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Technology Opportunities

U.S. businesses can take advantage of a vast pool of NASA-developed technology resources to find solutions to technical problems. Through a program known as Technology Transfer, NASA technology can be adapted, at little or no cost, to meet a particular need -- saving your company valuable time and money. Applications for NASA technology are widespread, from building prototypes of new production items to nondestructive testing of an existing component.

Working with MSFC Tech Transfer

[Get Acrobat Reader] Documents below with names ending in .pdf have been prepared using Adobe Acrobat and require the Acrobat Reader software to view them.

bullet Low-Cost, Reapeatable, Noncontact Absolute Linear Position Sensor and Limit Switch - NASA has developed an absolute position sensor that is elegant in both its approach and simplicity. The sensor uses an emitted low-frequency sinusoidal signal that is read by a detector, compared to other typical sensors that operate under optical or magnetic (Hall Effect) principles.

bullet Enhanced 3-D Luggage Screening System - NASA offers companies an innovation that provides a major leap in non-invasive package and luggage screening technologies. Developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, this patented technology is an improvement over current luggage and package screening devices used at airports, ports of entry, government installations, and other locations where security checkpoints are located.

bullet Enhanced Infant Car Seats - MSFC has developed a suite of technologies designed to enhance the safety and quality of infant car seats. These patented technologies provide improvements in remote video monitoring, biotelemetry, tracking, portability, comfort, and entertainment, producing a more secure car seat and an enriched experience for the enfant.

bullet Ultrasonic Stir Welding Process for Handheld Solid State Welding - Engineers at MSFC are working on a solid-state welding device that uses ultrasonically heated stir welding. This process reduces the loads needed by conventional friction stir welding and is the foundation of future handheld solid state welding for NASA.

bullet Captive Fastener Device for Demanding Applications - MSFC has developed a unique captive fastener device that withstands the rigors of space travel. The technology combines a National Aerospace Standard (NAS) 1351/1352 screw and a NASA-approved spring, with a specially designed housing attached to one of the components to be joined. Together, these components provide a captive feature that holds the fastener clear of the interface plane when the fastener is not engaged.

bullet Preliminary Analysis of Revolutionary Space Exploration Concepts (PARSEC) Collaborative Engineering Environment (CEE) - A revolutionary new collaborative engineering environment tool has been created to design spacecraft with a significantly shorter design time and with exponentially greater accuracy.

bullet Analog Nonvolatile Computer Memory - An entirely new method for storing and retrieving electronic data, this device is used to store digital computer information as an analog signal on a ferroelectric transistor (FeFET).

bullet Portable Runway Intersection Display and Monitoring System - A portable airport runway/taxiway intersection lighting system and signage has been developed to prevent incursions.

bullet MSFC Thermal Management Coating - A new thermal management coating technology will perform as a heat management system against excessive heat situations that may destroy or damage valuable assets.

bullet Bolt Retractor System - A new technology offers a low-cost approach to designing bolt retraction systems of varying sizes for spacecraft separation systems.

bullet Multi-Loop High Voltage Power Supply (HPVS) - A new HPVS is both space-qualified and has a fast rise-and-fall time.

bullet MEMS Micro-Translation Stage (MTS) with Large Linear Travel Capability - A new MTS uses capacitive electrostatic forces created by stators arranged linearly on both sides of a channel and matching rotors on a moveable shuttle for precise movement of the shuttle.

bullet  Advanced Video Guidance Sensor and Laser Range Finder System - An advanced video guidance sensor system (AVGS) suited for spacecraft docking offers extended range finding ability and accuracy

bullet  Headset Assembly (for Behind-the-Ear Hearing Aids) - NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed and patented a headset that helps eliminate the high-pitched feedback noise assoicated with behind-the-ear hearing aids. Ninety percent of hearing loss patients can not be medically treated and must use hearing aids, often the behind-the-ear type. The most common complaint about these hearing aids is the presence of feedback noise. Another common problem is the tendency of the hearing aid to shift, especially when used by infants, energetic children, or active adults. This new technology addressess both complaints..

bullet  Infrared Communication System - NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center(MSFC) has developed and patented a transceiver that serves as a data-communication link between the RS-232-standard serial communication port on a personal computer (PC) and a remote infrared transceiver. This unit can be readily reporgrammed for a different baud rate or protocol.

bullet  Signal-Conditioning Electronics - NASA's Marshall Space Flight has developed and patented a novel system of sensing changes in electric capacitance. This system is being used by NASA to detect the levels of liquid rocket propellants in storage tanks. It provides improved performance over existing technologies due to its ability to eliminate the effects of stray cable capacitance.

and general chemistry.

bullet  Power Divider for Harmonically Rich Waveforms - NASA scientists have discovered a method for combining or dividing
harmonically rich waveforms while maintaining both the amplitude and phase of the original waveform.

bullet  Thermal Stir Welding - NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is developing an improved joining technology called thermal stir welding that improves upon fusion welding and friction stir welding. This new technology enables a superior joining method by allowing manufacturers to join dissimilar materials and to weld at high rates. NASA's technology offers users an exciting alternative to current state-of-the-art fusion and friction stir welding technologies.

bullet  Thin Film Technology - Spray-On Circuits - NASA offers companies the opportunity to license a revolutionary process that can permanently bond ultrthin markings, including complex integrated circuits, onto most surfaces.

bullet  Imaging Technology - NASA scientists have discovered a method for providing Fourier Imaging with as few as one or two grid pairs, while capturing the entire available spectrum.

bullet  Electro-Kinetic Thrust Technology - NASA scientists have discovered a method for generating thrust from two dimensional asymmetrical capacitor modules. The results are potentially greater efficiencies and improved reliability over currently available electric thrusters.

bullet Electroplating of Hard Glassy Metals - Developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), this technology is a novel method for electroplatin ultra-high-strength glassy metals-nickel-phosphorous and nickel-cobalt-phosphorous - in variety of alloys with different properties.

bullet Lightweight, Liquefied Natural Gas Storage Tanks - Developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), this technology uses a four-part process to make composite layered tanks and pipes capable of storing and carrying chemically aggressive fluids. Tanks fabricated using this process offer better containment of fluids and weigh less than aluminum or fiberglass tanks.

