NASA Tech Briefs’ Physical Sciences Web page spans the fields of earth science, chemistry, and physics, focusing on advances in sensing, test, and measurement. Tech Briefs report on innovations in microscopy, spectroscopy, photonics and more. Many of the Tech Briefs below are correlated to a Technical Support Package (TSP) or White Paper that can be downloaded free of charge.
Jul 2010
Wirelessly Interrogated Wear or Temperature Sensors
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Such sensors could be embedded in brake pads.
Sensors for monitoring surface wear and/or temperature without need for wire connections have been developed. Excitation and interrogation of these sensors are accomplished by means of a magnetic-field-response recorder — an apparatus previously reported in “Magnetic-Field-Response Measurement-Acquisition System” (LAR-16908), NASA ...Read More >>
Optical Pointing Sensor
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The sensor can be used as a digitizer of physical objects to extract shape data.
The optical pointing sensor provides a means of directly measuring the relative positions of JPL’s Formation Control Testbed (FCT) vehicles without communication. This innovation is a steerable infrared (IR) rangefinder that gives ...Read More >>
Radio-Frequency Tank Eigenmode Sensor for Propellant Quantity Gauging
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This sensor has applications in cryogenic liquid storage tanks.
Although there are several methods for determining liquid level in a tank, there are no proven methods to quickly gauge the amount of propellant in a tank while it is in low gravity or under low-settling thrust conditions where ...Read More >>
High-Temperature Optical Sensor
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The technology significantly extends applicability of optical sensors to high-temperature environments.
A high-temperature optical sensor (see Figure 1) has been developed that can operate at temperatures up to 1,000 °C. The sensor development process consists of two parts: packaging of a fiber Bragg grating into a housing that allows a ...Read More >>
Fuel-Cell Power Source Based on Onboard Rocket Propellants
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This high-energy density power source is an alternative to radioisotopes or primary batteries.
The use of onboard rocket propellants (dense liquids at room temperature) in place of conventional cryogenic fuel-cell reactants (hydrogen and oxygen) eliminates the mass penalties associated with cryocooling and boil-off. The high energy content and ...Read More >>
Polar Lunar Regions: Exploiting Natural and Augmented Thermal Environments
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High vacuum cryogenic environments can be augmented with lightweight thermal shielding.
In the polar regions of the Moon, some areas within craters are permanently shadowed from solar illumination and can drop to temperatures of 100 K or lower. These sites may serve as cold traps, capturing ice and other ...Read More >>
Improved Speed and Functionality of a 580-GHz Imaging Radar
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This room-temperature, all-solid-state active submillimeter imager can be used to detect concealed weapons through clothing.
With this high-resolution imaging radar system, coherent illumination in the 576-to-589-GHz range and phase-sensitive detection are implemented in an all-solid-state design based on Schottky diode sensors and sources. By employing the frequency-modulated, ...Read More >>
Bolometric Device Based on Fluxoid Quantization
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This device offers extremely high sensitivity for radiometric applications.
The temperature dependence of fluxoid quantization in a superconducting loop. The sensitivity of the device is expected to surpass that of other super-conducting-based bolometric devices, such as superconducting transition-edge sensors and superconducting nanowire devices. Just as important, the proposed ...Read More >>
Simultaneous Spectral Temporal Adaptive Raman Spectrometer — SSTARS
Raman spectroscopy is a prime candidate for the next generation of planetary instruments, as it addresses the primary goal of mineralogical analysis, which is structure and composition. However, large fluorescence return from many mineral samples under visible light excitation can render Raman spectra unattainable. Using the described approach, Raman and ...
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Holographic Vortex Coronagraph
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This apparatus offers potential advantages of performance and manufacturability over conventional coronagraphs.
A holographic vortex coronagraph (HVC) has been proposed as an improvement over conventional coronagraphs for use in high-contrast astronomical imaging for detecting planets, dust disks, and other broadband light scatterers in the vicinities of stars other ...Read More >>
Photon Counting Using Edge-Detection Algorithm
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Improved optical communications links can be used in building-to-building networks in high-attenuation conditions such as rain or fog.
New applications such as high-data-rate, photon-starved, free-space optical communications require photon counting at flux rates into gigaphoton-per-second regimes coupled with sub-nanosecond timing accuracy. Current single-photon detectors that are capable of ...Read More >>
Optical Structural Health Monitoring Device
This non-destructive, optical fatigue detection and monitoring system relies on a small and unobtrusive light-scattering sensor that is installed on a component at the beginning of its life in order to periodically scan the component in situ. The method involves using a laser beam to scan the surface of the ...
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Jun 2010
Situational Awareness From a Low-Cost Camera SystemData Acquisition System for Multi-Frequency Radar Flight Operations Preparation
May 2010
Widely Tunable Mode-Hop-Free External-Cavity Quantum Cascade LaserNon-Geiger-Mode Single-Photon Avalanche Detector With Low Excess Noise
Using Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonators for Refractometry
Crossed, Small-Deflection Energy Analyzer for Wind/Temperature Spectrometer
Three Methods of Detection of Hydrazines
Cryogenic Moisture Apparatus
A Transportable Gravity Gradiometer Based on Atom Interferometr y
Improved OTEC System for a Submarine Robot
Reflector Surface Error Compensation in Dual-Reflector Antennas
Enriched Storable Oxidizers for Rocket Engines
Planar Submillimeter-Wave Mixer Technology With Integrated Antenna
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