Blog: Electronics & Computers

The Apollo 11 ‘Spinoff’ Technologies We Still Use Today

Many of the technologies we use today – space blankets, hearing aids, food packaging – began on the Apollo 11 mission.

Articles: Lighting

The Sensors Behind the GEN II Wearable Device

The population is aging and more people need healthcare support, which is having a big impact on the overall cost of medical care. As a result, authorities and health insurance companies are...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

More Sensitive Measurement of Semiconductor Material Quality

Accurately measuring semiconductor properties of materials in small volumes helps engineers determine the range of applications for which these materials may be suitable in the...

Briefs: Materials

Fuel Cell Technology Runs on Solid Carbon

Whereas hydrogen fuel cells (e.g., proton exchange membrane (PEM) and other fuel cells) generate electricity from the chemical reaction between pure hydrogen and oxygen, direct carbon fuel cells...

Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

Fabricating Nanochips via Thermal Lithography

A process for fabricating atom-thin processors can be used to produce at the nanoscale for smaller and faster semiconductors.

Q&A: Electronics & Computers

Q&A: Power Anomalies Detect Malware in Embedded Systems

Aydin Aysu, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where he helped develop a technique for...

Briefs: Nanotechnology

Supergel System Cleans Radioactively Contaminated Structures

A system was developed that can remove radioactive cesium contamination from porous structures such as brick and concrete that are hard to clean, as well as contamination from...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Hybrid Transformer

Researchers have developed a hybrid transformer that has the benefit of a full planar transformer design but uses a wire-wound secondary winding to keep the parasitic winding capacitances lower. Alone, planar transformers...

5 Ws: Transportation

5 Ws of PDK Recyclable Plastic

Who

Anyone who uses products made of plastic. The new recyclable plastic could be a good alternative to many nonrecyclable plastics in use today.

Briefs: Wearables

Noninvasive Device Tests Sweat Continuously for Hours

A continuous-testing device was developed that samples sweat as effectively as blood but in a noninvasive way and over many hours. After examining the use of saliva, tears, and...

Application Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

Machining Capabilities Enhance Space-Related Programs

Insaco
Quakertown, PA
www.insaco.com

Since 1947, Insaco has been machining, grinding, and polishing ceramics, sapphire, and glass to meet and often exceed client...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Stretchable Power Source for Wearables

Researchers have created highly stretchable supercapacitors for powering wearable electronics that consist of crumpled carbon nanotube (CNT) forests. The supercapacitors demonstrated solid performance...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Aircraft Engine Icing Event Avoidance and Mitigation

Innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a new means of avoiding and mitigating icing events for aircraft flying above 14,000 feet, dramatically improving aviation...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

High-Throughput Friction and Wear Tester

There is a need for high-volume material testing/qualification but industry and researchers are currently limited by commercially available testing devices. Most wear testers can only handle one...

Articles: Propulsion

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11: On to Mars

Just 54 years ago, the first photograph of Mars from a passing spacecraft appeared to show a hazy atmosphere. Now, decades of exploration on the planet itself has shown it to be a...

NASA Spinoff: Software

Apollo 11 History Archive Helps Virtual Reality Program Come to Life

Spinoff is NASA’s annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and...

Briefs: Communications

Sensor Network for Air Vehicles

Aircraft currently fly based on coarse estimations of environment and aircraft state. Real-time measurements are traditionally restricted to laboratory environments (e.g. wind tunnel) due to the size and...

Facility Focus: Materials

NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center

On September 1, 1961, NASA requested appropriations for initial land purchases on Merritt Island on Florida’s east coast to support the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. Designers quickly began developing...

Articles: Aerospace

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11: Getting There, To a New Era of Space Exploration

For the first time in a generation, NASA is building a human spacecraft for deep-space missions that will usher in a new era of space...

Articles: Aerospace

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11: An Astronaut's View

Before becoming an astronaut candidate in 1996, Mike Massimino was busy earning degrees — an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and four additional degrees from...

Articles: Test & Measurement

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11: The Next Giant Leap

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Automated Guided Wave System for In-Process Cure Monitoring of CFRP Composite Laminates

In the polymer composites industry, cure cycles are typically developed from trial-and-error or a more effective processing science approach to reduce...

Briefs: Medical

Combining Origami and 3D Printing to Make Complex Structures in One Step

There are many different types of 3D printing technologies. The most familiar — inkjet — has been around for some 20 years. But until now, it has been difficult to...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Self-Assembled Micro-Organogels Enable 3D Printing of Silicone Structures

For the millions of people every year who have or need medical devices implanted, an advancement in 3D printing technology could enable significantly quicker...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Graphene Lid Extends Photoemission Electron Microscopy to Liquids

By capping liquids with graphene (an ultrathin sheet of pure carbon), researchers can easily image and analyze liquid interfaces and the surface of nanometer-scale objects...