Self-Assembling Liquid Mirror Telescope
Project Sponsor : DARPA DSO, Honeywell Aerospace Prime Start Date : 10/01/2023 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Álvaro Romero-Calvo Project Status : Active Our Low-Gravity Science and Technology Lab is working with Honeywell Aerospace and Soter Technology to design a self-assembling liquid mirror telescope with off-axis tilting and slewing capabilities. The effort, supported by the DARPA Zenith Program, explores…
Orbital Calibration 2 (OrCa-2)
Project Sponsor : AFRL Start Date : 08/01/2022 Faculty Investigator : Professor Brian Gunter Project Status : To be delivered Summer 2024 OrCa-2 is a continued effort to improve Space Domain Awareness (SDA) in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory. By fully characterizing the reflectance properties on Earth, OrCa-2 can aid the calibration of…
Vacuum Chamber for Testing Thermal Properties of Lunar Regolith for ISRU Applications
Project Sponsor : NASA/SSERVI Center for Lunar Environment and Volatile Exploration Research (CLEVER) Start Date : 9/2022 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Masatoshi “Toshi” Hirabayashi Project Status : Ongoing The main task is to set up a vacuum chamber that can simulate the pressure and temperature conditions of the moon. We aim to achieve pressure of…
ExoSalt: Biosignature Preservation in Sulfate-Dominated Hypersaline Environments
Project Sponsor : Supported by NASA Exobiology awards 80NSSC18K1088 and 80NSSC20K0849 (Pontefract). Start Date : 01/2021 Faculty Investigator : Alexandra Pontefract (Georgetown/APL); Prof. Christopher E. Carr (Co-I) Project Status : Awaiting transfer of award Team: Alexandra Pontefract (PI), Magdalena Osburn (Co-I), Chris Carr (Co-I), Mitchell Barklage (Collaborator), Jacob Buffo (Collaborator), Shuhei Ono (Collaborator), Virginia Walker…
Continue Reading ExoSalt: Biosignature Preservation in Sulfate-Dominated Hypersaline Environments
NERPE: Non-Enzymatic RNA Primer Extension
Project Sponsor : Supported by H.H.M.I. awards to Szostak. Start Date : Mid 2018 Faculty Investigator : Prof. Jack Szostak/Dr. Daniel Duzdevich (U. Chicago); Christopher E. Carr (Georgia Tech, Collaborator) Project Status : Active Collaborators: This is a collaborative project led by the Szostak lab at University of Chicago All known life is related to…
DSRG: Deep Space Radiation Genomics
Project Sponsor : NASA award # 80NSSC19K0708 to Luis Zea/CU Boulder. Start Date : 05/2019 Faculty Investigator : Luis Zea (PI), University of Colorado, Boulder, and Corey Nislow (UBC, Co-PI); Prof. Christopher E. Carr (Collaborator) Project Status : Waiting for Artemis I launch! Launch Provider: NASA Collaborators: See CU Boulder DSRG website for extended team…
OAST: Oceans Across Space and Time
Project Sponsor : Supported by awards 80NSSC18K1301 and 80NSSC22K1409 (PI: Britney Schmidt). Start Date : 09/2018 Faculty Investigator : Prof. Britney Schmidt (Cornell); Prof. Christopher E. Carr (Co-I) Project Status : Active Collaborators: OAST has an extended multi-institute team. Oceans Across Space and Time (OAST) project is part of the Network for Life Detection (NfoLD),…
InSitu: Investigating the Rate of Potential Biological in Situ Gas Production of CO and CH4 in Arctic Ice
Project Sponsor : Supported by NSF Collaborative award 2139293 to Chellman (DRI, lead institution) and Carr (Georgia Tech). Start Date : 03/2022 Faculty Investigator : Nathan J. Chellman (DRI, PI); Prof. Christopher E. Carr (Co-PI, Georgia Tech) Project Status : Planning for fieldwork Collaborators: Joe McConnell (DRI), Edward J. Brook (Oregon State), Rachel A. Moore…
ExoMethane: Genome-informed Habitability, Biosignature Potential, and Limit of Methane Production in Planetary Environments
