Cleveland (Aug 29, 2023) - The quiet economic engine that is Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center goes beyond its roughly 3,300 good-paying jobs, many of them scientists and engineers, to the jobs it supports in Northeast Ohio outside of these gates, which is another 8,400. ZIN Technologies, Powered by Voyager is one of these small businesses that has been in partnership with GRC for over 50 years. John Zoldak is the current Program Manager for the Spaceflight Development and Operations Contract at the NASA GRC  "What I have here is some hardware that we flew to the International Space Station," he said, displaying some of the items the 250 employees in Middleburg Heights have produced since 1957 as a contractor to NASA Glenn. "We've flown over 400 experiments to the International Space Station with Glenn. We flew 250 different pieces of hardware last year to the ISS." Without NASA GRC, he said these are jobs that wouldn't exist in Cuyahoga County.

Consider this: 60% of NASA Glenn's total spending goes to Ohio vendors, and 90% of that goes to vendors located here in Northeast Ohio.

DENVER (March 13, 2023) — Voyager Space, a global leader in space exploration, announced today the acquisition of ZIN Technologies, Inc. (ZIN), a leading engineering, design and integration company with decades-long experience providing critical human-rated spaceflight systems and monitoring solutions, propulsion, and more to NASA, national security agencies, and leading aerospace and defense companies. Voyager Space’s acquisition of ZIN is an essential step in expanding the company’s space infrastructure and technology capabilities to further its Starlab development efforts. “ZIN’s aerospace expertise, strong reputation in the industry, and legacy working with NASA and the ISS, makes them a perfect fit for Starlab and the growing Voyager Space technology ecosystem,” said Matthew Kuta, President and COO of Voyager Space. “ZIN has already played a crucial role as a capability provider to Starlab and as a founding leadership team member of the George Washington Carver (GWC) Science Park. We look forward to working with them further as part of the Voyager Space family.” ZIN is excited about this new venture and looks forward to reaching to the stars as part of the Voyager Team!

Cleveland, OH (November 2, 2022) – ZIN celebrates and proudly supports the 100th launch for the KSC Launch Services Program under the Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support 3 (ELVIS 3) contract and the Atlas 5 rocket’ last launch from Vandenberg that will place the JPSS 2 weather satellite into polar orbit for NOAA and NASA.  The rocket stage will perform a deorbit burn and deploy a joint ULA-NASA re-entry technology experiment named LOFTID, or the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator. There are 20 more Atlas 5 rocket flights on ULA’s schedule in the next few years, including the JPSS 2 mission. ULA is phasing out the Atlas 5 rocket, along with its other legacy rocket, the Delta 4. There are two Delta 4-Heavy rockets left on ULA’s launch manifest. The Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets will be replaced by the next-generation Vulcan Centaur launcher, which ULA says will be cheaper to build and operate, and will exceed the capabilities of the company’s previous vehicles.

Cleveland, OH (September 19, 2022) –  In December 2021, ZIN was selected by Voyager Space and its operating company, Nanoracks, to join the founding leadership team in charge of supporting the development of the Starlab's George Washington Carver (GWC) Science Park, along with USRA, The Ohio State University, and the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation. The GWC Science Park will leverage a successful terrestrial business model where scientists and industry members share findings, collaborate, and use new technologies to advance both scientific and commercial endeavors.

Today, Voyager Space announced that the terrestrial analog of the George Washington Carver Science Park will be located at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.  “Team Ohio” comprised of The Ohio State University, the State of Ohio, JobsOhio, and One Columbus was selected to develop the facility to support the world’s first-ever science park devoted to space.

Cleveland, OH (February 10, 2022) – ZIN Technologies provided the Power Propulsion Unit for the NEXT-C Ion Thruster on the DART spacecraft.  This unique mission and technology demonstration is enabled by our incredible NeXT-C team!!!

Mark your calendars to tune in and watch history!!!

