GPS News  
SPACE TRAVEL
Spinoff 2018 Highlights Space Technology Improving Life on Earth
by Staff Writers
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 01, 2018

An air-scrubber technology developed for space is also used widely on Earth. After the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball organization installed NASA-derived air purifiers in its locker room and gym, a study found that bacteria and fungus were virtually eliminated and air particle counts were dramatically reduced throughout the facilities. Image courtesy U.S. Air Force. For a larger version of this image please go here.

The 2018 edition of NASA's annual Spinoff publication, released Tuesday, features 49 technologies the agency helped create that are used in almost every facet of modern life. These include innovations that help find disaster survivors trapped under rubble, purify air and surfaces to stop the spread of germs, and test new materials for everything from airplanes to athletic shoes.

"NASA's work represents an investment in the future, not just for air and space travel, but for the nation," said Stephen Jurczyk, associate administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

"At the same time that NASA's space exploration missions are inspiring young people to become scientists and engineers, the agency's work in support of those missions is creating jobs for them across many industrial sectors. Commercial technology spun off from NASA research and technology programs, and missions creates new companies, grows the economy, saves money, keeps us safer, and even saves lives."

In Spinoff 2018, you'll learn how:

+ Ultra-sensitive radar technology used to detect gravity fluctuations was repurposed to identify the vital signs of disaster survivors trapped under rubble;

+ A technique developed to preserve plants in a spacecraft led to devices that eliminate bacteria, viruses, molds and volatile organic compounds from air, surfaces and even laundry;

+ One company's work on high-speed stereo photogrammetry for space shuttle analysis now enables low-cost, highly-accurate materials testing to improve designs for everything from running shoes to jetliners.

Other highlights include: artificial intelligence that helps drones avoid collisions and could one day enable self-driving cars; a business jet that is both the fastest and the most efficient in its class; and a computer program that, 50 years after its creation, is still used to design cars, buildings and much more.

"NASA technologies dating as far back as the Apollo missions still are improving our quality of life," says Daniel Lockney, NASA's Technology Transfer Program executive.

"Meanwhile, innovations made in support of upcoming missions, such as the Orion capsule and the James Webb Space Telescope, are already finding commercial applications. The benefits of the space program continue to accumulate every year."

The book also features a Spinoffs of Tomorrow section that highlights 20 NASA technologies ripe for commercial application and available for licensing. These include an algae photobioreactor that cleans wastewater while producing biofuels, a revolutionary all-in-one gear and bearing, and the combined technologies of the highly dexterous humanoid robot Robonaut 2.

Spinoff is a part of the agency's Technology Transfer Program, which is charged with finding the widest possible applications for NASA technology through partnerships and licensing agreements with industry, ensuring that NASA's investments in its missions and research find additional applications that benefit the nation and the world.

For more information about NASA's Technology Transfer Program, visit here


Related Links
Spinoff
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


SPACE TRAVEL
Explorer 1: The Beginning of American Space Science
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 24, 2018
Sixty years ago next week, the hopes of Cold War America soared into the night sky as a rocket lofted skyward above Cape Canaveral, a soon-to-be-famous barrier island off the Florida coast. The date was Jan. 31, 1958. NASA had yet to be formed, and the honor of this first flight belonged to the U.S. Army. The rocket's sole payload was a javelin-shaped satellite built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Explorer 1, as it would soon come to be called, was America's first satell ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SPACE TRAVEL
Learn to value your food, says Brazil's top chef

Vines from Napa, Bordeaux tough against heat, drought

More rice, please: 13 rice genomes reveal ways to keep up with ever-growing population

New Year canines stashed away in Muslim Malaysia

SPACE TRAVEL
Artificial agent designs quantum experiments

Quantum race accelerates development of silicon quantum chip

Method uses DNA, nanoparticles and lithography to make optically active structures

TU Wien develops new semiconductor processing technology

SPACE TRAVEL
EFW tapped to provide Apache aviator helmets

Australia welcomes fighter jets home after completing mission in Middle East

Jordan gets more US Black Hawks to bolster defences

Australia warplane catches fire during US training: military

SPACE TRAVEL
Tesla cars to have own motor racing competition

Waymo ramps up self-driving fleet with 'thousands' of cars

NREL research determines integration of plug-in electric vehicles

VW hid 'devastating' result from diesel exhaust tests on monkeys

SPACE TRAVEL
Xi wants 'new level' of China-Britain ties as May visits

British PM to visit China as Brexit looms

China factory expansion slows again in January

American companies see a booming China that may not want them

SPACE TRAVEL
Forest conservation can have greater ecological impacts by allowing sustainable harvesting

Chile boosts protected parkland with US philanthropist's donations

Plan to protect Indonesian peatlands with aerial mapping wins $1m

Deforestation destroys more dry forest than climate change

SPACE TRAVEL
NASA's small spacecraft produces first 883-gigahertz global ice-cloud map

Smog-forming soils

UK regional weather forecasts could be improved using jet stream data

UK to play a major role in space weather mission concept

SPACE TRAVEL
On the rebound as nanoparticles self-heal

Let the good tubes roll

Touchy nanotubes work better when clean

Ultra-thin optical fibers offer new way to 3-D print microstructures









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.