Home About Links Legal Contact


NASA Inventions You Might Use Every Day

HowStuffWorks has an interesting article on 10 NASA inventions you might use every day. The list includes:

  1. Invisible braces – originally designed to protect the infrared antennae of heat-seeking missile trackers.
  2. Scratch-resistant lenses – originally developed as aspecial coating to protect astronaut helmet visors.
  3. Memory Foam – This special plastic was created for use in NASA aircraft seats to lessen impact during landings.
  4. Ear Thermometer – The company hat developed the ear thermometer, Diatek, took advantage of NASA’s previous advancements in measuring the temperature of stars with infrared technology.
  5. Shoe Insoles – The space suit designed for the Apollo missions included specially-made boots that put a spring in astronaut’s steps while providing ventilation.
  6. Long-distance Telecommunications – Before humans were sent into space, NASA built satellites that could communicate with people on the ground about what outer space was like.
  7. Adjustable Smoke Detector – Skylab was the first U.S. space station, and the astronauts would need to know if a fire had started or if noxious gases were loose in the vehicle. Teaming up with Honeywell Corporation, NASA invented the first adjustable smoke detector with different sensitivity levels to prevent false alarms.
  8. Safety Grooving – Safety grooving was first experimented with at NASA’s Langely Research Center in the 1960s as a way to improve safety for aircraft taking off on wet runways.
  9. Cordless Tools – Although Black & Decker had already invented the first battery-powered tools in 1961, the NASA-related research helped refine the technology that led to lightweight, cordless medical instruments, hand-held vacuum cleaners and other tools.
  10. Water Filters – Water filter technology had existed since the early 1950s, but NASA wanted to know how to clean water in more extreme situations and keep it clean for longer periods of time.

When Joe Edwards JR was in Ireland as part of the Science Week Lecture Series in 2007, he also discussed some of the everyday items that we take for granted which space exploration had a major influence in their development. The video of the lecture is available to view on the Science Week website if you would like to find out more.

Leave a Reply