NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Worldview is a software tool designed for interactively browsing and downloading imagery from NASA's Earth observing satellites. Building upon a set of open source mapping and user interface libraries, it provides an environment to visually discover interesting phenomena as observed by NASA satellites, then download the data for further analysis. It was originally designed to address the needs of the near real time applications community to provide relevant information for time-critical scenarios such as wildfire and flood management. As such, satellite imagery is available to be viewed in Worldview within four hours of observation, the imagery can be viewed in its highest, or native, resolution, and the imagery can be panned and zoomed rapidly through space and time to find the most relevant/cloud-free/etc information available.

The PROM Emulator is a reprogrammable stand-in part for the 64 Mb 3D-Plus PROM and the future 128 Mb 3D-Plus PROM. The PROM Emulator fits in a small target footprint. The PROM Emulator uses the Xilinx XCF32P FLASH devices to store the bitfile because they come in small BGA packages and are reprogrammable. They can store up to 32 Mb and have the functionality needed to configure the Xilinx FPGA. To create a reprogrammable device that can hold the same 64 Mb or 128 Mb of configuration data, the PROM Emulator uses four XCF32P devices. Each is a 0.8mm pitch 48ball BGA part. The design also accommodates bypass capacitors for these devices, and a voltage regulator. The regulator produces 1.8V from the 3.3V coming into the PROM Emulator to support the XCF32P devices. A set of PROM Emulators has been built and tested successfully on a SpaceCube v2.0 Board.

The PROM Emulator is a reprogrammable stand-in part for the 64 Mb 3D-Plus PROM and the future 128 Mb 3D-Plus PROM. The PROM Emulator fits in a small target footprint. The PROM Emulator uses the Xilinx XCF32P FLASH devices to store the bitfile because they come in small BGA packages and are reprogrammable. They can store up to 32 Mb and have the functionality needed to configure the Xilinx FPGA. To create a reprogrammable device that can hold the same 64 Mb or 128 Mb of configuration data, the PROM Emulator uses four XCF32P devices. Each is a 0.8mm pitch 48ball BGA part. The design also accommodates bypass capacitors for these devices, and a voltage regulator. The regulator produces 1.8V from the 3.3V coming into the PROM Emulator to support the XCF32P devices. A set of PROM Emulators has been built and tested successfully on a SpaceCube v2.0 Board.

Simulator of spacecraft attitude, orbit dynamics, and environmental models. Spacecraft models composed of multiple bodies are supported. The environment models include ephemerides for all planets and major moons in the solar system. Supports geometrical visualization through an OpenGL interface. The simulator is opensource and portable across computing platforms, making it customizable and extensible. It is written to support the entire GNC design cycle, from rapid prototyping and design analysis, to high-fidelity flight code verification.

High on the mainmast of the clipper Pride of Baltimore, crew members have installed a NASA-developed satellite beacon which enables continual tracking of the ship as she roams the seas on goodwill tours. The simple 10-pound beacon affixed to Pride's mainmast allows Baltimore's Operational Sail to keep track of the ship on its voyages to distant places. Once every minute, the compact, battery powered unit sends a radio signal to NASA's Nimbus-6 research satellite where the frequency shift of successive signals provides information for computing the ship's latitude and longitude.

Moreover, metamorphosis and transformation processes are observable in different species. Metamorphosis is a biological process whereby a living organism physically changes its form or structure during development. Perhaps the most notable form of metamorphosis is the transformation from the immature insect into the adult form. Another form of metamorphosis is observed in chameleons, which are famous for their ability to change their skin color to blend in with their surroundings. Biologically-inspired computing adopts biological approaches to effective problem solving, where solutions developed by nature through millions of years of evolution are applied in the computing milieu. According to various embodiments of the present teachings, an autonomic system is provided that comprises a plurality of autonomic components, for example, a coordinating autonomic component, a messenger autonomic component, and a plurality of autonomic worker components. Each autonomic component of the plurality of autonomic components can be individually programmed to (i) generate signals indicative of one or more triggering events, (ii) send the signals to one or more of the other autonomic components, and (iii) self-sacrifice voluntarily based on the occurrence of a triggering event. In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of autonomic components can comprise a coordinating autonomic component that is programmed to assign programmed tasks and issue instructions to each of a plurality of autonomic worker components. In some embodiments, the system can comprise a messenger autonomic component that is configured to facilitate communication between a coordinating autonomic component and one or more autonomic worker components. Each of the autonomic worker components can comprise one or more scientific instruments and can be configured to operate the respective one or more scientific instruments. At least one of the autonomic components of the system can be configured to self-sacrifice voluntarily by transformation or self-destruction upon occurrence of a triggering event.

