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Camera
You know how you basically can’t buy a cell phone anymore without a camera? Yeah, you can thank NASA for that. In the 1960s, engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) first developed the concept of the digital camera. In the 1990s, a team at the JPL worked to create cameras that are small enough to fit on spacecraft while maintaining scientific quality. One third of cell phone cameras contain the technology developed from this research. Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/5-things-we- -
Cordless Tools
In the mid-1960s, to prepare for the Apollo missions to the moon, NASA needed a tool that astronauts could use to obtain samples of rocks and soil. -
Scratch-Resistant Lenses
In an attempt to find diamond-hard coatings for aerospace systems, the Lewis Research Center contributed to making sunglass lenses more resistant to scratches and spotting. A technique for creating diamond-hard coatings was developed and patented, and in the late 1980s Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. got a license to use the patent. The technique was further developed and later used to make lenses that are scratch-resistant and shed water more easily. Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/5-t -
Invisible Braces
Invisible braces are made of translucent polycrystalline alumina (TPA). A company called Ceradyne developed TPA in conjunction with NASA Advanced Ceramics Research to protect the infrared antennae of heat-seeking missile trackers. -
Firefighting Equipment
Apollo technology has been used to produce a lighter breathing system for firefighters. The new system weighs about 20 pounds (9 kg) and has a mask with greater peripheral vision. -
Hang Gliders
Hang gliders or parawings resulted from early NASA investigations into using parawings as a method of returning payloads from space to Earth. Now, many recreational and commercial uses have been found for hang gliders. Also, the Army’s Golden Knights team uses parawings in their program. -
Water Filtration and Purification
Lest you think NASA tech is just used for superficial creature comforts, think again. NASA has contributed quite a lot to the development of water purification technology over the years. Just by necessity, NASA developed ways to filter water for manned space missions. But that’s not all. Water purification technology also helped treat contaminated water after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico. Furthermore, technology developed to purify water on Apollo spacecraft is now -
Clean Energy Technology
Not every piece of technology is directly applicable to non-space faring activities. But, more often than not, technology developed for space flight is refined to create something useful for us land lubbers. For example, the company that developed the Space Shuttle Main Engine is using the expertise gained to create clean energy technology that would decrease carbon emissions by 10 percent, the equivalent of taking 50,000 cars off the road. Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/5-things-we-hav -
Lexible Aerogels
lexible aerogels, for instance, could be used in a new genre of super-insulating clothing that keeps people warm in the cold with less bulk than traditional “thermal” garments. Tents and sleeping bags would have the same advantages. Home refrigerator and freezer walls insulated with other forms of the material would shrink in thickness, increasing storage capacity. Meador said that the aerogel is 5-10 times more efficient than existing insulation, with a quarter-inch-thick sheet providing as muc -
Radiant Barrier
Metallized plastics were used for the Apollo missions to enable astronauts to have a temperature controlled working area. These special plastics insulate the spacecraft from extreme hot and cold. Today, this technology is used on Earth in the construction industry, food transportation, and other areas where temperature control is important. -
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. -
Spandex Space Suit
With manned space exploration in the doldrums, maybe what NASA needs is a new outfit for its astronauts. Enter Dava Newman, a professor of aeronautics at MIT, who is developing the Bio-Suit. It's a formfitting space suit made of elastic polymers that improve mobility. Because it applies pressure directly to the skin instead of pressurizing the air inside the suit, the way today's bulky suits do, it's also much lighter.
