Commercial Capability Increasing for Launch Processors
COMMAND AND CONTROL
TECHNOLOGIES (CCT) Corporation of Titusville, Florida, located in
the Florida/NASA Business Incubator, is commercializing software
technology based on Kennedy Space Center's spacecraft ground processing
program's Control Monitor Unit (CMU). The CMU software and hardware
capabilities include processing equipment-test data for calibration
and diagnosis, controlling the operation of the equipment in real
time, simulating the operation of the equipment and processing large
streams of scientific measurement data for the new Space Shuttle
Checkout and Launch Control System (CLCS). It was originally developed
by NASA and McDonnell Douglas Space & Defense Systems at Kennedy
to prepare the International Space Station elements for launch.
Commercial capability for the CLCS is expanding. New long-term
commercial applications include a product called the Command and
Control Toolkit™ (CCTK). The CCKT includes remote monitoring
of mobile operations, such as offshore oil platforms, aeronautical
uses and remote land operations using future wireless telecommunications
satellite constellations.
Products to facilitate the expanded use of the CLCS at Kennedy
are being developed, said CCT president Peter C. Simons. The company's
advanced portable payload tester prototype will provide capabilities
to demonstrate how Space Shuttle and Reusable Launch Vehicle payloads
could be processed. A portable unit capable of being transported
to a payload customer site could reduce processing time and cost
at the launch site.
"This system will demonstrate the feasibility of using a
small mobile system that is compatible with the CLCS to prepare
spacecraft for flight," said Simons. "We are concentrating
on developing a proof-of-concept demonstration for the upcoming
X-34 reusable launch system."
As a key software architect of the CLCS, the company is helping
apply its technologies to solve complex subsystem problems. Simons
added that a sophisticated application development environment is
being created to enable console operators to quickly configure and
interconnect advanced tools to create automated sequencers, commanding
agents and graphics displays without programming.
CCT and NASA signed a copyright license agreement to commercialize
the Kennedy CMU software. The agreement calls for NASA to license
the copyrighted CMU software to CCT in return for royalties and
other considerations. CCT is the first company to license NASA's
CMU software. The agreement grants CCT exclusive rights to sell
the program to new commercial customers in the U.S. launch vehicle
industry.
CCT, a member of the Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center,
is the only U.S. firm specializing in launch vehicle control systems
design and development for spaceports and new launch vehicle programs.
The company provides software and maintenance for the control system
of the Astronaut Memorial Foundation's Space Mirror, located at
the Kennedy Visitor Complex.
For more information, contact Tom Gould at Kennedy Space Center.
Call: 407-867-6238, Fax: 407/867-2050, E-mail:Tomas.Gould-1@kmail.ksc.nasa.gov
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.
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INNOVATIVE
SMALL BUSINESS PROJECTS SELECTED
NASA
has selected 25 research proposals for negotiation of Phase
I contract awards for the agency's 1998 Small Business Technology
Transfer (STTR) program, with an expected combined award total
of nearly $2.5 million. NASA reviewed 130 proposals from small,
high-technology businesses across the country for technical
merit, feasibility and relevance to NASA research and technology
requirements.
The STTR
program requires small businesses to conduct cooperative research
and development by partnering with a research institution.
It is designed to stimulate technological innovation, help
small businesses become better qualified to assist NASA in
its research and development and increase private commercialization
of federally funded research.
The selected
firms will be awarded fixed-price contracts valued up to $100,000
each to perform a one-year Phase I feasibility study. Companies
that successfully complete the Phase I activities are eligible
to compete for Phase II selection the following year. The
Phase II award allows for a two-year, fixed-price contract
up to $500,000.
The NASA
STTR Program Management Office is located at the Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, with executive oversight
by NASA's Office of Aero-Space Technology, NASA Headquarters,
Washington, D.C. Individual STTR projects are managed by the
NASA field centers. A list of companies selected can be found
on the web at http://sbir.nasa.gov
For more
information, contact Dr. Jim Chern at Goddard Space Flight
Center.
Call: 301/286-5836, Fax: 301/286-1646, E-mail: Engmin.J.Chern.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
Please mention you read about it in
Innovation.
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TECH
EAST '98: CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Tech
East '98, recently held in Boston, Massachusetts, brought
approximately 7,500 participants together to view such events
as Photonics East (the only optics and photonics exhibit in
the Northeast), Electronic Imaging (the east coast's premier
annual imaging exhibit) and the New England Design and Manufacturing
Expo (the first major design engineering exposition in the
heart of the New England high-tech corridor, featuring new
products and services to help engineers meet their design,
prototyping, testing and production challenges). Coupled with
these events was the Ninth Annual Technology Transfer Conference—America's
premier showcase of new and next-generation technologies available
for license and commercial development.
As a
part of these activities, the Small Business Tech Expo was
held, representing the first annual showcase of resources
and technologies to launch new products and partnerships.
In seeking financing and investment opportunities, marketing
expertise and consulting services, as well as how to tap into
the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business
Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, small business entrepreneurs
were invited to participate in concurrent sessions. These
sessions ranged from the basics of proposal writing, financial
planning and intellectual property protection to one-on-one
sessions with NASA and other Federal SBIR/STTR managers, procurement
specialists and participating company representatives. Participants
discussed opportunities for funding, subcontracting and partnering
to gain strategic insight for moving SBIR technologies to
market.
NASA
brought its SBIR exhibit, featuring the best of the agency's
success stories, was actively engaged in the one-on-one sessions
and exhibited for the first time the NASA Small Business Solutions
Center. In addition to NASA resources such as the technology
commercialization network, the National Science Foundation
provided an SBIR Resource Center to assist small high-tech
firms in their search for resources and strategic partners
for their research and development programs. Conceived by
Carl Ray, SBIR/STTR Program Executive at NASA Headquarters,
the Solutions Center was one of the most commented-on features
of the exposition, according to the organizer of the Small
Business Tech Expo, Del DelaBarre. The display featured NASA
technologies developed through the SBIR/STTR programs and
featured current displays of program opportunities, while
virtually serving as a guide to other small business resources
at Tech East.
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