Low Creep/Low Relaxation Polymer Composites, Year 3

Develop resins for novel low-creep and low-stress-relaxation polymer composites for inflatable and deployable space structures like solar sails, solar arrays, antennas, payload booms, Mars/Moon habitats and planetary decelerators. Large space structures are folded into the confined payload volumes during launch and deployed on orbit or at the mission location to a designed configuration. Current-technology fiber reinforced polymer composite materials can cause dimensional instability due to materials’ inherent viscoelastic behavior. The extended time of stowage between assembly and deployment in space can result in performance degradation and in the worst case, in mission failure.

Control cross-linking density, keeping a good balance between restriction of molecular rearrangement and material brittleness. Design new, stiff molecular structures containing aromatic rings. Candidate polymer structures are aromatic polyimides. Add a rigid second phase (well-bonded filler) and/or small molecules that restrict molecular motion. Secure strong interfaces between reinforcing fibers and the polymer matrix. Characterize the temperature-dependent creep and stress relaxation properties to predict lifetime creep behavior.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.