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H-TIDeS — Heliophysics Technology and Instrument Development for Science

Created: 2026-04-08 (session 90)

Summary

H-TIDeS is the Heliophysics Division's instrument maturation program — the HPD analog to SAT (astrophysics) and APRA (astrophysics research). It funds two distinct tracks: LCAS (Low Cost Access to Space: balloon/rocket/CubeSat flight missions that return direct science data) and ITD (Instrument and Technology Development: lab prototypes for future Heliophysics missions). 128 total projects, 95% TX08, TRL peak at 3-4, but multiple CubeSat missions flew to orbit under this program. Outcome tracking is near-zero — 1 outcome record across 128 projects.

Structural distinction from SAT/APRA: H-TIDeS can produce actual science flights (LCAS track), not just hardware prototypes. CODEX flew to ISS, CURIE and MinXSS flew as CubeSats, LLITED reached orbit. This makes H-TIDeS simultaneously an instrument incubator and a small-mission execution program.

Portfolio Overview

Field Value
Total projects 128
Active 7 (5.5%)
Completed 121 (94.5%)
Program ID 32945
Parent Heliophysics (HPD), SMD
Program Manager / Director Roshanak Hakimzadeh (hakimzadeh@nasa.gov)
TX08 share 95.3% (122/128)
TRL peak 3 (25.8%) and 4 (24.2%)
TRL ≥6 projects 5 (3.9%)
Null TRL 24 (18.8%)
Lead orgs 53 distinct; GSFC leads (20, 15.6%)
Outcome records 1 (CODEX Infused_To only)

Data snapshot: 2026-04-04.

Two Program Tracks

LCAS — Low Cost Access to Space

Investigations that fly on balloons, sounding rockets, ISS, commercial suborbital, or CubeSats and return direct science data. These are science missions in themselves, not just technology demonstrations. Expected to make contributions to Heliophysics science during the project period.

LCAS track projects confirmed to have reached orbit: | ID | Mission | Platform | TRL End | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---| | 95780 | CODEX | ISS external | 9 | Coronal Diagnostic Experiment; trlCurrent=9; 1 Infused_To outcome | | 92216 | CURIE | 2×3U CubeSat | 9 | Radio interferometer; first solar radio burst triangulation from formation flying | | 92211 | MinXSS-2 | CubeSat | 9 | Solar X-ray spectrometer; second in MinXSS series | | 92224 | LLITED | CubeSat | 9 | Low-latitude ionosphere/thermosphere density enhancement study | | 92221 | C-REX-2 | Sounding rocket | 9 | Neutral/plasma cusp thermosphere dynamics |

TRL reporting anomaly: CODEX is the only project with trlCurrent=9; the others show trlCurrent=5 or 3 despite trlEnd=9. TechPort does not reliably update trlCurrent for completed LCAS missions. H-TIDeS has at least 5 confirmed spaceflight projects, though only 1 appears in the trlCurrent≥7 count.

ITD — Instrument and Technology Development

Prototypes for future Heliophysics missions — not flight hardware. Must demonstrate applicability to specific science problems. Broad technology range: particle detectors, magnetometers, electric field sensors, UV/EUV spectrographs, solar coronagraphs, THz sensors.

Typical outcome: peer-reviewed publication + proposal to follow-on mission (HLCAS, HFORT, or a competed Heliophysics mission).

Technology Themes

Field and Particle Detectors (TX08.3.1)

The most represented sub-category. Projects target: - Solar energetic particle (SEP) telescopes — compact, low-power for CubeSats. 96525 ACSEPT (Boston Univ), 97187 PRCINI (JHU — heavy ion + SEP combined instrument) - Electron spectrometers — auroral, radiation belt. 92232 Non-high-voltage CCD electron spectrometer (GSFC), 97189 miniaturized relativistic electron telescope (Auburn) - Electric field probes — double probe, Langmuir probe, multi-needle configurations. 97173 LIEFSI (UCB), 145086 double Langmuir (Embry-Riddle), 157601 multi-needle Langmuir (Embry-Riddle) - Magnetometers — induction and fluxgate for CubeSats. 79697 induction magnetometer (U Michigan), 157599 hybrid AC/DC HyMag-ADCS (U Michigan)

Remote Sensing / Imaging (TX08.1)

  • Solar corona imagers — coronagraphs, wide-FOV heliospheric imagers. 95780 CODEX (ISS coronagraph), 157600 Scanning Coronal Imager (JHU), 92227 ASHI all-sky
  • UV/EUV spectrographs — Lyman-α, Interstellar Probe instruments. 145082 HIRSL Lyman-α spectrograph (Boston Univ), 157616 lab XUV spectroscopy (SAO)
  • Solar polarimetry — 97186 Solar Imaging Metasurface Polarimeter (UCAR)
  • THz/submm limb sounders — upper atmosphere wind/temperature. 79615 TLS (JHU THz spectrometer), 94411 DWTS IR limb emission sensor (Global Atmospheric Technologies)

In Situ Atmosphere/Ionosphere (TX08.3)

  • Mass spectrometers for turbopause — 97176 ASTRAS-LLC turbopause mass spec
  • Wind measurement — 117197 in situ planetary/Earth atmosphere winds (UNH)
  • Atmospheric drag / gas-surface interactions — 95779 gas-surface interaction lab study (CU Boulder)

Laboratory Plasma Physics (TX08.3.1 but unusual scope)

H-TIDeS funds laboratory astrophysics experiments that don't produce instruments — pure fundamental science in plasma chambers: - 97155 Lower hybrid drift waves during magnetic reconnection (Princeton) - 94396 Alfvén wave parametric decay instability (Space Science Institute) - 97159 Coronal X-ray jet formation via lab experiments (Princeton) - 94383 Kinetic magnetic reconnection (U Wisconsin)

These are ITD grants supporting the science context for future instrument proposals — boundary between instrument development and basic research is blurry for H-TIDeS in ways not seen in SAT or APRA.

Organization Profile

H-TIDeS is significantly more diverse in lead organization than SAT or APRA: - 53 distinct organizations across 128 projects - GSFC leads but is far from dominant (15.6%) - Strong academic presence: JHU (4.7%), UCB (3.9%), UCAR (3.1%), U Iowa (3.1%), CU Boulder (3.1%), SwRI (3.1%), SRI International (3.1%) - Naval Research Laboratory (3.9%) — unusually prominent relative to SAT/APRA - University of Iowa — notable for long heritage in space plasma physics instruments - Princeton (2.3%) and U Wisconsin (1.6%) provide lab experiment capacity

Comparison to SAT/APRA

H-TIDeS SAT APRA
Science division Heliophysics Astrophysics Astrophysics
Primary TX TX08 (95%) TX08 (96%) TX08 (93%)
TRL peak 3-4 3 3-4
TRL ceiling typical 5-6 (lab demo) 5-6 (lab demo) 5-6 (lab demo)
Can fund flight missions Yes (LCAS track) No No
Flight mission examples CODEX, CURIE, MinXSS — —
Outcome records 1/128 (0.8%) 0/91 (0%) ~0
Lead org diversity 53 orgs, GSFC 15.6% 34 orgs, Caltech 12.3% similar
Lab plasma physics funded Yes No No

Outcome Tracking

Critical gap: 1 outcome record across 128 projects. - Infused_To: 1 (CODEX [95780]) - Transitioned_To: 0 - Closed_Out: 0

This is the worst-tracked program profile in the KB relative to the number of completed projects. Despite multiple confirmed spaceflight missions, only CODEX has a TechPort outcome record. CURIE, MinXSS, LLITED, and C-REX-2 flew but show 0 outcomes.

Root cause: SMD grant programs (ROSES grants) operate like NSF grants — they don't generate procurement-style outcome records. The "outcome" of an H-TIDeS grant is scientific data return + publications + follow-on proposals, not a documented TechPort infusion. TechPort's outcome model is designed for SBIR/STTR and technology transition contracts; academic research grants systematically bypass it.

See topics/field-completeness.md — Issue 34 (SMD grant program outcome tracking gap).

Active Cohort (7 Projects)

All active projects are 2024-start (except [157601] which is 2024-03-01). End dates: 2027-02-28 to 2027-04-29.

