On Friday, Paragon Space Development Corporation of Tucson, Arizona, a privately held innovator of applications for extreme environments beyond Earth’s atmosphere, announced a number of key contracts. Under NASA’s $105 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, Paragon has been contracted to develop its lunar ice mining technology, ISRU Collector of Ice in a Cold Lunar Environment (ICICLE) and its Mechanical-Compression Aerobot for Extended Range Venus ExpLoration (MARVEL).
The ISRU in “ICICLE” stands for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) platform, which is dedicated to advancing human spaceflight operations into deep space and establishing a long term human presence on the Moon and Mars. ICICLE is designed to support the generation of potable water by simultaneously collecting and purifying water vapor from lunar ice collected via a wide range of lunar ice mining techniques.
MARVEL, which will support NASA‘s efforts to conduct scientific exploration and understanding of Venus, consists of an autonomous robotic balloon vehicle capable of exercising trajectory and/or altitude control in the atmosphere of Venus. MARVEL accomplishes the goal of Venus exploration by combining advanced material configurations with innovative thermal control configurations for the payload, allowing it to withstand the harsh conditions natural to Venus.
“Paragon is excited to be awarded this work under the SBIR Program, and we are confident that our experience, incredibly talented staff, and corporate commitment to the maturation of innovative and enabling technologies will help NASA move forward in the exploration and development of space,” said Barry Finger, Vice President of Engineering for Paragon. “The SBIR Program represents the very best of government and industry coming together to address key technological challenges in an expedited and affordable fashion. We are grateful for the opportunity to support our NASA partners and we are ready to forge ahead!”
HALO
In a separate announcement on Friday, Paragon said it is part of aerospace and defense giant Northrup Grumman’s team for NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), a module roughly the size of a small apartment, capable of accommodating short-duration stays for crews arriving on the Orion spacecraft. Specifically, Paragon will be responsible for designing and implementing HALO’s Environment Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), which provides a “comfortable, shirt-sleeve” environment for visiting crew members during their stay at the Lunar Gateway.
The functionality of ECLSS will include maintenance of air and temperature, as well as safe levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, humidity and trade contaminants.
“We are extremely enthused to be part of this exciting endeavor and we look forward to supporting our Northrop Grumman partner on this important project. NASA’s HALO program is just one more indication–a marker if you will–of America’s vital re-focus on long-duration space and our renewed commitment to human space exploration,” Paragon President, CEO and Co-Founder Grant Anderson. “The HALO program will provide the precursor to extended missions to Mars, and should be inspiring to all Americans and the world community.”
