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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Milli-Arcsecond (MAS) Imaging with SmallSat Enabled Super-resolution

The objective of this project is to demonstrate a new imaging technology with unprecedented capabilities for scientific exploration. This technology innovation will enable extremely high-resolution imaging capability, otherwise unattainable with conventional approaches. It is based on a unique combination of novel diffractive optical sensing (photon sieve), advanced image processing, and small satellite formation flying. The spatial resolution of current solar instruments are more than 100 times coarser than the size of energy dissipation features in coronal heating (<100 km) since conventional optics cannot be figured to near diffraction-limited accuracy at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths. This project will demonstrate the feasibility of imaging of a few milli-arcseconds (MAS) to study the structure and development of these dissipation regions.

Farzad Kamalabadi↗
NASA NTRS2021

RealTOR TechPort Info

NASA is continuously working to advance optical communications technologies to meet the demand for higher communications data rates by developing and testing low cost ground-based optical receivers for space-to-ground communications required for future space explorations systems such as Artemis and Lunar Gateway Programs. The Real Time Optical Receiver (RealTOR) Project’s goal is to provide a commercial-off-the-shell (COTS) portable, scalable, modular, low cost solution for optical communications ground photon counting receivers. The RealTOR system implements the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Optical Communications High Photon Efficiency (HPE) standard, which will be used in future photon counting missions such as the Optical Artemis-2 Orion Communications (O2O) mission.

optical communications↗
NASA NTRS2005

Voltage-induced broad-spectrum reflectivity change with surface-plasmon waves

Voltage-induced broad-spectrum reflectivity change with surface-plasmon waves is reported. When white light is incident at a metal/electro-optical material interface, surface-plasmon waves can be excited under phase match conditions. This surface-plasmon resonance depends on the dielectric constants of both the metal and the electro-optical material. Photons in the surface-plasmon resonance wavelength range are absorbed by the interface. Since metals have large imaginary parts of their dielectric constants, the surface-plasmon resonances are broad and may cover all visible wavelengths. Applying voltage to the electro-optical material to change its dielectric constant can result in a change in the reflectivity at the interface. Experimental results showed a reflectivity change from almost 0% to about 40% under an applied voltage using a liquid-crystal and nickel film structure, and the results had good agreement with theoretical calculations. The theoretical calculations also predicted a 90% reflectivity recovery by exciting surface-plasmon waves at a Rh-Al/electro-optical material interface. These results demonstrate that a high efficiency white light modulator can be built using surface-plasmon excitations.

white light modulator↗
NASA NTRS1989

Optical communications systems and technology for deep-space exploration

An account is given of architectural and implementational strategies for the creation of planetary and other deep-space optical communications networks, with a view to the developmental requirements of both planetary spacecraft subsystems and an earth-vicinity reception system. Attention is given to prospective technology-development challenges. An open-loop spatial acquisition process is defined, in conjunction with a terrestrial, large-aperture/low-cost 'photon bucket' optical reception telescopic system having an integral, axially-aligned tube-bundle sunshield. An efficient diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser is envisioned as the transmitter.

Lesh, James R.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Detecting the Attenuation of Blazar Gamma-ray Emission by Extragalactic Background Light with GLAST

Gamma rays with energy above 10 GeV interact with optical-UV photons resulting in pair production. Therefore, a large sample of high redshift sources of these gamma rays can be used to probe the extragalactic background starlight (EBL) by examining the redshift dependence of the attenuation of the flux above 10 GeV. GLAST, the next generation high-energy gamma-ray telescope, will for the first time have the unique capability to detect thousands of gamma-ray blazars up to redshifts of at least z = 4, with enough angular resolution to allow identification of a large fraction of their optical counterparts. By combining recent determinations of the gamma-ray blazar luminosity function, recent calculations of the high energy gamma-ray opacity due to EBL absorption, and the expected GLAST instrument performance to produce simulated samples of blazars that GLAST would detect, including their redshifts and fluxes, we demonstrate that these blazars have the potential to be a highly effective probe of the EBL.

