NASA has awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants to six New Hampshire companies to fund nine different space-related technology projects.

Creare, the Hanover-based research and development firm, which has been winning federal contracts since 1961, won six of the grants, including of its drone-based sonic instrument for Venus balloon missions. The balloons, which could float in the Venetian atmosphere can serve as a base for the exploratory drones, which in turn can act as a ballast for the balloon. Creare also has a proposal using nuclear energy to power spaceships, though its heat conversion system can also be used for concentrating solar radiation, which is planned to help provide the extreme low temperatures needed for some of the components of some space telescopes. And it is developing a miniature vacuum pump to help analyze the atmosphere of Venus and other planets.

RAPA Technologies LLC, a firm in Meriden, is working on a spacesuit bladder with a design that it says will be able to deal with high pressures without tearing.

Brayton Energy in Hampton is looking at heat exchanges for nuclear space propulsion, though its technology could also be used as a stationary power source for a planetary or lunar base set up on a planet once the vehicle lands.

And QmagiQ, a Nashua firm, is developing an infrared camera that captures a broad range of images for the next Spitzer Space telescope.

— BOB SANDERS