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Briefs: Information Technology
Personal Computer Transport Analysis Program
The Personal Computer Transport Analysis Program (PCTAP) is C++ software used for analysis of thermal fluid systems. The program predicts thermal fluid system and component transients. The output consists of temperatures, flow rates, pressures, delta pressures, tank quantities, and gas quantities in the...
Briefs: Software
Navigation/Prop Software Suite
Navigation (Nav)/Prop software is used to support shuttle mission analysis, production, and some operations tasks. The Nav/Prop suite containing configuration items (CIs) resides on IPS/Linux workstations. It features lifecycle documents, and data files used for shuttle navigation and propellant analysis for all...
Briefs: Information Technology
Pressure Ratio to Thermal Environments
A pressure ratio to thermal environments (PRatTlE.pl) program is a Perl language code that estimates heating at requested body point locations by scaling the heating at a reference location times a pressure ratio factor. The pressure ratio factor is the ratio of the local pressure at the reference point and...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Probabilistic Fatigue Damage Program (FATIG)
FATIG computes fatigue damage/ fatigue life using the stress rms (root mean square) value, the total number of cycles, and S–N curve parameters. The damage is computed by the following methods: (a) traditional method using Miner’s rule with stress cycles determined from a Rayleigh distribution up to...
Briefs: Information Technology
ASCENT Program
The ASCENT program solves the three-dimensional motion and attendant structural loading on a flexible vehicle incorporating, optionally, an active analog thrust control system, aerodynamic effects, and staging of multiple bodies.
Briefs: Information Technology
JPL Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) Portal
Satellite observations can play a very important role in airborne field campaigns, since they provide a comprehensive description of the environment that is essential for the experiment design, flight planning, and post-experiment scientific data analysis. In the past, it has been...
Briefs: Information Technology
Data::Downloader
Downloading and organizing large amounts of files is challenging, and often done using ad hoc methods. This software is capable of downloading and organizing files as an OpenSearch client. It can subscribe to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds and Atom feeds containing arbitrary metadata, and maintains a local content...
Briefs: Software
Fault Tolerance Middleware for a Multi-Core System
Fault Tolerance Middleware (FTM) provides a framework to run on a dedicated core of a multi-core system and handles detection of single-event upsets (SEUs), and the responses to those SEUs, occurring in an application running on multiple cores of the processor.This software was written expressly...
Briefs: Software
DspaceOgreTerrain 3D Terrain Visualization Tool
DspaceOgreTerrain is an extension to the DspaceOgre 3D visualization tool that supports real-time visualization of various terrain types, including digital elevation maps, planets, and meshes. DspaceOgreTerrain supports creating 3D representations of terrains and placing them in a scene graph. The 3D...
Briefs: Information Technology
Trick Simulation Environment 07
The Trick Simulation Environment is a generic simulation toolkit used for constructing and running simulations. This release includes a Monte Carlo analysis simulation framework and a data analysis package. It produces all auto documentation in XML. Also, the software is capable of inserting a malfunction at any...
Briefs: Software
Water Detection Based on Color Variation
This software has been designed to detect water bodies that are out in the open on cross-country terrain at close range (out to 30 meters), using imagery acquired from a stereo pair of color cameras mounted on a terrestrial, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). This detector exploits the fact that the color...
Briefs: Software
Geometric Reasoning for Automated Planning
An important aspect of mission planning for NASA’s operation of the International Space Station is the allocation and management of space for supplies and equipment. The Stowage, Configuration Analysis, and Operations Planning teams collaborate to perform the bulk of that planning. A Geometric Reasoning...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Single-Layer, All-Metal Patch Antenna Element With Wide Bandwidth
It is known that the impedance at the center of a patch antenna element is a short circuit, implying that a wire or post can be connected from the patch to the groundplane at this point without impacting radiation performance. In principle, this central post can be used to support...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Scanning Laser Infrared Molecular Spectrometer (SLIMS)
This prototype innovation is a novel design that achieves very long, effective laser path lengths that are able to yield ppb (parts per billion) and sub-ppb measurements of trace gases. SLIMS can also accommodate multiple laser channels covering a wide range of wavelengths, resulting in...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Next-Generation Microshutter Arrays for Large-Format Imaging and Spectroscopy
A next-generation microshutter array, LArge Microshutter Array (LAMA), was developed as a multi-object field selector. LAMA consists of small-scaled microshutter arrays that can be combined to form large-scale microshutter array mosaics. Microshutter actuation is...
