Thanks to an innovative
process developed in part with NASA funding, MicroLink devices
has created thin, flexible solar cells that could be used to help power space
exploration.
Credits: MicroLink
Devices
|
U.S. troops in desert regions
are already using MicroLink Devices’ flexible,
lightweight solar arrays to recharge batteries, saving them from having to
carry spares. The arrays were developed in part with NASA funding.
Credits: MicroLink
Devices
|
This biomedical testing
module, developed at Ames Research Center, serves as a home away from home
for mice traveling to space. Previous experiments aboard space shuttles
contributed to the development of new drugs now fighting osteoporosis on
Earth.
Credits: NASA
|
President Barack Obama learns
about technology that recycles plastic into light crude oil from Vadxx
Energy president Jim Garrett during a March 18, 2015 visit. NASA’s Glenn
Research Center assisted in th4e development
of the process through the Adopt a City program, part of the White House's
Strong Cities, Strong Communities Initiative.
Credits: Vadxx
Energy
|
NASA technology is all around us, turning trash into oil, saving
women from a deadly complication of childbirth, and putting the bubbles in
beer.
These technologies and more are featured in the 2016 edition of
NASA’s annual Spinoff publication, highlighting the many places NASA shows up
in daily life and the aeronautics and space programs where the innovations got
their start.
“Technology transfer is the agency’s oldest continuously operated
mission, but our work is ongoing and of continuing significance,” said NASA
Chief Technologist David Miller.
“Today there are many new technologies being developed at NASA,
and we are hard at work accelerating the rate at which they end up in the hands
of companies and organizations that can put them to use in spinoff applications.”
In the 2016 Spinoff, learn how:
·
Under the Strong Cities,
Strong Communities Initiative, NASA scientists helped a company develop a
commercial kiln that turns waste plastic into useful petroleum products;
·
G-suits used to help
pilots and astronauts withstand extreme acceleration have been adapted to save
women suffering from postpartum hemorrhage;
·
A system designed to
transform the Martian atmosphere into rocket fuel is helping microbreweries
recapture carbon dioxide and carbonate their beer.
Other highlights include how NASA research on bone strength in
microgravity validated a new treatment for osteoporosis, and software that uses
satellite data to help stabilize global food prices by tracking and predicting
rice crop yields.
Published annually since 1976, Spinoff offers an in-depth look at
technologies that improve health and medicine, transportation, public safety,
consumer goods, energy and environment, information technology and industrial
productivity.
“Innovations made to advance space exploration regularly make an
impact back on our own planet,” said Daniel Lockney, NASA’s Technology Transfer
Program executive. “You can find NASA technology in virtually every facet of
modern life.”
These spinoffs contribute to the country’s economic growth by
generating billions of dollars in revenue and creating thousands of jobs.
The book also includes a section, “Spinoffs of Tomorrow,” that
highlights 20 technologies ripe for commercial adaptations, including a coating
inspired by lotus leaves that protects surfaces from water, dust and
contaminants and a battery management system that can inexpensively extend
battery life and improve reliability. All are available for licensing and
partnership opportunities through NASA’s Technology Transfer Program.
Spinoff, NASA’s premier annual publication, is a part of the
agency’s Technology Transfer Program. The program is charged with finding the
widest possible applications of NASA technology through partnerships and
licensing agreements with industry, ensuring that NASA’s investments in its
missions and research find secondary applications that benefit the nation and
world.
Print and digital versions of Spinoff 2016 are available on the
Spinoff website at:
An iPad version of Spinoff 2016, including shortened versions of
the stories, multimedia and interactive features, also is available for
download in the Apple iTunes store.
For more information about NASA's Technology Transfer Program,
visit: