(COSMOS) Compact Standoff Biomolecular Observation System

Nalu Scientific LLC (Nalu) proposes to develop and fabricate “Compact Standoff Biomolecular Observation System (COSMOS)”, a fast standoff video imaging system for searching for evidence of life through the sensitive detection of biomolecules and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The COSMOS system will be suitable for deployment on Mars and planetary rovers and also will function effectively in oceanic environments. It will use a compact solid state, conductively cooled Nd:YAG nano-second pulsed laser that simultaneously provides two excitation wavelengths, 355 and 532 nm, along with a compact, sensitive gated color 3.1M pixel CMOS camera detector. The system will be compact, portable, low mass and low power, and able to locate biological materials and organics with PAHs in an area ~1600 cm2 wide from a target distance of 3 m via live video using fast fluorescence signals. Through time gating, it is able to cleanly distinguish short-lived fluorescence signals from biological materials and PAHs from much longer-lived mineral phosphorescence and can operate in any ambient light conditions. The COSMOS instrument will be highly sensitive and capable of detecting PAH concentrations below 1 ppb from a stand-off distance of 1 m. Color imaging allows simultaneous detection of various objects in the targeted area through differentiation using shades of color and morphological features. The baseline system from which we will develop the COSMOS instrument has been successfully demonstrated during daylight for the detection of natural biological materials present in the oceanic waters surrounding Hawai’i and has also identified biological remains present in a 150 million year old fossil buried in a fluorescent clay matrix. COSMOS’s low size, mass and power as well as its wide-area video-speed imaging capabilities for biodetection has the potential to be extraordinarily useful in future NASA rover/lander life detection missions in both land and oceanic environments.

The search for evidence of life beyond Earth is one of the fundamental missions of NASA. The search for microscopic life such as microbes or even fossils in a large collection of geologic formations is a daunting task for rover/lander-based instrumentation. The development of high-speed instrumentation that can rapidly search for biological materials and biomarkers over a large area without sample collection is vitally important to NASA’s astrobiology and planetary exploration program. Fluorescence spectroscopy has proven useful in applications including characterization of oil spills and contaminants in the ocean and other waters with the ability to follow and precisely map dispersal patterns; characterization of thin films on both water and land; characterization of micro-plastic environmental contaminants in soils; and diagnosis of skin cancers and other epithelial diseases.

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.