01 / Contract Profile

80HQTR19C0023 Federal Contract Award

Agency code 8000

THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) IS SEEKING INDUSTRY SUPPORT TO.DEVELOP A PATHWAY FOR HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT INTO CIS-LUNAR SPACE AND FOR THE HABITATION OF PLANETARY.BODIES. NASA IS SPECIFICALLY WORKING TOWARDS THE CAPABILITY TO SUSTAINABLY LIVE SAFELY BEYOND.THE EARTH. IN-SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION (ISRU), THE PRODUCTION OF MISSION CRITICAL CONSUMABLES ON.PLANETARY BODIES USED FOR HUMAN EXPLORATION THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE BROUGHT FROM EARTH, HAS.BEEN IDENTIFIED BY NASA AS AN EXPLORATION ELEMENT THAT HAS NO FLIGHT PRECEDENT. THE NASA.NEXTSTEP-2 BAA (ISRU BAA) SEEKS CONCEPTS FOR THE FABRICATION AND TESTING OF CRITICAL ISRU.COMPONENTS FOR PROCESSING OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESOURCES INTO WATER, OXYGEN, AND FUEL..IN RESPONSE TO THE ISRU BAA, TELEDYNE ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC. (TESI) PROPOSES TO ADDRESS THE.PRODUCTION OF OXYGEN AND FUEL FROM EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESOURCES, SPECIFICALLY THE GENERATION OF.OXYGEN AND FUEL FROM ICE THAT IS MINED FROM THE MOON OR MARS. TO REALIZE THE PRODUCTION OF.OXYGEN AND FUEL FROM EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESOURCES, TESI PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING (IN A.RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT) OF AN ALKALINE WATER ELECTROLYZER. THE ALKALINE WATER ELECTROLYZER IS BASED.ON A COMMERCIAL DUAL IRRIGUOUS (DUAL-FEED/ FLOODED) SYSTEM EXCLUSIVELY SOLD BY TESI. ONE.ADVANTAGE OF THE PROPOSED ELECTROLYSIS SYSTEM OVER OTHERS THAT HAVE BEEN FUNDED BY NASA IS IN.THE MINIMAL PROCESSING (CLEAN-UP) REQUIRED OF ISRU WATER FEEDSTOCK FOR USE IN AN ELECTROLYSIS.SYSTEM. THE ADVANCED ELECTROLYZER IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE 1.1 KG OF OXYGEN PER HOUR IN THE.RANGE OF 6.2 TO 6.7 KW, DELIVERING A KEY METRIC OF 5.6 TO 6.1 W/(KG O2/HR). THE GOAL OF THIS.PROPOSED EFFORT IS TO DEMONSTRATE AN ELECTROLYSIS SYSTEM THAT CAN SUPPORT THE MAXIMUM LEVEL OF.CONTAMINANTS FOUND IN ISRU WATER FEED STOCK AND PRODUCE OXYGEN AND FUEL AT THE LOWEST ENERGY.POSSIBLE. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS EFFORT WOULD PROVIDE NASA WITH A ROBUST SOLUTION FOR GENERATING.OXYGEN AND FUEL ON PLANETARY BODIES BEYOND EARTH..TO DEVELOP THE PROPOSED ALKALINE ELECTROLYZER, TESI WILL INITIATE SINGLE-CELL ELECTROLYSIS STUDIES.USING A TESTBED PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED TO SUPPORT A DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) EFFORT. THE.SINGLE CELLS WILL BE PARAMETRICALLY STUDIED AS A FUNCTION OF OPERATING TEMPERATURE, OPERATING.PRESSURE, AND CONTAMINANT CONCENTRATION. INITIAL CONTAMINATES WILL BE BASED ON SIMPLE SPECIES.THAT ARE TYPICAL OF THAT EXPECTED IN ISRU WATER FEED STOCK THAT IS MINED FROM ICE ON THE MOON OR.MARS. THIS WILL BE DONE TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECTS OF EACH CONTAMINANT SPECIES ON ELECTROLYZER.DURABILITY. THE FINAL SINGLE-CELL EVALUATION WILL BE BASED ON A SIMULATED ISRU WATER.FEEDSTOCK PROVIDED BY NASA. AT THE COMPLETION OF SINGLE-CELL ELECTROLYZER TESTING, A 10-CELL.STACK WILL BE FABRICATED FOR TESTING IN A RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT. ALTHOUGH NOT A FOCUS OF THE ISRU.BAA, THE STACK WILL BE DESIGNED FOR OPERATION AT 3,600 PSIG. THIS ELECTROLYSIS SYSTEM WILL FORM.THE BASIS OF AN OXYGEN GENERATOR THAT CAN BETTER INTEGRATE WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND LIFE.SUPPORT SYSTEMS (ECLSS) OF A CREWED SPACECRAFT OR HABITAT. IT IS TESI'S HOPE THAT THE PROPOSED.ELECTROLYZER MAY SERVE AS A MODULAR SYSTEM FOR ISRU, ECLSS, REGENERATIVE FUEL CELLS (RFCS),.AND OUR COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES..