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NASA NTRS2018

NASA's In-Space Manufacturing Project: Toward a Multimaterial Fabrication Laboratory for the International Space Station

uman space exploration to date has been limited to low Earth orbit and the moon. The International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique opportunity for NASA to partner with private industry for development and demonstration of the technologies needed to support exploration initiatives. One challenge that is critical to sustainable and safer exploration is the ability to manufacture and recycle materials in space. This paper provides an overview of NASA's in-space manufacturing (ISM) project, its past and current activities, and how technologies under development will ultimately culminate in a multimaterial fabrication laboratory ("ISM FabLab") to be deployed on the International Space Station in the early 2020s. ISM is a critical capability for the long endurance missions NASA seeks to undertake in the coming decades. An unanticipated failure that can be adapted for in low earth orbit, through a resupply launch or a return to earth, may instead result in a loss of mission while in transit to Mars. To have a suite of functional ISM capabilities that are compatible with NASA's exploration timeline, ISM must be equipped with the resources necessary to develop these technologies and deploy them for testing prior to the scheduled de-orbit of ISS in 2024. The paper provides a broad overview of ISM projects activities culminating with the Fabrication Laboratory for ISS. The FabLab will move NASA and private industry significantly closer to changing historical paradigms for human spaceflight where all materials used in space are launched from earth. While the current ISM FabLab will be tested on ISS, future systems are eventually intended for use in a deep space habitat or transit vehicle. The work of commercial companies funded under NASA's Small Business Innovative Research Program (SBIR) is also discussed, as these activities, from development of recyclable packaging for ISS to additive manufacturing capabilities for metals and electronics, could also potentially be infused into FabLab exploration capabilities as well.

Prater, Tracie↗

NASA NTRS2015

Opportunities and Strategies for Testing and Infusion of ISRU in the Evolvable Mars Campaign

HE Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) is developing the plans and systems needed for a robust, evolutionary strategy to explore cis-lunar space, the Mars sphere of influence (including the moons of Mars), and the surface of Mars. Recently, the emphasis of NASA's plans has changed to focus on the prolonged pioneering of space, rather than focusing on a single crewed mission as the ultimate goal. A sustainable, pioneering vision of space would include in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) in multiple forms and at multiple destinations: atmospheric capture of Mars CO2 and/or volatiles for consumables and propellants, regolith for bulk and refined materials, and in-situ manufacturing at the Moon, Mars, and other bodies. These resources would enable a reduction in the logistical needs from Earth for future missions, thus preparing the way for a sustained presence on Mars. Although the EMC initially relies only on propellant production for the Mars ascent vehicle via ISRU, one of its primary objectives is to prospect at every EMC destination to understand the potential for ISRU; this will permit true pioneering to be enabled after the first crew arrives at Mars. Recent and ongoing analysis has considered the possible prospecting measurements that can be performed at the asteroid returned to cis-lunar space by the Asteroid Robotic Redirect Mission (ARRM), at the lunar surface, at Phobos and Deimos, and on the surface of Mars to identify available resources for future use. These opportunities will be available on missions currently in the Evolvable Mars Campaign construct, and will also facilitate the testing and demonstration of resource acquisition, processing, storage, and useage technologies that can play a role in later missions. This analysis has also led to the identification of several objectives that should be targeted during the missions building up to and including the initial crewed missions. These objectives are mapped to strategies for incorporating ISRU to support resource cycle closure and reduce mass requirements from Earth. This analysis has yielded engineering constraints, based on ISRU, that impact the evaluation of landing sites for missions to the surface of Mars. The terrain of a particular site must be sufficiently flat to permit ISRU systems, as well as ancillary systems such as power and propellant storage tanks, to be landed, moved into position, set up, and operated. Water must be accessible in a form that can be acquired via ISRU, in quantities that align with demands. The chosen method of acquiring and processing water should align with the available resources at a particular site, and that site must have sufficient quantities to meet the requirements (based on crew consumables and propellant demands). Lower altitude landing sites are preferred, as the increase in density can facilitate carbon dioxide acquisition from the atmosphere. Another preference is for sites with a greater ability to move regolith for civil engineering purposes; for example, this would be conducive to both bulk regolith uses (such as the manufacture of berms), and processed regolith uses (such as microwave sintering).

Evolvable Mars Campaign↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Additive Manufacturing (AM) for Propulsion Component and System Applications

NASA MSFC is developing several areas of additive manufacturing (AM) for propulsion component and system applications. These developments include new AM process and material development, large-scale AM pathfinder component fabrication and hot-fire testing, AM-centric design methodology, modeling and simulation, post-processing advancements, and new design applications of AM in aerospace. Some specific areas NASA has focused is the development and commercial infusion of AM supply chain for materials such as copper-alloy GRCop (Cu-Cr-Nb), Hydrogen-resistant alloys (NASA HR-1, JBK-75), refractory-based alloys (C-103, W, Mo, new formulations), and bimetallic and multi-metallic AM processes. Additional efforts have been focused on large scale AM demonstrating complex thin-wall structures up to 60” diameter using directed energy deposition. Material characterization, properties and component hot-fire testing has been completed using many of these newly developed AM alloys/processes. NASA has also focused on improvements to post-processing including powder removal, surface enhancements, and support removal to further realize cost and schedule benefits to the overall supply chain. These developments are part of the NASA Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology (RAMPT), Low Cost Upper Stage Propulsion (LCUSP) and Long Life Additive Manufacturing (LLAMA) projects, in addition to internal IRAD, and external collaborations.

Additive Manufacturing↗

DOE OSTI2026

INFUSE:FLARED (Final Technical Report)

This report summarizes the final outcomes of the INFUSE:FLARED collaboration between Tokamak Energy (TE), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and the Department of Energy (DOE). The project aimed to experimentally determine and model the pumping, absorption, and separation behavior of deuterium in flowing liquid lithium under gas and plasma exposure conditions. The work supports the development of lithium-based plasma-facing components (PFCs) and tritium management strategies for next-generation fusion plants.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS2023

Analysis of the Solid Products from the OSCAR and the AOWG Trash Processing Systems

Two trash conversion systems that process space logistical trash for conversion into gases and liquids have minor solid product formation consisting of primarily high carbon ash, inorganic salts, and aluminum metal flakes. These solid products necessarily comprise part of the system output because the thermal degradation processes intentionally operate at temperatures below aluminum vaporization and do not convert all solid inorganics or carbon-based compounds into gaseous compounds (i.e., CO 2 or CH 4 ). The two systems included the Orbital Syngas/Commodity Augmentation Reactor (OSCAR) combustion system funded by the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) located at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, and the Advanced Organic Waste Gasifier (AOWG) steam reforming system developed by Pioneer Astronautics in Lakewood, Colorado, and funded by the NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD). OSCAR residual solids were collected from suborbital flight and ground-based laboratory testing, while all AOWG samples were collected from ground testing. This report discusses the solid product characterization, including elemental analyses performed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and a surface chemistry performed with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A particle size analysis was performed with sieves, followed by SEM analyses. These analyses were performed to elucidate what high value products can be extracted or utilized from the solid products for follow on infusion into chemical feedstocks, manufacturing additives, or in-situ construction-based material needs.

OSCAR↗

NASA NTRS2014

Advanced Compatibility Characterization Of AF-M315E With Spacecraft Propulsion System Materials Project

All spacecraft require propulsion systems for thrust and maneuvering. Propulsion systems can be chemical, nuclear, electrical, cold gas or combinations thereof. Chemical propulsion has proven to be the most reliable technology since the deployment of launch vehicles. Performance, storability, and handling are three important aspects of liquid chemical propulsion. Bipropellant systems require a fuel and an oxidizer for propulsion, but monopropellants only require a fuel and a catalyst for propulsion and are therefore simpler and lighter. Hydrazine is the state of the art propellant for monopropellant systems, but has drawbacks because it is highly hazardous to human health, which requires extensive care in handling, complex ground ops due to safety and environmental considerations, and lengthy turnaround times for reusable spacecraft. All users of hydrazine monopropellant must contend with these issues and their associated costs. The development of a new monopropellant, intended to replace hydrazine, has been in progress for years. This project will apply advanced techniques to characterize the engineering properties of materials used in AF-M315E propulsion systems after propellant exposure. AF-M315E monopropellant has been selected HQ's Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) to replace toxic hydrazine for improved performance and reduce safety and health issues that will shorten reusable spacecraft turn-around time. In addition, this project will fundamentally strengthen JSC's core competency to evaluate, use and infuse liquid propellant systems.

McClure, Mark B.↗

NASA NTRS2017

NASA's In-Space Manufacturing Project: A Roadmap for a Multimaterial Fabrication Laboratory in Space

Human space exploration to date has been limited to low Earth orbit and the moon. The International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique opportunity for NASA to partner with private industry for development and demonstration of the technologies needed to support exploration initiatives. One challenge that is critical to sustainable and safer exploration is the ability to manufacture and recycle materials in space. This paper provides an overview of NASA's in-space manufacturing (ISM) project, its past and current activities (2014-2017), and how technologies under development will ultimately culminate in a multimaterial fabrication laboratory ("ISM FabLab") to be deployed on the International Space Station in the early 2020s. ISM is a critical capability for the long endurance missions NASA seeks to undertake in the coming decades. An unanticipated failure that can be adapted for in low earth orbit, through a resupply launch or a return to earth, may instead result in a loss of mission while in transit to Mars. To have a suite of functional ISM capabilities that are compatible with NASA's exploration timeline, ISM must be equipped with the resources necessary to develop these technologies and deploy them for testing prior to the scheduled de-orbit of ISS in 2024. The presentation provides a broad overview of ISM projects activities culminating with the Fabrication Laboratory for ISS. In 2017, the in-space manufacturing project issued a broad agency announcement for this capability. Requirements of the Fabrication Laboratory as stated in the solicitation will be discussed. The FabLab will move NASA and private industry significantly closer to changing historical paradigms for human spaceflight where all materials used in space are launched from earth. While the current ISM FabLab will be tested on ISS, future systems are eventually intended for use in a deep space habitat or transit vehicle. The work of commercial companies funded under NASA's Small Business Innovative Research Program (SBIR) is also discussed, as these activities, from development of recyclable packaging for ISS to additive manufacturing capabilities for metals and electronics, could also potentially be infused into future exploration capabilities. Key data from ISM projects to date will also be summarized.

Prater, Tracie↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Natural Fiber Simulations and Analysis for Composites

As the U.S. government and the aviation industry strive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the Sustainable Manufacturing of Aircraft (SUMAC) project, supported by the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), aims to develop sustainably derived thermoplastic composites and manufacturing technologies for future aviation. A multidisciplinary team of experts drives this initiative through a collective effort. The team’s key focus areas are sustainably derived thermoplastic resins, natural fiber reinforcement, composite manufacturing, structural health monitoring, computational materials modeling, and systems analysis. This presentation will give an overview of the SUMAC project. Fiber-scale microscopy analysis characterized fiber cross sections finding that hemp and flax fibers are very deformable and non-circular (circularities of 0.2 were observed), and diameters range from submicron to 20 μm. Fiber shapes range from flattened, with aspect ratios Rlong/Rshort up to 5, to round, Rlong/Rshort =1. And Fiber core perimeters, which likely drives deformability, were calculated Pcore=7 μm. Explicit-fiber yarn simulations, parameterized from single-fiber measurements, resolved and identified slack as a cause for yarn strain-hardening tensile behavior. The bonded network model of PLA, PHA and PA11 resins captures tensile behavior, and can model an infused weave. Computational models of the weave unit cells matched the pattern (including plain, twill and triaxial braid), yarn ply (1to 2), and yarn twist from optical microscopy.

thermoplastic↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Natural Fiber Simulations and Analysis for Composites

thermoplastic↗

NASA NTRS2003

Operational Issues in the Development of a Cost-Effective Reusable LOX/LH2 Engine

