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NASA's system was developed for smaller-scale, space-based applications. However, the technology is scalable for larger industrial and municipal water treatment applications. Implementation of the Ammonia Recovery System could significantly reduce nitrogen content from water treatment processes, meaningfully improving the quality of water. This system offers a novel way to reduce nitrogen water pollutants, while allowing for the nitrogen to be collected and reused- reducing environmental and public health risks and providing an environmentally friendly fertilizer option. NASAs environmental solutions work to sustain life on earth through space based technology The adaptable nature of this system gives it potentially broad applications in a wide variety of industries; it is particularly ideal for on-site remediation of wastewater in places like condo complexes, hotels and water parks. Current methods of ammonia recovery could not meet NASAs mission requirements, so a new process was devised to optimize for high ammonia selectivity, simplicity, low volume , low power usage and zero contaminants in the effluent. To do this, NASA designed a novel regenerable struvite-formation system for the capture of ammonia. This system has three primary functions: 1) Removal of ammonia from wastewater using a media that is highly selective for ammonia 2) Capture of the ammonia for later use (e.g., as a fertilizer) 3) Regeneration of the capture media for reuse in the system

In one of NASA Glenn's innovations, a shaped recess can be formed on a surface associated with fluid flow. Often V-shaped, this shaped recess can be configured to create or induce fluid effects, temperature effects, or shedding effects. For example, the shaped recess can be paired (upstream or downstream) with a cooling channel. The configuration of the shaped recess can mitigate the lift-off or separation of the cooling jets that are produced by the cooling channels, thus keeping the cooling jets trained on turbine blades and enhancing the effectiveness of the film-cooling process. The second innovation produced to improve film cooling addresses problems that occur when high-blowing ratios, such as those that occur during transient operation, threaten to diminish cooling effectiveness by creating jet detachment. To keep the cooling jet attached to the turbine blade, and also to spread the jet in the spanwise direction, NASA Glenn inventors have successfully used cooling holes that reduce loss by blowing in the upstream direction. In addition, fences may be used upstream of the holes to bend the cooling flow back toward the downstream direction to further reduce mixing losses. These two innovations represent a significant leap forward in making film cooling for turbine blades, and therefore the operation of turbine engines, more efficient.

Current aircraft engine control logic uses a min-max control selection structure to prevent the engine from exceeding any safety or operational limits during transients due to throttle commands. This structure is inherently conservative and produces transient responses that are slower than necessary. By activating the NASA Glenn's conditionally active limit regulators, engine response can be improved while preserving all necessary safety limits. An engine controller using CA limit regulators will get a faster engine response while ensuring engine safety. The improved performance is attained by eliminating unnecessary limit regulator activations and by utilizing more of the available safety margins. This is an early-stage technology requiring additional development. Glenn welcomes co-development opportunities.

This NASA Glenn innovation comprises a non-pneumatic, compliant tire utilizing shape memory alloys (mainly NiTi and its derivatives) as load bearing components. These shape memory alloys are capable of undergoing significant reversible strain (up to 10%), enabling the tire to withstand an order of magnitude more deformation than other non-pneumatic tires before undergoing permanent deformation. Commonly used elastic-plastic materials (e.g. spring steels, composites, etc.) can only be subjected to strains on the order of ~ 0.3-0.5% before yielding. Hence, the use of a NiTi shape memory alloy produces a superelastic tire that is virtually impervious to plastic deformation. In addition, the utilization of shape memory alloys provides enhanced control over the effective stiffness as a function of the deformation, providing increased design versatility. For instance, the Glenn Superelastic Tire can be made to soften with increased deflection, reducing the amount of energy transferred to the vehicle during high deformation events. In addition, the use of shape memory alloys in the form of radial stiffeners, as opposed to springs, provides even more load carrying potential and improved design flexibility. This type of compliant tire would allow for increased travel speeds in off-road applications.

Through low-loss signal combination, Glenn is leading the way to optimize radio transmission remotely during self-checking routines. Glenn's signal combiner offers a simple method to minimize signal loss significantly when combining two signals. Using conventional combiners in bit-error-rate testing results in a loss of 3 to 4 dB per band, and with a directional coupler the secondary signal experiences losses of 10 dB or more. Moreover, during signal measurements, the additional components must be placed and later removed to prevent any impact to the measurement, making for a cumbersome process. Glenn's solution is to combine the primary and secondary signals in the frequency domain through the use of a frequency division diplexer/multiplexer in combination with a wideband ADC. The multiplexer selects one or more bands in the frequency domain, and the ADC performs a non-linear conversion to digital domain by folding out-of-band signals in with the primary signal. NASA makes use of subsampling a given band within the ADC bandwidth to fold it into another band of interest, effectively frequency-shifting them to a common frequency bandwidth. Glenn's breakthrough method has two significant advantages over the conventional use of a power combiner or directional coupler in bit-error-rate testing: 1) it combines signal and noise (secondary signal) with very low loss, and 2) it enables the selection of the desired signal-to-noise ratio with no need for the later cumbersome removal of components. This streamlined process allows for invaluable in-situ or installed measurement. Glenn's novel technology has great potential for satellite, telecommunications, and wireless industries, especially with respect to equipment testing, measurement, calibration, and check-out.

