NASA SBIR 2010 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Techshot, Inc.
7200 Highway 150
Greenville, IN 47124 - 9515
(812) 923-9591

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Michael A Kurk
akurk@techshot.com
7200 Highway 150
Greenville, IN 47124 - 9515
(812) 923-9591 Extension :224

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 4
End: 6

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Traditionally spaceflight life science experiments require the return of samples to earth for analysis, which is frequently a challenge to the success of investigations. Even with more analytical instruments on ISS, conditions do not facilitate the transfer of liquid samples from experimental devices to analytical devices. In response to the science community's call for on-orbit analyses, Techshot, Inc. proposes to develop an On-orbit Analytical Cassette (OAC) for life and microgravity sciences research, which provides an innovative way to leverage Techshot's ADSEP payload, which is considered by NASA to be part of the existing ISS facilities. The proposed innovation consists of properly contained access ports for the OAC, making it possible to remove a small aliquot of liquid sample from an OAC and transfer it to Techshot's Dynamic Stage for microscopic observations and analysis using the Light Microscopy Module. The OAC is precisely on target to meet NASA's specific objective of (1) providing innovative ways to leverage existing ISS facilities for new scientific payloads, and (2) providing on orbit analysis to enhance capabilities and reduce sample return requirements. Techshot's innovative OAC is destined to improve the throughput of ISS, making it a win-win for both NASA and the science community.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Techshot expects to commercialize the OAC by incorporating it into the company's spaceflight service program that it offers to NASA mission programs, as well as for other Government agencies, such as investigators funded by the National Institute of Health Biomed-ISS program. The OAC provides a unique opportunity to more fully utilize ISS resources, thereby increasing our basic understanding of the effects of spaceflight on biological systems such as cells, plants, algae, and invertebrate organisms. NASA and the science community are poised to take advantage of this new knowledge and the analytical techniques that have enabled it. Consequently, NASA is expected to be an early adopter of the innovative OAC technology to maximize scientific return via on-orbit analyses, and so minimize the currently major limitation of sample return needed for subsequent analysis on earth.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Building on its expected success with employing OAC to support NASA mission programs, Techshot expects to soon offer flight experiment services to non-NASA customers, including private sector and university researchers. Once commercial space vehicles (e.g. SpaceX, Orbital) begin routinely flying to the ISS, to commercial space stations (e.g. Bigelow), and as free fliers (e.g. DragonLab), the logistics and economics of transporting materials to and from space should become much more appealing. OAC is capable of supporting a wide variety of microgravity research for the private sector customer base. The ADSEP and OAC technologies also have the potential for scale up of processing high-value products in the unique environment of space, including large scale cell and tissue growth, and high-value medical-grade materials processing.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (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.)

Active Systems Actuators & Motors Algorithms/Control Software & Systems (see also Autonomous Systems) Analytical Instruments (Solid, Liquid, Gas, Plasma, Energy; see also Sensors) Autonomous Control (see also Control & Monitoring) Biological (see also Biological Health/Life Support) Biophysical Utilization Data Acquisition (see also Sensors) Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients) Medical Physiological/Psychological Countermeasures Thermal