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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock
A paper discusses a dual-compartment inflatable suitlock (DCIS) for Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA) that will allow for dust control, suit maintenance, and efficient EVA egress/ingress. The expandable (inflatable technologies) aspect of the design will allow the unit to stow in a compact package for transport.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Techniques for Solution-Assisted Optical Contacting
A document discusses a “solution-assisted contacting” technique for optical contacting. An optic of surface flatness Lambda/20 was successfully contacted with one of “moderate” surface quality, or Lambda/4. Optics used were both ultra-low expansion (ULE) glass (Lambda/4 and Lambda/20) and...
Briefs: Materials
Large-Strain Transparent Magnetoactive Polymer Nanocomposites
A document discusses polymer nanocomposite superparamagnetic actuators that were prepared by the addition of organically modified superparamagnetic nanoparticles to the polymer matrix. The nanocomposite films exhibited large deformations under a magnetostatic field with a low loading...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thermodynamic Vent System for an On-Orbit Cryogenic Reaction Control Engine
A report discusses a cryogenic reaction control system (RCS) that integrates a Joule-Thompson (JT) device (expansion valve) and thermodynamic vent system (TVS) with a cryogenic distribution system to allow fine control of the propellant quality (subcooled liquid) during...
Briefs: Information Technology
Time Distribution Using SpaceWire in the SCaN Testbed on ISS
A paper describes an approach for timekeeping and time transfer among the devices on the CoNNeCT project’s SCaN Testbed. It also describes how the clocks may be synchronized with an external time reference; e.g., time tags from the International Space Station (ISS) or RF signals...
Briefs: Lighting
These displays could play crucial roles in ultra-portable products such as next-generation pico-projectors and in emerging fields such as biophotonics and...
Briefs: Lighting
Nanowires — microscopic fibers that can be “grown” in a lab — have a variety of potential applications, including LEDs and sensors. A team of MIT researchers...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Method of Bonding Optical Elements With Near-Zero Displacement
The International X-ray Project seeks to build an x-ray telescope using thousands of pieces of thin and flexible glass mirror segments. Each mirror segment must be bonded into a housing in nearly perfect optical alignment without distortion. Forces greater than 0.001 Newton, or...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical Phase Recovery and Locking in a PPM Laser Communication Link
Free-space optical communication holds great promise for future space missions requiring high data rates. For data communication in deep space, the current architecture employs pulse position modulation (PPM). In this scheme, the light is transmitted and detected as pulses within...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The design and initial demonstration of a laser pump module (LPM) incorporating single-mode, grating-stabilized 808- nm diode lasers and a...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Method to Enhance the Operation of an Optical Inspection Instrument Using Spatial Light Modulators
For many aspheric and freeform optical components, existing interferometric solutions require a custom computer-generated hologram (CGH) to characterize the part. The overall objective of this research is to develop hardware and a procedure to produce...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
High-Speed Edge-Detecting Line Scan Smart Camera
A high-speed edge-detecting line scan smart camera was developed. The camera is designed to operate as a component in a NASA Glenn Research Center developed inlet shock detection system. The inlet shock is detected by projecting a laser sheet through the airflow. The shock within the airflow is the...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
In a photon counting detector array, each pixel in the array produces an electrical pulse when an incident photon on that pixel is detected. Detection and demodulation of an optical communication...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical Communications Channel Combiner
NASA has identified deep-space optical communications links as an integral part of a unified space communication network in order to provide data rates in excess of 100 Mb/s. The distances and limited power inherent in a deep-space optical downlink necessitate the use of photon-counting detectors and a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Development of Thermal Infrared Sensor To Supplement Operational Land Imager
The thermal infrared sensor (TIRS) is a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP)-based instrument intended to supplement the Operational Land Imager (OLI) for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The TIRS instrument is a far-infrared imager operating in the...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Air gaging relies on a law of physics that states flow and pressure are directly proportionate to clearance and react inversely to each other. As clearance increases,...
