Technology March 2 , 2017 RELEASE 17 - 023 NASA Releases Software Catalog , Granting the Public Free Access to Technologies for Earthly Applications The NASA Software Catalog offers an extensive portfolio of software products for a wide variety of technical applications ! Credits : NASAWatch this video on YouTube . NASA has released its 2017 - 2018 software catalog , which offers an extensive portfolio of software products for a wide variety of technical applications , all free of charge to the public , without any royalty or copyright fees . Available in both hard copy and online , this third edition of the publication has contributions from all the agency ’ s centers on data processing / storage , business systems , operations , propulsion and aeronautics . It includes many of the tools NASA uses to explore space and broaden our understanding of the universe . A number of software packages are being presented for release for the first time . Each catalog entry is accompanied with a plain language description of what it does . The new NASA Software Catalog includes the code LEWICE , developed to help study the effects of ice on an aircraft in flight and to help create ice detection systems . Credits : NASA “ The software catalog is our way of supporting the innovation economy by granting access to tools used by today ’ s top aerospace professionals to entrepreneurs , small businesses , academia and industry , ” said Steve Jurczyk , associate administrator for NASA ’ s Space Technology Mission Directorate ( STMD ) in Washington . “ Access to these software codes has the potential to generate tangible benefits that create American jobs , earn revenue and save lives . ” NASA published the first edition of its software catalog in April 2014 , becoming the first comprehensive listing of publicly available software to be compiled by a federal government agency -- the largest creator of custom code . Since then , NASA has shared thousands of its software programs with students , industry , individuals and other government agencies . “ Software has been a critical component of each of NASA ’ s mission successes and scientific discoveries . In fact , more than 30 percent of all reported NASA innovations are software , ” said Dan Lockney , NASA ’ s Technology Transfer program executive . “ We ’ re pleased to transfer these tools to other sectors and excited at the prospect of seeing them implemented in new and creative ways . ” Some of the software available include codes for more advanced drones , and quieter aircraft . While access restrictions apply to some codes , NASA has automated and updated its software release process over the last two years to ensure that it is as quick , easy and straightforward as possible . The software catalog is a product of NASA ’ s Technology Transfer program , managed for the agency by STMD . The program ensures technologies developed for missions in exploration and discovery are broadly available to the public , maximizing the benefit to the nation . For a searchable PDF of the software catalog , please visit : http : / / software . nasa . govTo learn more about NASA ’ s Technology Transfer program , visit ; http : / / technology . nasa . gov - end - Gina Anderson Headquarters , Washington 202 - 358 - 1160 gina . n . anderson @ nasa . govLast Updated : March 3 , 2017 Editor : Karen NorthonTags : Benefits to You , Technology , Technology Feb . 24 , 2017 The NASA Imager Dentists Use Daily During his time at NASA ’ s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , engineer Eric Fossum and his team created the CMOS active pixel sensor , or camera on a chip , an innovation in digital imaging that Schick Technologies licensed for dental use when it was young . CMOS imagers have since taken over the digital imaging industry . Credits : Wikipedia user Flya 1 , CC BY - SA 3 . 0 The use of CMOS imagers in dental X - ray devices reduces susceptibility to electrical noise and gives dentists images they can manipulate to make more accurate diagnoses . The company holds an exclusive license for use of the NASA - invented technology for dental imagery . Credits : Schick TechnologiesWhen sitting in the dentist ’ s chair , few patients think of NASA . But the space agency is there nonetheless , in the sensor that enables high - resolution , digital X - ray imagery that helps the dentist spot problems . The sensor had its start looking for something quite different : images of other worlds , and our own , from space . In the early 1990 s , when NASA adopted a “ faster , better , cheaper ” mantra , Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) engineer Eric Fossum had an idea to achieve that goal for spaceborne imagers . Fossum wanted to use CMOS — or complementary metal oxide semiconductor — technology , which consists of the same microelectronic transistors that have been integral to computer circuitry since the 1960 s . The concept had been explored before and discarded , but enabling technology had advanced considerably in the ensuing decades . Fossum and his team used well - established CMOS manufacturing processes to make an array of photodetectors , and they were also able to integrate almost all the other camera electronics — such as timing and control