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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR) is an eight-channel phased array radar system that employs solid-state radar transceivers, a microstrip patch antenna, and a...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Software Defined Radio With Parallelized Software Architecture
This software implements softwaredefined radio procession over multicore, multi-CPU systems in a way that maximizes the use of CPU resources in the system. The software treats each processing step in either a communications or navigation modulator or demodulator system as an...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Phase Change Material Thermal Power Generator
An innovative modification has been made to a previously patented design for the Phase Change Material (PCM) Thermal Generator, which works in water where ocean temperature alternatively melts wax in canisters, or allows the wax to re-solidify, causing high-pressure oil to flow through a hydraulic...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The Thermal Hogan — A Means of Surviving the Lunar Night
A document describes the Thermal Hogan, a new shelter concept that would be used on the Moon to moderate the extreme nighttime temperatures, allowing survival of equipment with minimal heater power. It is lightweight, has few mechanical parts, and would be relatively easy to deploy on the...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A design of an Active Magnetic Regenerative Refrigeration (AMRR) system has been developed for space applications. It uses an innovative 3He cryogenic circulator to...
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Briefs: Materials
Nano-Ceramic Coated Plastics
Plastic products, due to their durability, safety, and low manufacturing cost, are now rapidly replacing cookware items traditionally made of glass and ceramics. Despite this trend, some still prefer relatively expensive and more fragile ceramic/glassware because plastics can deteriorate over time after exposure to...
Briefs: Materials
Preparation of a Bimetal Using Mechanical Alloying for Environmental or Industrial Use
Following the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act ban on their manufacture, PCBs remain an environmental threat. PCBs are known to bio-accumulate and concentrate in fatty tissues. Further complications arise from the potential for contamination of commercial...
Briefs: Materials
Phase Change Material for Temperature Control of Imager or Sounder on GOES Type Satellites in GEO
An imager or sounder on satellites, such as the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), in geostationary orbit (GEO) has a scan mirror and motor in the scan cavity. The GEO orbit is 24 hours long. During part of the orbit, direct...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock
There is a need for an improvement over current NASA Extravehicular Activity (EVA) technology. The technology must allow the capacity for quicker, more efficient egress/ingress, allow for “shirtsleeve” suit maintenance, be compact in transport, and be applicable to environments ranging from planetary surface...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Piezoelectrically Initiated Pyrotechnic Igniter
This innovation consists of a pyrotechnic initiator and piezoelectric initiation system. The device will be capable of being initiated mechanically; resisting initiation by EMF, RF, and EMI (electromagnetic field, radio frequency, and electromagnetic interference, respectively); and initiating in...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The FETS is a light and compact thermal surface (sun shade, IR thermal shield, cover, and/or deployable radiator) that is mounted on a set of offset tape-spring hinges. The thermal surface is constrained...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Genesis Ultrapure Water Megasonic Wafer Spin Cleaner
A device removes, with high precision, the majority of surface particle contamination greater than 1-micron-diameter in size from ultrapure semiconductor wafer materials containing implanted solar wind samples returned by NASA’s Genesis mission. This cleaning device uses a 1.5- liter/minute...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Modular Connector Keying Concept
For panel-mount-type connectors, keying is usually “built-in” to the connector body, necessitating different part numbers for each key arrangement. This is costly for jobs that require small quantities. This invention was driven to provide a cost savings and to reduce documentation of individual parts.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Environmental Qualification of a Single- Crystal Silicon Mirror for Spaceflight Use
This innovation is the environmental qualification of a single-crystal silicon mirror for spaceflight use. The single-crystal silicon mirror technology is a previous innovation, but until now, a mirror of this type has not been qualified for spaceflight use. The...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Multi-Pass Quadrupole Mass Analyzer
Analysis of the composition of planetary atmospheres is one of the most important and fundamental measurements in planetary robotic exploration. Quadrupole mass analyzers (QMAs) are the primary tool used to execute these investigations, but reductions in size of these instruments has sacrificed mass resolving...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Lunar Sulfur Capture System
The Lunar Sulfur Capture System (LSCS) protects in situ resource utilization (ISRU) hardware from corrosion, and reduces contaminant levels in water condensed for electrolysis. The LSCS uses a lunar soil sorbent to trap over 98 percent of sulfur gases and about twothirds of halide gases evolved during hydrogen reduction...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
The purpose of this development was to validate the use of the external Rover Ultra High Frequency (RUHF) antenna for space under extreme thermal environments to be...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Planar Superconducting Millimeter-Wave/Terahertz Channelizing Filter
This innovation is a compact, superconducting, channelizing bandpass filter on a single-crystal (0.45 μm thick) silicon substrate, which operates from 300 to 600 GHz. This device consists of four channels with center frequencies of 310, 380, 460, and 550 GHz, with approximately...
Briefs: Software
Ensemble Eclipse: A Process for Prefab Development Environment for the Ensemble Project
This software simplifies the process of having to set up an Eclipse IDE programming environment for the members of the cross-NASA center project, Ensemble. It achieves this by assembling all the necessary add-ons and custom tools/preferences.
Briefs: Software
Space Operations Learning Center (SOLC) iPhone/iPad Application
This iPhone application, Space Junk Sammy, is intended to be an educational application designed for Apple iPhones and iPads. This new concept educates kids in an innovative way about how orbital debris affects space missions.
Briefs: Software
ISS Live!
International Space Station Live! (ISSLive!) is a Web application that uses a proprietary commercial technology called Lightstreamer to push data across the Internet using the standard http port (port 80). ISSLive! uses the push technology to display real-time telemetry and mission timeline data from the space station in any common Web...
Briefs: Software
Software to Compare NPP HDF5 Data Files
This software was developed for the NPOESS (National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System) Preparatory Project (NPP) Science Data Segment. The purpose of this software is to compare HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format) files specific to NPP and report whether the HDF5 files are identical. If...
Briefs: Information Technology
Scientists have deemed the fuel cell as one of the most promising power sources that can replace the use of fossil fuels as well as satisfy global expectations. The...
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Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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Application Briefs: Energy
Quallion, a developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion storage systems, assisted in the launch of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Pegasus® rocket, which carried NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Array...
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Application Briefs: Energy
The instruments aboard NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory “Curiosity” rover receive their power from a radioisotope system assembled and tested at Idaho National Laboratory. The Multi- Mission...
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Application Briefs: Propulsion
Turbines, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of turbine flow metering technology, has assisted NASA with its Morpheus Lander project. Project Morpheus, a vertical testbed, demonstrates new...
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Articles: Imaging
NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, remain one of the Agency’s greatest achievements in exploration. On Earth, these robots are best known for their stunning pictures...
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