Stories
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Rotating vessels have been proposed as means of growing larger, more nearly uniform protein crystals than would otherwise be possible in the presence of normal Earth gravitation. Heretofore,...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A spill-resistant vessel has been developed for dispensing an alkali-metal vapor. Vapors of alkali metals (most commonly, cesium or rubidium, both of which melt at temperatures slightly above room...
Briefs: Software
Computing Q-D Relationships for Storage of Rocket Fuels
The Quantity Distance Measurement Tool is a GIS BASEP computer program that aids safety engineers by calculating quantity-distance (Q-D) relationships for vessels that contain explosive chemicals used in testing rocket engines. (Q-D relationships are standard relationships between specified...
Briefs: Medical
The figure schematically depicts a miniature laboratory system that has been proposed for use in the field to detect sparsely distributed biomolecules. By emphasizing concentration and...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Aircraft and other vehicles are often kept in service beyond their original design lives. As they age, they become susceptible to system malfunctions and fatigue. Unlike future aircraft...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A South American pipeline project that traverses the Amazon jungle and the Andes Mountains to the Pacific coast originates in the Camisea fields of eastern Peru, which are among the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An improved method of locating small breaches in insulation on electrical wires combines aspects of the prior dielectric withstand voltage (DWV) and time-domain reflectometry (TDR)...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A process for making chemically pure, single-domain magnetite crystals substantially free of structural defects has been invented as a byproduct of research into the origin of globules in a...
Briefs: Medical
Using an Ultrasonic Instrument to Size Extravascular Bubbles
In an ongoing development project, microscopic bubbles in extravascular tissue in a human body will be detected by use of an enhanced version of the apparatus described in "Ultrasonic Bubble- Sizing Instrument" (MSC-22980), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol.24, No.10 (October 2000), page 62. To...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Phytoplankton-Fluorescence-Lifetime Vertical Profiler
A battery-operated optoelectronic instrument is designed to be lowered into the ocean to measure the intensity and lifetime of fluorescence of chlorophyll A in marine phytoplankton as a function of depth from 0 to 300 m. Fluorescence lifetimes are especially useful as robust measures of...
Briefs: Materials
Figure 1 shows a prototype of a large pressure vessel under development for eventual use as a habitable module for long spaceflight (e.g., for transporting humans to Mars). The vessel is a hybrid that comprises...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An advanced docking system is undergoing development to enable softer, safer docking than was possible when using prior docking systems. This system is intended for original use in docking...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Columnar-vortex generators (CVG) have been proposed as means to increase the safety of takeoffs and landings of aircraft on aircraft or helicopter carriers and other ships at sea....
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Designers of deep submersibles are reluctant to use conventional shafts and seals to penetrate the hulls of deep submersible, pressure vessels fearing seal...
Briefs: Medical
Growing Three-Dimensional Corneal Tissue in a Bioreactor
Spheroids of corneal tissue about 5 mm in diameter have been grown in a bioreactor from an in vitro culture of primary rabbit corneal cells to illustrate the production of optic cells from aggregates and tissue. In comparison with corneal tissues previously grown in vitro by other techniques,...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Langley Research Center has developed electrical- impedance- based icethickness gauges and is seeking partners and collaborators to commercialize them. When used as parts of active monitoring and...
Briefs: Materials
Flexible Composite-Material Pressure Vessel
A proposed lightweight pressure vessel would be made of a composite of high-tenacity continuous fibers and a flexible matrix material. The flexibility of this pressure vessel would render it (1) compactly stowable for transport and (2) more able to withstand impacts, relative to lightweight pressure...
Briefs: Medical
The hydrodynamic focusing bioreactor (HFB) is a bioreactor system designed for three-dimensional cell culture and tissue-engineering investigations on orbiting spacecraft and in...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A suitlock assembly that comprises a docking fixture and mechanism has been invented to facilitate and accelerate donning and doffing of a sealed protective suit and/or to enable ingress and...
Briefs: Energy
The term "common/dependent pressure vessel" (C/DPV) denotes a proposed alternative configuration for a nickel-hydrogen battery. The C/DPV configuration is so named because it...
Briefs: Software
Software for Mobile Data-Communication Networks
Mobile Router is operating system code residing in a network router allowing the router to provide mobile-ipv4 functionality for any attached nodes. Mobile Router enables the entire network to roam. It is no longer necessary for every node in the network to run mobile Internet Protocol (IP) software...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A proposed simple, portable, robust apparatus, capable of automated operation, has been proposed for collecting samples of selected biological or chemical species in harsh environments....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Failure-Reporting Device Concept for Spacecraft and Remote Vehicles
Failure-reporting devices somewhat similar to the “black box” data recorders on aircraft have been proposed. These devices were conceived for use on spacecraft, but might also be useful on terrestrial autonomous underwater vessels or terrestrial remote exploratory robots. The...
Briefs: Software
Advanced Fatigue-Crack-Growth and Fracture-Mechanics Program
The NASGRO 3.0 computer program is an advanced version of a program used by NASA and the European Space Agency for fracture-control analysis of space-system structures and other hardware. The prior version, NASA/FLAGRO 2.0, was described in “Updated Fatigue-Crack-Growth and...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Software for Optimized Flattening From 3D to 2D
A computer program offers enhanced capabilities for calculating two-dimensional (2D) patterns needed to construct specified three-dimensional (3D) surfaces to within acceptably close approximations, with minimal waste of sheet material. Examples of complexly shaped sheet-material items that could be...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A computer-based system, and a method built around the use of the system, have been developed to automate the acquisition, integration, and management of data that have been generated...
Briefs: Motion Control
The figure depicts a mechanism that is capable of simultaneously rotating as many as six disposable bioreactor chambers about horizontal axes. The particular bioreactor chambers for...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An optoelectronic oscillator with a nominal operating frequency of 11.763 GHz has been designed and constructed to demonstrate a technique for reducing the sensitivity of the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
High-Capacity Nickel-Hydrogen Cells
Nickel-hydrogen electrochemical cells with capacities of 350 ampere-hours have been developed. These cells are intended primarily for use in government and commercial satellites; they have been fully qualified to satisfy performance requirements for operation in geosynchronous satellites for as long as 15 years....
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Q&A: Physical Sciences
Webcasts
Webinars: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The Over-Engineering Trap: Aligning Custom Equipment Specs with Operational...
Webinars: RF & Microwave Electronics
Where Time and Frequency Converge: Multi-Channel RF Analysis for Radar and...
Webinars: Unmanned Systems
Driving Reliability: Simulation Driven EMI Techniques for Modern Vehicle...
Editorial Webinars: Aerospace
Smarter Aerospace Manufacturing & Design with Digital Twins and Agentic AI
Summits: AR/AI
2026 Battery & Electrification Summit (Online)
Podcasts: Electronics & Computers
Arm’s Agentic AI CPU: Engineering the Next Generation of AI Data Centers
