Nasa inventions we use daily

NASA InventionsSurprising things we use every day that came from the Space Program

Compiled by Kella Randolph, M. Ed.

New since the space program began:• What follows is a random assortment of just a few commonplace

things that we see in our modern society. What these things have in common is that they were all either invented for the space program, modified from something that was used in the space program, or made better in some way using space program technology.

Top NASA Inventions• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S.

government agency that runs the country's civilian space program, has accomplished some truly amazing feats since its inception in 1958 -- from beating the Soviet Union in the race to put astronauts on the moon, to exploring the surface of Mars with unmanned robotic vehicles. So you're probably not surprised to hear that NASA employs a pretty awesome brain trust of scientific and engineering talent in a wide array of fields, from astronomy and physics to chemistry, biology and materials science.

• NASA has invented all sorts of technology to solve the peculiar problems of space exploration. In the 1950s and early 1960s, it created the revolutionary three-axis stabilization control design that enables satellites to point their antennas, instruments and solar panels with precision. Since then, it's been such a prolific problem solver that about one in every 1,000 U.S. patents is granted to someone working on a NASA project [source: Rayl].

• In fact, the NASA workforce is so ingenious that quite a few of its inventions are useful for those of us who stay on the ground. The agency even has a special administrative branch, the Technology Utilization Program, which focuses on helping companies turn the ideas behind space gadgetry into industrial and consumer innovations.

• The spaceship isn't NASA's only great invention.

• Hemera/Thinkstock

Cordless toolsRealizing that a 239,000-mile extension cord would be impractical, NASA teamed up with Black & Decker to develop tools that featured rechargeable batteries and special low-power consumption motors, which should make your DustBuster seem a lot more impressive.

Handymen of the world, rejoice. NASA's Apollo mission led Black & Decker to refine their cordless power tools. Image Credit: Tetra Images/Getty Images

Smoke detectorsIn the 1970s, NASA partnered with Honeywell Corp. to create a device that would detect smoke and toxic gases in Skylab, America's first space station. The result was the first ionization smoke detector, using a minute amount of the radioactive isotope Americium-241.

This led to the 1979 introduction of inexpensive photoelectric detection devices, which go off when smoke (or sometimes a hot, steamy shower) blocks the light beam.

To date, smoke detectors have saved countless lives here on Earth, but they're especially useful in space, where running outside to wait for the fire truck isn't an option.

• NASA and Honeywell Corporation developed a smoke detector for the first U.S. space station, Skylab. Image Credit: Steven Puetzer/Getty Images

Enriched baby foodNASA-sponsored research has also helped make major improvements to commercially available baby food, and we're not talking about freeze-dried strained peas.

While testing the potential of algae as a food supply for long-duration space travel, a Maryland-based biosciences company discovered an algae additive that contains two fatty acids closely resembling those found in human breast milk.

The company now uses it to make an enriched infant formula called Formulaid, thought to be essential for babies' visual and mental development.

Space Research Fortifies Nutrition Worldwide

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Shown here is the Skylab food heating and serving tray with food, drink, and utensils. This represented a great improvement over the food served on earlier space flights.

New-age pavement

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• Federal Aviation Administration

When you buy a new set of tires, the old ones have to go somewhere, right? Most of them end up in huge, flammable tire dumps, which may hold millions of old tires, each one containing about a quart of oil in the rubber. If a dump catches fire, however, it can burn with a thick, toxic smoke for weeks on end.

But today, old tires are being put to good use. NASA's experience in fuel-related cryogenics helped develop processes to freeze the tires to below -200 degrees Fahrenheit so that they crumble, separating the rubber from other materials and producing what's called "crumb."

This waste is recycled into several new products, including an ingredient used to pave highways, which means your new radial tires may someday be rolling over your old ones.

Ear thermometersThe Diatek Corp. of California wanted a safer way to take a person's temperature, and who better to turn to than NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the place with over 30 years of experience using infrared sensors to remotely observe celestial bodies?

Together, they developed a fast and accurate thermometer that, when its disposable probe cover (to prevent cross-infection) is inserted into the ear canal, detects infrared radiation from the eardrum and gives a digital readout in less than two seconds.

