Between the Earth and the moon: An artist’s rendering of a refueling depot for deep-space exploration.
This is a US competition only. Please review the Guidelines and Legal Agreement for complete eligibility requirements.
Cryogenic fluids (LOX and LH2 in this context) have been used in spaceflight launch vehicles since the Gemini era. During the short duration of a launch, losses of cryogenic fluids due to boil off and leakage have been acceptable trade-offs for mission performance. Using the current state of the art, cryogenic fluid storage in an operational field (in-space propellant depot or tank storage in situ) is limited to several weeks. Future human space missions will have a duration of months to years and will require consumable losses to be minimal during long term in-space transportation, depot storage, and transfer between tanks.
Describe an innovation that can improve the use of cryogenic fluid management (CFM) in support of extended duration human spaceflight. The proposed innovation can be new technology or a novel use of existing technology. This challenge is seeking improvements to materials, manufacturing techniques, processes, or improvements to components or systems involved in CFM.
Cryogenic fluids (LOX and LH2 in this context) have been used in spaceflight launch vehicles since the Gemini era. During the short duration of a launch, losses of cryogenic fluids due to boil off and leakage have been acceptable trade-offs for mission performance. Using the current state of the art, cryogenic fluid storage in an operational field (in-space propellant depot or tank storage in situ) is limited to several weeks. Future human space missions will have a duration of months to years and will require consumable losses to be minimal during long term in-space transportation, depot storage, and transfer between tanks.
Describe an innovation that can improve the use of cryogenic fluid management (CFM) in support of extended duration human spaceflight. The proposed innovation can be new technology or a novel use of existing technology. This challenge is seeking improvements to materials, manufacturing techniques, processes, or improvements to components or systems involved in CFM.
Key Cryogenic Fluid Management Technologies
- Components
- Filling
- Gauging
- Leak Detection
- Liquid Acquisition
- Mixing Destratification
- Pressurization
- Refrigeration
- Sloshing
- Thermal Control
- Venting
Application Procedure
- Interested teams will submit a One Page Abstract describing their concept and projected results
- Teams submitting the best abstracts will be invited to submit a Five Page Proposal
- The top several proposals will present via Video Conference with the winner being chosen from these finalists
- The challenge is limited to US Citizens only.
- Employees of Jacobs, NASA, and others who work on the Jacobs Space Exploration Group (JSEG) Engineering and Science Services Capability Augmentation (ESSCA) contract are not eligible to participate.
- Jacobs and its evaluation committee are solely responsible for the evaluation and selection of challenge winners.
- The submitted ideas shall not contain classified, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) data. Entrants must certify that all information used is taken from the public domain, generated by the team, or that the team has rights to any data utilized to prepare the proposal.
- Entrants agree that Jacobs shall have the right to publicize the award, including photographs, video, and brief summaries of the idea.
Awards:- This challenge will award one prize of $10,000 which will be paid to the designated captain of the winning team; distribution among the team participants is the responsibility of the team captain. Taxes will not be withheld, any tax obligation will be the responsibility of the winning team members.
Deadline:- 16-08-2021