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Briefs: Medical
Biomimetic/optical sensors have been proposed as means of real-time detection of bacteria in liquid samples through real-time detection of compounds secreted by the bacteria. Bacterial...
Briefs: Medical
Analysis of Membrane Lipids of Airborne Micro-Organisms
A method of characterization of airborne micro-organisms in a given location involves (1) large-volume filtration of air onto glass-fiber filters; (2) accelerated extraction of membrane lipids of the collected micro-organisms by use of pressurized hot liquid; and (3) identification and...
Briefs: Medical
A noninvasive, sensitive method of diagnosing certain pathological conditions of the human heart involves computational processing of digitized...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A proposed data-fusion system, to be implemented mostly in software, would further process the digitized and preprocessed outputs of sensors in a turbofan engine to detect...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Future nuclear-powered Ion-Propulsion- System-propelled spacecraft such as Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter (JIMO) will carry more than 10,000 kg of xenon propellant. Typically, a small...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Four methods of detection of bodies of water are under development as means to enable autonomous robotic ground vehicles to avoid water hazards when traversing off-road terrain. The...
Briefs: Information Technology
A new robust method of automated real-time diagnosis of faults in an aircraft engine or a similar complex system involves the use of a bank of Kalman filters. In order to be highly...
Briefs: Information Technology
Conflict-Aware Scheduling Algorithm
A conflict-aware scheduling algorithm is being developed to help automate the allocation of NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) antennas and equipment that are used to communicate with interplanetary scientific spacecraft. The current approach for scheduling DSN ground resources seeks to provide an equitable...
Briefs: Materials
A liquid-chromatography technique has been developed for use in the quantitative analysis of urea (and of other nonvolatile organic compounds typically found with urea) dissolved in...
Briefs: Materials
A dry plasma process has been demonstrated to be useful for the selective modification of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates. These SAMs are used, during the fabrication...
Briefs: Materials
Water-based pressure-sensitive paints (PSPs) have been invented as alternatives conventional organic- solvent-based pressure-sensitive paints, which are used primarily for indicating distributions of air...
Briefs: Software
Computing Isentropic Flow Properties of Air/ R-134a Mixtures
MACHRK is a computer program that calculates isentropic flow properties of mixtures of air and refrigerant R-134a (tetrafluoroethane), which are used in transonic aerodynamic testing in a wind tunnel at Langley Research Center. Given the total temperature, total pressure, static pressure,...
Briefs: Software
Java Mission Evaluation Workstation System
The Java Mission Evaluation Workstation System (JMEWS) is a collection of applications designed to retrieve, display, and analyze both real-time and recorded telemetry data. This software is currently being used by both the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) and the International Space Station (ISS) program....
Briefs: Software
Software for Automated Generation of Cartesian Meshes
Cart3D is a collection of computer programs for generating Cartesian meshes [for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and other applications] in volumes bounded by solid objects. Aspects of Cart3D at earlier stages of development were reported in "Robust and Efficient Generation of Cartesian...
Briefs: Software
Using a Quadtree Algorithm To Assess Line of Sight
A matched pair of computer algorithms determines whether line of sight (LOS) is obstructed by terrain. These algorithms were originally designed for use in conjunction with combat-simulation software in military training exercises, but could also be used for such commercial purposes as evaluating...
Briefs: Software
Optics Program Modified for Multithreaded Parallel Computing
A powerful high-performance computer program for simulating and analyzing adaptive and controlled optical systems has been developed by modifying the serial version of the Modeling and Analysis for Controlled Optical Systems (MACOS) program to impart capabilities for multithreaded...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An apparatus denoted a laser image contrast enhancement system (LICES) increases the contrast with which one can view a target glowing with blackbody radiation (a white-hot object)...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Dual-Laser-Pulse Ignition
A dual-pulse laser (DPL) technique has been demonstrated for generating laser-induced sparks (LIS) to ignite fuels. The technique was originally intended to be applied to the ignition of rocket propellants, but may also be applicable to ignition in terrestrial settings in which electric igniters may not be suitable. Laser...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Silicon waveguides have strong light confinement properties due to a very high index core (silicon, refractive index ~3.5) material surrounded by a much lower index glass (silica,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Predicting Tail Buffet Loads of a Fighter Airplane
Buffet loads on aft aerodynamic surfaces pose a recurring problem on most twin-tailed fighter airplanes: During maneuvers at high angles of attack, vortices emanating from various surfaces on the forward parts of such an airplane engine inlets, wings, or other fuselage appendages) often burst,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An instrumentation system rapidly and repeatedly determines the horizontal location of the center of gravity of a laboratory vehicle that slides horizontally on three air bearings (see...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Water-filled containers are used as building blocks in a new generation of containment systems for testing high-speed flywheels. Such containment systems are needed to ensure safety by...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Fuel Cells Utilizing Oxygen From Air at Low Pressures
A fuel cell stack has been developed to supply power for a high-altitude aircraft with a minimum of air handling. The fuel cell is capable of utilizing oxygen from ambient air at low pressure with no need for compression. For such an application, it is advantageous to take oxygen from the air...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Hybrid Ion-Detector/Data-Acquisition System for a TOF-MS
A modified ion-detector/ data-acquisition system has been devised to increase the dynamic range of a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) that, previously, included a microchannel-plate detector and a data-acquisition system based on counting pulses and time-tagging them by use of a...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Spontaneous-Desorption Ionizer for a TOF-MS
A time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) like the one mentioned in the immediately preceding article has been retrofitted with an ionizer based on a surface spontaneous- desorption process. This ionizer includes an electron multiplier in the form of a microchannel plate (MCP). Relative to an ionizer...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
When acquiring low-data-rate signals such as temperature, engineers sometimes forget that low-data-rate sampling does not guarantee an uncontaminated recording. Regardless of the sample...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Manufacturing Precise, Lightweight Paraboloidal Mirrors
A process for fabricating a precise, diffraction- limited, ultralightweight, composite-material (matrix/fiber) paraboloidal telescope mirror has been devised. Unlike the traditional process of fabrication of heavier glass-based mirrors, this process involves a minimum of manual steps and...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Automated Solvent Seaming of Large Polyimide Membranes
A solvent-based welding process enables the joining of precise, cast polyimide membranes at their edges to form larger precise membranes. The process creates a homogeneous, optical - quality seam between abutting membranes, with no overlap and with only a very localized area of figure...
Briefs: Medical
Multichannel Brain-Signal-Amplifying and Digitizing System
EEG apparatuses with many channels in use heretofore have been too heavy and bulky to be worn, and have been limited in dynamic range to no more than 18 bits. The present apparatus is small and light enough to be worn by the subject. It is capable of amplifying EEG signals and digitizing...
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