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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
SiC Optically Modulated Field-Effect Transistor
An optically modulated field-effect transistor (OFET) based on a silicon carbide junction field-effect transistor (JFET) is under study as, potentially, a prototype of devices that could be useful for detecting ultraviolet light. The SiC OFET is an experimental device that is one of several devices,...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Systems requirements for complex spacecraft drive design requirements that lead to structures, components, and/or enclosures of a multi-material and multifunctional design. The...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Wick structures fabricated by machining of titanium porous material are essential components of lightweight titanium/ water heat pipes of a type now being developed for operation at temperatures up to...
Briefs: Materials
Gadolinia-doped ceria, or GDC, (Gd0.4Ce0.6O2–δ, where the value of δ in this material varies, depending on the temperature and oxygen concentration in the atmosphere in which it is...
Briefs: Energy
A proposed system for exploiting the ocean thermal gradient to generate power would be based on the thawing-expansion/ freezing-contraction behavior of a wax or perhaps another suitable phase-change...
Briefs: Unmanned Systems
A proposed system would exploit the ocean thermal gradient for recharging the batteries in a battery-powered unmanned underwater vehicle [UUV (essentially, a small exploratory submarine...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Two hydrogen generators based on reactions involving magnesium and steam have been proposed as means for generating the fuel (hydrogen gas) for such fuel-cell power systems as those...
Briefs: Medical
A method of sensitive detection of bacterial spores within delays of no more than a few hours has been developed to provide an alternative to a prior three-day NASA standard culture-based assay. A...
Briefs: Medical
A method of rapid detection of bacterial spores is based on the discovery that a heat shock consisting of exposure to a temperature of 100 °C for 10 minutes causes the complete...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An established method of room-temperature interferometric null testing of mirrors having simple shapes (e.g., flat, spherical, or spheroidal) has been augmented to enable measurement of...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Microleaks for inlets of mass spectrometers used to analyze atmospheric gases can be fabricated in silicon wafers by means of photolithography, etching, and other techniques that are commonly...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Series-coupled pairs of whispering-gallery-mode optical microresonators have been demonstrated as prototypes of stable, narrow-band-pass photonic filters. Characteristics that are generally...
Briefs: Information Technology
An improved method of model-based diagnosis of a complex engineering system is embodied in an algorithm that involves considerably less computation than do prior such algorithms. This...
Briefs: Information Technology
A computationally efficient method has been developed to enable optimization of the placement of sensors for the purpose of diagnosis of a complex engineering system (e.g., an aircraft or...
Briefs: Information Technology
Truncation Depth Rule-of-Thumb for Convolutional Codes
In this innovation, it is shown that a commonly used rule of thumb (that the truncation depth of a convolutional code should be five times the memory length, m, of the code) is accurate only for rate 1/2 codes. In fact, the truncation depth should be 2.5 m/(1 – r), where r is the code rate....
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A proposed metrology system would be incorporated into a proposed telescope that would include focusing optics on a rigid bench connected via a deployable mast to another rigid bench...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Formation Flying of Components of a Large Space Telescope
A conceptual space telescope having an aperture tens of meters wide and a focal length of hundreds of meters would be implemented as a group of six separate optical modules flying in formation: a primary-membrane-mirror module, a relay-mirror module, a focal-plane-assembly module containing...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Laser Metrology Heterodyne Phase-Locked Loop
A method reduces sensitivity to noise in a signal from a laser heterodyne interferometer. The phase-locked loop (PLL) removes glitches that occur in a zero-crossing detector's output [that can happen if the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the heterodyne signal is low] by the use of an internal oscillator...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Crystalline whispering gallery mode resonators (CWGMRs) made of crystals with axial symmetry have ordinary and extraordinary families of optical modes. These modes have substantially...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Spatial Modulation Improves Performance in CTIS
Suitably formulated spatial modulation of a scene imaged by a computed-tomography imaging spectrometer (CTIS) has been found to be useful as a means of improving the imaging performance of the CTIS. As used here, “spatial modulation” signifies the imposition of additional, artificial structure on...
Briefs: Energy
Oxide Fiber Cathode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Cells
LiCoO2 and LiNiO2 fibers have been investigated as alternatives to LiCoO2 and LiNiO2 powders used as lithium-intercalation compounds in cathodes of rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells. In making such a cathode, LiCoO2 or LiNiO2 powder is mixed with a binder [e.g.,...
Briefs: Energy
Electromagnetically Clean Solar Arrays
The term “electromagnetically clean solar array” (EMCSA) refers to a panel that contains a planar array of solar photovoltaic cells. The cells are laminated with shielding, narrow-current-loop wiring, and structural supports. EMCSAs could be useful in applications that require limited electromagnetic interference.
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
System for Removing Pollutants From Incinerator Exhaust
A system for removing pollutants — primarily sulfur dioxide and mixed oxides of nitrogen (NOx) — from incinerator exhaust has been demonstrated. The system is also designed secondarily to remove particles, hydrocarbons, and CO. The system is intended for use in an enclosed environment, for...
Briefs: Imaging
The crew activity analyzer (CAA) is a system of electronic hardware and software for automatically identifying patterns of group activity among crew members working together in an office, cockpit, workshop, laboratory, or...
Briefs: Software
Distributing Data to Hand-Held Devices in a Wireless Network
ADROIT is a developmental computer program for real-time distribution of complex data streams for display on Web-enabled, portable terminals held by members of an operational team of a spacecraft-command- and-control center who may be located away from the center. Examples of such...
Briefs: Information Technology
A method of incorporating information, acquired by a multibeam laser or radar altimeter system, pertaining to the distance and direction between the system and a nearby target...
Briefs: Information Technology
MODIS Atmospheric Data Handler
A number of science data sets are derived from the observations of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites. These data typically contain information on retrieval techniques, quality-control flags, and geo-referencing information. These datasets,...
Briefs: Information Technology
Reducing Surface Clutter in Cloud Profiling Radar Data
An algorithm has been devised to reduce ground clutter in the data products of the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR), which is a nadir-looking radar instrument, in orbit around the Earth, that measures power backscattered by clouds as a function of distance from the instrument. Ground...
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