Table Of Content

National Aeronautics and Space Administration f f o n i p s 2015 SPINOFF 2015 On the cover: This depiction of the Earth-moon system against a backdrop of the Milky Way Technology Transfer Program uses an image of North and South America assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October of 2012. The resulting composite was mapped over existing NASA Headquarters imagery of Earth to simulate a realistic view of Daniel Lockney, Technology Transfer Program Executive the planet on its dark side, when artificial lights from cities are easily visible from space. Spinoff Program Office Title page background: This unique Goddard Space Flight Center photograph, taken by NASA’s Cassini probe, provides not only a stunning look at Saturn but Daniel Coleman, Editor-in-chief also a rare peek at the Earth-moon system from Samson Reiny, Senior Science Writer very far away. Earth is clearly visible as a bright Mike DiCicco, Science Writer dot near the center of the page and just below Saturn’s rings. When the original image was John Jones, Senior Graphics Designer magnified five times, the two bodies could easily Lisa Rademakers, Contributing Writer be seen (inset). Table of Contents S 5 S T Foreword F N 7 F E Introduction O M 8 N T Executive Summary PI R 20 S A NASA Technologies Benefiting Society 24 40 68 P 158 E Partnership News 24 40 56 D 174 3D Endoscope to Boost Safety, Cut Cost Aircraft Geared Architecture Reduces Fuel Water Mapping Technology Rebuilds Lives Award-Winning Technologies of Surgery Cost and Noise in Arid Regions 186 26 42 60 Spinoffs of Tomorrow Audio App Brings a Better Night’s Sleep Ubiquitous Supercritical Wing Design Cuts Shock Absorbers Save Structures and Billions in Fuel Costs Lives during Earthquakes 214 30 NASA Technology Transfer Program Directory Liquid Cooling Technology Increases 46 64 Exercise Efficiency Flight Controller Software Protects Lightweight Software Facilitates Sharing of Water Flexible Aircraft Quality Data Worldwide 32 Algae-Derived Dietary Ingredients 48 66 Nourish Animals Cabin Pressure Monitors Notify Pilots to Underwater Adhesives Retrofit Pipelines Save Lives with Advanced Sensors 34 Space Grant Research 50 68 Launches Rehabilitation Chair Ionospheric Mapping Software Ensures Laser Imaging Video Camera Sees through Accuracy of Pilots’ GPS Fire, Fog, Smoke 36 Vision Trainer Teaches Focusing Techniques 72 at Home 3D Lasers Increase Efficiency, Safety of Moving Machines 2 Table of Contents Spinoff 2015 88 114 124 142 76 98 118 134 Air Revitalization System Enables Excursions to Landsat Imagery Enables Global Studies of Cloud Computing Technologies Facilitate Custom 3D Printers Revolutionize Space the Stratosphere Surface Trends Earth Research Supply Chain 80 102 122 138 Magnetic Fluids Deliver Better Speaker Ruggedized Spectrometers Are Built for Software Cuts Homebuilding Costs, Improved Calibration Shows Images’ True Colors Sound Quality Tough Jobs Increases Energy Efficiency 142 82 104 124 Micromachined Parts Advance Medicine, Bioreactor Yields Extracts for Skin Cream Gas Conversion Systems Reclaim Fuel Portable Planetariums Teach Science Astrophysics, and More for Industry 84 128 146 Private Astronaut Training Prepares 108 Schedule Analysis Software Saves Time for Metalworking Techniques Unlock a Commercial Crews of Tomorrow Remote Sensing Technologies Mitigate Project Planners Unique Alloy Drought 86 130 148 Activity Monitors Help Users Get Optimum 112 Sound Modeling Simplifies Vehicle Noise Low-Cost Sensors Deliver Nanometer-Accurate Sun Exposure Satellite Data Inform Forecasts of Crop Management Measurements Growth 88 150 LEDs Illuminate Bulbs for Better Sleep, 114 Electrical Monitoring Devices Save on Time Wake Cycles Probes Measure Gases for Environmental and Cost Research 92 154 Charged Particles Kill Pathogens and Round Dry Lubricant Smooths the Way for Space Travel, Up Dust Industry 94 156 Balance Devices Train Golfers for a Compact Vapor Chamber Cools Critical Consistent Swing Components Spinoff 2015 Table of Contents 3 DISCLAIMER: While NASA does not manufacture, market, or sell commercial products, many commercial products are derived from NASA technology. Many NASA-originated technologies are adapted by private industry for use by consumers like you. Spinoff developments highlighted in this publication are based on information provided by individual and private industry users of NASA-originated aerospace technology who acknowledge that such technology contributed wholly or in part to development of the product or process described. NASA cannot accept responsibility or liability for the misinterpretation or misrepresentation of the enclosed information provided by these third-party users. Publication herein does not constitute NASA endorsement of the product or process, nor confirmation of manufacturers’ performance claims related to any particular spinoff development. To celebrate Earth Day 2014, NASA asked participants worldwide to take a “selfie” and post it to social media. The