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2007
Accomplishments
Report

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The IPP Office provides opportunities for Goddard researchers to find outside sources of funding and research through other government agencies—helping Goddard achieve NASA’s mission needs more efficiently and cost effectively.

Goddard civil servants and contractors can search the online Other Government Agency (OGA) Reference page on the IPP Office Web site to help identify relevant labs and points of contact at other government organizations. Developed in FY07, this resource enables Goddard researchers to establish relationships with government organizations for technology infusion and future funding opportunities. The document covers many technology areas, including:

• Space and near-space sensors and systems
  
  
• Strategic and tactical networks
  
  
• Informational assurance

The IPP Office’s professional staff provides assistance with proposals and submissions wherever possible, often helping to pinpoint areas where the same submission materials may be used for multiple sources of funding.

Astronauts in space may be better protected against adverse health phenomena thanks to joint research between Goddard, the National Cancer Institute, and the University of Maryland College Park.

Goddard and the National Cancer Institute help ensure astronaut health

One highly successful FY07 example of utilizing other government resources to infuse technology that helps address NASA needs is an agreement among Goddard, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP). This three-way memorandum of understanding (MOU) aims to develop an advanced nanobiosensor that enables fully electronic cancer mutation detection. Not only would this nanoscale field-effect transistor (nanoFET) replace the current and highly time-intensive fluorescence technique for DNA analysis, but it also would enable a miniaturized, simplified, low-power, and potentially handheld diagnostic device that could be part of a medical toolkit in space exploration missions.

The collaboration will help transfer the cancer science and engineering discovery and development ultimately to a comprehensive device whose output is the predicted diagnosis/prognosis/detection of cancer.

For astronauts and patients here on Earth, these advances are expected to enable scientists to locate biomarkers in individuals’ genetic makeups to predict a susceptibility to cancer. Specific to astronauts—who are susceptible to radioactive damage during long spaceflight missions—the technology will enable their blood to be monitored over a long period of time.

This partnership among NCI, UMCP, and NASA is just one example of how the IPP Office is helping make cross-governmental collaboration not just a possibility but a reality.

The IPP Office also works to put agreements in place now that anticipate NASA’s future needs. A prime example of this proactive strategy is a new MOU with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) that will promote cross-agency technology infusion for mutual benefit. The agreement creates a Technical Exchange Group (TEG) between the two organizations that will meet biannually with the goal of sharing new technology developments, plans, and future aerospace and defense mission needs and requirements in order to identify potential areas of technical exchange, infusion, and partnerships. As part of the agreement, the DIA will work to advocate appropriate infusion of Goddard-developed technologies throughout the defense intelligence community