systems , an analog - to - digital converter and signal processors — onto a single chip . Thus the “ camera on a chip ” was born , and the term active pixel sensor ( APS ) entered the lexicon . Faster , Cheaper , Better The technology still needed a lot of development , and it wasn ’ t immediately embraced . Aiming to encourage broader use of the CMOS sensors , JPL in the early 1990 s shared resources , expertise and equipment with several industry partners , working together to advance and apply the new camera - on - a - chip technology . Many of these partnerships stalled in those early days . one important one didn ’ t — with Schick Technologies , then a three - person outfit in Long Island City , New York — despite Fossum ’ s warnings of the technology ’ s immaturity . “ I was trying to tell [ David Schick ] it was still an early technology . I couldn ’ t make small pixels , ” Fossum recalls . “ He didn ’ t care . ” “ As a dental device manufacturer , we were looking at next - generation technology specific to dental imagery , and specifically , radiology , ” says Stan Mandelkern , vice president of engineering at the original New York headquarters for Schick , which became a subsidiary of Sirona Dental Systems in 2006 . The company saw several potential benefits to CMOS sensors and began working with Fossum and his team to realize them . “ There was a lot of back - and - forth between our designers and their engineers ” to work out the idiosyncrasies inherent in adapting the technology for X - ray use , Fossum says . Better Images , Less Radiation Because most of a camera ’ s electronics are integrated onto the CMOS sensor chip , imaging devices can be smaller than previous technology allowed . With X - ray sensors going inside the mouth , that was a big benefit for patients , says Mandelkern . And , he says , “ If you can keep everything on one piece of silicon , you get higher signal integrity at lower power and lower cost . ” For the patient , digital X - rays mean lower radiation exposure and images that can be manipulated for more accurate diagnoses and to communicate problems to the patient , Mandelkern says . “ That translates directly to better diagnosis and treatment for the patient . ” The company ’ s latest development in CMOS is three - dimensional imaging that ’ s being pioneered at Sirona ’ s German location , he says . Although Sirona still holds an exclusive license to use CMOS - APS technology for dental imaging , “ other companies can sublicense to be able to use the technology , ” Mandelkern says , which many do , including their competitors . Mandelkern says this success was anything but predictable in the early days of the fledgling company ’ s NASA partnership . “ In 1997 , looking at this technology at all was very risky and required a higher level of technical awareness than other companies in our industry were able to compete with us on , ” he says . “ That ’ s what our company has always stressed — innovation and keeping an eye on what ’ s happening in technology and how we can leverage that in our product line . ” Fossum credits JPL ’ s cooperative agreements with companies like Schick for turning his experimental technology into successful products . “ That program was critical for getting Schick going and for getting us going . ” Last Updated : Feb . 24 , 2017 Editor : Loura HallTags : Benefits to You , Technology , Read Full Article Technology Jan . 28 , 2017 This Space Radio Could Change How Flights Are Tracked Worldwide NASA wanted a higher - frequency space - based radio that can be reprogrammed from a distance . Harris Corporation worked with the agency to design one , and is now selling them commercially as the AppSTAR . In this artist ’ s rendering , the radio is mounted on the satellite under a white cover . Credits : Iridium Communications Inc . This map plots scheduled flights — more than 50 , 000 of them — from June 2009 . With Aireon flight tracking , powered by a radio developed by Harris Corporation , air traffic control agencies will be able to see in real time the location and heading of every plane in the air . Credits : Wikipedia user Jpatokal , CC BY - SA 3 . 0 Under a new space - based tracking system , no plane would ever have to be off the grid , thanks in part to a reconfigurable radio developed for NASA . NASA ’ s powerful radio communications network allows us to receive data such as pictures of cryovolcanoes on Pluto — or tweets from astronauts aboard the International Space Station . But to send larger quantities of data back and forth faster , NASA engineers wanted higher - frequency radios that can be reprogrammed from a distance using software updates . “ A reconfigurable radio lets engineers change how the radio works throughout the life of [ any space mission ] , ” explains Thomas Kacpura , Advanced Communications Program manager at NASA ’ s Glenn Research Center . “ It can also be upgraded to work better with future missions or to enhance performance , just by adding new software . ” Flexible Solutions In the past , Kacpura says , engineers were reluctant to build reconfigurable devices for space , because it ’ s harder to guarantee performance — after all , how do you test for functions you don ’ t even know