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Briefs: Software
Global Swath and Gridded Data Tiling
This software generates cylindrically projected tiles of swath-based or gridded satellite data for the purpose of dynamically generating high-resolution global images covering various time periods, scaling ranges, and colors called “tiles.” It reconstructs a global image given a set of tiles covering a...
Briefs: Software
GOES-R: Satellite Insight
GOES-R: Satellite Insight seeks to bring awareness of the GOES-R (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — R Series) satellite currently in development to an audience of all ages on the emerging medium of mobile games. The iPhone app (Satellite Insight) was created for the GOES-R Program. The app describes in...
Briefs: Software
Aquarius iPhone Application
The Office of the CIO at JPL has developed an iPhone application for the Aquarius/SAC-D mission. The application includes specific information about the science and purpose of the Aquarius satellite and also features daily mission news updates pulled from sources at Goddard Space Flight Center as well as Twitter. The...
Briefs: Information Technology
Monitoring of International Space Station Telemetry Using Shewhart Control Charts
Shewhart control charts have been established as an expedient method for analyzing dynamic, trending data in order to identify anomalous subsystem performance as soon as such performance would exceed a statistically established baseline. Additionally, this leading...
Briefs: Information Technology
Time Manager Software for a Flight Processor
Data analysis is a process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data to highlight useful information and suggest conclusions. Accurate timestamps and a timeline of vehicle events are needed to analyze flight data. When data is gathered onboard a rocket, precise time stamping is even more...
Briefs: Information Technology
Simulation of Oxygen Disintegration and Mixing With Hydrogen or Helium at Supercritical Pressure
The simulation of high-pressure turbulent flows, where the pressure, p, is larger than the critical value, pc, for the species under consideration, is relevant to a wide array of propulsion systems, e.g. gas turbine, diesel, and liquid rocket engines....
Briefs: Information Technology
Theory of a Traveling Wave Feed for a Planar Slot Array Antenna
Planar arrays of waveguide-fed slots have been employed in many radar and remote sensing applications. Such arrays are designed in the standing wave configuration because of high efficiency. Traveling wave arrays can produce greater bandwidth at the expense of efficiency due to power...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A Superfluid Pulse Tube Refrigerator Without Moving Parts for Sub-Kelvin Cooling
A report describes a pulse tube refrigerator that uses a mixture of 3He and superfluid 4He to cool to temperatures below 300 mK, while rejecting heat at temperatures up to 1.7 K. The refrigerator is driven by a novel thermodynamically reversible pump that is capable of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Sapphire Viewports for a Venus Probe
A document discusses the creation of a viewport suitable for use on the surface of Venus. These viewports are rated for 500 °C and 100 atm pressure with appropriate safety factors and reliability required for incorporation into a Venus Lander. Sapphire windows should easily withstand the chemical, pressure, and...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
The Mobile Chamber
A document discusses a simulation chamber that represents a shift from the thermal-vacuum chamber stereotype. This innovation, currently in development, combines the capabilities of space simulation chambers, the user-friendliness of modern-day electronics, and the modularity of plug-and-play computing. The Mobile Chamber is a...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Electric Propulsion Induced Secondary Mass Spectroscopy
A document highlights a means to complement remote spectroscopy while also providing in situ surface samples without a landed system. Historically, most compositional analysis of small body surfaces has been done remotely by analyzing reflection or nuclear spectra. However, neither provides...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Radiation-Tolerant DC-DC Converters
A document discusses power converters suitable for space use that meet the DSCC MIL-PRF-38534 Appendix G radiation hardness level P classification. A method for qualifying commercially produced electronic parts for DC-DC converters per the Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC) radiation hardened assurance...
Briefs: Medical
A readily portable miniature microscope weighing less than 2 grams and tiny enough to balance on your fingertip has been developed. The scope is designed to see fluorescent markers,...
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Articles: Motion Control
Axial pumps with cam-driven commutation units — so-called PWK pumps — emerged as a result of a research project conducted in the Department of Hydraulics and Pneumatics at...
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Application Briefs: Motion Control
Manufacturers often need to test their products to verify that they meet customer specifications, and provide the data that verifies specification compliance. This is particularly true...
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Briefs: Motion Control
Actuators are critical to all the robotic and manipulation mechanisms that are used in current and future NASA missions, and are also needed for many other industrial, aeronautical, and space...
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Briefs: Motion Control
Ultra-Compact Motor Controller
This invention is an electronically commutated brushless motor controller that incorporates Hall-array sensing in a small, 42-gram package that provides 4096 absolute counts per motor revolution position sensing. The unit is the size of a miniature hockey puck, and is a 44-pin male connector that provides many I/O...
Articles: Imaging
3D imaging technology has come a long way from its roots in academic research labs, and thanks to innovations in sensors, decreasing cost of components, and the emergence of 3D functions in software...
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Articles: Research Lab
Over the course of its history, NASA has nurtured partnerships with the private sector to facilitate the transfer of NASA-developed technologies. The benefits of these partnerships have reached...
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Application Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center (ATC) has completed delivery of hardware subsystems for NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission. The delivery...
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Application Briefs: Physical Sciences
A combustion experiment jointly designed by scientists and engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center (Cleveland, OH) and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is...
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Articles: Automotive
Having your car’s air conditioner lose its cool on a hot day can make for an uncomfortable ride. A breakdown in thermal control in space is far more than a matter of comfort; on the...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The MESA 7I77 card set from Mesa Electronics (Richmond, CA) is a FPGA-based, 6-axis analog control system for CNC, industrial automation retrofits, and OEM systems. Six axes of analog outputs and encoder inputs are...
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Products: Motion Control
The 118Z Series pressure/vacuum oil-less diaphragm pump from Thomas Division (Sheboygan, WI) provides a low-vibration design that utilizes a lightweight nylon housing and end cap that limit the pump’s weight to 4.4 pounds. It...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Applimotion (Loomis, CA) has introduced new models of the UTS slotless frameless direct drive motors in sizes from 12 mm to 300 mm diameter. The motors feature zero cogging and sinusoidal torque curves. With large...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
SPEED 2012 software from CDadapco (Melville, NY) consists of five machine programs: PC-BDC (Brushless PM Motors), PC-IMD (Induction Motors), PCDCM (DC Brush Motors), PC-WFC (DC and AC Wound Field Motors), and...
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Products: Motion Control
The Drives & Motion Division of Yaskawa America (Waukegan, IL) has released the P1000 variable speed drive that provides control for variable-torque loads through 500. Configuration tools include a multi-language LCD...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Bauer Gear Motor, an Altra Industrial Motion Company (South Beloit, IL), offers a range of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM). The motors employ a rotor design that integrates embedded permanent magnets made from the...
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Products: Motion Control
Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) offers the MPS-GR series rotary stages available in two sizes: the MPS50GR and MPS75GR. They incorporate wormgear drive and bearing components for repeatable positioning, and are available with DC servo...
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