While NASA is on a down side now, waiting for the next agency project that will take humans back to space, this may be a time of reflection. Undoubtedly, many people simply see NASA as a geek agency. Geek town so to speak. People see the Moon walks as quaint but not meaning much else. However, there have been many inventions originating with NASA that have contributed to the economy and it helped develop new commercial opportunities. Here are some of them.
Paintings
Do you love artwork? We know that many famous and great pieces of art, from the Mona Lisa to Picasso’s Guernica, have to be cared for from time to time by removing particles from the surface that would harm the painting. In a product invented by NASA that had nothing to do with painting, scientists were interested in finding ways to remove atomic oxygen from the surface of satellites and spacecraft, since it could damage or destroy it. (Atomic oxygen can be found upwards of 400 miles above the planet surface.)
Scientists, while trying to find a way to remove the corrosive atoms inadvertently found a way instead to remove unwanted material from surfaces without touching or rubbing. The atomic oxygen facility with it’s technology was instrumental in restoring two 19th century paintings in Cleveland, and one in Pittsburg from soot damage when conventional approaches did not succeed.
Food Safety
No one wants to eat spoiled or potentially hazardous food, but this was one of NASA’s missions when preparing food for astronauts. They wanted to avoid food poisoning. So NASA developed a food preparation safety guide that was later adopted by the Food and Drug administration. This safety system reduced the cases of salmonella.
Invisible Writing
Mount Vesuvius destroyed Pompei 2,000 years ago. Writings in charred manuscripts were found in buried locations. From a standard visual perspective, the writings were not readable. However, NASA developed multispectral imaging methods involving different wavelengths, so the content became readable after all.
Remote Surgery
This may sound a bit science-fictiony but scientists working to service a spacecraft developed a mechanical arm whereby surgeons could operate three surgical instruments simultaneously. The result was that a robotic surgical operation in which the doctors in New York removed a gallbladder from a patient in France.
Lightweight Breathing Apparatus
Imagine going into a burning building covered in smoke. You can put out the fire, but run the risk of smoke inhalation, which can be damaging long beyond the quick burning effects of the fire. NASA along with the National Bureau of Standards developed a lightweight breathing system for firefighters, which is now widely used by firefighters.
Heart Pump
The Space Shuttle developed main engine fuel pumps for processing fuel into the engines. This was the model for a heart pump to provide blood-pumping capacity in the left ventricle. The heart pump allows patients to wait for a heart transplant and in some cases it can permanently replace the heart.
GPS Operations
With mobile technology so widespread now, one feature, the GPS has changed the way we travel. NASA developed the Internet-based Global Differential GPS. This package provides an end-to-end system based real-time positioning and orbit determination.
Pollution Control
All space rockets have to be cleaned, and the materials used can frequently pollute the ground with chlorinated water and could penetrate into underground water systems. NASA developed a new cleanup system to remove the pollutants and is now in operation around the country by different government agencies and private industries.
Cataract Discovery
While studying the effects of colloidal systems, which are small particles suspended in liquid systems, scientists made the connection to vision cataracts. Cataracts also are small particles suspended in liquid systems (the eye). The scientists developed a technology to investigate the eye for cataracts much sooner than before. This would allow doctors to proceed with treatment earlier.
NASA is not just a geek town. Its discoveries, which frequently started with ways to improve spacecraft or what happened to astronauts, turned into ways to improve the lives of people.