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NASA Technology Grants to Advance Moon to Mars Space Exploration – NASA

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2 weeks ago

May 4, 2024

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NASA has awarded nearly $1.5 million to academic, non-profit, and business organizations to advance state-of-the-art technology that will play a key role in the agency’s return to the Moon under Artemis, as well as future missions to Mars.
Twenty-four projects from 21 organizations have been awarded under NASA’s Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notices, or CANs. The awardees also will receive assistance from propulsion, space transportation, and science experts at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
“The Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notice enables NASA to collaboratively work with U.S. industry and academia to develop needed technologies,” said Daniel O’Neil, manager, NASA Marshall’s Technology Development Dual-Use CAN Program. “Products from these cooperative agreements support the closure of identified technology gaps and enable the development of components and systems for NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture.”
These innovative projects include ways to use lunar regolith for construction on the Moon’s surface, using smartphone video guidance sensors to fly robots on the International Space Station, identifying new battery materials, and improving a neutrino particle detector.
The following is a complete list of awardees:
The Florida Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and the University of Alabama were awarded funding for two projects each.
Funding was available for organizations focused on supporting entrepreneurial research and innovation ideas that could advance the commercial space sector and benefit future NASA missions.
Applications are now open for the 2024 solicitation cycle.
To learn more about NASA’s missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/
-end-
Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
[email protected]
Ramon Osorio
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
[email protected]
NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.

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Mechanical Engineering Outstanding Senior 2024: Spencer Macturk – Virginia Tech

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6 hours ago

May 18, 2024

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Biden administration taps tech CEOs for AI safety, security board – NBC News

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7 hours ago

May 18, 2024

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The Department of Homeland Security established an advisory panel Friday to study how to protect critical infrastructure including power grids and airports from threats related to artificial intelligence.
The Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board, which has 22 initial members, includes high-profile figures in tech like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, according to a statement from the DHS.
President Joe Biden ordered the creation of the board in October when he signed a wide-ranging executive order on AI, representing the federal government’s first foray into trying to regulate the technology since advanced AI apps including OpenAI’s ChatGPT went viral in popularity.
The board’s mission includes developing recommendations “to prevent and prepare for AI-related disruptions to critical services that impact national or economic security, public health, or safety.”
AI experts have identified a wide array of potential security threats that the new technology could make possible, from swarms of autonomous drones to cheap and lethal bioweapons to more effective hacking threats against critical computer systems.
The government’s defense may involve using AI to fight AI, the DHS said.
“The Board will develop recommendations to help critical infrastructure stakeholders, such as transportation service providers, pipeline and power grid operators, and internet service providers, more responsibly leverage AI technologies,” the department said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that AI “can advance our national interests in unprecedented ways” but that it also “presents real risks — risks that we can mitigate by adopting best practices and taking other studied, concrete actions.”
In addition to tech CEOs, the board includes the CEOs of Delta Air Lines, defense contractor Northrop Grumman and oil producer Occidental Petroleum, as well as Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and the leaders of two civil rights organizations.
David Ingram covers tech for NBC News.
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