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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
High-Speed Complex-Amplitude Liquid-Crystal SLMs
High-speed complex-amplitude spatial light modulators (SLMs) containing liquid crystals with pixel electronic circuitry on single-crystal-silicon backplanes are undergoing development. The basic approach taken in this project is to use fast-switching liquid-crystal materials and modulation-enhancing...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Laser Heating for Testing Rocket-Engine Insulating Phenolic
A continuous-wave CO2 laser has been selected as a source of heat for testing the thermal response of carbon-cloth phenolic like that used as insulating material in a reusable solid-fuel rocket motor (RSRM). The particular thermal response of interest, observed during operation of an RSRM,...
Briefs: Software
SIMON — School Internet Manager Over Networks
School Internet Manager Over Networks (SIMON) is a software tool, exclusively for use on Macintosh computers, that is designed to provide access to, and management of, Internet information for teachers and students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. By eliminating the requirement for advanced...
Briefs: Materials
A number of matrix resins that contain thermosetting plasticizers have been developed for use in the resin-transfer molding (RTM) of composite-material (fiber/matrix) parts. These...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Molded Plastic Simulated Landscapes
Simulated landscapes of Mars have been made of thermoplastic sheets molded to shapes derived from images of the Martian terrain. These simulated landscapes can be used to advantage in scientific experiments, simulations, educational displays, and other applications, in which unitary molded plastic sheets can...
Briefs: Materials
Investigators at the Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) have developed specifications of the amounts of alloying elements needed to increase the specific strengths of nickel alloys while...
Briefs: Materials
Aerogels With Gradients of Density
Aerogels with gradients in density have been produced in experiments, as part of an effort to develop materials that will be used in outer space to capture particles traveling at high speeds for the STARDUST mission.
Briefs: Test & Measurement
An optoelectronic instrument, known as a plant fluorescence sensor, is being developed for use as a working tool in agricultural settings. This instrument is a remote, passive monitor...
Briefs: Motion Control
The circuit shown in the figure is a controller for bistable brakes. The use of bistable brakes reduces energy consumption and spurious heating, as explained below.
A bistable brake is one that can stay in the...
Briefs: Energy
A government/ industry/ academic cooperative has developed a hybrid electric transit bus (HETB). The goals of the development program, which continues, include doubling the fuel economy...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project has led to the development of high-rate (155.52-Mb/s) modems for use in high-quality wireless data communications. The research was...
Briefs: Motion Control
The gaseous hydrogen flow control vale (GH2FCV; see Figure 1) is a critical space shuttle component that controls the pressure of the hydrogen external tank during launch and ascent to...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A microwave phase shifter that can be tuned by varying both electric and magnetic fields has been developed. This device combines all the advantages of prior electrically and magnetically tunable microwave...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Recent advances in laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms in magneto-optic traps (MOTs) would be exploited in ion-trap-based atomic clocks, according to a proposal. Beams of...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A commercial scanning imaging white-light interferometer designed for measuring surface profiles of stationary objects has been modified into an interferometric instrument for imaging...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A proposed electromechanical display system would be capable of presenting as many as four different messages. Conventional electromechanical display systems are limited to three messages.
Briefs: Information Technology
Rapid-Prototyping Virtual-Reality Software Tool Kit
The VrTool computer program enables its user to rapidly develop a prototype virtual-reality (VR) application program. Users of VR application programs need software that can help them keep pace with the rapidly evolving VR field. None of the previously commercially available VR software tool kits...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A prototype system for acoustic imaging of gas leaks that emit ultrasound was developed at Kennedy Space Center. Potential government and commercial users concerned with leak imaging...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Two-Photon Microscope Imaging Spectrometer
A two-photon microscope imaging spectrometer has been proposed for use in scanning confocal two-photon microscopy. The proposed instrument would solve a spectrum-overlap that sometimes arises, as explained below.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An improved pseudostereophonic system utilizes digital filtering and head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) to afford tailorability and sound quality not available from older pseudostereophonic systems....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A simple microwave power-transmission system has been proposed for maintaining the charge on spacecraft batteries immediately prior to launch. The basic concept of this system could also be applied to other systems...
Briefs: Software
Software Interface Between MATLAB and a PC RS-232 Serial Port
A computer program establishes an interface between the MATLAB software and the serial data port of a personal computer (PC) that runs either the Windows 95 or the Windows NT operating system. The program makes it possible to utilize the graphical user interface (GUI) and the...
Briefs: Software
Program for Analysis of Spacecraft Telecommunication Systems
A computer program facilitates the analysis and design of a radio-communication system for transmitting data from an orbiting spacecraft to ground stations. Input data provided by the user include primarily (1) parameters of the spacecraft orbit (including parameters that specify...
Briefs: Software
Software for Spacecraft/Ground Communication via the Internet
The Space Communications Protocol Standards (SCPS) specify a developmental system of international protocols for data communications between spacecraft and points on Earth. SCPS protocols are intended to make a spacecraft appear, to a terrestrial computer user, as just another node on...
Briefs: Materials
Improved Fabrication of YBa2Cu3O7 —x Superconductors
An improved method of manufacturing high-temperature superconductors of general composition YBa2Cu3O7— x and various grain structures has been devised. This method involves mixing, pressing, and heating of Y2O3, CuO, and Ba(NO3)2 powders. This method is easier than an older method that...
Briefs: Materials
Several materials have shown promise for coating graphite susceptors used in epitaxial growth of 4H-SiC. The development of appropriate susceptor-coating materials is an essential part of...
Briefs: Materials
Priming Ceramic Materials for Better Waterproofing
An improved process for waterproofing ceramic materials — especially lightweight ceramic insulation materials in both rigid (tile) and flexible (blanket) form — has been invented. In this process, traditional waterproofing agents are used, but before the waterproofing agents are applied, the...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Hoytethers™ are failure-resistant multiline tethers named after their inventor, Robert Hoyt. They were originally intended for use in outer space to provide reliable tethering of satellites in the presence...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Program Simulates Flights of Advanced Aerospace Vehicles
Marshall Aerospace Vehicle Representation in C (MAVERIC) is a C-language computer program developed for use in performing high-fidelity simulations of flights and analyses of the guidance and control performances of the X-33 aerospace vehicle and the VentureStar reusable launch vehicle (RLV)....
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