Download or read book Funding and Strategic Alignment Guidance for Infusing Small Business Innovation Research Technology Into Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Projects at Glenn Research Center For 2015 written by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-05-22 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is intended to help NASA program and project managers incorporate Glenn Research Center Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR)/(STTR) technologies into NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) programs and projects. Other Government and commercial project managers can also find this useful. Introduction Incorporating Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-developed technology into NASA projects is important, especially given the Agency's limited resources for technology development. The SBIR program's original intention was for technologies that had completed Phase II to be ready for integration into NASA programs, however, in many cases there is a gap between Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 5 and 6 that needs to be closed. After SBIR Phase II projects are completed, the technology is evaluated against various parameters and a TRL rating is assigned. Most programs tend to adopt more mature technologies-at least TRL 6 to reduce the risk to the mission rather than adopt TRLs between 3 and 5 because those technologies are perceived as too risky. The gap between TRLs 5 and 6 is often called the "Valley of Death" (Figure 1), and historically it has been difficult to close because of a lack of funding support from programs. Several papers have already suggested remedies on how to close the gap (Refs. 1 to 4). Nguyen, Hung D. and Steele, Gynelle C. Glenn Research Center NASA PROGRAMS; RESEARCH MANAGEMENT; TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT; TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER; ALIGNMENT; LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS; SPACE TRANSPORTATION; RATINGS; RISK; COMMERCE