National Aeronautics and Space Administration

199 Pages·2014·18.77 MB·English

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
2013
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;
• are developed as a result of know-how gained under a funding agreement or collaboration
with NASA;
• incorporate NASA technology in the 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 as a result of the Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business
Technology Transfer programs; or
• are developed using data or software made available by NASA.
2. NASA’s premier annual publication, featuring successfully commercialized NASA technologies.
2013
Office of the Chief Technologist
NASA Headquarters
Daniel Lockney, Technology Transfer Program Executive
Spinoff Program Office
NASA Center for AeroSpace Information On the Cover:
An artist’s depiction shows the Mars Curiosity rover during
Daniel Coleman, Editor
its descent onto the Red Planet (background). NASA
Lisa Rademakers, Senior Writer technologies like Curiosity (right) lead to partnerships and
Samson Reiny, Writer advances in products and services as diverse as (clockwise
from top inset) software to measure fatigue, refuges for
Bo Schwerin, Contributing Writer
miners, medical training devices, personal aircraft, and
John Jones, Art Director insulation for homes and buildings.
Table of Contents
S 5 S
T Foreword F
N 7 F
E Introduction O
M 8 N
T Mars Spinoffs PI
R 18
S
A Executive Summary 40 58 68
P 32
E NASA Technologies Benefiting Society 36 52 68
D 142 Innovative Software Tools Measure Experiments Result in Safer, Spin-Resistant Air Systems Provide Life Support to Miners
Partnership News Behavioral Alertness Aircraft
72
160 40 56 Coatings Preserve Metal, Stone, Tile, and
Award-Winning Technologies Miniaturized, Portable Sensors Monitor Interfaces Visualize Data for Airline Safety, Concrete
Metabolic Health Efficiency
176 74
Spinoffs of Tomorrow 42 58 Robots Spur Software That Lends a Hand
Patient Simulators Train Emergency Data Mining Tools Make Flights Safer,
196 76
Caregivers More Efficient
NASA Office of the Chief Technologist Cloud-Based Data Sharing Connects
Network Directory 44 60 Emergency Managers
Solar Refrigerators Store Life-Saving NASA Standards Inform Comfortable Car
78
Vaccines Seats
Catalytic Converters Maintain Air Quality
46 62 in Mines
Monitors Enable Medication Management Heat Shield Paves the Way for Commercial
in Patients’ Homes Space
48
Handheld Diagnostic Device Delivers Quick
Medical Readings
2 Table of Contents Spinoff 2013
88 96 120 128
82 96 114 128
NASA-Enhanced Water Bottles Filter Open Source Initiative Powers Real-Time Processor Units Reduce Satellite Reactors Save Energy, Costs for Hydrogen
Water on the Go Data Streams Construction Costs Production
84 100 116 130
Brainwave Monitoring Software Improves Shuttle Engine Designs Revolutionize Solar Software Accelerates Computing Time for Cameras Monitor Spacecraft Integrity to
Distracted Minds Power Complex Math Prevent Failures
86 102 118 132
Thermal Materials Protect Priceless, Procedure-Authoring Tool Improves Safety Simulation Tools Prevent Signal Interference Testing Devices Garner Data on Insulation
Personal Keepsakes on Oil Rigs on Spacecraft Performance
88 104 120 134
Home Air Purifiers Eradicate Harmful Satellite Data Aid Monitoring of Nation’s Software Simplifies the Sharing of Smart Sensors Gather Information for
Pathogens Forests Numerical Models Machine Diagnostics
90 106 122 136
Thermal Materials Drive Professional Mars Technologies Spawn Durable Wind Virtual Machine Language Controls Oxygen Sensors Monitor Bioreactors and Ensure
Apparel Line Turbines Remote Devices Health and Safety
92 110 124 138
Radiant Barriers Save Energy in Buildings Programs Visualize Earth and Space for Micro-Accelerometers Monitor Equipment Vision Algorithms Catch Defects in Screen
Interactive Education Health Displays
140
Deformable Mirrors Capture Exoplanet Data,
Reflect Lasers
Spinoff 2013 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.
Setting sail in space was a favorite image for early science fiction writers,
but Sunjammer, a NASA technology demonstration mission, hopes to
show that solar wind can be used as an effective propulsion system. The
final spacecraft, set to launch in 2014, will deploy a 13,000-square-foot sail
that weighs just 70 pounds. Shown here is a sail deployment experiment
conducted in a partnership between Marshall Space Flight Center and
La’Garde Inc. For a deeper look at the Sunjammer project, scan this code.
