NASA spin-off technologies — BrandWiki

NASA spin-off technologies — BrandWiki

Health and medicine

Infrared ear thermometers

Diatek Corporation and NASA developed an aural thermometer that measures the thermal radiation emitted by the eardrum, similar to the way the temperature of stars and planets are measured. This method avoids contact with mucous membranes and permits rapid temperature measurement of newborn or incapacitated patients. NASA supported the Diatek Corporation through the Technology Affiliates Program.[6]

Ventricular assist device

Collaboration between NASA, Dr. Michael DeBakey, Dr. George Noon, and MicroMed Technology Inc. resulted in a heart pump for patients awaiting heart transplants. The MicroMed DeBakey ventricular assist device (VAD) functions as a "bridge to heart transplant" by pumping blood until a donor heart is available. The pump is approximately one-tenth the size of other currently marketed pulsatile VADs. Because of the pump's small size, fewer patients developed device-related infections. It can operate up to 8 hours on batteries, giving patients the mobility to do normal, everyday activities.[7]

Lidar eye-tracking in LASIK

In the 1980s, NASA developed LADAR (for Laser RADAR, now more commonly called Lidar) technology for autonomous rendezvous and docking of space vehicles to service satellites. LASIK surgeons of the time happened to have a problem: patients make involuntary eye movements as frequently as 100 times per second, so the LASIK machine must follow the eye movement to accurately reshape the cornea, the clear front surface of the eye, using a laser. Existing video trackers were too slow, causing interruptions when tracking is lost. The LADARVision 4000, approved in 1998, automatically tracks eye movements at a rate of 4,000 times per second while reshaping the cornea. Lidar is also used in military and NASA-sponsored research for applications in strategic target tracking and weapons firing control.[8]

Cochlear implants

NASA engineer Adam Kissiah started working in the mid-1970s on what became the cochlear implant, a surgically implanted device that allows people suffering from certain kinds of hearing loss, and who receive little or no benefit from traditional hearing aids. Inspired by his own hearing problems, Kissiah, an electronics instrumentation engineer at NASA, spent 3 years of lunches and evenings in Kennedy Space Center's technical library, studying how engineering principles could affect the inner ear. In 1977, NASA assisted Kissiah in obtaining a patent for the cochlear implant.[9]

Artificial limbs

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 in order to create more functionally dynamic artificial limbs.

Additionally, other private-sector adaptations of NASA's memory 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.

Light-emitting diodes in medical therapies

After initial experiments using light-emitting diodes in NASA space shuttle plant growth experiments, NASA issued a small business innovation grant that led to the development of a hand-held, high-intensity, LED unit developed by Quantum Devices Inc. that can be used to treat tumors after other treatment options are depleted.[10] This therapy was approved by the FDA and inducted into the Space Foundation's Space Technology Hall of Fame in 2000.

Invisible braces

Invisible braces are a type of transparent ceramics called translucent polycrystalline alumina (TPA). A company known as Ceradyne developed TPA in conjunction with NASA Advanced Ceramics Research as protection for infrared antennae on heat-seeking missile trackers.[11]

Scratch-resistant lenses

A sunglasses manufacturer called Foster Grant first licensed a NASA technology for scratch-resistant lenses, developed for protecting space equipment from scratching in space, especially helmet visors.[11]

Space blanket

So-called space blankets, developed in 1964 for the space program, are lightweight and reflect infrared radiation. These items are often included in first aid kits.

3D foods printing

BeeHex developed 3D printing systems for food such as pizza, desserts, and icings following an SBIR grant that began as a NASA-funded project.[12][13]

Transportation

Aircraft anti-icing systems

NASA funding under the SBIR program and work with NASA scientists advanced the development of a thermoelectric deicing system called Thermawing, a DC-powered air conditioner for single-engine aircraft called Thermacool, and high-output alternators to run them both. Thermawing allows pilots to safely fly through ice encounters and provides pilots of single-engine aircraft the heated wing technology usually reserved for larger, jet-powered craft. Thermacool, an electric air conditioning system, uses a new compressor whose rotary pump design runs off an energy-efficient, brushless DC motor and allows pilots to use the air conditioner before the engine starts.[14]

Highway safety

Safety grooving, the cutting of grooves in concrete to increase traction and prevent injury, was first developed to reduce aircraft accidents on wet runways. Represented by the International Grooving and Grinding Association, the industry expanded into highway and pedestrian applications. Safety grooving originated at Langley Research Center, which assisted in testing the grooving at airports and on highways. Skidding was reduced, stopping distance decreased, and a vehicle's cornering ability on curves was increased. The process has been extended to animal holding pens, parking lots, and other potentially slippery surfaces.[15]

Improved radial tires

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company developed a fibrous material, five times stronger than steel, for NASA to use in parachute shrouds to soft-land the Viking Lander spacecraft on the Martian surface. Recognizing the durability of the material, Goodyear expanded the technology and went on to produce a new radial tire with a tread life expected to be 10000 mi greater than conventional radials.[16]