Monday, Sept. 26 (DART Impact Day)

• 6 p.m. – Live      coverage of DART’s impact with the asteroid Dimorphos will air on NASA TV      and the agency’s website.      The public also can watch live on agency social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

• 7:14 p.m. – DART’s      kinetic impact with asteroid Dimorphos.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (June 9, 2022) – Congratulations to the Incarnate Word Academy Team 4 and ZIN Technologies, Inc. Design Build Team for winning the Great Lakes Science Center 2022 Design Build Challenge!  You are all Awesome!!

Image Credit: Great Lakes Science Center

Cleveland, OH (June 9, 2022) – ACME testing was conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) to improve practical terrestrial combustion and spacecraft fire safety. In 4+ years (from Nov. 2017 to Feb. 2022), over 1500 flames were ignited for 6 independent investigations with the help of 30+ ISS crew members and 30+ NASA Glenn operations personnel. The ultimate objective of this experiment was to develop an understanding of the mechanisms of chemi-ionization

in flames and to describe the interplay between convective flows driven by those flame ions

and their generation rate. With this information it would then be possible to detect and control flame behavior electrically. In microgravity the body force driving convection in the flame is associated entirely with the ion-driven wind (except for the small initial jet momentum which dissipates quickly). 1-gexperiments have demonstrated clearly that electrically driven convection can be used to modify the local flow field in a manner that changes combustion behavior. The goal of this project was to clarify and quantify this range of electrical effects and to then demonstrate the electrical manipulation of flame stability and soot in flames using the information obtained.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (June 6, 2022) - Saturday June 4th, SAMS celebrated 21 years of operations on the ISS.  SAMS was first powered on ISS on June 4, 2001, running almost continuously for 21 years. Sunday June 5th, SAMS celebrated the 31stanniversary of its first mission on the Shuttle, launching on STS-40 on June 5, 1991. Over 640,000 hours of sensor operation and counting, with more than 16 Terabytes of acceleration data collected.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (May 16, 2022) – The rHEALTH analyzer is a miniature flow cytometer for biomarker identification to assess biological changes in space, as well as a medical analyzer, which is designed for diagnosing/monitoring spaceflight medical conditions such as blood clots, kidney stones, radiation exposure, and other illnesses and injuries. The experiment was conducted across two sessions wherein the crewmember used 4 different types of ‘control samples’ to demonstrate the functionality of the rHEALTH in microgravity. The rHEALTH analyzer was developed in part with NASA sponsorship via the Human Research Program (HRP) and the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program over the past several years. This modified commercial-off-the-shelf hardware was developed for flight and operated by ZIN Technologies, under direction of HRP’s Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) element at Glenn Research Center (GRC) with support from the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Immunology Laboratory. Payload integration was performed by the Research Operations and Integration (ROI) element of HRP at JSC.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (February 10, 2022) –  ZIN Technologies, in partnership with the NASA Glenn Research Center developed the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE)experiment now on its way to the International Space Station.  The Northrop Grumman Antares vehicle carrying the Cygnus spacecraft launched at 12:40 p.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. Fire can be a catastrophic hazard for manned spacecraft. NASA mitigates the risk of fire with the implementation of NASA-STD-6001, which establishes program requirements for evaluation, testing, and selection of materials to preclude unsafe conditions related to flammability, odor, offgassing, and fluid compatibility. NASA-STD-6001 impalements a 1-g flame propagation test for proposed space flight materials which some researchers believe is not conservative in low-g. In 2009, NASA selected 5 investigations that will be conducted using SoPHIE that will help further our understanding of solid surface combustion and material flammability. Each investigation addresses different elements of material flammability. Congratulations to our SoPHIE Team!!

Cleveland, OH (December 9, 2021) –  ZIN Technologies, a global leader in biological and physical science civil and commercial space science operations, has partnered with Nanoracks and Voyager Space to join the founding leadership team of the George Washington Carver (GWC) Science Park on the Starlab commercial space station. The founding leadership team also includes The Universities Space Research Association, The Ohio State University, and the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation. The GWC Science Park, established by Nanoracks, is the world’s first-ever science park in space, operating today on the International Space Station (ISS), and soon on Starlab. “We are honored and excited to join this exceptional and renowned team of global experts to build and operate the Starlab GWC Science Park and to enable a sustainable space research and the industrial economy,” said Michael Johanson, Senior Vice President of Business Development.  The GWC Science Park will leverage a successful terrestrial business model where scientists and industry members share findings, collaborate, and use new technologies to advance both scientific and commercial endeavors. These goals will be accomplished within the GWC Science Park’s four main operational components, which will include a biology lab, plant habitation lab, physical science and materials research lab, and an open workbench area.  Nanoracks, in collaboration with Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin, was recently awarded a $160M contract by NASA to design its Starlab commercial space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Development program. The GWC Science Park will be the core science element of Starlab once it achieves initial operational capability in 2027.

Learn more about the GWC Science Park here.

Image Credit: Voyager Space

Cleveland, OH (November 4, 2021) –  As humans prepare to explore more distant reaches of our solar system, the need for reliable medical monitoring and treatment increases with each mile traveled. If an astronaut were to become ill on the Moon, about 250,000 miles away, or Mars, which ranges from about 35- to 250-million miles away, immediate treatment may be necessary, and a return trip to Earth might not be possible. ZIN in partnership with NASA JSC and GRC the Exploration Medical Capabilities (ExMC) works with other scientists to evaluate commercially available medical technology for potential use in future exploration missions. The team recently tested HemoCue – a small blood-sampling device that counts white blood cells within minutes from a single fingerstick sample -- aboard the International Space Station. The demonstration showed accurate cell counts can be obtained in a microgravity environment. The ExMC's mission includes advancing medical system design for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and promoting human health and performance in space in collaboration with other scientists under the direction of NASA's HRP. These scientists evaluate various commercially available medical technologies developed on the ground to test them aboard the space station for potential use in future exploration space missions.

Image Credit ZIN Technologies, Inc.

Abu Dhabi, UAE (January 22, 2021) –  ZIN Technologies, one of the oldest and most successful NASA prime contractors in the industry, is pleased to announce the launch of Zin Aerospace, Ltd. (ZIN-AS), duly incorporated in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, a premier business district in the capitol, to provide Space Flight physical and life science instrument solutions in the UAE. According to Dr. Carlos Grodsinsky, Director of ZIN-AS and Chief Operating Officer of ZIN Technologies, “Our goal is to complement the UAE’s world-class national space sector by supporting sustainable development and promoting scientific research and innovation in space sciences and technologies to advance the area’s space commercialization efforts.” ZIN-AS is partnered with Holding Space AD Limited (HSAD) to coordinate efforts between stakeholders and prospective regional opportunities. By leveraging international life and physical science collaborations, near-term LEO commercialization, and science instrument facility offerings, Zin will work with local agencies and the space research centers to attract and promote young Emiratis to become space scientists and technology pioneers-entrepreneurs.

Cleveland, OH (January 22, 2021) - To make sure that future spacecraft don’t run the risk of catching fire on the way to the Moon, NASA is conducting a series of Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments (SAFFIRE) experiments on board a used cargo spacecraft. This latest SAFFIRE experiment was a bit different from the four preceding it. This time, NASA set several fires in an oxygen-rich atmosphere to simulate the conditions that astronauts would experience during NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon. And yes, the experiments involve igniting actual, controlled fires on the interior of the uncrewed spacecraft, as seen in a video uploaded by the space agency. The latest experiment, conducted on January 13, was the fifth of NASA’s SAFFIRE experiments. During the experiment, robotic equipment ignited several fires inside a Cygnus cargo spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman. The spacecraft departed the International Space Station on January 6 after delivering supplies. A week later, NASA set the inside on fire. There’s no better place to test out next-gen fire suppression equipment and fireproof materials — and of course study the way fire behaves in microgravity — since these cargo spacecraft are destined to burn up upon re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere anyway. “The elevated oxygen levels show more energetic flames, which would have a larger impact on the vehicle,” Gary Ruff, SAFFIRE project manager at NASA, said in a statement. “The Saffire-V data will allow us to model fire scenarios and increase our confidence in safety strategies.”

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (July 25, 2020) - We’ve recently created flames on the space station within the Combustion Integrated Rack as a part of the s-Flame experiment. The study takes advantage of microgravity to gather information about combustion that could allow researchers to predict the structure and dynamics of flames. The results may help develop more efficient and less polluting engines. See the video on NASA Instagram by clicking the Additional Information link below.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (July 23, 2020) - To gain a better understanding of how fluid flows through channels on a micrometer scale, 1Drop Diagnostics’ took their research to the ISS National Lab. The investigation launched on SpaceX’s 20th commercial resupply services mission in March and is supported by Ohio-based engineering services company ZIN Technologies. By leveraging microgravity-driven changes in fluid dynamics, 1Drop Diagnostics hopes to gain insight that will help improve fluid control in their microfluidic chips. Results from this research could also aid in the design of microfluidic chips that are portable and rugged because they function in any orientation and are better able to absorb shock.

The investigation from 1Drop Diagnostics is the second project that stemmed from the MassChallenge Boston Accelerator that NASA astronauts Hurley and Behnken have worked on since their arrival onboard the space station—the pair also worked on an investigation from Cam Med Inc. to enhance a new drug delivery device. Hurley and Behnken became the first astronauts launched to the space station through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program via the SpaceX Demo-2 mission in late May. This mission ushered in a new era in human spaceflight—representing the first time American astronauts were launched into orbit from U.S. soil in nearly a decade and the first time ever onboard a commercially owned spacecraft.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (June 4, 2020) - The successful SpaceX Demo-2 launch and docking, which carried NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken from the Space Coast of Florida to the International Space Station (ISS), not only initiated a new era in American spaceflight but also rekindled the wonder and excitement of sending humans into space. Now, the two astronauts are getting to work in their new residence. During their stay on the space station, the Demo-2 crew has joined the Expedition 63 crew in working on maintenance of the station and scientific research onboard the orbiting laboratory. This week, one of the first experiments Hurley and Behnken will work on is a project from a Massachusetts-based startup that aims to bring benefit back those of us here on the ground. The project, sponsored by the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, seeks to enhance a drug delivery device for use in patients with conditions that require frequent injections, such as diabetes. The project is from Cam Med Inc., a company that designs and builds microfluidics-based medical devices aimed at improving quality of life for patients. Cam Med has developed the Evopump—the first truly bandage-like patch pump for subcutaneous delivery of one or more medications. Cam Med hopes their ISS National Lab project, which launched on SpaceX’s 20th commercial resupply services mission is supported by Ohio-based engineering services company ZIN Technologies, will help them improve dosage control in the Evopump. Space-based research is important to Cam Med because the functional absence of gravity reduces some complexities of the physical environment, allowing more thorough studies in microfluidics. Onboard the space station, the research team can evaluate processes such as bubble formation and behavior in ways not possible on the ground. A better understanding of how bubbles evolve on the Evopump electrode could allow Cam Med to further enhance the device and its benefits for potential patients.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (May 27, 2020) –After undergoing a series of performance and environmental tests, NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster - Commercial (NEXT-C) is being prepared for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission, which will launch next year. In the past few months, the thruster, developed at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and designed and built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, was put through vibration, thermal vacuum and performance tests and then integrated with its power processing unit. The environmental testing verified that NEXT-C could withstand the extreme launch vibrations and temperatures of spaceflight. DART will be the first space mission to demonstrate asteroid deflection by kinetic impact, a technique that could prevent a hazardous asteroid from impacting Earth by changing the motion of the asteroid in space. NEXT-C’s propulsion system will be tested on that mission, along with several other technologies.  When the propulsion system is successfully demonstrated on DART, NEXT-C will be considered on a variety of 10 to 15 year-long, uncrewed missions that could include going to other asteroids, comets or planets such as Venus.

