One NASA spin off that doesn’t get enough recognition is engendering/project/manufacturing management. There is a theme in the Apollo 13 Movie that too many people don’t recognize. The project management of the Apollo 13 equipment was so good that, after the explosion, the people on the ground knew every option available to the astronauts in space. They knew every screw, nut and inch of tape that was on that flight and they had the info available immediately. That level of engineering management did not exist before the Apollo project.
Today, almost every auto parts house in the Country can use those types of systems to identify a replacement part for your vehicle.
That’s just another spinoff of scientific/engineering development from NASA.
I am so skeptical of the claim that the auto parts systems (which are truly a miracle of efficiency) would not have happened without NASA. Sorry, I just don’t buy it.
The autoparts system you are talking about is implemented on an advanced database. Private industry invested to develop those, not government. Private industry has invested 10X more than NASA to develop computer business hardware and software systems.
NASA may have given them an early boost but that boost ended 40 years ago.