Topics

Satellite-based laser technology has been developed for topographical measurements of the Earth and of other planets. Lasers for such missions must be highly efficient and stable over long periods in the temperature variations of orbit. In this innovation,...

FATIG computes fatigue damage/ fatigue life using the stress rms (root mean square) value, the total number of cycles, and S–N curve parameters. The damage is computed by the following methods: (a) traditional method using Miner’s rule with stress cycles determined from a Rayleigh distribution up to...

DspaceOgreTerrain is an extension to the DspaceOgre 3D visualization tool that supports real-time visualization of various terrain types, including digital elevation maps, planets, and meshes. DspaceOgreTerrain supports creating 3D representations of terrains and placing them in a scene graph. The 3D...

This software has been designed to detect water bodies that are out in the open on cross-country terrain at close range (out to 30 meters), using imagery acquired from a stereo pair of color cameras mounted on a terrestrial, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). This detector exploits the fact that the color...

Earlier studies have confirmed that a tenacious hardy bacterial population manages to persist and survive throughout a spacecraft assembly process. The widespread detection of these organisms underscores the challenges in eliminating them completely....

A polarized scene, which may occur at oblique illumination angles, creates a radiometric signal that varies as a function of viewing angle. One common optical component that is used to minimize such an effect is a polarization scrambler or depolarizer. As part of the CLARREO mission, the...

To demodulate a communication signal, a receiver must recover and synchronize to the symbol timing of a received waveform. In a system that utilizes digital sampling, the fidelity of synchronization is limited by the time between the symbol boundary and closest sample time location. To reduce this error, one...

The performance of cold atom experiments relying on three-dimensional magneto-optical trap techniques can be greatly enhanced by employing a highflux cold atom beam to obtain high atom loading rates while maintaining low background pressures in the UHV MOT (ultra-high vacuum magneto-optical trap) regions....

Reclamation and re-use of water is critical for space-based life support systems. A number of functions must be performed by any such system including removal of various contaminants and oxygenation. For long-duration space missions, this must be done with a compact, reliable system that...

Autonomous navigation and control for unmanned sea surface vehicles requires a visual sensing system to provide a 360° view from the vehicle deck for situational awareness. Successful operation required a sensing system mechanically packaged to withstand weather, sea spray, and an environment of...

A document highlights an Li-based fluxing agent that enables sample fusion and quantitative Ar-release at relatively low temperatures (900–1,000 ºC), readily achievable with current flight resistance furnace designs. A solid, double spike containing known quantities of...

A document describes a reliable, lightweight micrometeoroid/orbital debris (MMOD) detection system that can be located at strategic positions of “high consequence” to provide real-time warning of a penetration, its location, and the extent of the damage to a spacecraft.

A document discusses a nanostructure apodizing mask, made of multi-walled carbon nanotubes, that is applied to the centers (or in and around the holes) of the secondary mirrors of telescopes that are used to interferometrically measure the strain...

A document discusses an optical carbon monoxide sensor for early fire detection. During the sensor development, a concept was implemented to allow reliable carbon monoxide detection in the presence of interfering absorption signals.

In March of 2012, NASA successfully launched five rockets from its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The launch was part of NASA's Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment, or ATREX, which will help scientists better understand the jet stream. Jack Vieira, range project manager for the ATREX...

A NASA flight test designed to demonstrate the feasibility of inflatable spacecraft technology is coming down to the wire. The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) is the third in a series of suborbital flight tests of this new technology. It is scheduled to launch from the Wallops Flight...