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HPHall software simulates and tracks the time-dependent evolution of the plasma and erosion processes in the discharge chamber and near-field plume of Hall thrusters. HPHall is an axisymmetric solver that employs a hybrid fluid/ particle-in-cell (Hybrid-PIC)...

BioNet v2 is a peer-to-peer middleware that enables digital communication devices to “talk” to each other. It provides a software development framework, standardized application, network-transparent device integration services, a flexible messaging model, and network communications for distributed...

SPS-DSPI software has been revised so that Goddard optical engineers can operate the instrument, instead of data programmers. The user interface has been improved to view the data collected by the SPS-DSPI, with a real-time mode and a play-back...

A microwave plasma reactor was developed for the recovery of hydrogen contained within waste methane produced by Carbon Dioxide Reduction Assembly (CRA), which reclaims oxygen from CO2. Since half of the H2 reductant used by the CRA is lost as CH4, the ability to reclaim this valuable resource will simplify...

If you're an astronaut, the last thing you need jarring you awake first thing in the morning out in space is a beeping alarm clock. So, since the Apollo days, NASA has chosen to get its astronauts moving with a wakeup song. Now NASA is giving you two chances to help select wakeup songs that will be played during...

An improvement has been made in the design of a compact, highly stable mercury-ion clock to suppress a loss of ions as they are transferred between the quadrupole and higher multipole ion traps. Such clocks are being developed for use aboard spacecraft for navigation and planetary radio science. The...

A measurement-based radiance estimation approach for vicarious radiometric calibration of spaceborne multispectral remote sensing systems has been developed. This simplified process eliminates the use of radiative transfer codes and reduces the number of atmospheric assumptions required to perform sensor...

An active optical sensor probes a region of free space that is engulfed in bright thermal noise to determine the presence (or absence) of a weakly reflecting target. The returned light (which is just thermal noise if no target is present, and thermal noise plus a weak reflection of...

A method has been developed for inserting submonolayer (SML) quantum dots (QDs) or SML QD stacks, instead of conventional Stranski-Krastanov (S-K) QDs, into the active region of intersubband photodetectors. A typical configuration would be InAs SML QDs embedded in thin layers of GaAs, surrounded by...

A method eliminates (or recovers from) residual methane buildup in getter-pumped atomic frequency standard systems by applying ionizing assistance. Ultra-high stability trapped ion frequency standards for applications requiring very high reliability, and/or low...

This technology leverages the well-defined orbital number of a whispering gallery modulator (WGM) to expand the range of applications for such resonators. This property rigidly connects the phase variation of the field in this mode with the azimuthal angle between the coupling locations.

An innovative fiber-optic sensor has been developed for low-thrust-level settled mass gauging with measurement uncertainty

NASA Glenn has been involved in developing optical trapping and optical micromanipulation techniques in order to develop a tool that can be used to probe, characterize, and assemble nano and microscale materials to create microscale sensors for harsh flight environments. In order to be able to assemble a...

A mode-tracking system that includes a mode-controlling subsystem has been incorporated into an external-cavity (EC) quantum cascade laser that operates in a mid-infrared wavelength range. The mode-tracking system makes it possible to perform mode-hop-free wavelength scans, as needed for...

As the demand for greener appliances and consumer products soars across the globe, and energy savings becomes a global phenomenon (and necessity) in residential and commercial environments, solar and wind power technologies have begun to proliferate in cities and...