Aural thermometers use an infrared sensor to measure the temperature of energy radiating from your ear drum. Image Credit: Eric Audras/Getty Images

Fast-acting dental bracesMany orthodontists now use ceramic braces that are bonded to the teeth and strung together with a thin, light wire made of NiTinol (nickel-titanium), an alloy brought to you compliments of NASA.

Because of its amazing ability to maintain its original shape, NiTi (as it's known in the industry) provides space satellites with the ability to spring open after being cramped and contorted inside a rocket.

But don't think its capabilities are limited to space. When used in dental appliances, NiTi exerts a continuous force against the teeth to move in the right direction, eliminating the need for wire tightening, thus reducing a patient's overall time in braces ... and much of the pain.

Protective paint

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• NASA - Protective Paint Tested on Space Station Makes for 'Curious' Ride to Mars

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• Rhino shield ceramic coating uses microsphere nanotechnology originally developed by NASA to create particles that are tiny, rigid, ceramic globules

What do the Statue of Liberty, a gigantic Buddha in Hong Kong and the Golden Gate Bridge all have in common? They're protected by the American space program ... sort of.

In the late 1980s, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center began a research program to develop coatings for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to shield the launch structures from salt-air corrosion, rocket exhaust and thermal stress.

Applications of this material proved ideal for protecting structures like bridges, antenna towers and the occasional big Buddha.

(Better) cardiac pacemakers

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• Most pacemakers have only one or two wires that go to the heart. These wires stimulate the right or left side of the heart when the heartbeat gets too slow.

Pacemakers have come a long way since their invention in 1950. Far from the large, external contraptions used early on, modern pacemakers can self-adjust in most cases and even activate themselves when needed.

But one of the most significant advances in pacemaker technology came in the 1970s, with the help of a NASA-developed system of communication called bi-directional telemetry, originally used to communicate with satellites.

Siemens-Pacesetter, Inc. teamed with NASA to develop a similar telemetry system, which not only allows doctors to make changes to the unit's function over time, but also updates them on how the device is interacting with the patient -- all without picking up a scalpel.

Scratch-resistant glassesThanks to NASA technology, plastic lenses for glasses last up to 10 times longer than they used to. That's because its Ames Research Center created a scratch-resistant (read: extremely hard) coating to protect equipment from getting beaten up by space debris.

Later, the Foster Grant Corp. acquired the license for the coating method and used it in their plastic sunglasses, which matched the hardness of glass lenses, but were much lighter. Among other uses, it's now employed in most eyewear and industrial face shields.

Comfy sneaker insoles

• Space boot technology in athletic shoes is meant to put more spring in your step. Image Credit: Dirk Anschutz/Getty Images

In the 1970s, many shoe manufacturers began replacing their standard foam rubber insoles with a new, highly shock-absorbent material -- one giant step for tennis shoes.

The new kicks were padded with "viscoelastic" bubbles that conformed to your foot and then returned to their normal shape when you took the shoes off. Turns out, they got the idea (and the technology) from NASA, which had developed the material to better cushion astronauts during blastoff.

Memory Foam

• NASA ¬helps some people sleep better at night. Temper foam found in Tempurpedic brand mattresses and similar brands was originally developed for space flight and later repackaged for the home.

• The open cell polyurethane-silicon plastic was created for use in NASA aircraft seats to lessen impact during landings. The plastic has a unique property that allows it to evenly distribute the weight and pressure on top of it, which provides shock absorbency. Even after being compressed to 10 percent of its size, the memory foam will return to its original shape [source: Space Technology Hall of Fame]. Some private and commercial planes now feature the foam in seats as well.

• But the uses of the plastic foam extend beyond the skies. Its weight distribution and temperature sensitivity play important roles for severely disabled or bedridden people. Doctors can customize the foam to support patients while reducing the pressure on certain parts of the body to ward off bedsores, for instance. Some companies also have integrated temper foam into prosthetic limbs because it has the same look and feel of skin and decreases the friction between the prosthetic and joints.

