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This article reviews the development of some novel low-profile antennas for CubeSats. The integrated antennas were developed using microstrip-antenna technology, and the antennas were designed to be low profile while having minimal (or zero) blockage of the solar panels on the CubeSat. Two types of designs were investigated: 1) transparent antennas, which are placed above the solar panels (supersolar) and 2) nontransparent antennas, which are placed below the solar panels (subsolar). For past: using transparent metal and using a wire mesh design. The transparent metal indium tin oxide has a comparatively high sheet impedance, which makes an antenna design less efficient. Also, there is a tradeoff between conductivity and transparency [6]. However, a highly conductive thin mesh structure has demonstrated a reasonable efficiency and a high transparency [7]. The substrate must then also be transparent, e.g., glass or quartz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Support of ever increasing applications for wireless data and communications on a body-centric platform requires novel antenna systems that can be integrated with the body-worn environment, while maintaining free-range of movement and minimal mass impact. E-textile antennas show great promise due to their ease of integration with other textile materials, and they are inherently low-mass and flexible relative to conventional antenna materials. Much attention has been given recently to multiple-antenna communication systems due to the increased performance compared to conventional single-antenna systems. For body-centric applications, the low-mass, flexibility, and integration simplicity of e-textile antennas can enable multiple-antenna systems, which otherwise would be precluded by the rigidity and mass of conventional antenna materials. Several examples of this are considered here with e-textile antennas in an array environment. A conventional microstrip array constructed with e-textiles is shown to have robust performance with moderate amounts of bending, similar to that which might be seen with body-worn arrays. In addition to the conventional array, a wide-band multiple-antenna system to support a variety of wireless communication protocols, while maintaining polarization diversity and excellent coverage over a majority of the radian sphere is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which used a two-dimensional finite element model to determine how electroencephalography (EEG)-based source localization is affected by errors in the head-tissue conductivities, and errors associated with the modeling of the conductivity variation inside the brain and scalp. Details on source localization; What is used in EEG-based localization techniques; Method used in the study; Discussion based on the results of the study.

A summary of recent networking and autonomy technology developments within NASA that can enable new types of space exploration and more effective interaction with space assets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]