you ’ ll be using ? However , NASA has recently been allotting more resources to reconfigurable devices , and the agency worked with Palm Bay , Florida - based Harris Corporation to design and develop a new reconfigurable , higher - bandwidth radio . The radio has been put through its paces through exhaustive testing both on the ground and in space , and in 2013 , it was honored with an R & D 100 Award as one of the year ’ s 100 most significant innovations . The biggest selling point of the new device , which Harris sells as the AppSTAR , turned out to be its flexibility . With hardware and software both fully reconfigurable , the company could quickly and cheaply redesign the radio to fit any customer ’ s needs , explains Harris program manager Kevin Moran . One of the biggest contracts so far is with Aireon LLC , a joint venture that will use the radios to create the first space - based global air traffic control system . All the Planes , All the Time For decades , airplanes have relied on radar surveillance via land - based radar stations . That ’ s left huge gaps — particularly over oceans — where air traffic controllers have no real - time information . To compensate , pilots file detailed flight plans and are required to remain within prescribed lanes at different altitudes so air traffic controllers can estimate where they are and work to ensure there are no mid - air collisions . But that is all set to change when a constellation of 66 satellites , owned by Iridium Communications Inc . , goes into orbit equipped with AppSTAR radios . The radios are programmed to receive signals from new airplane transceivers called ADS - B , which automatically send out a flight ’ s number , location , heading and other details . “ Within seconds you can keep track of all the aircraft in the world , ” says Harris systems engineer Jeff Anderson . Aireon has already signed contracts with a number of air traffic control agencies to integrate the space - based system into their flight tracking when the system goes live in 2018 . Nav Canada , a founding partner in Aireon , was one of the first . With real - time global tracking , planes can fly with less space between them and take more direct routes . “ It tremendously improves public safety and potentially saves a lot of fuel costs , because you no longer have to remain in the particular airline traffic lanes , ” Anderson says . And if something does go wrong , search and rescue teams will have detailed information on where the plane was last spotted through a free service called Aireon ALERT . Using an extra card slot on the radio , Harris was also able to add global tracking for ships , which the company markets as exactAIS RealTime , powered by Harris with their partner exactEarth . Because AppSTAR software can be reconfigured remotely , both the Aireon and exactAIS systems can be updated well after launch . And it all started with the same box , processor and power supply cards as the NASA radio . To learn more about this NASA spinoff , read the original article from Spinoff 2017 . For more information on how NASA is bringing its technology down to Earth , visit http : / / technology . nasa . gov . Naomi Seck Goddard Space Flight CenterLast Updated : Jan . 28 , 2017 Editor : Loura HallTags : Benefits to You , Technology , Read Full Article Technology Dec . 15 , 2016 Eyes in the Sky Spot Flames on the Ground Droughts , slash - and - burn operations and even legal burning on risky days pose increasing fire risks to rainforests around the world . Conservation International ’ s Firecast system , enabled by a number of NASA partnerships , tries to minimize those risks . Credits : Art WolfeSmoke from forest fires in Indonesia can be seen in an aerial image from NASA ’ s Fire Information for Resource Management System . Conservation International ’ s Firecast system uses imagery and data from a number of NASA satellites for both spotting and forecasting rainforest wildfires . Satellite data is just one of NASA ’ s several contributions to the system . Credits : NASAPark rangers patrol the Alto Mayo protected forest in Peru . There and in Madagascar , Conservation International is incorporating the onSight platform , which GeoVisual Analytics created with NASA funding , into Firecast . onSight lets patrollers on the ground make observations to validate and augment fire data from satellites . Credits : Thomas MullerTropical rainforests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world , hosting dense populations of plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth . They also provide essential resources for people , such as freshwater , food and medicines . One of the greatest risks that such rainforests face is forest fires — a threat NASA is helping to keep at bay . Conservation International , with help from NASA funding , supercomputers and satellites , has created an improved fire - detection , monitoring and risk forecasting system called Firecast . The system is one of 50 technologies benefiting the public highlighted in NASA ’ s latest Spinoff publication , released last week . Among other features , the Conservation International system uses imagery from NASA satellites to spot fires across wide swaths of remote territory