The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $98,092 - Wednesday the 29th of April 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  WE PROPOSE TO MAKE A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE CORONAL EMISSION OF THE SUN AROUND THE MINIMUM OF ITS ACTIVITY USING HINODE XRT AND SDO, AND USE THE RESULTS TO ESTIMATE THE CORONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOLAR MAUNDER MINIMUM, THE FUTURE SUN, AND INACTIVE SOLAR-LIKE STARS. THE RESULTS WILL ALLOW US TO SHED LIGHT INTO THE ACTIVITY/IRRADIANCE EFFECTS OF MAUNDER-LIKE MAGNETIC MINIMA. THEY WILL ALSO EXPLORE HOW FAR THE SOLAR ANALOGY APPLIES TO THE LOW-ACTIVITY END OF THE STELLAR MAGNETIC ACTIVITY RANGE, AND HELP UNDERSTANDING OF STARS WHICH MAY BE IN MAUNDER-LIKE MINIMA (E.G., ALPHA CEN A). THE USE OF EXISTING MULTIFILTER OBSERVATIONS TAKEN WITH THE HINODE/XRT (2006-TO DATE) WILL ALLOW AN ACCURATE DETERMINATION OF THE PLASMA THERMAL STRUCTURE IN THE LOW ACTIVITY REGIONS OF THE SUN, USING STANDARD DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES. FUTURE SDO/AIA (2009-) OBSERVATIONS WILL PROVIDE VALUABLE DATA FOR CARRYING OUT THE PROPOSED EFFORT, EXTENDING THE SENSITIVITY TO COOLER PLASMA. OUR ANALYSIS WILL THUS EXTEND OVER A RANGE OF SOLAR ACTIVITY FROM THE CURRENT MINIMUM TO THE RISING PHASE OF THE NEXT CYCLE, COVERING MOST OF THE LOW END OF A CYCLE. WE WILL ANALYZE SPECIFIC SOLAR FEATURES (E.G., CORONAL HOLES, QUIET SUN, BRIGHT POINTS) USING THE RESULTS AS BUILDING BLOCKS FOR CONSTRUCTING MODELS OF THE SOLAR MAUNDER MINIMUM, THE FUTURE SUN, AND INACTIVE SOLAR-LIKE STARS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION WILL PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES TOWARDS THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE THERMAL STRUCTURING OF THE LOW-ACTIVITY CORONAL REGIONS AND ITS VARIABILITY DURING THE SOLAR CYCLE, AND TOWARDS THE UNDERSTANDING OF EPISODES OF EXTREME LOW-ACTIVITY BOTH ON THE SUN AND IN SOLAR-LIKE STARS. THESE TOPICS ARE OF FUNDAMENTAL INTEREST WITHIN THE HELIOPHYSICS PROGRAM, AND A KEY STEP TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE NASA'S STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE (3B) OF "UNDERSTANDING THE SUN AND ITS EFFECTS ON EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM".

