Paragon Space Development Corp., Tucson, announces that it has received a new $2 million award as part of NASA’s Tipping Point Program for the Shape Memory Alloys for Regulating Thermal control systems in Space (SMARTS) radiator. SMARTS promises the high thermal turndown and low mass that is needed to enable operations in the extreme range of environments that NASA and commercial space entities plan to explore.
Paragon will be leading an experienced team supported by Boeing, Texas A&M, NASA’s Glenn Research Center, and NASA Johnson Space Center. The team is to develop a thermal control system for lunar missions that maintains acceptable operating temperatures throughout the Moon’s day and night cycle. The design of this system could be adapted for crewed missions to Mars.
“We are pleased to have been selected once again by NASA to be part of this exciting, important and forward-leaning endeavor, and we greatly look forward to working with the NASA Centers and partners in the private sector on this important work. America’s future is in space, and the Tipping Point program will be critical to realizing humanity’s spacefaring future,” said Grant Anderson, Paragon’s President and CEO.
NASA recently selected 14 American companies as partners whose technologies will help enable the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach. The selections are based on NASA’s fourth competitive Tipping Point solicitation which will help bring the technologies to market and ready them for use by NASA. This contract represents the second consecutive Tipping Point award for Paragon over the last two years.