To avoid catastrophic failure, traditional electrical ohmic contacts must be placed at some distance from the optimal position (especially for sensors) in high-temperature environments. In addition, conventional metallization techniques incur significant production costs because they require multiple process steps of successive depositions, photolithography, and etchings to deposit the desired ohmic contact material. Glenn's novel production method both produces ohmic contacts that can withstand higher temperatures than ever before (up to 600°C), and permits universal and simultaneous ohmic contacts on n- and p-type surfaces. This makes fabrication much less time-consuming and expensive while also increasing yield. This innovative approach uses a single alloy conductor to form simultaneous ohmic contacts to n- and p-type 4H-SiC semiconductor. The single alloy conductor also forms an effective diffusion barrier against gold and oxygen at temperatures as high as 800°C. Glenn's extraordinary method enables a faster and less costly means of producing SiC-based sensors and other devices that provide quicker response times and more accurate readings for numerous applications, from jet engines to down-hole drilling, and from automotive engines to space exploration.

Most spacecraft feature release, retention, and deployment devices as key components, because these devices achieve on-demand configurability of solar panels, probes, antennas, scientific instruments, fairings, etc. Until now, designing and using such devices in small spacecraft has been a challenge, because their mass, volume, and power requirements are significant and can impose design constraints. CubeSats, in particular, often need to deploy several structures (such as solar arrays) simultaneously, which prior-art deployment devices have not been able to manage effectively. Glenn's innovation embeds SMAs within the components so the structures can be retained during launch, then released and deployed in orbit. The release and retention device is controlled by an SMA activated pin puller to disengage the release plate from the hooks holding the solar arrays. Once released, the SMA hinge is passively enabled to the deployed state. When ready on orbit, the mechanism is commanded to release and electrical power is sent to the SMA actuator, releasing the component to its deployed state. The component is deployed to its final position through the use of hinges, which are activated passively with SMA spring strips. The retention and release device and hinge are substantially smaller and lighter than deployment mechanisms have ever been and can deploy simultaneously with great reliability. Having already been successfully deployed on a NASA mission, Glenn's innovation is a game-changing technology for CubeSats and other small satellites.

These needs are met by this invention, which provide easy stem and associated method for detecting one or more chemical precursors (components) of a multi-component explosive compound. Different carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are loaded (by doping, impregnation, coating, or other functionalization process) for detecting of different chemical substances that are the chemical precursors, respectively, if these precursors are present in a gas to which the CNTs are exposed. After exposure to the gas, a measured electrical parameter (e.g. voltage or current that correlate to impedance, conductivity, capacitance, inductance, etc.) changes with time and concentration in a predictable manner if a selected chemical precursor is present, and will approach an asymptotic value promptly after exposure to the precursor. The measured voltage or current are compared with one or more sequence soft heir reference values for one or more known target precursor molecules, and a most probable concentration value is estimated for each one, two, or more target molecules. An error value is computed, based on differences of voltage or current for the measured and reference values, using the most probable concentration values. Where the error value is less than a threshold, the system concludes that the target molecule is likely. Presence of one, two, or more target molecules in the gas can be sensed from a single set of measurements.

This invention provides a new method for optical data transmissions from satellites using laser arrays for laser beam pointing. The system is simple, static, compact, and provides accurate pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT). It combines a lens system and a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser VCSEL)/Photodetector Array, both mature technologies, in a novel way for PAT. It can improve the PAT system's size, weight, and power (SWaP) in comparison to current systems. Preliminary analysis indicates that this system is applicable to transmissions between satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and ground terminals. Computer simulations using this design have been made for the application of this innovation to a CubeSat in LEO. The computer simulations included modeling the laser source and diffraction effects due to wave optics. The pointing used a diffraction limited lens system and a VCSEL array. These capabilities make it possible to model laser beam propagation over long space communication distances. Laser beam pointing is very challenging for LEO, including science missions. Current architectures use dynamical systems, (i.e., moving parts, e.g., fast-steering mirrors (FSM), and/or gimbals) to turn the laser to point to the ground terminal, and some use vibration isolation platforms as well. This static system has the potential to replace the current dynamic systems and vibration isolation platforms, dependent on studies for the particular application. For these electro-optical systems, reaction times to pointing changes and vibrations are on the nanosecond time scale, much faster than those for mechanical systems. For LEO terminals, slew rates are not a concern with this new system.