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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Nanostructure Sensing and Transmission of Gas Data
This system provides one or more sensors for selected chemicals (all using nanostructure sensors with small physical sizes), one or more sensors for physical parameters (e.g. voltage or current), a multiplexer to receive and interleave the measured data stream values from the sensors according to a...
Briefs: Information Technology
Secure Peer-to-Peer Networks for Scientific Information Sharing
The most common means of remote scientific collaboration today includes the trio of e-mail for electronic communication, FTP for file sharing, and personalized Web sites for dissemination of papers and research results. With the growth of broadband Internet, there has been a desire to...
Briefs: Information Technology
High-Rate Data-Capture for an Airborne Lidar System
A high-rate data system was required to capture the data for an airborne lidar system. A data system was developed that achieved up to 22 million (64-bit) events per second sustained data rate (1408 million bits per second), as well as short bursts (
Briefs: Information Technology
Multiplexer/Demultiplexer Loading Tool (MDMLT)
The purpose of the MDMLT is to improve the reliability and speed of loading multiplexers/ demultiplexers (MDMs) in the Software Development and Integration Laboratory (SDIL) by automating the configuration management (CM) of the loads in the MDMs, automating the loading procedure, and providing the...
Briefs: Information Technology
Interactive Schematic Integration Within the Propellant System Modeling Environment
Task requirements for rocket propulsion test preparations of the test stand facilities drive the need to model the test facility propellant systems prior to constructing physical modifications. The Propellant System Modeling Environment (PSME) is an initiative...
Briefs: Information Technology
Magnetic and Electric Field Polarizations of Oblique Magnetospheric Chorus Waves
A theory was developed to explain the properties of the chorus magnetic and electric field components in the case of an arbitrary propagation angle. The new theory shows that a whistler wave has circularly polarized magnetic fields for oblique propagation. This...
Briefs: Information Technology
Variable Sampling Mapping
The performance of an optical system (for example, a telescope) is limited by the misalignments and manufacturing imperfections of the optical elements in the system. The impact of these misalignments and imperfections can be quantified by the phase variations imparted on light traveling through the system. Phase retrieval...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Optical Comb From a Whispering Gallery Mode Resonator for Spectroscopy and Astronomy Instruments Calibration
The most accurate astronomical data is available from space-based observations that are not impeded by the Earth’s atmosphere. Such measurements may require spectral samples taken as long as decades apart, with the 1 cm/s velocity...
Briefs: Software
Techniques for Down-Sampling a Measured Surface Height Map for Model Validation
This software allows one to down-sample a measured surface map for model validation, not only without introducing any re-sampling errors, but also eliminating the existing measurement noise and measurement errors.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Mirror Metrology Using Nano-Probe Supports
Thin, lightweight mirrors are needed for future x-ray space telescopes in order to increase x-ray collecting area while maintaining a reduced mass and volume capable of being launched on existing rockets. However, it is very difficult to determine the undistorted shape of such thin mirrors because the...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Capillary electrophoresis is an analytical technique that can be used to detect and quantify extremely small amounts of various biological molecules. In the search for biochemical traces of life on...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Multi-Component, Multi-Point Interferometric Rayleigh/Mie Doppler Velocimeter
An interferometric Rayleigh scattering system was developed to enable the measurement of multiple, orthogonal velocity components at several points within very-high-speed or high-temperature flows. The velocity of a gaseous flow can be optically measured by sending laser...
Briefs: Information Technology
Real-Time Flight Envelope Monitoring System
The objective of this effort was to show that real-time aircraft control-surface hinge-moment information could be used to provide a robust and reliable prediction of vehicle performance and control authority degradation. For a given airfoil section with a control surface — be it a wing with an aileron,...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Nemesis Autonomous Test System
A generalized framework has been developed for systems validation that can be applied to both traditional and autonomous systems. The framework consists of an automated test case generation and execution system called Nemesis that rapidly and thoroughly identifies flaws or vulnerabilities within a system. By applying...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Frequency to Voltage Converter Analog Front-End Prototype
The frequency to voltage converter analog front end evaluation prototype (F2V AFE) is an evaluation board designed for comparison of different methods of accurately extracting the frequency of a sinusoidal input signal. A configurable input stage is routed to one or several of five separate,...
