NASA Awards Space Launch System Advanced Development Grants

Jan. 14, 2013

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jbuck@nasa.gov

Kim Henry
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
kimberly.m.henry@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 13-020

NASA AWARDS SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT GRANTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded grants to nine universities for
advanced development activities for the nation's next heavy-lift
rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).

The agency is providing approximately $2.25 million that will be
shared by all the proposals under this NASA Research Announcement to
seek innovative and affordable solutions to evolve the launch vehicle
from its initial lift capability to a larger, future version of the
rocket, which will carry humans farther into deep space than ever
before. NASA sought proposals in a variety of areas, including
concept development, trades and analyses, propulsion, structures,
materials, manufacturing, avionics and software.

"Partnering with academia on SLS advanced concepts brings new ideas
and vitality to NASA and expands the SLS team of rocket scientists
beyond just the agency," said William Gerstenmaier, associate
administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA
Headquarters in Washington.

The selected universities and their proposals are:
-- "High Electric Density Device for Aerospace Applications," Auburn
University
-- "Challenges Towards Improved Friction Stir Welds Using On-line
Sensing of Weld Quality," Louisiana State University
-- "A New Modeling Approach for Rotating Cavitation Instabilities in
Rocket Engine Turbopumps," Massachusetts Institute of Technology
-- "Algorithmic Enhancements for High-Resolution Hybrid RANS-LES Using
Loci-CHEM," Mississippi State University
-- "Characterization of Aluminum/Alumina/Carbon Interactions under
Simulated Rocket Motor Conditions," Pennsylvania State University
-- "Development of Subcritical Atomization Models in the Loci
Framework for Liquid Rocket Injectors," University of Florida
-- "Validation of Supersonic Film Cooling Numerical Simulations Using
Detailed Measurements and Novel Diagnostics," University of Maryland
-- "Advanced LES and Laser Diagnostics to Model Transient
Combustion-Dynamical Processes in Rocket Engines: Prediction of Flame
Stabilization and Combustion-Instabilities," University of Michigan
-- "Acoustic Emission-Based Health Monitoring of Space Launch System
Structures," University of Utah

For a description of each of the proposals, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/ULC5iT

"As we make tangible progress on the initial launch vehicle, our
advanced development team is formulating concepts for an evolved
version of the rocket," said Todd May, SLS Program manager at NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The work being done
today on SLS is a national and collaborative effort. With faculties
and students engaged now, we look forward to creative, innovative and
more affordable strategies to guide development of the
next-generation heavy-lift launch vehicle."

The SLS is designed to be flexible for launching payloads and
spacecraft, including NASA's Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, which
will take humans beyond low-Earth orbit. The rocket will enable the
agency to achieve its deep-space exploration goals and create new
possibilities for scientific discovery.

The period of performance for these grants will be one year with as
many as two one-year options.

The first flight test of NASA's SLS, which will feature a
configuration for a 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity, is
scheduled for 2017 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

For information about NASA's Space Launch System, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/sls


-end-



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