A report describes Martian landing balls, which are under development for use in delivering scientific payloads to Mars. Martian landing balls are related to other soft-landing devices that resemble beach balls and that have been described in several previous NASA Tech Briefs articles. They are also related to the Zorb...

The DataSlate computer program is being developed to help educators and students gain access to, view, manipulate, and otherwise interact with sets of planetary and other scientific data via the Internet or via local data-storage facilities. DataSlate will be especially useful for displaying...

A report proposes ultralight balloon systems to carry a 10-kg payload, including scientific instruments for exploring the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune. The system masses to be transported to those planets would be kept low by not transporting balloon-inflating gases. Each system...

Accurately and efficiently predicting the unsteady dynamics of coupled, fluid-structure systems significantly reduces the cost of designing, testing, and maintaining fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft, and turbomachinery. It also improves safety. Organizations can realize substantial savings by understanding...

"ACE" (for "advanced ceramic engineered") denotes a type of coating mate-rial that increases the ability of flexible thermal-insulation blankets to resist erosion. Developed for use on the insulating blankets on the space shuttle orbiters, these coating materials could also be used on similar...

Compact instruments, similar in appearance to common personal pagers, have been proposed for warning aircraft crewmembers that cabin air pressure has decreased to a potentially dangerous level. An instrument of this type, called a "personal cabin pressure monitor and warning system" (PCPMWS), implements a warning...

A proposed magnetic-coupling scheme would afford additional degrees of freedom to optimize the designs of gas-driven catapults or launchers. The scheme could be applied to gas guns in diverse applications, including launching spacecraft or aircraft, propelling various objects at high speeds along the...

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...

A report proposes the use of lightweight balloon-borne instrumentation systems for exploration in the vicinity of a lander on the surface of Mars. Each system would comprise instrumentation with a mass of about 0.2 kg and a balloon with a mass of about 0.8 kg and volume of about 50 m3. The...