In June, a radio navigation research team from The University of Texas at Austin successfully coerced an $80 million, 213-foot yacht off its course using a custom-made GPS device.

Rocket-engine main combustion chamber liners are used to contain the burning of fuel and oxidizer and provide a stream of high-velocity gas for propulsion. The liners in engines such as the Space Shuttle Main Engine are regeneratively cooled by flowing fuel, e.g., cryogenic...

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is used to inject a sample, provide shear-driven liquid flow over a functionalized substrate, and detect separated components. This is demonstrated using lipophilic dyes and normal phase chromatography. A significant reduction in both size and separation time scales...

A new miniature fine Sun sensor has been developed that uses a quadrant photodiode and housing to determine the Sun vector. Its size, mass, and power make it especially suited to small satellite applications, especially nanosatellites. Its accuracy is on the order of one arcminute, and it will...

The Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory at GSFC has identified amino acids in meteorites and returned cometary samples by using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LCMS). These organic species are key markers for...

Extravehicular activities (EVAs) require high-pressure, high-purity oxygen. Shuttle EVAs use oxygen that is stored and transported as a cryogenic fluid. EVAs on the International Space Station (ISS) presently use the Shuttle cryo O2, which is transported to...

The Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Simulator (SAMSIM) is a numerical model dedicated to plan and validate operations of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the surface of Mars. The SAM instrument suite, currently operating on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), is an analytical laboratory...

Cybersecurity has become a great concern as threats of service interruption, unauthorized access, stealing and altering of information, and spreading of viruses have become more prevalent and serious.

Methods have been developed to identify and track tornado-producing mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) automatically over the continental United States, in order to facilitate systematic studies of these powerful and often destructive events. Several data sources were combined to ensure...

Direct to Earth return links are limited by the size and power of lander devices. A standard alternative is provided by a two-hops return link: a proximity link (from lander to orbiter relay) and a deep-space link (from orbiter relay to Earth). Although direct to Earth return links are limited...

Multiphase turbulent flows are encountered in many practical applications including turbine engines or natural phenomena involving particle dispersion. Numerical computations of multiphase turbulent flows are important because they provide a cheaper alternative to...

A small car can't pull a heavy trailer, and sports utility vehicles don't have a compact car's fuel efficiency. A perfect, one-size-fits-all vehicle doesn't exist, and the same goes for unmanned ground vehicles, known as UGVs. Soldiers use UGVs – such as the 40-pound PackBot or...

Military analysts now have a tool that brings together unprecedented modeling and simulation features to help them better choose or build weapons to overpower future threats. Such features allow military researchers to analyze, for example, how a grenade, artillery round or any other...

In the future, Army aircraft may be made of all composite materials, and the Prototype Integration Facility Advanced Composites Laboratory is ready. Part of the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center's (AMRDEC's) Engineering Directorate, the Prototype Integration...

A ball valve for process systems has a field-adjustable CV number. The CV number allows the valve to be “tuned” for its system. The ball, controlled by an actuator, is moved 0–90 degrees. An adjustable V-port then adjusts the CV number.

Long-term care facilities are subject to outbreaks of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) bacteria that form a hard shell, enter a vegetative spore state, and are thus able to withstand conventional cleaning. An active ingredient or mechanical/ electronic means must minimize the threat of C. diff and its spores....

A client seeks an insulating coating for a ceramic substrate and a method of applying it. Electrical leakage from one side of the substrate to the other causes damage. A thin coating is preferred for the application, but the critical specification is the relative permittivity of the coating, which should...

Chuck Taylor is principal investigator of in-space propulsion and space power generation within the Game Changing Development Program. He is responsible for a portfolio of technologies, including large-scale solar electric propulsion systems.