Briefs: Manned Systems
Dust-Tolerant Intelligent Electrical Connection System
Faults in wiring systems are a serious concern for the aerospace and aeronautic (commercial, military, and civilian) industries. Circuit failures and vehicle accidents have occurred and have been attributed to faulty wiring created by open and/or short circuits. Often, such circuit failures...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Gigabit Ethernet Asynchronous Clock Compensation FIFO
Clock compensation for Gigabit Ethernet is necessary because the clock recovered from the 1.25 Gb/s serial data stream has the potential to be 200 ppm slower or faster than the system clock. The serial data is converted to 10-bit parallel data at a 125 MHz rate on a clock recovered from the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
High-Speed, Multi-Channel Serial ADC LVDS Interface for Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA
Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are used in scientific and communications instruments on all spacecraft. As data rates get higher, and as the transition is made from parallel ADC designs to high-speed, serial, low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) designs, the need...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The GeoLab glovebox was designed to enable the preliminary examination, by astronauts, of geological samples collected from the surface of another planetary body. The collected information would then...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Modified Process Reduces Porosity When Soldering in Reduced Gravity Environments
A modified process yields lower levels of internal porosity for solder joints produced in reduced-gravity environments. The process incorporates both alternative materials and a modified procedure. The process provides the necessary cleaning action to enable effective...
Briefs: Materials
Three Dimensionally Interlinked, Dense, Solid Form of Single-Walled CNT Ropes
A 3D networked, dense form of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) has been made through isotropic shrinking of a gel-like SWNT-water paste by very slow evaporation. Approximately 35 g of Raw HiPco nanotubes were cleaned by the method of soft baking (250 °C for 15 hours...
Briefs: Materials
Flexible Plug Repair for Shuttle Wing Leading Edge
In response to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report, a plug repair kit has been developed to enable astronauts to repair the space shuttle’s wing leading edge (WLE) during orbit. The plug repair kit consists of several 17.78-cm-diameter carbon/ silicon carbide (C/SiC) cover plates of...
Briefs: Materials
Use of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes for Covalent Attachment of Nanotubes to Silicon
The purpose of the invention is to covalently attach functionalized carbon nanotubes to silicon. This step allows for the introduction of carbon nanotubes onto all manner of silicon surfaces, and thereby introduction of carbon nanotubes covalently into...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Magnetic Interface for Segmented Mirror Assembly
Newly developed magnetic devices are used to create an interface between adjacent mirror segments so that once assembled, aligned, and phased, the multiple segments will behave functionally equivalent to a monolithic aperture mirror. One embodiment might be a kinematic interface that is reversible so...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
To be able to conduct science investigations on highly sloped and challenging terrains, it is necessary to deploy science payloads to such locations and collect and process in...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Transpiration-Cooled Spacecraft-Insulation-Repair Fasteners
Transpiration-cooled fasteners are proposed that operate like an open-loop heat pipe (self-tapping screws, bolts, and spikes) for use in on-orbit repair of thermal-insulation of a space shuttle or other spacecraft. By limiting the temperature rise of such a fastener and of the adjacent...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A non-actuated tool has been developed for preparing regolith for in situ measurement by smoothing uneven surfaces and excavating fresher subsurface material for planetary exploration. The STAMP tool...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
This sensor unit is designed to determine the level of activation of lunar dust or simulant particles using a fluorescent technique. Activation of the surface of a lunar soil...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Aperture Ion Source
The aperture ion source was conceived to eliminate distortion in measurements of angular distributions of neutral atoms and molecules that require electronimpact ion sources. The approach simplifies the coupling between ion source and spectrometer while providing virtually distortion-free angular distributions and improved...
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