• Other commercial uses include padding for motorcycle seats, custom body molds for dressmaking and protection for racecar drivers.

Memory foam is an open cell foam that compresses fully and reverts to its original form. Image Credit: Dr. Dennis Kunkel/Getty Images

Improved Long-distance TelecommunicationsThe ability to carry on long-distance telephone conversations did ¬not happen overnight. It doesn't link back to one specific NASA invention -- improved telecommunication took place over decades of work.

Before humans were sent into space, NASA built satellites that could communicate with people on the ground about what outer space was like. Using similar satellite technology, around 200 communication satellites orbit the globe each day. These satellites send and receive messages that allow us to call our friends in Beijing when we're in Boston. NASA monitors the locations and health of many of these satellites to ensure that we can continue to talk to people around the corner or overseas.

NASA

Safety Grooving• Carving a groove into concrete may not sound like much of an innovation, but it certainly

keeps us safe on the roads. Also called safety grooving, this simple, yet lifesaving, process inserts long, shallow channels into pavement on runways and roads. These indentions in the concrete divert excess water from the surface to reduce the amount of water between tires and the runway or road. This increases the friction between wheels and concrete, improving vehicle safety.

• Safety grooving was first experimented with at NASA's Langely Research Center in the 1960s as a way to improve safety for aircraft taking off on wet runways. Once people realized how well it worked, transportation engineers began applying the same techniques to highways. According to NASA, safety grooving has reduced highway accidents by 85 percent [source: NASA]. Cars hydroplane when water between tires and the road actually separates the two from each other.

• You can find other examples of safety grooving at pedestrian crosswalks, around swimming pools and in animal pens. This innovation has generated an entire industry, represented by the International Grooving & Grinding Association [source: NASA Science and Technical Information].

Safety grooves provide safety on airport runways by increasing the friction between the concrete and airplane tires. Image Credit: Andrew Holt/Getty Images

Water Filters

• Water is the essential ingredient to human survival. Since people cannot live without water, the ability to convert contaminated water to pure water is an incredibly important scientific achievement.

• Astronauts needed a way to cleanse water they take up into space, since bacteria and sickness would be highly problematic. Water filter technology had existed since the early 1950s, but NASA wanted to know how to clean water in more extreme situations and keep it clean for longer periods of time.

• If you look at a water filter, you can usually detect small chunks of charcoal inside of them. Sometimes, when you first use a water filter, you'll even notice tiny black flecks from those chunks. This charcoal is specially activated and contains silver ions that neutralize pathogens in the water. Along with killing bacteria in the water, the filters also prevent further bacterial growth. Companies have borrowed from this same technology to bring us the water filter systems millions of people use at home every day.

• Tap water filters trickled down from NASA's need to cleanse water on long space flights. Image Credit: Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images

Sources

• Smith, John. "Space Age inventions you probably use." CNN. Oct. 8, 2007.• Space Technology Hall of Fame. The Space Foundation. (May 7, 2008)http://www.spacetechhalloffame.org/inductees/• NASA Scientific and Technical Information. "Spinoff Database." (May 7, 2008)http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto• NASA. "NASA Hits: How NASA Improves Our Quality of Life." (May 7, 2008)http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/hits2_flash/index_noaccess.html

Firefighter breathing apparatusBefore 1971, the average weight of breathing apparatus was more than 30 pounds. Carrying the extra weight was so physically grueling that some firefighters opted to attack flames without any equipment. However, engineers at NASA adapted the life-support systems used in spacesuits for use by emergency services. Four years later, experts had designed apparatus that weighed a third less and offered better fit and visibility.

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CAS Clean Air System Saves Even The Future Life Of The Firefighters




Blankets for marathon runners In 1964, Nasa developed a material capable of reflecting heat very effectively – a thin sheet of plastic coated with a metallic reflecting agent, usually gold or silver in color. Used as a blanket, it reflects about 80 per cent of the wearer’s body-heat back to them. It’s used to keep accident victims warm, and by marathon runners after the finish.


