Patents Assigned to The United States of America as represented by the Adminstrator of the National Aeromautics and Space Administration
  • Patent number: 8093565
    Abstract: A wind and temperature spectrometer (WTS) may detect the angular and energy distributions of neutral atoms/molecules and ions in two mutually perpendicular planes. The measured energy distribution at a known angle near the peak may be used to infer the full wind vector W. A WTS having a single ion source may be used in conjunction with a crossed small-deflection energy analyzer (SDEA). The crossed SDEA may combine the angular and energy distributions in the two mutually perpendicular planes into a single spectrometer with a single optical axis. A WTS having a single ion source may use less energy and occupy less space than a WTS with two ion sources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Adminstrator of the National Aeromautics and Space Administration
    Inventors: Federico A. Herrero, Theodore T. Finne