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• $91,251 - Friday the 28th of August 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  RELATIVITY THEORY FIRMLY PREDICTS THAT AN ASTRONOMICAL BLACK HOLE IS THE RESULT OF THE COMPLETE GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE OF TENS, MILLIONS OR BILLIONS OF SOLAR MASSES OF MATTER TO A POINT, A CONCLUSION THAT IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION. IN OUR MILKY WAY, THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED 100 MILLION STELLAR BLACK HOLES, THE COLLAPSED REMNANTS OF GIANT BURNED-OUT STARS. THE MASSES OF 23 OF THESE BLACK HOLES, WITH TYPICAL MASSES OF 10 SUNS, HAVE BEEN MEASURED, MOST OF THEM BY OUR TEAM DURING THE PAST 25 YEARS. THESE BLACK HOLES ARE CLOSELY ORBITED BY A NORMAL STAR THAT TRICKLES GAS INTO AN X-RAY-HOT DISK OF MATTER THAT ENCIRCLES THE BLACK HOLE. DURING THESE PAST FIVE YEARS, WE HAVE SUCCEEDED IN MEASURING THE SPINS (OR RATE OF ROTATION) OF SIX OF THESE SAME BLACK HOLES. THIS IS OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE FOR TWO REASONS. FIRST, A BLACK HOLE IS TOTALLY DESCRIBED BY JUST THE TWO NUMBERS THAT SPECIFY ITS MASS AND ITS SPIN. SECOND, THIS COMPLETE DESCRIPTION ALLOWS ONE TO BUILD FULL MODELS OF RELATIVISTIC JETS, SUPERNOVAE, GAMMA-RAY BURST SOURCES, ETC. OUR METHOD FOR MEASURING SPIN IS BASED ON EINSTEIN'S PREDICTION THAT THEIR EXISTS A SMALLEST RADIUS FOR A PARTICLE ORBITING A BLACK HOLE, INSIDE OF WHICH THE PARTICLE SUDDENLY PLUNGES INTO THE HOLE. AS A CONSEQUENCE, THE INNER EDGE OF THE DISK OF GAS THAT ENCIRCLES THE BLACK HOLE IS TRUNCATED AT THIS MINIMUM RADIUS, WHICH DEPENDS ONLY ON THE SPIN AND THE KNOWN MASS OF THE BLACK HOLE. WE DETERMINE THE INNER RADIUS OF THIS DISK AND THEREBY THE SPIN BY FITTING THE CONTINUOUS X-RAY SPECTRUM RECORDED BY AN X-RAY DETECTOR TO A MODEL OF THE BLACK-HOLE'S DISK THAT INCLUDES ALL RELATIVISTIC EFFECTS. WE PROPOSE TO DOUBLE OUR SAMPLE OF BLACK HOLES WITH MEASURED SPINS FROM SIX TO TWELVE WHILE CONTINUING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF ALL OF OUR SPIN ESTIMATES. THE BULK OF THE REQUESTED FUNDING WILL PROVIDE CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR A POSTDOCTORAL STUDENT WHO LEADS OUR X-RAY DATA ANALYSIS EFFORT. OUR WORK REPRESENTS A NEW AND VITAL USE OF NASA'S VAST HEASARC DATA ARCHIVE. TO DATE, WE HAVE USED DATA FROM A TOTAL OF TEN PAST AND CURRENT MISSIONS: RXTE, CHANDRA, SWIFT, SUZAKU, ASCA, BEPPOSAX, GINGA, EXOSAT, XMM-NEWTON AND OSO-8. OUR WORK IS IMPORTANT TO SUCH FUTURE MISSIONS AS IXO AND LISA AND TO ATTAINING NASA'S STRATEGIC GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING PHENOMENA NEAR BLACK HOLES AND THE NATURE OF GRAVITY.

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• $90,770 - Wednesday the 30th of November 2011
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
  COATING SERVICES

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• $89,612 - Tuesday the 2nd of October 2012
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
  DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF JOINT PROGRAMS IN LASER RANGING AND OTHER SPACE GEODESY TECHNIQUES 1. INTERNATIONAL LASER RANGING SERVICE (ILRS) AS DIRECTOR OF THE ILRS CENTRAL BUREAU, A MEMBER OF THE ILRS GOVERNING BOARD, AND A MEMBER OF SEVERAL OF THE ILRS WORKING GROUPS, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL OVERSEE DAILY OPERATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ILRS PROCEDURES, AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO MAKE THE INTERNATIONAL SLR ACTIVITIES RESPONSIVE TO USER NEEDS. ADDITIONAL THE CONTRACTOR SHALL FACILITATE COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TRANSFER, ORGANIZE MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS, PROVIDE SERVICE DOCUMENTATION; PROVIDE COORDINATION OF OVERSEAS SLR TRACKING SUPPORT FOR NEW MISSIONS FROM PRE-LAUNCH ORGANIZATION THROUGH TRACKING PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROMOTE COMPLIANCE WITH THE ILRS STANDARDS, CONTINUE TO ORGANIZE AND PARTICIPATE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, GOVERNING BOARD, AND CENTRAL BUREAU MEETINGS; OVERSEE THE ISSUE OF REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS; AND ASSIGN ACTION ITEMS AND MONITOR THEIR STATUS. 2. GLOBAL GEODETIC OBSERVING SYSTEM (GGOS) AS A MEMBER OF THE GGOS EXECUTIVE BOARD AND STEERING COMMITTEE, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE INTEGRATION OF GGOS AS THE OFFICIAL COMPONENT (OBSERVING SYSTEM) OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GEODESY (IAG) WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF ENSURING THE AVAILABILITY OF GEODETIC SCIENCE, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND PRODUCTS TO SUPPORT GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH IN EARTH SCIENCES. AS DIRECTOR OF THE GGOS BUREAU FOR NETWORKS AND COMMUNICATION, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE OVERSIGHT, COORDINATION, AND GUIDANCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF THE NETWORK OF CORE (CO-LOCATION) SITES AND DEVELOP A STRATEGY TO DESIGN, INTEGRATE AND MAINTAIN THE FUNDAMENTAL GEODETIC NETWORK OF CO-LOCATED INSTRUMENTS AND SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY TO SATISFY THE LONG TERM (10 - 20 YEARS) REQUIREMENTS IDENTIFIED BY THE GGOS SCIENCE COUNCIL. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE GGOS INTER-AGENCY COMMITTEE IN ITS OUTREACH ROLE TO EXPAND GGOS MEMBERSHIP AND INCREASE INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE STRENGTHENING GGOS INFRASTRUCTURE. 3. NASA WORKING GROUP ON SPACE GEODESY THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE NASA WORKING GROUP ON GROUND NETWORKS TO SCOPE AND PLAN NASA'S ROLE IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE GEODESY NETWORK; THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT TASKS AS SPECIFIED IN THE NASA SPACE GEODESY PROGRAM PROPOSAL; 4. RETRO-REFLECTOR ARRAYS AND STANDARDS THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RETROREFLECTORS ARRAYS FOR IMPROVING RANGING PERFORMANCE. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE EFFORT TO PLACE RETROREFLECTOR ARRAYS ON THE GPS-3 SERIES AND OTHER PROGRAMMED AND PLANNED MISSIONS. 5. TECHNICAL, MANAGEMENT, AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND REVIEW OF THE NASA SLR SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION OF SITE REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDAMENTAL STATIONS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROVIDE TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE TO OVERSEAS GROUPS IN DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING SPACE GEODETIC MEASUREMENT PROGRAMS, HELPING TO COORDINATE THEIR ACTIVITIES WITH NASA AND THE REST OF THE GLOBAL SPACE GEODESY COMMUNITY; SUPPORT THE PURSUIT, INSTALLATION, AND OPERATION OF OVERSEAS LASER RANGING SYSTEMS, INCLUDING SEEKING NEW INTEREST GROUPS, ASSISTING IN DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL PROGRAMS, SITE ASSESSMENT, AND RECONNAISSANCE, AND COORDINATION AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES WITH NASA PROGRAMS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL WORK WITH NASA AND OTHER ACTIVE SLR GROUPS TO DEVELOP OPTIONS FOR LOCATION OF SLR SYSTEMS TO ENHANCE GLOBAL COVERAGE AND TO DEVELOP COST SHARING OPTIONS AND MORE COST EFFECTIVE MEANS OF STATION OPERATIONS.

