Future payload technology requirements study

Technology advances needed for an overall mission model standpoint as well as those for individual shuttle payloads are defined. The technology advances relate to the mission scientific equipment, spacecraft subsystems that functionally support this equipment, and other payload-related equipment, software, and environment necessary to meet broad program objectives. In the interest of obtaining commonality of requirements, the study was structured according to technology categories rather than in terms of individual payloads

Index to NASA Tech Briefs, 1972

Abstracts of 1972 NASA Tech Briefs are presented. Four indexes are included: subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief number

Nondestructive Testing Methods and New Applications

Nondestructive testing enables scientists and engineers to evaluate the integrity of their structures and the properties of their materials or components non-intrusively, and in some instances in real-time fashion. Applying the Nondestructive techniques and modalities offers valuable savings and guarantees the quality of engineered systems and products. This technology can be employed through different modalities that include contact methods such as ultrasonic, eddy current, magnetic particles, and liquid penetrant, in addition to contact-less methods such as in thermography, radiography, and shearography. This book seeks to introduce some of the Nondestructive testing methods from its theoretical fundamentals to its specific applications. Additionally, the text contains several novel implementations of such techniques in different fields, including the assessment of civil structures (concrete) to its application in medicine

Theory of the microfluidic channel angular accelerometer for inertial measurement applications

Please read the abstract in the front pages of the file named 00dissertationDissertation (MEng (Mechanical))--University of Pretoria, 2007.Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineeringunrestricte

A Biomagnetic Field Mapping System for Detection of Heart Disease in a Clinical Environment

This PhD was inspired by the clinical demand for a system to triage chest pain and the untapped diagnostic potential of magnetocardiography (MCG) to reliably detect silent ischaemic heart disease, which is responsible for the highest mortality rate of any single disease category. The aim was to develop a low cost and portable biomagnetic field mapping system capable of differentiating between healthy and diseased hearts within an unshielded hospital environment. This entailed the development of a system based on an array of magnetometers with sufficient sensitivity (104fT/ Hz at 10Hz) and noise rejection performance (68.4 ± 3.9 dB) to measure the small magnetic field associated with the heart beat, the magneocardiogram, within a much larger background noise. The array of induction coil magnetometers (ICM) we developed had sufficient sensitivity and were robust to high amplitude noise. These sensors were also cheap to manufacture and capable of operating on battery power, allowing a low cost, portable device to be developed. The key element that allowed us to achieve unshielded operation was the development of an algorithmic spatial filter, used as a substitute to operation within a magnetically shielded room. This coherent noise rejection (CNR) algorithm exploits the difference in spatial coherence between the local cardiac signals and the distant background noise sources. The observed coherence width during a clinical trial of the system within a hospital ward was 2.8 ± 0.9 × 10 6 mm 2 . This allowed us to capture MCG signals with a signal to noise ratio of SNR QRS = 0.93 ± 4.43dB. The performance of CNR was found to improve by 9dB per order of magnitude increase in environmental spatial coherence width. The coherence width can be increased by changes to hospital architecture, electromagnetic field regulation and device design optimisation. The thesis also explores a variety of approaches to obtain binary diagnostic information from MCG, from traditional statistical learning on manually engineered features to machine learning. I found that machine learning techniques, in particular convolutional neural networks (CNN), were able to capture more diagnostic information than traditional techniques and achieved world class prediction accuracy of 88% on the clinical trial dataset

Engineering planetary lasers for interstellar communication

Transmitting large amounts of data efficiently among neighboring stars will vitally support any eventual contact with extrasolar intelligence, whether alien or human. Laser carriers are particularly suitable for high-quality, targeted links. Space laser transmitter systems designed by this work, based on both demonstrated and imminent advanced space technology, could achieve reliable data transfer rates as high as 1 kb/s to matched receivers as far away as 25 pc, a distance including over 700 approximately solar-type stars. The centerpiece of this demonstration study is a fleet of automated spacecraft incorporating adaptive neural-net optical processing active structures, nuclear electric power plants, annular momentum control devices, and ion propulsion. Together the craft sustain, condition, modulate, and direct to stellar targets an infrared laser beam extracted from the natural mesospheric, solar-pumped, stimulated CO2 emission recently discovered at Venus. For a culture already supported by mature interplanetary industry, the cost of building planetary or high-power space laser systems for interstellar communication would be marginal, making such projects relevant for the next human century. Links using high-power lasers might support data transfer rates as high as optical frequencies could ever allow. A nanotechnological society such as we might become would inevitably use 10 to the 20th power b/yr transmission to promote its own evolutionary expansion out of the galaxy

Proceedings of the 4th International Conference and Exhibition: World Congress on Superconductivity, volume 1

The papers presented at the 4th International Conference Exhibition: World Congress on Superconductivity held at the Marriott Orlando World Center, Orlando, Florida, are contained in this document and encompass the research, technology, applications, funding, political, and social aspects of superconductivity. Specifically, the areas covered included: high-temperature materials; thin films; C-60 based superconductors; persistent magnetic fields and shielding; fabrication methodology; space applications; physical applications; performance characterization; device applications; weak link effects and flux motion; accelerator technology; superconductivity energy; storage; future research and development directions; medical applications; granular superconductors; wire fabrication technology; computer applications; technical and commercial challenges, and power and energy applications

Cumulative index to NASA Tech Briefs, 1970-1975

Tech briefs of technology derived from the research and development activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are presented. Abstracts and indexes of subject, personal author, originating center, and tech brief number for the 1970-1975 tech briefs are presented

Cumulative index to NASA Tech Briefs, 1986-1990, volumes 10-14

Tech Briefs are short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This cumulative index of Tech Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes (subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief number) and covers the period 1986 to 1990. The abstract section is organized by the following subject categories: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, computer programs, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences