Briefs: Unmanned Systems
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Facility Focus: Defense
In October 1962, the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Unit was established with a goal of providing specialized medical and physiological support to help close the gap between Army...
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Lightweighting design is an extensively explored and utilized concept in many industries, especially in aerospace applications, and is associated with the green aviation concept. The...
Briefs: Energy
Servo control systems require accurate control of motion parameters such as acceleration, velocity, and position. This requires a controller that can apply current (torque) to...
Application Briefs: Motion Control
Deciding between a gantry and a robot for your application isn’t always as clear-cut as it may seem. To automate a simple, yet time-consuming and potentially dangerous task in...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Method of Manufacturing Convective Accelerometers
Miniaturization and integration of accelerometers in standard integrated circuit (IC) processes has been the topic of extensive research. In most cases, accelerometer structures involve a solid proof mass that is allowed to move under accelerating conditions. This approach has many disadvantages....
Articles: Motion Control
Virtually all manufacturing processes incorporate some type of linear motion. A common mistake that designers make when sizing and selecting linear motion systems is to overlook critical application...
Briefs: Propulsion
Magnetically Conformed, Variable-Area Discharge Chamber for Hall Thruster, and Method
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a Hall thruster with a variable-area discharge chamber that improves the performance and lifetime of the thruster. Conventional Hall thrusters have poor ionization efficiency, which limits the thrust-to-power ratio...
Briefs: Medical
Algorithm Measures Range of Motion and Applies Eccentric and Concentric Loads DuringExercise
Microprocessor-controlled exercise equipment that uses a servomotor has the capability to adjust the applied resistive load based on position, velocity, and acceleration. One method of applying the resistive load consists of applying a greater...
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...
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
For many years, stepper motors have been the most popular type of electric motor designed into instrumentation for a wide variety of reasons. Stepper motors have become increasingly...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
NASA’s Langley Research Center has developed three techniques and systems to calibrate and validate...
Briefs: Software
Predicting Magnetospheric Relativistic >1 MeV Electrons
There is an association between High-Intensity Long-Duration Continuous AE (HILDCAA) activity intervals and the acceleration of relativistic >1 MeV electrons in the magnetosphere. All of the HILDCAAs that occurred in solar cycle 23 (SC23) from 1995 to 2008 led to the acceleration of...
Briefs: Information Technology
Mixed-Integer Convex Programming Algorithm for Constrained Attitude Guidance
A general problem in spaceflight since its beginning is attitude guidance: how to turn a spacecraft — also called a slew — so as to point science instruments at their targets. The slew must be done while avoiding pointing sensitive science instruments (e.g., a...
Briefs: Communications
Command and Data Handling for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission
The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission is the fourth mission of the Solar Terrestrial Probes (STP) program. The MMS mission, consisting of four identically instrumented spacecraft, will use Earth’s magnetosphere as a laboratory to study magnetic reconnection, a...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Solar sail technology depends heavily on the total surface area of the sail. In other words, minimizing mass and volume of its support structure is the main objective,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Rocket Sled Parachute Design Verification
Historically, parachutes have been load-tested by various methods including release from an aircraft, deploying in a wind tunnel, dragging through water, and shooting out of an air cannon. Each type of testing has its own advantages and drawbacks. Due to the loading mechanics particular to parachutes...
Briefs: Information Technology
Orbital Mechanics Simulation Program for Educational Outreach
AJava software program was developed that provides a solar system simulation, demonstrating the application of calculus to understanding and modeling how the real universe operates. The program can be modified by the user to study various changes in physical properties, and software...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Six-Degree-of-Freedom Control With Only Eight Thrusters
Typical spacecraft thruster configurations are often unable to provide full six-degree-of-freedom control and may have unwanted interaction between their attitude control and trajectory control functions, have undesirably high instantaneous electrical power demands, and use more thrusters...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Gravitational Compensation Onboard a Comsat
This technique for compensating the gravitational attraction experienced by a test-mass freely floating onboard a satellite is new, and solves an important problem that all gravitational wave missions face. Its application to the geostationary Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (gLISA) mission concept...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Variable Acceleration Force Calibration System
A variable acceleration calibration system combines an innovative mechanical system and a statistical design of experiments to calibrate multi-axis force transducers. This system can reduce calibration time, allow for improved calibration of large-scale transducers, provide mobility for on-site...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
High-Energy Instrumentation for Small Satellite Platforms
Given the increased availability of small satellite opportunities either through CubeSats or the Air Force’s University Nanosat program, and the limited availability of larger platforms, it is challenging to develop new instrumentation that not only fits within the envelope of small...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Cryogenic Slosh Apparatus
Commercially available components are integrated into an assembly that can be used to measure the slosh dynamics of cryogenic liquids. The apparatus consists of a linear motion table that is properly instrumented to record high fidelity position, force, and acceleration measurements of all linear and rotation responses...
Briefs: Propulsion
Evaluation of Rail Gun Technology for Launch Assist of Air-Breathing Rockets
A prototype horizontal electromagnetic rail launcher has been demonstrated along with a corresponding theory. This system builds out of published work in augmented rail guns, but modifies this technology so that the motor can operate for seconds rather than...
Articles: Materials
Most of us cannot comprehend the task of building something to withstand temperatures over 4,000 °F, but NASA can. The space shuttles endured such temperatures when returning to...
Articles: Motion Control
Linear motion systems are found inside countless machines including precision laser cutting systems, laboratory automation equipment, semiconductor fabrication machines, CNC machines,...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Integrated Rate Isolation Sensor
Some vehicles use an internal measurement unit (IMU) system to determine the speed, acceleration, orientation, position, and/or direction of movement of the vehicle. Vehicles used for high-availability or life-critical systems may employ a fault-tolerant IMU design. Typically, such vehicles use three or more IMUs...
NASA Spinoff: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Objects that orbit the Earth, such as the International Space Station (ISS), provide a unique environment called zero-g, or more correctly, microgravity. All objects in orbit...
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Webcasts
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Leveraging Electronics Digital Twins on AWS to Accelerate...
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Choosing a Silicone for Operation in Harsh Thermal Environments
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A Guide to Unlocking Precision and Efficiency with 3D Scanning...
Upcoming Webinars: Electronics & Computers

Introduction to the Integration of Electronics Switching and...
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Miniaturized Solutions for Battery Development
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