Keyword: Microgravity

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: Data Acquisition
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: 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...

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...

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NASA Spinoff: Test & Measurement

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...

Application Briefs: Aerospace
SST Sensing Ltd.Coatbridge,
UK
www.sstsensing.com

Studies show that heightened carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations can have an adverse effect on the human metabolism,...

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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: Manufacturing & Prototyping

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...

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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...

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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: Robotics, Automation & Control

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...

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...

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...

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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...

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...

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...

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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...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement

The deleterious effects of microgravity are undeniable: reduced bone mineral density, muscle atrophy, vascular remodeling, etc. These health...

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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Preliminary data was recently provided for a reaction sphere prototype on NASA’s zero-gravity parabolic flight vehicle. Gyroscope telemetry indicates that reaction spheres were...

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Articles: Aerospace
NASA Technology

Like a desert caravan, a space flight crew has to bring with it everything it will need over the course of its journey into an utterly barren environment. This has...

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Briefs: Medical
Intranasal Scopolamine — INSCOP

Space motion sickness (SMS) commonly experienced by astronauts during a space mission often requires treatment with medication. However, exposure to a microgravity environment results in a myriad of physiological changes that alter bioavailability. In particular, studies indicate that the bioavailability of oral...

Briefs: Communications
Method to Improve Wireless System Communication Coverage in a Bended Tunnel Environment

The conventional methods of improving wireless system coverage performance are to increase the transmitter power and/or antenna gain. The high transmit power could lead to more power consumption and RF exposure issues. The use of a high-gain antenna could...