Chemical detection

NASA contracted with Intelligent Optical Systems (IOS) to develop moisture- and pH-sensitive sensors to warn of corrosive conditions in aircraft before damage occurs. This sensor changes color in response to contact with its target. After completing the work with NASA, IOS was tasked by the U.S. Department of Defense to further develop the sensors for detecting chemical warfare agents and potential threats, such as toxic industrial compounds and nerve agents. IOS has sold the chemically sensitive fiber optic cables to major automotive and aerospace companies, who are finding a variety of uses for the devices such as aiding experimentation with nontraditional power sources, and as an economical "alarm system" for detecting chemical release in large facilities.[14]

Public safety

Video enhancing and analysis systems

Intergraph Government Solutions developed its Video Analyst System (VAS) by building on Video Image Stabilization and Registration (VISAR) technology created by NASA to help FBI agents analyze video footage. Originally used for enhancing video images from nighttime videotapes made with hand-held camcorders, VAS is a tool for video enhancement and analysis offering support of full-resolution digital video, stabilization, frame-by-frame analysis, conversion of analog video to digital storage formats, and increased visibility of filmed subjects without altering underlying footage. Aside from law enforcement and security applications, VAS has also been adapted to serve the military for reconnaissance, weapons deployment, damage assessment, training, and mission debriefing.[17]

Landmine removal

Thiokol has used surplus rocket fuel through an agreement with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to produce a flare that can safely destroy landmines. The fuel that is left unused from a launch will become a solid, which cannot be reused but can be used as an ingredient needed to create the Demining Device flare. The Demining Device flare uses a battery-triggered electric match to ignite and neutralize land mines in the field without detonation. The flare uses the solid rocket fuel to burn a hole in a mine's case and burns away the explosive contents so the mine can be disarmed without hazard.

Fire-resistant reinforcement

Built and designed by Avco Corporation, the Apollo heat shield was coated with a material whose purpose was to burn and thus dissipate energy during reentry while charring, to form a protective coating to block heat penetration. NASA subsequently funded Avco's development of other applications of the heat shield, such as fire-retardant paints and foams for aircraft, which led to an intumescent epoxy material, which expands in volume when exposed to heat or flames, acting as an insulating barrier and dissipating heat through burn-off. Further innovations include steel coatings devised to make high-rise buildings and public structures safer by swelling to provide a tough and stable insulating layer over the steel for up to 4 hours of fire protection, ultimately to slow building collapse and provide more time for escape.[18]

Firefighting equipment

Firefighting equipment in the United States is based on lightweight materials developed for the U.S. Space Program. NASA and the National Bureau of Standards created a lightweight breathing system including face mask, frame, harness, and air bottle, using an aluminum composite material developed by NASA for use on rocket casings. The broadest fire-related technology transfer is the breathing apparatus for protection from smoke inhalation injury.

Additionally, NASA's inductorless electronic circuit technology led to lower-cost, more rugged, short-range two-way radio now used by firefighters. NASA also helped develop a specialized mask weighing less than 3 oz to protect the physically impaired from injuries to the face and head, as well as flexible, heat-resistant materials—developed to protect the space shuttle on reentry—which are being used both by the military and commercially in suits for municipal and aircraft-rescue firefighters.[19][20][21][22]

Shock absorbers for buildings

With NASA funding, Taylor Devices Inc. developed shock absorbers that could safely remove the fuel and electrical connectors from the Space Shuttles during launch. These absorbers are being used as seismic shock absorbers to protect buildings from earthquakes in places like Tokyo and San Francisco.[23]

Environmental and agricultural resources

Water purification

NASA engineers are collaborating with qualified companies to develop systems intended to sustain the astronauts living on the International Space Station and future Moon and space missions. This system turns wastewater from respiration, sweat, and urine into drinkable water. By combining the benefits of chemical adsorption, ion exchange, and ultra-filtration processes, this technology can yield safe, drinkable water from the most challenging sources, such as in underdeveloped regions where well water may be heavily contaminated.[34][35]

Solar cells

Single-crystal silicon solar cells are now widely available at low cost. The technology behind these solar devices—which provide up to 50% more power than conventional solar cells—originated with the efforts of a NASA-sponsored 28-member coalition forming the Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) Alliance. ERAST's goal was to develop remotely piloted aircraft, intended to fly unmanned at high altitudes for days at a time and requiring advanced solar power sources that did not add weight. As a result, SunPower Corporation created advanced silicon-based cells for terrestrial or airborne applications.[10]

Pollution remediation

NASA's microencapsulating technology enabled the creation of "Petroleum Remediation Product," (PRP) which safely cleans petroleum-based pollutants from water. PRP uses thousands of microcapsules—tiny balls of beeswax with hollow centers. Water cannot penetrate the microcapsule's cell, but oil is absorbed into the beeswax spheres as they float on the water's surface. Contaminating chemical compounds that originally come from crude oil (such as fuels, motor oils, or petroleum hydrocarbons) are caught before they settle, limiting damage to ocean beds.[18][28] PRP microcapsules serve as nutrients to assist naturally occurring microbes in soil or water to biodegrade contaminants.[36]

