Next Generation, Lightweight, Durable Boot Materials to Provide Active & Passive Thermal Protection

The objective of this NASA Phase I SBIR program is to leverage lightweight, durable materials developed by NanoSonic for use within extra vehicular activity (EVA) space boots to provide the following benefits: weight reduction, increased durability/longevity and thermal protection/comfort. NanoSonic will collaborate with ILC Dover, the manufacturer of the EVA space boot, to develop next-generation designs employing the adaptive thermal control materials described herein. Next-generation designs will increase the comfort and productivity while reducing fatigue and injury risks provided to crew members. Further, these next-generation EVA boot materials shall also provide enhanced instep support and enable better boot sizing as indexing. To address the comfort and thermal concerns within the EVA boot, NanoSonic will work with ILC Dover, the world's leader in EVA spacesuits, who was recently awarded the contract by NASA to develop the Z-2 advanced spacesuit. In addition to providing enhancements for foot indexing and thermal comfort, NanoSonic will work with ILC to ensure that the solutions developed herein provide weight savings and increased durability such that the EVA prototype boots developed in the Phase II effort will afford crew members increased comfort and productivity while reducing fatigue and injury risk. The proposed program would start at TRL 5 and end at TRL 8 after a Phase II effort.

Near term potential NASA commercial applications include incorporation within current and next-generation: EVA spacesuit gloves and boots and "zero-G" station boots. Additional NASA commercial applications include new spacesuits to support planned Lunar and Martian environment service as well as enabling near earth asteroid (NEAs) exploration.

Both of the thermal control technologies presented herein could also be readily leveraged as personal garments for building occupants to extend their range of thermal comfort. Passive and active technologies may reduce the national energy expenditure on thermal control within buildings by allowing the neutral-band to be expanded. Since the majority of the nation's yearly energy expenditures revolve around the thermal control of commercial and residential buildings, garments that take advantage of NanoSonic's existing technologies could yield substantial savings in energy costs. Beyond the incorporation of flexible Metal Rubber heating circuits into space glove, diver gloves and boots, and first responder glove systems, there are other applications of Metal Rubber heater and other circuits and Metal Rubber material itself. Unlike so‐called 'flex circuits,' which can bend but not be strained, Metal Rubber circuits are truly flexible and stretchable. The future of such circuits lies in personal communication and display equipment, biomedical diagnostic sensors and equipment, and as sensors of large physical displacements that cannot be measured without failure by conventional foil strain gages. NanoSonic currently works with a major U.S. biomedical system manufacturer and several U.S. aerospace companies in these areas, and all have purchased NanoSonic's Metal Rubber material products.

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.