Astrophysics Program Offices
Benefits Enabled by the Program
Technology Maturation and Infusion
The SAT program matures technologies across the mid-TRL gap, so they can be infused into strategic missions and/or enable international collaboration on projects relevant to Program goals. These technologies are also available for infusion into Explorers, suborbital missions, and ground-based experiments.
Collateral Benefits
Most PIs leverage SAT funding to generate matching internal R&D funding; fellowships; contributed labor, parts, and/or infrastructure funding; industry contracts; Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants; and/or funded parallel efforts on related projects.
Involving Students and Postdocs in SAT Projects
Most of our technology development PIs hire students and postdocs, on average three or four per project, totaling many dozens to date. This helps train the future astrophysics workforce. As can be seen in the quotes below, the Program is making a deep impact on these future technologists, and through them promotes astrophysics missions over many decades to come.
Students and post-doctoral fellows involved in SAT projects, in their own words.
Geographic Impact Distribution
The above-mentioned benefits have a broad geographic impact, including PI institutions, collaborators and partners, and universities and colleges where students and post-docs involved in SAT projects study and work.
Geographic distribution of benefits from the SAT Program (dark shaded states).
CONTACT
- NASA Official: Cathy Barclay
- General Questions: Stephanie Clark
- Website Issues: Jennifer Brill
