Futuristic Technology Helps Preserve Past
A NASA INFRARED
CAMERA DEVELOPED TO explore Mars will assist the Smithsonian Institution
in its three-year project to preserve the Star-Spangled Banner.
The camera, built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Maryland, is being used to take images of the historic flag in infrared
light to help preservationists identify deteriorated and soiled
areas not obvious to the human eye. The camera, called the Acousto-Optic
Imaging Spectrometer (AImS), was developed by Dr. David Glenar at
Goddard.
The flag is considered a national treasure from the War of 1812.
Despite receiving extra special care at the Smithsonian's National
Museum of American History, the flag is deteriorating from decades
of exposure to light, air pollution and temperature fluctuations.
"It gives me a feeling of great pride that a camera we developed
to explore other planets is now exploring this historic artifact,"
said Dr. John Hillman, the lead person of the camera group at Goddard
and NASA's representative on the Smithsonian team.
The AImS was selected because of its special ability to make an
image with reflected infrared light. A typical infrared camera relies
on thermal infrared, which is light emitted by an object from its
heat, but these cameras cannot identify contaminants on the flag
because they are the same temperature as the flag itself.
Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, lying beyond the
red end of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
A spectrometer in the camera will be used to separate the light
and reveal its component wavelengths, similar to the way a prism
separates visible light into a rainbow of colors.
Nearly 72 separate images were taken and pieced together using
a computer to create a mosaic of the massive flag, which is 30 feet
wide and 34 feet long. Each image takes approximately 25 minutes
to make and is composed of 200 infrared wavelengths, or colors.
"Wool is the major component in the surface composition of
the flag, and contaminants found on the surface of wool reflect
infrared light differently than wool itself," Hillman explained.
"With the AImS, we can identify where these differences are
located on the flag. Moisture is of particular concern because,
in the presence of light, it causes a chemical reaction that deteriorates
wool."
The AImS team is developing a demonstration camera for the Mars
Instrument Development Program funded by NASA Headquarters. Under
this program, a camera using AImS technology could be a candidate
for use on robotic Mars lander missions in 2005 and beyond. The
camera would be used to determine the mineral composition of Martian
rocks.
The camera also can be used to explore the invisible world here
on Earth. A cooperative agreement to use AImS in skin cancer research
is in place among Goddard, Swales and Associates, Inc., and the
Georgetown University Medical Center's Department of Dermatology.
For more information, contact Bill Steigerwald at Goddard Space
Flight Center.
Call: 301/286-5017, E-mail: wsteiger@pop100.gsfc.nasa.gov
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SENSORS
LEAD TO NEW USES
The
Commercial Remote Sensing program office at NASA's Stennis
Space Center in southern Mississippi has selected 10 projects
that could lead to new commercial uses of advanced sensors.
The projects are being developed through the Earth Observations
Commercial Applications Program-Hyperspectral (EOCAP-Hyperspectral).
EOCAP responds to known buyer needs by collaborating with
commercial firms to develop enhanced geographic information
products, incorporating advanced remote sensing and associated
technologies.
Historically,
the program has emphasized product development from a technical
perspective. The program's new direction is to match market
knowledge with technical capability to guide product development
based on customers' needs and to expand marketplace acceptance
and the use of remote-sensing technology. The commercial role
of Stennis is to provide financial and technical support to
companies for two to three years in areas of remote-sensing
activities in which there is substantial market risk in matching
science and technology with commercial demand. The projects
support technical, market and business innovation to develop
new products or services that help emerging domestic and international
markets.
The selection
of companies is done through proposals, with emphasis placed
on strength in business, marketing and product advisory board
resources, as well as each company's financial commitments
to the projects. Those selected include Eastman Kodak of New
York, the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland, Yellowstone
Ecosystem Studies in Montana, Boeing Information, Space and
Defense Systems in Washington, MTL Systems Inc. in Ohio, Spectral
International in Colorado, Applied Analysis in Massachusetts
and Cal State-Monterey Bay, GDE Systems, Inc. and Opto Knowledge
Systems, Inc., all of California.
For more
information, contact Lanee Cooksey at Stennis Space Center.
Call: 228/688-3341, Fax: 228/688-1094, E-mail: Lanee.Cooksey@
ssc.nasa.gov
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