AAWSAP DIRD, Aerospace Applications of Programmable Matter, December 2009

This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, DIA-08-0911-016, is dated 14 December 2009. It was prepared by the Defense Warning Office's Acquisition Support Division at the Defense Intelligence Agency and is one of a series of FY 2009 advanced technology reports under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program. It is a primer on programmable matter and smart materials such as quantum dots, metamaterials and liquid crystals, and on how they could manage heat and energy and provide camouflage on spacecraft. It concludes that the possible gains would be significant and well worth pursuing.

From the source: Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 12/14/09, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD describes “programmable matter” as smart materials whose properties can be changed on command, potentially allowing spacecraft components to change function through software updates rather than physical repair or replacement. The report suggests that such materials could someday enable adjustable sensors, smart windows, heat control, energy collection, active camouflage, and systems that switch between different functions, making spacecraft more flexible and adaptable. At the same time, it presents the idea as highly speculative and emphasizes major technical obstacles, including manufacturing at extremely small scales, shielding against radiation and electromagnetic interference, managing temperature effects, reducing component failures, and preventing hacking or malicious control. Overall, the document presents programmable matter as a promising long-term concept over the next 50 years, while judging that simpler near-term uses such as smart windows and energy-saving surface materials are far more realistic than the more ambitious aerospace applications.

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Denver Five-Year Cumulative Savings
(holding energy prices constant}
- RavenWindow+ Low-E
$3,000.00 - Pilkington K-Glass
$2,500.00
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$2,000.00
$1,500.00 --Viracon VR E238
$1,000.00
- AFG Comfort TiR
$500.00
, ---- 99% Transmissive Low$- E
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Months Installed ------- 99% Reflective Low-E
Figure 6. RavenWindow Smart W indow Film Performance vs. Leading I ncumbent Window Filt ers.
Assuming a retail cost of $25 per square foot, for large buildings across multiple climate
zones, the payback period is 5-10 years. Even faster return on investment is possible if
the retail cost can be reduced, which seems likely given the relative simplicity of the
technology. The payback period does not include capital cost reduction on HVAC
systems, reduction in the cost of window coverings, and the tax and building permit
savings associated with Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED) certification.
Thermal Management of Spacecraft
The three laws of thermodynamics, in their simplest form, are (1) you cannot win, (2)
you cannot break even, and (3) you cannot quit the game. Energy is never free, and
nanostructured dynamic materials are of course subject to the same laws as natural
materials. However, while energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, it can be
moved around, changed in form, and also stored. Thus, for thermal management of
spacecraft, dynamic materials have much more to offer than simply regulating solar
heat gain.
One example is active heat transport. A Peltier junction is a solid-state heat pump
made from two dissimilar semiconductors. When a current is passed through the
junction, one face grows hot while the other grows cold.
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