The Best of NASA Spinoffs

Johnson Space Center ^ | unknown | unknown

[Aracelis]

THE BEST OF NASA'S SPINOFFS

• Laser Angioplasty

• Cardiac Imaging System

• Advanced Pacemaker

• Implantable Heart Aid

• Implantable and External Pumps

• Temperature Pill

• Infrared Thermometer

• Thermal Video

• Body Imaging

• Skin Damage Assessment

• Gait Analysis System

• Programmable Remapper

• Computer Reader for the Blind

• Vision Trainer

• Ocular Screening System

• Speech Aids

• Cool Suit

• Advanced Wheelchair

• Vehicle Controller

• Human Tissue Stimulator

• Blood Analyzer

• Microbe Detector

• Space Technology for Firefighting

• Food Processing Control

• Radiation-Blocking lenses

• Safety Grooving

• Lightning Protection

• X-Ray Imaging System

• Electro-Expulsive Aircraft Deicer

• Collision Avoidance System

• Self-Righting life Raft

• Landsat legacy

• Document Monitor

• Corrosion-Resistant Coating

• Air/Wastewater Purification Systems

• Plant Research

• Gas Analyzer

• Microspheres

• Power Factor Controller

• Solar Energy

• Heat Pipes for the Alaska Pipeline

• Riblets for Stars & Stripes

• ICEMAT Ice Making System

• Cordless Products

• Cordless tools and appliances based on technology from the Apollo era

• Metallized Materials

• Memory Metals

• Heart Rate Monitor

• Athletic Shoes

• Water Filter/Conditioner

• Pool Purification

• Heat Pipes

• Virtual Reality

• Digital Image Processing

• Structural Analysis

• Data Acquisition Systems

• Parallel Processing System

• Portable Computer

• Fabric Structures

• Flat Cable

• Bolt Stress Monitor

• Quality Control System

• Nondestructive Testing Tool

• Pressure Measurement Systems

• Laser Technology

• Induction Heating Systems

• High Pressure Waterstripping

• Composites For lighter Structures

• Dry lubricant Coating

• Diamond Coatings

• Ion Generators

• Magnetic Liquids

• Flexible Circuits

• Robot Hand

• Clean Room Apparel

[Aracelis]

Please see the Johnson Space Center site for the Best of NASA spinoffs page for details and documentation for each of these technologies.

[Aracelis]

Ping!

[Johnny_Cipher]

Bumped and bookmarked. Anti-Luddite ammunition.

[Prime Choice]

BTTT!

This ought to stick in the craw of all those yahoos who think NASA is a waste of time and money.

Good find!

[DeepDish]

I read a few day ago that research on the computer mouse was done in part with a NASA grant.

The problem with proving spinoff is that most news stories do not mention NASA funding or grants when you see professor X from college Y showing off some new medical/technical gizmo.

[Aracelis]

I'm sick and tired of hearing "NASA never gave us anything useful", or "Let's spend the money at home". Sheesh! NASA does spend the money at home, and we all benefit.

Do we all appreciate having paramedics with cardiac telemetry monitoring? How many of us have had or will have angioplasty? Gotta cordless drill or screwdriver? Ever driven over grooved pavement, or taken a laptop on a business trip?

All these things and many, many more technologies that we take for granted today had their origins in the Space Program...and I can't wait to see what our scientists and engineers dream up next as we venture to the Moon and Mars.

[DeepDish]

Not really. I admit there is the question of technical forcing. That is to say that it is unknowable where we would be today if all technical innovation was done by the private sector. Some things I am sure would have been invented without NASA, but only if the financial payback was was only 2 or three years out.

It would be interesting to look at the NASA expeditures line by line to see where the grant monies go.

[Aracelis]

Some things I am sure would have been invented without NASA, but only if the financial payback was was only 2 or three years out.

"Necessity is the mother of invention".

We were sending men into space and had to return them to Earth safely. No immediate financial gain in this, but down the road we have realized much from the necessity.

[Jason Kauppinen]

The private sector could have done all of this.

Better and cheaper too.

[Johnny_Cipher]

I'm sick and tired of hearing "NASA never gave us anything useful", or "Let's spend the money at home".

We did the "spend the money at home" thing in all the years before 1958. Didn't exactly help bring about the end of poverty, did it?

"The poor will always be with us." Spending 1 percent of our treasure on a project that could potentially blaze the path to getting us off of this planet and ensuring our survival as a species is worth it.

[Aracelis]

The private sector could have done all of this. Better and cheaper too.

Then...why didn't they??? No immediate financial gain, that's why. Sorry, but I'm a charter member of the "research for research's sake" fraternity, and sometimes that takes spending money with no thought to financial profit.

[KneelBeforeZod]

I dont have a dog in this fight, but the other list is bigger.

what NASA didn't spur to invention:

everything else in the world

[Rose in RoseBear]

Pingpingping!

[DeepDish]

Arguments like the spinoff value remind me of a story about Queen Victoria. It seems she toured Maxwell's or Faraday's laboratory and viewed the experiments. The queen asked the scientist, "This is all very nice, but do these things have any use?" The scientist replied, "Your highness, of what use is a newborn baby?"

The answer is, when you get right down to it, that a newborn baby is only good for inducing sleep deprivation. I doubt if the queen was convinced of anything but the story points out the problem some people have thinking about the future.

[Prime Choice]

That is to say that it is unknowable where we would be today if all technical innovation was done by the private sector.

Show me any private sector company in the areas in which these products are used that has a meaningful, well-funded Research & Development program in place these days. R&D is largely regarded as a black hole for cash in the private sector.

So no, it is not "unknowable" that these technological advances wouldn't have occurred in the time span they have.

NASA's R&D made the bulk of these advances possible. If the private sector could have done it, it would have. And it didn't. That's the bottom line.

[Aracelis]

An additional thought regarding private sector innovation:

Today's emergency medicine has it's roots in our Korean experience. Surgeons learned "meatball" surgery to keep our boys alive...even attempting open chest cardiac massage, with mixed results. When our medics and surgeons returned to the United States, they brought these experiences with them, and para-medicine was born in California with Jimmy Page and his boys.

Do you know what these men had to use as the first portable ECG machine? A galvenized tub of water that the patient had to stick his/her feet in and four rudimentary metal leads attached to arms and legs with rubber straps and conducting gel. Imagine attempting to read the ensuing ECG while racing to the nearest hospital!

The Space Program gave us not only disposable, slap-'em-on-the-chest electrodes, but also the ability to transmit this data to a physician in the ER. No American corporation had the foresight to develop this technology - it came simply from the necessity of monitoring our astronauts during spaceflight.

In my opinion, we would still be struggling with 1950s medical technology if we had to rely solely upon the private sector.

[Aracelis]

what NASA didn't spur to invention: everything else in the world

Ah! But those chapters are yet to be written. On to the Moon and Mars!!!

[Boot Hill]

And add to that list:

Extremely low temperature cryogenic heat pumps.

--Boot Hill

[DeepDish]

Please note that I said "some things" and talked about "technical forcing". That we would not have the technical level we have today without government funded research is to me beyond question.

I made up the term "technical forcing" to describe such research and government mandates such as emission controls on autos.(At least I hope I am not swiping the term :)

I used "unknowable" in the sense of which of the spinoffs would have occurred and how later than was the case.

[Aracelis]

Extremely low temperature cryogenic heat pumps.

An important addition - thanks!