OTHER METALLURGICAL DATA