Spinoff is NASA's annual premier publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. For more than 40 years, the NASA Innovative Partnerships Program has facilitated the transfer of NASA technology to the private sector, benefiting global competition and the economy. The resulting commercialization has contributed to the development of commercial products and services in the fields of health and medicine, industry, consumer goods, transportation, public safety, computer technology, and environmental resources. Since 1976, Spinoff has featured between 40 and 50 of these commercial products annually.
Jan 2008
Corrosive Gas Restores Artwork, Promises Myriad Applications
Short wavelength solar radiation in the space environment just outside of the Earth’s atmosphere produces atomic oxygen. This gas reacts with spacecraft polymers, causing gradual oxidative thinning of the protective layers of orbiting objects, like satellites and the International Space Station, which maintain low-Earth orbit directly in the area where the corrosive gas is most present.
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Detailed Globes Enhance Education and Recreation
Earth from space—swirling wisps of white against a backdrop of deep azure, punctuated with brown and green swatches of land, all etched on one orb surrounded by black space, floating, seemingly isolated, but teeming with humanity and other forms of life. It is an iconic image, first captured November 10, 1967, by ...
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Food Supplement Reduces Fat, Improves Flavor
During the Mercury missions, astronauts ate terrible food: freeze- dried powders and semi-liquids in aluminum tubes. Decades later, though, astronauts now have meals prepared by celebrity chefs and access to everyday items like shrimp cocktail, stir-fried chicken, and fettuccine alfredo. While the culinary selection has improved, the developers of these ...
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Additive Transforms Paint into Insulation
The heat generated by wind resistance and engine exhaust during the launch of a space shuttle is potentially damaging to the casings on the solid rocket boosters, which provide over two-thirds of the initial thrust needed to propel the spacecraft into orbit. To protect this important equipment, in the 1980s, ...
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New Lubricants Protect Machines and the Environment
The Mobile Launcher Platform at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is a two-story steel structure that provides a transportable launch base for the space shuttle. The main body of the platform is 160 feet long, 135 feet wide, and 25 feet high. When completely unloaded, the platform weighs about 8 million pounds. When it is ...
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Jan 2006
A Match Made in Space
Affordable Space Tourism: SpaceStationSim
Preventing Ice Before it Forms
Microspheres in Plasma Display Panels
Look Sharp While Seeing Sharp
Raised Relief Mars Globe Brings the Red Planet Closer
Reflecting on Space Benefits: A Shining Example
Jan 2005
Space Suit SpinsCooking Dinner at Home From the Office
Nanoscale Materials Make for Large-Scale Applications
NASA's Growing Commitment: The Space Garden
Bringing Thunder and Lightning Indoors
Forty-Year-Old Foam Springs Back With New Benefits
Experiments With Small Animals Rarely Go This Well
NASA, the Fisherman's Friend
Crystal-Clear Communication a Sweet-Sounding Success
Inertial Motion-Tracking Technology for Virtual 3-D
Jan 2004
COVERED IN COMFORTHOT AND COLD THERAPY EASES PAIN
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