The NASA Space Launch Initiative (SLI) was initiated in early 2001 to conduct technology development and to reduce the business and technical risk associated with developing the next-generation reusable launch system. In the field of main propulsion, two LOXLH2 rocket engine systems, the Pratt & Whitney / Aerojet Joint Venture (JV) COBRA and the Rocketdyne RS-83, were funded to develop a safe, economical, and reusable propulsion system. Given that a large-thrust reusable rocket engine program had not been started in the U.S. since 1971, with the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), this provided an opportunity to build on the experience developed on the SSME system, while exploiting advances in technology that had occurred in the intervening 30 years. One facet of engine development that was identified as being especially vital in order to produce an optimal system was in the areas of operability and maintainability. In order to achieve the high levels of performance required by the Space Shuttle, the SSME system is highly complex with very tight tolerances and detailed requirements. Over the lifetime of the SSME program, the engine has required a high level of manpower to support the performance of inspections, maintenance (scheduled and unscheduled) and operations (prelaunch and post-flight). As a consequence, the labor- intensive needs of the SSME provide a significant impact to the overall cost efficiency of the Space Transportation System (STS). One of the strategic goals of the SLI is to reduce cost by requiring the engine(s) to be easier (Le. less expensive) to operate and maintain. The most effective means of accomplishing this goal is to infuse the operability and maintainability features into the engine design from the start. This paper discusses some of the operational issues relevant to a reusable LOx/LH2 main engine, and the means by which their impact is mitigated in the design phase.

Ballard, Richard O.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Performance Degradation of Amine-Infused Fiber Sorbents for Direct Air Capture: Mechanisms and Solutions

Sorbent stability poses significant impacts on longterm performance of direct air capture (DAC) of CO 2 and levelized cost of capture (LCOC). We report the DAC performance degradation of amine-infused fiber sorbents based on poly(ethylenimine) (PEI), mesoporous SiO 2 , and cellulose acetate (CA) over CO 2 cyclic sorption cycles in a nonoxidative environment. Infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra indicate that the aminolysis reactions between CA ester moieties and PEI amine sites lead to the formation of acetamides and hence lower CO 2 affinities of the sorbents. This stability issue can be remedied by hydrolysis treatment of the CA fiber sorbents before PEI impregnation or replacing CA with poly(ether sulfone). This study underscores the importance of selecting proper support or additive materials of DAC contactors that are compatible with active species of CO 2 capture.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

NASA NTRS2015

Flight Testing ALHAT Precision Landing Technologies Integrated Onboard the Morpheus Rocket Vehicle

A suite of prototype sensors, software, and avionics developed within the NASA Autonomous precision Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) project were terrestrially demonstrated onboard the NASA Morpheus rocket-propelled Vertical Testbed (VTB) in 2014. The sensors included a LIDAR-based Hazard Detection System (HDS), a Navigation Doppler LIDAR (NDL) velocimeter, and a long-range Laser Altimeter (LAlt) that enable autonomous and safe precision landing of robotic or human vehicles on solid solar system bodies under varying terrain lighting conditions. The flight test campaign with the Morpheus vehicle involved a detailed integration and functional verification process, followed by tether testing and six successful free flights, including one night flight. The ALHAT sensor measurements were integrated into a common navigation solution through a specialized ALHAT Navigation filter that was employed in closed-loop flight testing within the Morpheus Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) subsystem. Flight testing on Morpheus utilized ALHAT for safe landing site identification and ranking, followed by precise surface-relative navigation to the selected landing site. The successful autonomous, closed-loop flight demonstrations of the prototype ALHAT system have laid the foundation for the infusion of safe, precision landing capabilities into future planetary exploration missions.

