Topic

A proposed method of modulating a sinusoidal carrier signal to convey digital information involves the use of histograms representing probability density functions (PDFs) that characterize samples of the signal waveform. Although almost any modulation can be characterized as amplitude, phase, or...

A system of electronic hardware and software synthesizes, in nearly real time, an image of a portion of a scene surveyed by as many as eight video cameras aimed, in different directions, at portions of the scene. This is a prototype of systems that would enable a pilot to view the scene...

In this invention, command and monitor functionality is moved between the two independent pieces of hardware, in which one had been dedicated to command and the other had been dedicated to monitor, such that some command and some monitor functionality appears in each. The only constraint is that the...

A prototype embedded avionics system has been designed for the next generation of NASA extra-vehicular-activity (EVA) spacesuits. The system performs biomedical and other sensor monitoring, image capture, data display, and data transmission. An existing NASA Phase I and II award winning design for an...

This innovation is designed to prevent a single end system communication node from negatively influencing the whole system’s behavior so that the network system can still operate if an end node is faulty. Placing a hub (star) in the middle of the system prevents propagation of critical control information that...

A modulator utilizing the Ku-band instead of the usual S-band has been developed to improve transmission rates for suborbital platforms. The unit operates in the 14.5–15.5-GHz band and supports data rates up to 200 Mbps.

Submillimeter-wave radiometers have traditionally been built by packaging each chip with a distinct function separately, and then combining the packaged chips to form subsystems. Instead of packaging one chip at a time, the radiometer on a chip (ROC) integrates whole wafers together to provide a robust, extremely powerful way...

An instrument for measuring the lifetime of luminescence (fluorescence or phosphorescence) includes a digital signal processor (DSP) as the primary means of control, generation of excitation signals, and analysis of response signals. In contrast, prior luminescencelifetime- measuring instruments...

A new process uses local heating and temperature monitoring to soften the adhesive under Invar clips enough that they can be removed without damaging the composite underneath or other nearby bonds. Two 1×1 in. (≈2.5×2.5 cm), 10-W/in.2 (≈1.6-W/cm2), 80-ohm resistive foil Kapton foil heaters, with...

A method has been developed for fabricating gratings on flat substrates, and then reproducing the groove pattern on a curved (concave or convex) substrate and a corresponding grating device. First, surface relief diffraction grating grooves are formed on flat substrates. For...

Projection photolithography has been used as a fabrication method for radial grove gratings. Use of photolithographic method for diffraction grating fabrication represents the most significant breakthrough in grating technology in the last 60 years, since the introduction of...

The volume scattering function (VSF) of seawater affects visibility, remote sensing properties, in-water light propagation, lidar performance, and the like. Currently, it’s possible to measure only small forward angles of VSF, or to use cumbersome, large, and non-auton - omous systems....

A method of heating a foam-based catalyst bed has been developed using silicon carbide as the catalyst support due to its readily accessible, high surface area that is oxidation-resistant and is electrically conductive. The foam support may be resistively heated by passing an electric current through it....

The development of the Small Deflection Energy Analyzer (SDEA) charged-particle spectrometer for energy and angle distributions responds to a longstanding need to measure the wind velocity vector in Earth’s thermosphere, and to obtain the ion-drift vector in the ionosphere. The...

A proposed system for storing oxygen in liquid form and dispensing it in gaseous form is based on (1) initial subcooling of the liquid oxygen; (2) containing the liquid oxygen in a flexible vessel; (3) applying a gas spring to the flexible vessel to keep the oxygen compressed above the saturation pressure...

The concept for a dual test item has been developed for use in simulating live initiators/detonators during ground testing to verify the proper operation of the safing and firing circuitry for ground and flight systems ordnance as well as continuous monitoring for any stray voltages. Previous ordnance...

Several related inventions pertain to families of devices that utilize microfluidics and/or colloidal particles to obtain useful physical effects. The families of devices can be summarized as follows:

A small, high-resolution, low-power thermometer has been developed for use in ultra-low temperatures that uses multiple RuO₂ chip resistors. The use of commercially available thick-film RuO₂ chip resistors for measuring cryogenic temperatures is well known due to their low cost, long-term stability,...

An eye-safe LADAR system weighs under 500 grams and has range resolution of 1 mm at 10 m. This laser uses an adjustable, tiny microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror that was made in SiWave to sweep laser frequency. The size of the laser device is small (70×50×13 mm). The LADAR uses...

A dual-channel telescope allows for a wide-field telescope design with a good, narrow field channel of fewer surfaces for shorter-wavelength or planet-finding applications. The design starts with a Korsch three-mirror-anastigmat (TMA) telescope that meets the mission criteria for image quality over a wide field...

An algorithm has been devised for predicting the behaviors of sparsely spatially distributed particles impinging on a solid surface in a rarefied atmosphere. Under the stated conditions, prior particle-transport models in which (1) dense distributions of particles are treated as continuum...

A portable system of electromechanical and electronic hardware and documentation has been developed as an automated means of instructing technicians in matters of safety and quality. The system enables elimination of most of the administrative tasks associated with traditional training. Customized, performance-...

A physical-based simulation has been developed for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission that applies a slope-induced wheel-slippage to the rover location estimator. Using the digital elevation map from the stereo images, the computational method resolves the quasi-dynamic equations of motion that...

The Supply-Chain Optimization Tem - plate (SCOT) is an instructional guide for identifying, evaluating, and optimizing (including re-engineering) aerospace-oriented supply chains. The SCOT was derived from the Supply Chain Council’s Supply-Chain Operations Reference (SCC SCOR) Model, which is more generic and...

A method of quickly approximating the distance between two objects (one smaller, regarded as a point; the other larger and complexly shaped) has been devised for use in computationally simulating motions of the objects for the purpose of planning the motions to prevent collisions. The method is...

A document describes cryogenic test architecture for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) integrated science instrument module (ISIM). The ISIM element primarily consists of a mechanical metering structure, three science instruments, and a fine guidance sensor. One of the...

A document discusses the development of a finite element model for describing thermal transport through microcalorimeter arrays in order to assist in heat-sinking design. A fabricated multiabsorber transition edge sensor (PoST) was designed in order to reduce device wiring density by a factor of four.