NASA is best known for exploring space, but it also has technology that is touching down on Earth.
The products that have emerged from NASA's research are spotlighted in a new book.
They include an air purifier that is on tech for growing plants in space, and blankets made from a substance that NASA created to chill rocket fuel, as well as underwear for race car drivers that use material originally developed for spacesuits.
20 recent NASA innovations that are ripe for commercial application are explored in the book.
A system that unlocks phones with heartbeats and a thin-film device that converts CO2 into fuel are examples of these.
NASA has sought to develop practical products. The Technology Transfer program searches for the widest possible applications for NASA tech.
There are parallels between the issues we see in space and the issues we see on Earth, according to Daniel Lockney, the program executive.
Lockney is in charge of the strategy for finding overlap. Whenever someone spends NASA money on R&D, the process begins.
The invention was first reported to the office. Teams at NASA's field centers determine if the designs are feasible and if they can be used in a secondary application.
Lockney said that they figure out if anyone else can use it and how to get it to them.
NASA gives away free software if it is its software. The agency first decides whether a patent is necessary to help companies bring it to market. The most common approach is to just publish the content and share it.
The invention is turned into products by the free market.
NASA does collect a small royalty fee on licensed patents, but the program is mostly taxpayer-funded.
Lockney said that most of the money goes to the inventors as a reward for coming up with a cool idea.
The public service has produced many products. NASA pioneered for interplanetary space travel with the use of the cameras used in many modern smartphones, and there are many other examples.
The myth of the space pen is one of the many rumors about NASA's innovations.
The Soviets used a pencil while NASA spent millions on a pen that could write in zero gravity. The device was developed by the founder of the Fisher Pen Company with $1 million of his own funds.
The risk of broken lead floating around in microgravity was removed by the device. The design for space use was approved by NASA.
The Soviet Union bought the pen for spaceflights, while NASA astronauts still use it today.
NASA invented Tang, a drink mix that was used on several early space missions.
Even though that wasn't created by us, it shows the expectation that there would be benefits from space and NASA missions.
Lockney believes that his program makes NASA work more relevant.
With space, the end result isn’t these technologies, but rather expanding humanity’s understanding of the universe and our place in it. But that’s so audacious and abstract, it’s hard wrap your mind around it. A tertiary benefit of that loftier goal is we also get these cool processes, products, and services.
They show that exploring space can have benefits.
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