and to map ground cover from one year to the next to alert authorities to illegal deforestation . Satellite data are also used to calculate factors like ocean surface temperature and moisture levels on the forest floor , which can help forecast the risk of fires starting or spreading on a given day and over the entire dry season . Conservation International first created the separate alert and warning systems in the early 2000 s under a NASA grant , but by 2012 both were in serious need of an upgrade , explains Karyn Tabor , who was principal investigator for the upgrade and who previously ran the organization ’ s fire - risk system . For one thing , over the decade since the systems were created , NASA had launched several new satellites , and Conservation International wanted to take advantage of the newly available imagery . A Million Gigabytes But creating an updated prototype required drawing from a vast trove of data collected over four decades of satellite missions dating back to 1972 . All told , NASA has more than a petabyte , or a million gigabytes , of satellite imagery , and even a subset of that data required computing resources Arlington , Virginia - based Conservation International simply did not have . That ’ s where NASA ’ s supercomputers came in , via an outreach program called NASA Earth Exchange ( NEX ) designed to leverage the supercomputing facility at Ames Research Center to enhance scientists ’ ability to use satellite data for societal benefits . Conservation International applied and received a grant to use the supercomputer through NEX , a huge boon for the environmental group . “ The issue when you ’ re developing a new model or application is that you can spend months pulling together and processing all the datasets , ” explains Forrest Melton , senior research scientist at California State University who became a co - investigator on the Firecast project . But NEX already had more than 800 terabytes of data that Conservation International could use to develop and prototype its new model , and the processing power to use it efficiently . The large computing and storage space allowed the researchers to expand the forecasting model from Bolivia , where the earlier version had been used , to Colombia , Peru , Venezuela , Ecuador , Guyana , Suriname , Paraguay , Madagascar and Indonesia . once the expanded prototype was developed and tested on NEX , it was moved to a production server on the Amazon Web Services Elastic Compute Cloud platform , a program that also shares supercomputing resources . Global Scale , Local Impact Now authorities in all 10 countries can receive email alerts , maps and reports whenever there ’ s a disturbance or encroachment to the ecosystem , information they can use to direct firefighting resources , arrest or fine lawbreakers , and inform the community about the state of the forest they live in . In addition to the insights provided by satellites , Conservation International wanted to take advantage of all the eyes on the ground , and again , NASA was able to help . Using a crowdsourcing app originally created at NASA ’ s Stennis Space Center , individuals can upload reports and photos of events they see around them . So far it is only being used in Madagascar and Peru , but the organization expects that to expand with time . Importantly , she and her team work closely with the authorities and conservation groups in each country to tailor the system to their specific needs and “ so they have an invested interest in it , ” Tabor says . And the close collaboration with NASA continues : recently Tabor has forged a partnership between Conservation International and NASA ’ s Applied Remote Sensing Training program to build the capacity of conservationists worldwide to use Earth - observation data and tools . “ Tabor works with countries that have extremely limited access to information and data and helps them fill a critical information gap , ” says Amber Soja , a scientist at NASA ’ s Langley Research Center and associate program manager for wildland fires and disasters under the Applied Sciences Program , who manages the partnership with Conservation International . “ Karyn ’ s is an international - scale project that truly serves local communities , " Soja adds . NASA has a long history of transferring technology to the private sector . Each year , Spinoff profiles about 50 NASA technologies that have transformed into commercial products and services , demonstrating the wider benefits of America ’ s investment in its space program . Spinoff is a publication of the Technology Transfer Program in NASA ’ s Space Technology Mission Directorate . To learn more about this NASA spinoff , read the original article from Spinoff 2017 . For more information on how NASA is bringing its technology down to Earth , visit http : / / technology . nasa . gov . Mike DiCicco Goddard Space Flight CenterLast Updated : Dec . 15 , 2016 Editor : Loura HallTags : Benefits to You , Technology , Read Full Article Technology Dec . 