Magazine

Precise laser remote sensing of aerosol extinction and backscatter in the atmosphere requires a high-power, pulsed, frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser that is wavelength-stabilized to a narrow absorption line such as found in iodine vapor. One...

A company seeks miniaturized (less than 50 lbs.) portable equipment to perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT), X-ray, and other non-ultrasound diagnostic scans. The equipment must produce a minimum of ionizing radiation and is intended for medical care...

A firm is seeking materials that can be printed, sprayed, or transferred onto a metal surface (copper, stainless steel, brass, aluminum, nickel, chrome) as a film so that, when connected to a power source, become hot and heat the metal surface to ~400 °F. The heating film or...

This system and method provide accurate determination of a passenger’s weight to an airline prior to flight. This allows for fuel consumption saving, increases revenues of freight loading, and improves crew and aircraft performance in diverse emergencies. The system processes...

This invention is a manufacturing process of a high-temperature, ceramics-based composite material that features excellent heat and oxidation resistance and frictional properties. The composite material is a dense SiC-infiltrated composite material, a dense carbon-fiber-reinforced SiC-infiltrated...

What is commonly called Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) proposes to replace traditional document-centric approaches to systems engineering with model-centric approaches in which the complete definition of the system or product is captured in a single...

A method was developed for performing relatively high-speed wavefront sensing and control to overcome thermal instabilities in a segmented primary mirror telescope [e.g., James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at L2], by using the onboard fine guidance sensor (FGS) to minimize expense and...

The Ps-aerogel system [Ps is positronium (an electron-positron-hydrogen-like atom)] has been evaluated and optimized as a potential tool for planetary exploration missions. Different configurations of use were assessed, and the results provide a...

This proof-of-concept device consists of a thin film of graphene deposited on an electrodized doped silicon wafer. The graphene film acts as a conductive path between a gold electrode deposited on top of a silicon dioxide layer and the reversible side of the silicon wafer, so as to form a...

Optical hardware has been developed to measure the depth of defects in the Space Shuttle Orbiter’s windows. In this hardware, a mirror is translated such that its position corresponds to the defect’s depth, so the depth measurement problem is transferred to a mirror-position measurement problem. This is...

Aircraft-engine rotating equipment usually operates at high temperature and stress. Non-invasive inspection of microcracks in those components poses a challenge for the non-destructive evaluation community. A low-profile ultrasonic guided wave sensor can detect cracks in situ. The key feature of the...

Grid-sphere electrodes have been proposed for use on the positively biased end of electrodynamic space tethers. A grid-sphere electrode is fabricated by embedding a wire mesh in a thin film from which a spherical balloon is formed. The grid-sphere electrode would be deployed from compact...

Traveling-wave tubes (TWTs), such as the Ka-band (26-GHz) model recently developed for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, are essential as communication amplifiers in spacecraft for virtually all near- and deep-space missions. This innovation is a computational design algorithm that, for...

This innovation is used to connect between synapse and neuron arrays using nanowire in quantum dot and metal in CMOS (complementary metal oxide semi-conductor) technology to enable the density of a brainlike connection in hardware. The hardware...

NASA is moving toward a network-centric communications architecture and, in particular, is building toward use of Internet Protocol (IP) in space. The use of IP is motivated by its ubiquitous application in many communications networks and in available commercial...