Briefs: Materials
Building on previous knowledge acquired through research on thin-film batteries, three-dimensional (3D) porous macroscopic particles...
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Briefs: Materials
Enhanced-Adhesion Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes on Titanium Substrates for Stray Light Control
Carbon nanotubes previously grown on silicon have extremely low reflectance, making them a good candidate for stray light suppression. Silicon, however, is not a good structural material for stray light components such as tubes, stops, and baffles....
Briefs: Materials
Detection of Carbon Monoxide Using Polymer-Composite Films With a Porphyrin-Functionalized Polypyrrole
Post-fire air constituents that are of interest to NASA include CO and some acid gases (HCl and HCN). CO is an important analyte to be able to sense in human habitats since it is a marker for both pre-fire detection and post-fire cleanup.
Briefs: Materials
Ultra-Lightweight Nanocomposite Foams and Sandwich Structures for Space Structure Applications
Microcellular nanocomposite foams and sandwich structures have been created to have excellent electrical conductivity and radiation-resistant properties using a new method that does not involve or release any toxicity. The nanocomposite structures have...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Thermally Resilient, Broadband Optical Absorber From UV to IR Derived From Carbon Nanostructures
Optical absorber coatings have been developed from carbon-based paints, metal blacks, or glassy carbon. However, such materials are not truly black and have poor absorption characteristics at longer wavelengths. The blackness of such coatings is...
Briefs: Medical
Hardy Bacterium Isolated From Two Geographically Distinct Spacecraft Assembly Cleanroom Facilities
Earlier studies have confirmed that a tenacious hardy bacterial population manages to persist and survive throughout a spacecraft assembly process. The widespread detection of these organisms underscores the challenges in eliminating them completely....
Briefs: Medical
A nanovector multistage system has been created to overcome or bypass sequential barriers within the human body, in order to deliver a therapeutic or imaging...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Dual Double-Wedge Pseudo-Depolarizer With Anamorphic PSF
A polarized scene, which may occur at oblique illumination angles, creates a radiometric signal that varies as a function of viewing angle. One common optical component that is used to minimize such an effect is a polarization scrambler or depolarizer. As part of the CLARREO mission, the...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Sample-Clock Phase-Control Feedback
To demodulate a communication signal, a receiver must recover and synchronize to the symbol timing of a received waveform. In a system that utilizes digital sampling, the fidelity of synchronization is limited by the time between the symbol boundary and closest sample time location. To reduce this error, one...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A Compact, High-Flux Cold Atom Beam Source
The performance of cold atom experiments relying on three-dimensional magneto-optical trap techniques can be greatly enhanced by employing a highflux cold atom beam to obtain high atom loading rates while maintaining low background pressures in the UHV MOT (ultra-high vacuum magneto-optical trap) regions....
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A new invention disclosure discusses a structure and process for separating gas from liquids in microgravity. The Microgravity Passive Phase Separator consists of two concentric, pleated, woven...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Cavitating Jet Method and System for Oxygenation of Liquids
Reclamation and re-use of water is critical for space-based life support systems. A number of functions must be performed by any such system including removal of various contaminants and oxygenation. For long-duration space missions, this must be done with a compact, reliable system that...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
360° Camera Head for Unmanned Sea Surface Vehicles
Autonomous navigation and control for unmanned sea surface vehicles requires a visual sensing system to provide a 360° view from the vehicle deck for situational awareness. Successful operation required a sensing system mechanically packaged to withstand weather, sea spray, and an environment of...
Briefs: Information Technology
Verilog-A Device Models for Cryogenic Temperature Operation of Bulk Silicon CMOS Devices
Verilog-A based cryogenic bulk CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) compact models are built for state-of-the-art silicon CMOS processes. These models accurately predict device operation at cryogenic temperatures down to 4 K. The models are compatible...

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