Combustion and Fluids Experiments

The Biological and Physical Sciences Division (BPS) within NASA's SMD sponsors long-duration microgravity physical sciences research aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in several disciplines including fluid physics, (liquids and soft matter) and combustion/fire safety. With the pending retirement of the ISS, other means of conducting low gravity research in the space environment need to be considered. Several Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) space stations are in development. In addition, over the last several years, 2860 smallsats, those having a mass of less than 1200 kg, compromised 97% of all spacecraft launched in 2023. Payload opportunities also exist on Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) and Artemis landers. Research on any of these platforms needs to provide different levels of power, data acquisition and control, telemetry, and the actual experiment and its instrumentation. NASA's exploration mission is currently focused on lunar and Martian exploration. Fundamental research is needed to provide and develop effective solutions to the engineering challenges associated with a sustained human presence on the lunar surface. Many of these issues can be addressed effectively in the low-gravity environment found in LEO. Proposals should identify a science research capability for physical science (combustion, fluid physics, or soft matter) research and develop a prototype design of the test facility designed for use in a CLD, lunar lander, or smallsat. Proposals must demonstrate the relevance of the hardware capabilities to measuring the desired phenomena and identify the potential size, weight, and power envelope and benefits of this technique over other existing methods. They must also identify one or more target platforms among the following: Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) lunar lander, Lunar Gateway, free-flyer, Artemis, ISS, Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD). Proposals should address issues in NASA's Low Earth Orbit Microgravity Strategy, the Moon to Mars Architecture Definition Document or the STMD 2026 Civil Space Shortfalls.