The Collier Report of U.S. Government Contracting

Sampling of Federal Government Funding Actions/Set Asides

In order by amount of set aside monies.

• $63,000 - Friday the 31st of July 2015
  National Aeronautics And Space Administration
  NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER
  WE PROPOSE TO STUDY THE ELEMENTAL AND ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF SOLID SAMPLES OF STARS, PRESOLAR GRAINS, AND NANODIAMONDS THAT HAVE BEEN EXTRACTED FROM METEORITES TO UNDERSTAND THEIR ORIGINS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS STRUCTURED INTO THREE RELATED SUBTASKS: 1) ATOM-PROBE ANALYSES OF METEORITIC NANODIAMONDS AND PRESOLAR SILICON CARBIDE (SIC): OUR GOAL IS TO ANSWER THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS OF THE ENIGMATIC ORIGIN (STELLAR VS. SOLAR SYSTEM) OF METEORITIC NANODIAMONDS, ASSOCIATED CARBONACEOUS PHASES AND OF THE FORMATION HISTORY OF PRESOLAR SUBGRAINS. THE RESOLUTION OF THE NANOSIMS ION MICROPROBE IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO ANALYZE THE ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF SMALL SUBGRAINS WITHIN PRESOLAR GRAINS AND OF INDIVIDUAL METEORITIC NANODIAMONDS (AVG. DIAM. ~3 NM). THEREFORE, THESE MINERALS ARE AMONG THE LEAST UNDERSTOOD REFRACTORY PHASES IN METEORITES. THE KNOWLEDGE OF ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF SUBGRAINS IS ESSENTIAL FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF PRESOLAR DUST. ANALYSES OF C ISOTOPES OF INDIVIDUAL NANODIAMONDS ARE REQUIRED TO DETERMINE THEIR PRESOLAR FRACTION AND THEIR STELLAR SOURCES. WE PROPOSE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ATOMIC RESOLUTION OF THE ATOM PROBE TOMOGRAPH (APT) TO ANALYZE THE ELEMENTAL AND ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF INDIVIDUAL METEORITIC NANODIAMONDS, ASSOCIATED PHASES AND PRESOLAR SUBGRAINS. WE RECENTLY PRESENTED FIRST SUCCESSFUL APT ANALYSES OF PRESOLAR SIC, AND PRELIMINARY DATA OF SAMPLES WITH NANODIAMONDS. APTS INCREASE THE SPATIAL RESOLUTION FOR ISOTOPE ANALYSES IN COSMOCHEMISTRY BY TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. 2) INTERSTELLAR RESIDENCE TIMES OF PRESOLAR GRAINS: THE TIME SPAN BETWEEN THE FORMATION OF PRESOLAR GRAINS IN STELLAR OUTFLOWS AND THEIR INCORPORATION INTO EARLY SOLAR-SYSTEM SOLIDS IS CRUCIAL FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE STAR FORMATION HISTORY IN OUR GALAXY, PROCESSING OF SOLAR SYSTEM PRECURSOR MATERIAL IN THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM AND FORMATION PROCESSES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. RECENTLY, WE REPORTED PRESOLAR COSMIC-RAY EXPOSURE AGES OF TWENTY LARGE PRESOLAR MAINSTREAM SIC GRAINS. MOST GRAINS HAVE PRESOLAR AGES CONSIDERABLY SHORTER THAN THEORETICAL ESTIMATES OF THEIR LIFETIMES. THE AGE DISTRIBUTION MAY BE EXPLAINED BY STARBURST ACTIVITY 1-2 BILLION YEARS PRIOR TO THE BIRTH OF THE SUN, POSSIBLY DUE TO A GALACTIC MERGER. HERE, WE PROPOSE TO TEST THE PRESOLAR STARBURST HYPOTHESIS BY DETERMINING INTERSTELLAR RESIDENCE TIMES OF A LARGER NUMBER OF LARGE PRESOLAR SIC GRAINS. TO DETERMINE CONCENTRATIONS OF COSMOGENIC NE, HE AND LI WE INTEND TO USE THE WELL-ESTABLISHED TECHNIQUES NOBLE GAS MASS SPECTROMETRY AND NANOSIMS. 3) NUCLEOSYNTHETIC ISOTOPES IN PRESOLAR GRAINS: NUCLEOSYNTHETIC ISOTOPES MEASURED IN INDIVIDUAL PRESOLAR GRAINS PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE TYPE OF STELLAR SOURCES, ON NUCLEOSYNTHETIC REACTIONS, STELLAR MIXING AND ION-TRAPPING PROCESSES IN OUR PARENT STARS. THE NUCLEOSYNTHETIC COMPONENT ALSO NEEDS TO BE KNOWN TO CALCULATE COSMOGENIC COMPONENT TO DETERMINE EXPOSURE AGES. HERE, WE PROPOSE TO ANALYZE NUCLEOSYNTHETIC ISOTOPES IN INDIVIDUAL PRESOLAR GRAINS OF DIFFERENT TYPES AND FROM DIFFERENT PRIMITIVE METEORITES IN A COORDINATED MULTI-INSTRUMENT STUDY TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. THIS INVOLVES RELIABLE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES INCLUDING TIME-OF-FLIGHT SECONDARY ION MASS SPECTROMETRY, NANOSIMS, NOBLE GAS SPECTROMETRY AND RESONANCE IONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETRY. THE PROPOSED SAMPLE-FOCUSED RESEARCH WILL INCREASE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHEMICAL ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE MISSIONS, IN PARTICULAR SAMPLE RETURN MISSION TO PRIMITIVE SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS. THIS IS HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT TO NASA'S COSMOCHEMISTRY PROGRAM GOALS, THE PLANETARY SCIENCE RESEARCH PROGRAM, NASA'S RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIC GOAL OUTLINED IN THE SUMMARY OF THE SCIENCE PLAN 2007 FOR NASA'S SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE 2007-2016 AND TO ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL GOALS OF NASA'S VISION FOR SCIENCE, TO UNDERSTAND OUR ORIGINS.

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• $149,955 - Thursday the 6th of August 2015
  Centers For Disease Control And Prevention
  DEPT OF HHS/CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
  IGF::OT::IGF WILDLIFE SAMPLING PROJECT

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