by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Paragon Space Development Corporation of Tucson will begin developing a cold trap for the mining of water on the moon with the help of NASA funding.
The space agency selected the Tucson-based company for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award to begin work on the ISRU Collector of Ice in a Cold Lunar Environment (ICICLE). The award is worth $125,000 over six months.
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by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
With surface temperatures exceeding 470 degrees C (880 F), Venus has always been a difficult place to explore. The Soviet Union’s most successful lander, Venera 13, survived for only 127 minutes before succumbing to the heat.
Conditions in Venus’ atmosphere are more temperate. Venus’ atmospheric pressure and temperature at an altitude of 65 km (40.4 miles) are similar to those on Earth.
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by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the moon in the Artemis program, the space agency is increasingly eyeing the use of lunar resources to reduce the expense of launching everything from Earth.
NASA recently selected 10 proposals to develop technologies for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (Space Perspective PR) – Space Perspective today announced its plans to fly passengers and research payloads to the edge of space with its Spaceship Neptune, a high-performance balloon and pressurized capsule.
The human space flight company plans to launch from the iconic Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, with the first un-crewed test flight scheduled in early 2021 that will include a suite of research payloads.
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Paragon Space Development Corp. will continue to develop a new tank designed to better store cryogenic propellants with the help of funding from NASA.
The space agency selected Paragon’s ellipsoidal propellant tank (EPT) for continued funding under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The phase II award is worth up to $750,000 over two years. NASA funded the project under a smaller phase I award.
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by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Astronauts working on the moon or on long-duration space missions to Mars could use water recycled from their own excrement using technology being developed by Paragon Space Development Corp.
The Tucson-based company is developing Separation Technology of On-Orbit Liquid and Excrement (STOOLE), a system that aims to recover 75 percent of fecal matter that is water.
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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Dynetics PR) — Dynetics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), has been awarded a contract under NASA’s Artemis program to design a Human Landing System (HLS) and compete to build a system to take the first woman and next man to the lunar surface by 2024.
Dynetics is one of three prime contractors selected.
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Being Human Means Being There. Human Space Flight Takes Humanity with it to the Stars – Recognized as a leader in the life support in extreme environments field, Grant has led the systems & conceptual design of multiple spacecraft Title of talk is: Being Human Means Being There. Human Space Flight Takes Humanity with it to the Stars –
Recognized as a leader in the life support in extreme environments field, has led the systems & conceptual design of multiple spacecraft under contract to Lockheed Martin, NASA, Inspiration Mars Foundation & others. He has led development & qualification of experimental flight hardware for five shuttle flights, two Mir missions, a Russian Progress, & the first commercial payload on ISS.
Prior to starting Paragon, Mr. Anderson was the Chief Design Engineer for the International Space Station Solar Array Program–the largest solar arrays ever built–while employed at Lockheed Martin.
Working at an aviation consultancy, he participated in the start-up of two airlines through route analysis, equipment analysis and strategy advice. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
Astrobotic, Blue Origin, ExoTerra, Paragon and SpaceX among contract awardees for advanced technologies
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 14 American companies as partners whose technologies will help enable the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.
The selections are based on NASA’s fourth competitive Tipping Point solicitation and have a combined total award value of about $43.2 million. This investment in the U.S. space industry, including small businesses across the country, will help bring the technologies to market and ready them for use by NASA.
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TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 1, 2019 (Paragon SDC PR) — Paragon Space Development Corporation (Paragon) and partner Thin Red Line Aerospace (TRLA), are now under contract to mature their Cryogenic Encapsulating Launch Shroud and Insulated Upper Stage (CELSIUS) Technology through a NASA Tipping Point Award. NASA’s Tipping Point Awards focus on technology collaborations with commercial space companies that leverage emerging markets and capabilities to meet NASA’s exploration goals.
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WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA is partnering with six U.S. companies to develop 10 “tipping point” technologies that have the potential to significantly benefit the commercial space economy and future NASA missions, including lunar lander and deep space rocket engine technologies.
Selections are based on the agency’s third competitive Tipping Point solicitation, and have a combined total award value of approximately $44 million – a significant investment in the U.S. space industry.
A technology is considered at a “tipping point” if investment in a ground or flight demonstration will result in significantly maturing the technology and improving the company’s ability to bring it to market.
TUCSON (PISCES PR) — Jane Poynter is no stranger to big ideas. World View, the Tucson-based stratospheric flight and technology company, is just the latest game-changing venture for Poynter, the biospherian turned entrepreneur/CEO and humanitarian.
Most wouldn’t describe Ms. Poynter’s journey in life as ordinary. Quickly after primary school, Poynter developed an early and insatiable appetite for audacious projects. This gravitational force led her on an international trek of self-exploration and education that concluded with her earning a spot on the eight-person roster of Biosphere 2, a project widely regarded as the first large-scale, terrestrial space colonization experiment.
WASHINGTON, May 31, 2018 (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 10 companies to conduct studies and advance technologies to collect, process and use space-based resources for missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA placed a special emphasis on encouraging the responders to find new applications for existing, terrestrial capabilities that could result in future space exploration capabilities at lower costs.
The practice of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) could increase safety and affordability of future human spaceflight missions by limiting the need to launch supplies, such as oxygen and water from Earth. NASA issued Appendix D of the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP) Broad Agency Announcement on Dec. 4, 2017. With it, the agency sought three areas of work focused on producing propellant and other exploration mission consumables using water from extraterrestrial soils and carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere.
TUCSON, Ariz., October 9, 2017 (Paragon SDC PR) – Paragon Space Development Corporation® has been selected as a finalist for the 2017 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Small Business Award by the Arizona Technical Council and Arizona Commerce Authority. This award honors the visionaries of Arizona’s technology ecosystem whose passion and dedication energize Arizona’s rapidly growing technology community.
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 19 proposals from American small businesses and research institutions for Phase II of its competitive Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, totaling $14.3 million in awards.
These selections are for the 2016 STTR program, which supports NASA’s future missions into deep space, while also benefiting the U.S. economy. The STTR program stimulates partnerships between small businesses and research institutions by providing awards for cooperative research and development efforts with potential for commercialization.