Image Credit: NASA/Bridget Caswell

Cleveland, OH (December 2, 2019) – In September, Aerojet Rocketdyne and subcontractor ZIN Technologies Inc. of Ohio finished assembling the first flight string of the 7-kW NEXT-C gridded ion engine system. In 2021, NEXT-C will fly on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test, managed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (September 12, 2019) – Understanding how fire spreads and behaves in space is crucial for the safety of future astronauts and for understanding and controlling fire here on Earth. Microgravity is also crucial for combustion researchers to test some of the core principles of the field. ZIN in partnership with the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) developed, maintains and operates the ISS Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR).  The primary focus of microgravity combustion experiments has been related to either fire safety in space or better understanding of practical combustion on Earth and in space. The reduced gravity creates flames that look a lot different from the ones seen here on Earth: with the near absence of gravity on the space station, flames tend to be spherical. On Earth, hot gasses from the flame rise while gravity pulls cooler, denser air to the bottom of the flame. This creates both the shape of the flame, as well as a flickering effect. In microgravity, this flow doesn’t occur. This reduces the variables in combustion experiments, making them simpler and creating spherical shaped flames. The CIR, along with facilities such as the Microgravity Science Glovebox, created a secure and safe environment in which to study combustion without putting the crew in danger. Click below for the full story by NASA.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (July 14, 2019) – Kidney stones, often painful and debilitating, have long been a serious concern for astronauts. Dehydration, stasis, and bone demineralization are strong contributors to kidney stones and commonly occur in microgravity. Astronauts have reported kidney stones, postflight, more than 30 times. Technology currently under investigation could solve this and other health problems related to spaceflight. The Flexible Ultrasound System demonstrates use of a ground-tested, software-based ultrasound technology in a device for deep-space missions. FUS aims to provide state-of-the-art clinical internal imaging and additional capabilities, such as using ultrasound for therapy as well as diagnosis, and facilitating development of algorithms for advanced image interpretation. FUS is based on the commercial GE Vivid-E95 clinical ultrasound device. Modifications by ZIN Technologies Inc. advanced capabilities that allow researchers not only to detect and manipulate renal stones, but also assess bone health, enhance healing of musculoskeletal injuries, monitor intracranial pressure via eye scans, and provide training tools so astronauts can produce diagnostic-quality ultrasound scans autonomously.

ZIN would like to acknowledge the following key members of the FUS team; John Eustace for his hard work and technical expertise, Wayne Borrelli for safety, Robert Yarber for contract negotiation, Jim Shaffner for contract management, and Scott Fisher for hardware assembly.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (February 1, 2019) –The NASA GRC International Space Station (ISS) Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) has reached a milestone with 50 flights to ISS in support of its science mission.  The FCF is a set of two International Space Station (ISS) research facilities designed to support physical and biological experiments in support of technology development and validation in space. The FCF consists of two modular, reconfigurable racks called the Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) and the Fluids Integration Rack (FIR). The CIR and FIR were developed at NASA’s Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland, Ohio, under a prime contract with ZIN Technologies. The CIR was launched to the ISS on the Space Shuttle STS-126 in 2008 and the FIR was launched on STS-128 in 2009. Both racks are operated remotely from the Glenn ISS Payload Operations Center (GIPOC) at GRC. The sustaining engineering and operations team is under a prime contract with ZIN Technologies.  ZIN has supported 977 top level assemblies to ISS with a total mass of FCF hardware to date over 2284 Kg.  The CIR was the heaviest rack launched to ISS at 771 Kg.  The CIR platform made it possible for the discovery of “Cool Flames”.  The CIR was originally envisioned during the Skylab era and its predecessor Combustion Module-1 (CM-1) was aboard the last flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia.   The FIR includes the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) that is a modified commercial, highly flexible, state-of-the-art light imaging microscope facility that provides researchers with powerful diagnostic hardware and software onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The LMM enables novel research of microscopic phenomena in microgravity, with the capability of remotely acquiring and downloading digital images and videos across many levels of magnification. The way that matter is organized and moves on the microscopic level profoundly affects the macroscopic world and an understanding of such processes helps scientists and engineers build more efficient materials and machines both for both the earth and space environments.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (Dec 2, 2018) –InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study Mars' interior structure answers key questions about the early formation of rocky planets in our inner solar system - Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The lander uses cutting edge instruments, to look deep beneath the surface and seek the understanding of the processes that formed the terrestrial planets. The InSight mission was delayed because issues during verification. In 2016, when JPL needed to fabricate parts to recover from these issues, they chose ZIN. Between March and October of that year, we revised designs, procured, and inspected SEIS flexprint assemblies for JPL. As we celebrate the landing of InSight, we want to congratulate our ZIN team!

