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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Flash Cracking Reactor for Waste Plastic Processing
Conversion of waste plastic to energy is a growing problem that is especially acute in space exploration applications. Moreover, utilization of heavy hydrocarbon resources (wastes, waxes, etc.) as fuels and chemicals will be a growing need in the future. Existing technologies require a trade-off...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Ultra-Low Heat- Leak, High- Temperature Superconducting Current Leads for Space Applications
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has a need for current leads used in an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) for space applications. These leads must comply with stringent requirements such as a heat leak of approximately 100 μW or less while...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) program is building a sensor that enables a spacecraft to evaluate autonomously a potential landing area to...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An Automated Safeto- Mate (ASTM) Tester
Safe-to-mate testing is a common hardware safety practice where impedance measurements are made on unpowered hardware to verify isolation, continuity, or impedance between pins of an interface connector. Performing this on critical flight hardware under test and its associated GSE ensures minimal risk when...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Wireless Chalcogenide Nanoionic-Based Radio- Frequency Switch
A new nonvolatile nanoionic switch is powered and controlled through wireless radio-frequency (RF) transmission. A thin layer of chalcogenide glass doped with a metal ion, such as silver, comprises the operational portion of the switch. For the switch to function, an oxidizable electrode...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
DOT Transmit Module
The Deep Space Optical Terminal (DOT) transmit module demonstrates the DOT downlink signaling in a flight electronics assembly that can be qualified for deep space. The assembly has the capability to generate an electronic pulse-position modulation (PPM) waveform suitable for driving a laser assembly to produce the optical...
Briefs: Materials
Regenerable Sorbent for CO2 Removal
A durable, high-capacity regenerable sorbent can remove CO2 from the breathing loop under a Martian atmosphere. The system design allows nearambient temperature operation, needs only a small temperature swing, and sorbent regeneration takes place at or above 8 torr, eliminating the potential for Martian...
Briefs: Materials
Li-Ion Electrolytes With Improved Safety and Tolerance to High-Voltage Systems
Given that lithium-ion (Li-ion) technology is the most viable rechargeable energy storage device for near-term applications, effort has been devoted to improving the safety characteristics of this system. Therefore, extensive effort has been devoted to developing...
Briefs: Materials
Composite Aerogel Multifoil Protective Shielding
New technologies are needed to survive the temperatures, radiation, and hypervelocity particles that exploration spacecraft encounter. Multilayer insulations (MLIs) have been used on many spacecraft as thermal insulation. Other materials and composites have been used as micrometeorite shielding or...
Briefs: Materials
Soft-Bake Purification of SWCNTs Produced by Pulsed Laser Vaporization
The “soft-bake” method is a simple and reliable initial purification step first proposed by researchers at Rice University for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) produced by high-pressure carbon mon - oxide disproportionation (HiPco). Softbaking consists of annealing...
Briefs: Materials
Improved Wide Operating Temperature Range of Li-Ion Cells
Future NASA missions aimed at exploring the Moon, Mars, and the outer planets require rechargeable batteries that can operate over a wide temperature range (–60 to +60 ºC) to satisfy the requirements of various applications including landers, rovers, penetrators, CEV, CLV, etc. This work...
Briefs: Medical
An improved method for culturing immature muscle cells (myoblasts) into a mature skeletal muscle overcomes some of the notable limitations of prior culture methods. The...
Briefs: Medical
Hand-Based Biometric Analysis
Hand-based biometric analysis systems and techniques provide robust handbased identification and verification. An image of a hand is obtained, which is then segmented into a palm region and separate finger regions. Acquisition of the image is performed without requiring particular orientation or placement restrictions....
Briefs: Medical
The Next Generation of Cold Immersion Dry Suit Design Evolution for Hypothermia Prevention
A body at sea is vulnerable to hypothermia, which often leads to loss of life. Hypothermia is caused by the differences between the core body temperature and the surrounding air and seawater temperatures. The greater the differences between the body core...
