The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $24,799 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  JOHNSON SPACE CENTER
  THE CONTRACTOR WILL RESEARCH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INERTIAL ELECTROSTATIC CONFINEMENT (IEC) CONCEPTS LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANEUTRONIC FUSION POWER AND PROPULSION SUITABLE FOR SPACE FLIGHT APPLICATIONS. THIS EFFORT IS TO SUPPLEMENT THE ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH CURRENTLY BEING PURSUED JOINTLY BY THE CONTRACTOR, THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS/URBANA-CHAMPAGNE (UIUC), AND (UNDER A NASA NIAC GRANT) NASA S JOHNSON SPACE CENTER. THE ULTIMATE OUTCOMES OF THIS EFFORT ARE TO BE AN EXPERIMENTAL PLAN AND PROGRAM THAT LEVERAGES UIUC S EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES, INCLUDING THE TEST SET-UP FOR THE HELICON INJECTED INERTIAL PLASMA ELECTROSTATIC ROCKET (HIIPER), FOR THE PURPOSE OF (1) TESTING KEY PHYSICS CONCEPTS FOR HIGH DENSITY TRAVELING WAVE DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION (TWDEC) AND OF (2) TEST VALIDATING THE DIRECT ENERGY-TO-THRUST CONVERSION ANALYTICAL RESEARCH CURRENTLY PROGRESSING UNDER NASA-NIAC SUPPORT. SPECIFICALLY, THE UTILIZATION OF THE HIIPER PLASMA JET FOR THE GENERATION OF A HIGH-DENSITY ION BUNCHED BEAM COULD LEAD TO A HIGHLY REALISTIC, INITIAL EXPERIMENT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TWDEC CONCEPT AT HIGH DENSITIES BY MEANS OF A SINGLE, TWO-ELECTRODE TWDEC STAGE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO A IEC PLASMA DEVICE. THE CONTRACTOR WILL PROVIDE AND IMPLEMENT A DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES AT UIUC, TO INCLUDE THE UPGRADING THE HIIPER EXPERIMENTAL SETUP SO AS TO OBTAIN ION BEAM SEPARATION AND A HIGH-DENSITY ION PULSED REGIME FOR DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION APPLICATIONS (GEARED TOWARDS A TWDEC-TYPE CONCEPT AND DIRECT ENERGY-TO-THRUST CONVERSION PROCESS). THEY WILL ALSO PROVIDE A CRITICAL REVIEW REPORT ON THE ENGINEERING AND SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES THAT MUST BE OVERCOME ACHIEVE A P-11B IEC REACTOR DESIGN THAT WOULD REACH AN ENERGY GAIN Q>1. THEY WILL MAINTAIN A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WITH NASA-JSC FOR THE PURPOSE OF STUDYING THE ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS REQUIRED TO BRING CURRENT IEC CONCEPTS TO THE MULTI-MW POWER LEVELS REQUIRED FOR SPACECRAFT PROPULSION APPLICATIONS. THEY WILL ALSO PROVIDE CONSULTING SERVICES IN SUPPORT OF NASA-JSC EFFORTS IN TWDEC PHYSICS EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND ON DIRECT FUSION ENERGY-TO-THRUST CONVERSION.

  ---