NASA Spinoff
Topics:
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
The Martian Garden Recreates Red Planet’s Surface
NASA Technology
After the Phoenix lander settled into the northern polar region of Mars in 2008, its operators discovered that icy soil scraped from the planet’s surface was...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Ferrofluid Technology Becomes a Magnet for Pioneering Artists
NASA Technology
In 2008, when Nikola Ilic came across an online video of moving ferrofluid sculptures by Japanese artist Sachiko Kodama, with black liquid rising into...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Aerogel Insulation Makes Thinner, Warmer Outerwear
NASA Technology
When Michael Markesbery, future cofounder of Oros, climbed the tallest mountain in the Swiss Alps with friends, he was bundled up with so many bulky layers he...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Space-Grade Insulation Keeps Beer Colder on Earth
NASA Technology
A class of insulation invented to help NASA with a range of daunting tasks, from storing liquid hydrogen or helium to insulating spacecraft and keeping astronauts...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
High-Efficiency LEDs Grow Crops, Stimulate Alertness
NASA Technology
NASA harnesses the power of light for purposes as varied as laser communications, 3D mapping of land surfaces, and spectroscopy to determine the composition of...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Paired Sleep Tracker, Light Therapy Tools Retrain Circadian Rhythms
NASA Technology
Lack of sleep could be costing the U.S. economy around $411 billion a year, according to a 2016 estimate by the RAND Corporation. That same...
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Organic Compound Turns Toxic Waste into Harmless Byproducts
NASA Technology
In 2004, a team of researchers at New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) was trying to develop a substance that would glow to indicate the presence of...
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
LED Lighting Improves Efficiency, Imaging, Cuts Maintenance
NASA Technology
When Stennis Space Center officials wanted to try more energy-efficient lighting in the center’s rocket engine test stands, they couldn’t simply go...
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Plant Food for Space Grows Crops on Earth
NASA Technology
The goal is a fresh and tasty salad on Mars. While other NASA programs are working on getting to the Red Planet, the Agency’s Veggie team is figuring out how to grow...
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Remote Sensing Technology Fights Forest Fires Smarter
NASA Technology
Fires were raging in Northern California in June 2008, at the height of one of the state’s most destructive wildfire seasons in history, and one blaze was...
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Earth Images Enable Near-Perfect Crop Predictions
NASA Technology
NASA has been taking pictures of Earth from space for as long as the Space Agency has been around—and well before Boston-based startup TellusLabs began using...
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Micronutrient Formula Strengthens Plants, Increasing Yields
NASA Technology
An apple a day keeps the doctor away—but how do you bring enough apples, and other fresh food, all the way to Mars and back? Given the limits on how...
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
Chemical Simulation Software Predicts Climate Change, Air Quality
NASA Technology
For climate scientists, the whole Earth is a laboratory. They need to observe what is happening across the entire planet over long swaths of...
Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources
NASA Kite Invention Spurs Ever-Growing Educational Program
NASA Technology
When an educational agency contacted NASA engineer Geoff Bland in 2010, wondering about a way to monitor ponds and streams where water samples were being...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Planet-Navigating AI “Brain” Helps Drones and Cars Avoid Collisions
NASA Technology
Once you’ve designed a robot that can autonomously explore planetary terrains, putting the same technology in cars, toys, and drones seems...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Early NASA “Dream Computer Program” Still Optimizes Designs
NASA Technology
At the top of the food chain, an apex predator hunts without fear of being hunted. That’s why MSC Software Corporation branded its latest software...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
2D Analysis Software Clarifies Medical, Weather, Intelligence Images
NASA Technology
NASA engineer Semion Kizhner spent an entire week trying to understand the Hilbert-Huang Transform with the colleague who had developed it, but...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Quake Hunter Maps a Century of Quakes Worldwide
NASA Technology
Earthquakes are among the most destructive natural disasters, in terms of death tolls and the cost of recovery. They’re also nearly impossible to predict, but...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Free Aerodynamic Simulation Code Supports Industry, Education
NASA Technology
In the mid-1990s, NASA, the Air Force, and McDonnell Douglas Corporation realized they were duplicating each other’s efforts to make better software...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Software Models Atmosphere for Spacecraft
NASA Technology
When the Curiosity rover made its spectacular landing on Mars, most of the attention was focused on the revolutionary “sky-crane maneuver” that helped slow the...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Software Takes Cost Estimating to the Stars
NASA Technology
When imagining what it takes to design a spacecraft, few people think about the engineering work that goes into getting an accurate cost estimate before the building...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Communication Devices Ease Contact with Commercial Spacecraft
NASA Technology
Scientific experimentation is the central purpose of the International Space Station (ISS), where astronauts work toward answers that will be crucial...
Spinoff: Computer Technology
Mission Control Software Manages Commercial Satellite Fleets
NASA Technology
The task of monitoring and diagnosing spacecraft health is getting out of hand.
As satellites and other spacecraft have become more complex, the...
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
High-Speed Cameras Test Material Performances on Impact
NASA Technology
When something goes wrong in space, the results can be tragic. NASA takes the responsibility of testing to understand past accidents and prevent future ones...
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
All-in-One Lab Device Gets New Instruments via Software Update
NASA Technology
Devices for testing electronics haven’t changed much in decades, and this presents an inconvenience not just for the engineers using them but for...
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...