Electronics & Software

A modified ion-detector/ data-acquisition system has been devised to increase the dynamic range of a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) that, previously, included a microchannel-plate detector and a data-acquisition system based on counting pulses and time-tagging them by use of a...

A time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) like the one mentioned in the immediately preceding article has been retrofitted with an ionizer based on a surface spontaneous- desorption process. This ionizer includes an electron multiplier in the form of a microchannel plate (MCP). Relative to an ionizer...

Tool for Research Enhancement Decision Support (TREDS) is a computer program developed to assist managers in ranking options for research aboard the International Space Station (ISS). It could likely also be adapted to perform similar decision support functions in industrial and academic settings. TREDS provides a...

Task Description Language (TDL) is an extension of the C++ programming language that enables programmers to quickly and easily write complex, concurrent computer programs for controlling real-time autonomous systems, including robots and spacecraft. TDL is based on earlier work (circa 1984 through 1989) on the Task Control...

“Close Call Action Log Form” (“CCALF”) is the name of both a computer program and a Web-based service provided by the program for creating an enhanced database of close calls (in the colloquial sense of mishaps that were avoided by small margins) assigned to the Center Operations Directorate (COD) at Johnson Space...

The Johnson Space Center Emergency Notification System (JENS) software utilizes pre-existing computation and communication infrastructure to augment a prior variable-tone, siren-based, outdoor alarm system, in order to enhance the ability to give notice of emergencies to employees working...

Verifiable MDS Architecture (VMA) is a software architecture that facilitates the construction of highly verifiable flight software for NASA's Mission Data System (MDS), especially for smaller missions subject to cost constraints. More specifically, the purpose served by VMA is to facilitate aggressive...

Java Radar Analysis Tool (JRAT) is a computer program for analyzing two dimensional (2D) scatter plots derived from radar returns showing pieces of the disintegrating Space Shuttle Columbia. JRAT can also be applied to similar plots representing radar returns showing aviation accidents, and to scatter plots in general. The...

A computer program for controlling a high-performance, force-reflecting telerobot has been developed. The goal in designing a telerobot-control system is to make the velocity of the slave match the master velocity, and the environmental force on the master match the force on the slave. Instability...

Advanced Life Support Sizing Analysis Tool (ALSSAT) is a computer model for sizing and analyzing designs of environmental- control and life support systems (ECLSS) for spacecraft and surface habitats involved in the exploration of Mars and Moon. It performs conceptual designs of advanced...

SOM_VIS is a computer program for analysis and display of multidimensional sets of Earth-image data typified by the data acquired by the Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer [MISR (a spaceborne instrument)]. In SOM_VIS, an enhanced self-organizing-map (SOM) algorithm is first used to...

A computer program that efficiently solves the time-dependent, nonlinear Euler equations in two dimensions to an arbitrarily high order of accuracy has been developed. The program implements a modified form of a prior arbitrary- accuracy simulation algorithm that is a member of the class of...

Planetary-Ohio Network Emulator (p- ONE) is a computer program for local laboratory testing of high bandwidth data communication systems subject to long delays in propagation over interplanetary distances. p-ONE is installed on a personal computer connected to two bidirectional Ethernet...

Multi Surface Light Table (MSLT) is an interactive software tool that was developed in support of the QuakeSim project, which has created an earthquake fault database and a set of earthquake simulation software tools. MSLT visualizes the three-dimensional geometries of faults embedded below the terrain and...

MULTIVAR is a FORTRAN 77 computer program that fits one of the members of a set of six multivariable mathematical models (five of which are nonlinear) to a multivariable set of data. The inputs to MULTIVAR include the data for the independent and dependent variables plus the user’s choice...

A mesh-sequencing algorithm and a conservative patched-grid-interface algorithm (hereafter “Patch Algorithm”) have been incorporated into the PAB3D code, which is a computer program that solves the Navier-Stokes equations for the simulation of subsonic, transonic, or supersonic flows...

Astronomer’s Proposal Tool (APT) is a computer program that assists astronomers in preparing their Phase 1 and Phase 2 Hubble Space Telescope science programs. APT is a successor to the Remote Proposal Submission System 2 (RPS2) program, which has been rendered obsolete by more recent advances in computer software and...

Chimera Grid Tools (CGT) is a software package for performing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis utilizing the Chimera-overset-grid method. For modeling flows with viscosity about geometrically complex bodies in relative motion, the Chimera-overset-grid method is among the most computationally cost-effective methods for...

CPM X is a computer program that predicts sequences of, and amounts of time taken by, routine actions performed by a skilled person performing a task. Unlike programs that simulate the interaction of the person with the task environment, CPM X predicts the time course of events as...

A report describes the Entry Descent Landing Data Analysis (EDA), which is a system of signal-processing software and computer hardware for acquiring status data conveyed by multiple-frequency-shiftkeying tone signals transmitted by a spacecraft during descent to the surface of a remote planet....

An engineering discipline denoted as hybrid power management (HPM) has emerged from continuing efforts to increase energy efficiency and reliability of hybrid power systems. HPM is oriented toward integration of diverse electric energy-generating, energy-storing, and energy-consuming devices in optimal configurations for...

A computer program calculates a best conic fit of a given spacecraft trajectory. Spacecraft trajectories are often propagated as conics onboard. The conic-section parameters as a result of the best-conic-fit are uplinked to computers aboard the spacecraft for use in updating predictions of the...

A system of server and client software formats and redistributes data from commercially available desktop to commercially available hand-held computers via both wired and wireless networks. This software is an inexpensive means of enabling engineers and technicians to gain access to current...