Moreover, metamorphosis and transformation processes are observable in different species. Metamorphosis is a biological process whereby a living organism physically changes its form or structure during development. Perhaps the most notable form of metamorphosis is the transformation from the immature insect into the adult form. Another form of metamorphosis is observed in chameleons, which are famous for their ability to change their skin color to blend in with their surroundings. Biologically-inspired computing adopts biological approaches to effective problem solving, where solutions developed by nature through millions of years of evolution are applied in the computing milieu. According to various embodiments of the present teachings, an autonomic system is provided that comprises a plurality of autonomic components, for example, a coordinating autonomic component, a messenger autonomic component, and a plurality of autonomic worker components. Each autonomic component of the plurality of autonomic components can be individually programmed to (i) generate signals indicative of one or more triggering events, (ii) send the signals to one or more of the other autonomic components, and (iii) self-sacrifice voluntarily based on the occurrence of a triggering event. In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of autonomic components can comprise a coordinating autonomic component that is programmed to assign programmed tasks and issue instructions to each of a plurality of autonomic worker components. In some embodiments, the system can comprise a messenger autonomic component that is configured to facilitate communication between a coordinating autonomic component and one or more autonomic worker components. Each of the autonomic worker components can comprise one or more scientific instruments and can be configured to operate the respective one or more scientific instruments. At least one of the autonomic components of the system can be configured to self-sacrifice voluntarily by transformation or self-destruction upon occurrence of a triggering event.

Moreover, metamorphosis and transformation processes are observable in different species. Metamorphosis is a biological process whereby a living organism physically changes its form or structure during development. Perhaps the most notable form of metamorphosis is the transformation from the immature insect into the adult form. Another form of metamorphosis is observed in chameleons, which are famous for their ability to change their skin color to blend in with their surroundings. Biologically-inspired computing adopts biological approaches to effective problem solving, where solutions developed by nature through millions of years of evolution are applied in the computing milieu. According to various embodiments of the present teachings, an autonomic system is provided that comprises a plurality of autonomic components, for example, a coordinating autonomic component, a messenger autonomic component, and a plurality of autonomic worker components. Each autonomic component of the plurality of autonomic components can be individually programmed to (i) generate signals indicative of one or more triggering events, (ii) send the signals to one or more of the other autonomic components, and (iii) self-sacrifice voluntarily based on the occurrence of a triggering event. In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of autonomic components can comprise a coordinating autonomic component that is programmed to assign programmed tasks and issue instructions to each of a plurality of autonomic worker components. In some embodiments, the system can comprise a messenger autonomic component that is configured to facilitate communication between a coordinating autonomic component and one or more autonomic worker components. Each of the autonomic worker components can comprise one or more scientific instruments and can be configured to operate the respective one or more scientific instruments. At least one of the autonomic components of the system can be configured to self-sacrifice voluntarily by transformation or self-destruction upon occurrence of a triggering event.

Diabetics are no longer concerned with scheduling activities around peaking insulin levels since the use of an external pump from Pacesetter Systems, Inc. used to deliver insulin continuously at a preprogrammed individually adjusted rate. The pump wearer can lead a more normal existence, even participate in sports or travel, and there is an even greater benefit. Research indicates that infusion of short acting" insulin in tiny amounts over a long period - instead of "long-acting" insulin has helped many diabetics achieve better control of blood sugar levels thereby minimizing the possibility of complications and in some cases even halting the progression of complications. "

During the summer of 1999, Darryl Mitchell of Goddard Space Flight Center's Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) met with the U.S. Olympic Committee at the official training facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to offer assistance in transferring NASA technologies applicable to Olympic sports. Following the meeting with the Olympic committee, Mitchell was approached by U.S. Speedskating Long Track Program Director Finn Halvorsen, who eagerly voiced his interest in working with NASA to identify a means of improving performance for his team. The two generated a lengthy list of promising NASA developments that could benefit the sport. From this list, they selected a NASA mirror-polishing technique, developed by Jim Lyons, a 16-year optical engineering veteran of Goddard. Lyons and the Goddard TCO team quickly determined that the aluminum super polishing technique was not suitable for speedskate enhancement. This discovery, however, was hardly a setback, as Lyons came through with an alternative polishing process. On February 17, 2002, U.S. speedskater Chris Witty used Lyons' newly developed polishing tool, and skated her way to victory with a world-record time and a gold medal in the 1,000-meter race at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics.