Electronics & Software

MARS is a graphical user interface (GUI) written in MATLAB and Java, allowing the user to configure and control the Scalable Parallel Architecture for Real-Time Acquisition and Analysis (SPARTAA) data acquisition system. SPARTAA not only acquires data, but also allows for complex algorithms to be...

Many current and future NASA missions are capable of collecting enormous amounts of data, of which only a small portion can be transmitted to Earth. Communications are limited due to distance, visibility constraints, and competing mission downlinks. Long missions and...

A tool based on IDL (Interactive Data Language) and DAP (Data Access Protocol) has been developed for user-friendly remote data access. A difficulty for many NASA re searchers using IDL is that often the data to analyze are located remotely and are too large to transfer for local analysis. Researchers have developed a...

This innovation is capable of correlating two analog signals by using an analog- based signal conditioning front end to hard-limit the analog signals through adaptive thresholding into a binary bit stream, then performing the correlation using a Hamming “similarity”...

Application-specific-integrated-circuit (ASIC) design for space applications involves multiple challenges of maximizing performance, minimizing power, and ensuring reliable operation in extreme environments. This is a complex multidimensional optimization problem, which...

Researchers have used data from the GRAIL mission to the Moon to make the first in-flight verification of ultra-stable oscillators (USOs) with Allan deviation below 10–13 for 1-to-100-second averaging times. USOs are flown in space to provide stable timing and/or navigation...

The Gaseous Nitrogen (GN2) Orifice Mass Flow Calculator was used to determine Space Shuttle Orbiter Water Spray Boiler (WSB) GN2 high-pressure tank source depletion rates for various leak scenarios, and the ability of the GN2 consumables to support cooling of Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) lubrication...

Abrasion of mechanical components and fabrics by soil on Earth is typically minimized by the effects of atmosphere and water. Potentially abrasive particles lose sharp and pointed geometrical features through erosion. In environments where such erosion does not...

Infrared flash thermography (IRFT) is used to detect void-like flaws in a test object. The IRFT technique involves heating up the part surface using a flash of flash lamps. The post-flash evolution of the part surface temperature is sensed by an IR camera in terms of pixel...

A radiation-tolerant transistor switch has been developed that can operate between –196 and +150 °C for DC-to-DC power conversion applications. A prototype buck regulator component was demonstrated to be performing well after a total ionizing dose of 300 krad(Si). The...

Improved methods of heat dissipation are required for modern, high-powerdensity electronic systems. As increased functionality is progressively compacted into decreasing volumes, this need will be exacerbated. High-performance chip power is predicted to increase monotonically and rapidly with time. Systems utilizing these...

The Change_Detection.m MATLAB tool detects changes in an image by comparing the image to a background estimation. The change detection software is a MATLAB function designed to work on either a single image or a sequence of images, and computes changes with respect to a background image by one of four techniques:

ISOGAME is designed and developed to assess quantitatively the impact of new observation systems on the capability of imaging and modeling the ionosphere. With ISOGAME, one can perform observation system simulation experiments (OSSEs). A...

This software provides a development framework that allows planning activities for the Mars Science Laboratory rover to be altered at any time, based on changes of the Activity Dictionary. The Activity Dictionary contains the definition of all activities that can be carried out by a...

MPISS is an automatic file transfer system that implements a combination of standard and mission-unique transfer protocols required by the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) Precipitation Processing System (PPS) to control the flow...

AGATE generates a set of ranked strategies that enables an autonomous vehicle to track/trail another vehicle that is trying to break the contact using evasive tactics. The software is efficient (can be run on a laptop), scales well with environmental complexity, and is suitable for use...

Single-slope analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are particularly useful for on-chip digitization in focal plane arrays (FPAs) because of their inherent monotonicity, relative simplicity, and efficiency for column-parallel...

The current primary method of deepspace navigation is the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). High-performance navigation is achieved using Delta Differential One-Way Range techniques that utilize simultaneous observations from multiple DSN sites, and incorporate observations of...

RUSHMAPS is a new onboard data reduction scheme that gives real-time access to key science parameters (e.g. moments) of a class of heliophysics science and/or solar system exploration investigation that includes plasma particle spectrometers (PPS), but...

The 3D Automated Thermal Tool for Damaged Acreage Tile Math Model builder was developed to perform quickly and accurately 3D thermal analyses on damaged lower surface acreage tiles and structures beneath the damaged locations on a Space Shuttle Orbiter. The 3D model...

The Powered Descent Guidance (PDG) algorithm and software for generating Mars pinpoint or precision landing guidance profiles has been enhanced to incorporate thrust-pointing constraints. Pointing constraints would typically be needed for onboard sensor and navigation systems that...

Radar data can usually detect hail; however, it is difficult for present day radar to accurately discriminate between hail and rain. Local ground-based hail sensors are much better at detecting hail against a rain background, and when incorporated with radar data, provide a much better...

Traditional command uplink receivers are very limited in performance capability, take a long time to acquire, cannot operate on both uplink bands (NASA & AFSCN), and only support low-rate communications. As a result, transceivers end up on many programs’ critical paths, even...