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• $80,314 - Wednesday the 31st of August 2016
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  THE "HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE" (HTE) PROJECT SEEKS TO HELP THE GENERAL PUBLIC MAKE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN FAMILIAR PHENOMENA ON EARTH AND MORE EXOTIC PHENOMENA IN SPACE. THE UNDERLYING GOAL OF THE PROJECT WILL BE TO COMMUNICATE THAT THE SAME PHYSICS CAN APPLY TO BOTH THE NEAR AND THE FAR, DESPITE DIFFERENCES IN DISTANCE, SCALE, AND OTHER UNDERSTANDABLE PARAMETERS. WE ARE PROPOSING THIS PROJECT BECAUSE IT WILL ALLOW NASA TO SHOWCASE THE WIDE VARIETY OF IMPORTANT AND ENGAGING SCIENCE THAT THE AGENCY CONDUCTS. BY UTILIZING IMAGERY FROM NASA SATELLITES THAT LOOK DOWN TO THE EARTH AS WELL AS THOSE THAT PEER INTO THE COSMOS, HTE WILL CREATE VISUAL ANALOGIES OF THE PHENOMENA WITH PHYSICAL SIMILARITIES AND THOSE WITH IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES. ANALOGIES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE EFFECTIVE LEARNING TOOLS IN A VARIETY OF SETTINGS. THIS PROJECT WILL CAPITALIZE ON THAT BY DEVELOPING AND PRODUCING AESTHETIC PANEL DISPLAYS THAT CAN BE BOTH EXHIBITED IN PUBLIC SPACES LIKE LIBRARIES AND COMMUNITY CENTERS, AS WELL AS BE REPRODUCED AS INEXPENSIVE POSTERS FOR MUCH WIDER DISSEMINATION. MOREOVER, COLLABORATORS ON THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP EASY-TO-IMPLEMENT ACTIVITIES THAT CAN BE DISTRIBUTED TO VENUES WHERE DEEPER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE. THIS PROPOSAL IS BEING LED BY TEAM MEMBERS THAT CREATED THE "FROM EARTH TO THE UNIVERSE" AND "STOP FOR SCIENCE!" PROJECTS, AND ELEMENTS OF EACH OF THESE PROJECTS CAN BE FOUND IN HTE. THIS WILL ALLOW THE EXPERTISE GAINED FROM THE EARLIER PROJECTS TO BE BUILT UPON AND ENHANCED INTO HTE FOR A WIDE-REACHING, EFFECTIVE, AND EFFICIENT OUTREACH PROJECT.

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• $80,066 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  DARK MATTER IS THE DOMINANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE MATTER DENSITY IN THE UNIVERSE, BUT THE BARYONIC COMPONENT, SEEN OPTICALLY IN GALAXIES AND IN HOT GAS IN GROUPS/CLUSTERS, IS THE MOST READILY STUDIED. FOR THE FIRST TIME, WITH THE COMPLETION OF A DEEP, COMPLETE SPECTROSCOPIC 4 SQ. DEG. SURVEY OF 11,692 GALAXIES COVERING THE 9 HR DEEP LENSING SURVEY FIELD, CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES CAN NOW BE IDENTIFIED BOTH THROUGH THE CONVERGENCE MAP PEAKS AND THROUGH VELOCITY DISTRIBUTIONS. TWENTY MASSIVE CLUSTERS WITH REDSHIFTS FROM 0.1 TO 0.6 (AND VELOCITY DISPERSIONS>500 KM S-1) AND 12 WEAK LENSING PEAKS ABOVE 3:5 HAVE BEEN FOUND IN THIS DLS FIELD. WE PROPOSE A DEFINITIVE INVESTIGATION TO UNDERSTAND THE BIAS INHERENT IN MASS SELECTION VS. BARYON SELECTION OF MASSIVE SYSTEMS SELECTED IN DIFFERENT WAYS BY COMPLETING XMM-NEWTON OBSERVATIONS OF THIS FULL SAMPLE. FOR THE X-RAY BRIGHTER CLUSTERS, WE ALSO WILL COMPARE THE TOTAL MASSES COMPUTED FROM CLUSTER VELOCITY DISPERSIONS, FROM GRAVITATIONAL LENSING, AND FROM NEW ROBUST, X-RAY MEASURED, LOW-SCATTER MASS PROXIES THAT HAVE PROVEN THEIR POWER IN COSMOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS.

