Briefs: Physical Sciences
Real-Time, Non-Intrusive Detection of Liquid Nitrogen in Liquid Oxygen at High Pressure and High Flow
An integrated fiber-optic Raman sensor has been designed for real-time, nonintrusive detection of liquid nitrogen in liquid oxygen (LOX) at high pressures and high flow rates in order to monitor the quality of LOX used during rocket engine...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
High-Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer for the Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Microwave imaging radiometers operating in the 50–183 GHz range for retrieving atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles from airborne platforms have...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Laser Ablation Electrodynamic Ion Funnel for 'In Situ' Mass Spectrometry on Mars
A front-end instrument, the laser ablation ion funnel, was developed, which would ionize rock and soil samples in the ambient Martian atmosphere, and efficiently transport the product ions into a mass spectrometer for in situ analysis.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Mid- and Long-IR Broadband Quantum Well Photodetector
A single-stack broadband quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) has been developed that consists of stacked layers of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells with absorption peaks centered at various wavelengths spanning across the 9-to-11-μm spectral regions. The correct design of broadband QWIPs was...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock
A paper discusses a dual-compartment inflatable suitlock (DCIS) for Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA) that will allow for dust control, suit maintenance, and efficient EVA egress/ingress. The expandable (inflatable technologies) aspect of the design will allow the unit to stow in a compact package for...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Techniques for Solution-Assisted Optical Contacting
A document discusses a “solutionassisted contacting” technique for optical contacting. An optic of surface flatness Lambda/20 was successfully contacted with one of “moderate” surface quality, or Lambda/4. Optics used were both ultra-low expansion (ULE) glass (Lambda/4 and Lambda/20)...
Briefs: Materials
Large-Strain Transparent Magnetoactive Polymer Nanocomposites
A document discusses polymer nanocomposite superparamagnetic actuators that were prepared by the addition of organically modified superparamagnetic nanoparticles to the polymer matrix. The nanocomposite films exhibited large deformations under a magnetostatic field with a low loading...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thermodynamic Vent System for an On-Orbit Cryogenic Reaction Control Engine
A report discusses a cryogenic reaction control system (RCS) that integrates a Joule-Thompson (JT) device (expansion valve) and thermodynamic vent system (TVS) with a cryogenic distribution system to allow fine control of the propellant quality (subcooled liquid) during...
Briefs: Information Technology
Time Distribution Using SpaceWire in the SCaN Testbed on ISS
A paper describes an approach for timekeeping and time transfer among the devices on the CoNNeCT project’s SCaN Testbed. It also describes how the clocks may be synchronized with an external time reference; e.g., time tags from the International Space Station (ISS) or RF signals...
Application Briefs: Motion Control
Pressure Controllers Used in Sounding Rocket Payload Attitude Control Systems
Pressure controllers from Alicat Scientific have been selected for use in NASA sounding rockets to control payload attitude. The payload sections of some NASA...
Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Curiosity Rover Uses CCD Sensors to Navigate Surface of Mars
Currently cruising through space at more than 10,000 mph, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is scheduled to touch down on the red planet in August. The Mars Science Laboratory was...
NASA Tech Needs
Dust Mitigation Connectors for Electrical Cables and Fluid Lines
Faults in wiring systems are a serious concern for the aerospace and aeronautic (commercial, military, and civil) industries. Circuit failures and vehicle accidents have...
Techs for License
Indoor Positioning System Utilizes Wireless LAN Network
A positioning system utilizes ZigBee™, a wireless sensor network on the 2.4-GHz ISM band. The technology applies stochastic reasoning in analyzing the ID and received signal strength indication (RSSI) of received wireless signals. Due to multipath interference, the position of people or...
Techs for License
Square Piston Engine Reduces Emissions
The Square Piston Engine (SPEC), a two-stroke engine with a square piston, has an improved power-to-weight ratio compared to existing engines. The engine features the same three moving parts as a conventional two-stroke engine: crank, gudgeon, and piston. The delayed opening of the exhaust port on the power...
