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The patch antenna consists of two radiating metal patch elements, a metal feed circuit, choke rings, several alignment spacers, a SMA connector, and a mounting lid giving the antenna a total diameter of 54 mm; small enough to fit in a coffee cup. The signal is carried between the lower patch and the circuit via a coaxial transmission structure, in which the probes are the inner conductor and the antenna structure is the outer conductor. The patch antenna is constructed entirely of metal, offering rugged physical durability while delivering superior performance. This advanced material not only enables the antenna to handle higher power loads (exceeding 10 watts) but also ensures exceptional stability under demanding conditions—outperforming standard patch antennas made with traditional dielectric materials. It is also not susceptible to the manufacturing variability incurred from using dielectrics. Ideally, this metallic design also allows for reentry and reuse across missions. The patch antenna is designed with integrated choke rings to effectively mitigate multipath signal interference, delivering an impressive front-to-back ratio of over 35 dB. Its integrated polarizer circuit enhances signal clarity and boosts overall efficiency, ensuring reliable communication in challenging environments. With support for both right- and left-handed circular polarization, the antenna achieves a co-polarization peak gain of 9 dBi and an axial ratio of less than 3 dB within a wide 50-degree orientation range. These advanced features provide superior signal performance and consistent clarity across diverse applications. Although designed for space and planetary exploration applications, the antenna may also be valuable for terrestrial use cases with rugged conditions. The X-band patch antenna is at technology readiness level (TRL) 5 (component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment) and is available for patent licensing.

NASA's patch antenna technology exhibits higher operational bandwidth (on the order of 20%) than typical patch antennas (less than 10%) and can operate across integer-multiple frequency bands (e.g. S/X, C/X, S/C). Testing of the antenna design has demonstrated &#62 6dB of gain on both S and X bands (boresight), with an axial ratio of &#60 6dB and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) &#60 3:1 throughout the entire near-Earth network (NEN) operating bands (22.4GHz and 88.4GHz) with hemispherical coverage. The patch size is on the order of 10 x 10 cm and with associated electronics, is about 1 cm in height.

This technology is based upon a 120-watt IR laser is coupled to a fiber optic cable that is routed from the output of the laser into a series of focusing optics which directs energy onto a battery cell mounted to a test stand. When activated, heat from the laser penetrates the metal housing, heating the internals of the cell. At a specific temperature, the separator in the first few layers of the cell melts allowing the anode and cathode to make contact and initiates an internal short circuit. The internal short circuit then propagates throughout the battery eventually causing thermal runaway. The lower the wavelength of the laser used to produce the thermal runaway, the more heat-energy will be absorbed into the cell producing a faster result. The fiber optic cable can be terminated into a series of optics to focus the laser at a specific target, or the fiber optic cable can be stripped bare and placed next to the target to heat an isolated location. This method can also be used on a wide variety of cells, including Li-ion pouch cells, Li-ion cylindrical cells and Li-ion Large format cells. The innovation Triggering Li-ion Cells with Laser Radiation is at TRL 6 (which means a system/subsystem prototype has been demonstrated in a relevant environment) and the related patent application is now available to license and develop into a commercial product. Please note that NASA does not manufacture products itself for commercial sale.