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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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,...

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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...

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,...

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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....

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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....

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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