GTL RECEIVES NASA PHASE II CONTRACT TO RESEARCH NEW METHODS OF GENERATING POWER DURING SPACEFLIGHT

Tullahoma, TN – Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories, LLC (GTL), an aerospace engineering research and development company, was recently awarded a NASA Phase II STTR contract entitled “Active Radiation Shield” to research methods of harvesting power from ambient radiation sources. This work is in collaboration with the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK).

In this effort, GTL is addressing one of NASA’s Top Technical Challenges of trying to “Increase Available Power” for NASA mission activities. Current methods of generating power during spaceflight include the use of solar panels and nuclear-powered batteries which both come with significant limitations. Solar panels are ineffective as spacecraft travel further from the sun, and nuclear sources are becoming harder to obtain as less source material is created due to nuclear non-proliferation treaties. Such limitations have led NASA to seek out new, unconventional methods of generating power.

Through a previous Phase I contract, GTL worked with UTK to identify alternative methods of achieving power at low cost and weight and found the conversion of radiation into useful power to be a viable solution. GTL plans to use the Phase II funding to continue this research and develop a small, lightweight device that would generate power from ambient radiation. Development of such technology would not only generate a usable amount of power but would also shield systems and personnel from harmful radiation.

GTL’s Active Radiation Shield is a part of the company’s emerging technologies and, upon successful development, will complement GTL’s existing technologies. GTL’s suite of technologies reduces launch cost by a factor of twenty while simultaneously increasing reliability by a factor of ten. To learn more about GTL’s existing and emerging technologies, please visit our website at gtlcompany.com.

Formed in 2004, GTL is headquartered in Tullahoma, TN with additional offices in California and Utah. GTL is a high-technology company that specializes in providing transformational technologies to the aerospace industry such as composite cryogenic tanks, integrated airframes, specialty structural composites, aerospace system design and analysis, combustion stability analysis, launch vehicle technologies and advanced flywheel systems for power storage.