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May 27, 2003

Bill Jeffs/John Ira Petty
Johnson Space Center, Texas
281/483-5111

Report #J03-50

SPACE AGE IDEAS BRING HONORS TO JSC INVENTORS

Eleven NASA/Johnson Space Center employees will be honored at this
year's annual Inventors' Luncheon at JSC. The event is scheduled for
June 4 at 11:30 a.m. Two of those being honored are astronauts. 

One of the astronauts' inventions involves the tiny world of
biological cell growth. The other focuses on a new kind of rocket
propulsion that could improve human capabilities in the exploration
of the vastness of space. 

The event honors patent achievements for 2002. Awards and engraved
plaques will be presented to each of the 11 by Jefferson D. Howell
Jr., JSC director and a retired Marine Corps general. The center's
Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office organizes the
luncheon. 

The award winners:

G. Dickey Arndt and Patrick W. Fink developed a way to treat
atherosclerosis by dilating a partially closed artery while
preserving its sensitive endothelial layer using microwave energy. 

Arndt and Phong H. Ngo patented a low-power, wide-bandwidth microwave
system shown to be capable of finding small plastic antipersonnel
land mines as well as deeply buried plastic pipes. 

Franklin Chang-Diaz, a veteran of seven spaceflights, will be honored
for a Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket Engine. The
engine includes a controllable output plasma generator, a
controllable heater for selectively raising a temperature of the
plasma connected to an outlet of the plasma generator, and a nozzle
connected to an outlet of the heater through which heated plasma is
discharged to provide thrust. The engine could become the first major
advance in space propulsion technology in 40 years. 

Michael K. Ewert will be honored for two patents relating to thermal
storage and control techniques for a solar-powered vapor compression
refrigeration system. The system allows the compressor operation to
be adjusted to convert almost all available solar power into stored
thermal energy. 

James L. Lewis will be honored for his involvement in developing a
docking system which uses real-time load-sensing and electromagnets
for docking soft capture. The docking system incorporates an active
load-sensing system to automatically adjust the soft capture ring,
eliminating the significant force and energy to realign the capture
ring, and uses electromagnets instead of trip latches to achieve soft
capture. The system allows spacecraft more flexibility during mating
to dock more easily and safely while using less propellant. 

Dennis R. Morrison developed a way to prepare microcapsules (hollow
microballoons) containing an aqueous solution of a protein, drug or
other bioactive substance inside a semi-permeable membrane.
Applications include delivery of genetically engineered biomolecules
into tissues and development of microcapsules containing drugs that
are activated inside the body. 

Duane L. Pierson patented a way and a device that eventually might be
used to find plastic mines or subterranean pipes. The method detects
anomalies in microwave penetrable material. 

Robert L. Shuler received two patents for a method and apparatus for
reducing vulnerability of latches to single-event upsets. He used two
networks essentially using precisely timed cooperation with one
another to ensure more reliable latch performance. Small-size digital
logic libraries can be created with this technology that are
compatible with low-end design tools. This invention makes the
development of radiation-tolerant circuits accessible to small
companies and university departments for use in designing new and
capable space systems and experiments. 

David Wolf and Thomas J. Goodwin are being cited for a method of
stimulating growth of biological cells and tissue using
electromagnetic fields. Astronaut and physician Wolf has worked
extensively in space with the Bioreactor, which grows cell cultures
in three dimensions.

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