Stories
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
A family of iron-nickel and ironnickel- cobalt alloys made using metal injection technology (MIT) has been designed to match the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Controlling Laser Spot Size in Outer Space
Three documents discuss a method of controlling the diameter of a laser beam projected from Earth to any altitude ranging from low orbit around the Earth to geosynchronous orbit. Such laser beams are under consideration as means of supplying power to orbiting spacecraft at levels of the order of tens of...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Thin-film heat-flux sensors of a proposed type would offer advantages over currently available thin-film heat flux sensors. Like a currently available thin-film heat-flux sensor, a sensor according to the...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A technique has been devised for measuring the relative humidity levels in the protective helium/water vapor atmosphere in which the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Thermal Imaging of Earth for Accurate Pointing of Deep-Space Antennas
A report discusses a proposal to use thermal (long-wavelength infrared) images of the Earth, as seen from spacecraft at interplanetary distances, for pointing antennas and telescopes toward the Earth for Ka-band and optical communications.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Shock Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate
A paper presents a theoretical study of shock waves in a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC).
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Code for Analyzing and Designing Spacecraft Power System Radiators
A specific application is for Stirlingcycle/linear-alternator electric-power systems coupled to radioisotope general-purpose heat sources. GPHRAD affords capabilities and options to account for thermophysical properties (thermal conductivity, density) of either metal-alloy or...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Devices called “solid-state ferroelectric-based sources” (SSFBSs) are under development as sources of electrons, ions, ultraviolet light, and x-rays for diverse applications in...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A dusty-plasma apparatus is being investigated as means of accelerating nanometer- and micrometer-sized particles. Applications for the dusty-plasma particle accelerators fall into two classes:
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Briefs: Physical Sciences
An improved miniature time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been developed in a continuing effort to minimize the sizes, weights, power demands, and costs of mass spectrometers for such diverse...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Vacuum apparatuses have been developed for increasing the range of elements that can be identified by use of x-ray fluorescent (XRF) scanners of the type mentioned in the two immediately preceding articles. As...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Systems for identifying objects by means of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) of encased labeling elements have been developed. The XRF spectra of objects so labeled...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A digital equivalent data system (DEDS) is a system for identifying objects by means of the x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectra of labeling elements that are encased in or deposited on the...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
In optical systems in which laser illumination is delivered via multimode optical fibers, laser speckle can be rendered incoherent by a simple but highly effective technique. The need to...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A new Spectral Beam Combining (SBC) architecture is currently being developed to address the limitations diode laser bars in applications requiring high output power and excellent beam...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
In a modification of the basic configuration of InAs quantum-dot semiconductor lasers on (001)lnP substrate, a thin layer (typically 1 to 2 monolayer thick) of GaAs is incorporated...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Theoretical calculations indicate that it should be possible for one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystals (see figure) to exhibit giant dispersions known as the superprism effect. Previously,...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A compact, lightweight heat exchanger has been designed to be fault-tolerant in the sense that a single-point leak would not cause mixing of heat-transfer fluids. This particular heat exchanger is intended to be...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Depth-Penetrating Luminescence Thermography of Thermal-Barrier Coatings
A thermographic method has been developed for measuring temperatures at predetermined depths within dielectric material layers — especially thermal-barrier coatings. This method will help satisfy a need for noncontact measurement of through-the-thickness temperature gradients...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Automatic Focus Adjustment of a Microscope
AUTOFOCUS is a computer program for use in a control system that automatically adjusts the position of an instrument arm that carries a microscope equipped with an electronic camera.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A system that generates an intense, nearly collimated, nearly monochromatic, small-diameter x-ray beam has been developed for use in macromolecular crystallography. A conventional...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
The figure depicts a device for measuring the electrical conductivity of a flowing liquid. Unlike prior such devices, this one does not trap gas bubbles entrained in the liquid.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A proposed highly accurate clock or oscillator would be based on the concept of an opto-electronic oscillator (OEO) stabilized to an atomic transition. Opto-electronic oscillators, which have...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Many feeder cattle companies currently conduct “slaughterability” assessments by sending cattle through a chute and photographing them from above with a CCTV or visible light camera...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Simulations of Evaporating Multicomponent Fuel Drops
A paper presents additional information on the subject matter of “Model of Mixing Layer With Multicomponent Evaporating Drops” (NPO-30505), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 28, No. 3 (March 2004), page 55. To recapitulate: A mathematical model of a three-dimensional mixing layer laden with evaporating...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Tumbleweed Rovers
Tumbleweed rovers, now undergoing development, are lightweight, inflatable, approximately spherical exploratory robotic vehicles designed to roll across terrain, using only wind for propulsion. Tumbleweed rovers share many features with "beach-ball" rovers, which were discussed in several prior NASA Tech Briefs articles. Conceived...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A modified Penning-Malmberg trap that could store a small cloud of antiprotons for a relatively long time (weeks) has been developed. This trap is intended for use in research on the...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Bare fiber measurements are common in optical component manufacturing before the device under test (DUT) is connectorized and final tested. Insertion loss and polarization dependent...
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