LSI 2022 Solicitation Page - Limitless Space Institute

LSI GRANTS PROGRAM APPLICATION

Limitless Space Institute announces 2022-2024
LSI Grants Program

Limitless Space Institute is pleased to announce its second biennial grant cycle with the goal of providing measurable and consistent support for pursuing interstellar research. This call for proposals is seeking to support grants that can be categorized as a tactical grant, a strategic grant, or a fellowship grant.

The tactical grant is anticipated to have a theoretical focus (≤$100k) while the strategic grant would have an empirical element (≤$250k). The fellowship grant can be either a two-year graduate fellowship (≤$60k/year) or a two-year postdoctoral fellowship (≤$90k/year). The period of performance for the winning grants is expected to be 12-18 months duration for the tactical/strategic grants and 24 months for the fellowship grants. The start date for the winning proposals is anticipated to be the beginning of the 2022 academic fall semester.

It is LSI’s vision that the biennial Grants Program will help grow and mature the capabilities of the interstellar research and student community.

For more information, see https://lsiorg.wpengine.com/

Email Contact: info@limitlessspace.org

About LSI
Limitless Space Institute is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire and educate the next generation to travel beyond our solar system and to research and develop enabling technologies. LSI advances the pursuit of relevant deep space exploration R&D through the following student-engaging programs:

Internal R&D: pursuing in-house basic research at the Eagleworks Laboratories near Johnson Space Center.
External R&D: directly funding academia-led R&D projects through Grants.
Collaborative R&D: advancing research in collaboration with university partners.
Scholarships & Fellowships: awarding scholarships for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc students.
Lab Boosters: awarding lab boosters to k-12 education initiatives focused on bold space exploration.

LSI’s Board of Directors consists of Dr. Kam Ghaffarian (Chairman), Brian “BK” Kelly (Treasurer), and Gregory “Ray J” Johnson (Secretary). Dr. Kam Ghaffarian is the founder of the award-winning contractor Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies; co-founder of Axiom Space, Intuitive Machines, and X-Energy; and recognized by Ernst & Young as Entrepreneur of the Year. Brian “BK” Kelly served with NASA for 37 years, most recently as Director of Flight Operations, responsible for selecting astronauts and planning and implementing human spaceflight missions. Gregory “Ray J” Johnson, former NAVY test-pilot, served as a NASA astronaut where he was pilot of the STS-125 shuttle mission tasked with servicing the Hubble telescope and later served as a Senior Vice President of Blue Origin. Dr. Harold “Sonny” White leads LSI’s Advanced R&D, bringing decades of research experience in the advanced power and propulsion domain, most recently serving as the NASA Johnson Space Center Engineering Directorate’s Advanced Propulsion Theme Lead.

Brian Kelly retired from NASA in February 2019 after a career of over 37 years. As Director, Flight Operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) he directed a diverse civil service, military, and contractor workforce of over 2400 employees and a total annual budget of $500m. He was responsible for selecting and assigning NASA astronauts and planning, training, and flying human spaceflight and aviation missions. He directed the Astronaut Office, Mission Control, Aircraft Operations and Aviation Safety at NASA JSC. Over his career he supported 110 shuttle missions, 58 International Space Station Expeditions, 40 shuttle launches, and 35 Soyuz Launches as well as return to flight efforts following the Challenger and Columbia accidents. He selected 12 new astronaut candidates from over 18,000 applicants and selected the first female Chief Flight Director and 11 new Flight Directors for Mission Control Operations. While Director of Flight Operations he was responsible for 35 EVAs (space walks), 15 International Space Station Expeditions, over 2.5 million mission control commands to the International Space Station, and the assignment of 33 astronauts to Expedition and Commercial Crew Flight Test missions. He directed over 13,000 flight hours composed of 18,000 sorties in 32 different aircraft. He personally has flown over 250 flight hours in T-38N super-sonic jet training aircraft and over 63,000 feet in WB-57 high altitude research aircraft.

Dr. Kam Ghaffarian is a visionary entrepreneur dedicated to creating companies that focus on operating with the highest integrity, promoting employee well-being, and delivering the best technical solutions to customers. Kam co-founded Axiom Space in 2016 to advance the commercial utilization of space eventually leading to the design, manufacture, launch and operation of a commercial space station. Kam started his entrepreneurial career in 1994 by founding Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc. (SGT), a government services company focusing on Engineering, IT, Science Applications, and Mission Operations. SGT has become NASA’s second largest engineering services provider, employing over 2,400 people and generating annual revenues of approximates $500M. Prior to SGT, Kam held numerous technical and management positions at Lockheed Martin, Ford Aerospace, and Loral, among others. Dr. Ghaffarian holds a B.S. in Computer Science, a B.S. in Electronics Engineering, a M.Sc. in Information Management, and a Ph.D in Management Information Systems.