NASA requires novel power sources to accomplish future planetary science missions. A range of power systems will likely be required for both scientific investigations and future manned missions on the moon and Mars. NASA has successfully used radioisotope power systems for over five decades for missions throughout the solar system. For example, both the Curiosity and Perseverance, aka Percy, Mars rovers have “nuclear batteries”. The two Voyager spacecraft that launched in 1977 continue to operate after 46 years, a little over half of the half-life of the heat source 238Pu’s alpha particle decay and are now in interstellar space! However, radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, have been limited to producing less than 1 kilowatt of electrical power and usually only produce a few hundred watts. Consequently, for decades NASA has investigated fission and fusion reactors. The NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has had deep space power and propulsion as part of its mission portfolio beginning with Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) in the 1960s. Later, ion propulsion, (used with deep space probes and geosynchronous satellite station keeping), radioisotope power systems (used in nearly all deep space missions) and most recently the Kilopower space/fission reactor tested in 2018 were added. For the past several years, NASA Glenn researchers have been investigating an unconventional approach to initiate nuclear reactions [1]. This work has been called by various names including Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR), Chemical Assisted Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (CANR-LENR), and more recently Lattice Confinement Fusion (LCF) reactions. Using a high flux of energetic electrons in an environment containing a high atomic density of nuclear fuel, such as deuterium, researchers have seen compelling evidence of condensed matter nuclear reactions, including charged particle and neutron emissions, as well as small levels of excess heat, which cannot be explained by chemical reac Later, ion propulsion, (used with deep space probes and geosynchronous satellite station keeping), radioisotope power systems (used in nearly all deep space missions) and most recently the Kilopower space/fission reactor tested in 2018 were added. For the past several years, NASA Glenn researchers have been investigating an unconventional approach to initiate nuclear reactions [1]. This work has been called by various names including Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR), Chemical Assisted Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (CANR-LENR), and more recently Lattice Confinement Fusion (LCF) reactions. Using a high flux of energetic electrons in an environment containing a high atomic density of nuclear fuel, such as deuterium, researchers have seen compelling evidence of condensed matter nuclear reactions, including charged particle and neutron emissions, as well as small levels of excess heat, which cannot be explained by chemical reaction processes. This paper provides a summary of the 30+year history of LENR research at NASA Glenn Research Center from 1989 to the present and cites several reports published during that period. © 2023 ICCF. All rights reserved. ISSN 2227-3123 Keywords:Lattice confinement fusion, LENR ⇤Corresponding author: Email: theresa.l.benyo@nasa.gov © 2023 ICCF. Timeline of Events Several groups at NASA; Langley Research Center (LaRC), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and GRC followed various LENR researchers including Pons/Fleischmann, Focardi, Piantelli, Miley, Widom and Larson, Nagel, and Rossi (1989 to 2011). The NASA teams discussed and reviewed various approaches. Dennis Bushnell (Chief Scientist, NASA LaRC) met with GRC researchers Fralick, Niedra, Wrbanek, and Decker along with several GRC managers to discuss Bushnell’s LENR concept. After that meeting, Bushnell invited Robert Hendricks to visit MSFC and learn about the LENR work there. James Free’s tenures as NASA GRC Center Director grew to a large NASA Science Mission Directorate, Planetary Science Division funded effort (2014 to 2018) under Dr. James Free’s and Dr. Janet Kavandi’s tenures as NASA GRC Center Director. V arious NASA HQ and other government agency reviews were held of the work over the active years. The AEC Project’s work culminated in thePhys Rev Cjournal publication of experiment [9] and theory [14] papers in 2020. Many individuals contributed to the success of GRC’s past LENR research efforts. His investigation in prior LENR research outside of NASA helped guide the direction of the AEC project. He conducted electrolytic wet cell slow co-deposition and x- ray irradiation experiments. As a senior technologist, Mr. Hendricks continually provided his expertise and offered guidance to all members on the team conducting LENR experiments that the NASA GRC team performed during his tenure at NASA. Dr. Bruce Steinetzwas the original Principal Investigator (PI) of the AEC Project. He advocated for the initial funding for the effort by convincing the then Center Director to provide some discretionary funding to cover initial hardware and staffing needs. Stacy Barker, Naval Surface Warfare Center: Dahlgren Division, conducted co-deposition experiments at Dahlgren using the Fast Protocol including preparing multiple cells and collecting data. Ms. Karen Long, Naval Surface Warfare Center: Dahlgren Division, assisted and led various aspects in the design, setup, implementation, and data analysis of the NSWC Dahlgren co-deposition LENR experiments including XPS analysis. 3.5. Project Management Support Mr. Paul Westmeyerprovided support for the GRC team overseeing the AEC project and serving as the liaison between the research team and NASA HQ. Mr. Blue, “Results of an Attempt to Measure Increased Rates of the Reaction2D+2D ---3He+n in a Nonelectrochemical Cold Fusion Experiment”,Lewis Research Center , NASA/TM-102430(December 1989). [3]J. Niedra, I. Myers, G. Fralick, R. Baldwin, “Replication of the Apparent Excess Heat Effect in a Light