Reflecting on Space Benefits: A Shining Example

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Marathon runners draped in reflective blankets to keep them warm




Pill transmitters

• NASA

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• Pill transmitters swallowed by astronauts to check their temperature and blood pressure.

Pill transmitters swallowed by astronauts to check their temperature and blood pressure are undergoing trials to be used as a way to monitor the health of fetuses in the womb. These pill-shaped gadgets can be used to monitor body temperature, pressure and other vital signs.

Ingestible Thermometers

By swallowing a thermometer the size of a vitamin pill, patients can transmit their internal temperature data to a recorder for analysis. Technology developed by NASA to monitor astronaut health was used by a private laboratory to create the wireless, probe-less micro-transmitter. Today, hospitalized intensive-care patients, free-moving outpatients, the aging and those with sports injuries and sleep disorders all reap the benefits of this non-intrusive invention.


Faster racing cars

• Larry Smithmier and his son, Schroeder, doing a pit stop challenge at "Rockets to Racecars." Credit: NASA

• Aiden Gibson and Theresa McKenzie get a close-up look at a space shuttle tire. Credit: NASA

Carbon fiber was invented by the British in the 1960s (at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough), but was given a boost by its use in space flight. Carbon-fiber-reinforced graphite is used in the nose cone of the Space Shuttle. Strong, light and heat resistant, it is found in everything from tennis rackets to Formula One racing cars.


The roof of the Millennium DomeA flexible yet durable Teflon-coated fiberglass material was developed in the 1970s for use on astronauts’ spacesuits. Teflon-coated fiberglass is now used for the roofs of many buildings worldwide, including the Dome in London.


Green livingIt may seem strange, but the green movement owes a debt of gratitude to the rockets that blasted off into space. Efficient solar-power technologies – in which silicon crystals grown in a laboratory convert light into electrical energy – were first developed by NASA in the early 1980s. The same technology is now widely used by companies manufacturing solar panels.

http://kearth101.cbslocal.com/2011/07/21/list-stuff-we-use-everyday-that-was-invented-from-the-space-program/ • These two large solar panels give the MESSENGER spacecraft its power.

• Image Credit: NASA

Freeze-dried mealsNasa developed freeze-drying technology for the food carried by the Apollo missions. After the process, the product retains 98 per cent of its nutritional value and weighs just 20 per cent of its original weight. Snacks based on this technology are exported by NASA to many countries, with sales running to several million pounds a year.


Hydraulic rescue cuttersA rescue tool used by fire departments across America uses battery technology first employed by NASA. The cutting technology – used to free accident victims from wreckage – employs a miniature version of the power cartridges first used on the Space Shuttle and is 50 per cent lighter (and 70 per cent cheaper) than previous rescue equipment. The cutters work more quickly than conventional ones and were used in the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma Federal Building bombing.


Satellite television On 10 July 1962, a television transmission showed the American flag fluttering outside a communications center in Andover, Maine. It was made possible after NASA launched its Telstar satellite, the world’s first active communications satellite, at 4.35 that morning.


Voice-controlled wheelchairs

• These days we can control the key functions of a smartphone, TV or even automobile by voice. Clearly, voice control is a cool feature that will soon be commonplace on a broad range of consumer devices.

• For disabled people, however, assistive technologies like voice control are not just cool but an essential way to help make their lives better.

• Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology argue that voice control could improve the independence, quality of life and safety of tens of thousands of wheelchair users.

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Thought controlled wheelchair(Not on the market at this time)

We've seen brain-controlled wheelchairs in the past, but we've never seen them in action. This one, developed and built at the University of Zaragoza in Spain, uses an EEG cap worn on the head, using a P300 neurophysiological protocol and automated navigation. The user sees a real-time visualization of his surroundings on the screen in front of him, and then concentrates on the space which he wants to navigate to. The EEG detects the location, which is then transmitted to the autonomous navigation system, which then drives the chair to the desired location, avoiding any obstacles that might be in the way. Once the location has been chosen, the user can sit back and relax while the chair does all the work, making the use of the system far less mentally exhausting than some previous iterations which demand constant concentration on the target. Although there is no information about commercial availability of the wheelchair, it has been successfully tested by five different participants in a study.