Foreword
At NASA, we love to take on ambitious goals, Station (ISS), the heat shield is playing a critical role in Charles F. Bolden, Jr.
especially those that inspire us to create innovative opening up space to the private sector. (page 62) Administrator
technologies where existing tools fall short. We
• NASA-developed data mining tools have created National Aeronautics and
are currently in a new and rapidly evolving era of space
algorithms that commercial airline companies use Space Administration
exploration, one that includes a complete transformation
to sift through flight data and find anomalies they
of how we get to low Earth orbit and beyond. It’s an era
were previously unaware of. As a result, one company
that is witness to the birth of commercial space, with
modified its operating procedures and has worked
the Agency playing a key role in helping the private
with air traffic control towers to improve the quality of
sector develop safe and affordable transportation systems.
its approaches and landings. (page 58)
And it’s an era where we are developing the technologies
to send humans to new destinations such as an asteroid • A car manufacturer is taking advantage of decades of
and Mars. NASA research on the relaxed human posture naturally
In addition to the 41 spinoffs you will find featured
NASA is creating a future in space exploration and assumed in microgravity. Company scientists tested
in this book, this year’s publication also includes a new
aeronautics that will benefit the US economy and all the application of NASA standards in car seats,
section profiling 18 NASA technologies that are currently
of humankind. Exciting advances such as solar electric determining that its design could reduce physical
available for licensing and/or development opportunities
propulsion for robotic missions, the Mars Science exhaustion in drivers by 50 percent. The auto maker (“Spinoffs of Tomorrow,” page 176). Our 10 field cen-
Laboratory, new Earth-observing satellites, and the James debuted its new NASA-derived seats in 2013 and will ters are brimming with ideas that have great commercial
Webb Space Telescope underscore the importance of be including them in many upcoming standard and potential, and the inventors and contributors to those
today’s investment in space technology for tomorrow’s luxury car models. (page 60) technologies are eager to see their work transferred to the
discoveries and accomplishments. private sector for the benefit of the public.
• Partnering with NASA through a Space Act
To make these incredible technologies come to life, From life-saving shelters to innovations that protect
Agreement, one company created an air revitalization
NASA researchers, engineers, and contractors often work the environment to components that are making
system fit for sending up to seven crewmembers on
alongside our many partners in industry and academia. commercial space transport possible, technology transfer
trips to low-Earth orbit destinations such as the
These partnerships not only further our missions; they represents a core part of NASA’s mission and identity.
ISS. The same system now powers refuges placed
also create a large number of spinoff technologies with It ensures that what we do each and every day for space
deep underground, where miners can retreat in an
tangible benefits that are making an impact on our lives and aeronautics has as wide an effect as possible—for the
emergency, breathing clean air while awaiting rescue.
today. Each year, NASA’s Spinoff publication presents the benefit of all.
The company has hired more than 30 employees and
best recent examples of these benefits.
its refuge can save mining companies $30,000 in
Some of my personal favorites in this year’s edition
maintenance costs over alternative shelters. (page 68)
include:
• The PICA-X heat shield, a low-density, high-temper- • Seeking to create a national early warning system for
ature resistant material that is utilized by the SpaceX detecting threats to US forests, NASA partnered with
Dragon capsule for safe entry into Earth’s atmosphere. four other government agencies to develop monitoring
NASA developed the core technology for its Stardust capabilities using satellite data. The efforts led to the
spacecraft, which in 2006 returned to Earth a capsule creation of ForWarn, a national forest monitoring
filled with comet particles that were used for research. system that uses NASA data to help public authorities,
Through its application on Dragon, the first commer- scientists, and conservationists locate, track, and
cial spacecraft to send cargo to the International Space neutralize potential problems. (page 104)
Spinoff 2013 Foreword 5
For over 50 years, NASA has created new technologies with direct benefit to the public sector, supporting global competition and the economy. The
resulting commercialization has contributed to products and services in the fields of health and medicine, transportation, public safety, consumer
goods, energy and environment, information technology, and industrial productivity. Since 1976, NASA has featured over 1,800 technologies in its
Spinoff publication.
