More Accurate Readings With Software
A NONREIMBURSABLE
SPACE ACT AGREEMENT between an Irvine, California, company and Kennedy
Space Center will make it easier to monitor ammonia vapors during
loading and storage on the International Space Station. The ammonia
is being used as a refrigerant, but it is toxic and flammable at
high concentrations.
An algorithm developed by Kennedy engineers is being applied to
MIDAC Corporation's Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometer
to monitor ammonia vapor concentrations during loading and storage.
The spectrometer is a powerful chemical identification tool that
detects gases by identifying the frequencies at which gas absorbs
light. The usual output is a spectrum that shows frequency, or wave
number.
MIDAC manufactures application-specific FTIR instruments. The agreement
allows the algorithm to be polished for MIDAC into a software package
of a higher degree than any commercially available FTIR.
Ammonia is more difficult to discriminate from other compounds
used for testing or cleaning purposes in the area of Kennedy Space
Center's Space Station Processing Facility. FTIR technology is used
because of the discrimination and detection requirements of ammonia
over a wide concentration range.
Analyzing the data's peaks and valleys determines what compounds
are present. If the spectrum's baseline is tilted or shifted upward
by contamination or during instrument warm-up, accuracy is degraded.
The new software addresses these baseline problems and corrects
the data.
Kennedy engineers installed and programmed a small computer inside
a MIDAC FTIR, and they developed the advanced multivariate "classical
least squares" algorithm. Sample measurements are produced
in raw form by the FTIR instrument. The basic data feed into a computer
to transform the raw interferogram into sample concentration. The
software, compiled and embedded into the FTIR Spectrometer's computer,
produces a customized package for specific job requirements.
Commercially, FTIR Spectrometers were first used in laboratories
as analytical instruments and are now being applied to on-line process
monitoring. Kennedy Space Center's Contamination Monitoring Laboratory
designed, fabricated and delivered a Portable Ammonia Monitoring
System using the new software. It has been applied to three Kennedy
Space Shuttle and payload monitoring systems. It has also been used
during validation testing of a servicer that contains and controls
the ammonia loaded into International Space Station elements. The
FTIR Spectrometer is used in detecting a waterproofing agent used
on Space Shuttle thermal tiles. Kennedy also used the software during
processing to further modify the Chandra X-ray Observatory's hydrocarbon
monitoring system.
MIDAC's commercial product, AutoQuant, is an integrated software
platform for the automatic collection, archiving and real-time analysis
of FTIR spectral data. MIDAC President and founder Gerald Auth said
that modifications made by NASA scientists have helped transform
the FTIR Spectrometer from a laboratory research instrument into
a simple robust gas monitor that gives everyone the ability to make
more accurate measurements of chemical compounds.
For more information, contact Lewis Parrish at Kennedy Space Center.
Call: 407/867-6373,
E-mail: ParriLM@kscgws00.ksc.nasa.gov Or visit MIDAC at
http://www.midac.com/
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.
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PARTNERSHIP
CONTINUES, INCREASES FOR STUDENTS
NASA
and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering,
Inc. (NACME), will continue their collaborated efforts as
NASA announced its increased investment in NACME. NACME is
the largest private source of scholarships for underrepresented
students in engineering and is recognized for program development,
student training, faculty development and fiscal and management
policies.
The NASA–NACME
partnership began with funding from NASA's Office of Equal
Opportunity Programs in August 1998. The initial award covered
22 institutions of higher education and included 94 scholars
enrolled full-time in academic fields of interest to NASA.
The selected science, engineering and mathematics students
will be supported—assuming satisfactory progress—for
up to four years. Through NASA's Office of Equal Opportunity
Programs, the NASA Centers and the NASA Strategic Enterprises,
the space agency will continue to provide opportunities for
underrepresented students to become engaged in NASA research
and development.
For more
information, contact Sonja Alexander at NASA Headquarters.
Call: 202/358-1761,
E-mail: salexand@mail.hq.nasa.gov Please mention you
read about it in Innovation.
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