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Briefs: Physical Sciences
On-Chip Microfluidic Components for In Situ Analysis, Separation, and Detection of Amino Acids
The Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory at GSFC has identified amino acids in meteorites and returned cometary samples by using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LCMS). These organic species are key markers for...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Method of Separating Oxygen From Spacecraft Cabin Air to Enable Extravehicular Activities
Extravehicular activities (EVAs) require high-pressure, high-purity oxygen. Shuttle EVAs use oxygen that is stored and transported as a cryogenic fluid. EVAs on the International Space Station (ISS) presently use the Shuttle cryo O2, which is transported to...
Briefs: Information Technology
Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Simulator
The Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Simulator (SAMSIM) is a numerical model dedicated to plan and validate operations of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the surface of Mars. The SAM instrument suite, currently operating on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), is an analytical laboratory...
Briefs: Information Technology
Access Control of Web- and Java-Based Applications
Cybersecurity has become a great concern as threats of service interruption, unauthorized access, stealing and altering of information, and spreading of viruses have become more prevalent and serious.
Briefs: Information Technology
Tool for Automated Retrieval of Generic Event Tracks (TARGET)
Methods have been developed to identify and track tornado-producing mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) automatically over the continental United States, in order to facilitate systematic studies of these powerful and often destructive events. Several data sources were combined to ensure...
Briefs: Information Technology
Bilayer Protograph Codes for Half-Duplex Relay Channels
Direct to Earth return links are limited by the size and power of lander devices. A standard alternative is provided by a two-hops return link: a proximity link (from lander to orbiter relay) and a deep-space link (from orbiter relay to Earth). Although direct to Earth return links are limited...
Briefs: Information Technology
Influence of Computational Drop Representation in LES of a Droplet-Laden Mixing Layer
Multiphase turbulent flows are encountered in many practical applications including turbine engines or natural phenomena involving particle dispersion. Numerical computations of multiphase turbulent flows are important because they provide a cheaper alternative to...
Briefs: Lighting
From the high-resolution glow of flat screen televisions to light bulbs that last for years, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) continue to transform technology. The celebrated efficiency...
Briefs: Lighting
In a process comparable to squeezing an elephant through a pinhole, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have designed a way to engineer atoms capable of funneling...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Dielectrophoresis-Based Particle Sensor Using Nanoelectrode Arrays
A method has been developed for concentrating, or partly separating, particles of a selected species from a liquid or gas containing these particles, and flowing in a channel. An example of this is to promote an accumulation (and thus concentration) of the selected particle (e.g.,...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
In order to deliver crisp images in high-speed machine vision applications, image sensors require high-speed shuttering ability. The industry has traditionally relied on charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors using...
Briefs: Software
ULTRA: Underwater Localization for Transit and Reconnaissance Autonomy
This software addresses the issue of underwater localization of unmanned vehicles and the inherent drift in their onboard sensors. The software gives a 2 to 3 factor of improvement over the state-of-the-art underwater localization algorithms.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Multi-Dimensional Damage Detection for Surfaces and Structures
Current designs for inflatable or semirigidized structures for habitats and space applications use a multiple-layer construction, alternating thin layers with thicker, stronger layers, which produces a layered composite structure that is much better at resisting damage. Even though such...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Autonomous Cryogenic Leak Detector for Improving Launch Site Operations
NASA, military, and commercial satellite users need launch services that are highly reliable, less complex, easier to test, and cost effective. This project has developed a tapered optical fiber sensor for detecting hydrogen. The invention involves incorporating chemical...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Submillimeter Planetary Atmospheric Chemistry Exploration Sounder
A report describes the Submillimeter Planetary Atmospheric Chemistry Exploration Sounder (SPACES), a highsensitivity laboratory breadboard for a spectrometer targeted at orbital planetary atmospheric analysis. The frequency range is 520 to 590 GHz, with a target noise temperature...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A 5×5 silicon microlens array was developed using a silicon micromachining technique for a silicon-based THz antenna array. The feature of the silicon micromachining technique enables one...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Method for Reduction of Silver Biocide Plating on Metal Surfaces
Silver ions in aqueous solutions (0.05 to 1 ppm) are used for microbial control in water systems. The silver ions remain in solution when stored in plastic containers, but the concentration rapidly decreases to non-biocidal levels when stored in metal containers. The silver deposits...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Forward-Looking IED Detector Ground Penetrating Radar
There have been many developments of mine or metal detectors based on ground penetrating radar techniques, usually in handheld or rover-mounted devices. In most mine or metal detector applications, conditions are in a stationary mode and detection speed is not an important factor.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Battery Charge Equalizer with Transformer Array
High-power batteries generally consist of a series connection of many cells or cell banks. In order to maintain high performance over battery life, it is desirable to keep the state of charge of all the cell banks equal. A method provides individual charging for battery cells in a large, high-voltage...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An Efficient, Highly Flexible Multi-Channel Digital Downconverter Architecture
In this innovation, a digital downconverter has been created that produces a large (16 or greater) number of output channels of smaller bandwidths. Additionally, this design has the flexibility to tune each channel independently to anywhere in the input bandwidth to...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Fully Printed, Flexible, Phased Array Antenna for Lunar Surface Communication
NASA’s future exploration missions focus on the manned exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond, which will rely heavily on the development of a reliable communications infrastructure from planetary surface-to-surface, surface-to-orbit, and back to Earth. Flexible...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Dimmable Electronic Ballast for a Gas Discharge Lamp
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most efficient photocatalyst for organic oxidative degradation. TiO2 is effective not only in aqueous solution, but also in nonaqueous solvents and in the gas phase. It is photostable, biologically and chemically inert, and non-toxic. Low-energy UV light...
Briefs: Materials
Differential Muon Tomography to Continuously Monitor Changes in the Composition of Subsurface Fluids
Muon tomography has been used to seek hidden chambers in Egyptian pyramids and image subsurface features in volcanoes. It seemed likely that it...
Briefs: Materials
Conductive Carbon Nanotube Inks for Use with Desktop Inkjet Printing Technology
Inkjet printing is a common commercial process. In addition to the familiar use in printing documents from computers, it is also used in some industrial applications. For example, wire manufacturers are required by law to print the wire type, gauge, and safety...
Briefs: Materials
Enhanced Schapery Theory Software Development for Modeling Failure of Fiber-Reinforced Laminates
Progressive damage and failure analysis (PDFA) tools are needed to predict the nonlinear response of advanced fiber-reinforced composite structures. Predictive tools should incorporate the underlying physics of the damage and failure mechanisms observed...
Briefs: Materials
High-Performance, Low-Temperature-Operating, Long-Lifetime Aerospace Lubricants
The synthesis and characterization of six new ionic liquids, with fluoroether moeties on the imidazolium ring, each with vapor pressures shown to be
Briefs: Materials
Carbon Nanotube Microarrays Grown on Nanoflake Substrates
This innovation consists of a new composition of matter where single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are grown in aligned arrays from nanostructured flakes that are coated in Fe catalyst. This method of growth of aligned SWNTs, which can yield well over 400 percent SWNT mass per unit...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
This work is a method to drill into a rock surface regardless of the gravitational field or orientation. The required weight-on-bit (WOB) is supplied by a self-contained anchoring mechanism. The system...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators provide the highest force-to-weight ratio of any known actuator. They can be designed for a wide variety of form factors from flat, thin packages, to...
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