Environment

Microgravity

Stories

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Briefs: Test & Measurement
Capacitive Microgravity Fluid Mass Gauge
Measuring fluid mass in microgravity, where fluid behavior is dominated by fluid properties, is a challenging problem. To address this problem, engineers at NASA are developing a capacitance-based, mass-fraction gauge for vessels containing two-phase fluids. Read on to learn more.
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
As new commercial stations enable the creation of in-space factories that leverage microgravity to improve products for use on Earth, large-scale 3D bioprinting will significantly benefit from it.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Recent experiments by a team from the West Virginia University focused on how a weightless microgravity environment affects 3D printing using titania foam, a material with potential applications ranging from UV blocking to water purification. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces published their findings.
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Briefs: Aerospace
NASA Ames Research Center has developed a novel technology — a system and approach for creating artificial gravity using a non-rotating spacecraft with connected moving modules, which can be used for habitation and other purposes.
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NASA Spinoff: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Resulting in applications once thought impossible, sensor technology for understanding mind-body interface builds on research for space travel.
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Briefs: Aerospace
The Modular Artificial-Gravity Orbital Refinery Spacecraft (MAGORS) is a technology from NASA Ames Research Center for in-situ refining or recycling of materials in space, including mass...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Terrestrial uses include physical therapy, clinical diagnosis, athletic training and performance, and robust exercise equipment.
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Articles: Test & Measurement
We explore the major scientific breakthroughs achieved during 20 years of human presence on the ISS.
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NASA Spinoff: Test & Measurement
NASA’s neutral body position research was used in the design of a medical massage chair.
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NASA Spinoff: Manufacturing & Prototyping
NASA’s LED lighting system enables food and other crops to be grown indoors in places like skyscrapers.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
While additive manufacturing (AM), commonly known as 3D printing, is enabling engineers and scientists to build parts in configurations and designs never before possible, the impact of the technology has been limited by...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Active Response Gravity Offload System
NASA has used two systems to train astronauts for weightlessness. The first is the Reduced Gravity Simulator that suspended the astronaut at an angle of 80.5 so that only 1/6th of his or her weight was supported by the ground, while the rest was supported by a pulley system. The other system, designed during...
NASA Spinoff: Imaging
Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields of...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Additive Manufacturing Facility for Utilization Primarily in Microgravity Environments
The purpose of this innovation is to create the ability to manufacture off Earth, primarily in a microgravity environment. This additive manufacturing facility (AMF) will have the capability to build tools, parts, experimental hardware, and upgrade hardware while...
Application Briefs: Medical
SST Sensing Ltd.Coatbridge, UKwww.sstsensing.com Studies show that heightened carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations can have an adverse effect on the human metabolism, slowing down thought processes,...
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Briefs: Motion Control
Large amounts of existing space debris pose a threat to satellites, space vehicles, and astronauts aboard those vehicles. However, cleaning up the debris is problematic. For example, suction cups don't...
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NASA Spinoff: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields of...
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Briefs: Medical
NASA's Langley Research Center has developed a method and apparatus to be used for cell culture that combines the effects of microgravity and low-dose radiation. The technology has been developed to simulate the effects...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Systems and Methods for Mirror Mounting with Minimized Distortion
The use of larger, lighter, and more precise space optics requires not only a means of manufacture, but also a means of spacecraft integration and performance verification. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) have demonstrated a process capable of producing a...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Small-Body Testbed
This technology allows one to test small-body surface mobility and sampling systems in the laboratory. It is capable of simulating a microgravity environment with relevant terrain. The magnitude of the gravity, the terrain properties, and the surface system being tested are all easily modified to allow for a broad range of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
To train astronauts to live and work in the weightless environment on the International Space Station, NASA employs a number of techniques and facilities that simulate microgravity. Engineers at the...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Planetary Ice Mining by Down-Hole Energy Injection
Ice has been discovered on Mars and is present in the permanently shadowed craters on the Moon and on many asteroids. The ice is usually buried beneath an overburden of regolith. Evidence indicates this overburden may be a meter deep in some locations for the Moon; for Mars, it varies with latitude...
Briefs: Medical
Medical Oxygen Concentrator for Microgravity Operation
Supplemental oxygen delivery systems are vital to provide a critical life support respiratory function. Whether they are used for patients suffering from lung diseases or other illnesses, or astronauts donning an oxygen mask during a toxic spill or fire on a spacecraft, lightweight and portable...
Articles: Automotive
Standards for Comfortable Seats In the beginning, safety trumped comfort in spacecraft designs for human space travel. Early space capsules were small and had a seat-driven design in which most of the flight...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Robust, High-Temperature Containment Cartridges for Microgravity
Robust, high-temperature containment cartridges are needed for processing materials science experiments in microgravity. In general, the refractory metals (Nb, Ta, Mo, W, Re) possess the chemical inertness and high melting temperatures desired. Of these materials, niobium and tantalum...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Plasma Treatments to Assist Fluid Manipulation in Microgravity
A recent innovation has made manipulation of hazardous laboratory reagents in microgravity easier, thus enabling even more scientific research to be performed on the International Space Station (ISS). Prior to this innovation, moving fluids from container to container was performed only...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Inspection of the International Space Station and other manmade objects in space is difficult because of the microgravity environment. Robots are a promising approach...
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Briefs: Medical
Fluid Preservation System (FPS)
Biological samples contain labile molecules that deteriorate rapidly ex-vivo. Terrestrially, biological samples are preserved either by freezing them (–80 °C) or by including preservation chemicals. While chemical preservation may be ideal for certain molecules, their functionality is selective and can, while...
Briefs: Medical
NASA has long recognized the difficulty in providing emergency medical care to astronauts in space. Many aspects of space travel make medical care inherently difficult, and sufficient storage space...
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