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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Broadband Achromatic Phase Shifter for a Nulling Interferometer

Nulling interferometry is a technique for imaging exoplanets in which light from the parent star is suppressed using destructive interference. Light from the star is divided into two beams and a phase shift of π radians is introduced into one of the beams. When the beams are...

Briefs: Information Technology
Ascent Heating Thermal Analysis on Spacecraft Adaptor Fairings

When the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is launched, the spacecraft adaptor (SA) fairings that cover the CEV service module (SM) are exposed to aero heating. Thermal analysis is performed to compute the fairing temperatures and to investigate whether the temperatures are within the...

Briefs: Information Technology
Prioritized LT Codes

The original Luby Transform (LT) coding scheme is extended to account for data transmissions where some information symbols in a message block are more important than others. Prioritized LT codes provide unequal error protection (UEP) of data on an erasure channel by modifying the original LT encoder. The prioritized...

Briefs: Information Technology
Fast Image Texture Classification Using Decision Trees

Texture analysis would permit improved autonomous, onboard science data interpretation for adaptive navigation, sampling, and downlink decisions. These analyses would assist with terrain analysis and instrument placement in both macroscopic and microscopic image data products. Unfortunately,...

Briefs: Information Technology
More-Accurate Model of Flows in Rocket Injectors

An improved computational model for simulating flows in liquid-propellant injectors in rocket engines has been developed. Models like this one are needed for predicting fluxes of heat in, and performances of, the engines. An important part of predicting performance is predicting fluctuations of...

Briefs: Information Technology
Improved Systematic Pointing Error Model for the DSN Antennas

New pointing models have been developed for large reflector antennas whose construction is founded on elevation over azimuth mount. At JPL, the new models were applied to the Deep Space Network (DSN) 34-meter antenna’s subnet for corrections of their systematic pointing errors; it...

Briefs: Information Technology
Observability and Estimation of Distributed Space Systems via Local Information-Exchange Networks

Spacecraft formation flying involves the coordination of states among multiple spacecraft through relative sensing, inter-spacecraft communication, and control. Most existing formation-flying estimation algorithms can only be supported via highly...

Briefs: Information Technology
In-Orbit Instrument-Pointing Calibration Using the Moon as a Target

A method was developed for in-orbit measurement of the relative pointing of spectrometer channels, and the relationship between the spectrometer channels and the spacecraft coordinate system. In this innovation, individual scans of the Moon, from the three channels, were used to...

Briefs: Information Technology
Constraint Embedding Technique for Multibody System Dynamics

Multibody dynamics play a critical role in simulation testbeds for space missions. There has been a considerable interest in the development of efficient computational algorithms for solving the dynamics of multibody systems. Mass matrix factorization and inversion techniques and the...

Briefs: Information Technology
Entanglement in Self-Supervised Dynamics

A new type of correlation has been developed similar to quantum entanglement in self-supervised dynamics (SSD). SSDs have been introduced as a quantum-classical hybrid based upon the Madelung equation in which the quantum potential is replaced by an information potential. As a result, SSD preserves the...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Reliability of Ceramic Column Grid Array Interconnect Packages Under Extreme Temperatures

A paper describes advanced ceramic column grid array (CCGA) packaging interconnects technology test objects that were subjected to extreme temperature thermal cycles. CCGA interconnect electronic package printed wiring boards (PWBs) of polyimide were...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Six Degrees-of-Freedom Ascent Control for Small-Body Touch and Go

A document discusses a method of controlling touch and go (TAG) of a spacecraft to correct attitude, while ensuring a safe ascent. TAG is a concept whereby a spacecraft is in contact with the surface of a small body, such as a comet or asteroid, for a few seconds or less before...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Optical-Path-Difference Linear Mechanism for the Panchromatic Fourier Transform Spectrometer

A document discusses a mechanism that uses flex-pivots in a parallelogram arrangement to provide frictionless motion with an unlimited lifetime. A voice-coil actuator drives the parallelogram over the required 5-cm travel. An optical position sensor...

Products

Piher International Corp., Libertyville, IL, has announced the MTS 360 non-contacting SMD rotary position sensor that combines a through-shaft design with 360° absolute position feedback in...

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Podcasts
Chad R. Frost, Intelligent Systems Division’s Area Lead for Autonomous Systems and Robotics, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

Chad R. Frost supervises the Autonomous Systems and Robotics (ASR) technical area in Ames Research Center's Intelligent Systems Division. ASR staff develops advanced automation and control technologies to...

Application Briefs: Software
PHX ModelCenter® software
Phoenix Integration
Wayne, PA
610-971-9603
www.phoenix-int.com

Phoenix Integration’s PHX ModelCenter® software has been used by NASA...

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Application Briefs: Imaging
FluxData FD-1665 3CCD Multispectral Camera
FluxData Inc.
Rochester, NY
800-425-0176
www.fluxdata.com

FluxData has launched a...

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Techs for License: Materials
Soft-Feel Grain Surface Treatment for Hard Plastic Mimics Sensation on Fingertips

This technology gives hard-surface plastics a soft and moist feel by imposing a “grain” or texturing onto the surface. It has application in automotive interiors, household utensils, electronics, mobile phones, and other locations where a hard plastic surface...

Techs for License: Materials
Development of Organic Materials that Melt by Light Irradiation

AIST has developed organic materials that melt from solid to liquid with only the irradiation of light, without heating, and can be restored to their original solid state. Unlike irreversible photosensitive resins, which cannot be restored to their original state after their state...

Tech Needs
Quick and Easy Way to Identify Beryllium Contamination and Assess its General Level

A company seeks a simple, real-time way to identify that a plant area is clear of beryllium contamination and, if it is not, to obtain a general assessment of the level of contamination that may be present without having to send swabs to a laboratory for testing....

Tech Needs
Rheology Modification for Phase-Inversion Mini-Emulsion Formulation

An organization seeks expertise or technology to modify the viscosity of a mini-emulsion during storage to prevent leakage of the liquid from its container at 35 °C and above. During storage in an ambient-pressure container, the mini-emulsion must maintain a high viscosity so...

NASA Tech Needs
Cathode Assembly for Molten Regolith Electrolysis

The production of oxygen and metals from off-Earth planetary materials (regolith or rocks) is an important focus area of technology development led by the In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Project. Over the past few years, oxygen production by direct electrolysis of lunar oxides in molten form...

Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) of NASA. The Laboratory has a wide-ranging charter for solar...

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Briefs: Medical

Electronic biosensing technology could someday displace the multi-welled microplate, long a standard tool in biomedical research and diagnostic laboratories. Essentially arrays of...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Although the concept of nanotechnology (controlling matter on an atomic scale) dates back to 1959, it is only now becoming more commercially realized. It has the potential to challenge...

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Briefs: Medical

The MDMouse system incorporates a pre-existing medical device into a conventional computer control mouse. The tool is designed to measure blood pressure outside of the medical environment, and to provide that...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Engineers have long been aware of the potential of laser sintering to create innovative and beneficial medical products. Because it is an additive (layer-by-layer) manufacturing process,...

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Briefs: Medical

A prototype implantable eye pressure monitor for glaucoma patients is believed to contain the first complete millimeter-scale computing system. The pressure monitor is...

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Briefs: Medical

A lens that enables microscopic objects to be seen from nine different angles at once to create a 3D image has been developed. Other 3D microscopes use multiple lenses or cameras...

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