NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, working with the
Office of the Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters, has selected 20
projects for the 2009 NASA Innovation Fund. The fund was established to advance work from NASA innovators on novel technologies and concepts that have the potential to revolutionize the way NASA performs its missions such as enabling new capabilities in space flight, science, aeronautics or exploration. Projects that also offer potential solutions to other national and global challenges are of particular interest.

The selected projects include a technique for returning small payloads from the space station, a new approach to robotic space exploration, several new concepts for generating solar power, improved instruments for studying the environment, the use of microwave energy for sealing wounds, and nano-materials for scientific instruments and energy storage.

The selected project teams are led by NASA scientists and engineers
and include partners from five universities, two small businesses,
Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and the National Institute
for Aerospace in Hampton, Va.

More than 230 proposals were submitted this year. Each project is
funded for a maximum of $50,000, with work to be completed by the end of September.

For a complete list of the selected projects, visit:

http://tinyurl.com/ms3wtv

For more information about the NASA Innovation Fund and the Innovative
Partnerships Program, visit:

http://www.ipp.nasa.gov