Project Sponsor : NASA Exobiology award # 80NSSC22K0974 to C.E.C. (PI) and R.A.M. (Science PI). Start Date : 07/2022 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr (PI), Dr. Rachel A. Moore (Science PI) Project Status : Active Collaborators: Douglas Bartlett (Co-I, UCSD), Miguel Desmarais (Graduate Student, UCSD), and Jeff Bowman (Collaborator, UCSD) Background: Subsurface environments…
ExoArid: Microbial Functional and Evolutionary Adaptations to AridityExoArid:
Project Sponsor : Supported by NASA Exobiology awards 80NSSC19K0469 (MIT) and 80NSSC22K0189 (Georgia Tech) to C.E.C. Start Date : 01/2022 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr Collaborators: Co-Is: Dr. Rachel A. Moore (Georgia Tech), Alexandra Pontefract (APL), Ralf Moeller (DLR), Jens Boy (Hannover University), Armando Azua-Bustos (Center of Astrobiology, CSIC). Collaborators: Diana Boy (Hannover…
Continue Reading ExoArid: Microbial Functional and Evolutionary Adaptations to AridityExoArid:
Using Satellite Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Modeling of Antarctic Near-Surface Processes
Project Sponsor : NASA (Cryospheric Science Research Announcement, ROSES-2020) Start Date : 08/01/2023 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Brian Gunter Project Status : In progress Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA), specifically so the post-glacial rebound component, describes the response of the solid earth to variable ice loading. Using satellite gravimetry from GRACE and GRACE-FO, altimetry from ICESat-2…
Low-Gravity Water Electrolysis
Project Sponsor : ESA Start Date : 01/01/2023 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Álvaro Romero-Calvo Project Status : Active Photoelectrochemical devices integrate the processes of light absorption, charge separation, andcatalysis for chemical synthesis. The monolithic design and sustainable operation are interesting for space applications, where weight and volume constraints predominate. However, hindered gas bubble desorption in…
Lunar Dust Mitigation
Project Sponsor : NASA Start Date : 08/01/2023 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Álvaro Romero-Calvo Project Status : Active Lunar dust poses a major operational hazard to human operations on the surface of the Moon, and to the support systems, equipment, and instrumentation needed to sustain long-term lunar missions. Natural dust lofting and anthropogenic activities can…
MHD Drive for O2 Production
Project Sponsor : NASA Start Date : 08/01/2023 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Álvaro Romero-Calvo Project Status : Active Human space exploration is presented with multiple challenges, such as the near absence of buoyancy in orbit or the reliable, efficient, and sustainable operation of life support systems. The production and management of oxygen and hydrogen are…
SWARM-EX: Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment
Project Sponsor : NSF Start Date : 01/01/2020 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Glenn Lightsey Project Status : Subsystem Assembly and Testing Georgia Tech’s SSDL is participating in a multi-university CubeSat formation flying mission to address Geospace science questions related to the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Description The equatorial thermal anomaly (ETA) and equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA)…
Continue Reading SWARM-EX: Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment
Reduced Infrastructure Radionavigation System
Project Sponsor : NASA Faculty Investigator : Dr. Glenn Lightsey Project Status : Ongoing Georgia Tech’s SSDL is studying new methods of conducting radionavigation with minimal infrastructure at remote locations like the Moon and Mars.