Correcting for GPS signal errors

In the 1990s, NASA scientists at JPL developed software capable of correcting for GPS signal errors, enabling accuracy within inches; it is called Real-Time GIPSY (RTG). John Deere licensed the software and used it to develop self-driving farm equipment. As of 2016, as nearly 70% of North American farmland is cultivated by self-driving tractors, which rely on RTG that was developed at NASA.[37]

Another user of RTG is Comtech Telecommunications, which is a major provider of location-based services. This technology is used in cell phones so that 9-1-1 emergency callers can be located.[38]

Water location

Dr. Alain Gachet founded Radar Technologies International (RTI) in 1999 to use satellite generated data to identify probable locations of precious metals and during its use found it could also detect water. The system developed with this data, WATEX, uses about 80 percent of its data inputs from publicly available NASA information. This free information allowed RTI to develop the WATEX system to successfully locate water sources, such as in 2004 at refugee camps during the War in Darfur.[39]

Industrial productivity

Powdered lubricants

NASA developed a solid lubricant coating, PS300, which is deposited by thermal spraying to protect foil air bearings. PS300 lowers friction, reduces emissions, and has been used by NASA in advanced aeropropulsion engines, refrigeration compressors, turbochargers, and hybrid electrical turbogenerators. ADMA Products has found widespread industrial applications for the material.[10]

Improved mine safety

An ultrasonic bolt elongation monitor developed by a NASA scientist for testing tension and high-pressure loads on bolts and fasteners has continued to evolve over the past three decades. Today, the same scientist and Luna Innovations are using a digital adaptation of this same device for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of railroad ties, groundwater analysis, radiation, and as a medical testing device to assess levels of internal swelling and pressure for patients with intracranial pressure and compartment syndrome, a painful condition that results when pressure within muscles builds to dangerous levels.[10][20]

Food safety

Faced with the problem of how and what to feed an astronaut in a sealed capsule under weightless conditions while planning for human spaceflight, NASA enlisted the aid of The Pillsbury Company to address two principal concerns: eliminating crumbs of food that might contaminate the spacecraft's atmosphere and sensitive instruments, and assuring absolute absence of disease-producing bacteria and toxins. Pillsbury developed the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) concept to address NASA's second concern. HACCP is designed to prevent food safety problems rather than to catch them after they have occurred. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has applied HACCP guidelines for the handling of seafood, juice, and dairy products.[6]

Gold plating

For space missions, gold is used because it is useful at reflecting light, which helps to detect celestial objects from far away and gold does not oxidize so it will not tarnish, unlike most other metals. Due to both benefits, the James Webb Space Telescope uses gold on its mirrors. NASA partnered with Epner Technology, a Brooklyn-based business that has been gold-plating for generations to develop the technology to gold plate the telescope's parts. This NASA technology transfer to Epner gave the company a reputation for durable gold coatings. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences occasionally needs to replate Oscar statues that have faded over time. Epner has contracted with the academy to gold plate all future Oscars while offering a lifetime guarantee to replate, for free, any faded Oscar; its gold plating has lasted for decades in space without fading.[49]

Mistakenly attributed NASA spin-offs

The following is a list of technologies sometimes mistakenly attributed directly to NASA.[4] In many cases, NASA popularized technology or aided its development, due to its usefulness in space, which ultimately resulted in the technology's creation.

Barcodes – The barcode was invented in 1948. However, NASA developed a type of barcode label that could endure in space environments.
Cordless power tools – The first cordless power tool was unveiled by Black & Decker in 1961. These were used by NASA and a number of spinoff products came out of those projects such as portable cordless vacuums.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), best known as a device for body scanning. NASA contractor JPL developed digital signal processing, which has applications in medical imaging used by MRIs. However, JPL works like a department of NASA.
Microchip – The first hybrid integrated circuit was developed by Texas Instruments in 1958,[50][51] and then the silicon integrated circuit microchip was invented by Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1959.[52] The impact of NASA was in creating a massive impetus for development in this area.
Quartz clocks – The first quartz clock was invented in 1927. However, in the late 1960s, NASA partnered with a company to make a highly accurate quartz clock.
Smoke detectors – NASA's connection to the modern smoke detector is that it developed one with adjustable sensitivity as part of the Skylab project; this development helps with nuisance tripping.
Space Pen – An urban legend states that NASA spent a large amount of money to develop a pen that would write in space (the result purportedly being the Fisher Space Pen), while the Soviets used pencils. While NASA did spend funds to create a pen to work in space, the project was cancelled due to public opposition, and U.S. astronauts used pencils until the Fisher space pen was invented by a third party.[53][54] However, felt-tipped pens, which do not rely on gravity or pressure, but capillary action, were popularized by NASA, a prominent product being the Flair brand pen, as well as felt markers.
Tang juice powder – Tang was developed by General Foods in 1957. Tang was used in multiple early space missions, which gave brand awareness to it.
Teflon – Teflon was invented by a DuPont scientist in 1941 and used on frying pans from the 1950s; however, it has been applied by NASA to heat shields, space suits, and cargo hold liners.[55]
Velcro – Velcro is a Swiss invention from the 1940s. Velcro was used during the Apollo missions to anchor equipment for astronauts; it is still used for convenience in zero-gravity situations.