Living and working in space requires preparations a little closer to Earth, and NASA’s Flight Opportunities program will help 14 research payloads move a step closer toward future space missions and commercial applications through a suborbital flight test with industry provider Blue Origin on Dec. 19, 2023. The technologies flown are intended to address some of the opportunities and obstacles presented by a sustained human presence in space.
The payload, which launched aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard reusable ballistic rocket from the company’s Pad 1 in West Texas, reached an altitude of 351,248 ft. During the flight, the payload experienced approximately three minutes of microgravity, providing insight into how reduced gravity can affect both technology and living organisms.
“NASA relies on emerging commercial spaceflight capabilities to rapidly test breakthrough solutions for space applications,” said Daniel McCulloch, Flight Opportunities Program Manager at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. “By working with commercial flight providers like Blue Origin, NASA can make space exploration and commerce more accessible to a broader range of researchers.”
A strong commercial space industry also helps NASA advance scientific exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond. In addition to the NASA-supported research teams, this flight also marked an important milestone for Blue Origin, marking the return of its New Shepard rocket to space.
Sometimes, everyday products are key to advancing space goals. For example, paraffin and beeswax are used only in cosmetics and candles. Researchers are using the flight to evaluate these common materials to see if they could be safer and cheaper to use as fuel for spacecraft. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are evaluating in-space manufacturing techniques to turn these wax-based products into alternative options for propulsion for small spacecraft.
“We are excited to test large-scale manufacturing of biosensors in space. Coating hundreds of sensors in microgravity will provide invaluable information to advance our technology,” said Solange Massa, founder and CEO of Ecoatoms. “Preparing for Flight Opportunities’ suborbital flight has given us experience that we can apply to future client flights.”
In another example of how common materials can help us understand the universe, researchers from Montana State University and the University of Colorado Boulder are using a mutant yeast strain (Candida albicans) as a springboard to better understand the effects of microgravity on humans. Observing the effects of a few minutes of microgravity on this simple organism, made possible by the team’s unique sampling system, could provide insight into the cellular and physiological adaptations of the human body, which will be important knowledge for planning long-term human space missions.
Other technologies that will benefit from this flight testing include:
An electrophysiological measurement system and a lensfree imaging system from imec USA, Kissimmee, Florida, and two student payloads managed by imec, investigating the effects of gravity on ultrasound and various sensors; an experiment applying an electric field to a dust simulant, by the University of Central Florida, Orlando; a tool developed by Honeybee Robotics Ltd., Altadena, California, to evaluate the geological properties of soils on near-Earth asteroids; and a system from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Evaluation of a multiphase reservoir for sample mixing and bubble migration by the RIKEN Institute of Southern California A system for measuring propellant during on-orbit refueling and transfer operations by Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin A technique to model propellant sway in microgravity by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana The DMEN Multi-Environment Navigator by Draper in Cambridge, Massachusetts An experiment to collect thermal data on fluids in microgravity by the University of Alabama at Huntsville A sensor to measure the amount of water used to keep astronauts warm in exploration spacesuits, developed by Clare Inc. in Hanover, New Hampshire and funded by NASA’s STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) program A regenerative technology to provide energy storage for spaceflight applications, developed by Infinity Fuel Cells in Windsor, Connecticut and funded by a NASA Tipping Point Award through NASA’s Game Changing Development Program
Flight Opportunities is managed by NASA Armstrong and funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. The program funds flight testing and technology payload development, as well as providing subject matter expertise to help researchers maximize the impact of commercial flight testing. The program enables innovators to gather the data they need to advance their research ahead of larger, more expensive missions and applications.