Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical-Electrical-Optical (OEO) wavelength translation (WT) based on small-form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers is meeting with increased...
Products: Electronics & Computers
SCS750 single-board computer Maxwell Technologies San Diego, CA 858-503-3300 www.maxwell.com
The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environment Satellite System (NPOESS) is a $6-billion,...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A standalone, handheld, through-wall radar unit is under development to provide three-dimensional feedback on the location and movement of people inside buildings. Applications include military...
Briefs: Materials
Polyimides of a recently developed type have an attractive combination of properties, including low solar absorptivity (manifested as low color) when cast into thin films, resistance to atomic...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Internal heating is a key issue for vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), a semiconductor microlaser diode that emits light in a cylindrical beam vertically from the surface of a fabricated...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A broadband external-cavity diode laser (ECDL) has been invented for use in spectroscopic surveys preparatory to optical detection of gases. Heretofore, commercially available ECDLs have been designed, in...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Solar photovoltaic cells would be designed to exploit photonic-bandgap (PBG) materials to enhance their energy- conversion efficiencies, according to a proposal. Whereas the...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A method of determining the position and attitude of a body equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver includes an accounting for the location of the nonunique phase...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Holographic glass light-shaping diffusers (GLSDs) are optical components for use in special-purpose illumination systems (see figure). When properly positioned with respect to lamps and areas to...
Briefs: Software
The Generic Kalman Filter (GKF) software provides a standard basis for the development of application-specific Kalman-filter programs. Historically, Kalman filters have been implemented by customized programs that must be written, coded, and debugged anew for each unique application, then tested and tuned with...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A computer program implements two extensions of ANTLR (Another Tool for Language Recognition), which is a set of software tools for translating source codes between different computing languages. ANTLR supports predicated-LL(k) lexer and parser grammars, a notation for annotating parser grammars to direct...
Briefs: Software
yourSkyG is the second generation of the software described in "yourSky: Custom Sky-Image Mosaics via the Internet" (NPO-30556), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 27, No. 6 (June 2003), page 45. Like its predecessor, yourSkyG supplies custom astronomical image mosaics of sky regions specified by...
Briefs: Software
A computer program utilizes the classical theory of gravitation, implemented by means of the finite-element method, to calculate the near gravitational fields of bodies of arbitrary size, shape, and mass distribution. The program was developed for application to a spacecraft and to floating...
Briefs: Software
A computer program enables construction and optimization of plans for activities that are directed toward achievement of goals that are interdependent. Goal interdependence is defined as the achievement of one or more goals affecting the desirability or priority of achieving one or more...
Briefs: Software
The System Power Analysis for Capability Evaluation (SPACE) software analyzes and predicts the minute-byminute state of the International Space Station (ISS) electrical power system (EPS) for upcoming missions as well as EPS power generation capacity as a function of ISS...
Briefs: Software
A software system for autonomous operation of a Mars rover is composed of several key algorithms that enable the rover to accurately follow a designated path, compensate for slippage of its wheels on terrain, and reach intended goals. The techniques implemented by the algorithms are visual...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Version 2 of Closed Loop Execution and Recovery (CLEaR) has been developed. The previous version was reported in “Software for Automation of Real-Time Agents” (NPO-21040), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 26, No. 7 (July 2002), page 34. To recapitulate: CLEaR is an artificial intelligence computer...
Briefs: Information Technology
This software provides a LabView interface to the NT drivers for the PCI-SpaceWire card, which is a peripheral component interface (PCI) bus interface that conforms to the IEEE-1355/ SpaceWire standard.
Briefs: Software
Spacecraft Engineering Simulation II (SES II) is a C-language computer program for simulating diverse aspects of operation of a spacecraft characterized by either three or six degrees of freedom.
Briefs: Software
A software system has been developed that gives engineers and operations personnel with no "formal" programming expertise, but who are familiar with the Microsoft Windows operating system, the ability to create visualization displays to monitor the health and performance of aircraft/spacecraft.
Briefs: Software
Version 4.0 of the Micromechanics Analysis Code With Generalized Method of Cells (MAC/GMC) has been developed as an improved means of computational simulation of advanced composite materials.
Briefs: Software
A Fortran computer program has been written for performing statistical analysis of fatigue-test data that are assumed to be adequately represented by a two-parameter Weibull distribution. This program calculates the following:
Briefs: Software
Automated Visual Access (AVA) is a computer program that effectively makes a large collection of information visible in a manner that enables a user to quickly and efficiently locate information resources, with minimal need for conventional keyword searches and perusal of complex hierarchical directory...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Ground-probing radar systems featuring medium-frequency carrier signals phase-modulated by binary pseudonoise codes have been proposed. These systems would be used to locate and detect movements of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An improved design concept for a printed-circuit patch antenna and the transmission line that feeds the patch calls for (1) a microstrip transmission line on the front (radiative) side...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Five metallurgical treatments have been tested as means of stabilizing mirrors that are made of aluminum alloy 6061 and are intended for use in cryogenic applications. Aluminum alloy 6061 is favored as a mirror material by many scientists and engineers. Like other alloys, it...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Anchor Industries supplies tents and fabric products to the outdoor amusement and entertainment industries, and municipalities. With their experience in producing...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
A technique based on accelerating positive nitrogen ions onto an aluminum layer has been demonstrated to be effective in forming thin (<2 nm thick) layers of aluminum nitride...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
A process that employs silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates and silicon (Si) micromachining has been devised for fabricating wide intermediate frequency band (wide-IF) superconductor/...