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Briefs: Information Technology
Software Disseminates Lessons Learned on a Large Project
A computer program automates the process of collecting, storing, and disseminating information on lessons learned in a large, multi- disciplinary project in which multiple organizations par- ticipate. Developed for the International Space Station project, the program could also be used on...
Briefs: Information Technology
Software Recognizes Similar Patterns of Different Sizes
A computer program undergoing development detects patterns that may differ in size but are otherwise similar to a specified pattern. Con- ceived to enable the automated recognition of features in images of planets and asteroids acquired by exploratory spacecraft, the program can also be used...
Briefs: Information Technology
Program Predicts Temperatures at Nodes of a Thermal Network
Node Prediction for Thermal Networks (NOPTHER) is a computer program that predicts steady-state temperatures at un- observed nodes of a thermal network, given noisy values of the temperatures measured at observed nodes. The program is based partly on modeling of the heat fluxes among nodes...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A method of automated synthesis of analog and/or digital electronic circuits involves evolution, either in software simulations or in hard- ware, directly on integrated-circuit chips....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Designing Reconfigurable Antennas Through Hardware Evolution
In a proposed method of designing a recon- figurable antenna, the design would be opt- imized through evolution in hardware. The proposed method would be a specific instance of an emerging general method of automated synthesis of electronic circuits in hardware. Other specific instances...
Briefs: Software
System Mimics an Avionic Multiplexer/Demultiplexer
The multiplexer/ demultiplexer (MDM) emulator is the first virtual machine that can emulate an avionic computer. New flight software can be easily “dropped in,” increasing operational flexibility. The MDM makes it possible to perform integration more quickly, reducing the need for additional...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
FPGA-Based Test Bench for Nonvolatile Electronic Memories
A test bench based on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) has been developed to reduce the cost of testing nonvolatile memory circuits. Specifications for endurance testing of memories can require test times as long as weeks — often impractically long in the case of commercial memory...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Mechanisms denoted restraint/ release/deployment-initiation (RRDI) devices have been invented to enable the rapid, reliable, one-time deployment of panels that have been hinged together and...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Apparatus for Friction Stir Welding of Pipes
A proposed apparatus would effect friction stir welding (FSW) along a circumferential path to join two pipes. The apparatus is denoted an “orbital FSW system” because the circumferential motion of the FSW head would be similar to the motions of welding heads in commercial orbital fusion welding...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Automated System for Fluid and Electrical Connections
The Smart Umbilical Mating System (SUMS) is an automated, three-degreeof- freedom, scalable system for quickly mating, demating, and/or remating ganged umbilicals. SUMS connects electrical and fluid paths between spacecraft and ground support equipment whether liftoff or side mount for NON T-0...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A partly lithographic method of fabrication is being developed to enable the economical mass production of mesoscale electrically conductive coils for miniature electro- magnets,...
Briefs: Materials
Particles of dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) entrained in gas flows would be used during machining to cool cutting tools and workpieces, according to a proposal. Solid carbon dioxide particles that...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Automated Apparatus for Welding to Seal Pyrotechnic Devices
An automated, remotely controllable apparatus has been developed for resistance welding for hermetic sealing of pyrotechnic devices, as a substitute for special-purpose welding equipment that is no longer commercially available. Hermetic sealing of a pyrotechnic device involves a sequence...
Briefs: Medical
A technique for detecting bacterial endospores via luminescence affords a sensitivity much greater than that of a prior luminescence-based technique from which it is derived. The...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Compact, lightweight, sensitive correlation spectrometers for detecting gaseous byproducts of the onset of fire are under development. These spectrometers would be installed in aircraft,...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
An instrumentation system measures the concentrations of three principal contaminants (nonvolatile residue, hydrocarbon vapor, and particle fallout) in real time. The system includes a...
Briefs: Information Technology
A recently invented coding technique for data compression is based on recursive interleaving of variable-to-variable-length binary source codes. The technique can be used as a key component in data...
Briefs: Software
The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Facilities Functional Review web site provides dynamic electronic publication of select portions of MSFC’s facility-management database. This is...
Briefs: Information Technology
Software for Internet Collaboration on Mars Rover Operations
A report provides additional information about two major sub- systems of the software system described in “Software for Ground Operations for a Prototype Mars Rover” (NPO-21235), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 11 (November 2001), page 46. The software system was designed for, and...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Deep-Space Ranging Using Pseudonoise Codes
A report discusses aspects of a ranging system in which the distance between the Earth and a spacecraft is determined from the difference between the phases of (1) modulation on a radio signal trans- mitted to the spacecraft and (2) a replica of the modulation transmitted back to Earth by a transponder on...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Sonic-Boom Tests of Model of a Supersonic Business Jet Plane
A report discusses wind-tunnel tests of a scale model of a con- ceptual two-engine jet airplane designed to carry 10 passengers, have a range of 4,000 miles (≈6,400 km), cruise at a mach number of 2.0, and generate a low sonic boom [char- acterized by a shock overpressure of ≤ 0.5...
Briefs: Medical
Use of Mechanical Event Simulation Software for Bio-Mechanical Eye Research
This report examines the simulation of eye move- ment and resulting stresses with mech- anical event simulation software to research retinal detachments, a condition that affects 25,000 people annually. The set-up of the bio- mechanical finite element model of the eye, as...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Optimization of Synthetic Jet Actuators
A report presents a study oriented toward optimization of synthetic jet actuators. [A syn- thetic jet actuator is a fluidic control device that partly resembles a loudspeaker. It typically comprises a piezo- electric actuator/ diaphragm situated in a cavity, facing an orifice or nozzle at the opposite end of...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Multiple-Beam System for Fast Raman Spectrometry
A developmental instrumentation system rapidly acquires full Raman spectra of gas molecules. The system is based on the principle of multiplex coherent antistokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) and incorporates improvements over prior multiplex CARS systems. Among the potential applications for systems...
Briefs: Medical
According to a proposal, laser-induced acoustic shock waves would be used to lyse cells as needed for biomolecular investigations, including, for example, diagnosis of diseases, pregnancy...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Profile Refractometry for Measuring the Soret Effect
Profile refractometry is a laser-based technique for measuring the index of refraction of a fluid as a function of time and position in a fluid. The technique was developed for use in quantifying the Soret effect in a binary fluid subject to an applied thermal gradient. (The Soret effect is the...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Synthesis of Optical Pulses Using Brillouin Amplification
A technique for Fourier synthesis of optical pulses involves radio-frequency (RF) phase modulation of laser beams, Brillouin selective amplification of modulation sidebands, and, finally, generation of pulses through coherent superposition of (and thus interference among) the sidebands....
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Hexfoil rotary flexures have been proposed as pivots suitable for use in precise optical instruments. In the application that inspired the hexfoil concept, there is a requirement for a limited-rotation mirror gimbal that...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A Semiautomated Coordinate-Measuring System
The Advanced Payload Transfer Measurement System (APTMS) comprises electromechanical sensors and sensor output-processing circuits. Designed specifically for measuring offsets between spacecraft payload trunnions and trunnion supports during ground-based payload-transfer operations, the APTMS could be...
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