Briefs: Information Technology
Absolute Position of Targets Measured Through a Chamber Window Using Lidar Metrology Systems
Lidar is a useful tool for taking metrology measurements without the need for physical contact with the parts under test. Lidar instruments are aimed at a target using azimuth and elevation stages, then focus a beam of coherent, frequency modulated laser...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A gas containment vessel that is not in thermal equilibrium with the bulk gas can affect its temperature measurement. The physical nature of many gas dynamics...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
On-Wafer Measurement of a Multi-Stage MMIC Amplifier With 10 dB of Gain at 475 GHz
JPL has measured and calibrated a WR2.2 waveguide wafer probe from GGB Industries in order to allow for measurement of circuits in the 325–500 GHz range. Circuits were measured, and one of the circuits exhibited 10 dB of gain at 475 GHz.
Briefs: Software
Software to Control and Monitor Gas Streams
This software package interfaces with various gas stream devices such as pressure transducers, flow meters, flow controllers, valves, and analyzers such as a mass spectrometer. The software provides excellent user interfacing with various windows that provide time-domain graphs, valve state buttons,...
Briefs: Information Technology
Anomaly Detection in Test Equipment via Sliding Mode Observers
Nonlinear observers were originally developed based on the ideas of variable structure control, and for the purpose of detecting disturbances in complex systems. In this anomaly detection application, these observers were designed for estimating the distributed state of fluid flow in a...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (LHR) for Measurements of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmospheric Column
This passive laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) instrument simultaneously measures multiple trace gases in the atmospheric column including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), and resolves their concentrations at different altitudes....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Fast and Adaptive Lossless Onboard Hyperspectral Data Compression System
Modern hyperspectral imaging systems are able to acquire far more data than can be downlinked from a spacecraft. Onboard data compression helps to alleviate this problem, but requires a system capable of power efficiency and high throughput. Software solutions have limited...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Iridium Interfacial Stack — IrIS
Iridium Interfacial Stack (IrIS) is the sputter deposition of high-purity tantalum silicide (TaSi2-400 nm) / platinum (Pt-200 nm) / iridium (Ir-200 nm) / platinum (Pt- 200 nm) in an ultra-high vacuum system followed by a 600 ºC anneal in nitrogen for 30 minutes. IrIS simultaneously acts as both a bond metal and a...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Goldstone Solar System Radar Waveform Generator
Due to distances and relative motions among the transmitter, target object, and receiver, the time-base between any transmitted and received signal will undergo distortion. Pre-distortion of the transmitted signal to compensate for this time-base distortion allows reception of an undistorted signal....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Amplitude-Stabilized Oscillator for a Capacitance- Probe Electrometer
A multichannel electrometer voltmeter that employs a mechanical resonator maintained in sustained amplitude-stabilized oscillation has been developed for the space-based measurement of an Internal Electrostatic Discharge Monitor (IESDM) sensor. The IESDM is new sensor technology...
Briefs: Software
Histogrammatic Method for Determining Relative Abundance of Input Gas Pulse
To satisfy the Major Constituents Analysis (MCA) requirements for the Vehicle Cabin Atmosphere Monitor (VCAM), this software analyzes the relative abundance ratios for N2, O2, Ar, and CO2 as a function of time and constructs their best-estimate mean. A histogram is first...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Predictive Sea State Estimation for Automated Ride Control and Handling — PSSEARCH
PSSEARCH provides predictive sea state estimation, coupled with closedloop feedback control for automated ride control. It enables a manned or unmanned watercraft to determine the 3D map and sea state conditions in its vicinity in real time. Adaptive path-planning/...
Briefs: Software
LEGION: Lightweight Expandable Group of Independently Operating Nodes
LEGION is a lightweight C-language software library that enables distributed asynchronous data processing with a loosely coupled set of compute nodes. Loosely coupled means that a node can offer itself in service to a larger task at any time and can withdraw itself from service...
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