Briefs: Software
Integrated Lunar Information Architecture for Decision Support Version 3.0 (ILIADS 3.0)
ILIADS 3.0 provides the data management capabilities to access CxP-vetted lunar data sets from the LMMP-provided Data Portal and the LMMP-provided OnMoon lunar data product server. (LMMP stands for Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project.) It also provides specific...
Briefs: Software
Relay Forward-Link File Management Services (MaROS Phase 2)
This software provides the service-level functionality to manage the delivery of files from a lander mission repository to an orbiter mission repository for eventual space-link relay by the orbiter asset on a specific communications pass. It provides further functions to deliver and track...
Briefs: Software
Two Mechanisms to Avoid Control Conflicts Resulting from Uncoordinated Intent
This software implements a real-time access control protocol that is intended to make all connected users aware of the presence of other connected users, and which of them is currently in control of the system. Here, “in control” means that a single user is authorized...
Briefs: Software
XTCE GOVSAT Tool Suite 1.0
The XTCE GOVSAT software suite contains three tools: validation, search, and reporting. The Extensible Markup Language (XML) Telemetric and Command Exchange (XTCE) GOVSAT Tool Suite is written in Java for manipulating XTCE XML files. XTCE is a Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) and Object Management...
Briefs: Information Technology
Remote Data Exploration with the Interactive Data Language (IDL)
A difficulty for many NASA researchers is that often the data to analyze is located remotely from the scientist and the data is too large to transfer for local analysis. Researchers have developed the Data Access Protocol (DAP) for accessing remote data. Presently one can use DAP from...
Briefs: Information Technology
Mixture-Tuned, Clutter Matched Filter for Remote Detection of Subpixel Spectral Signals
Mapping localized spectral features in large images demands sensitive and robust detection algorithms. Two aspects of large images that can harm matched-filter detection performance are addressed simultaneously. First, multimodal backgrounds may thwart the...
Briefs: Information Technology
SequenceL: Automated Parallel Algorithms Derived from CSP-NT Computational Laws
With the introduction of new parallel architectures like the cell and multicore chips from IBM, Intel, AMD, and ARM, as well as the petascale processing available for high-end computing, a larger number of programmers will need to write parallel codes. Adding the...
Briefs: Information Technology
Determining Temperature Differential to Prevent Hardware Cross- Contamination in a Vacuum Chamber
When contamination-sensitive hardware must be tested in a thermal vacuum chamber, cross-contamination from other hardware present in the chamber, or residue from previous tests, becomes a concern. Typical mitigation strategies involve maintaining the...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The proposed quantum receiver in this innovation partitions each binary signal interval into two unequal segments: a short “pre-measurement” segment in the beginning of the symbol...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A prime focus spectrometer (PFS), along with corrective optics, will mount in place of the secondary mirror of the Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. This will allow simultaneous observations of...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Practical UAV Optical Sensor Bench With Minimal Adjustability
A multiple-pass optical platform eliminates essentially all optical alignment degrees of freedom, save one. A fourpass absorption spectrometer architecture is made rigid by firmly mounting dielectric-coated mirror prisms with no alignment capability to the platform. The laser diode beam...
Briefs: Lighting
Solid-state lighting (SSL) is increasingly being introduced into the market and it is expected that many of the light sources currently used for general illumination will be...
Briefs: Lighting
InfiniLED’s latest MicroLEDs (μLEDs) have produced record optical beam intensity. This new device is capable of producing up to 1mW of light from a single 20μm pixel at 405nm. This is...
Briefs: Lighting
If you want to create a moving light source, you have a few possibilities. One is to mount a light emitter in some kind of mechanical housing — the approach used in, for example, theatrical spotlights, which stage...
Briefs: Information Technology
Display Provides Pilots with Real-Time Sonic-Boom Information
Supersonic aircraft generate shock waves that move outward and extend to the ground. As a cone of pressurized air spreads across the landscape along the flight path, it creates a continuous sonic boom along the flight track. Several factors can influence sonic booms: weight, size, and...
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