Carson, John M. III↗

DOE OSTI2024

Materials Science of the Interstitial Doping Process

Particle accelerators are an increasingly important tool for frontier science. Growing initial and operating costs are a significant barrier for upgrades and for new machines. While everything matters, the major cost contributor is the SRF cavities and their ancillary facilities (e.g., cryoplant). Accordingly, the accelerator science community devotes much R&D effort to improving their energy efficiency (increased Q o ) and gradient (E acc ). While improved gradient is at the forefront for certain machines (ILC), improved quality factor has broader impact, benefitting all SRF applications. An important opportunity for accelerator science and technology to move forward arose in the course of building the LCLS-II, the second generation Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC. At more or less the same time, researchers at Fermilab discovered that introducing a small amount of nitrogen to the niobium surface could improve the mid-range quality factor as much as three-fold. A firm resolution of how nitrogen confers its benefit attracts much current research interest. The key elements of the “nitrogen doping” process were vacuum bake at 800 °C, brief exposure to mTorr of nitrogen at several hundred degrees followed by electropolish (EP) to remove several microns from the surface to eliminate unwanted nitrides: While the process as a whole was novel, the comprising unit operations are familiar to the accelerator community. It was judged reasonable to adopt it as a cost-reduction technology for LCLS-II. Researchers carried out a program of varying process parameters and measuring performance in single-cell cavities, leading to a consensus stable protocol for the project. The transition to vendor fabrication and multiple niobium sources has presented unforeseen challenges of performance variation evidently not connected to anything that could be incorporated in a purchase specification. Moving beyond the high temperature N-doping process above, researchers reported a simplified process consisting entirely of tens of hours anneal in a N atmosphere at low temperatures (~120°C – 160°C) after 800 °C UHV bake. These processes typically yield a few-nm doped layer while the high temperature process yields at least a few to many micron doped layer. Even more recently, oxygen has been used to dope instead of nitrogen which leaves a few-µm O-alloyed layer upon vacuum annealing for 300 °C for ~3 hours. The investigation of these materials is just beginning, but the process simplification they may offer is surely attractive. The very low quantity of material that appears to be significant in the “infusion” process indicates the need for very careful control of gas species available for diffusion into the surface during low temperature treatment, both for process control and research to characterize the underlying dynamics. Oxygen alloying offers the further opportunity to utilize the decomposition of the surface native oxide as the dopant source. It is necessary to understand and (thus) manage this process. We have been supported by the Department of Energy Offices of High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics to pursue this goal.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2024

Transforming Cyber Education thru Open to All Accessible Pathways

Boise State University’s (BSU) Cyber Operations and Resilience CORe program was intentionally designed so that any student, especially non-traditional and non-technical students, with an interest in cybersecurity could have an education and training pathway to enter the cyber workforce. The CORe curriculum focuses on teaching students how to design, apply, and improve cybersecurity through the interaction of people, processes, and technology. CORe is a stackable curriculum with elective credit hours and options for various academic and industry certificates and certifications that enable students to customize their unique career pathway. The CORe program guides students to think about the system being managed, the risks presented, and the dynamic intersection of system elements when considering how to incorporate resilience frameworks in achieving a resilient system. By developing systems thinking, the students gain an understanding of the interdependencies interacting with the operational system. Further, the CORe program encourages students to integrate cybersecurity knowledge with models and frameworks found in other academic disciplines through a unifying systems approach. CORe is designed around the realities of today’s broad cyber landscape: that breaches will occur in any system over time and proactive design of resilience into systems to detect, respond, and recover in a timely and orderly manner is critical. Students are taught to think holistically about cybersecurity focusing on all system elements. CORe is not a traditional cybersecurity degree. CORe is distinguished by the non-traditional engineering, computer science approach to cybersecurity education with the singular focus on infusing resilience operations and transdisciplinary systems thinking principles throughout the curriculum.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

NASA NTRS2008

Project Integration Architecture

The Project Integration Architecture (PIA) is a distributed, object-oriented, conceptual, software framework for the generation, organization, publication, integration, and consumption of all information involved in any complex technological process in a manner that is intelligible to both computers and humans. In the development of PIA, it was recognized that in order to provide a single computational environment in which all information associated with any given complex technological process could be viewed, reviewed, manipulated, and shared, it is necessary to formulate all the elements of such a process on the most fundamental level. In this formulation, any such element is regarded as being composed of any or all of three parts: input information, some transformation of that input information, and some useful output information. Another fundamental principle of PIA is the assumption that no consumer of information, whether human or computer, can be assumed to have any useful foreknowledge of an element presented to it. Consequently, a PIA-compliant computing system is required to be ready to respond to any questions, posed by the consumer, concerning the nature of the proffered element. In colloquial terms, a PIA-compliant system must be prepared to provide all the information needed to place the element in context. To satisfy this requirement, PIA extends the previously established object-oriented- programming concept of self-revelation and applies it on a grand scale. To enable pervasive use of self-revelation, PIA exploits another previously established object-oriented-programming concept - that of semantic infusion through class derivation. By means of self-revelation and semantic infusion through class derivation, a consumer of information can inquire about the contents of all information entities (e.g., databases and software) and can interact appropriately with those entities. Other key features of PIA are listed.

