A low-power, miniature Doppler lidar instrument is being developed for use in measuring opacity (from dust) and wind profiles in the Martian atmosphere. The instrument could also be used on Earth to measure turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer, for assessments of urban and regional air...

Improved passive temperature-compensating attenuators have been developed for use in processing radio signals at frequencies up to about 18 GHz. In general, temperature-compensating circuits and devices are needed to minimize (preferably, to eliminate) undesired temperature dependences of the...

Miners today use externally powered machines designed to be used by a single operator, the autonomous miner. Many companies offer computer-operated mining equipment that can be used for both high wall and underground applications. Programmable logic controls with ring laser gyroscopes and inclinometers...

A prototype dual-polarization microstrip patch rectenna dimensioned for an operating frequency of 8.51 GHz has been built to demonstrate a design concept for obtaining maximum output voltage from a rectenna of a given size. This rectenna contains nine square microstrip patch antenna elements in a...

The Beacon Visualization (BeaVis) computer program provides a ground-based computing environment for displaying, tracking, storing, and maneuvering through telemetric data streams that contain summaries of engineering data generated aboard a spacecraft. BeaVis can also serve as a general-purpose...

In a proposed technique of maskless gray-scale x-ray lithography, a photoresist to be patterned would be exposed to a parallel beam of hard x-rays. As explained below, the photoresist would be translated across the beam at a varying rate to effect one-dimensional spatial variations in the radiation dose...

Focal-plane electronic image sensors that would not saturate when exposed to intense illumination have been proposed. These sensors could be used to acquire accurate, scientific-quality data on images (including spectral images), even when the images contain both very bright and very dark areas. The proposed...

An algorithm has been developed for a computer-based electronic system that would aid human ground controllers in monitoring data from sensors in the electric-power system of the International Space Station. Among other things, the algorithm encodes knowledge of human experts; thereby harnessing...

A portable electronic unit with no moving parts except button switches digitizes and stores a 48-hour record of the myoelectric activity of the stomach and heart as sensed via electrodes on the surface of the abdomen. Just as the more familiar electrocardiogram (ECG) is useful in diagnosing the condition of the heart,...

The term "Instrument Data File Set" (IDFS) denotes both software and an underlying concept of a prescribed format for files of scientific data and metadata. The IDFS was developed to satisfy a need, in the space science community, to maintain data and metadata in a format that promotes efficient use of the...

The Southwest Data Display and Analysis System (SDDAS) is a flexible, extensible software system intended to support analysis of space physics data from multiple instruments and multiple spacecraft missions. SDDAS was developed in response to the need of space scientists to be able to gain access...

A method of electromechanical testing has been proposed for general diagnosis, evaluation of performance, and burn-in (accelerated life testing) of microelectromechanical devices. The tests would ordinarily be performed at the wafer level; that is, after the devices have been fabricated on...