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volume 4, number 1: SPRING 2006 |
Read more about how Goddard's Innovative Partnerships Program Office makes thisand other technology transfer successeshappen.
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Communication Is Key It is with great pride that I present to you the new design for our quarterly publication: Goddard Tech Transfer News. For employees and contractors of Goddard, Wallops, and IV&V, this magazine is dedicated to technology transfer topics. But the look is not the only thing that has changed for Goddard Tech Transfer News. We want the content of our magazine to help you more easily participate in achieving NASA’s technology transfer goals. So we’ll keep you up to date on policies and practices for reporting your innovations. We’ll answer frequently asked questions, augmenting the many training opportunities we are adding to this year’s calendar. We’ll let you know of upcoming deadlines for technology-based award applications and other recognition opportunities. We also hope that this magazine will benefit your research and development (R&D) projects. We’ll provide information about possible partnership opportunities and funding sources for collaborative R&D. We’ll alert you of upcoming conferences relevant to your research. And we hope to keep you tuned in with your colleagues. We’ll share the insights of innovators who are participating in technology transfer efforts. We’ll tell you about new technologies and software being developed across Goddard, Wallops, and IV&V. We’ll let you know about the partnerships with outside organizationscompanies, universities, and other federal labsin which your fellow researchers are participating. We hope that you find the new Goddard Tech Transfer News interesting and informative. Please take a moment to let us know what you think of this first issue. Your comments and suggestions will help us make sure that Goddard Tech Transfer News meets your needs. Enjoy! Nona Minnifield Cheeks |
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Technology Title: Broadband High Spurious-Suppression Polarization-Preserving Microwave Waveguide Filter and Transformer Inventors: Felice Maria Vanin (student intern) and Edward J. Wollack (Code 665) What it is: Designed for use with microwave-frequency electromagnetic (EM) signals, this technology filters out noise while maintaining signal fidelity by independently filtering each polarization. The filter blocks EM waves up to 5 times higher than the cut-off frequency for the fundamental mode. This is accomplished by limiting spurious modes in the structure and suppressing repetition of the fundamental mode (i.e., harmonics) in the stop band, thus eliminating noise and potential out-of-band interferences. The transformer enables the filter to be connected to standard waveguides and provides a region within the circuit to extract the signals so that they can be utilized. What makes it better: This technology’s ability to maintain isolation between the two signal polarizations while effectively rejecting the out-of-band (i.e., undesired) frequencies represents a significant improvement over existing filters in terms of signal purity, bandwidth, and polarization isolation. For high-sensitivity microwave and millimeter receivers, such improvements are key to achieving high-quality data as the EM spectrum becomes ever more crowded. How it might be used: Designed for use with low-background astronomical observations, this technology also has application outside of NASA wherever dual-polarization microwave signals are desired. The technology could be used in satellite, telecommunications, and data transfer applications as well as microwave radiometry, instrumentation, and remote sensing. It also could be used in millimeter-wave thermal imaging systems for passive detection of contraband, weapons, and so forth.
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What is your field of research at Goddard? Much of my work is concentrated on development of instrumentation for charged particles in space as well as energetic neutral atoms (ENAs). I’ve been working with a space plasma physics group, which is mostly concerned with solar wind. What is solar wind? These are the charged particles from the sun that interact with the magnetospheres of planets. On Earth, solar wind causes the auroral (e.g., Northern) lights. Because solar wind causes disturbances in our magnetosphere, it can interfere with communication satellites and such. How are solar wind, space plasma, and the like studied? We measure the plasma through remote observations that look at the atom not in its ionized state but after it has been neutralized through charge exchange with an ambient nonionized atom. Charged particles in space are confined to rotate about magnetic field lines, but when they become ENAs they move in essentially a straight line, as when you spin a stone in a sling and then release it. That’s when we can capture them in our instruments, which allows us to image the plasma from a distance. What instruments do you develop? The problem with these observations is that it is fairly difficult to detect charged particles, especially in the energy ranges we’re concerned with. Ironically, the best way to study the neutral atoms is to reionize them once they are in the instrument’s aperture. One instrument I developed is called the “Turbo Trap,” which was designed to improve the ionization process. Traditionally particles were ionized by interacting with a treated surface, but this was very inefficient. With my background, I knew that we could increase the probability of ionization tenfold if we passed the particles through cesium gas. Of course, since space is a vacuum, we had to find a way to keep the gas inside the instrument. The Turbo Trap is essentially two fans that spin at supersonic speeds that are faster than the cesium atoms but slower than the ENAs in space. So the fan blades confine the cesium gas while allowing the ENAs to enter the trap, go through the gas, and come out as charged particles with a reasonable probability of not hitting a fan blade. The concept showed promise, but because of the mechanical elements NASA decided not to develop it further. Fortunately, Goddard’s Innovative Partnerships Program Office has worked with me to identify some other possible applications for the Turbo Trap.
How else could the Turbo Trap be used? We discussed applying the Turbo Trap concept to discharge lamps for vacuum UV radiation. In fact, the IPP helped put a Space Act Agreement in place so a company called Global Systems Technologies (GST) can test this application. It’s a pretty bold project, and it will be exciting if the Turbo Trap works out for GST. Are there other technologies that you have worked on with IPP? I was involved in an education outreach project where I wrote a software program that converted MOLA [Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter] topography data into a form that could be used by a rapid prototyping machine to make three-dimensional solid models of the craters, volcanoes, and other terrain features of Mars. We made a bunch of these models, and they have been used at events such as the National Federation for the Blind’s “Circle of Life” science camp. It turns out there’s a small company in Kentucky called Serra Designs* that manufactures cold-cast resin polymer miniature reproductions of asteroids; I thought they could use my software and make the Mars terrain models too. IPP helped me go through the Software Release process to allow Serra Designs to access my program. So a company might make the Mars terrain models? Exactly. I keep getting requests for these models from educators, and a company like Serra Designs would be in a much better position to provide these teachers what they need. I’ve been in contact with the company recently and am encouraging them to exhibit the Mars models at science meetings. If the response warrants it, they might take the plunge and acquire the rapid prototyping machine they would need to create the originals for the castings. IPP really has helped you take your technologies to new places, hasn’t it? Yes. You know, our work at NASA tends to be narrowly focused. Through technology transfer, we can see some fairly narrow ideas get applied in a wide variety of ways. Our innovations may be useful beyond our original intent. Do you have any advice for your colleagues as they head into technology transfer efforts? The process is not time-consuming for us as inventors, but it does take time and can seem to be a slow process. So the best thing is to remember technology transfer early in your work. Doing so helps you avoid the disclosure issues and other speed bumps that can prevent you from getting a patent. It’s definitely a good idea to involve the Innovative Partnerships Program Office early on. |
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Out and About with IPP Staff from Goddard’s Innovative Partnerships Program Office, as well as Goddard’s scientific and research staff, attended the following recent events. Some of these events were hosted by IPP. These events help advance the achievement of Goddard’s technology transfer goals.
† Hosted by Goddard’s Innovative Partnerships Program Office
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The following are awards issued by ICB between October 1, 2005 and February 23, 2006. Space Act Board Award
Patent Application Awards
Software Release Awards
Tech Brief Awards
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You can report new project technologies through the online eNTRe* system. |
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Chief: Nona Cheeks Goddard Tech Transfer News is the quarterly magazine of the Innovative Partnerships Program Office (Code 504) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. This magazine seeks to inform and educate civil servant and contractor personnel at Goddard* about actively participating in achieving NASA’s technology transfer goals:
Please send suggestions or feedback about Goddard Tech Transfer News to the editor or go to our online feedback system. |
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