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• $70,370 - Tuesday the 5th of June 2012
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
  THE HIGH RESOLUTION CORONAL IMAGER: HI-C

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• $65,531 - Tuesday the 31st of January 2017
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  WITH THE LAUNCH OF SDO, THAT CARRIES HMI -THE SUCCESSOR TO MDI- WE CAN ANTICIPATE BEING ABLE TO PRECISELY CHARACTERIZE P-MODES PROPERTIES THROUGHOUT SOLAR CYCLE 24. SUCH CHARACTERIZATION WILL LEAD TO COMPELLING INFERENCES OF THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SOLAR INTERIOR AND THEIR EVOLUTION WITH SOLAR ACTIVITY. WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OVER TO HMI OBSERVATIONS OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART FITTING METHODOLOGY DEVELOPED AND APPLIED TO THE MDI OBSERVATIONS. WE WILL PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE STANDARD PIPE-LINE, KNOWN TO HAVE PRODUCED BIASED ESTIMATES WHEN USED ON MDI OBSERVATIONS. THIS IS A NATURAL CARRY OVER OF OUR CURRENT EFFORTS FUNDED BY NASA GRANT NNX09AB15G (2008-2011: TIME SERIES MODE FITTING: IMPROVED METHODOLOGY USING LONG AND VERY LONG TIME SERIES). IN COLLABORATION WITH DR. EFF-DARWICH WE WILL THEN EXPLOIT THESE RESULTS USING OUR BEST INVERSION TECHNIQUES AND FURTHER STUDY THE INTERNAL SOLAR ROTATION AND IT'S EVOLUTION OVER CYCLE 24. THE WORK PROPOSED HERE WILL DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUN, A KEY ELEMENT OF NASA STRATEGIC GOALS AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES. MORE SPECIFICALLY IT WILL HELP US ANSWER NASA'S SCIENCE QUESTION HOW AND WHY DOES THE SUN VARY?. IT WILL GREATLY IMPROVE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF NASA'S SDO MISSION BY IMPLEMENTING A STATE-OF-THE-ART MODE FITTING ANALYSIS TOOL, AND CARRY OVER FROM MDI WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT MODE CHARACTERIZATION.

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• $63,925 - Friday the 10th of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
  X-RAY MIRROR COATING CHAMBER CHARACTERIZATION SUPPORT, IN SUPPORT OF VP62. THE NASA MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (MSFC) IS FABRICATING NICKEL REPLICATED OPTICS FOR THE ART-XC INSTRUMENT ABOARD THE SPECTRUM-RONTGEN-GAMMA MISSION. THE INDIVIDUAL X-RAY SHELLS COMPRISING A MIRROR ASSEMBLY MUST EACH BE COATED WITH A THIN LAYER (~ 250 +/-50 ANGSTROM) OF IRIDIUM TO ENHANCE HARD-X-RAY RESPONSE. TWO IDENTICAL CUSTOM COATING CHAMBERS HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLED FOR THIS TASK AT MSFC. MSFC WILL PROCURE THE SERVICES OF AN ORGANIZATION WITH EXISTING AND DEMONSTRATED EXPERTISE IN RADIO-FREQUENCY-SPUTTERED X-RAY COATINGS TO ASSIST IN CHARACTERIZING THE COATING CHAMBERS. THIS STATEMENT OF WORK OUTLINES THE SUPPORT TO BE PROVIDED TO MSFC UNDER THIS CONTRACT. THE REQUESTED EFFORT WILL BE TO PROVIDE A TEST PLAN AND MEASUREMENT SUPPORT TO FULLY CHARACTERIZE AND OPTIMIZE THE COATING SYSTEMS FOR THE FULL RANGE OF MIRROR SHELLS IN THE FLIGHT UNITS. THE COATING SYSTEMS UTILIZE RADIO-FREQUENCY SPUTTERING FROM AN IRIDIUM ROD (ORIENTED DOWN THE CENTER OF EACH SHELL) USING A LOW-PRESSURE ARGON FILL GAS. PARAMETERS THAT CAN BE VARIED TO ADJUST COATING QUALITY INCLUDE THE FILL GAS PRESSURE, THE GAS TYPE AND THE RF POWER APPLIED TO THE SPUTTERING TARGET. THE QUALITY OF THE COATING IS TO BE ASSESSED USING SILICON WAFER SAMPLES WHICH WILL BE MEASURED FOR REFLECTIVITY AT THE VENDOR S SITE. THE VENDOR WILL NOT BE EXPECTED TO PERFORM ALL THE TEST COATINGS (EXCEPT FOR AN INITIAL SET-UP) AS THESE WILL BE DONE BY AN MSFC ON-SITE PERSON ACTING WITH SUPPORT FROM THE VENDOR AND FOLLOWING THE VENDORS TEST PLAN. COATING TEST PLAN AND COATING CHARACTERIZATION THE COATING TEST PLAN SHALL DEFINE A SERIES OF TESTS TO CONVERGE ON OPTIMUM COATING PARAMETERS FOR THE FULL DIAMETER RANGE OF ART-XC SHELLS (FROM 50 MM DIAMETER TO 150 MM DIAMETER). TO ARRIVE AT THESE SETTINGS, A SERIES OF TESTS SHALL BE PERFORMED VARYING THE COATING CONDITIONS AND CHARACTERIZING THE RESULTING IRIDIUM DEPOSIT FOR UNIFORMITY OF DEPOSIT, BULK DENSITY (>20 G/CM3 REQUIRED), SURFACE ROUGHNESS (<6 ANGSTROM RMS REQUIRED), AND ADHESION (MUST SUPPORT A SCOTCH TAPE TEST). THE FORMER THREE SHALL BE ASSESSED THROUGH THE X-RAY REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENTS WHILE THE LATTER CAN BE GAUGED THROUGH TAPE TESTS OF DEPOSITS ON A REPRESENTATIVE SURFACE. AS THE FULL RANGE OF SHELL SIZES WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR TESTING, CYLINDERS CAN BE USED AS SUBSTITUTES ALTHOUGH TESTS MUST FIRST BE PERFORMED TO CONFIRM THAT THE TAPER PRESENT IN A REAL SHELL, DOES NOT AFFECT THE COATING QUALITY ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE SHELL UNDER CHOSEN COATING CONDITIONS. THESE TESTS SHALL BE PART OF THE OVERALL TEST PLAN.

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• $61,620 - Tuesday the 31st of January 2017
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  WITH THE LAUNCH OF SDO, THAT CARRIES HMI -THE SUCCESSOR TO MDI- WE CAN ANTICIPATE BEING ABLE TO PRECISELY CHARACTERIZE P-MODES PROPERTIES THROUGHOUT SOLAR CYCLE 24. SUCH CHARACTERIZATION WILL LEAD TO COMPELLING INFERENCES OF THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SOLAR INTERIOR AND THEIR EVOLUTION WITH SOLAR ACTIVITY. WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OVER TO HMI OBSERVATIONS OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART FITTING METHODOLOGY DEVELOPED AND APPLIED TO THE MDI OBSERVATIONS. WE WILL PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE STANDARD PIPE-LINE, KNOWN TO HAVE PRODUCED BIASED ESTIMATES WHEN USED ON MDI OBSERVATIONS. THIS IS A NATURAL CARRY OVER OF OUR CURRENT EFFORTS FUNDED BY NASA GRANT NNX09AB15G (2008-2011: TIME SERIES MODE FITTING: IMPROVED METHODOLOGY USING LONG AND VERY LONG TIME SERIES). IN COLLABORATION WITH DR. EFF-DARWICH WE WILL THEN EXPLOIT THESE RESULTS USING OUR BEST INVERSION TECHNIQUES AND FURTHER STUDY THE INTERNAL SOLAR ROTATION AND IT'S EVOLUTION OVER CYCLE 24. THE WORK PROPOSED HERE WILL DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUN, A KEY ELEMENT OF NASA STRATEGIC GOALS AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES. MORE SPECIFICALLY IT WILL HELP US ANSWER NASA'S SCIENCE QUESTION HOW AND WHY DOES THE SUN VARY?. IT WILL GREATLY IMPROVE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF NASA'S SDO MISSION BY IMPLEMENTING A STATE-OF-THE-ART MODE FITTING ANALYSIS TOOL, AND CARRY OVER FROM MDI WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT MODE CHARACTERIZATION.

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