A report describes the main features of a system for testing pyrotechnic and mechanical devices used to separate spacecraft and modules of spacecraft during flight. The system includes a spacecraft simulator [also denoted a large mobility base (LMB)] equipped with air thrusters, sensors, and...

Schottky diodes based on semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes are being developed as essential components of the next generation of submillimeter-wave sensors and sources. Initial performance predictions have shown that the performance characteristics of these devices can exceed those of the state-of-the-art...

The figure depicts a proposed semiconductor laser, based on In(As)Sb quantum dots on a (001) InP substrate, that would operate in the wavelength range between 1.8 and 2.3 μm. InSb and InAsSb are the smallest-bandgap conventional III-V semiconductor materials, and the present proposal is an...

A paper describes a demonstration of the X-38 bolt-retractor system (BRS) on a spacecraft-simulating apparatus, called the Large Mobility Base, in NASA Flight Robotics Laboratory (FRL). The BRS design was proven safe by testing in NASA Pyrotechnic Shock Facility (PSF) before being demonstrated in...

Zirconia stabilized with both scandia and yttria in suitable proportions has shown promise of being a superior thermal-barrier coating (TBC) material, relative to zirconia stabilized with yttria only. More specifically, a range of compositions in the zirconia/scandia/yttria material system...

This paper examines an aluminum wheel design used with a run-flat tire called an extended mobility technology (EMT) tire, which can be safely driven without air for at least 80 km (50 miles). The setup of the finite element model of the wheel is discussed in detail, along with a parametric study of the...

A computer program under continuing development strives to locate a safe landing site for a spacecraft through realtime processing of image data acquired by a video camera aimed at the terrain below while the spacecraft descends. The program might also be useful for aiding the selection of...

A report discusses flexible microactuators for a proposed generation of small, mobile, special-purpose robots. Aspects of this topic were discussed in two previous articles in NASA Tech Briefs: "Thin-Film, Light-Energized Bimorph Micromechanical Actuators" (NPO-19607), Vol. 20, No. 8...