Tech Needs
Materials that Form Mesh-Based Sheets
Materials exist that provide optical clarity, but the fabricmaking process drives the costs too high. A company seeks cost-effective materials and technologies that will form meshbased sheets exhibiting high optical clarity and low haze. The resulting sheet/film/fabric will also be evaluated based on cost...
Tech Needs
Packaging Defect Detection
Consumers desire dent-free packages and properly affixed labels on 3D rigid packaging. A client seeks an automated system that will check the quality of these labels, and will detect, measure, and record critical information. The detection procedure will inform changes in processes, materials, or equipment to reduce or...
Products: Software
Product of the Month: SpaceClaim Engineer 2012 3D Direct Modeling Software
SpaceClaim, Concord, MA, has released SpaceClaim Engineer 2012 3D direct modeling software with new capabilities in reverse engineering, model preparation for...
Articles: Electronics & Computers
Battery Options for Uninterruptible Power Supplies
The lead-acid battery was invented by the French physicist Gaston Planté in 1859, and is one of the oldest rechargeable battery technologies. For over 150 years, it has been the mainstay...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
Fiber Optic Oxygen Sensors — How Do They Work?
Fiber optic oxygen sensors use the fluorescence of a chemical complex in a sol-gel to measure the partial pressure of oxygen. The pulsed blue LED sends light, at ~475 nm, to an optical...
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Has the Ultimate Camera Interface Finally Arrived?
In the early days of machine vision, like with all new technology, there was a lot of confusion as to what constituted a video interface between camera and computer. It was known that a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Method of Bonding Optical Elements With Near-Zero Displacement
The International X-ray Project seeks to build an x-ray telescope using thousands of pieces of thin and flexible glass mirror segments. Each mirror segment must be bonded into a housing in nearly perfect optical alignment without distortion. Forces greater than 0.001 Newton, or...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical Phase Recovery and Locking in a PPM Laser Communication Link
Free-space optical communication holds great promise for future space missions requiring high data rates. For data communication in deep space, the current architecture employs pulse position modulation (PPM). In this scheme, the light is transmitted and detected as pulses...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Reliable Optical Pump Architecture for Highly Coherent Lasers Used in Space Metrology Applications
The design and initial demonstration of a laser pump module (LPM) incorporating single-mode, grating-stabilized 808- nm diode lasers and a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Method to Enhance the Operation of an Optical Inspection Instrument Using Spatial Light Modulators
For many aspheric and freeform optical components, existing interferometric solutions require a custom computer-generated hologram (CGH) to characterize the part. The overall objective of this research is to develop hardware and a procedure to...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
High-Speed Edge-Detecting Line Scan Smart Camera
A high-speed edge-detecting line scan smart camera was developed. The camera is designed to operate as a component in a NASA Glenn Research Center developed inlet shock detection system. The inlet shock is detected by projecting a laser sheet through the airflow. The shock within the airflow is...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Downsampling Photodetector Array With Windowing
In a photon counting detector array, each pixel in the array produces an electrical pulse when an incident photon on that pixel is detected. Detection and demodulation of an optical...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical Communications Channel Combiner
NASA has identified deep-space optical communications links as an integral part of a unified space communication network in order to provide data rates in excess of 100 Mb/s. The distances and limited power inherent in a deep-space optical downlink necessitate the use of photon-counting detectors and a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Development of Thermal Infrared Sensor To Supplement Operational Land Imager
The thermal infrared sensor (TIRS) is a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP)-based instrument intended to supplement the Operational Land Imager (OLI) for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The TIRS instrument is a far-infrared imager operating in the...
Question of the Week
Will asteroid-mining missions pay off?
Last week, a space startup called Planetary Resources announced its plan for the future: asteroid mining. With diminishing resources on Earth, the company's founders believe that space offers the next logical frontier. They will use small satellites to scan near-Earth asteroids for rare materials, perhaps...
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