Continue Reading Reduced Infrastructure Radionavigation System
VISORS: Virtual Super-Resolution Optics Using Reconfigurable Swarms
Project Sponsor : NSF Start Date : 10/01/2019 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Glenn Lightsey Project Status : Integration and Testing Georgia Tech’s SSDL is participating in a multi-university CubeSat formation flying mission to image the sun in unprecedented high resolution, revealing energy release sites in the solar corona that are believe to be the source…
Continue Reading VISORS: Virtual Super-Resolution Optics Using Reconfigurable Swarms
Debris Management And Removal For Large-Scale Constellations
Project Sponsor : Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Start Date : 09/17/2019 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Koki Ho Project Status : Research Ongoing Develop an efficient debris management strategy for large-scale constellations, including analyzing the impacts of debris management for large-scale constellations and their relevance to the orbit selection, developing a constellation design process with consideration of debris management and active de-orbit…
Continue Reading Debris Management And Removal For Large-Scale Constellations
Time-Expanded Space Logistics Network Modeling And Optimization For On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, And Manufacturing
Project Sponsor : DARPA Start Date : 07/23/2019 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Koki Ho Project Status : Research Ongoing Develop a set of time-expanded network methods and algorithms to model and optimize the on-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing mission sequences, enabling efficient space traffic management.
Green Propellant Dual Mode (GPDM)
Project Sponsor : NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Start Date : 08/01/2023 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Glenn Lightsey Project Status : Design phase Green Propellant Dual Mode (GPDM) is an upcoming technology demonstration mission led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center which aims to fly for the first time a satellite using a single liquid…
BioX2: Biological Exploration Payload 2
Project Sponsor : Supported by MIT Space Exploration Initiative via NASA Award 80NSSC21M0012 to Maria T. Zuber and faculty startup funds from the Georgia Institute of Technology to C.E.C. Start Date : 01/01/2021 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr Project Status : Functional and EMI testing, science validation testing & pre-launch preparations. BioX2 (Biological…
ELIE: Electronic Life-Detection Instrument For Enceladus/Europa
Project Sponsor : NASA PICASSO program and MIT Space Exploration Initiative Start Date : 01/01/2022 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr Project Status : Low-technology readiness instrument under development We are working to develop the ELIE instrument, capable of detecting prebiotic, ancient, or extant life, and distinguishing forward contamination, through detection of two universal…
Continue Reading ELIE: Electronic Life-Detection Instrument For Enceladus/Europa
BOOST: Bubble-Based Ocean-Worlds Organics Sample Trap
Project Sponsor : Supported by NASA PICASSO award 80NSSC20K1092 to L.B. Start Date : 01/01/2021 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr Project Status : Early stage instrument development Background: Estimated energetic limits for life in Ocean Worlds such as Enceladus and Europa suggest that many current life detection technologies will require pre-concentration of ice…
Continue Reading BOOST: Bubble-Based Ocean-Worlds Organics Sample Trap
VLF: Venus/Venus Life Finder
Project Sponsor : Breakthrough Initiatives (P.I. Sara Seager), NASA NIAC Phase I award 80NSSC22K0759 (P.I. Sara Seager) and faculty startup funds (C.E.C.) Start Date : 01/01/2021 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr Project Status : Instrument in validation; Venus Photon under development. The discovery of organic chemistry or life in the clouds of Venus,…
Enterococcus Evolution In Space: Environmental Adaptations, Antibiotic Resistance, And Clinical Implications (Entero)
Project Sponsor : NASA Space Biology Award # 80NSSC21K0234 to C.E.C Start Date : 11/01/2020 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Christopher E. Carr Project Status : Preparing for flight readiness review(s) Enterococci are gram-positive bacteria that originated when our ancient animal ancestors emerged from the oceans to live on land, and brought their gut flora with…
WEBS: Wireless Energy From Beamed Signals
Project Sponsor : Air Force Research Lab, US Space Force, University Nanosatellite Program Start Date : 01/28/2022 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Brian Gunter Project Status : Final system design, undergoing subsystem fabrication and testing WEBS is an exciting first-of-its-kind technology demonstration in the area of space-to-space wireless power transmission. In collaboration with the United States…
ESA SciSpace SolarMag Project
Project Sponsor : European Space Agency Start Date : 01/01/2023 Faculty Investigator : Dr. Álvaro Romero-Calvo Photoelectrochemical devices integrate the processes of light absorption, charge separation, and catalysis for chemical synthesis. The monolithic design and sustainable operation are interesting for space applications, where weight and volume constraints predominate. However, hindered gas bubble desorption in reduced gravitation…