goal was to use each picture as a pixel in the creation of a “Global Selfie” seen here—a mosaic image that depicts like Earth as it appeared from space on Earth Day. The finished product released by NASA is now hosted by Gigapan, a company whose technology has been featured in Spinoff (2008, 2012). To view and navigate the full image, scan this code. T his year’s Spinoff publication celebrates the prominently involve small businesses. Here are a few important and fast-growing commercial space examples: d industry, focusing on how this sector is drawing • Under a series of NASA Small Business Innovation on decades of NASA technology and experience to grow r Research (SBIR) contracts, a company developed a our economy and improve life on Earth. We applaud the o 3D printer capable of micro-precision in zero-gravity, efforts of the companies who are helping advance NASA’s which will soon be in operation aboard the ISS. This w mission and finding new uses for exploration tech- technology will allow customers, including NASA, to nologies. In this year’s publication you can read about e a number of NASA spinoffs already benefitting commer- essentially email items into space, and it will revolutionize the space supply chain. This will be the first r cial space, and I am confident we will see many more in instance of supplies being manufactured in space, o the future. rather than taking up room on jarring and infrequent While NASA continues to work with our industry F partners to bring launches of astronauts to the rides from Earth. (page 134) International Space Station (ISS) back to American • Under the Commercial Crew Development Program, Charles F. Bolden, Jr. soil, we’re also pioneering the next frontier of human NASA has been working with companies to develop space exploration. Our path to Mars builds on our work Administrator privately operated spacecraft and supporting technolo- aboard the ISS, the success of commercial space, and gies. One firm is now using an air purification system National Aeronautics and the demonstration of new technologies in deep space. Space Administration that it matured under the program to design a pres- This stepping-stone approach takes advantage of more surized capsule attached to a helium balloon that will than a decade of living and working aboard the station send customers to the stratosphere for amazing views to achieve scientific breakthroughs not possible here on of Earth. (page 76) Earth and the continued strong progress on the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and the Orion spacecraft • In order to assess the thousands of possible technolo- that will carry astronauts to new destinations such as an gies that could be used for a human mission to Mars, asteroid and Mars. the agency awarded grants to MIT to develop algo- NASA will continue working with commercial part- rithm-based software that could highlight the most ners to develop tools that will advance our space and efficient, cost-effective options. A start-up company is aeronautics missions and bring our nation new capabili- now using the software to help home builders choose ties. I am particularly proud of the many small businesses low-cost and energy-efficient design plans. (page 122) that have played a critical role in every major NASA NASA prides itself on tackling the most ambitious undertaking. We all know that small businesses form program of exploration the world has ever seen, and that the backbone of our nation’s economy, but they are also essential to the space program, accounting for 21 percent effort is driven by technology. We are doubly pleased of our prime contract awards in fiscal year 2013—that’s when our technology also drives progress among small more than $2.7 billion in revenue. businesses and strengthens our economy. Small businesses also play a crucial role in transferring I hope you enjoy the many stories in this book about NASA technology to commercial and public uses. Among how technology drives exploration at the same time as it the 44 spinoffs in this publication, you’ll find that many brings benefits to each of us on Earth. Spinoff 2015 Foreword 5 Spinoff (spin´ôf´) -noun. 1. A commercialized product incorporating NASA technology or expertise that benefits the public. These include products or processes that: • were designed for NASA use, to NASA specifications, and then commercialized; • are developed as a result of a NASA-funded agreement or know-how gained during collaboration with NASA; • incorporate NASA technology in their manufacturing process; • receive significant contributions in design or testing from NASA laboratory personnel or facilities; • are successful entrepreneurial endeavors by ex-NASA employees whose technical expertise was developed while employed by the agency; • are commercialized as a result of a NASA patent license or waiver; • are developed using data or software made available by NASA. 2. NASA’s premier annual publication, featuring successfully commercialized NASA technologies. Shown