Chen, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS2026

Remote Sensing-Driven Hydrodynamic Modeling in Data-Scarce Regions: Integrating ICESat-2, Sentinel-2, SWOT and Re-analysis Models for Coastal Monitoring

Hydrodynamic models in coastal and estuarine systems are typically constrained by sparse bathymetry, boundary, and validation data, especially in regions where field campaigns are costly or impractical. Here we develop and test a fully satellite-driven framework for hydrodynamic modeling in South Africa’s Langebaan Lagoon without using any local in situ measurements. Bathymetry is derived by training multispectral Sentinel-2 reflectance against ICESat-2 ATL24 photon-derived depths using an XGBoost model optimized with Bayesian search. The final satellite-derived bathymetry reproduces independent ATL24 points with RMSE = 0.45 m and R 2 = 0.97. This bathymetry was used in a depth-averaged Delft3D Flexible Mesh model driven at the open boundary by TPXO tidal harmonics and by ERA5 winds. We validate modeled water surface elevation against 16 SWOT low-rate (250 m, unsmoothed) passes in 2023. SWOT–model comparisons yield an overall RMSE of 0.11 m and R 2 = 0.61, with typical point differences <0.10 m (∼7% of the 1.5 m tidal range), and showed consistent spatial gradients in water level from the offshore boundary, through Saldanha Bay, and into the lagoon. At the offshore boundary, TPXO and SWOT sea surface heights agree closely (R 2 = 0.86). A simple phase adjustment of ∼26,min between TPXO and SWOT lowers the RMSE from 0.18,m to 0.11,m, showing that phase offset accounts for some of the discrepancy, with additional errors likely linked to non-tidal signals. Our results demonstrate that combining passive optical, photon-counting LiDAR, radar interferometry, and global tidal/atmospheric models enables robust, transferrable hydrodynamic modeling in data-scarce coastal systems, offering a cost-effective pathway for monitoring.

ICESat-2↗
NASA NTRS1998

Preliminary Flight Results of the Microelectronics and Photonics Test Bed: NASA DR1773 Fiber Optic Data Bus Experiment

NASA Goddard Spare Flight Center's (GSFC) Dual Rate 1773 (DR1773) Experiment on the Microelectronic and Photonic Test Bed (MPTB) has provided valuable information on the performance of the AS 1773 fiber optic data bus in the space radiation environment. Correlation of preliminary experiment data to ground based radiation test results show the AS 1773 bus is employable in future spacecraft applications requiring radiation tolerant communication links.

Jackson, George L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Optical communication with two-photon coherent states. III - Quantum measurements realizable with photoemissive detectors

Homodyne detection is shown to achieve the same signal-to-noise ratio as the quantum field quadrature measurement, thus providing a receiver which realizes linear modulation TCS performance gain. The full equivalence of homodyne detection and single-quadrature field measurement is established. A heterodyne configuration which uses a TCS image-band oscillator in addition to the usual coherent state local oscillator is studied. Results are obtained by means of a representation theorem which shows that photoemissive detection realizes the photon flux density measurement.

Yuen, H. P.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Spectral properties of ice-particulate mixtures and implications for remote sensing. I - Intimate mixtures

From laboratory spectra of many ice-particulate mixtures with high, medium, and low albedo particulates, the band depths, continuum reflectance, and ratio of band depth to continuum reflectance are derived as a function of the logarithm of thef particulate weight fraction in the sample. Ice band depths are dependent on the particulate albedo, and increase with smaller weight fractions of particulates until the bands saturate and their depths decrease. While the continuum reflectance is a complex function of the particulate albedo and wavelength of light, the band depth-to-continuum reflectance ratios appear independent of particulate albedo in such a fashion that, for a given grain size of particulate, a calibration curve to the abundance of ice and particulates is derived. Theoretically produced frost spectra show similar curves of growth for band depth, continuum reflectance, and corresponding ratio vs the photon mean optical path length.

Clark, R. N.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Search for optical bursts from the gamma ray burst source GBS 0526-66

Attempts were made to detect optical bursts from the gamma-ray burst source GBS 0526-66 during Dec. 31, 1984 to Jan. 2, 1985 and Feb. 23 to Feb. 24, 1985, using the one meter reflector of the Kavalur Observatory. Jan. 1, 1985 coincided with the zero phase of the predicted 164 day period of burst activity from the source (Rothschild and Lingenfelter, 1984). A new optical burst photon counting system with adjustable trigger threshold was used in parallel with a high speed photometer for the observations. The best time resolution was 1 ms and maximum count rate capability was 255,000 counts s(-1). Details of the instrumentation and observational results are presented.

