Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Gold Coating Keeps Oscars Bright

NASA Technology

The Academy Awards ceremony is probably the last place most people would look for NASA technology, but it turns out the Space Agency has had an impact even on the glammest of...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

3D Printer Aims to Accelerate Materials Development

NASA Technology

When Mark Jaster was a brand-new graduate, he landed a coveted job at NASA’s Glenn Research Center after two summer internships there, in the heat treatment...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

External Platform Enables Space Research

NASA Technology

Not all the research on the space station happens on the inside. A good portion of the investigations take advantage of the orbiting outpost’s perch some 250 miles above...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Silicon Diode Sensor Tracks Extreme Temperatures

NASA Technology

When people feel sick, they can just grab a drugstore thermometer and pop it in their mouth. But it’s a different story for engineers looking to get an accurate...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Tunable Liquid Crystals Grab Particles and Cells Using Only Light

NASA Technology

Images taken from high in the sky can offer clues to how well a plant is growing and whether its water needs are being met. The key is in...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Shuttle, Hubble Work Lead to Strength in Custom Current Sensors

NASA Technology

When it was built, the Space Shuttle boasted the world’s most complex avionics system. The Shuttle’s controls were entirely digital, with all...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

3D Weaving Technology Strengthens Spacecraft, Race Cars

NASA Technology

Weaving processes created millennia ago have helped create some of the most cutting-edge technology on NASA’s Orion spaceship, helping shield heat for...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

High-Heat Cement Gives Ashes New Life

NASA Technology

When constructing high-performance structures, at NASA or elsewhere, materials made from recycled ingredients might not seem like a good fit. But when it comes to concrete...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Optical Filters for NASA Imagers Focus on Cutting Edge

NASA Technology

By the time the Hubble Space Telescope launched, NASA engineers had already set their sights on its next upgrade. With camera and detector technologies...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Vibration Tables Shake Up Aerospace, Car Testing

NASA Technology

When handling a multi-billion-dollar space telescope, you want to be pretty careful. Unless it’s your job to shake it with 100,000 pounds of force, that...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Astronauts Instruct Newcomers on Peculiarities of Spaceflight

NASA Technology

Few people are more thoroughly trained for their work than astronauts. After all, their already-complex work is carried out in an unforgiving...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Outgassing Test Facility Brings New Materials into Space Industry

NASA Technology

Anyone who can remember when cars had vinyl dashboards may be familiar with the hazy film that could appear on the windows during a hot, sunny...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Polyimide Aerogels Boost Antennas, Insulate Pipes

NASA Technology

The challenge: make a powerful insulating material that is lightweight, strong, and flexible. The goal: an inflatable decelerator that can be folded up inside a...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Privately Built Facility Offers Advantages in Space Exposure Testing

NASA Technology

The conditions of space are, perhaps thankfully, difficult to reproduce on Earth. Most of the universe, beyond the atmospheres of its...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Electrospray Thrusters Boost Efficiency, Precision

NASA Technology

When NASA thrusters are mentioned, most people imagine something like the breathtaking launch of the Saturn V rocket that sent astronauts to the Moon. Its five...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

DigitalClone Software Predicts, Extends Machine Life

NASA Technology

Medical scientists have made great progress in recent years toward understanding how genetic factors play a role in an individual’s susceptibility or...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Laser Vision Helps Hubble, Package Shippers See Clearly

NASA Technology

For more than 25 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided stunning photos of the universe unequalled in their depth, detail, and distinction. Hubble...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Space-Ready Durometers Measure Hardness on Earth

NASA Technology

There are no mechanic shops in space.

Following the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in February 2003, NASA implemented additional safety inspections to be...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Cryocoolers Fuel Exploration in Space and on Earth

NASA Technology

Studying solar flares and particle acceleration requires cool heads and lots of intricate planning. When NASA was preparing to launch the Reuven Ramaty High...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Temperature-Resistant Materials Enable Space-Like Cold on Earth

NASA Technology

In spacecraft construction, even components like tape can require cutting-edge technology.

During the mid-1990s, engineers at the Jet...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Lasers Enable Alternative Power Transmission

NASA Technology

Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, in his hugely successful 1979 work The Fountains of Paradise, crafted a story around the development of a technology that had...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Helium Recapture System Reclaims Hydrogen for Industry Use

NASA Technology

Rising helium prices might not put much of a dent in the average birthday party balloon budget, but they add up quickly for an organization like NASA,...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Custom 3D Printers Revolutionize the Space Supply Chain

NASA Technology

Like a desert caravan, a space flight crew has to bring with it everything it will need over the course of its journey into an utterly barren environment....

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Metalworking Techniques Unlock a Unique Alloy

NASA Technology

Half a century ago, a scientist at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory discovered that an alloy containing 60 percent nickel and 40 percent titanium could provide...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Improved Calibration Shows Images’ True Colors

NASA Technology

In satellite images, the waters of the Pearl River, which winds around NASA’s Stennis Space Center, are about the same brownish green typical of waterways the...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Micromachined Parts Advance Medicine, Astrophysics, and More

NASA Technology

Anyone who remembers the Micro Machines line of toys might be surprised to learn that the tiny model vehicles are positively gargantuan compared with...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Testing Devices Garner Data on Insulation Performance

NASA Technology

Whether you wanted to know how certain insulation would work on a Mars-bound spacecraft or on an Earth-based refrigerator, you would want to test its...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Electrical Monitoring Devices Save on Time and Cost

NASA Technology

The sun requires no introduction. Earth orbits it; life happens because of it; we schedule our lives around its rhythmic risings and settings. Yet, despite its...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Dry Lubricant Smooths the Way for Space Travel, Industry

NASA Technology

Most of the power, communications, imaging, and computing technology on the Mariner planetary space probes—cutting-edge at the time—is now the NASA...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Improved Calibration Shows Images' True Colors

NASA Technology

In satellite images, the waters of the Pearl River, which winds around NASA’s Stennis Space Center, are about the same brownish green typical of waterways the...