Federal award (DEFINITIVE CONTRACT, fiscal year 2024)
Recipient: TEXAS RESEARCH INSTITUTE , AUSTIN, INC.
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: 2018-04-24 to 2025-11-22
Current total value of award: $1124986
Description: THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS EFFORT IS TO DESIGN AND BUILD A PRACTICAL MILLIMETER WAVE IMAGING SYSTEM CAPABLE OF EFFECTIVELY ADDRESSING A MYRIAD OF NONDESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION ISSUES RELATED TO COMPLEX COMPOSITES AND STRUCTURES DURING MANUFACTURING AND USE. THE DESIGN OF THIS IMAGING SYSTEM WILL BE FOUNDED ON A LONG HISTORY AND EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE BY THE PROPOSING TEAM FACILITATING AND ENSURING A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME. THE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BE DESIGNED TO: I)OPERATE IN THE FREQUENCY RANGE OF 30-40 GHZ: II)HAVE HIGH-SPATIAL AND RANGE RESOLUTIONS IN THE FEW MILLIMETER RANGE RENDERING THE SYSTEM A 3D IMAGER III)PRODUCE AND RENDER IMAGES IN REAL-TIME, IV)PROVIDE HIGH SYSTEM DYNAMIC RANGE FOR HIGH DETECTION SENSITIVITY V)SMALL AND PORTABLE FOR IN-SPACE APPLICATIONS, VI)MODULAR IN DESIGN TO ACCOMMODATE LARGE STRUCTURES IN TERRESTRIAL INSPECTION APPLICATIONS WHILE ALSO SUITABLE FOR IN-SPACE APPLICATIONS BY PERSONNEL WITH VARIED TECHNICAL SKILL-SETS NAMELY, TECHNICIANS, ENGINEERS AND ASTRONAUTS. THE PROPOSED WORK IN THIS PHASE II TO DEVELOP, BUILT AND TEST A PRACTICAL PROTOTYPE IMAGING SYSTEM BUILDS ON THE PHASE I DESIGN WORK. POTENTIAL NASA