ID Title Lead TRL Domain Status
157602 Modified HOPE ion mass spectrometer Triad National Security 3→5 Ion mass spec, cold plasma Active 2024-2027
157601 Multi-needle Langmuir probe (debris SSA) Embry-Riddle 3→6 Langmuir probe / debris Active 2024-2027
157600 Scanning Coronal and Heliospheric Imager JHU 2→4 Solar corona WL imaging Active 2024-2027
157599 Hybrid AC/DC Magnetometer (HyMag-ADCS) U Michigan 3→6 Magnetometer + ADCS Active 2024-2027
157603 395-Mpix multi-detector camera (MEGA-H) Ball Aerospace 3→5 Wide-FOV solar imager Active 2024-2027
157616 Lab XUV spectroscopy for solar missions Smithsonian Astrophysical Obs — Lab XUV spectroscopy Active
145081 LARADO-N neuromorphic debris detection Naval Research Lab 3→6 On-orbit debris detection Completed Feb 2026
145083 OH Meinel Band production pathways SRI International 3→? Lab atmospheric chem Active

LARADO-N [145081] is now Completed (period 2023-03-01 to 2026-02-28, ended Feb 2026). Updated snapshot was 2026-04-04.

MEGA-H Detail — 395-Megapixel Gapless Corona Camera

157603 — Multi-detector Experiment for next-Generation Applications in Heliophysics

Ball Aerospace, PI Joshua Eskin, Co-Is include Craig DeForest (SwRI Boulder) and Amir Caspi. Period 2024-2027.

  • Core innovation: Field-splitting optic divides a single telescope's exit beam onto 4 separate detectors, each contributing ~99 Mpix to a 395 Mpix total. Gap-free coverage vs. traditional buttable detector mosaics (which leave gaps between sensors). Each detector can be independently optimized (different bandpass, pixel count, read noise).
  • Target application: Wide-FOV solar corona white-light imager — 10-degree FOV at 1.5 arcsec/pixel resolution simultaneously.
  • Near-term goal: Prototype instrument ready for 2026 solar eclipse observation (described in 2024 proposal text). This is an unusually concrete near-term demo target for an H-TIDeS ITD project.
  • TX mismatch: Filed as TX04.1 (Sensing and Perception, Robotics domain). ML predicts TX08.1.1 (Detectors) — ML is correct. The human classifier likely triggered on "sensing" in the description. True area: TX08.1.1 or TX08.2.
  • Scale: Ball Aerospace industrial team (not single-PI academic), ~$2M+ project scale inferred from complexity.

LARADO-N Detail — Neuromorphic Debris Detector

145081 — Lightsheet Anomaly Resolution And Debris Detection - Neuromorphic (note: acronym spelled both LARADO-N and LARSDO-N in TechPort)

NRL, PI Andrew C. Nicholas, period 2023-2026, Completed.

  • Core innovation: Replaces a frame-based CCD focal plane in the existing LARADO orbital debris instrument with a neuromorphic (event-based) sensor. Event cameras fire per-pixel when brightness changes (not on a fixed clock), giving higher dynamic range, lower latency, and dramatically reduced data rate for sparse debris detection.
  • Dual-lightsheet configuration: Second laser sheet addition provides speed AND direction characterization of debris (single sheet = detection only).
  • Target debris size: 10mm–0.1mm ("lethal non-trackable" — too small to track from ground, but enough kinetic energy to be catastrophic at orbital velocities).
  • Test facility: Ames Vertical Gun Range (AVGR) used to simulate micrometeorite impacts and validate detection algorithms.
  • H-TIDeS fit: Unusual — orbital debris is SSA (Space Situational Awareness) and DoD territory, not Heliophysics science. The boilerplate "Benefits" text in TechPort is verbatim H-TIDeS template language about the Sun. The genuine application is debris monitoring, with potential extension to lunar regolith impact detection (ejecta characterization). NRL (Naval Research Laboratory) is the lead — an Other US Government agency. NRL's 3.9% share of H-TIDeS is the highest of any OGA in the program.
  • Technology spillover: Neuromorphic sensing applied to debris detection is a novel transfer from bio-inspired AI hardware to space surveillance. The event-camera architecture reduces downlink bandwidth significantly vs. traditional video — enabling debris detection from platforms with limited telemetry.