KBR

KBR has more than 50 years of human space flight experience and is a recognized leader in the field of biological and human research in microgravity. KBR has a strong legacy as a pathfinder in tailoring and streamlining spaceflight processes. Our commercial approach for hardware and integration services, alongside our International Standard of Organization (ISO)9001/AS9100 and CMMI-DEV Level 3 processes, ensure the highest quality performance at the lowest feasible cost for ISS research. KBR’s proven track record of delivering solutions for operations, research, engineering, and technology development allows KBR to be an ideal partner for organizations seeking to capitalize on their products using the ISS National Lab as a research platform.

Project Management Services: 

• Project Management Institute-certified project management (PM) processes

• Cost control and schedule management

• Risk management

• Virtual institute and meeting support

Design, Development, and Testing Services:

• Hardware and software development compliant with NASA procedures and requirements

• In-house flight assembly and test facilities

  • Qualified Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) facility with OPC and NASA-STD-8739 certified technicians supporting electronics fabrication, assembly, and testing

  • Machine shop with a full suite of fabrication tools, CNC, 3D printing, and manual systems providing build-to-print, build-to-model, and inspection capabilities

  • Soft-goods fabrication facility emphasizing quick turn-around production of hardware for prototyping, training, and flight delivery

  • Full suite of testing tools, including environmental chambers for thermal testing

  • Structural, fracture, fatigue, and materials analysis expertise

  • Full safety, reliability, maintainability, and quality assurance (SRM&QA) support

• Feasibility assessments, interface control documents, design and certify to requirements (ISS common IRD, payloads, commercial), tailoring requirements, design reviews, drawings, and configuration management

• Traffic model development for planned investigations

• Hardware prototyping

• Flight hardware fabrication and assembly

• Modification/certification of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) hardware for use on ISS

•   Flight qualification and acceptance testing of hardware and software

Mission Integration and Operations Services:  

• Payload integration

• Certificate of Flight Readiness (CoFR)

• Safety certification, including verification of ISS and international partner safety requirement

• Crew training

• Ground and flight procedure development and verification

• Real-time operations support, including telemetry monitoring and direct voice communication

• Payload manifesting and logistics (pre-launch, return, disposal), including special handling requirements (e.g., biological/hazardous sample, late load, early retrieval)

• Remote guidance expertise for ISS medical imaging systems (e.g., ultrasound, optical coherence tomography)

• Operations simulation facility for medical and console operations development, validation, and training

• Data analysis and reports

Flight Hardware Expertise

KBR supports the development, testing, or sustaining of active flight payloads and medical operations systems across a range of capabilities:

• ISS Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR)

• ISS Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR)

• Human Research Facility racks

• Physiologic monitoring: Heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor with electrocardiogram, optical coherence tomography, ultrasound, fundoscope, and oximeter

• Environmental monitoring and controls: ISS portable oxygen monitor, carbon dioxide monitor, Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA), MiniTOCA, radiation detection hardware, acoustic dosimeter/ sound level meter, air quality monitor, compound specific analyzers, and microbial air sampler

• Sample collection: Animal dissection, blood, urine, saliva, and fecal sample collection, microbial sample collection (air/surface/body), water sample collection

• Sample processing: Centrifuge, vortex mixer, collapsible glove box, water sample analysis, microscopy, DEXA, DNA/RNA isolation, and sequencing

• ISS human countermeasures (exercise) equipment

• Rodent Research Habitat, Transporter, and ancillary hardware

• Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3)

• Other ISS hardware: AED (defibrillator), medications kits, fine water mist portable fire extinguisher, Iodine compatible water container, temporary urine and bring stowage system, in-flight gas delivery system, Biosentinel, Astrobee, Near Infrared Volatiles Spectrometer Subsystem (NIRVSS)

Research Expertise:

KBR supports NASA laboratories focused on the following areas of investigation as well as associated subject screening and selection support for sponsored ground analog investigations:

• Human factors and behavioral performance

• Medical exploration capabilities

• Human health and countermeasures

• Space radiation

Fields of expertise include, but are not limited to:

• Human systems: Cardiovascular, neuroscience, bone and mineral, radiation biophysics, nutritional biochemistry, immunology, and biochemical analysis, GeneLab sample analysis, and omics database repository

• Environmental factors: Food systems, air, and water quality, toxicology, air revitalization, water recovery, and waste management engineering research

• Spaceflight and ground studies with model organisms including rodents, invertebrates (Tardigrades, Drosophila, C. elegans), and microorganisms (yeast, bacteria, fungi, etc.)

• Genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic library generation, and analysis, including generation of novel bioinformatics analysis tools

• Astrobiology

• Atmosphere revitalization and trace contaminant control

• Water recovery, waste management, and in situ resource utilization

• Production of cellulosic and algal biofuels feedstocks

• Engineered nanoscale self-assembling enzyme complexes