Development of Micro Gas Chromatography Flight Instrumentation

Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 2)

Description

This project will design a micro-channel chip-based gas chromatograph, fabricate the column in-house, develop stationary phase coating protocols, and couple the column to a commercial mass spectrometer to demonstrate proof-of-concept for molecular separation.

Benefits

Miniaturized chromatography systems like this can be coupled to GSFC flight-ready mass spectrometers to support mission concepts to be proposed or currently in development, ensuring that an end-to-end molecular separation and detection system can be contributed as a holistic instrument package.

Details

Technology area	Sensors and Instruments
Program	Center Independent Research & Development: GSFC IRAD (GSFC IRAD)
Lead organization	Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Start date	2023-10-01
End date	2024-09-30

Project contacts

Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.

Terry A Hurford — terry.a.hurford@nasa.gov
Jennifer C Stern — jennifer.c.stern@nasa.gov
Christine Jhabvala — Christine.a.jhabvala@nasa.gov
Eric L Golliher — eric.l.golliher@nasa.gov
Jennifer L Eigenbrode — jennifer.l.eigenbrode@nasa.gov
Luoth Chou — luoth.chou@nasa.gov
Mahmooda Sultana — mahmooda.sultana@nasa.gov
Samuel M Teinturier — samuel.m.teinturier@nasa.gov

How to get involved

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 2) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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.