6 , 2016 RELEASE 16 - 114 Spinoff 2017 Shows How NASA Technology Makes a Difference on Earth Integrated Design Tools Inc . supplied NASA with rugged , high - speed cameras to film the Orion capsule ’ s parachute deployment during its first test flight . The company has since commercialized the product in several markets . one application is in automobile crash testing , where every millisecond must be immediately and permanently stored . The company ’ s cameras can be seen here mounted on both the car and the crash - test device . Credits : Integrated Design ToolsNASA has released its Spinoff 2017 publication , which takes a close look at 50 different companies that are using NASA technology – innovations developed by NASA , with NASA funding , or under a contract with the agency – in products that we all benefit from . Whether it ’ s the self - driving tractor that harvests food , cameras used in car - crash safety tests , or tools making brain surgery safer , NASA technology plays a significant role in our daily lives . “ The stories published in Spinoff represent the end of a technology transfer pipeline that begins when researchers and engineers at NASA develop innovations to meet mission needs , ” said Stephen Jurczyk , associate administrator of the agency ’ s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington . “ This year ’ s spinoffs includes products and services at work in every sector of the economy . They are innovations that make people more productive , protect the environment , and much more . ” In Spinoff 2017 , learn how : NASA ’ s work at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory on precise GPS measurements enabled John Deere to build the first widely available self - driving tractors , which now work much of the world ’ s farmland ; the agency ’ s longstanding investment at its Glenn Research Center in heat pipes helped Thermacore Inc . adapt the technology to wick away dangerous heat during brain surgery ; a high - speed , high - resolution camera designed to monitor the Orion spacecraft ’ s landing parachutes at NASA ’ s Johnson Space Center now is improving data in automobile crash tests . Other highlights include : laser imaging technology that discovered snow on Mars and now helps archeologists uncover humanity ’ s past ; Earth - observing satellites that spot forest fires before they spread ; and software that might help create supersonic jets we could all fly on . “ NASA ’ s ambitious mission goals require technology that pushes the envelope of what ’ s possible , ” said Daniel Lockney , NASA ’ s Technology Transfer Program executive . “ And these innovations have many secondary benefits for our lives and planet . ” The publication also includes a section , Spinoffs of Tomorrow , that highlights 20 technologies ripe for commercial adaptation , including a new wing design that could make airplanes and wind turbines more efficient ; an easy - to - use device that separates DNA , RNA , and proteins outside a traditional lab environment , in a developing country or in space ; and a system that autonomously detects faulty wiring and reroutes around it . All are available for licensing and partnership opportunities through NASA ’ s Technology Transfer Program . Spinoff is a part of the agency ’ s Technology Transfer Program . The program is charged with finding the widest possible applications for NASA technology through partnerships and licensing agreements with industry , ensuring that NASA ’ s investments in its missions and research find additional applications that benefit the nation and the world . An iPad version of Spinoff 2017 , including shortened versions of the stories with multimedia and interactive features , also is available for download in the Apple iTunes store . For print and digital versions of Spinoff 2017 , and for more information , visit : http : / / spinoff . nasa . gov - end - Gina Anderson Headquarters , Washington 202 - 358 - 1160 gina . n . anderson @ nasa . govLast Updated : Dec . 6 , 2016 Editor : Karen NorthonTags : Benefits to You , Technology , Read Full Article Technology Dec . 2 , 2016 NASA Research Helps Take Silver - Zinc Batteries from Idea to the Shelf Disposable hearing aid batteries die unpredictably , which tends to encourage users to turn them off at times to conserve power and inevitably leaves them without hearing at inconvenient times . on a full charge , the rechargeable silver - zinc batteries that ZPower built off of previous research and development by NASA and the military reliably last all day and then some . Credits : iStockSeveral early NASA spacecraft , including the Apollo command module , used silver - zinc batteries . The agency worked hard to make such batteries rechargeable , with some major advances made at Glenn Research Center , then called Lewis Research Center . Rechargeable silver - zinc batteries didn ’ t make it into space , but NASA ’ s research and development served as a starting point for anyone trying to develop them . Credits : NASA ZPower rechargeable silver - zinc hearing aid batteries fit into a specialized door that can be retrofitted onto most existing hearing aids . The door carries a charge from the charger to the battery , eliminating the chore of removing and inserting the batteries . Credits : ZPowerWe often imagine that inventions are born whole : a eureka moment that changes history . But that ’ s rarely how it happens . One technology that exemplifies the long , hard slog of creation is the silver - zinc battery , more than two centuries in the making . Today , the battery , which offers more energy per ounce than any other battery couple , is finally making inroads in the consumer market as a rechargeable hearing aid battery — with potential for much more . Its story , featured in the latest issue of NASA ’ s Spinoff publication , to be released on Dec . 