NASA’s Space Age Inventions and Technologies that We Use Everyday
There is no doubt in saying that NASA has pioneered various space-age technologies and inventions throughout its existence. Although there are some technologies that are wrongly attributed to NASA like Velcro & Tang yet some simply wouldn’t exist without NASA scientists and the engineers that are pushing the boundaries to next level. There are various notable examples such as scratch-resistant plastics to super streamlined swimsuits. NASA has also focused on mobile applications to make the biggest changes in the mobile app development world.
Just have a look few inventions & technologies –
Memory Foam was used to protect astronauts
NASA developed memory foam in 1966. The main belief was to make customizable seats for astronauts to alleviate during takeoff and landing. Engineers realized that their body shape changes as they train and also has realized that there is large variability between astronauts physiques can cause a problem. Because of all this, NASA finally released memory foam into the public domain. In present times, it can be found in various products such as mattresses, sports helmet liners, and other applications. Although foam varies widely between different manufacturers with various foam formulas.
Baby Formula was devised by a couple of NASA
There are various infant formulas that contain nutritional enrichment ingredients are devised by NASA & highly beneficial to infant mental and visual development. Due to this reason, it is also considered a good dietary supplement as it contains two essential polyunsaturated fatty acids. Usually, there are two types of fatty acids that are found in human milk and thus it is going to prove instant formulas for young infants. NASA app is an app that invites users to explore and discover the latest things that the agency is working on.
The DustBuster started out as Lunar Rock Drill
DustBuster is also developed by NASA as a part of their Apollo Space Mission. Decker and Black develop this tool and later they also devised a computer program to optimize the design. Its main purpose was to refine the technology to provide maximal motor power. This research led to the development of a series of battery powered devices.
Space Blankets are the result of NASA research
Space Blankets are low weight and low bulk blankets that are entirely made up of heat reflective thin plastic sheeting. In fact, their design is perfect for reducing heat loss from the body. Space blanket was first developed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in 1964. A space blanket is capable of reflecting 97% of radiated heat. If we talk about space applications, polyamide substrate is more resistant to the hostile environment found in space and this is the reason it is used in space blankets.
HACCP helps to keep food safe
Hazard analysis and the critical control point is an integral part of food safety guidelines. It was originally devised in 1960 through a partnership with Pillsbury Company & NASA. Both these companies quickly realized that conventional end of process testing consumed the entire sample product. It would prove highly successful as it is extremely important to keep food safe.
Infrared Ear Thermometers Let You Check Someone's Temperature from a Distance
NASA along with Diatek Corporation is mainly responsible to develop the infrared aural thermometer. This device measures thermal radiation emitted by the patient's eardrum in the same way in which the temperature of stars and planets is measured. After the signal is converted into temperature and the ambient temperature is displayed on the device. This device was developed with the support of NASA through their Technology Affiliates Programme. In present times, a wide range of applications is used to check patient temperatures.
Invisible Braces have saved a lot of Embarrassment
These were developed with NASA’s Advanced Ceramics Research Program and Ceradyne. In collaboration with NASA, Ceradyne was trying to find a material that could be used in infrared radomes only to track heat-seeking missiles. All such kind of invisible braces removes much of the embarrassment that was experienced by patients. You should note down one thing about these braces is that these braces are not for everyone.
NASA developed CMOS Active Pixel Sensors are behind your selfies
GoPro cameras, as well as modern mobile phones, can partially trace origins to the work of NASA Scientist Eric Fossum. Fossum’s insight was to take advantage charge coupled device technology to improve the quality. This results in the creation of CMOS active pixel sensors. This technology was originally developed by app developers to dominate the digital imaging industry. All such things paved the way for cameras within Smartphones and other devices.
Scratch Resistant Lenses
These kinds of lenses were jointly developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center and the Foster Grant Corporation. Before the development of scratch resistant lenses, they were primarily made up of ground and polished glass. Foster Grant was awarded a license from NASA in 1983 to produce scratch resistant plastics. Besides this, they also combined their research with NASA’s and finally bought this technology to the market. In present times, sunglasses, prescription lenses, safety lenses are made from scratch-resistant plastics.
Artificial limbs have become space age
There is no doubt in saying that NASA has contributed immensely to the field of artificial limbs and field of prosthetics. This has allowed for the creation of improved prosthetics for humans and animals. There are exists other areas of development that has included the adaption of NASA’s memory foam technology. There are also other applications that include reducing friction between the limb and the patient’s skin as well as reducing heat and moisture buildup.
Embedded web technology paved the way for IoT
Embedded Web Technology was first developed by NASA & mainly created to allow astronauts to operate and monitor experiments on the ISS. Although NASA later released this technology to the public domain and that is paving the way for a recent explosion in the Internet of Things technology. There also exists a large number of companies that are using the same principle to deliver a wide range of over-the-internet control & management of devices. There are various devices that are benefited from the NASA space age technology.
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