NASA Spinoff

Topics:

Spinoff: Public Safety
Water Mapping Technology Rebuilds Lives in Arid Regions
Water Mapping Technology Rebuilds Lives in Arid Regions

NASA Technology

Turkana County in northwest Kenya has been reeling from several years of crippling drought. As a consequence, the nomadic peoples in the region have...

Water Mapping Technology Rebuilds Lives in Arid Regions
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Dry Lubricant Smooths the Way for Space Travel, Industry
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...

Dry Lubricant Smooths the Way for Space Travel, Industry
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Improved Calibration Shows Images' True Colors
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 world...

Improved Calibration Shows Images' True Colors
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Balance Devices Train Golfers for a Consistent Swing
Balance Devices Train Golfers for a Consistent Swing

NASA Technology

After a stint in space, astronauts’ minds and bodies take some time to readjust to life on Earth. While the human body adapts relatively quickly to a lack of...

Balance Devices Train Golfers for a Consistent Swing
Spinoff: Transportation
Aircraft Geared Architecture Reduces Fuel Cost and Noise
Aircraft Geared Architecture Reduces Fuel Cost and Noise

NASA Technology

Just 12 years after the Wright brothers became the first to take to the skies in a powered airplane, in 1915 Congress established the National Advisory...

Aircraft Geared Architecture Reduces Fuel Cost and Noise
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Vision Trainer Teaches Focusing Techniques at Home
Vision Trainer Teaches Focusing Techniques at Home

NASA Technology

Inventions often find unintended uses. The first mechanical clocks in Europe were intended to track the motions of celestial bodies and found their original...

Vision Trainer Teaches Focusing Techniques at Home
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Landsat Data Enriches Google Earth
Landsat Data Enriches Google Earth

NASA Technology

When NASA launched the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, later known as Landsat, in July 1972, the first spacecraft dedicated to monitoring Earth’s surface carried two...

Landsat Data Enriches Google Earth
Spinoff: Public Safety
3D Lasers Increase Efficiency, Safety of Moving Machines
3D Lasers Increase Efficiency, Safety of Moving Machines

NASA Technology

As NASA planned the logistics for a proposed space station, called Space Station Freedom, in the early 1990s, one of the agency’s concerns was ensuring...

3D Lasers Increase Efficiency, Safety of Moving Machines
Spinoff: Transportation
Ubiquitous Supercritical Wing Design Cuts Billions in Fuel Costs
Ubiquitous Supercritical Wing Design Cuts Billions in Fuel Costs

NASA Technology

By the time he was visiting what is now known as Armstrong Flight Research Center to witness the first tests of his latest creation, Richard T....

Ubiquitous Supercritical Wing Design Cuts Billions in Fuel Costs
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Compact Vapor Chamber Cools Critical Components
Compact Vapor Chamber Cools Critical Components

NASA Technology

Before the Apollo program sent the first men to the surface of the moon in 1969, in the early-to-mid-1960s NASA’s Project Gemini performed much of the fundamental...

Compact Vapor Chamber Cools Critical Components
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
3D Endoscope to Boost Safety, Cut Costs of Surgery
3D Endoscope to Boost Safety, Cut Costs of Surgery

NASA Technology

“A lot of things are not easy to solve when you’re trying to break through a new technology right from the get-go,” says Harish Manohara, supervisor of the...

3D Endoscope to Boost Safety, Cut Costs of Surgery
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Low-Cost Sensors Deliver Nanometer-Accurate Measurements
Low-Cost Sensors Deliver Nanometer-Accurate Measurements

NASA Technology

Carlos Capiro gathers his thoughts to relate how a single NASA sensor led to a product poised to disrupt his industry. “Really, a lot of it had to do with...

Low-Cost Sensors Deliver Nanometer-Accurate Measurements
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Brainwave Monitoring Software Improves Distracted Minds
Brainwave Monitoring Software Improves Distracted Minds

NASA Technology

Imagine moving an object using only your mind. Software company Unique Logic’s Time on Task exercise makes that feat possible, at least on a computer...

Brainwave Monitoring Software Improves Distracted Minds
Spinoff: Transportation
Cabin Pressure Monitors Notify Pilots to Save Lives

NASA Technology

Typical cruising altitudes for business and commercial aircraft are up to 50,000 feet or more. At such altitudes, the oxygen concentrations in the air are much lower than on the ground. Occupants could not survive in this environment without pressure inside the aircraft...

Spinoff: Computer Technology
Micro-Accelerometers Monitor Equipment Health
Micro-Accelerometers Monitor Equipment Health

NASA Technology

Objects that orbit the Earth, such as the International Space Station (ISS), provide a unique environment called zero-g, or more correctly, microgravity. All objects...

