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

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: Transportation

Winglets Save Billions of Dollars in Fuel Costs

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Anyone who has made a paper airplane knows that folding the wingtips upward makes your plane look better and fly farther, though the...

Spinoff: Transportation

Ducted Fan Designs Lead to Potential New Vehicles

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

From the myth of Icarus, who flew too close to the Sun on wings made of wax, to the designs Leonardo da Vinci drew of flying machines...

Spinoff: Transportation

Personal Aircraft Point to the Future of Transportation

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In the late 1970s, general aviation (GA) in the United States was experiencing its heyday. In 1978, as many as 18,000 GA aircraft...

Spinoff: Transportation

Tail Rotor Airfoils Stabilize Helicopters, Reduce Noise

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Given the eye-catching nature of space shuttle launches, deep-space imagery, and Mars exploration, it can be easy to forget...

Spinoff: Transportation

Programs Model the Future of Air Traffic Management

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Try describing the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS), and you will inevitably end up rattling off a series of large numbers. There...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Hyperspectral Systems Increase Imaging Capabilities

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

While the human eye can see a range of phenomena in the world, there is a larger range that it cannot see. Without the aid of...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Ultraviolet-Blocking Lenses Protect, Enhance Vision

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In the 1980s, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists James Stephens and Charles Miller were studying the harmful properties of...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Signal Processing Methods Monitor Cranial Pressure

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

When you think of a beating heart, you might assume it beats at regular intervals, but in actuality, velocity and pressure change with...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Burnishing Techniques Strengthen Hip Implants

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

When compressed air mixes with jet fuel and is ignited in a turbine engine, the temperature can reach 3,000 °F. As a result of this fiery...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Toolkits Control Motion of Complex Robotics

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

That space is a hazardous environment for humans is common knowledge. Even beyond the obvious lack of air and gravity, the extreme temperatures...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Space Research Results Purify Semiconductor Materials

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

While President Obama’s news that NASA would encourage private companies to develop vehicles to take NASA into...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Onboard Systems Record Unique Videos of Space Missions

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

It was one of the few times that a crash landing would be deemed a success. On October 9, 2009, nine sensor...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Fuel Cell Stations Automate Processes, Catalyst Testing

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Since the early days of space flight, fuel cells have provided an important source of power for extended missions to space. Aboard...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Compact, Robust Chips Integrate Optical Functions

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

People often think of NASA’s research as pushing the boundaries of our universe—sending people, robots, and spacecraft into the dark...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Stitching Techniques Advance Optics Manufacturing

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The amount of detail a telescope can see is directly related to the size of its mirrors. To look deep into space at...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Deformable Mirrors Correct Optical Distortions

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In March of 2009, the Kepler spacecraft was launched to explore the structure and diversity of planetary systems outside...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Cameras Reveal Elements in the Short Wave Infrared

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In late 2009, a rocket traveling twice as fast as a speeding bullet crashed into the Moon as part of NASA’s...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Composite Sandwich Technologies Lighten Components

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

At Glenn Research Center’s Ballistic Impact Facility, engineers study new materials and the ways that they react to sudden, brute...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Computer Models Simulate Fine Particle Dispersion

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Getting to the Moon is, to say the least, challenging. Being on the Moon, though, is no picnic either. In addition to...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Solid-State Recorders Enhance Scientific Data Collection

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

On May 20, 1996, astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor watched as a unique structure unfolded in...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

GPS Software Packages Deliver Positioning Solutions

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

To better understand and predict global climate, scientists look to the Earth’s oceans. Natural forces like wind,...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Tools Automate Spacecraft Testing, Operation

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Using the Spitzer Space telescope, NASA scientists detected light from two Jupiter-sized extrasolar planets for the first...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Framework Resources Multiply Computing Power

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

For the last 25 years, the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division at Ames esearch Center has provided extremely fast supercomputing...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Toolsets Maintain Health of Complex Systems

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Monitoring the health of a machine can be just as tricky as monitoring the health of a human. Like in the human body, a variety of subsystems...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Verification Tools Secure Online Shopping, Banking

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Much is made of the engineering that enables the complex operations of a rover examining the surface of Mars—and rightly so. But even...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Modeling Tools Predict Flow in Fluid Dynamics

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Knowing what will happen before it happens is no easy task. That is why new spacecraft and technology are constantly being tested and...

Spinoff: Computer Technology

Innovative Techniques Simplify Vibration Analysis

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

As the launch clock counts down, astronauts in the space shuttle prepare for the fastest ride of their lives. More powerful than any...