A multispectral scanner has been adapted to capture spectral images of living plants under various types of illumination for purposes of monitoring the health of, or monitoring the transfer of genes into, the plants. In a health-monitoring application, the plants are illuminated with full-spectrum...

Brush/fin thermal interfaces are being developed to increase heat-transfer efficiency and thereby enhance the thermal management of orbital replaceable units (ORUs) of electronic and other equipment aboard the International Space Station. Brush/fin thermal interfaces could also be used to increase heat-transfer...

A method of compensating for the effects of humidity on the readouts of electronic noses has been devised and tested. The method is especially appropriate for use in environments in which humidity is not or cannot be controlled — for example, in the vicinity of a chemical spill, which...

A computer program controls motors that drive translation stages in a metrology system that consists of a pair of two-axis cathetometers. This program is specific to Compumotor Gemini (or equivalent) motors and the Compumotor 6K-series (or equivalent) motor controller. Relative to the software supplied...

An improved method of computing the spacing of airplanes en route, and software to implement the method, have been invented. The purpose of the invention is to help air-traffic controllers minimize those deviations of the airplanes from the trajectories preferred by their pilots that are needed to...

The Anthropomorphic Robotic Testbed (ART) is an experimental prototype of a partly anthropomorphic, humanoid- size, mobile robot. The basic ART design concept provides for a combination of two-armed coordination, tactility, stereoscopic vision, mobility with navigation and avoidance of obstacles, and...

An improved algorithm has been devised for training a recurrent multilayer perceptron (RMLP) for optimal performance in predicting the behavior of a complex, dynamic, and noisy system multiple time steps into the future. [An RMLP is a computational neural network with self-feedback and...

A document proposes an improved liquid- ring nutation damper for a spin-stabilized spacecraft. The improvement addresses the problem of accommodating thermal expansion of the damping liquid. Heretofore, the problem has been solved by either (1) filling the ring completely with liquid and...

A report describes the Orbiter Interface Unit (OIU) and the Early Communication System (ECOMM), which are systems of electronic hardware and software that serve as the primary communication links for the International Space Station (ISS). When a space shuttle is at or near the ISS during...

A report proposes the development of a white-light nulling interferometer to be used in conjunction with a single-aperture astronomical telescope that would be operated in outer space. When such a telescope is aimed at a given star, the interferometer would suppress the light of that star...

An alternative approach to the design and fabrication of vibratory gyroscopes is founded on the use of fabrication techniques that yield best results in the mesoscopic size range, which is characterized by overall device dimensions of the order of a centimeter. This approach stands in...

A brief report discusses the rationale for, and the development of, a methodology for generating computer code for autonomous-agent-based systems. The methodology is characterized as enabling an increase in the reusability of the generated code among and within such systems, thereby...

A number of nonvolatile, low-flammability liquid oligomers and polymers based on aliphatic organic carbonate molecular structures have been found to be suitable to be blended with ethylene carbonate to make electrolytes for lithium-ion electro- chemical cells. Heretofore, such electrolytes have often been...

An AlxGa1—x As/GaAs quantum-well infrared photodetector (QWIP) of the blocked-intersubband-detector (BID) type, now undergoing development, features a chirped (that is, aperiodic) superlattice. The purpose of the chirped superlattice is to increase the quantum efficiency of the device.

Underwater video cameras of a proposed type (and, optionally, their light sources) would not be housed in pressure vessels. Conventional underwater cameras and their light sources are housed in pods that keep the contents dry and maintain interior pressures of about 1 atmosphere (0.1 MPa). Pods...

Electronic identification devices containing radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuits and antennas would be fabricated integrally with the objects to be identified, according to a proposal. That is to say, the objects to be identified would serve as substrates for the deposition...

A software library has been developed to enable high-fidelity computational simulation of the dynamics of multiple spacecraft distributed over a region of outer space and acting with a common purpose. All of the modeling capabilities afforded by this software are available independently in other,...

A key enabling technology that leads to greater spacecraft autonomy is the capability to autonomously and optimally slew the spacecraft from and to different attitudes while operating under a number of celestial and dynamic constraints. The task of finding an attitude trajectory that...

Directory Tree Analysis File Generator is a Practical Extraction and Reporting Language (PERL) script that simplifies and automates the collection of information for forensic analysis of compromised computer systems. During such an analysis, it is sometimes necessary to collect and analyze information...

The Document Concurrence System is a combination of software modules for routing users expressions of concurrence with documents. This system enables determination of the current status of concurrences and eliminates the need for the prior practice of manually delivering paper documents to all persons whose approvals...

The SSC Multimedia Archive is an automated electronic system to manage images, acquired both by film and digital cameras, for the Public Affairs Office (PAO) at Stennis Space Center (SSC). Previously, the image archive was based on film photography and utilized a manual system that, by today's standards, had become...

A collection of computer programs has been developed that implements a procedure for predicting multiple- puretone (MPT) noise generated by fan blades of an aircraft engine (e.g., a turbofan engine). MPT noise arises when the fan is operating with supersonic relative tip Mach No. Under this flow...