Magazine

A computer program partly automates the task of determining whether an HDF-EOS 5 file is valid in that it conforms to specifications for such characteristics as attribute names, dimensionality of data products, and ranges of legal data values. [“HDF-EOS” and variants thereof are defined in “Converting EOS Data From HDF-EOS...

An Extensible Markup Language (XML) document type definition (DTD) standard for the structure and contents of HDF-EOS files and their contents, and an equivalent standard in the form of schemas, have been developed. (“HDF-EOS” and variants thereof are defined in the first two of four related articles immediately...

A computer program recreates an HDF-EOS file from an Extensible Markup Language (XML) representation of the contents of that file. (“HDF-EOS” and variants thereof are defined in the first of five related articles that immediately precede this article.) This program is one of two programs written to enable testing...

A computer program called “42” simulates the attitudes and trajectories of multiple spacecraft flying in formation anywhere in the Solar System. The rotational dynamics are represented by high-fidelity models of spacecraft, each comprising as many as three connected rigid bodies and...

A company seeks technology to replace wood fiber in paper with a bulk filler material having less mass. The company seeks to make small, micron-scale, low-density particles. The filler material would have no negative impact on today’s lightweight paper specifications, including bulk...

This Mathematica script defines a color function to be used with Mathematica’s plotting modules for differentiating data attaining both positive and negative values. Positive values are shown as shades of blue, and negative values are shown in red. The intensity of the color reflects the...

Global Alert Resolution Network (GARNET) is a software system for delivering emergency alerts as well as less-urgent messages to members of the Goddard Space Flight Center work force via an intranet or the Internet, and can be adapted to similar use in other large organizations. Messages can be...

LiCoO2 and LiNiO2 fibers have been investigated as alternatives to LiCoO2 and LiNiO2 powders used as lithium-intercalation compounds in cathodes of rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells. In making such a cathode, LiCoO2 or LiNiO2 powder is mixed with a binder [e.g.,...

A room-temperature electrocatalytic process that effects the overall chemical reaction CO2 + 2H2O → CH4 + 2O2 has been investigated as a means of removing carbon dioxide from air and restoring oxygen to the air. The process was originally intended for use in a spacecraft life-support system,...

A modicum of progress has been made in an effort to exploit single-walled carbon nanotubes as fibers in epoxy-matrix/fiber composite materials. Two main obstacles to such use of carbon nanotubes are the following: (1) bare nanotubes are not soluble in epoxy resins and so they tend to...

A theory for predicting mechanical, thermal, electrical, and other properties of unidirectional-nanofiber/matrix composite materials is based on the prior theory of micromechanics of composite materials. In the development of the present theory, the prior theory of micromechanics was...

The deployable crew quarters (DCQ) have been designed for the International Space Station (ISS). Each DCQ would be a relatively inexpensive, deployable box-like structure that is designed to fit in a rack bay. It is to be occupied by one crewmember to provide privacy and sleeping functions for the crew. A DCQ comprises...

A lightweight, regenerable heat absorber (RHA), developed for rejecting metabolic heat from a space suit, may also be useful on Earth for short-term cooling of heavy protective garments. Unlike prior space-suit-cooling systems, a system that includes this RHA does not vent water. The closed system...

A “bootstrap” configuration has been proposed for multistage pulse-tube coolers that, for instance, provide final-stage cooling to temperatures as low as 20 K. The bootstrap configuration supplants the conventional configuration, in which customarily the warm heat exchangers of all...

Improved long-stroke shape-memory-alloy (SMA) linear actuators are being developed to exert significantly higher forces and operate at higher activation temperatures than do prior SMA actuators. In these actuators, long linear strokes are achieved through the principle of displacement...

A centripetal-force-based liquid/gas separator has been proposed as a means of reducing the loss of liquid during venting of the ullage of a tank in microgravity as a new supply of liquid is pumped into the tank. Centripetal-force-based liquid/gas separators are used on Earth, where...

A one-page document describes a Ka-band transponder being developed for use in deep-space radio science. The transponder receives in the Deep Space Network (DSN) uplink frequency band of 34.2 to 34.7 GHz, transmits in the 31.8 to 32.3 GHz DSN downlink band, and performs regenerative ranging on a DSN...

A document discusses the replication of the functionality of the onboard space-shuttle general-purpose computers (GPCs) in field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). The purpose of the replication effort is to enable utilization of proven...

A document discusses the concept of a demisable motor-drive-and-flywheel assembly [reaction-wheel assembly (RWA)] used in controlling the attitude of a spacecraft. “Demisable” as used here does not have its traditional legal meaning; instead, it signifies susceptible to melting, vaporizing, and/or otherwise...

A document discusses work that obtains a low-dimensional model that captures both temporal and spatial flow by constructing spatial and temporal four-mode models for two classic flow problems. The models are based on the proper orthogonal decomposition at two reference Reynolds numbers....

Range-imaging instruments of a type now under development are intended to generate the equivalent of three-dimensional images from measurements of the round-trip times of flight of laser pulses along known directions. These instruments could also provide information on characteristics of targets, including...

NASA's magazine for business and technology published by the Innovative Partnerships Program. Table of Contents Up Front with Douglas A. Comstock What An Exciting Time to be at NASA! Cover Story Doing Business With NASA Featured Articles Goddard and LogicNets Collaborate in...

A prototype of an advanced robotic vision system both (1) measures its own motion with respect to a stationary background and (2) detects other moving objects and estimates their motions, all by use of visual cues. Like some prior robotic and other optoelectronic vision systems, this...

A wide-band penetrating radar system for measuring the thickness of sea ice is under development. The need for this or a similar system arises as follows: Spatial and temporal variations in the thickness of sea ice are important indicators of heat fluxes between the ocean and atmosphere and, hence,...