here is a full-scale test NASA conducted on the tail from a 757 commercial aircraft that was modified with tiny jets called “sweeping jet actuators” to blow air across the rudder surfaces. This innovative Active Flow Control system might one day allow airplane builders to design smaller tails, which would reduce weight and drag and help improve fuel efficiency. This image was taken inside the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex, a massive wind tunnel located at NASA’s Ames Research Center. In the image, an engineer braces himself against the strong winds in the tunnel as he holds a wand emitting a stream of smoke that’s used to visualize in-flight air flow across the tail. For a deeper look at the operation, scan this code. The space agency enjoys a wide and varied • Collaboration between NASA researchers and a brain technology portfolio that is unlike any other surgeon resulted in the first endoscope suitable for n in existence. Here at the Technology Transfer brain surgery that is capable of producing 3D video Program at NASA Headquarters, our task is to make sure images, giving the operator a better understanding of o these innovations get into the hands of companies and his or her tight working space. It’s also the first device organizations that need them, bringing NASA technology of its kind to be able to steer its lens back and forth, i t down to Earth so that the public can benefit from its further enhancing visibility. This technology will c investment in space exploration. likely find broad application across all kinds of sur- To that end, the Technology Transfer Program took an gery, improving safety, speeding patient recovery, and u unprecedented step in 2014, compiling more than 1,000 ultimately reducing medical costs. (page 24) d pieces of agency software in one place and making them • Using NASA Landsat satellite and other remote publicly available at no cost. Software now comprises sensing topographical data, a company developed an o more than one-third of NASA’s technology portfolio, algorithm-based software program that can locate and the agency is dedicated to ensuring that these tools r underground water sources. Working with NGOs and expand beyond their space and aeronautics applications t governments, the firm is helping to provide water for Daniel Lockney to solve commercial challenges. At the same time, we n refugees and other people in drought-stricken regions have been increasing the rate of technology transfer to Technology Transfer such as Kenya, Sudan, and Afghanistan. (page 56) I private organizations from our large patent portfolio, and Program Executive we’ve made the process of acquiring NASA intellectual • NASA aeronautics has been working for years with National Aeronautics and property faster than ever. You can learn more about these industry to improve aircraft fuel efficiency. Through Space Administration accomplishments in the “Spinoffs of Tomorrow” section collaboration with the agency, one company has (page 186). developed a turbofan engine that is up to 16 percent NASA’s range of successful technology transfer is as more fuel-efficient than other models and up to 75 diverse as our many missions. In this year’s Spinoff, you percent quieter. The technology is helping to reduce will find 44 examples of NASA technology at work in carbon dioxide emissions while saving airlines millions everything from medical devices and consumer goods to of dollars in fuel costs every year. (page 40) the latest advances in manufacturing and transportation. Each technology featured in Spinoff is a reminder that Some of my favorites are: the vibrant culture of innovation and progress at NASA • In the 1960s and ’70s, a NASA aeronautics engineer results in tangible benefits for the nation and world. Over almost single-handedly developed an airplane the course of decades, this has meant thousands of new wing that operated more efficiently around the and improved products, tens of thousands of new jobs, speed of sound than any existing wing design. The billions of dollars in generated revenue, billions more “supercritical” airfoil turned out to also be more in saved costs, and even thousands of lives saved. As we efficient at subsonic speeds and has since become continue moving forward in an era when it’s easier than ubiquitous, saving airlines billions of dollars every ever to share our knowledge, I am confident that there is year in fuel costs while also reducing engine emissions. much more to come. That was just one of three major contributions the eccentric but brilliant Richard Whitcomb made to the world of aviation. (page 42) Spinoff 2015 Introduction 7 Executive Summary E ach year, Spinoff features dozens of NASA technologies improving everything from medical devices and software tools to the food you eat. The companies featured in this year’s publication span a broad range of industries and geographic locations, showing the diverse benefits our nation enjoys from its investment in aeronautics and space missions.