Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

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...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

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...

Spinoff: Public Safety

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,...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

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...

Spinoff: Public Safety

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...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

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...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Vision Algorithms Catch Defects in Screen Displays

NASA Technology

NASA has sent more than a few robotic missions into space, but it never loses sight of its goal to enable human exploration of the cosmos. A core component of...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

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...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Testing Devices Garner Data on Insulation Performance

NASA Technology

Whether you wanted to know how certain insulation would work on a Mars-bound spacecraft or on an Earth-based refrigerator, you would want to test its...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Oxygen Sensors Monitor Bioreactors and Ensure Health and Safety

NASA Technology

In the mid-1990s scientists at NASA Kennedy Space Center were experimenting with an unusual substance: cow digestive bacteria. Could it break down...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

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...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

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...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

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...

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....

Spinoff: Computer Technology

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...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

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....

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: 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: 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

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

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

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

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

Commercial Platforms Allow Affordable Space Research

NASA Technology

At an altitude of about 240 miles, its orbital path carries it over 90 percent of the Earth’s population. It circles the Earth in continuous free fall; its...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Archiving Innovations Preserve Essential Historical Records

NASA Technology

The Moon hosts perhaps the most fascinating museum that no one ever visits. From reflectometers to space boots, the lunar module’s descent stage, and...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Diagnostics Tools Identify Faults Prior to Failure

NASA Technology

The Drilling Automation for Mars Exploration (DAME) project was designed to unearth the secrets of Mars—literally. The project’s engineers designed a light,...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Power Converters Secure Electronics in Harsh Environments

NASA Technology

“Space weather” is a term more frequently used as solar storms and flares are closely monitored and analyzed for the impact they might have on Earth....

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Behavior Prediction Tools Strengthen Nanoelectronics

NASA Technology

Several years ago, NASA started making plans to send robots to explore the deep, dark craters on the Moon. As part of these plans, NASA needed modeling tools...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Web Solutions Inspire Cloud Computing Software

NASA Technology

In 2008, a NASA effort to standardize its websites inspired a breakthrough in cloud computing technology. The innovation has spurred the growth of an entire industry...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Simulation Packages Expand Aircraft Design Options

NASA Technology

When engineers explore designs for safer, more fuel efficient, or faster aircraft, they encounter a common problem: they never know exactly what will happen...