NASA Selects 142 Small Business Innovation Research Projects

Oct. 28, 2008

Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761
sonja.r.alexander@xxxxxxxx

Mike Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-3937
michael.mewhinney@xxxxxxxx
RELEASE: 08-272

NASA SELECTS 142 SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH PROJECTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected 142 proposals for negotiation of
Phase
2 contract awards in the Small Business Innovation Research program,
known as SBIR. The selected projects have a total value of
approximately $85 million. NASA will award the contracts to 121 small
high-technology firms in 27 states.

The SBIR program supports NASA's mission directorates by working with
them to competitively select ventures that address critical research
and technology needs for agency programs and projects. The effort
addresses specific technology gaps in mission programs and strives to
complement other agency research investments.

Program results have benefited numerous NASA efforts, including
modern
air traffic control systems, Earth observing spacecraft, the space
shuttle, the International Space Station and rovers and labs on Mars.

Highly competitive, the SBIR program is a three-phase award system.
It
provides qualified small businesses -- including women-owned and
disadvantaged businesses -- with opportunities to propose unique
ideas that meet specific research and development needs of the
federal government.

Phase 1 is a feasibility study to evaluate the scientific and
technical merit of an idea. Awards are for periods as long as six
months in amounts as much as $100,000. Phase 2 expands on the results
of the development in Phase 1. Award durations are as long as two
years in amounts as much as $600,000. Phase 3 is for the
commercialization of the results of Phase 2 and requires the use of
private sector or non-SBIR federal funding.

NASA received 259 Phase 2 proposals. The criteria used to select the
winning proposals included technical merit and innovation, Phase 1
results, value to NASA, commercial potential and company
capabilities. Examples of research areas among this group of selected
proposals for each Mission Directorate include:

Aeronautics Research:
- Antenna technologies for airborne hazard detection and avoidance
systems
- Novel materials to improve engine control of supersonic aircraft

Exploration Systems:
- Technologies needed for lunar operations including moon
dust-tolerant mechanisms, hazard detection and avoidance systems, and
robotic navigation equipment
- Technologies to monitor crew health and well-being during long
duration missions

Science:
- Instruments for use on planetary probes to help detect past and
present life
- Propulsion systems to send small, low-cost satellites from Earth
orbit to the moon or beyond

Space Operations:
- Band pass filter technologies to improve ground-based laser
communication receivers
- Enhanced hydrogen flame detection to improve safety at test
facilities and launch sites

The SBIR program is part of NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program at
NASA Headquarters in Washington, working with U.S. industry to
develop pioneering technologies, infuse them into agency missions and
transition them into commercially available products and services.
NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., manages the
program for the Innovative Partnership Program office. NASA's 10
field centers manage individual projects.

For a list of selected companies and more information about the
program, visit:

http://www.ipp.nasa.gov/ti_sbir.htm

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