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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Generating Breathable Air Through Dissociation of N₂O
A NOBOSS stands in contrast to compressed- gas and cryogenic air-supply systems. Compressed-gas systems necessarily include massive tanks that can hold only relatively small amounts of gases. Alternatively, gases can be stored compactly in greater quantities and at low pressures when they are...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Correction for Thermal EMFs in Thermocouple Feedthroughs
A straightforward measurement technique provides for correction of thermal-electromotive- force (thermal-EMF) errors introduced by temperature gradients along the pins of non-thermocouple- alloy hermetic feedthrough connectors for thermocouple extension wires that must pass through bulkheads....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The protocol for charging a lithiumion battery would be modified, according to a proposal, to compensate for the internal voltage drop (charging current × internal resistance of the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Programmable Pulse-Position-Modulation Encoder
A programmable pulse-position- modulation (PPM) encoder has been designed for use in testing an optical communication link. The encoder includes a programmable state machine and an electronic code book that can be updated to accommodate different PPM coding schemes. The encoder includes a...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Micro-Imagers for Spaceborne Cell-Growth Experiments
A document discusses selected aspects of a continuing effort to develop five micro-imagers for both still and video monitoring of cell cultures to be grown aboard the International Space Station. The approach taken in this effort is to modify and augment pre-existing electronic micro- cameras....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A state-of-the-art solar-panel array demonstration site at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center provides a unique opportunity for studying the latest in high-efficiency solar photovoltaic...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Using Quasiparticle Poisoning To Detect Photons
According to a proposal, a phenomenon associated with excitation of quasi- particles in certain superconducting quantum devices would be exploited as a means of detecting photons with exquisite sensitivity. The phenomenon could also be exploited to perform medium-resolution spectroscopy. The proposal...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Wavelength-Agile External-Cavity Diode Laser for DWDM
A prototype external-cavity diode laser (ECDL) has been developed for communication systems utilizing dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM). This ECDL is an updated version of the ECDL reported in “Wavelength-Agile External-Cavity Diode Laser” (LEW-17090), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25,...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A proposed joint-transform optical correlator (JTOC) would be capable of operating as a real-time pattern-recognition processor. The key correlation-filter reading/writing medium of...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Headwall Photonics, Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Raman spectroscopy has risen to the top of a short list of technologies for identifying substances with high specificity....
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Arrays of nanowires having controlled dimensions can now be fabricated on substrates, optionally as integral parts of multilayer structures, by means of a cost-effective, high-yield process...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A recently conceived technique for determining the relative permittivity of a material sample at a given frequency is more nearly direct than are prior techniques that involve measurement of...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Figure 1 shows a single-stage monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier in which the gain element is a double-heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) connected in common-base...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Large Deployable Reflectarray Antenna
A report discusses a 7-meter-diameter reflectarray antenna that has been conceived in a continuing effort to develop large reflectarray antennas to be deployed in outer space. Major underlying concepts were reported in three prior NASA Tech Briefs articles: "Inflatable Reflectarray Antennas" (NPO-20433), Vol....
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A proposed device would remove bubbles of gas from a stream of liquid (typically water), accumulate the gas, and periodically release the gas, in bulk, back into the stream. The device is intended...
Briefs: Information Technology
Methodology for Designing Fault-Protection Software
A document describes a methodology for designing fault-protection (FP) software for autonomous spacecraft. The methodology embodies and extends established engineering practices in the technical discipline of Fault Detection, Diagnosis, Mitigation, and Recovery; and has been successfully...
Briefs: Information Technology
Ground-Based Localization of Mars Rovers
The document discusses a procedure for localizing the Mars rovers in site frame, a locally defined reference frame on the Martian surface. MER onboard position within a site frame is estimated onboard and is based on wheel odometry. Odometry estimation of rover position is only reliable over relatively short...
Briefs: Materials
Making Plant-Support Structures From Waste Plant Fiber
Environmentally benign, biodegradable structures for supporting growing plants can be made in a process based on recycling of such waste plant fiber materials as wheat straw or of such derivative materials as paper and cardboard. Examples of structures that can be made in this way include plant...
Briefs: Materials
Polymers having low color and a favorable combination of other properties, including high glass-transition temperature (Tg) and high mechanical properties (strength, tensile modulus, and toughness)...
Briefs: Software
Analyzing Power Supply and Demand on the ISS
Station Power and Energy Evaluation Determiner (SPEED) is a Java application program for analyzing the supply and demand aspects of the electrical power system of the International Space Station (ISS). SPEED can be executed on any computer that supports version 1.4 or a subsequent version of the Java...
Briefs: Software
X-Windows Information Sharing Protocol Widget Class
The X-Windows Information Sharing Protocol (ISP) Widget Class ("Class" is used here in the object-oriented -programming sense of the word) was devised to simplify the task of implementing ISP graphical-user-interface (GUI) computer programs. ISP programming tasks require many method calls to...
Briefs: Software
X-Windows Socket Widget Class
The X-Windows Socket Widget Class ("Class" is used here in the object-oriented -programming sense of the word) was devised to simplify the task of implementing network connections for graphical-user-interface (GUI) computer programs. UNIX Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) socket programming...
Briefs: Software
Simulating Humans as Integral Parts of Spacecraft Missions
The Collaborative-Virtual Environment Simulation Tool (C-VEST) software was developed for use in a NASA project entitled "3-D Interactive Digital Virtual Human." The project is oriented toward the use of a comprehensive suite of advanced software tools in computational simulations for the...
Briefs: Software
Processing Raman Spectra of High-Pressure Hydrogen Flames
The Raman Code automates the analysis of laser-Raman- spectroscopy data for diagnosis of combustion at high pressure. On the basis of the theory of molecular spectroscopy, the software calculates the rovibrational and pure rotational Raman spectra of H2, O2, N2, and H2O in hydrogen/air...
Briefs: Software
Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation
The Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation (MAPSS) is a graphical simulation environment designed for the development of advanced control algorithms and rapid testing of these algorithms on a generic computational model of a turbofan engine and its control system. MAPSS is a nonlinear, non-real- time...
Briefs: Software
Generic Environment for Simulating Launch Operations
GEM-FLO (A Generic Simulation Environment for Modeling Future Launch Operations) is a computer program that facilitates creation of discrete event simulation models of ground processes in which reusable or expendable launch vehicles (RLVs) are prepared for flight. GEM-FLO includes a component,...
Briefs: Software
Infrastructure for Rapid Development of Java GUI Programs
The Java Application Shell (JAS) is a software framework that accelerates the development of Java graphical-user-interface (GUI) application programs by enabling the reuse of common, proven GUI elements, as distinguished from writing custom code for GUI elements. JAS is a software...
Briefs: Software
DCS-Neural-Network Program for Aircraft Control and Testing
A computer program implements a dynamic-cell-structure (DCS) artificial neural network that can perform such tasks as learning selected aerodynamic characteristics of an airplane from windtunnel test data and computing realtime stability and control derivatives of the airplane for use in...
Briefs: Software
Madsen Giersing, an Australian consulting engineering firm that specializes in marine engineering and construction solutions, was commissioned to design a new bulk liquids berth...
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