NASA SBIR 2006 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc.
44 Hunt Street
Watertown, MA 02472 - 4699
(617) 668-6800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
James Christian
JChristian@rmdinc.com
Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. 44 Hunt Street
Watertown, MA 02472 - 4699
(617) 668-6800

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Available digital dosimeters are bulky and unable to provide real-time monitoring of dose for space radiation. The complexity of space-flight design requires reliable, fault-tolerant equipment capable of providing real-time dose readings during a mission, which is not feasible with the existing thermo-luminescent dosimeter (TLD) technology, especially during extravehicular activities (EVA). Real-time monitoring is important for low-Earth orbiting spacecraft and interplanetary space flight to alert the crew when Solar Particle Events (SPE) increase the particle flux of the spacecraft environment. The Phase-II project will design and fabricate a prototype Dosimeter-on-a-Chip (DoseChip) for personal dosimetry comprised of a tissue-equivalent scintillation crystal coupled to a solid-state photomultiplier (SSPM). The ubiquitous nature of CMOS technology provides a standardized development platform, and the ability to integrate the supporting electronics into a miniature, lightweight design. The DoseChip provides a tissue-equivalent response to the relevant energies and types of radiation for low-Earth orbit and interplanetary space flight to the moon or Mars and will be sensitive to the dose rates and particle fluxes of ambient Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) to the higher rates of major SPE. The DoseChip will complement the existing Crew Passive Dosimeters by providing real-time dosimetry and as an alarming monitor for SPE.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Inexpensive radiation dosimeters are in general demand for commercial applications, such as personnel or waste monitoring, other applications include border monitoring for homeland security and protecting satellites and ground-based equipment from solar flares. The ability to inexpensively mass-produce these devices creates an entirely new market for arrays of distributed sensors. As high altitude commercial flight become more prevalent, active dosimeters can provide the redundant safeguards and information required to protect companies from unnecessary litigation and passengers from hazardous radiation conditions.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
During spaceflight, both the immediate rate and total exposure information can be recorded simultaneously by these high-efficiency digital dosimeters. The lightweight, compact size and inexpensive nature of these sensors also opens the possibility of monitoring many areas for comparison of radiation exposure, including individual monitors for each crewmember with online data for the whole mission. Ground-based research and comparisons will also become easier and less expensive with the SSPM dosimeter. The CMOS environment used to fabricate the SSPM and supporting electronics enables low-cost and lightweight space radiation dosimeters and solar particle monitors for NASA satellites.

NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING

High-Energy Particle and Fields Photonics Radiation-Hard/Resistant Electronics Sensor Webs/Distributed Sensors Tools Ultra-High Density/Low Power