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (Aug 16, 2018) –If a United States Space Force becomes the sixth branch of the military, Ohio’s robust aerospace and aviation industry may play a leading role. Last week at a press event at the Pentagon, Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary James Mattis and other leaders from the Department of Defense addressed the future of the U.S. military’s presence in space. As part of that future, federal officials released a report containing the first stages of the administration’s plans to turn the Space Force into reality.  Dr. Carlos Grodsinsky, the chief operating officer of ZIN Technologies Inc., opined that the Space Force would be an extension of what the other armed services are already doing. However, there would just be a greater focus on those efforts to protect American assets in space. Dr. Grodsinsky said it would be a worthy venture so long as it is not intended to provoke other nations, namely Russia and China, that also have robust space programs.

Image Credit: NEWS5 Cleveland

Cleveland, OH (July 24, 2018) – Leading Faucet Company Seeks to Innovate Shower Experience Based on Out-of-This-World-Water Droplet Findings.  Delta Faucet Company has announced its partnership with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), in collaboration with the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, to study the formation of water droplets, water flow and pressure in microgravity. The experiment will leverage Delta Faucet Company's proprietary H2OKinetic® Technology to shed light on water flow in microgravity and how to deliver an enhanced shower experience for consumers. ZIN Technologies will develop this experiment as a CASIS implementation partner for Delta Faucet Company.  Delta Faucet plans to launch the microgravity investigation from Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia as early as November 2018. Once the testing is complete, the same study will be conducted on Earth in order to compare results.

Image Credit: CASIS

Cleveland, OH (June 4, 2018) – On June 4, SAMS is celebrating 17 years of powered ISS operations. SAMS was first powered on ISS on June 4, 2001. Tomorrow, June 5, SAMS celebrates the 27th year of the first launch and operation of SAMS. SAMS first shuttle launch was June 5, 1991 on STS-40.  SAMS currently has 8 sensor active on ISS and the SAMS project is working to build and fly three more TSH-ES units to support the increased demand for acceleration measurement. Congratulations to everyone, many of us have worked at one time in our career here at NASA on the acceleration projects.

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (May 31, 2018) –ZIN held its annual employee Egg Drop Competition on Thursday, May 31st, 2018.  Congratulations to this year’s winners Justin Funk who won the Technical category and Mark Morris that won the Non-Technical category! The winning designs were the ones that prevented the egg from breaking and had the lowest weight. The egg was provided by ZIN (USDA Grade A chicken eggs per AMS 56) on the day of the competition.  The drop for all participants were the Flight Unit’s maiden flight. Each device was dropped from the third floor balcony (inside) of the atrium at ZIN-O in Middleburg Heights. Participants dropped their own design by letting go with an outstretched arm.  Thanks to all that participated good luck to all those already planning for next year’s competition.

Cleveland, OH (May 11, 2018) – As we travel farther into space, clever solutions to problems like engine part malfunctions and other possible mishaps will be a vital part of the planning process. 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is an emerging technology that may be used to custom-create mission-critical parts. An integral piece of this process is understanding how particle shape, size distribution and packing behavior affect the manufacturing process.  The Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-7 investigation (ACE-T-7) developed for the NASA GRC by ZIN Technologies, Inc. aboard the International Space Station explores the feasibility of creating self-assembling microscopic particles for use in the manufacturing of materials during spaceflight. These microscopic particles come together like building blocks to create materials with tailored nanostructures, giving scientists the ability to change the behavioral properties of a material according to a set of instructions embedded within the particle. The ability for materials to self-assemble, and potentially self-repair following a breakdown, will be a key element as we head to deep space destinations, where bringing along extra engine parts and other necessary items may not be an option because of storage limitations aboard the spacecraft.