Jones, William Henry↗

NASA NTRS2004

Advanced Diagnostic System on Earth Observing One

In this infusion experiment, the Livingstone 2 (L2) model-based diagnosis engine, developed by the Computational Sciences division at NASA Ames Research Center, has been uploaded to the Earth Observing One (EO-1) satellite. L2 is integrated with the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE) which provides an on-board planning capability and a software bridge to the spacecraft's 1773 data bus. Using a model of the spacecraft subsystems, L2 predicts nominal state transitions initiated by control commands, monitors the spacecraft sensors, and, in the case of failure, isolates the fault based on the discrepant observations. Fault detection and isolation is done by determining a set of component modes, including most likely failures, which satisfy the current observations. All mode transitions and diagnoses are telemetered to the ground for analysis. The initial L2 model is scoped to EO-1's imaging instruments and solid state recorder. Diagnostic scenarios for EO-1's nominal imaging timeline are demonstrated by injecting simulated faults on-board the spacecraft. The solid state recorder stores the science images and also hosts: the experiment software. The main objective of the experiment is to mature the L2 technology to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7. Experiment results are presented, as well as a discussion of the challenging technical issues encountered. Future extensions may explore coordination with the planner, and model-based ground operations.

Hayden, Sandra C.↗

NASA NTRS2005

The Space Technology 7 disturbance reduction system

The NASA New Millennium Program Space Technology 7 (ST7) project was selected for the purpose of flight validation of technology for minimizing disturbances on spacecraft and freely-floating test masses. Measurements of the motion of test masses are used for determining the gravitational field in its location, providing information on the nearby mass distribution or looking gravitational waves generated by distant star systems. Any unmeasured forces acting on the test mass cause a deviation from a purely gravitational trajectory and so limit the accuracy of the gravity field estimation. The ST7 project will validate the capability to eliminate unwanted forces to a level 3000 times lower than the current state of the art. The ST7 design is based on the concept of a freely-floating test mass surrounded by a spacecraft which shields the test mass from unwanted disturbances. since some disturbance of the test mass can be caused by motion of the spacecraft itself with respect to the test mass, the disturbance reduction system includes the capability of precisely measuring the position of the spacecraft with respect to the test mass and control of the spacecraft position to within 1/100 of a wavelength of light.. The overall system performance of the ST7 project will be infused into space observatories for gravitational waves such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna project, and into future mission for mapping the time-variable Earth gravity field. The ST7 precision control capability also has applications for separated-spacecraft interferometric imaging projects. ST7 will consist of an instrument package and a set of microthrusters, which will be attached to the European Space Agency’s LISA Pathfinder spacecraft with launch scheduled for 2008.

Folkner, W. M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (Heeet) and 3D Woven TPS Readiness for Outer Planet Probe Missions

Recent mission studies have shown entry at Uranus or at Neptune will require 3-D Woven TPS, either the two-layer HEEET or the single layer 3MDCP, with 3MDCP being more mass efficient. The 3MDCP capability being developed to support MSR EES is sufficient for the Ice Giants if the probe size is 1.25 m or less. [The Uranus Orbiter Probe (UOP) Flagship study for the Decadal used a 1.26m diameter probe.] For larger diameters, dual layer HEEET is easily scalable and is already at TRL 6. It is possible to develop a seam approach that would allow the use of 3MDCP; the resultant mass savings could warrant such a development. Ames is already working on a concept towards this. If aerocapture becomes part of the mission design for Uranus, delivery of the probe from orbit will be easier. Whether or not the probe is delivered from orbit, 3-D Woven (HEEET or 3MDCP) is the only TPS qualified to enable Ice Giant in situ probes. In addition to UOP, Saturn probe mission concepts will be enabled by 3-D Woven, either HEEET or 3MDCP. Launch periods for the UOP flagship or a Saturn probe mission in the early to mid 2030s requires the community to ensure that the 3D woven capability does not atrophy. Currently other than MSR EES, no other mission requires 3-D wovens, and the manufacturing for MSR will be completed by 2023. A gap in production of 5 or more years requires careful monitoring of the industrial base. In addition, manufacturing of 3-D woven TPS, from procurement and weaving to molding and infusion, is a minimum 2-year activity. In response to the threat of atrophy and the time critical and intensive nature of restarting weaving, advocacy from OPAG to NASA SMD for a sustainability effort would ensure in situ exploration of the outer planets in the decades to come.

M Gasch↗