Cold Avionics Study (CTA-STUDY)

Extreme cold avionics, capable of functioning in temperatures ranging from -230°C to +120°C, are crucial for enabling lunar surface systems due to the harsh and unpredictable environmental conditions found on the Moon. These temperature extremes are driven by the Moon's lack of atmosphere, which results in significant temperature fluctuations between day and night. During the lunar day, temperatures can soar to +120°C in direct sunlight, while at night, they can plunge to as low as -200°C in the absence of sunlight.Lunar surface systems, including landers, rovers, and habitat modules, must operate reliably across this wide range of temperatures. Avionics systems, which include communication, navigation, power management, and computing, are vital for the functionality of these systems. If avionics cannot withstand the intense cold and heat, the entire mission could fail. For example, electronics may freeze, causing components to malfunction, or they could overheat and suffer thermal damage, potentially leading to a loss of system integrity.Cold capable avionics that are resistant to such temperature fluctuations are required to ensure continued functionality during both the lunar day and night cycles. These systems must use materials and designs capable of maintaining performance in extreme conditions. This includes the use of advanced thermal insulation, high-performance components, and innovative heat dissipation technologies that can endure these extremes without compromising reliability.Moreover, lunar surface systems will need to be autonomous for long durations, as communication with Earth can experience delays. Having avionics that can operate autonomously in extreme temperatures ensures that missions will not be prematurely terminated due to system failure, allowing for longer-term exploration and the establishment of permanent infrastructure, such as lunar bases or resource extraction facilities. Thus, extreme cold avionics are fundamental for the success and sustainability of lunar missions.

A cold avionics study is essential for assessing the technologies required to ensure the reliability and longevity of lunar operations. The Moon's extreme temperature fluctuations—from -230°C at night to +120°C during the day—pose significant challenges for avionics systems, which must function continuously under these harsh conditions. The NESC cold electronics assessment is a six-month task. The scope is to capture state of cold electronics at NASA, academia, industry, as well as its applications and challenges for lunar environments, perform gap analyses, and provide NESC guidance for cold electronics selection, evaluation, qualification, and screening for lunar missions, and recommendations for technology advances and follow-on actions to close the gaps. The assessment focuses in six topic areas, i.e., avionics architecture for cold environment, COTS cold electronics, custom cold electronics, packaging for cold electronics, power cold electronics, and cold electronics qualification. The intent is to enable the continuous use of these electronic component with minimal or no thermal management on missions in all regions of the lunar surface, e.g., permanently shadowed regions and equatorial. Ultimately, the study ensures the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of future lunar exploration efforts. The study results will help guide future investments on cold temperature tolerant avionics.

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.