Magazine

A document poses, and suggests a program of research for answering, questions of how to achieve autonomous operation of herds of cooperative robots to be used in exploration and/or colonization of remote planets. In a typical scenario, a flock of mobile sensory robots would be deployed in a previously...

Miniaturized hydrogen- and hydrocarbon- gas sensors, heretofore often consisting of Schottky diodes based on catalytic metal in contact with SiC, can be improved by incorporating palladium oxide (PdOx, where 0≤x≤1) between the catalytic metal and the SiC.

Engineers at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) developed the Laser Scaling and Measurement Device for Photographic Images – a camera attachment that uses laser technology – to assist scientists in determining the exact scale of any damages to the Space Shuttle's external tank when viewing...

Quantum Entanglement Molecular Absorption Spectrum Simulator (QE-MASS) is a computer program for simulating twophoton molecular-absorption spectroscopy using quantum-entangled photons. More specifically, QE-MASS simulates the molecular absorption of two quantum-entangled photons generated...

Fuzzy Feature Observation Planner for Small Body Proximity Observations (FuzzObserver) is a developmental computer program, to be used along with other software, for autonomous planning of maneuvers of a spacecraft near an asteroid, comet, or other small astronomical body. Selection of terrain features and estimation of the position of...

Remote Access Multi-mission Processing and Analysis Ground Environment (RAMPAGE) is a Java-language server computer program that enables near-real-time display of spacecraft telemetry data on any authorized client computer that has access to the Internet and is equipped with Web-browser software....

Rock Identification Toolkit Suite is a computer program that assists users in identifying and characterizing rocks shown in images returned by the Mars Explorer Rover mission. Included in the program are components for automated finding of rocks, interactive adjustments of outlines of rocks, active...

Wilcoxon Research (Gaithersburg, MD) has introduced the 788A accelerometers that feature a sensitivity of 100 mV/g. The accelerometer is a single-axis sensor with an acceleration range of +50 g. High-frequency response measurements up to 10 kHz identify faults and improper machine operation. Typical noise is 4 mg at 100 Hz. The unit...