Read about NASA licensee, HyPerCom Engineering, Inc.

bullet Lightweight Strong Storage Tanks and Pipes -- MSFC is offering licensing and/or joint development opportunities for its newest composite layered tank, vessel, and pipe technologies. They enable the production of strong, lightweight, adaptable, uniquely shaped, insulated, chemically resistant, cryogenic tanks, vessels, and pipes while reducing fabrication costs.

bullet New Optics See More with Less - Developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), this technology combines a panoramic refracting optic (PRO) lense with a unique detection system to acquire a true 360-degree field of view.

bullet 360-Degree Rotation Data as Linear Signal - NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is offering companies the opportunity to license or jointly develop these innovative technologies.NASA Marshall Space Flight Center has developed innovative resolver signal-conditioning technologies that provide rotational position information over a full 360 degrees. Furthermore, an electrical circuit conditions the output so that the shaft angle position is represented by a linear analog signal. The features of NASA's new technologies offer several advantages over standard resolver signal-conditioning circuits. In addition, these circuits can be used in many commercial applications.

bullet Low-Cost Brushless DC Motor Rate Sensor - NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is offering companies the opportunity to license or jointly develop this innovative technology for direction-sensitive tachometers and rotational sensors. Developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, this new brushless motor technology offers a promising alternative to brush tachometers, resolvers, encoders, and other rotation sensors. This direction-sensitive, reliable, low-cost device is ideal for numerous commercial applications.

bullet New Technology for Smaller, Low-Cost Rotary Position Sensors - NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is offering the opportunity to license or jointly develop a novel absolute rotary position sensor with integral signal-conditioning electronics in a single unit. Researchers at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center have developed a new absolute rotary position sensor that can be used as a conventional resolver or integrated with signal-conditioning electronics in a single unit. Compared to other sensors currently available, NASA's innovative sensor design is smaller and less expensive to produce.

bullet VISAR - NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is offering consumer software companies the opportunity to license its' much sought after video image stabilization and registration (VISAR) technology. Originally developed for the FBI during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing investigation, VISAR will enable homeowners, law enforcement, and others to dramatically enhance videotape sequences on desktop computers. This technology allows users to dramatically improve videotape sequences and still images extracted from moving video. For more information visit: http://www.rti.org/technology/to-visar_software.cfm

bullet   Quick Connect Fastener - A quick-connect, slow-disconnect nut and bolt are being offered by NASA for technology transfer. The designs of the nut and the bolt are available together or separately. The design permits the nut to be installed simply by pushing it onto a standard bolt or threaded stud.

bullet  High-Strength and Wear-Resistant Aluminum Alloy - If you need a metal that operates in extreme temperatures, is highly wear resistant, and strong yet lightweight then it must be NASA's MSFC 388/398 Aluminum-Silicon Alloy. The revolutionary alloy shows great promise in a piston engine environment by lightening weight, increasing gas mileage, and reducing emissions.

-MSFC - 388 Material Properties Data Sheet (PDF)
-MSFC - 398 Material Properties Data Sheet (PDF)

bullet  Fastrac Engine - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) seeks qualified companies to further develop and commercialize the Fastrac turbo pump rocket engine. The Fastrac engine can be built for less than $1 million using commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) components and simplified manufacturing techniques. Fastrac provides 60,000 pounds of thrust and has many potential launch system applications. Having been tested successfully, the engine will propel NASA's X-34 flight demonstrator vehicle.

bullet  Thermal Gasket - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) seeks qualified companies for further development and commercialization of a new gasket technology. This gasket, which was developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, consists of an electrically conductive substrate coated on both sides with a thermoplastic or braze alloy. When the substrate is heated by passing an electrical current through it, the coating melts. Preliminary tests have shown that this low-cost technology can fill imperfections and adhere like a liquid sealant or braze, creating a zero-leakage joint that can easily be disassembled for service.

bullet Quick-Connect Ball Joint - Developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), this joint employs a unique spring-loaded mechanism that automatically secures a ball hitch upon insertion into a coupler. This eliminated the need for the locking lever found in most conventional ball joints. Connections made using MSFC's quick-connect joint are easier, safer, and more reliable than these made using conventional ball joints.

bullet High-Efficiency RF Power Amplifier - Researchers at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) have developed a new power amplifier to convert direct current (DC) electrical power to a radio frequency (RD) signal. By increasing the DC-to-RF conversion efficiency, this innovation dramatically reduces power consumption, thus decreasing solar array requirements for satellites and increasing battery life for portable electronics.

bullet The National Center for Advanced Manufacturing (NCAM) - NCAM addresses the manufacturing requirements of space transportation systems. Through NCAM, partnerships between NASA, other government agencies, industry, and academia leverage assets and successfully meet the requirements of future systems -- systems that will ultimately provide safe, low-cost, access to space.

bullet Archived Technology Opportunities