Briefs: Transportation
Electrohydraulically Actuated Valve Train
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
SMART Solar Sail
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Machine Learning Enables Rapid Rocket Engine Design
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Bio-Inspired Propulsion
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Supersonic Spike Diffuser
Briefs: Energy
Green Jet Fuel Additive Made from Acetone Plus Light
Briefs: Energy
Power System for Hybrid Heavy-Duty Trucks
Briefs: Propulsion
CubeSat Form Factor Thermal Control Louvers
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU): Methylotrophic Microorganisms Expressing Soluble Methane Monooxygenase Proteins
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Superconductivity in a Nickel Oxide Material
Briefs: Power
Metallization for SiC Semiconductors
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
De-Orbit Device for SmallSats
Briefs: Software
Software Accelerates Engine Development for Hypersonic Flight
A numerical modeling tool allows for a better understanding of rotating detonation engines (RDEs).
Briefs: Medical
Microrobots Activated by Laser Pulses for Treating Tumors
Microrobots that can deliver drugs to specific spots inside the body while being monitored and controlled from outside the body have been developed that also can treat tumors in the...
Briefs: Materials
Origami-Inspired Material Softens Impact Forces
Landing is stressful on a rocket’s legs because they must handle the force from the impact with the landing pad. One way to combat this is to build legs out of materials that absorb some of...
Briefs: Aerospace
Inductive Power Transfer for Spaceflight Systems
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed technology that uses inductive power transfer (IPT) for wireless power interfaces between spaceflight elements (such as the payload, vehicle, and pad). Current spaceflight systems require traditional hardwire connections for power interfaces. This...
Briefs: Aerospace
Double-Fed Induction Linear Alternator
This technology was developed to address the limitations of traditional, single-fed linear alternators that require permanent magnets, adhesive bonding organics, and heavy iron laminations for flux control. They experience eddy-current losses and require electromagnetic interference protection. Furthermore,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Generating Electrical Power from Waste Heat
Directly converting electrical power to heat is easy; however, converting heat into electrical power is not as easy. To address this issue, a tiny silicon-based device was developed that can...
Briefs: Aerospace
Improved Directed Flux Motor
Electromagnetic motors typically convert electrical energy into rotational mechanical energy and are employed across a wide array of applications. While motors represent relatively mature technology, practitioners continue to seek ways to enhance motor operation including a decrease in cost, drop in size/weight,...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Transforming Flat Elastomers into 3D Shapes
Mechanical systems such as engines and motors rely on two principal types of motions of stiff components: linear motion, which involves an object moving from one point to another in a straight...
Briefs: Materials
Directly Cooled Electric Motor Made from Polymer Materials
Making electric cars lighter also involves reducing the weight of the motor. One way to do that is by constructing it from fiber-reinforced polymer materials. A new cooling concept...
Recent technical advances have enabled flywheel energy storage systems (FESS) to become more compact and able to support higher-power applications. Due to their proven...
Briefs: Energy
New Engine Optics to Fuel Future Research
An optical setup developed by researchers at Sandia's Combustion Research Facility and the Technical University of Denmark can now quantify the formation of soot — particulate matter consisting...
Briefs: Internet of Things
Interoperable Intelligent Controllers for Process Management and Control Networks
NASA Johnson Space Center developed reprogrammable and interchangeable electronic controllers that can attach to a system or subsystem wirelessly or through plug-and-play capability. Originally designed to work with rocket engines, this technology can control...
Briefs: Propulsion
Green Electric Monopropellant (GEM)-Fueled Pulsed Plasma Thruster
NASA required a rocket thruster able to produce a number of pulses at high specific impulse at a relatively low voltage (~300 to 400V). The key problem was that existing propellants for liquid-fueled pulsed plasma thrusters (LPPTs) required high voltages to ablate and accelerate...
Briefs: Software
Real-Time, Fuel-Optimal, Powered Descent Guidance Using Interpolated Time-of-Flight and Propellant Mass
Soft landing using rockets requires a trajectory to be planned for the lander from rocket ignition — typically several kilometers in altitude and moving at up to 200 m/s — to the point near the surface with near-zero velocity. The exact...
Briefs: Software
Small-Body Dynamics Toolkit Version 5.0
The Small-Body Dynamics Toolkit (SBDT) v5.0 is a collection of primitive-body-specific trajectory design and analysis tools written in MATLAB®. The SBDT gives the user the capabilities to propagate, analyze, and visualize spacecraft trajectories and the dynamical environment near realistic asteroid,...
Briefs: Propulsion
Sublimable Propellant Source for Iodine-Fed Ion Propulsion System
NASA Marshall has developed a system for generating iodine vapor from solid iodine for use as a propellant in a Hall or ion thruster propulsion system. Xenon has generally been the preferred propellant for these spacecraft ion propulsion systems but more recently, iodine-based...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Fuel Cell/Fuel Cell Hybrid System
Fuel cells can deliver clean, reliable, and uninterrupted power nearly 100 percent of the time. Fuel cells offer the advantage of efficiency by converting chemical energy directly to electricity. They have no moving parts, thereby eliminating failures associated with pumps, blowers, heat exchangers, and other...
Top Stories
Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A Former NASA Mission Manager Reflects on a 'Flawless' Mars Landing
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
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Videos: Photonics/Optics

'LaserFactory' Manufactures Fully Functional Devices & Drones
Videos: Motion Control

Watch NASA's Perseverance Rover Land on Mars
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

High-Speed Infrared Reveals Safer Hypergolic Propellant
INSIDER: Motion Control


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Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Materials
Ultra-High Purity Silicone in Aerospace and Defense Product Design
Webinars: Medical
Lunch & Learn: Pitfalls of Medical Cord Sets
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
A Four-Pillar Approach to Driving Greater Efficiency ePowertrain...
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Confident TCU Connectivity Through Efficient Functional Testing
Upcoming Webinars: Transportation
7 Levers for Electric and Autonomous Vehicles
Upcoming Webinars: Information Technology
Trending Stories
Application Briefs: Software

Online Tools Reduce Time and Expense in Selecting, Configuring, and Ordering...
Articles: Communications

5G in Manufacturing: What’s Here and What’s to Come
Articles: RF & Microwave Electronics

2020 Create the Future Design Contest: Automotive/Transportation Category...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Capacitive Sensors for Measuring Masses of Cryogenic Fluids
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Bacteria-Based Hydrogel Beads Clean Up Contaminated Groundwater
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