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Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (April 18, 2018) – Standard flat imagery of space science is a thing of the past for researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G). Using the International Space Station’s newly upgraded microscope, the Light Microscopy Module (LMM), scientists can now see microscopic particles in 3-dimensional images.  On April 12, researchers first viewed the particles, called colloids, in 3-D, during the ongoing Advanced Colloids Experiments (ACE). Colloids are suspensions of microscopic particles in a liquid, and they are found in products ranging from milk to fabric softener. Consumer products often use colloidal gels to distribute specialized ingredients, for instance droplets that soften fabrics, but the gels must serve two opposite purposes: they have to disperse the active ingredient so it can work, yet maintain an even distribution so the product does not spoil. ZIN Technologies, Inc. designed, built and operates both the LMM and ACE hardware. Researchers are using the Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-6 (ACE-T-6) investigation, which has been in development for eight years, to study the behavior of colloids in gels and creams. The team plans to use the results to improve product shelf life and provide for more efficient product packaging.

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Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (February 28, 2018) – Cleveland, OH (February 28, 2018) – The number of people that touch a Procter & Gamble (P&G) product each day is 4,800,000,000.  ZIN is working with P&G, CASIS and the NASA Glenn Research Center in development and operations of the Advanced Colloids Experiment (ACE).   The ACE-T6 is the first to use the 3D confocal microscope on the International Space Station (ISS).  This will provide quantitative 3D microgravity images from which to extract data not available on Earth. P&G is learning to control these instabilities with measurements of model systems on the ISS.  In this work, Dr. Matthew Lynch, Principal Scientist at P&G, studies the fundamental physics of the coarsening of colloidal gels, which are foundational to a completely different stabilization approach.  Benefits, spin-offs, and applications from this work include an extended product shelf-life, enhanced product quality, lowered production cost lowered (stabilizers are expensive), reduced transportation cost (by concentrating essence), four patent applications have been filed, inspired by the (ACE-M1 and BCAT) experiments. Additional information are provided in the latest NASA “Benefits for Humanity Publication”.

Additional Information

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Cleveland, OH (December 15, 2017) – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched the CRS-13 Dragon spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 15 December 2017. Cargo aboard the Space X Dragon resupply mission includes NASA Glenn Research Center experiments developed by ZIN that will study colloids that are 1/100th the diameter of human hair.  The experiments will use the NASA GRC Light Microscopy Module an on-board microscope also developed and operated by ZIN to determine how three-dimensional particles within fluids interact when there is no gravity. This mission marks the first time SpaceX is flying both a flight-proven Falcon 9 and a flight-proven Dragon spacecraft. Falcon 9’s first stage previously supported the CRS-11 mission in June 2017 and the Dragon spacecraft previously supported the CRS-6 mission in April 2015. For SpaceX’s thirteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-13), the Dragon spacecraft carries over 2177 kilograms (4800 pounds) of supplies and payloads to the International Space Station.

Additional Information

Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (December 05, 2017) – ZBOT has completed ISS operations after 11 weeks in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) and after about as many years since project development began. The remainder of the science data was transferred successfully off of ZBOT, the hardware was removed from the MSG and is stowed for return on SPX-13 in January 2018. While the formal assessment of science success will be determined by our PI, Mo Kassemi,we can say that operations were very successful in terms of the system performance and the volume, quality and scientifically interesting nature of the data that was obtained. Thanks the the entire ZBOT Team including our MSG friends and others at Marshall and JSC, for your hard work, overcoming all of the challenges involved and making this possible.

Additional Information

Cleveland, OH (November 28, 2017) – After more than eight years of igniting hot science aboard the International Space Station, the Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) was recently removed from its home on the orbiting laboratory as part of the Combustion Integration Rack (CIR). Since its installation in 2009 the apparatus enabled droplet combustion experiments as part of more than five investigations. MDCA accommodated droplet-combustion investigations that studied efficient fuel efficiency and engine production in space and on Earth. MDCA also supported the Cool Flames Investigation during Expedition 50. 