Mind-controlled wheelchair prototype is truly, insanely awesome.

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Home blood pressure kitsWhen Alan Shepard became the first American to fly in space some years ago, Nasa scientists had to invent an automatic measuring device to find out how blasting off affected the astronaut’s blood pressure. Blood-pressure kits based on this design subsequently went mainstream.


Artificial Limbs

• Robonaut is a humanoid robot being developed to function as an astronaut assistant. The dexterous manipulation technology in its hands might one day be used in applications such as human prosthetic development.

NASA’s continued funding, coupled with its collective innovations in robotics and shock-absorption/comfort materials are inspiring and enabling the private sector to create new and better solutions for animal and human prostheses. Advancements such as Environmental Robots Inc.’s development of artificial muscle systems with robotic sensing and actuation capabilities for use in NASA space robotic and extravehicular activities are being adapted to create more functionally dynamic artificial limbs (Spinoff 2004). Additionally, other private-sector adaptations of NASA’s temper foam technology have brought about custom-moldable materials offering the natural look and feel of flesh, as well as preventing friction between the skin and the prosthesis, and heat/moisture buildup. (Spinoff 2005

Cochlear Implants

• In the late 1970s, Adam Kissiah Jr., a hearing-impaired engineer working on the space shuttle program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, knew all too well the shortcomings of conventional analog hearing aids. They simply amplified sound entering the ear without clarifying it. In an effort to solve the problem, he put to use his knowledge of NASA's advances in electronic sensing systems, telemetry, and sound and vibration sensors. He came up with the concept for a new type of hearing aid -- an implant that would produce digital pulses to stimulate the auditory nerve endings, which then would transmit the signals to the brain.

• Kissiah went on to work with BioStim, a private company, to develop the new device. Kissiah's patented concepts were built upon by other manufacturers [source: Space Foundation]. Since then, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 219,000 patients have received cochlear implants [source: NIDCD]. The devices enable people who've been deaf since birth to hear for the first time. They've also restored hearing for those who still have a responsive auditory nerve but who've lost hearing due to trauma or disease [source: Space Foundation].

• This application of space technology has made an enormous difference in the lives of people like Mike Scheerer, a Peoria, Ill., man in his late 50s, who received a cochlear implant in 2009 and heard songbirds singing in the trees in his neighborhood. "I would say that's the most beautiful thing I ever heard," he told the Peoria Star newspaper. "I had never heard birds before, that I can remember" [source: Davis].

Hearing aids amplify sound, but they don't clarify it.

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ArterioVision• Since the mid-1960s, scientists in the image processing lab at NASA's Jet

Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have been working to improve video imaging software, so that astronomers can turn space probe data into increasingly vivid, high-resolution images of distant planets and other celestial objects.

• In recent years, medical researchers have applied some of NASA's software innovations to peer not into the sky but into patients' circulatory systems for signs of atherosclerosis, a common disease in which fatty material builds up inside arteries and threatens to cause heart attacks and strokes.

• The California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for NASA, licensed the technology to a private company, Medical Technologies International Inc. (MTI), whose chief engineer, Robert Seltzer, was a veteran JPL researcher. The result was ArterioVision software. It can be used with ultrasound equipment to perform a noninvasive examination of a patient's carotid artery, which carries blood to the brain.

• Paired with ultrasound technologies, ArterioVision can detect signs of cardiovascular illness at very early stages, when it would otherwise evade detection by conventional tests. As a result, medical experts say that more patients may have a chance to curb the disease with dietary and lifestyle changes, rather than medication or surgery down the line [source: NASA]. Doctors' offices in all 50 U.S. states offer ArterioVision testing [source: Lockney].This next NASA invention has expanded lifestyle options for hearing-impaired individuals worldwide.

ArterioVision pairs ultrasound equipment like this with NASA's software genius.

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These are only a few of the incredible new things that have come to us because of research and development in the NASA Space Program. • Check back in ten years and see what has been developed.

Nasa inventions we use daily

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