Organization
NASA Ames Research Center
Project Leader
Linda Timucin
Summary
The Advanced Prototypes Lab for Satellite Payloads (APL) is a research and development facility that designs, tests and characterizes novel
biological-assay instrumentation. R&D performed in the APL spans the fields of microbiology (bioengineering organisms and
characterizing existing organisms with requisite biomarkers expressing bioluminescence or fluorescence), microfluidics and
biophotonics. The APL strives to design biological assays that are feasible for integration into payloads well in advance of
launch schedule. The tools developed are state-of-the-art and, consequently, highly sought after by many outside research organizations.
Project Description
The APL accomplishes its mission by staying well ahead of current
requirements in NASA’s engineering development of investigator-specified, flight-payload instrumentation. To that end, the APL studies
the theoretical and practical capabilities of various implementations of relevant bioengineering and applied molecular genetics,
microfluidics, and biophotonics technologies before a particular operational need is even identified. Then, as each new bioassay
prototype is identified for build, a project team of experts is assembled. This team determines the development tasks required and
assigns research engineers to each task area, typically encompassing biology, fluidics, optics and thermal management. Next, an
appropriate proof-of-concept test is defined to ensure that the physical concepts are sound before a full prototype is built. If
the proof-of-concept passes, then the project proceeds to prototype build to validate both the survival of the organisms and the
expected performance of the bioassay. Once a prototype is proven successful, it leaves the APL and a new area of research is
identified to take its place. It is this rigorous and sequenced approach -- APL’s ‘proof-of-concept’ scheme followed by prototype
‘build-and-test’ – that enables NASA to operate with high efficiency and short timelines when flight instrumentation requirements
become known.
The cooperative environment of the Advanced Studies Laboratories is extremely valuable to the APL because
it expands the available expertise that its engineers can access to evaluate new approaches, including the use of advanced materials
and devices engineered at the meso- and nano- scale. For its part, the APL helps the ASL fulfill its goal of maintaining and expanding
mission-critical expertise and facilities in Silicon Valley. APL investigators willingly share their experience in flight and planetary
exploration instrumentation to academic, non-profit and industrial colleagues, including students new to these specialized engineering
practices. Further, APL equipment is available to other ASL affiliates to support mutually beneficial collaborations.
Sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center through the University of California, Santa Cruz’s University
Affiliated Research Center, the Advanced Prototypes Lab for Satellite Payloads (APL) lead is UCSC’s Linda Timucin.
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