Seetha, S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Spectral evolution of young stellar objects

An evolutionary sequence, from protostars to pre-main-sequence stars, is suggested for the classification of young stellar objects. This sequence is derived by comparing the predictions of the theoretical models of Adams and Shu with the morphological classification scheme of Lada and Wilking. We first define the spectral index in the near- and mid-infrared, n is identical to d log(nu F sub nu)/d log nu, and then interpret the class of sources with negative spectral indices as protostars. The inferred mass infall rates for these objects are generally consistent with the measured gas temperatures of approx. 35 K in Ophiuchus, and of approx. 10 K in Taurus. Fitting the data requires us to adopt cloud rotation rates in Ophiuchus which are typically an order of magnitude greater than in Taurus, and we speculate on the mechanistic origin for this difference. Next, we consider a subclass of T Tauri stars with near- and mid-infrared excesses and positive or zero spectral indices. We find that the objects with the steeper indices can be understood as the post-infall products from the collapse of rotating cloud cores, where the infrared excesses arise from the simple reprocessing of visible stellar photons in optically thick but spatially thin disks. The sources with flatter spectra may require massive accretion disks. Given the existence of protostars and naked star/disk systems, there is a natural interpretation of another subclass of T Tauri stars, those with two peaks in their emergent spectral energy distributions. These are readily explained as intermediate cases in which dust envelopes still surround the stars and disks. Finally, we find that the theory can be extended to explain the spectral energy distribution of FU Orionis, a famous outburst source. Our model suggests that FU Orionis has a disk, but it offers no discrimination between the competing ideas that the outburst took place on the star or in the disk.

Adams, F. C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Physics through the 1990s: Scientific interfaces and technological applications

The volume examines the scientific interfaces and technological applications of physics. Twelve areas are dealt with: biological physics-biophysics, the brain, and theoretical biology; the physics-chemistry interface-instrumentation, surfaces, neutron and synchrotron radiation, polymers, organic electronic materials; materials science; geophysics-tectonics, the atmosphere and oceans, planets, drilling and seismic exploration, and remote sensing; computational physics-complex systems and applications in basic research; mathematics-field theory and chaos; microelectronics-integrated circuits, miniaturization, future trends; optical information technologies-fiber optics and photonics; instrumentation; physics applications to energy needs and the environment; national security-devices, weapons, and arms control; medical physics-radiology, ultrasonics, MNR, and photonics. An executive summary and many chapters contain recommendations regarding funding, education, industry participation, small-group university research and large facility programs, government agency programs, and computer database needs.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1991

Fe II emission lines. I - Chromospheric spectra of red giants

A 'difference filtering' algorithm developed by Ayers (1979) is used to construct high-quality high-dispersion long-wavelength IUE spectra of three giant stars. Measurements of all the emission lines seen between 2230 and 3100 A are tabulated. The emission spectrum of Fe II is discussed in comparison with other lines whose formation mechanisms are well understood. Systematic changes in the Fe II spectrum are related to the different physical conditions in the three stars, and examples are given of line profiles and ratios which can be used to determine conditions in the outer atomspheres of giants. It is concluded that most of the Fe II emission results from collisional excitation and/or absorption of photospheric photons at optical wavelengths, but some lines are formed by fluorescence, being photoexcited by other strong chromospheric lines. Between 10 and 20 percent of the radiative losses of Fe II arise from 10 eV levels radiatively excited by the strong chromospheric H Ly-alpha line.

Judge, P. G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

R and T report: Goddard Space Flight Center

The 1993 Research and Technology Report for Goddard Space Flight Center is presented. Research covered areas such as (1) flight projects; (2) space sciences including cosmology, high energy, stars and galaxies, and the solar system; (3) earth sciences including process modeling, hydrology/cryology, atmospheres, biosphere, and solid earth; (4) networks, planning, and information systems including support for mission operations, data distribution, advanced software and systems engineering, and planning/scheduling; and (5) engineering and materials including spacecraft systems, material and testing, optics and photonics and robotics.

Soffen, Gerald A.↗