Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Deformable Mirrors Capture Exoplanet Data, Reflect Lasers

NASA Technology

We have always wondered: Is there other life out there? Are there other planets like our own, orbiting other stars like our Sun? In the early 1990s,...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Cameras Monitor Spacecraft Integrity to Prevent Failures

NASA Technology

Is there—or was there ever—life on Mars? In August 2012 NASA’s Curiosity rover touched down on the surface of Mars in an attempt to answer what has...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Smart Sensors Gather Information for Machine Diagnostics

NASA Technology

Surrounded by electronics and hovering over a work bench in the Data Acquisition and Control Systems (DACS) Laboratory, Scott Jensen startles when he hears...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Meter Designs Reduce Operation Costs for Industry

NASA Technology

The space shuttle engines changed drastically from the drawing board to the launch pad. The engine—and each of its intricate parts—required extensive testing...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Water Treatment Technologies Inspire Healthy Beverages

NASA Technology

If you wandered the halls of Johnson Space Center in the mid-1990s, you might have run across Mike Johnson lugging a large container of freshly collected...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Dietary Formulas Fortify Antioxidant Supplements

NASA Technology

The astronaut’s life and work is so different from our own daily experiences that it’s easy to forget that astronauts are people, too. Just like everyone...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Rovers Pave the Way for Hospital Robots

NASA Technology

Before Curiosity came the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Before Spirit and Opportunity came Pathfinder and Sojourner. Before Pathfinder and Sojourner, the...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Dry Electrodes Facilitate Remote Health Monitoring

NASA Technology

You wouldn’t find a big bowl of spaghetti served on the International Space Station (ISS). In microgravity, it would be a complete mess. There is, however,...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Superconductors Enable Lower Cost MRI Systems

NASA Technology

The future looks bright, light, and green—especially where aircraft are concerned. The division of NASA’s Fundamental Aeronautics Program called the Subsonic...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Telescope Innovations Improve Speed, Accuracy of Eye Surgery

NASA Technology

One of the main components of NASA’s vision for the future of space exploration will actually have a keen eye for the past. The James Webb Space...

Spinoff: Transportation

Shuttle Repair Tools Automate Vehicle Maintenance

NASA Technology

Successfully building, flying, and maintaining the space shuttles was an immensely complex job that required a high level of detailed, precise engineering. After...

Spinoff: Transportation

Wireless Sensors Pinpoint Rotorcraft Troubles

NASA Technology

Helicopters present many advantages over fixed-wing aircraft: they can take off from and land in tight spots, they can move in any direction with relative ease, and...

Spinoff: Transportation

Anti-Icing Formulas Prevent Train Delays

NASA Technology

In the winter of 2009, Washington, DC, workers faced the prospect of a difficult commute due to record-setting snowfalls. But thousands of the city’s Metrorail riders...

Spinoff: Transportation

Speech Recognition Interfaces Improve Flight Safety

NASA Technology

“Alpha, Golf, November, Echo, Zulu.” “Sierra, Alpha, Golf, Echo, Sierra.” “Lima, Hotel, Yankee.”

It looks like some strange word game, but...

Spinoff: Transportation

Polymers Advance Heat Management Materials for Vehicles

NASA Technology

For 6 years prior to the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program, the shuttles carried an onboard repair kit with a tool for emergency use: two tubes of...

Spinoff: Public Safety

Emergency Systems Save Tens of Thousands of Lives

NASA Technology

Shortly before midnight on September 21st, 2010, the small fishing boat Ebby Luz started taking on water. In immediate danger and 8 miles from the shore, its crew...

Spinoff: Public Safety

Ultrasonic Detectors Safely Identify Dangerous, Costly Leaks

NASA Technology

In 1990, NASA grounded its space shuttle fleet. The reason: leaks detected in the hydrogen fuel systems of the Space Shuttles Atlantis and Columbia....

Spinoff: Public Safety

Detectors Ensure Function, Safety of Aircraft Wiring

NASA Technology

Pedro Medelius waited patiently in his lab at Kennedy Space Center. He had just received word that a colleague was bringing over a cable from a Space Shuttle...

Spinoff: Public Safety

Oxygen Assessments Ensure Safer Medical Devices

NASA Technology

Alongside the tragedies that are part of the history of human spaceflight, bittersweet lessons have been learned. These lessons have not only...

Spinoff: Public Safety

Collaborative Platforms Aid Emergency Decision Making

NASA Technology

Terra. Aqua. Cloudsat. Landsat. NASA runs and partners in many missions dedicated to monitoring the Earth, and the tools used in these missions continuously...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Space-Inspired Trailers Encourage Exploration on Earth

NASA Technology

An inch can make a world of difference. Which is why Garrett Finney moved the office coffee-maker into the full-size, cardboard mockup of the new trailer...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Elemental Scanning Devices Authenticate Works of Art

NASA Technology

What do you think the paper or computer screen you are looking at is made of? Are the shoes you are wearing really made of leather? Is the...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Ultra-Thin Coatings Beautify Art

NASA Technology

The craftsmen in the Roman Empire who constructed the Lycurgus Cup 17 centuries ago probably didn’t think their artifact would survive for nearly 2,000 years as a prized...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Spacesuit Materials Add Comfort to Undergarments

NASA Technology

“Life’s too short to wear average underwear,” says Mo Moorman, the director of public relations at Jockey International. By “average underwear,” Moorman...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Gigapixel Images Connect Sports Teams with Fans

NASA Technology

NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, remain one of the Agency’s greatest achievements in exploration. On Earth, these robots are best known for...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Satellite Maps Deliver More Realistic Gaming

NASA Technology

In June 2009, NASA launched Terra, the flagship of NASA’s Earth Observing System, which studies a sweeping set of the planet’s characteristics. Included in the...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Microradiometers Reveal Ocean Health, Climate Change

NASA Technology

When NASA researcher Stanford Hooker is in the field, he pays close attention to color. For Hooker, being in the field means being at sea. On one such research...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Sensors Enable Plants to Text Message Farmers

NASA Technology

Long-term human spaceflight means long-term menu planning. Since every pound of cargo comes with a steep price tag, NASA has long researched technologies and...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Efficient Cells Cut the Cost of Solar Power

NASA Technology

If you visit Glenn Research Center, you might encounter a photovoltaic (PV) array that looks unlike anything you’ve ever seen. In fact, what one would normally...