Some of the first stars in the universe were captured in photos by NASA's James Webb telescope.
While the JWST flies through space, it does more for us here on Earth than it does for other countries. Millions of eye surgery patients have improved vision thanks to the technology developed to build the JWST.
It's one of the newest examples of NASA inventions making a difference.
The program that facilitates NASA's technology spinoffs is led by Daniel Lockney.
Lockney said that NASA has to come up with new technologies and inventions in order to get it done. My job is to make sure that those inventions come back down to Earth with practical benefits.
NASA built a tool to measure the "microscopic imperfections" on the mirrors of the JWST. Eye surgeons have been able to take precise measurements of patients' eyes before they go under the knife.
NASA has fingerprints on a lot of things in our lives.
NASA contributed to everything from baby formula to cell phone cameras. There are many examples, including memory foam, temperature regulating fabrics, medical procedures, firefighter gear, and farming techniques.
There is a website and yearly publication dedicated to spinoff technologies.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was able to manufacture a ventilator using components outside of the typical medical device supply chain due to the coronaviruses epidemic.
The goals of NASA's Technology Transfer Program are included in the agency's founding legislation.
"I have thousands of examples of the technologies that were made because of the nation's investment," Lockney said. The federal government does a lot of research and development. You could go into space or do some of the work that theNIH does into cancer research.
You don't have to look a long way to find the results of NASA's work.
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