News Archive / Tagged: Space Technology Mission Directorate

• NASA asking for fission power design concepts for Moon missions

  Cullen DesforgesDecember 20th, 2021

  As humanity moves toward the very real possibility of becoming a multi-planet species, the need for safe and reliable energy not only arises on Earth, but especially so in outer space.

• NASA’s Centennial Challenges awards $400K in 3D-printed habitat challenge

  Bart LeahyAugust 31st, 2017

  NASA has recently awarded two teams a combined $400,000 for their winning entries in an agency Centennial Challenge designed to test the feasibility of systems that build 3D-printed human habitats on other worlds using local materials. This was the second of a three-part Challenge to advance the ability to “live off the land” on the Moon or Mars.

• NASA selects commercial space companies to provide suborbital flight services

  SpaceFlight InsiderSeptember 12th, 2014

  NASA selected four companies that will provide commercial suborbital reusable platforms for the testing of new space technologies near the boundary of space. The companies will transport a variety of payloads over five flights to help meet the research and technology needs of NASA, as part of the organization’s efforts to create a practical market […]

• NASA paves way for future with advanced tech proposals

  Jim SharkeyAugust 10th, 2014

  NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC ) announced on Wednesday, Aug. 6 the selection of five concept proposals for Phase II funding. The proposals were selected because of their potential to transform future space missions,  provide new capabilities,  and improve on current practices for building and operating aerospace systems.The proposals ranged from an imaging technique using […]

• NASA reveals early results of LDSD “flying saucer” test flight

  Rae Botsford EndAugust 8th, 2014

  NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) “flying saucer” test vehicle successfully reached near-space in late June, allowing them to test certain Martian landing conditions, and NASA held a video-rich briefing about it today, August 8.

• NASA’s LDSD successfully completes first test flight despite parachute failure

  James TuttenJune 28th, 2014

  The first major flight test for NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) occurred today, Saturday, June 28 from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. Though there were technical issues with a malfunctioning parachute, the test’s primary components were successfully deployed. 

• NASA’s LDSD is grounded due to unfavorable weather conditions

  SpaceFlight InsiderJune 13th, 2014

  Due to weather constraints, NASA’s new flying saucer-shaped, Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) proposed launch has been canceled. In a media teleconference yesterday, June 12, Mark Alder (LDSD Project Manager) and Ian Clark (LDSD Principal Investigator) explained the need for a delay and outlined the project’s next steps.

• NASA’s Flight Opportunities program selects experiments to fly on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo

  James TuttenJune 11th, 2014

  NASA’s Flight Opportunities program has selected 12 experimentation payloads to take part in their space research flight aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) will be one of the organizations to take advantage of studying a little-known region of suborbital “sky” that borders between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.

• NIAC selects phase I funding concepts

  Jim SharkeyJune 7th, 2014

  The NASA Innovative Advanced Concept program (NIAC) has selected 12 proposals for Phase I funding, including three from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The NIAC program nurtures visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions with improvements or entirely new concepts in aerospace technology. Proposals can be submitted by researchers in academic […]

• NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) is ready for testing

  SpaceFlight InsiderJune 5th, 2014

  NASA has developed a new, innovative vehicle capable of landing larger payloads in environments such as the thin Martian atmosphere. The Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) is a saucer-shaped, rocket-powered vehicle is now complete and ready for testing at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

• NASA looks to revolutionize future oxygen recovery systems

  James TuttenMay 1st, 2014

  NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate is looking for new ways to clear the air on long-duration spaceflight missions in the future. The Game Change Development Program (GCD) recently announced an open competition to greatly refine the process of next-gen oxygen scrubbers, with efficiency and effectiveness as a top priority.

• NIAC seeks innovative Phase II proposals

  Jim SharkeyApril 25th, 2014

  NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program is currently seeking proposals that could be used in future space exploration missions. The NIAC program, which is part of NASA’s  Space Technology Directorate, funds cutting-edge concepts which show potential to enable new capabilities, transform new missions or alter current approaches to building, launching and operating aerospace systems. Proposals […]

• NASA Offers Space Tech Grants To Early Career University Faculty

  Press ReleaseJanuary 25th, 2014

  NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate is seeking proposals from accredited U.S. universities on behalf of outstanding early career faculty members who are beginning their independent careers. The grants will sponsor research in specific, high priority areas of interest to America’s space program.

• NASA issues 2014 call for Advanced Technology Concepts

  Press ReleaseNovember 22nd, 2013

  NASA is looking for visionary concepts that have the potential to enable new missions or significantly improve current approaches to achieve aerospace objectives.

• NASA seeks American small business proposals for high tech R&D

  Press ReleaseNovember 17th, 2013

  To enable future space exploration while helping to seed viable commercial products and services here in America, NASA is seeking proposals for the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.