The purpose of the New Mexico NASA EPSCoR Program is to build the core competitive research strength in New Mexico. The additional purpose of the program is to grow technology development methods and activities for the solution of scientific and technical problems of importance to NASA. New Mexico NASA EPSCoR RID will focus on collaborative activities and relationships to develop long-term, self-sustaining, nationally-competitive capabilities in space and aerospace-related research.  These capabilities will, in turn, contribute to New Mexico’s economic viability and expand the nation's base for aerospace research and development.  For the purpose of brevity, we will refer to the program in the proposal as NM EPSCoR. The formal name of the program will be New Mexico NASA EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Development Program.

New Mexico NASA EPSCoR will perform scientific research and technology development in areas that support the strategic research and technology development priorities of NASA’s Mission Directorates and Field Centers.  An emphasis will be placed on developing a core expertise capable of successfully competing for funds from NASA and non-NASA sources outside of the EPSCoR program.  The goals for New Mexico EPSCoR:

1. Contribute to and promote the development of research infrastructure in New Mexico in areas of strategic importance to the NASA mission while assessing and leveraging the many existing core capabilities relative to NASA in the state.
2. Improve the capability of New Mexico to gain support from sources outside the NASA EPSCoR program in space and aerospace related science, technology, engineering and mathematics research.
3. Develop partnerships between NASA research assets and New Mexico academic institutions, federal laboratories, and industry.
4. Contribute to New Mexico’s overall research infrastructure, science and technology capabilities, higher education, and/or economic development.
5. Work in close coordination with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NMSGC) to improve the environment for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education in New Mexico.

New Mexico NASA EPSCoR offers research initiation grants of $25,000 to new faculty, or faculty who are changing their research focus in fields relative to NASA priorities.  The purpose of the grant is to help faculty initiate collaborations, publications, and eventually secure non-EPSCoR research funding.  Apply for funding.

New Mexico NASA EPSCoR supplies travel funding to New Mexico researchers to visit NASA Centers and other crucial locations associated with NASA research. Apply for funding.

New Mexico NASA EPSCoR also for large research grants for up to $750,000 for three years funding.  These awards are selected by a NASA Review Panel.  Current awards include:

Structural Health Monitoring & Self Healing of Aerospace Structures
Principal Investigator - Patricia C. Hynes, Director of the New Mexico NASA EPSCoR Program and Director of New Mexico Space Grant Consortium.
Co-Investigator, Thomas Burton, ME Head and Professor, NMSU
Co-Investigator, Sayavur Bakhtiarov, ME Chair, New Mexico Tech
Co-Investigator, Eric Butcher, Assoc. Prof. of ME, NMSU
Co-Investigator, Igor Sevostianov, Assoc. Prof. of ME, NMSU
Co-Investigator, Andrei Zagrai, Asst. Prof. of ME, New Mexico Tech

Introduction: Aerospace structural systems experience a broad spectrum of environmental and operational loads. Severe and/or prolonged load exposures may trigger the damage accumulation process even in recently deployed structures. The process of implementing a strategy of damage detection for engineering structures is referred to as structural health monitoring (SHM), which seeks to answer questions such as: Does damage exist? If so, what kind? Is the damage local or global (e.g., a large isolated crack or many small defects distributed in the material)? Is the damage in the material or in the joints and connections (or both)? Is overall structural failure likely? 
SHM is normally based on non-destructive measurement of responses that change due to damage in the structure. Comparisons of measurements made in a damaged and in a reference state allow inference of the type, location, and severity of the damage. Historically, vibration natural frequencies and mode shapes have been the most common such measurements: macroscopic damage tends to reduce the natural frequencies, and mode shapes may be sensitive to isolated damage. Vibration measurements have been used in many ways for this purpose (Doebling, et al, 1996; Sohn, et al, 2003).

Infrared Development for In-Situ Organic Detection
Principal Investigator - Patricia C. Hynes, Director of the New Mexico NASA EPSCoR Program and Director of New Mexico Space Grant Consortium.
Co-Investigator, Nancy Chanover, Department of Astronomy, NMSU
Co-Investigator, David Voelz, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NMSU
Co-Investigator, David Alan Glenar, Planetary Systems Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Co-Investigator, Penelope J. Boston, Earth and Environmental Science Department, NMIM&T

Introduction: This proposal seeks funds for the development and field testing of a point spectrometer based on acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) technology, for "quick look" in situ detection of organic species at millimeter size scales.  Although a convincing case could be made for a stand-alone AOTF spectrometer, our intention is to develop an instrument that can be paired with a miniature Time-of-Flight Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometer (TOF-LDMS) (Fig. 1) and demonstrate its ability to prescreen samples for evidence of volatile or refractory organics before the laser desorption step and subsequent mass spectrometer measurement.   This instrument development will merge the capabilities of two sensors with significant prior investment by NASA, and will result in a powerful tool for astrobiological exploration of our solar system.