Award Data

Currently, computation of the geopotential acceleration and its partial derivatives consumes a large portion of numerical integration time in special perturbations (SP) applications. The standard geopotential formulation is expressed as a spherical harmonic expansion in geocentric latitude, geocentric longitude, and radial distance. Recent research by Dr. Beylkin of the University of Colorado ha ...

Accurate and timely surveillance of objects in the near-Earth space environment is becoming increasingly critical to US national security. One of the main difficulties in this domain is efficiently and accurately modeling trajectories of the vast number of objects in orbit around the Earth. The orbital trajectory of a single object is typically modeled as a second-order system of equations which ...

Space surveillance is the component of space situational awareness focused on the detection of resident space objects (RSOs) and the use of multisource data to track and identify space objects. While the propagation of the states of RSOs has been investigated extensively over the last fifty years, the correct propagation of their covariance or the more general (non-Gaussian) probability distribut ...

A mathematical framework for detection and classification of weak, distributed patterns on computer networks is proposed. The framework will provide rigorous methods for understanding performance bounds and optimality of intrusion detection methods, while also providing concrete and implementable algorithms. The algorithms will find immediate application in cyber-security efforts, as well as mor ...

The Air Force Phase I STTR program would develop and demonstrate high temperature version of ‘sensor skins’ capable of multi-axis flow characterization on air breathing hypersonic engines. This would build upon NanoSonic’s successful demonstration of Metal Rubber™ transducer materials for the measurement of flow-induced skin friction and pressure at low temperatures and transonic and super ...

Owing to a unique set of intellectual property and core expertise, this Phase II team, led by Traycer Diagnostic Systems, will build and characterize a packaged, 16x16 terahertz focal plane array (FPA) for broadband video-rate imaging at frequencies up to 1.3 THz. Traycer’s competitive advantage is based on its record-performing detectors, novel antennas, and array architectures that permit a d ...

High temperature deformation and strain are important measures for characterizing behaviors of structural components under high temperature condition. Measuring full-field, high temperature deformation and strain can lead to a better understanding structural and material response, damage initiation, progressive damage, and ultimately limit state attainment in moderately high temperature material s ...

ABSTRACT: Aurora Flight Sciences, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), proposes to further develop and test in realistic settings an innovative method for representing and managing multidisciplinary design information from a wide range of analysis tools. The practical implication resulting from this novel approach is a mathematical framework to confidently determ ...

ABSTRACT: For this Phase II STTR effort, Prime Photonics and Virginia Tech propose to demonstrate a fully packaged hybrid photovoltaic/magneto-thermoelectric (PV/MTG) panel with improved energy conversion efficiency designed for solar powered air vehicles. In addition to acting as an active thermal backplane for the PV, the MTG is designed to maximize thermal to electrical conversion from the av ...

ABSTRACT: The leading errors in computing future positions of satellites in Low Earth Orbit are generally due to inaccuracies in the thermospheric density and the prediction thereof. The use of Dynamic Calibration Atmosphere has reduced these traditional sources of error and variations seen in ballistic coefficients can now be attributed to unmodeled satellite frontal area changes. When the orb ...