NASA Spinoff
Topics:
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Fiber Optics Deliver Real-Time Structural Monitoring
NASA Technology
If the wings of a plane could talk about what they feel during flight, what would they say? Engineers at Dryden Flight Research Center are beginning to find...
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Camera Systems Rapidly Scan Large Structures
NASA Technology
Aging aircraft are an increasing concern at the national level. Commercial and government vehicles are being flown past their originally intended service life in order...
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Terahertz Lasers Reveal Information for 3D Images
NASA Technology
After taking off her shoes and jacket, she places them in a bin. She then takes her laptop out of its case and places it in a separate bin. As the items move...
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Thin Films Protect Electronics from Heat and Radiation
NASA Technology
Back in 1972, Anne St. Clair worked side by side with Langley Research Center colleague Vernon Bell as part of NASA’s research and development efforts...
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Interferometers Sharpen Measurements for Better Telescopes
NASA Technology
Over the last decade, there have been a number of innovations that have made possible the largest and most powerful telescope of its time: the James...
Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology
Vision Systems Illuminate Industrial Processes
NASA Technology
When NASA designs a spacecraft to undertake a new mission, innovation does not stop after the design phase. In many cases, these spacecraft are firsts of their kind,...
Spinoff: Issues
Spinoff 2011
Health and Medicine
Bioreactors Drive Advances in Tissue Engineering Tooling Techniques Enhance Medical Imaging Ventilator Technologies Sustain Critically Injured Patients Protein Innovations Advance Drug Treatments, Skin Care Mass Analyzes Facilitate Research on Addiction Framework Coordinate Scientific Data...Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Bioreactors Drive Advances in Tissue Engineering
NASA Technology
It was an unlikely moment for inspiration. Engineers David Wolf and Ray Schwarz stopped by their lab around midday. Wolf, of Johnson Space Center, and Schwarz,...
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Tooling Techniques Enhance Medical Imaging
NASA Technology
They can release as much energy as tens of billions of hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time. They send protons and electrons rocketing at near the speed of light....
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Ventilator Technologies Sustain Critically Injured Patients
NASA Technology
Consider this scenario: A soldier has been critically wounded in a sudden firefight in a remote region of Afghanistan. The soldier’s comrades attend...
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Protein Innovations Advance Drug Treatments, Skin Care
NASA Technology
Dan Carter carefully layered the sheets of tracing paper on the light box. On each sheet were renderings of the atomic components of an essential human...
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Mass Analyzers Facilitate Research on Addiction
NASA Technology
The famous “go/no go” command for Space Shuttle launches comes from a place called the Firing Room. Located at Kennedy Space Center in the Launch Control Center...
Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Frameworks Coordinate Scientific Data Management
NASA Technology
Voyager 2 sailing beyond the far boundary of the solar system. The rover Opportunity churning across the red soil of Mars. Cassini-Huygens imaging the moons of...
Spinoff: Transportation
Cameras Improve Navigation for Pilots, Drivers
NASA Technology
After 10 months of traveling through deep space to Mars, the Phoenix Lander finally approached its destination. The last 7 minutes of the spacecraft’s 423...
Spinoff: Transportation
Modeling Programs Increase Aircraft Design Safety
NASA Technology
“Flutter” may sound like a benign word when associated with a flag in a breeze, a butterfly, or seaweed in an ocean current. When used in the context of...
Spinoff: Transportation
Integrated Design Tools Reduce Risk, Cost
NASA Technology
As NASA designs new spacecraft for its science missions and begins designs for the next generation of human spaceflight vehicles, it also works to revolutionize Earth’s...
Spinoff: Transportation
Advisory Systems Save Time, Fuel for Airlines
NASA Technology
Heinz Erzberger never thought the sky was falling, but he knew it could benefit from enhanced traffic control. Throughout the 1990s, Erzberger led a team at Ames...
Spinoff: Transportation
Fly-by-Wire Systems Enable Safer, More Efficient Flight
NASA Technology
In 1961, not long after NASA received the imperative from President John F. Kennedy to land a man on the Moon within the decade, then-NASA administrator...
Spinoff: Public Safety
Modified Fittings Enhance Industrial Safety
NASA Technology
Kennedy Space Center is not only home to one of the largest buildings in the world—the massive Vehicle Assembly Building—it also hosts a number of one-of-a-kind...
Spinoff: Public Safety
Simulation Tools Model Icing for Aircraft Design
NASA Technology
Here’s a simple science experiment to try: Place an unopened bottle of distilled water in your freezer. After 2–3 hours, if the water is pure enough, you will...
Spinoff: Public Safety
Information Systems Coordinate Emergency Management
NASA Technology
The rescue crews have been searching for the woman for nearly a week. Hurricane Katrina devastated Hancock County, the southernmost point in Mississippi, and...
Spinoff: Public Safety
Imaging Systems Provide Maps for U.S. Soldiers
NASA Technology
Spanning nearly four decades, the remarkable Landsat program has continuously provided data about the Earth’s surface, including detailed maps of vegetation, land...
Spinoff: Public Safety
High-Pressure Systems Suppress Fires in Seconds
NASA Technology
Much deserved attention is given to the feats of innovation that allow humans to live in space and robotic explorers to beam never-before- seen images back to...
Spinoff: Public Safety
Alloy-Enhanced Fans Maintain Fresh Air in Tunnels
NASA Technology
The Partnership for Next Generation Vehicles (PNGV) is not a NASA initiative to develop powerful new rockets and spacecraft, even though it may sound like one....
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Control Algorithms Charge Batteries Faster
NASA Technology
On March 29, 2011, NASA’s Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft beamed a milestone image to Earth: the first photo of...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Software Programs Derive Measurements from Photographs
NASA Technology
Even under the most unfortunate circumstances, NASA continues on a path of innovation. After the Space Shuttle Columbia reentered the atmosphere on February...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Retrofits Convert Gas Vehicles into Hybrids
NASA Technology
Successful space missions can rarely be attributed to a single thing. Rather, they are the result of a system of systems: integrated elements functioning effectively in...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
NASA Missions Inspire Online Video Games
NASA Technology
Fast forward to 2035. Imagine being part of a community of astronauts living and working on the Moon. Suddenly, in the middle of just another day in space, a meteorite...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Monitors Track Vital Signs for Fitness and Safety
NASA Technology
Have you ever felt nauseous reading a book in the back seat of a car? Or woken from a deep sleep feeling disoriented, unsure which way is up? Momentary mixups...
Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation
Thermal Components Boost Performance of HVAC Systems
NASA Technology
As the International Space Station (ISS) travels 17,500 miles per hour, normal is having a constant sensation of free-falling. Normal is no rain, but an...