10 innovative spin-offs developed by NASA that changed our lives
We expect a leading organization in the international space race to develop insane technology, lead invaluable innovation, and devise solutions to problems so far beyond the mental capacity of us mere mortals that we may not be able to understand. However, sharing technology is not everyone's business. Of course, NASA also has to solve everyday problems that we take for granted here on Earth, which are made even more complicated by the absence of oxygen and gravity or the dangers of temperatures well below freezing.
Luckily for us, NASA is quite generous in the way they share their inventions, allowing us to use them to improve our own lives. Here are ten innovation spin-offs developed by NASA that have changed many lives here on Earth
Related: Ten Most Expensive NASA Programs
10 Breast cancer detection
Working in space has many disadvantages. One of these is radiation exposure. It was found that astronauts working on the International Space Station (ISS) were exposed to radiation equivalent to as many as 1,000 chest X-rays.
Although we are constantly exposed to varying levels of radiation here on Earth, radiation in large quantities can be quite carcinogenic. Intensive preventive care and detection technology were therefore necessary to prevent their colleagues from developing terrible life-threatening cancers. NASA invested in research to study how pieces of DNA can measure a person's radiation exposure and assess damage.
The BioScan system is proven to scan, find and confirm the presence of cancer in the breasts by detecting the cancer cells' ability to attract an alternative blood supply – a clear warning of malignant lesions.[1]
9 Safety grooves on highways
Hydroplaning during rainstorms is a condition in which the tires of a car rolling or sliding on the slippery road are lifted off the surface by water pressure. This leads to loss of vehicle control and is considered the main reason why uncontrolled skidding occurs in bad weather.
As you can imagine, hydroplaning is a terrible event when a spacecraft returns to Earth at insane speeds, so NASA moved forward by leaps and bounds. Safety grooves were proposed in the runway in the early 1960s, which would channel water from the surface and provide better traction.
It wasn't long before the innovation was used to improve the roads Americans travel on every day, leading to a nearly 85% reduction in wet weather accidents since the grooves were implemented.[2]
8 Apollo-era life rafts
Space travel has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years, with shuttles landing on Earth in one piece, with designated runways. But there was a time when it wasn't that simple and pods found themselves deep in the ocean in a maneuver called a splashdown.
NASA teamed up with a man named Jim Givens, who was working on a similar invention, something that would keep the astronauts afloat while the search for them continued in the vast ocean. The collaboration developed an inflatable raft system that could be deployed as soon as they hit the water.
The Givens Raft has been adapted for commercial use and, after many years of use and adaptation, has saved over 450 lives that would have been claimed by the sea.[3]
7 Airplane wings
When a fuel crisis threatened global air travel in the 1970s, the entire industry nearly collapsed. With adversity comes opportunity, so a group of NASA engineers and scientists came together to research new fuel-saving technologies.
The Aircraft Efficiency Program was a ten-year program to develop various aviation technologies in the hope of making future craft up to 50% more efficient. It was supposed to be completed in 1985, but was extended.
Working with Boeing, they initiated a winglet flight test based on Richard Whitcomb's findings and proved a 7% increase in lift-drag ratio with a 20% decrease in induced drag. This finding led to an overall reduction in fuel consumption and millions in fuel savings since the introduction of the winglets.[4]
6 Implantable cardiac defibrillator
The first implantable cardiac defibrillator was developed by Dr. Michel Mirowski, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins School for Medicine. It was implanted by Dr. Levi Watkings from the same institute.
But the life-saving technology we know today is derived from NASA's space circuit technology and can prevent erratic heart actions known as arrhythmias. The implanted device consists of a microcomputer power source and two heart sensors that can deliver corrective electric shocks in case of an irregular heartbeat.
The discovery of polymers also made it possible to implant pacemakers in complicated cases of congestive heart failure, and it all started with an attempt to build a passenger plane that could break the sound barrier.[5]
5 Invisible braces
Some of us are lucky enough to have avoided those uncomfortable wire marks that slowly pull our teeth together, like a Stone Age appliance. Still, many people around the world will need to wear braces at some point in their lives.
Until the late 1980s, braces were made of a very distinctive metal that held your teeth together. Sometimes they added colorful rubber bands for some flash. NASA, along with others, invented translucent ceramic that became a popular part of “invisible braces,” which later became a bestseller in the world of orthodontics.
It's not the only way NASA has influenced the world of orthodontics, with the use of alloys, ultrasound and x-rays to detect and improve overall dental health.[6]
4 Smoke detectors
Although smoke detectors have been around for a while, they were not adapted and made available for home use until the 1960s. The device was cheap, easy to install, widely used and so frustrating. Legislation made it mandatory, but the frustrating thing was that false alarms became a common occurrence.
Around the time smoke detectors became a household item, NASA was busy finding ways to prevent false alarms in Skylab and other space laboratories. That is why, in collaboration with Honeywell Corporation, they looked for a new technology that was sensitive to differences in smoke and other vapors. They also converted the detector into a handy plastic assembly that can be adjusted as needed.
The smoke detector has saved thousands of lives since its invention (not to mention reducing the cost of false alarm calls), with the adjustable smoke detector likely preventing many people from going mad.[7]
3 Cell phone camera
When you tuck your chin down, tilt your shoulder and bend one of your legs ninety degrees for your next selfie, keep a thought in mind for NASA, as they helped develop the cell phone camera.
NASA did not develop the cell phone camera, but what they contributed was the key technology that helped create it. Active pixel sensors are a key element in digital images that NASA has developed for space travel. This technology in turn led to the so-called complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensors (CMOS).
CMOS image sensors grew out of NASA's desire to create fast, cheap spacecraft, but also led to the development of charge-coupled devices in the late 1980s, which made high-quality digital photographs possible. Eric Fossum further pushed for even smaller and lighter machines that use CMOS technology to create active pixel sensors. Say Cheese![8]
2 Tracking systems
Initially used on low orbit satellites and on distant geostationary satellites, the cross-use of tracking technology has come a long way.
Since the 1970s, NASA has provided assistance and expertise to the Cospas-Sarsat program, an international satellite-assisted search and rescue effort. Using the Search and Rescue System Satellite Aided Tracking System (SARSAT), several search and rescue beacons have been developed (e.g. the current 406 Beacon), allowing explorers to travel with a sense of security on land, in the air and at sea car not previously known.
It is estimated that more than 50,000 people in life-threatening situations worldwide have been saved by the inventions of the SARSAT beacons.[9]
1 Texting plants
If you don't have enough notifications on your phone yet, it will soon be possible to receive text messages from your thirsty plants asking for water.
BioServe Space Technologies, a NASA-sponsored company, has developed a type of leaf sensor that can use electrical pulses to detect whether your plants need water. The world quickly realized the benefits to agriculture, and massive funding has subsequently led to astonishing progress in this area.
For those who don't have the greenest fingers: it is quite possible that in the near future your installation could be equipped with a special device that warns you of low water levels. We'll leave it up to you to decide if you want the thought of your plant dying of thirst while you're away hanging over your head.[10]