  Volume 7, Number 3     May/June 1999

Technology Transfer

NASA Dual-Use Technology Marketed

UNDER A DUAL-USE AGREEMENT WITH NASA'S Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an Alabama company is marketing the TESA 2000 Portable Inspection Instrument used for surface optical measurement in processing the Space Shuttle and its payloads. NASA selected AZ Technology, Inc., of Huntsville to jointly develop a portable infrared and solar reflectometer to meet both NASA and commercial applications.

The TESA 2000 represents substantial innovation and considerable advancement in laboratory portable instrumentation for determining ambient temperature, total emittance and solar absorptance of test surfaces. It is compact, lightweight, rugged and ergonomically engineered for ease of use in the field or in the laboratory, AZ spokesperson John Harchanko said.

The instrument costs about $70,000. It comes with two carrying cases, two rechargeable batteries, a battery charger, an instrument inspection head, a display unit and an operator vest. It offers internal, nonvolatile storage of up to 800 field measurements, as well as multiple-scan storage convenience in the laboratory. Kennedy Space Center expects the TESA 2000 to bring 50 percent savings in surface inspection costs.

The TESA 2000 is a proven benefit to space applications. For example, it will benefit NASA's Space Shuttle fleet and its payloads; manufacturers, servicers and users of manned space vehicles; manned stations and spacecraft for telecommunications, science, meteorology, navigation, remote sensing and imaging.

This innovation will benefit multiple users in manufacturing, science and the military, in addition to serving the needs of NASA. The TESA 2000 can be used by companies involved with the military, paints/coatings, solar energy and automotive glass.

The military could use the technology for evaluating low observable coatings for land, sea and air vehicles. Commercial coating manufacturers and testing laboratories could use the technology to measure surface properties of coating panels in environmental tests for weathering. Companies involved with solar cells or solar heating systems could use the technology to evaluate efficiency. Automotive glass manufacturers and testing laboratories could use the TESA 2000 to evaluate windshields and coatings for Department of Transportation reflectance standards.

AZ Technology is a technology services company specializing in scientific and engineering research and instrumentation development. The company has particular expertise in space flight experiment development, production instruments for scientific measurements, advanced materials and coatings, and Internet software for space and commercial applications.

Two other AZ Technology instruments, the Optical Properties Monitor (OPM) and the Space Portable SpectroReflectometer (SPSR), have flown on the Space Shuttle and Russia's Mir space station. Future projects are in the works for the International Space Station.

For more information, contact Lewis Parrish at Kennedy Space Center.
Call: 407/867-6373, E-mail: ParriLM@kscgws00.ksc.nasa.gov
Or contact John Harchanko at AZ Technology, Inc.
Call: 256/837-9877, ext. 143, E-mail: johnh@aztechnology.com
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

dgc_tes1

A dual-use agreement produced this TESA 2000 portable version with benchtop strength of the 1960s solar absorptance and emittance apparatus.

SIMULATED MARS ENVIRONMENT PROVIDES ESSENTIALS

Scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, recently demonstrated a technology that could use the Martian environment to produce oxygen for breathing and propellants, as well as be used to extract pure oxygen from Earth's air for home, medical and military needs. The demonstration served as an initial test of technology that will be aboard the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, scheduled to launch in 2001 and land on Mars in 2002. The Lander is expected to provide essential insights into how to conduct successful, cost-effective human missions to Mars. Its primary science goal is to explore the mineralogy of its landing site.

The test involved the Mars In-Situ Propellant Production Precursor, an experimental device, inside a chamber that simulates Martian temperatures and atmospheric pressures. A solid-oxide zirconia ceramic disk is heated to 1,380 degrees Fahrenheit (750 degrees Centigrade). Carbon dioxide is absorbed on one side of platinum electrodes and converts to oxygen. Only oxygen is allowed to penetrate to the other side.

"The concept is to use the resources on Mars to reduce the amount of material that needs to accompany a human mission to 'live off the land' while on Mars," said Principal Investigator David Kaplan of the Exploration Office at Johnson Space Center. "Producing oxygen using materials readily available on Mars would be an important step toward reducing the costs and risks of an eventual human mission to Mars."

Johnson Space Center is NASA's lead center for the Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Enterprise. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars exploration program.

For more information, contact Kelly Humphries at Johnson Space Center.
Call: 281/483-5111, E-mail: Kelly.O.Humphries@jsc.nasa.gov
Or contact Mary Harden at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Call: 818/354-0344,
E-mail: Mary.hardin@jpl.nasa.gov
To view photos, visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/2001/ Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

Technology that will be aboard the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander could produce oxygen from elements of the Martian environment. It could also be used for oxygen extractions on Earth.

NASA Official:Jonathan Root

Web Designer: Pamela Sams
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