Volume 10, Number 4 • July/August 2002 • Cover Story

Convergence of Biotechnology, Information Technology and Nanotechnology: A NASA Perspective

Using microgravity tech-nology to look into the eye. Artwork courtesy of Glenn Research Center.

The driving considerations for developing advanced technologies in the pursuit of NASA’s goals and missions are cost, safety and the advancement of science that operate within the constraints of mass, power and radiation exposure. In this regard, the agency has embarked on a technology strategy that relies on the convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology. It is expected that this triad of technologies will provide unprecedented benefits and solutions to the future grand challenges of space science and exploration. Currently, NASA’s Bio/Nanotechnology program is apportioned primarily between the Office of Aerospace Technology (OAT), with a focus on nanotechnology research and applications, and the Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR), with a focus on basic research in nanoscience related to biomedical applications. Furthermore, the OAT program integrates nanotechnology development into three areas–materials and structures, nanoelectronics and computing, and sensors and spacecraft components.

Materials and Structures

A major emphasis for the materials and structures area over the next five years will be the production and scale-up of homogeneous carbon nanotubes; the development of carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer matrix composites for structural applications; and the development of analysis and design tools to incorporate these materials into new vehicle concepts and validate their performance and lifecycles.

Furthermore, NASA will also explore the use of other nanotubes such as boron nitride for high temperature applications and research the use of crystalline nanotubes to ultimately exploit the full potential of these materials. NASA studies indicate that nanotube composites can reduce the weight of a reusable launch vehicle by a factor of two over the best composite systems today and by 80 percent over current aluminum structures. Early studies also indicate that the dry weight of a large commercial transport could similarly be reduced by about half, resulting in a fuel saving of about 25 percent. In the long term, the ability to create materials and structures that are biologically inspired provides a unique opportunity to produce new classes of self-assembling material systems. Some unique characteristics anticipated from biomimetics (“mimicking” biology) include: multifunctional material systems, hierarchical organization, adaptability, self-healing/self-repair and evolvability. This will allow for the tailoring of the material properties to meet the design requirements and revolutionize aerospace and spacecraft systems.

Nanoelectronics and Computing

NASA has requirements for computers that provide extraordinary computational speed and memory, as well as powerful new electronic tools that can function as human cognitive prostheses. These machines will need to be manufactured from nanoelectronic devices that feature both low-power consumption and resistance to harsh radiation environments, revolutionizing the way NASA accomplishes its missions. Future space systems could have all of their electronic systems on a single chip, where the computing and memory necessary for guidance, navigation, communications and integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) reside. Such a capability will enable inexpensive and powerful microspacecrafts. Much of the technology to accomplish this is envisioned to come from the knowledge of biological systems, which can be up to a million times more power and mass efficient than conventional electronics, and are able to self-assemble and self-adapt to changing conditions, and self-repair when damaged.

Today, biologically inspired neural nets have been developed in simulated demonstrations that allow computers to rapidly account for loss of aircraft-control elements, understand the resulting aerodynamics and then teach the pilot or autopilot how to avoid the loss of the vehicle and crew by an innovative use of the remaining aerodynamic control. Such approaches, coupled with the advances in computer power anticipated from nanoelectronics, will revolutionize the way “aerospacecraft” deal with condition-based maintenance, aborts and recovery from serious in-flight anomalies.

While global aeronautics do not require electronic devices that can tolerate ultra-high radiation, space exploration (both deep space as well as near-Earth orbits) will require such tolerance. NASA mission planners view such capabilities as enabling spacecraft to conduct in-situ science (without real-time Earth operators) where huge amounts of data must be processed, converted to useful information and then sent as knowledge to Earth with minimum bandwidth requirements. A longer-term vision incorporates the added complexity of morphing devices, circuits and systems whose characteristics and functionalities may be modified in flight. NASA will support work at the underlying device level, in which new device configurations with new functionalities may be created through intra-device switching. Combined research in the “zone of convergence” of nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology will lead to the development of new nanoelectronics and computing devices to meet NASA’s unique requirements.

Sensors and Spacecraft Components

NASA’s challenge to detect ultra-weak signals from sources at astronomical distances makes every photon or particle a precious commodity which must be fully analyzed to retrieve all the available information it carries. Nanostructured sensing and spacecraft elements, in which each absorbed quantum is fully characterized so as to extract the full range of information, provide an approach to achieve this goal. NASA will also develop field and inertial sensors with many orders of magnitude enhancement in the sensitivity by harnessing quantum effects of photons, electrons and atoms. A gravity gradiometer based on interference of atom beams is currently under development by NASA with the potential to conduct space-based mapping of the interior of Earth or other astronomical bodies.

Miniaturization of entire spacecraft will entail reduction in the size and power required for all system functionalities, not just for sensors. Low-power, integrable nanodevices are needed for inertial sensing, power generation and management, telemetry and communication, navigation and control, propulsion and in-situ mobility, etc. Integrated nanoelectro-mechanical systems (or NEMS) will be the basis for future avionics control systems incorporating transducers, electromagnetic sources, active and passive electronic devices, electromagnetic radiators, electron emitters and actuators.

This heart pump is an example of NASA’s work in biotechnology. Artwork courtesy of Glenn Research Center.

Basic Nanoscience

Foremost among the technological challenges of long-duration human space flight are the dangers to human health and physiology presented by the space environment. Acute clinical care is essential to the survival of astronauts who must face potentially life-threatening injuries and illnesses in the isolation of space. Currently, NASA can provide clinical care and life support for a limited time, but the only existing option in the treatment of serious illness or injury is expeditious stabilization and evacuation to Earth. Effective tertiary clinical care in space will require advanced, accurate diagnostics coupled with autonomous intervention. This must be accomplished within a complex man-machine interface, in a weightless environment of highly limited available space and resources, and in the context of physiology altered by microgravity and chronic radiation exposure. Biomolecular approaches promise to enable lightweight, convenient, highly focused therapies, guided with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Nanoscopic, minimally invasive technologies for the early diagnosis and monitoring of disease and targeted intervention will ensure good health in space. Prompt implementation of specifically targeted treatment will ensure optimum use and conservation of therapeutic resources, making the necessity for invasive interventions less likely and minimizing possible therapeutic complications.

Together, nanotechnology, biology and information technologies form a powerful and intimate scientific and technological triad that will help shape the direction and success of NASA. Q

NASA Official: Jonathan Root • Web Design: Printing & Design Office, NASA Headquarters • Credits