Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Analyzers Provide Water Security in Space and on Earth

NASA Technology

Resourcefulness is a key quality for living in space, and on the International Space Station (ISS), that means making the most of water...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Catalyst Substrates Remove Contaminants, Produce Fuel

NASA Technology

“A spacecraft is the ultimate tight building. We don’t want any leaks, and there is very little fresh air coming in,” says Jay Perry, an aerospace...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Rocket Engine Innovations Advance Clean Energy

NASA Technology

During launch countdown, at approximately T-7 seconds, the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) roar to life. When the controllers indicate normal operation, the solid...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Star-Mapping Tools Enable Tracking of Endangered Animals

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Try this: Print out a lower-case letter “o” in Times New Roman, 10-point font. Now hold the paper at arm’s length. Viewed...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Modeling Innovations Advance Wind Energy Industry

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

One morning in 1990, a group of Glenn Research Center (then Lewis Research Center) employees arrived to find their workspace upended by...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Nanofiber Filters Eliminate Contaminants

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Water, an increasingly precious commodity on Earth, has always been priceless in space; but “priceless” is a figure of speech—water in space...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Thermal Insulation Strips Conserve Energy

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Launching the space shuttle involves an interesting paradox: While the temperatures inside the shuttle’s main engines climb higher than 6,000...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Satellite-Respondent Buoys Identify Ocean Debris

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA operates a series of Earth-observing satellites, which help scientists learn more about our home planet. Through partnerships with...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Mobile Instruments Measure Atmospheric Pollutants

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

As a part of NASA’s active research of the Earth’s atmosphere, which has included missions such as the Atmospheric Laboratory of...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Cloud Imagers Offer New Details on Earth’s Health

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

A stunning red sunset or purple sunrise is an aesthetic treat with a scientific explanation: The colors are a direct result of the...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Antennas Lower Cost of Satellite Access

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Whether for scientific inquiry, weather forecasting, or public safety, the world relies upon the data gathered by satellite remote sensing. Some of...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Feature Detection Systems Enhance Satellite Imagery

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In 1963, during the ninth orbit of the Faith 7 capsule, astronaut Gordon Cooper skipped his nap and took some photos of the Earth below...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Chlorophyll Meters Aid Plant Nutrient Management

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

On December 7, 1972, roughly 5 hours and 6 minutes after launch, the crew of Apollo 17 took one of history’s most famous photographs....

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Web-Based Mapping Puts the World at Your Fingertips

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA’s award-winning Earth Resources Laboratory Applications Software (ELAS) package was developed at Stennis Space...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Innovative Stemless Valve Eliminates Emissions

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The past, present, and future of NASA launch and space travel technologies are steeped in the icy realm of cryogenics. NASA...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Portable Nanomesh Creates Safer Drinking Water

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Providing astronauts with clean water is essential to space exploration to ensure the health and well-being of crewmembers...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Robots Explore the Farthest Reaches of Earth and Space

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

“We were the first that ever burst/Into that silent sea,” the title character recounts in Samuel Taylor...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Battery Technology Stores Clean Energy

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Affordable and reliable clean energy has been a tantalizing, but elusive, quarry. Featured in Spinoff 1985 and pioneered by...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Computer Model Locates Environmental Hazards

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Since 1972, Landsat satellites have collected information about Earth from space. Specialized digital photographs of...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Treatment Prevents Corrosion in Steel and Concrete Structures

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA's Kennedy Space Center is located on prime beachfront property along the Atlantic coast of Florida on Cape Canaveral....

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Voltage Controller Saves Energy, Prolongs Life of Motors

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In the late 1970s, Frank Nola, an engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, had an idea for reducing energy waste in small...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Sensor Network Provides Environmental Data

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The National Biocomputation Center is a joint partnership between the Stanford University School of Medicine's Department of Surgery and NASA's...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Advanced Systems Map, Monitor, and Manage Earth’s Resources

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

A "revolution in remote sensing" took place in the mid-1980s, when Dr. Alexander F.H. Goetz and his colleagues at the Jet...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Tree-mendous Timber Evaluation

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Funded and administered by NASA, the Affiliated Research Center (ARC) program transfers geospatial technologies from the Space Agency and participating...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

A View From Above Without Leaving The Ground

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In order to deliver accurate geospatial data and imagery to the remote sensing community, NASA is constantly developing new image-processing...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Securing Safety With Sensors

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The Robot Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Johnson Space Center collaborated with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to design Robonaut , a...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Supporting Weather Data

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Since its founding in 1992, Global Science & Technology, Inc. (GST), of Greenbelt, Maryland, has been developing technologies and providing services in support...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Diesel Goes Digital To Save Energy, Lower Emissions

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Forty years ago, actuators requiring constant energy to help power the Apollo spacecraft in space were replaced by magnetically holding...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Multi-channel Scaler Cards Improve Data Collection

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Scientists interested in exploring the intricacies and dynamics of Earth's climate and ecosystems continually need smaller, lighter...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Water Treatment Systems Make A Big Splash

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In the 1960s, NASA's Manned Space Center (now known as Johnson Space Center) and the Garrett Corporation, Air Research Division, conducted a...