$45 Million Dollar Research Contract Covers Multiple Disciplines

NASA has contracted with ERC Inc., of Huntsville, Ala., for space technology research and development activities at the agency's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, CA. The contract has a maximum value of $45 million.

This is a cost-plus, fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. The base contract lasts one year and has three one-year options.

ERC Inc. will support the Space Technology Division in the Office of the Director of Exploration Technology at Ames. The division develops technologies used to design and fabricate prototype hypervelocity vehicles that could travel in the atmospheres of Earth and other planetary bodies in the solar system. The office also is responsible for conducting research and development in nanotechnology, materials science, sensors and devices.

The company will support work at NASA Ames in the following areas:

• Understanding the chemistry and physics of hypersonic, reacting and radiating flows;
• Analyzing the aerothermodynamics of entry systems, aeronautics and space vehicle trajectories;
• Developing, modifying and applying computational fluid dynamics tools and quantum computing capabilities;
• Engineering ablative, reusable and multi-functional thermal protection materials and conducting materials science research;
• Planning, executing and analyzing experiments and testing the thermodynamics of materials;
• Studying the mechanisms of pre-biotic geochemistry;
• Providing educational outreach and internship employment opportunities to acquaint students with public service, and enhance their educational experience in support of NASA technology research and development program requirements.

The contract with ERC Inc. includes a subcontract with Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies Inc. of Greenbelt, MD.

FMI: www.nasa.gov