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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Self-Nulling Beam Combiner Using No External Phase Inverter
A self-nulling beam combiner is proposed that completely eliminates the phase inversion subsystem from the nulling interferometer, and instead uses the intrinsic phase shifts in the beam splitters. Simplifying the flight instrument in this way will be a valuable enhancement of mission...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Portable Handheld Optical Window Inspection Device
The Portable Handheld Optical Window Inspection Device (PHOWID) is a measurement system for imaging small defects (scratches, pits, micrometeor impacts, and the like) in the field. Designed primarily for window inspection, PHOWID attaches to a smooth surface with suction cups, and raster scans a...
Briefs: Information Technology
Predicting Long-Range Traversability From Short-Range Stereo-Derived Geometry
Based only on its appearance in imagery, this program uses close-range 3D terrain analysis to produce training data sufficient to estimate the traversability of terrain beyond 3D sensing range. This approach is called learning from stereo (LFS). In effect, the software...
Briefs: Information Technology
Salience Assignment for Multiple-Instance Data and Its Application to Crop Yield Prediction
An algorithm was developed to generate crop yield predictions from orbital remote sensing observations, by analyzing thousands of pixels per county and the associated historical crop yield data for those counties. The algorithm determines which pixels...
Briefs: Information Technology
Browser-Based Application for Telemetry Monitoring of Robotic Assets
AEGSE Virtuoso Charting is an application that enables animated, real-time charting of telemetry streams of data from a rover. These automatically scaled charts are completely interactive, and allow users to choose the variables that they want to monitor. The charts can process...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Speech Acquisition and Automatic Speech Recognition for Integrated Spacesuit Audio Systems
A voice-command human-machine interface system has been developed for spacesuit extravehicular activity (EVA) missions. A multichannel acoustic signal processing method has been created for distant speech acquisition in noisy and reverberant environments....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Magnetic field response sensors are a class of sensors that are powered via oscillating magnetic fields, and when electrically active, respond...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Miniature Low-Noise G-Band I-Q Receiver
Weather forecasting, hurricane tracking, and atmospheric science applications depend on humidity sounding of atmosphere. Current instruments provide these measurements from ground-based, airborne, and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites by measuring radiometric temperature on the flanks of the 183-GHz water...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Differential Resonant Ring YIG Tuned Oscillator
A differential SiGe oscillator circuit uses a resonant ring-oscillator topology in order to electronically tune the oscillator over multi-octave bandwidths. The oscillator’s tuning is extremely linear, because the oscillator’s frequency depends on the magnetic tuning of a YIG sphere, whose...
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Société de Conseil et de Prospective Scientifique (SCPS), located in Rosny-sous-Bois, France, developed a technology that allows the nickel-zinc battery system to work as close as possible to its...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
An analysis of the classical method of calculating the zero-gravity surface figure of a mirror from surface-figure measurements in the presence of gravity has led to improved...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Fiber-Coupled Planar Light-Wave Circuit for Seed Laser Control in High Spectral Resolution Lidar Systems
Precise laser remote sensing of aerosol extinction and backscatter in the atmosphere requires a high-power, pulsed, frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser that is wavelength-stabilized to a narrow absorption line such as found in iodine vapor. One...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Hybrid Architecture Active Wavefront Sensing and Control
A method was developed for performing relatively high-speed wavefront sensing and control to overcome thermal instabilities in a segmented primary mirror telescope [e.g., James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at L2], by using the onboard fine guidance sensor (FGS) to minimize expense and...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Aerogel-Positronium Technology for the Detection of Small Quantities of Organic and/or Toxic Materials
The Ps-aerogel system [Ps is positronium (an electron-positron-hydrogen-like atom)] has been evaluated and optimized as a potential tool for planetary exploration missions. Different configurations of use were assessed, and the results provide a...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Conventional thermal conductivity gauges (e.g. Pirani gauges) lend themselves to applications such as leak detectors, or in gas chromatographs for identifying various gas species. However, these...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Graphene-Based Reversible Nano-Switch/ Sensor Schottky Diode
This proof-of-concept device consists of a thin film of graphene deposited on an electrodized doped silicon wafer. The graphene film acts as a conductive path between a gold electrode deposited on top of a silicon dioxide layer and the reversible side of the silicon wafer, so as to form a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Inductive Non-Contact Position Sensor
Optical hardware has been developed to measure the depth of defects in the Space Shuttle Orbiter’s windows. In this hardware, a mirror is translated such that its position corresponds to the defect’s depth, so the depth measurement problem is transferred to a mirror-position measurement problem. This is...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
High-Temperature Surface-Acoustic-Wave Transducer
Aircraft-engine rotating equipment usually operates at high temperature and stress. Non-invasive inspection of microcracks in those components poses a challenge for the non-destructive evaluation community. A low-profile ultrasonic guided wave sensor can detect cracks in situ. The key feature of the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Grid-Sphere Electrodes for Contact With Ionospheric Plasma
Grid-sphere electrodes have been proposed for use on the positively biased end of electrodynamic space tethers. A grid-sphere electrode is fabricated by embedding a wire mesh in a thin film from which a spherical balloon is formed. The grid-sphere electrode would be deployed from compact...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Robust Optimization Design Algorithm for High-Frequency TWTs
Traveling-wave tubes (TWTs), such as the Ka-band (26-GHz) model recently developed for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, are essential as communication amplifiers in spacecraft for virtually all near- and deep-space missions. This innovation is a computational design algorithm that, for...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Optimal and Local Connectivity Between Neuron and Synapse Array in the Quantum Dot/Silicon Brain
This innovation is used to connect between synapse and neuron arrays using nanowire in quantum dot and metal in CMOS (complementary metal oxide semi-conductor) technology to enable the density of a brainlike connection in hardware. The hardware...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Enabling IP Header Compression in COTS Routers via Frame Relay on a Simplex Link
NASA is moving toward a network-centric communications architecture and, in particular, is building toward use of Internet Protocol (IP) in space. The use of IP is motivated by its ubiquitous application in many communications networks and in available commercial...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A fully integrated, front-end Ka-band monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) was developed that houses an LNA (low noise amplifier) stage, a down-conversion stage, and...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Method and Circuit for In-Situ Health Monitoring of Solar Cells in Space
This innovation represents a method and circuit realization of a system designed to make in-situ measurements of test solar-cell operational parameters on orbit using readily available high-temperature and high-ionizing-radiation-tolerant electronic components. This innovation...
Briefs: Software
BGen: A UML Behavior Network Generator Tool
BGen software was designed for auto-generation of code based on a graphical representation of a behavior network used for controlling automatic vehicles. A common format used for describing a behavior network, such as that used in the JPL-developed behavior-based control system, CARACaS [“Control...
Briefs: Software
Platform for Post-Processing Waveform-Based NDE
Signal- and image-processing methods are commonly needed to extract information from the waves, improve resolution of, and highlight defects in an image. Since some similarity exists for all waveform-based nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods, it would seem that a common software platform...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Electrochemical Hydrogen Peroxide Generator
Two-electron reduction of oxygen to produce hydrogen peroxide is a much researched topic. Most of the work has been done in the production of hydrogen peroxide in basic media, in order to address the needs of the pulp and paper industry. However, peroxides under alkaline conditions show poor stabilities...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and high-throughput manufacturing techniques for integrating single, aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Process To Create High-Fidelity Lunar Dust Simulants
A method was developed to create high-fidelity lunar dust simulants that better match the unique properties of lunar dust than the existing simulants. The new dust simulant is designed to more closely approximate the size, morphology, composition, and other important properties of lunar dust...
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