SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Invocon, Inc.
19221 I-45 South, Suite 530
Conroe, TX 77385 - 8746
(281) 292-9903

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Mr. Eric Krug
ekrug@invocon.com
19221 I-45 South, Suite 530
Conroe, TX 77385 - 8746
(281) 292-9903 Extension :131

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Mrs. Mary Delahunty
mdelahunty@invocon.com
19221 I-45 South, Suite 530
Conroe, TX 77385 - 8746
(281) 292-9903 Extension :117

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
NDE Sensors is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Invocon's Health Interrogation for Space Structures (HISS) system provides a significant improvement over current alternatives for monitoring pressurized space structures for leaks and impacts. HISS will quickly detect and locate leaks based on their acoustic emissions or other signature. It will provide prompt warnings to flight and ground personnel in order to help save the vehicle (and mission). It will also complement the present Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) capabilities by providing leak location as well as warning of the leak up to several minutes before the ECLSS. The primary transducers with which HISS interfaces are acoustic emissions. However, Invocon plans to design HISS so that it will interface with other types of sensors in order to maximize its usefulness. This will allow HISS to be used for many other flight and ground monitoring applications.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The initial NASA application for HISS is to monitor the International Space Station (ISS) for leaks. HISS will also be simple to adapt to other structural monitoring requirements that will develop as the ISS ages. This is analogous to the significant increase in monitoring aboard the Space Shuttle as it aged. The experience NASA gains with HISS aboard the ISS will be directly applicable to new manned spacecraft such as Orion that are designed for deep space missions. HISS can monitor the Thermal Protection System (TPS) and other portions of these vehicles to ensure safety during final entry, descent, and landing. NASA can also apply HISS to other flight and ground applications such as monitoring pressure vessels, tanks, aircraft, structures, and test facilities.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Many Non-NASA applications are similar to NASA's applications for the technology. They include flight and ground testing of aerospace vehicles as well as long-term monitoring during actual missions. They also include monitoring pressure vessels, tanks, aeronautical vehicles, ground vehicles and terrestrial structures. The adaptable, smart, and connected nature of HISS will enable it to be adapted to many applications with minimal engineering, installation, and maintenance costs. Perhaps the most pressing need for HISS is aboard the commercial crew vehicles being developed in order to ensure the integrity of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) that is needed to protect astronauts during their final entry, descent, and landing.