Tech Briefs

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A comprehensive library of technical briefs from engineering experts at NASA and major government, university, and commercial laboratories covering all aspects of innovations in electronics, software, photonics, imaging, motion control, automation, sensors, test, materials, manufacturing, mechanical, and mechatronics.

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Low-Energy Transfer From Near-Earth to Near-Moon Orbit

A report presents a theoretical approach to designing a low-energy transfer of a spacecraft from an orbit around the Earth to ballistic capture into an orbit around the Moon. The approach is based partly on the one presented in “Low-Energy Interplanetary Transfers Using Lagrangian...

Briefs: Information Technology

A method of processing data acquired by ultra-wide-band (UWB) syntheticaperture radar (SAR) provides for suppression of those errors that are caused by the undesired relative motion of the radar...

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Briefs: Software
Updated Global Atmospheric Reference Model Computer Programs

The 1999 version of the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center Global Reference Atmospheric Model (GRAM-99) and version 3.8 of the Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars- GRAM) are the latest in two series of computer programs for calculating selected physical properties of the...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Since its invention in 1948, the transistor has revolutionized everyday life. The electronics revolution is based on miniaturization of transistors; smaller transistors are faster,...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

“Flip chip on board (FCOB) with high thermal conductivity and tailored coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)” denotes a developmental concept for relatively inexpensive,...

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Briefs: Materials

Thin films of Li2CO3 are under consideration for use as passivating layers between electrodes and solid electrolytes in advanced thin-film lithium-ion...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

NASA’s F-15B #836 is a two-seat version of the F-15, which is a high-performance, supersonic, all-weather fighter airplane. The F-15B is used as a test-bed aircraft for a wide variety...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

An improved alignment mechanism and mating procedure have been devised for a robotic drilling system in which there is a need to assemble drill stem rods for sampling soils and rocks on a...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A small mobile robot equipped with a stereoscopic machine vision system and two manipulator arms that have limited degrees of freedom has been given the ability to perform...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

A process that includes photolithography, liftoff, etching, and sputter deposition has been developed to enable the fabrication of thin, finely patterned layers of gold, platinum,...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Software for Optimized Flattening From 3D to 2D

A computer program offers enhanced capabilities for calculating two-dimensional (2D) patterns needed to construct specified three-dimensional (3D) surfaces to within acceptably close approximations, with minimal waste of sheet material. Examples of complexly shaped sheet-material items that could...

Briefs: Medical

An improved method of sterilizing petri-dish spreaders and a spreader design to implement the method have been developed. In comparison with the conventional methods of sterilizing...

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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Solar Simulator for a Portable Solar-Absorptance Instrument

A special-purpose solar simulator includes (1) a tungsten lamp that serves as a gray-body radiator with a temperature of 3,200 K and (2) a mosaic of filters such that the filtered lamp output has the same normalized spectral irradiance as that of sunlight outside the atmosphere of the...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

A small, lightweight, low-power instrument, denoted a proton-transferreaction/ ion-mobility spectrometer (PTR-IMS) has been developed for detecting airborne organic compounds at...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Making Digital Composite Images for Technical Illustration

A method of generating three-dimensional composite digital images can serve multiple purposes in technical illustration. The method was devised to accelerate and facilitate the design of new electric lights and receptacles for large buildings, and can just as well be applied to the...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

A portable instrument denoted a phase-retrieval camera (PRC) is designed to enable the testing of large, lightweight optics in the presence of vibrations and atmospheric turbulence. The development...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Multi-Screen-Image- and Catalog-Viewing Program

A computer program enables the single- or multi-screen display of multispectral, multiresolution images — especially astronomical ones — stored as sets of data that range upward in size from hundreds of gigabytes. In cases of multi-screen displays, the software synchronizes the screens so that...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Software Automates Processing of SAR Image Data

The Automated SAR Image Processor (ASIP) computer program increases the efficiency of production of scientifically useful imagery from raw synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) image data. In the absence of ASIP, the processing of SAR data is a labor-intensive task, often involving supporting personnel,...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

An optical system that utilizes visible light at nearly perpendicular incidence has been invented for use in testing the surface figures of nominally axisymmetric (paraboloidal,...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

The liquid-crystal phase-shifting shearing interferometer is a common-path interferometer based partly on a lateral-shear-plate interferometer. It bears a partial similarity to the...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

The figure schematically depicts an apparatus for measuring strain at only one designated location on a structure. The apparatus is a fiber-optic phase-locked loop, wherein strain...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

The efficiencies and thus the brightnesses of flat-panel projectors based on liquid-crystal devices (LCDs) and digital mirror devices (DMDs) would be increased by the combination of...

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Briefs: Motion Control

The term "COSMOWRAP" denotes a compact, stiff, remotely actuatable, lightweight, quick-release clamp that could be substituted for the larger, heavier, and more-difficult-to-use toggle-action...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A computer-based system, and a method built around the use of the system, have been developed to automate the acquisition, integration, and management of data that have been...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Mixed-Signal Driver ASIC for IEEE 1394 and I²C Buses

The IEEE 1394 and I2C Mixed-Signal Driver is one of two application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) designed to function together as an interface among the following three digital-signal buses:

A peripheral component interface (PCI) bus; A high-speed serial data bus that...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Circuits for conditioning AC power supplied to computers are under development. A power conditioner of this type would be an interface between a conventional AC power line and a...

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Briefs: Software
Program Injects Random Faults for Testing Computers

JIFI (Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Implementation of a Fault Injector) is a computer program for studying the ability of a computer to tolerate, detect, and/or recover from faults (that is, bit errors). JIFI affords the capability to inject faults into user-specified central- processing-unit...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) has been designed to function as a low-power-consumption, low-noise amplifier (LNA) at frequencies from about 65 to about 110 GHz. This MMIC...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Monolithic integrated circuits (in particular, Schottky-diode-based frequency multipliers) that operate at frequencies as high as a few terahertz are being developed in a...

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Webcasts

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On-Demand Webinars: Defense

From Data to Decision: How AI Enhances Warfighter Readiness

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Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

April Battery & Electrification Summit

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Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Tech Update: 3D Printing for Transportation in 2024

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Upcoming Webinars: Materials

Unleashing Epoxy's Potential: Ensuring Hermetic Sealing in Modern...

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Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement

Building an Automotive EMC Test Plan

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Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

The Moon and Beyond from a Thermal Perspective

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