NASA spin-off technologies
In 1979, notable science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein helped bring awareness to the spin-offs when he was asked to appear before Congress after recovering from one of the earliest known vascular bypass operations to correct a blocked artery.
As of 2016, NASA has published over 2,000 other spin-offs in the fields of computer technology, environment and agriculture, health and medicine, public safety, transportation, recreation, and industrial productivity.
[10] NASA's continued funding, coupled with its collective innovations in robotics and shock-absorption/comfort materials are inspiring and enabling the private sector to create new and better solutions for animal and human prostheses.
[11] Additionally, other private-sector adaptations of NASA's temper foam technology have brought about custom-moldable materials offering the natural look and feel of flesh, as well as preventing friction between the skin and the prosthesis, and heat/moisture buildup.
[12] After initial experiments using light-emitting diodes in NASA space shuttle plant growth experiments, NASA issued a small business innovation grant that led to the development of a hand-held, high-intensity, LED unit developed by Quantum Devices Inc. that can be used to treat tumors after other treatment options are depleted.
A company known as Ceradyne developed TPA in conjunction with NASA Advanced Ceramics Research as protection for infrared antennae on heat-seeking missile trackers.
[17] Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company developed a fibrous material, five times stronger than steel, for NASA to use in parachute shrouds to soft-land the Viking Lander spacecraft on the Martian surface.
[5] NASA contracted with Intelligent Optical Systems (IOS) to develop moisture- and pH-sensitive sensors to warn of corrosive conditions in aircraft before damage occurs.
Aside from law enforcement and security applications, VAS has also been adapted to serve the military for reconnaissance, weapons deployment, damage assessment, training, and mission debriefing.
[18] Thiokol has used surplus rocket fuel through an agreement with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to produce a flare that can safely destroy landmines.
Additionally, NASA's inductorless electronic circuit technology led to lower-cost, more rugged, short-range two-way radio now used by firefighters.
[19][21][22][23] With NASA funding, Taylor Devices Inc. developed shock absorbers that could safely remove the fuel and electrical connectors from the Space Shuttles during launch.
[8][12]: 46–49 [25][26][27] Commercially available infant formulas now contain a nutritional enrichment ingredient that traces its existence to NASA-sponsored research on bread mold as a recycling agent for long-duration space travel.
[28] For the Apollo space mission, NASA required a portable, self-contained drill capable of extracting core samples from below the lunar surface.
Black & Decker was tasked with the job, and developed a computer program to optimize the design of the drill's motor and ensure minimal power consumption.
The foods are cooked, quickly frozen, and then slowly heated in a vacuum chamber to remove the ice crystals formed by the freezing process.
[21][29][30] Langley Research Center's wind tunnel testing facilities and fluid flow analysis software supported Speedo's design of a space age-enriched swimsuit.
[33] NASA noticed that astronauts came back to Earth with a lack of muscle mass and bone density in space because human bodies are used to being in gravity.
Inventor Paul Francis, with funding from Johnson Space Center, designed a "weightless weight trainer" that uses elastic resistance.
[34] Invented at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977, Astroglide was intended to improve the heat transfer in the cooling system of the shuttle orbiter.
ERAST's goal was to develop remotely piloted aircraft, intended to fly unmanned at high altitudes for days at a time and requiring advanced solar power sources that did not add weight.
[12]: 66–67 NASA's microencapsulating technology enabled the creation of "Petroleum Remediation Product," (PRP) which safely cleans petroleum-based pollutants from water.
[37] In the 1990s, NASA scientists at JPL developed software capable of correcting for GPS signal errors, enabling accuracy within inches; it is called Real-Time GIPSY (RTG).
This free information allowed RTI to develop the WATEX system to successfully locate water sources, such as in 2004 at refugee camps during the War in Darfur.
[40] NASA software engineers have created thousands of computer programs over the decades equipped to design, test, and analyze stress, vibration, and acoustical properties of a broad assortment of aerospace parts and structures.
Originally created for spacecraft design, it has been employed in a host of non-aerospace applications and is available to industry through NASA's Computer Software Management and Information Center (COSMIC).
[7][27][29][41][42][43] Embedded Web Technology (EWT) software—originally developed by NASA for use by astronauts operating experiments on the International Space Station—lets a user monitor and/or control a device remotely over the Internet.
NASA supplied this technology and guidance to TMIO LLC, which developed remote control and monitoring of a new intelligent oven product named "Connect Io."
PS300 lowers friction, reduces emissions, and has been used by NASA in advanced aeropropulsion engines, refrigeration compressors, turbochargers, and hybrid electrical turbogenerators.
[12][21] Faced with the problem of how and what to feed an astronaut in a sealed capsule under weightless conditions while planning for human spaceflight, NASA enlisted the aid of The Pillsbury Company to address two principal concerns: eliminating crumbs of food that might contaminate the spacecraft's atmosphere and sensitive instruments, and assuring absolute absence of disease-producing bacteria and toxins.