Micro-Accelerometers Monitor Equipment Health
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Patient Simulators Train Emergency Caregivers
Patient Simulators Train Emergency Caregivers

NASA Technology

Medical training is one of the most important aspects of preparing astronauts for space. Every crewmember must become proficient in basic emergency skills, such as...

Patient Simulators Train Emergency Caregivers
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Miniaturized, Portable Sensors Monitor Metabolic Health
Miniaturized, Portable Sensors Monitor Metabolic Health

NASA Technology

On Earth, gravity might weigh you down, but it also builds you up. For astronauts working in space for long durations, the weightless environment can cause a...

Miniaturized, Portable Sensors Monitor Metabolic Health
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Solar Refrigerators Store Life-Saving Vaccines
Solar Refrigerators Store Life-Saving Vaccines

NASA Technology

Over the years, NASA has advanced photovoltaic (PV) technology in order to advance many of its missions. This renewable source of energy is produced when certain...

Solar Refrigerators Store Life-Saving Vaccines
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Handheld Diagnostic Device Delivers Quick Medical Readings
Handheld Diagnostic Device Delivers Quick Medical Readings

NASA Technology

In a 1962 speech, President John F. Kennedy said, “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but...

Handheld Diagnostic Device Delivers Quick Medical Readings
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Simulation Tools Prevent Signal Interference on Spacecraft
Simulation Tools Prevent Signal Interference on Spacecraft

NASA Technology

Launching a satellite into space requires painstaking preparation, not only to make sure that a multitude of technologies are functioning, but also to...

Simulation Tools Prevent Signal Interference on Spacecraft
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Innovative Software Tools Measure Behavioral Alertness
Innovative Software Tools Measure Behavioral Alertness

NASA Technology

For astronauts working aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in low-Earth orbit, getting adequate sleep is a challenge. For one, there’s that...

Innovative Software Tools Measure Behavioral Alertness
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Home Air Purifiers Eradicate Harmful Pathogens

NASA Technology

In the 1990s, NASA scientists were thinking of what astronauts would need to survive long-term missions to the moon and even to other planets in the solar system. One important requirement was a dependable source of food, which could be accomplished by astronauts growing...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Mars Technologies Spawn Durable Wind Turbines
Mars Technologies Spawn Durable Wind Turbines

NASA Technology

“It all started with ecological life support systems for exploration,” says David Bubenheim, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center....

Mars Technologies Spawn Durable Wind Turbines
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Reactors Save Energy, Costs for Hydrogen Production
Reactors Save Energy, Costs for Hydrogen Production

NASA Technology

When flying, do you ever wonder how the electronics—lights, air vents, or WiFi—continue to function as you glide across the sky? Commercial aircraft supply...

Reactors Save Energy, Costs for Hydrogen Production
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
NASA-Enhanced Water Bottles Filter Water on the Go
NASA-Enhanced Water Bottles Filter Water on the Go

NASA Technology

Thanks to NASA bscience missions, researchers are finding that water may be more plentiful in space than we previously believed. The Lunar Crater Observation and...

NASA-Enhanced Water Bottles Filter Water on the Go
Spinoff: Public Safety
Coatings Preserve Metal, Stone, Tile, and Concrete
Coatings Preserve Metal, Stone, Tile, and Concrete

NASA Technology

As numerous achievements have taken place in space over the last 50-plus years, a number of innovations have simultaneously taken place on the ground. For...

Coatings Preserve Metal, Stone, Tile, and Concrete
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Monitors Enable Medication Management in Patients’ Homes
Monitors Enable Medication Management in Patients’ Homes

NASA Technology

To build a small and mobile monitoring and processing system for use onboard the station to capture, store, and transmit sensor data about astronauts back...

Monitors Enable Medication Management in Patients’ Homes
Spinoff: Public Safety
Robots Spur Software That Lends a Hand
Robots Spur Software That Lends a Hand

NASA Technology

Robonaut 2 flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station (ISS) in early 2011, but its development has been many years in the making. In 1997, Johnson...

Robots Spur Software That Lends a Hand
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Programs Visualize Earth and Space for Interactive Education
Programs Visualize Earth and Space for Interactive Education

NASA Technology

Incredible sights are being seen, thanks to the development of technology both inside and outside of NASA. With just a few clicks, NASA’s Eyes on the...

Programs Visualize Earth and Space for Interactive Education
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Satellite Data Aid Monitoring of Nation’s Forests
Satellite Data Aid Monitoring of Nation’s Forests

NASA Technology

Joe Spruce’s last name is a fitting one: Spruce is a research scientist at NASA’s Stennis Space Center working with the US Department of Agriculture Forest...

Satellite Data Aid Monitoring of Nation’s Forests