Code 550 Technologies and Products

Technical Capabilities

Flight instrument hardware development in the areas of

  • Optics design, fabrication, alignment and test,
  • Cryogenic systems,
  • Mechanical Cooler procurement and characterization,
  • Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerators (ADR’s),
  • Cryogenic Fluid development and consulting,
  • Detectors from microwave to gamma ray
  • Detector characterization
  • Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS)
  • High power pulsed laser systems
  • Diode Laser Testing and Qualification
  • Lidars
  • Laser communications
  • Microwave and millimeter wave active and passive systems and components
  • Antenna design and characterization
  • System modeling and analysis

Current Technology Projects

Advanced Detectors:

  • Photon-Counting MKIDs for High Resolution Far-Infrared Spectroscopy
    Principal Investigator:   Barrentine, Emily/553
  • High Kinetic Inductance Coatings for Astrophysical Detector Systems
    Principal Investigator:   Brown, Ari/553
  • A Low G Ideal Integrating Bolometer
    Principal Investigator:   Canavan, Edgar/552
  • Parametric Amplifiers for Readout of Low-Temperature Detectors
    Principal Investigator:   Stevenson, Thomas/553
  • Atmospheric Re-entry Sensor Array for Temperature and Pressure
    Principal Investigator:   Manos, George/553
  • Porous Silicon for Enhanced Detectors
    Principal Investigator:   Hess, Larry/553

Optical Systems and components:

  • ATLAST: Optical Systems Engineering & Development
    Principal Investigator:   Bolcar, Matthew/551
  • Hardware-Accelerated Wavefront Sensing and Control
    Principal Investigator:   Dean, Bruce/551
  • Broadband Silicon Dielectric Mirrors for Infrared Astronomy
    Principal Investigator:   Denis, Kevin/553
  • Operation Assembly for the Electrostatic Actuated Next Generation Microshutter Arrays
    Principal Investigator:   Li, Mary/553
  • Diffraction Suppression Using Petal Masks for Astrophysics Application
    Principal Investigator:   Shiri, Ron/551
  • Freeform Optics enabling CubeSat Missions
    Principal Investigator:   Howard, Joseph/551

Laser Communications:

  • Space-Qualifiable Photon-Counting Lasercom receiver
    Principal Investigator:   Merritt, Scott/554

Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS):

  • Micro-Sample Extraction System for In-Situ Missions to Planets, Planetary Satellites, and Primitive Bodies
    Principal Investigator:   Balvin, Manuel/553
  • Micro-size Precision Timing Unit for CubeSat Applications
    Principal Investigator:   Zheng, Yun (Tony)/553

Lidar Systems:

  • Bio-Indicator Lidar Instrument for NASA Planetary Missions
    Principal Investigator:   Blagojevic, Branimir/554
  • Spectrally multiplexed, high-repetition-rate Lidar instrument
    Principal Investigator:   Stephen, Mark/554

Laser Systems and Components:

  • Compact variable rate laser for space application
    Principal Investigator:   Li, Steven/554
  • Optical Coating Degradation Due to Particle Impacts
    Principal Investigator:   Blagojevic, Branimir/554
  • Improved Laser performance through Planar Waveguide Technology Development
    Principal Investigator:   Fahey, Molly/554
  • 420 nm Fiber Laser for Ice and Melt Pond Lidar Applications
    Principal Investigator:   Stysley, Paul/554

Microwave Systems and Components:

  • Multiple-Input Multiple-Output MIMO Synthetic Aperture Radar SAR
    Principal Investigator:   Rincon, Rafael/555
  • Exploring the Feasibility cold-FET Calibration Standards to Improve Radiometric Measurements
    Principal Investigator:   Bonds, Quenton/555
  • Design and Development of VHF (240-270 MHz) Antennas for SoOp(Signal of Opportunity) Receiver for 6U Cubesat Platforms
    Principal Investigator:   Deshpande, Manohar/555
  • Advancing Passive Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere
    Principal Investigator:   Ehsan, Negar/555
  • Advancing Goddard’s High-Altitude and Spaceborne Radar Technologies and Capabilities
    Principal Investigator:   McLinden, Matthew/555