NASA Tech Briefs Index, 1977, volume 2, numbers 1-4

Announcements of new technology derived from the research and development activities of NASA are presented. Abstracts, and indexes for subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief number are presented for 1977

Assessment of plastics in the National Trust: a case study at Mr Straw's House

The National Trust is a charity that cares for over 300 publically accessible historic buildings and their contents across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There have been few previous studies on preservation of plastics within National Trust collections, which form a significant part of the more modern collections of objects. This paper describes the design of an assessment system which was successfully trialled at Mr Straws House, a National Trust property in Worksop, UK. This system can now be used for future plastic surveys at other National Trust properties. In addition, the survey gave valuable information about the state of the collection, demonstrating that the plastics that are deteriorating are those that are known to be vulnerable, namely cellulose nitrate/acetate, PVC and rubber. Verifying this knowledge of the most vulnerable plastics enables us to recommend to properties across National Trust that these types should be seen as a priority for correct storage and in-depth recording

Technology applications

A summary of NASA Technology Utilization programs for the period of 1 December 1971 through 31 May 1972 is presented. An abbreviated description of the overall Technology Utilization Applications Program is provided as a background for the specific applications examples. Subjects discussed are in the broad headings of: (1) cancer, (2) cardiovascular disease, (2) medical instrumentation, (4) urinary system disorders, (5) rehabilitation medicine, (6) air and water pollution, (7) housing and urban construction, (8) fire safety, (9) law enforcement and criminalistics, (10) transportation, and (11) mine safety

A Broadly Tunable Surface Plasmon-Coupled Wavelength Filter for Visible and Near Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging

Hyperspectral imaging is a set of techniques that has contributed to the study of advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, ceramics, polymers, biological specimens, and geological samples. Its use for remote sensing has advanced our understanding of agriculture, forestry, the Earth, environmental science, and the universe. The development of ultra-compact handheld hyperspectral imagers has been impeded by the scarcity of small widefield tunable wavelength filters. The widefield modality is preferred for handheld imaging applications in which image registration can be performed to counter scene shift caused by irregular user motions that would thwart scanning approaches. In the work presented here an electronically tunable widefield wavelength filter has been developed for hyperspectral imaging applications in the visible and near-infrared region. Conventional electronically tunable widefield imaging filter technologies include liquid crystal-based filters, acousto-optic tunable filters, and electronically tuned etalons; each having its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The construction of tunable filters is often complex and requires elaborate optical assemblies and electronic control circuits. I introduce in the work presented here is a novel widefield tunable filter, the surface plasmon coupled tunable filter (SPCTF), for visible and near infrared imaging. The SPCTF is based on surface plasmon coupling and has simple optical design that can be miniaturized without sacrificing performance. The SPCTF provides diffraction limited spatial resolution with a moderately narrow nominal passband (\u3c10 \u3enm) and a large spurious free spectral range (450 nm-1000 nm). The SPCTF employs surface plasmon coupling of the π-polarized component of incident light in metal films separated by a tunable dielectric layer. Acting on the π-polarized component, the device is limited to transmitting 50 percent of unpolarized incident light. This is higher than the throughput of comparable Lyot-based liquid crystal tunable filters that employ a series of linear polarizers. In addition, the SPCTF is not susceptible to the unwanted harmonic bands that lead to spurious diffraction in Bragg-based devices. Hence its spurious free spectral range covers a broad region from the blue through near infrared wavelengths. The compact design and rugged optical assembly make it suitable for hand-held hyperspectral imagers. The underlying theory and SPCTF design are presented along with a comparison of its performance to calculated estimates of transmittance, spectral resolution, and spectral range. In addition, widefield hyperspectral imaging using the SPCTF is demonstrated on model sample

NASA Thesaurus. Volume 1: Hierarchical listing

There are 16,713 postable terms and 3,716 nonpostable terms approved for use in the NASA scientific and technical information system in the Hierarchical Listing of the NASA Thesaurus. The generic structure is presented for many terms. The broader term and narrower term relationships are shown in an indented fashion that illustrates the generic structure better than the more widely used BT and NT listings. Related terms are generously applied, thus enhancing the usefulness of the Hierarchical Listing. Greater access to the Hierarchical Listing may be achieved with the collateral use of Volume 2 - Access Vocabulary

NASA thesaurus. Volume 1: Hierarchical Listing

There are over 17,000 postable terms and nearly 4,000 nonpostable terms approved for use in the NASA scientific and technical information system in the Hierarchical Listing of the NASA Thesaurus. The generic structure is presented for many terms. The broader term and narrower term relationships are shown in an indented fashion that illustrates the generic structure better than the more widely used BT and NT listings. Related terms are generously applied, thus enhancing the usefulness of the Hierarchical Listing. Greater access to the Hierarchical Listing may be achieved with the collateral use of Volume 2 - Access Vocabulary and Volume 3 - Definitions

Remote Sensing and the Earth

A text book on remote sensing, as part of the earth resources Skylab programs, is presented. The fundamentals of remote sensing and its application to agriculture, land use, geology, water and marine resources, and environmental monitoring are summarized

Publications of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1977

This bibliography cites 900 externally distributed technical reports released during calendar year 1977, that resulted from scientific and engineering work performed, or managed, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Report topics cover 81 subject areas related in some way to the various NASA programs. The publications are indexed by: (1) author, (2) subject, and (3) publication type and number. A descriptive entry appears under the name of each author of each publication; an abstract is included with the entry for the primary (first-listed) author

NASA Tech Briefs Index, 1978

Approximately 601 announcements of new technology derived from the research and development activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are presented. Emphasis is placed on information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines. Subject matter covered includes: electronic components and circuits; electron systems; physical sciences; materials; life sciences; mechanics; machinery; fabrication technology; and mathematics and information sciences

Biorefarmeries: Milking ethanol from algae for the mobility of tomorrow

The idea of this project is to fully exploit microalgae to the best of its potential, possibly proposing a sort of fourth generation fuel based on a continuous milking of macro- and microorganisms (as cows in a milk farm), which produce fuel by photosynthetic reactions. This project proposes a new transportation concept supported by a new socio-economic approach, in which biofuel production is based on biorefarmeries delivering fourth generation fuels which also have decarbonization capabilities, potential negative CO2 emissions plus positive impacts on mobility, the automotive Industry, health and environment and the econom