NOTE: End date changed to 06/05/2023 per NSSC information (Ed., 3/8/23).

NOTE: End date changed to 12/05/2022 per NSSC information (Ed., 6/6/22).

• After phasing discussions with MSFC, we agreed to push the work for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 to the summer and fall, to allow continuity of funding for one or more students to prepare the bulk of the ground-based work in FY20. The funding profiles were adjusted accordingly.

• PI and students visited MSFC Electrostatic Levitation Laboratory (ESL) Jul-Aug 2019. Trained students on principle and practice of ESL experiments.

• Tested sample fabrication from oxide powders. Alternative approach was indicated for precise control of composition.

• Surrogate material Bi¬2O3 was used to test processing in pressure ESL.

• Commercial bismuth silicon oxide (BSO) and bismuth germanate (BGO) crystals were procured.

• Characterization procedures were developed for these materials, using optical microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The characterized commercial crystals were confirmed to meet specifications.

• PI and student Hodges visited MSFC ESL in January 2020.

• Samples were fabricated from commercial crystals in platinum laser hearth.

• Both BSO and BGO were processed successfully in ESL under pressure in N2/O2 gas mix.

• Analysis of these measurements continued with remote work during COVID-19 “stay at home” orders.

• Undergraduate Madeline Scott was honored with the University of Massachusetts Rising Researcher Award, April 2020, in part for her contributions to this project. This award serves to recognize the “most promising undergraduate students and to publicly acknowledge their excellent work”. Awarded to eight of almost 23,000 undergraduate students.

• PI and grad student Beth Hodges participated in Professor Doug Matson’s International Space Station (ISS) operations on the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) Electrostatic Levitation Furnace in August and November, 2020.

• Results of MSFC ESL experiments were presented at the The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) Annual Meeting, March 2022.

• Impact testing at the University of Massachusetts confirms that samples processed in NASA MSFC ESL are strong enough for flight qualification. This was a critical concern for the flight experiments until the recent development.

• NASA MSFC ESL experimental visit August 2022. This campaign has been delayed since the pandemic. It was determined that the full 5 atm gas pressure was needed to process the samples by ESL in 1 g. Returning to this capability required hardware changes to the MSFC ESL.

• After discussions with ESL and other MSFC personnel, it was decided to delay the Science Concept Review until ESL experiments at NASA MSFC became possible.

• Results to date were presented at the TMS Annual Meeting, Anaheim California, in March 2022 by MS student Elizabeth Hodges.

• COVID significantly impacted collection of new data at MSFC ESL, analysis of prior results, and presentation of results at technical meetings.

• Planned experimental campaign planned for late summer 2021 at NASA MSFC ESL was attempted in August 2022. Significant hardware upgrades were required.

• The PI accepted a new position as the George I. Alden Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, effective January 1, 2023.

• Hardware upgrades for MSFC ESL were completed in the Spring of 2023. A new experimental campaign is planned if and when the grant is transferred/renewed.

After phasing discussions with MSFC, we agreed to push the work for FY’19 to the summer and fall, to allow continuity of funding for one or more students to prepare the bulk of the ground-based work in FY’20. The funding profiles were adjusted accordingly. We are targeting SCR (science concept review) in FY’21 and flight in ’22.

A new graduate student visited UMass in March 2019, and will join us in June 2019. She will work on this project part-time.

The PI participated in numerous teleconferences about the status of the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) and coordination among the different MaterialsLab projects. The PI also participated in teleconferences for the Science Definition Team on Thermophysical Property Measurements.

The PI participated in joint efforts to demonstrate the relevance of the MaterialsLab projects to NASA’s exploration mission, and to find partners within NASA who would be interested in the results of our investigations.

The team has begun planning with NASA MSFC for ground-based experiments to be conducted next year, including sourcing, procurement, and fabrication of samples.