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Briefs: Test & Measurement
An optoelectronic instrument, known as a plant fluorescence sensor, is being developed for use as a working tool in agricultural settings. This instrument is a remote, passive monitor...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Improved Electrical-Impedance Body-Fluids Monitor
The Johnson Space Center (JSC) body-fluids monitor advances the state of the art of measuring hydration levels in humans during spaceflight. Neither bulky nor heavy, this noninvasive instrument is built around a commercial inductance-capacitance-resistance meter, which is used to obtain...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Software for Testing Access List Integrity
Many networks rely on firewalls or filtering routers for frontline network security. Packet filtering firewalls or routers filter incoming or outgoing packets based on a set of access rules. The IP (Internet Protocol) Packet Generator computer program assists in verifying that a packet filtering firewall...
Briefs: Medical
Improved miniature biotelemetric units resembling large pills have been proposed for use in physiological monitoring of the gastrointestinal tract. The broad principles of design, operation,...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A six-legged robot resembling an insect and a legless segmented robot resembling a worm (see figure) have been proposed as prototypes of biomorphic explorers small, mobile, exploratory robots that...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
A proposed miniature turbomolecular pump would be a prototype of high-vacuum sources for a forthcoming generation of miniature, portable mass spectrometers and other scientific instruments. The...
Briefs: Unmanned Systems
The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) has been a partner in many uninhabited-aerial-vehicle (UAV) test programs. Our participation has largely been in the areas of...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A robust sensor based on the electrochemical oxidation of methanol has been developed for use in measuring the concentration of methanol dissolved in water. The sensor is expected to be...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
An improved solvent-extraction/infrared-analysis technique has been devised to replace an older technique for measuring very small concentrations of nonvolatile residues of industrial...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
A segmented-image emission velocimeter (SIEVE) is an optical instrument for measuring the velocity of a luminous turbulent flow. More specifically, it measures a component of flow...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Pressurization and Leak Testing of Sample-Return Canisters
A technique that involves pressurization with a radioactive gas has been proposed to solve two problems associated with canisters used to transport samples from remote bodies (planets, moons, asteroids, or comets) back to Earth. The canisters must be sealed at the sampling locations. The...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
A technique for thermomechanical fatigue testing of thin-walled tubular specimens involves the application of cyclic axial (tension/compression) and torsional (shear) strains,...
Briefs: Energy
A surface-micromachining process has been devised for use in fabricating microscopic polycrystalline diamond structures (e.g., bridges and cantilevers) as integral parts...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Integrated electrochemical sensors are being developed for use in measuring concentrations of sulfur dioxide in gas mixtures. These sensors are based on the electrochemical oxidation of SO2 and...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Noncontact Measurement of Surface Tension of Molten Material
An improved method of noncontact measurement of the surface tension of a molten material has been developed, partly to overcome the disadvantages of contact measurement techniques as described in the preceding article, "Noncontact Measurement of Resistivity of Molten Material"...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
A multiwavelength pyrometric technique estimates the surface and bulk (subsurface) temperatures of a hot glass. The multiwavelength pyrometer for which the technique was developed...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Sponsored by a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract, MetroLaser, Inc., has developed a novel, compact and low-cost laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) under the...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Noncontact Measurement of Resistivity of Molten Material
It is now possible to determine the electrical resistivity of a molten sample of a pure, electrically conductive material (a metal or semiconductor), without contact between the sample or any solid object. Once the electrical resistivity has been determined, the thermal conductivity can be...
Briefs: Aerospace
Nearly every military and commercial aircraft in the United States today uses pitot-static probes for accurate, repeatable airdata measurements. Recently, local angle-of-attack- and...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
A micromachined force-balance anemometer has been developed by modifying the design of a micromachined force-balance accelerometer that responds to accelerations as small as 109 × normal Earth...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Software for Automated Retesting of Electrical Connections
The Shuttle Connector Analysis Network Automated Electrical Retest Operations (SCAN/AERO) computer program assists in the tracking, management, and automation of the retesting of electrical connectors on the space shuttle orbiters. Among other things, SCAN/AERO analyzes test data to...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Chemiresistors containing poly(aromatic amine) films have been invented to satisfy a need for simple, inexpensive sensors for real-time measurement of parts-per-million and possibly lower...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
The figure illustrates an apparatus for inducing an electric current in an electrically conductive object or layer of material and measuring the magnetic field generated by the current...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
The figure illustrates a silicon micromachined accelerometer currently under development that is designed specifically for seismologic applications. The device is designed for a sensitivity of 1...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
By combining patented digital Silver-in-Glass® and analog conductive plastic technologies in a single environmentally sealed unibody package, Spectrol Electronics' DigiSense™...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An instrumentation system automates the detection and location of faults in multiconductor electrical cables. It can accelerate diagnoses of aircraft, automotive, or industrial cables, while reducing...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Sensors made largely of commercially available optical and electronic components are being developed for use in measuring small horizontal displacements of payloads suspended below...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Work-Measurement and Methods-Analysis Studies of the OPF
Two reports describe early phases of continuing studies directed toward the selection and adaptation of industrial work-measurement and methods-analysis procedures for application to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) at Kennedy Space Center. These studies were prompted by a need to...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Modulated (as opposed to steady) light can be used in the optical transmission of power to remotely located sensor circuitry in a system like that described in the preceding article,...
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