Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Programmable Digital Controller
An existing three-channel analog servo loop controller has been redesigned for piezoelectric-transducer-based (PZTbased) etalon control applications to a digital servo loop controller. This change offers several improvements over the previous analog controller, including software control over...
Articles: Software
INDUSTRY UPDATE: Design and PLM Software
In last year’s roundtable, one of our executives predicted that one day, sharing 3D designs would be as easy as sharing Microsoft Word...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Air Conditioning Cools Lunar Test Vehicles
NASA tests robotics for lunar electric rovers (LERs) and space exploration in remote locations, such as the Arizona desert, that closely simulate the terrain of the Moon or planets. The LER tests...
Application Briefs: Test & Measurement
Collision-Prediction Capabilities to Improve NAS Integration
Numerica Corporation
Loveland, COM
970-561-2000
www.numerica.us
The National Airspace System (NAS) is a complex and shared...
Briefs: Software
Key Decision Record Creation and Approval Module
Retaining good key decision records is critical to ensuring the success of a project or operation. Having adequately documented decisions with supporting documents and rationale can greatly reduce the amount of rework or reinvention over a project’s, vehicle’s, or facility’s lifecycle....
Briefs: Software
Enhanced Graphics for Extended Scale Range
Enhanced Graphics for Extended Scale Range is a computer program for rendering fly-through views of scene models that include visible objects differing in size by large orders of magnitude. An example would be a scene showing a person in a park at night with the moon, stars, and galaxies in the...
Briefs: Software
Debris Examination Using Ballistic and Radar Integrated Software
The Debris Examination Using Ballistic and Radar Integrated Software (DEBRIS) program was developed to provide rapid and accurate analysis of debris observed by the NASA Debris Radar (NDR). This software provides a greatly improved analysis capacity over earlier manual processes,...
Briefs: Software
Data Distribution System (DDS) and Solar Dynamic Observatory Ground Station (SDOGS) Integration Manager
The DDS SDOGS Integration Manager (DSIM) provides translation between native control and status formats for systems within DDS and SDOGS, and the ASIST (Advanced Spacecraft Integration and System Test) control environment in the SDO MOC (Solar...
Briefs: Software
Eclipse-Free-Time Assessment Tool for IRIS
can be used to perform an Eclipse-Free-Time (EFT) assessment of IRIS (Infrared Imaging Surveyor) mission orbits. EFT is defined to be those time intervals longer than one day during which the IRIS spacecraft is not in the Earth’s shadow. Program IRIS_EFT implements a special perturbation of orbital...
Briefs: Software
Automated and Manual Rocket Crater Measurement Software An update has
An update has been performed to software designed to do very rapid automated measurements of craters created in sandy substrates by rocket exhaust on liftoff. The previous software was optimized for pristine lab geometry and lighting conditions. This software has been enhanced...
Briefs: Software
MATLAB Stability and Control Toolbox Trim and Static Stability Module
MATLAB Stability and Control Toolbox (MASCOT) utilizes geometric, aerodynamic, and inertial inputs to calculate air vehicle stability in a variety of critical flight conditions. The code is based on fundamental, non-linear equations of motion and is able to translate results...
Briefs: Software
Patched Conic Trajectory Code
PatCon code was developed to help mission designers run trade studies on launch and arrival times for any given planet. Initially developed in Fortran, the required inputs included launch date, arrival date, and other orbital parameters of the launch planet and arrival planets at the given dates. These parameters...
Briefs: Software
Ring Image Analyzer
Ring Image Analyzer software analyzes images to recognize elliptical patterns. It determines the ellipse parameters (axes ratio, centroid coordinate, tilt angle). The program attempts to recognize elliptical fringes (e.g., Newton Rings) on a photograph and determine their centroid position, the short-to-long-axis ratio, and...
Briefs: Software
SureTrak Probability of Impact Display
The SureTrak Probability of Impact Display software was developed for use during rocket launch operations. The software displays probability of impact information for each ship near the hazardous area during the time immediately preceding the launch of an unguided vehicle.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Implementation of a Non-Metallic Barrier in an Electric Motor
Electric motors that run in pure oxygen must be sealed, or “canned,” for safety reasons to prevent the oxygen from entering into the electrical portion of the motor. The current canning process involves designing a metallic barrier around the rotor to provide the separation. This...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
MicroProbe Small Unmanned Aerial System
The MicroProbe unmanned aerial system (UAS) concept incorporates twin electric motors mounted on the vehicle wing, thus enabling an aerodynamically and environmentally clean nose area for atmospheric sensors. A payload bay is also incorporated in the fuselage to accommodate remote sensing instruments.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Heat Exchangers for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover
The addition of the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) to the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover requires an...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Uniform Dust Distributor for Testing Radiative Emittance of Dust-Coated Surfaces
This apparatus distributes dust (typical of the Martian surface) in a uniform fashion on the surface of multiple samples simultaneously. The primary innovation...
Briefs: Materials
Highly Stable and Active Catalyst for Sabatier Reactions
Highly active Ru/TiO2 catalysts for Sabatier reaction have been developed. The catalysts have shown to be stable under repeated shutting down/startup conditions. When the Ru/TiO2 catalyst is coated on the engineered substrate FeCrAlY felt, activity enhancement is more...
Briefs: Materials
Better Proton-Conducting Polymers for Fuel-Cell Membranes
Polyoxyphenylene triazole sulfonic acid has been proposed as a basis for development of improved proton-conducting polymeric materials for solidelectrolyte membranes in hydrogen/air...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
SOFIA Closed- and Open-Door Aerodynamic Analyses
Work to evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the cavity acoustic environment of the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) airplane has been completed. The airplane...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Ultra-Miniature Lidar Scanner for Launch Range Data Collection
The most critical component in lidar is its laser scanner, which delivers pulsed or CW laser to target with desirable field of view (FOV). Most existing lidars use a rotating or oscillating mirror for scanning, resulting in several drawbacks.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
CCD Camera Lens Interface for Real-Time Theodolite Alignment
Theodolites are a common instrument in the testing, alignment, and building of various systems ranging from a single optical component to an entire instrument. They provide a precise way to measure horizontal and vertical angles. They can be used to align multiple objects in a desired...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Peregrine 100-km Sounding Rocket Project
The Peregrine Sounding Rocket Program is a joint basic research program of NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Wallops, Stanford University, and the Space Propulsion Group, Inc. (SPG). The goal is to determine the applicability of this technology to a small launch system. The approach is to design, build, and...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Sonic Thermometer for High-Altitude Balloons
The sonic thermometer is a specialized application of well-known sonic anemometer technology. Adaptations have been made to the circuit, including the addition of supporting sensors, which enable its use in the high-altitude environment and in non-air gas mixtures.
Briefs: Information Technology
Explanation Capabilities for Behavior-Based Robot Control
A recent study that evaluated issues associated with remote interaction with an autonomous vehicle within the framework of grounding found that missing contextual information led to...
Briefs: Information Technology
Shape and Color Features for Object Recognition Search
A bio-inspired shape feature of an object of interest emulates the integration of the saccadic eye movement and horizontal layer in vertebrate retina for object recognition search where...
Briefs: Information Technology
A DNA-Inspired Encryption Methodology for Secure, Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Users are pushing for greater physical mobility with their network and Internet access. Mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) can provide an efficient mobile network...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Corner-Cube Retroreflector Instrument for Advanced Lunar Laser Ranging
A paper describes how, based on a structural-thermal-optical-performance analysis, it has been determined that a single, large, hollow corner cube (170-mm outer diameter) with custom dihedral angles offers a return signal comparable to the Apollo 11 and 14 solid-corner-cube...
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