Engineering Research and Technology

"I know that this defies the law of gravity, but, you see, I never studied law."

- Bugs Bunny

The main areas being studied by the NASA Engineering Research and Technology Program are: 

Engineering Research and Technology payloads initially will be used to develop, test and demonstrate technologies in these three areas. Initial program participants are the U.S., Italy, Germany, and Russia. Research will be conducted on a broad range of commercial space communication systems.  Initial emphasis will be on improving satellite technology for personal phone, computer and video communication. 

Energy use efficiencies and air/water quality research will comprise a two-part effort: one for Earth, the other for the ISS and  spaceships of the future. Efficiency and quality on Earth and in space often converge in the technologies used for their respective solutions. 

For example, improved energy use technologies for greater efficiency both on Earth and in space will be drivers in work on improving solar cell efficiency in capturing and converting the Sun's energy into electricity, and in storing that electricity. One storage concept involves the use of a fly-wheel based system, in which the rotation acts both as an energy storage technique and as an auxiliary system to control spacecraft orientation. 

The ISS's Environmental Control and Life Support System is setting a new standard in space for automated maintenance functions, particularly in its atmosphere control, supply and revitalization systems, and its water recovery management technology.

These will be evaluated by Engineering Research and Technology in terms of their possible use in other spacecraft and for commercial applications. ISS research into advanced recycling and environmental monitoring technologies will make it possible for spacecraft designers to develop advanced life-support systems for human exploration of the solar system. These will address needs dictated by long periods of space travel, far from home without resupply from Earth. 

Engineers will use the Station's externally mounted robotic arm to manipulate experiments mounted on the outside of the ISS. This will permit them to test advanced robotic control techniques for use in and around the next generation of space stations, space transports, and lunar and Martian outposts. Special facilities will track the effect of radiation on a variety of materials, including paint, to test their effectiveness in the extremes of the space environment: vacuum, solar and cosmic radiation, freezing temperatures and space debris. The results of these tests will be used to aid in designing future spacecraft and will be evaluated for use in the extreme environments on Earth. 

Research and Technology Development

Technologies are flown as demonstration payloads so that the capabilities and reliability of a technology can be verified before committing it to space station use.

Engineering Research and Technology payloads, such as satellites/spacecraft communications, power and propulsion, are also used to demonstrate technologies that are important to exploration programs and commercial interests. Advanced space technology will significantly enhance the quality of life on Earth and will help to make the utilization and exploration of space safer and more affordable. 

Many of the technologies being developed and demonstrated will lead to the improvement of: 

• commercial space communication systems for personal phone, computer, and video use 
  
• energy-use efficiencies, air- and water-quality capabilities in private and commercial buildings 
  
• automated maintenance functions and new lower-cost building construction techniques 

Space Product Development 

Commercial involvement in microgravity research has been limited by rare flight opportunities. The International Space Station significantly expands opportunities for space-based business.  Space and microgravity research results already have led to, or improved, computer-aided design, mobile phone communication, pacemakers, and other processes and products that today are commonplace. 

The ISS provides a platform for space and microgravity based research for business and academia that will lead to tomorrow's high-tech products. New product and process development based on ISS-hosted research include: 

• A new category of plant-based pharmaceuticals 
• Hardier, disease- and drought-resistant crops 
• Improvements in catalysts used for extracting oil and improving petroleum yields 
• A new generation of highly pure and accurate semiconductors 

The commercial development of the space frontier is one of the greatest opportunities facing the United States. It is the growth of business into space that will bring the benefits of space down to Earth and enrich our everyday lives.

NASA is encouraging businesses to seize this opportunity, through its Space Product Development Office, to ensure the continued economic growth of the United States and to bring the opportunities for new advances, technological understanding, products and jobs to the public.  The goal of the Space Product Development Office is to help American businesses explore the potential and reap the rewards of doing business in space. This not only ensures improvements to our everyday lives, but also establishes a commercial demand for space. Doing this, however, requires that seeds be planted with U.S. businesses. 

These seeds are in the form of alliances with industry and academia through Commercial Space Centers that support the full spectrum of commercial research. These centers, located at academic institutions such as universities, are currently funded by NASA. They are charged with developing industry partners to pursue specific areas of commercial research. These partners have to help to pay an increasing portion of the funding for operations and research, since the ultimate goal is to generate a demand for doing business in space.

Commercial Space Centers serve as catalysts for space-related products and services and offer U.S. organizations opportunities to perform space-based, commercial research and development.

The joint undertakings involve teams of U.S. industry, universities, and other non-NASA government organizations. Each center develops objectives that are led and driven by industry needs for new products or processes. The Space Product Development and Commercial Research Division also provides the opportunity for students to participate both in the development of space research hardware and in the rigors of industrial research. 

Commercial Space Centers and the NASA field centers to work with companies in such areas as: 

• Macromolecular Crystallography
• Biotechnology 
• Fluid Physics
• Space Automation and Robotics 
• Fundamental Physics
• Space Vacuum Epitaxy
• Combustion 
• Telemedicine 
• Advanced Electronics
• Engineering Research and Technology
• Satellite and Hybrid Communication 
• Food Technology
• Materials Research and Development
• Agribusiness 
• Commercial Biotechnology 
• Agriculture 

  Questions to think about:

In the next chapter, you will learn about some of the physical and psychological effects of long duration spaceflight and the countermeasures the International Space station astronauts will be employing.

Next... Living Aloft (pg. 6 of 7)