. 24/7 Space News .
TECH SPACE
NASA taps telecommunications technology to develop more capable, miniaturized spectrometer
by Lori Keesey for GSFC News
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 25, 2019

This 1 shows an application of arrayed waveguide gratings, a technology developed by the telecommunications industry, combining eight laser arrays (left) to a single waveguide (far right) that would deliver specific infrared wavelengths ultimately to a detector.

A technology that has enabled ever-faster delivery of voice and data over the Internet and other telecommunications platforms could play a front-and-center role in NASA's quest to develop a super-small instrument for gathering unprecedented details about extraterrestrial planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.

Although its critical component is the size of a computer chip, the instrument promises to exceed the performance of a similar-type, but significantly larger instrument installed at a ground-based observatory in Hawaii. Since its installation at the summit of Mt. Haleakala in 2014, the Japanese-developed Mid-Infrared Heterodyne Instrument, or MILAHI, has gathered extraordinarily detailed, continuous measurements of the atmospheric dynamics, thermal structure, and surface compositions of Mars and Venus.

As good as MILAHI is, it's too big and heavy to fly on a traditional satellite, let alone a less-expensive CubeSat whose small size and lower cost would allow scientists to fly multiple, similarly equipped platforms for multipoint observations, said Principal Investigator Tony Yu, a technologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who recently won technology-development funds from NASA's Planetary Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations (PICASSO) program to mature a smaller MILAHI-type instrument.

"We want to do similar science, but we need to reduce the instrument's size," Yu said, adding that his team's goal is to create a small, lightweight device that consumes significantly less power and operates without moving parts, making it ideal for flying on CubeSat platforms.

PICTURE Perfect for Planetary Studies
Like MILAHI, the Photonic Integrated Circuit Tuned for Reconnaissance and Exploration, or PICTURE, would be tuned to the mid-infrared wavelengths - the spectral or frequency range ideal for remotely sensing water, carbon dioxide, methane, and many other compounds in extraterrestrial atmospheres and surfaces. And also like MILAHI, PICTURE would split mid-infrared light into its component colors - a science called spectroscopy - to reveal a wealth of information about an object's composition and other physical properties.

But shrinking the instrument to fit inside a CubeSat, which is often no larger than a loaf of bread, will require that Yu and his team, including the Naval Research Laboratory and the University of California-Santa Barbara, adopt techniques originally created by the telecommunications industry. "Basically, what we're doing is applying telecom technologies for use in space," Yu said.

Under his PICASSO award, Yu and his team are focusing on one of PICTURE's most critical subsystems: the PIC spectrometer, the chip-sized device inspired by the telecom industry's arrayed waveguide gratings, or AWGs.

In telecommunications and computer networks, AWGs serve a couple functions. In a process called multiplexing, they combine multiple analog or digital signals with varying wavelengths into a single optic fiber. At the receiver end of an optical communications network, a reverse process - known as demultiplexing - occurs. The waveguides then retrieve the individual channels.

With this two-step process, multiple channels can share a resource - in this case, typically a fiber-optic cable - and experience greatly reduced interference and crosstalk while dramatically increasing the efficiency and speed of telecommunications signals.

"Its Day Has Come"
The team plans to adopt the same general principle. The chip-sized PIC spectrometer, equipped with the telecommunications-inspired waveguides, would separate the light into its individual mid-infrared wavelengths - an important step in ultimately determining the molecular composition of planetary atmospheres and surfaces. These individual channels would then be mixed with laser light, also tuned to a specific wavelength, in a process called heterodyning - a commonly used technique to amplify signals.

Under this effort, the team will develop a PIC spectrometer that focuses on the spectral band ideal for detecting carbon monoxide. The goal under the PICASSO is to raise the device's technology readiness level (TRL) - the scale that NASA uses to determine a technology's readiness for use in space - from its current TRL of two to a TRL of four and then to advance the instrument's other subsystems, as well as its ability to detect other molecular compounds beyond carbon monoxide.

"We're really excited about this instrument," said Mike Krainak, the former head of Goddard's Laser and Electro-Optics Branch and a PICTURE team member, who now holds the post of Emeritus engineer. "It's a technology with a tremendous future in all types of applications. Its day has come."

For more Goddard technology tech news, click here


Related Links
Space Tech
Space Technology News - Applications and Research


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


TECH SPACE
Sounding rocket tech could enable simultaneous, multi-point measurements
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 18, 2019
NASA engineers plan to test a new avionics technology - distributed payload communications - that would give scientists a never-before-offered capability in sounding rocket-based research. With such technology, sounding rockets could deploy multiple soda can-sized sub-payloads to varying altitudes where their onboard miniaturized instruments could gather multi-point measurements. A distributed payload communications radio receiver located on the main payload would then gather the sub-payloads' dat ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

TECH SPACE
How the International Space Station is helping us get to the Moon

Russia customising Soyuz for tourist trips

NASA's Bridenstine boosts international pitch for moon, Mars missions

Nanoracks signs with Maritime Launch on re-use of C4M stages for in-orbit outposts

TECH SPACE
Rocket Lab teams with Kongsberg for Electron and Photon ground support

DLR pursues international cooperation and future technologies for spaceflight

Firefly Aerospace partners with Aerojet Rocketdyne

New era of locally-sourced resources in space

TECH SPACE
Maxar delivers robotic arm for NASA's Mars 2020 Rover

Mars 2020 Rover unwrapped and ready for more testing

Mars InSight's 'Mole' is moving again

Mars once had salt lakes similar to Earth

TECH SPACE
China's absence from global space conference due to "visa problem" causes concern

China prepares for space station construction

China's rocket-carrying ships depart for transportation mission

China's KZ-1A rocket launches two satellites

TECH SPACE
Launch of the European AGILE 4.0 research project

SpaceX seeking many more satellites for space-based internet grid

OmegA team values partnerships with customer, suppliers

Call for innovation to advance Europe's lab in space

TECH SPACE
Space collisions a growing concern as Earth orbit gets more crowded

Cloud computing gains drive up profit for Microsoft

World's fastest supercomputer prepares for mega-telescope project

DARPA picks teams for Virtual Air Combat Competition

TECH SPACE
When Exoplanets Collide

Breakthrough Listen to collaborate with scientists from NASA's TESS Team

Ancient microbes are living inside Europe's deepest meteorite crater

The search for extrasolar planets continues

TECH SPACE
NASA's Juno prepares to jump Jupiter's shadow

Huge Volcano on Jupiter's Moon Io Erupts on Regular Schedule

Stony-iron meteoroid caused August impact flash at Jupiter

Storms on Jupiter are disturbing the planet's colorful belts









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.