Additional Information

Cleveland, OH (Oct 19, 2017) – Congratulations to the ZIN ZBOT Team!!  Installation of the ZBOT experiment in the MSG was completed.  To date, all planned tests at the 70% and 80% tank fill levels have been completed. Tests at the 90% fill level are underway and are scheduled to be completed on November 17, 2017. Testing with the Digital Particle Image Velocimetry diagnostic will then be performed and operations are scheduled to conclude on December 1, 2017. The ZBOT experiment is designed to examine a ventless means of controlling tank pressure through the application of active heat removal and forced liquid jet mixing. ZBOT-1 examines these thermal effects for of a volatile liquid (perfluoro-normal-pentane) and its vapor.  Additional Information

Cleveland, OH (Oct 13, 2017) – The ISS Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) CIR was reconfigured for the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project on October 11-12, 2017. The reconfiguration of the CIR included the removal of the Multi-User Combustion Droplet Apparatus, which operated in the CIR for 8.5 years supporting liquid droplet combustion experiments. The ACME Chamber Insert Assembly and the hardware to perform the first ACME investigation, Coflow Laminar Diffusion Flame (CLD Flame), was installed and will study gas-fueled flames in the microgravity environment aboard the ISS.  The ACME project consists of six unique experiments where the primary goal is to improve fuel efficiency and reduce pollutant production in practical combustion on Earth. Its secondary goal is to improve spacecraft fire prevention through innovative research focused on materials flammability. ACME science test point operations for CLD Flame are scheduled to begin in November 2017. ACME’s on-orbit operations, covering all six investigations, will continue for approximately three years.  Additional Information

Cleveland, OH (Oct 3, 2017) – In support of NASA’s Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration Project SAFFIRE (Spacecraft Fire Experiment) IV, V, VI flight experiments, ZIN is testing on Pikes Peak, Colorado to verify the Saffire Flow Unit (SFU) fan performance and flow uniformity at reduced atmospheric pressure. Engineers conducting/supporting the tests: Nathan Fun, Craig Motil, & Justin Funk.

Cleveland, OH (Sept 27, 2017) – MMS now holds the Guinness World Record for highest altitude fix of a GPS signal. Operating in a highly elliptical orbit around Earth, the MMS satellites set the record at 43,500 miles above the surface. The four MMS spacecraft incorporate GPS measurements into their precise tracking systems, which require extremely sensitive position and orbit calculations to guide tight flying formations. ZIN delivered four mission critical flight verified MMAMS units directly to the MMS for integration into the spacecraft.

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Image Credit: NASA

Cleveland, OH (Sept 14, 2017) – ZIN Technologies Inc. (ZIN) with headquarters in Cleveland Ohio has been awarded the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Research, Engineering, Mission and Integration Services (REMIS) Contract. The REMIS contract leverages our company’s commercial approach to implement International Space Station research mission integration, operations, and real-time telescience support, as well as hardware and software development and engineering services for the remaining life of the ISS Program. REMIS is a multiple award Indefinite Delivery/ Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, which includes five Contract Line Item Number(s) (CLINS). ZIN was awarded four of the five CLINs in categories that include Research and Engineering. Authorization to perform work under the REMIS contract will be through the issuance of Task Orders. The REMIS contract consists of a 5-year base period of performance and one 2- year option. The REMIS ceiling value is $500M, including the option.

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Cleveland, OH (Aug 24, 2017) – ZIN congratulates our COO, Carlos Grodsinsky, who was awarded the Exceptional Public Service Medal in a ceremony at NASA. This award, dated June 15, 2017, was given to Carlos for “leading and implementing the unified state-wide aerospace vision plus developing and operating over 40 unique ISS payloads”.

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Cleveland, OH (July 10, 2017) –  Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc, successfully conducted a series of hot-fire tests on a Power Processing Unit (PPU) for an Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) designed to advance the nation's commercial space capabilities as well as support NASA's plans for deep space exploration. The tests were conducted at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. ZIN Technologies Inc. (ZIN) supporting Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc. provided the XFC driver design was part of this test.  This is a critical step in providing advanced Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP), which is necessary for affordable cargo and logistics transportation in support of human missions to Mars. Read Full Press Release

Image Credit: NASA