Spinoff: Computer Technology

A Predictive Approach to Eliminating Errors in Software Code

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA's Metrics Data Program Data Repository is a database that stores problem, product, and metrics data. The primary goal of...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Saving Space and Time: The Tractor That Einstein Built

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In 1984, NASA initiated the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) program to test two unverified predictions of Albert Einstein's theory of general...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Paper-Thin Plastic Film Soaks Up Sun to Create Solar Energy

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

A solar cell is a semiconductor device that converts photons, or light, into electricity. The most widely used solar cells...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

FLIPPER: Validation for Remote Ocean Imaging

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In order to better understand our solar system and the ways it supports life, scientists and researchers at NASA study the planets. Of course,...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

Progressive Plant Growing Has Business Blooming

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Soil, water, and light. According to prevailing dogma, these are the three main ingredients for growing and maintaining healthy plants. But...

Spinoff: Environmental and Agricultural Resources

PRP: The Proven Solution for Cleaning Up Oil Spills

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker exporting millions of gallons of oil, ran aground just after midnight on March 24, 1989 in Alaska,...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Reflecting on Space Benefits: A Shining Example

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA has long been known for having developed the thin, shiny reflective material used to insulate everything from the Hubble Space...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Raised Relief Mars Globe Brings the Red Planet Closer

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

When the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) entered the Red Planet's atmosphere in March 2006, it joined the ranks of other noble...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Look Sharp While Seeing Sharp

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

While fashion styles are known to come and go, a certain 'shade' from the past has proved otherwise.

Developed in the 1980s, the original SunTiger,...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Microspheres in Plasma Display Panels

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA does things that have never been done "before" sending spacecraft to other planets, sending people to the Moon, and exploring the limits of the...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Preventing Ice Before it Forms

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA has always been on the cutting edge of aviation safety research, though many of the technologies the Agency develops also find practical application in...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

Affordable Space Tourism: SpaceStationSim

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

For over 5 years, people have been living and working in space on the International Space Station (ISS), a state-of-the-art laboratory complex...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

A Match Made in Space

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Just before the space shuttle reaches orbit, its three main engines shut down so that it can achieve separation from the massive external tank that provided the fuel...

Spinoff: Consumer, Home, and Recreation

X-ray Device Makes Scrubbing Rugs Clean a Spotless Effort

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

If "pulling the rug out from under" means suddenly withdrawing support and assistance, then NASA is pretty good at "putting the...

Spinoff: Public Safety

Feeling Well Rested and Wide Awake When it Counts

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Responding to a congressional concern about aviation safety, NASA's Ames Research Center created the Ames Fatigue/Jet Lag Program in 1980...

Spinoff: Public Safety

Fire-Resistant Reinforcement Makes Steel Structures Sturdier

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In preparing to send man to the Moon in the 1960s, no detail was too small for NASA to consider when it came to ensuring that...

Spinoff: Public Safety

Clean Water for Remote Locations

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Water is indispensable for human health and well-being. A person cannot live for more than a few days without clean, drinkable water. It is, therefore,...

Spinoff: Public Safety

Water Vapor Sensors Go Sky-High to Assure Aircraft Safety

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

A laser diode is a semiconductor-based laser used to generate analog signals or digital pulses for transmission through optical...

Spinoff: Transportation

NASA Helps Design the "Cockpit of the Future"

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Langley Research Center conducts research in support of all of the aeronautics project at NASA. It continues to forge new frontiers in...

Spinoff: Transportation

Advanced Air Data Systems for Commercial Aircraft

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

It is possible to get a crude estimate of wind speed and direction while driving a car at night in the rain, with the motion of the...

Spinoff: Transportation

Steering Aircraft Clear of Choppy Air

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

On December 28, 1997, a United Airlines plane flying from Japan to Hawaii experienced severe turbulence while over the West Pacific Ocean. Over 100...

Spinoff: Transportation

Damage-Tolerant Fan Casings for Jet Engines

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

All turbofan engines work on the same principle. A large fan at the front of the engine draws air in. A portion of the air enters the...

Spinoff: Health and Medicine

Ingestible Thermometer Pill Aids Athletes in Beating the Heat

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

From the football turf to high above the Earth, heat exhaustion is a life-threatening concern. Heat exhaustion, or...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

The Space Laser Business Model

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Creating long-duration, high-powered lasers, for satellites, that can withstand the type of optical misalignment and damage dished out by the unforgiving...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Low-Pressure Generator Makes Cleanrooms Cleaner

Originating Technology/ NASA Contribution

Scientists at NASA's Kennedy Space Center work in cleanrooms: laboratories with high degrees of cleanliness provided by strict control of...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Big Results From a Smaller Gearbox

Originating Technology/ NASA Contribution

Many people will be sad to see the Hubble Space Telescope go, as it was the first instrument of its kind to provide us with such a wealth of imagery...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Advanced Joining Technology: Simple, Strong, and Secure

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The space-age materials that NASA employs in its spacecraft and satellites have different attributes than the building materials...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Going End to End to Deliver High-Speed Data

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

By the end of the 1990s, the optical fiber backbone of the telecommunication and data-communication networks had evolved from...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

NASA's Radio Frequency Bolt Monitor: A Lifetime of Spinoffs

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

This story begins in the 1970s, when Dr. Joseph Heyman, a young scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center, was asked to...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Cost-Cutting Powdered Lubricant

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Scientists at NASA's Glenn Research Center developed a high-temperature, solid lubricant coating material that is saving the manufacturing industry...