5 , has been marked by incremental progress , dead ends , and the occasional breakthrough — including a crucial one at NASA ’ s Glenn Research Center , then known as Lewis Research Center . The biggest challenge for silver - zinc batteries was that their electrodes — the cell ’ s negative and positive electrical conductors — were soluble and deteriorated quickly . The answer to this challenge , developed first in the late 1920 s by professor Henri André and then advanced by the U . S . military in World War II , was a membrane to separate the two electrodes . The military still deploys these single - use batteries to power submarines , torpedoes and other devices , and in its early days , NASA used them too . But the space agency really wanted a rechargeable version — and there , electrode deterioration remained a problem . By the time the battery had been drained and recharged just a few times , its performance would drop significantly . And the problem got worse if the battery was heat - sterilized , a requirement to ensure rovers and spacecraft don ’ t carry microbes to other planets . Apollo - Era Advances During the 1960 s , researchers across NASA worked to resolve these challenges , making only minor improvements . However , outside NASA , the Astropower Laboratory of Douglas Aircraft Company had come up with an experimental cell using a novel , inorganic ceramic separator , which showed promise . The agency teamed up with the lab to advance the technology , and by 1972 NASA had tested and proven a battery that could be recharged shallowly , even after heat sterilization , some 400 to 500 times . It was a huge improvement , but well below the 10 , 000 - cycle life of the nickel - cadmium batteries commonly used in space applications of the time . On the other hand , the silver - zinc batteries were one - third the size and provided a substantial weight savings , which was enough to keep NASA on the trail . Throughout the 1970 s , NASA helped develop chemistries with better performance and a new method to manufacture the batteries cheaply and efficiently . However , the rechargeable battery lasted longest if it was only drained a little bit — deeper discharge - recharge cycles caused it to fail more quickly . As a result , NASA has not made heavy use of the technology . But silver - zinc batteries continue to have potential advantages , even over lithium - ion batteries , that make them attractive for commercial markets , especially when the batteries need to be tiny . For one thing , lithium - ion batteries are prone to a phenomenon known as thermal runaway , which in rare but disastrous cases causes them to catch fire . This is not a possibility with silver - zinc batteries , which use a water - based chemistry . Lithium - ion batteries also require more packaging and other components that take up a larger percentage of their space the smaller they get , so it ’ s a less efficient technology for small spaces . A New Market Traditional hearing aids run on disposable batteries , usually zinc - air based . As a result , hearing aid users have to replace their batteries every week or so . Changing the small batteries is no easy task , especially for the seniors who are their primary users . And to conserve battery life , users will often turn off the hearing aids for stretches of time , inevitably leaving them without hearing at inconvenient moments . “ Can you think of any other high - end electronic device where you ’ ve got to do that ? ” asks Ross Dueber , president of ZPower , a Camarillo , California - based company founded with the goal of selling rechargeable silver - zinc batteries commercially . “ It ’ s just unfathomable in this day and age . ” Using NASA ’ s publicly available research as a jumping off point , ZPower began in the 1990 s to develop silver - zinc batteries that could last through more and deeper recharge cycles . “ What we ’ ve done at ZPower is take that chemistry that NASA did a lot of development on , along with the military , and moved it into the commercial sector , ” Dueber says . The company has improved all four active components of the battery : the two electrodes , the electrolyte and the separators , earning some 100 new patents . The batteries can now survive up to 1 , 000 discharge cycles without losing significant capacity . The company launched its rechargeable hearing aid battery in 2013 , and expects to expand into other markets as well . “ With a new focus on wearables , people are looking more and more at small , high - energy batteries , ” Dueber says . “ We really view this as an enabler for new product designs going forward . ” To learn more about NASA Spinoff , visit : https : / / spinoff . nasa . gov / Mike DiCiccoGoddard Space Flight CenterLast Updated : Dec . 2 , 2016 Editor : Loura HallTags : Benefits to You , Technology , Read Full Article