NASA has awarded grants worth up to $500,000 each to 13 universities to conduct studies on early-stage technology platforms for up to three years under the agency’s Space Technology Research Grants Program.The space agency selected 15 research proposals that cover various technologies, such as payload devices for assistive free-flyers, integrated photonics for optical space communication and atmospheric entry modeling using the Orion spacecraft’s Exploration Flight Test 1 data, NASA said Tuesday.
“NASA’s Early Stage Innovations grants align with NASA’s Space Technology Roadmaps and the priorities identified by the National Research Council, helping enable NASA’s exploration goals including robotic missions to Mars and the outer planets, and ultimately human exploration of Mars,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator of the space technology mission directorate at NASA.
Awardees include:
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Columbia University
- Illinois Institute of Technology
- Northwestern University
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
- Stanford University
- University of California, San Diego
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- University of Illinois
- University of Kentucky
- University of Maryland
- University of Minnesota
- University of Virginia
Columbia University and the University of Maryland each have two approved project proposals.