Introduction
The successes of past and current NASA missions of convenient water sources such as lakes and streams. Mason Peck
have taught us a great deal about what we need (page 82) Chief Technologist
in order to journey safely beyond our planet and
• One of the world’s hottest solar energy plants took National Aeronautics and
enable the future of aviation. And as we look to a future
its inspiration from the Space Shuttle Main Engine. Space Administration
filled with ambitious science and exploration goals, it’s
Techniques used to build the rocket are being applied
clear that there is much more technology NASA must
to a solar power tower that incorporates molten salt
create—technology that will not only enable our future
to absorb and hold heat in order to generate electric-
missions but also secure the nation’s economic future by
ity on demand for 75,000 homes. The company is
promoting the development of a national technological
creating more than 4,300 jobs for the project, and its
and industrial base from which to sustain the US leader-
NASA-enhanced technology presents a 20 percent cost
ship role in air and space. in isolated grids, where they cost less to use than diesel
advantage over other solar thermal technologies while
For well over a decade, astronauts have been living fuel. (page 106)
promising zero harmful emissions. (page 100)
on the International Space Station (ISS), giving us The daring missions NASA has planned will require
unprecedented insight into how human beings can • While supercomputers do a lot of the heavy lifting technology more advanced than anything we’ve seen
survive, work, and even thrive during an extended visit to in scientific modeling, not all scientists have access before. We are hard at work creating those cutting-
space—knowledge that will prove crucial for future deep to them. One company caught NASA’s attention edge technologies, laying a foundation that will enable
space missions. The microgravity environment of the by adapting programming libraries to utilize the astronauts to visit an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in
ISS also serves as a unique laboratory that has facilitated graphics cards found in ordinary desktop computers. the 2030s.
a number of important scientific discoveries, made Through the Small Business Innovation Research And just as our current presence in space on the ISS
possible by NASA’s commitment to maintaining a human (SBIR) program, the company created software was made possible with the help of other governments
presence in low Earth orbit. All the while, our many that now gives researchers at NASA and elsewhere and collaboration through private partnerships, so also
missions in robotic space exploration, Earth science, and unprecedented power from computers they already will NASA’s future endeavors involve others’ help. I’m
aeronautics have continued to improve our understanding work with. (page 116) particularly excited at the prospect of citizen science,
of our world and place in the cosmos. • A team of NASA researchers spent decades purpose- incentive prizes, and challenge-driven open innovation to
Many of these advances and enabling technologies, fully inducing 8,000 aircraft spin-stalls—the cause enable individuals to get involved in their space program
originally developed to meet mission needs, have spun off of many fatal accidents in general aviation—and by building their own space technology innovations,
into commercial products that make life on Earth better learned how to design aircraft that could resist spins. conducting their own science, and sharing those
advances with the world. The Asteroid Grand Challenge,
today. Every year, Spinoff presents some of the best recent Thanks to NASA’s research, the Federal Aviation
announced in June 2013, is the newest and most
examples of these secondary benefits—each a reminder Administration created a spin-resistance standard,
extensive example of how NASA is creating new channels
that today’s investment in space pays significant dividends which one company used as the guiding criteria for
for individuals and organizations alike to contribute
in the long run. Among the spinoffs highlighted in this creating a consumer-friendly light sport aircraft with
meaningfully to the hard work of space exploration,
year’s book you will find: spin-resistance built in for increased safety. (page 52)
scientific discovery, and the creation of new products and
• An award-winning filtration system, developed for
• Planning for an extended stay on Mars, NASA worked services that come out of that discovery. You too can be a
use in space, that is now available to consumers as with a private company to develop wind-powered rocket scientist! With collaboration between NASA, other
a bottle with a built-in filter, removing impurities turbines capable of enduring the harsh, cold conditions governments, our commercial partners, and all of you,
and dangerous contaminants on the go. Adventurers on the Red Planet. The same features that made these I’m certain that our future is bright. These efforts will not
and weekend warriors doing everything from sports turbines suitable for Mars have made them a natural only help our Nation reach its most ambitious goals in
to camping are using this NASA-developed technology fit in many environments on Earth. They now provide space exploration; they will continue to spin off into new
to instantly create safe drinking water out of a variety power in several countries and are particularly valuable technologies that benefit society.
Spinoff 2013 Introduction 7
Mars Spinoffs
S
pinoff has documented dozens of NASA technologies that were initially
designed for missions to Mars but which are now protecting the lives
of policemen and soldiers, enhancing sporting events for fans, safely
detecting dangerous chemicals, and much more. For decades, Mars-derived
NASA spinoff products and services have created jobs, generated revenue,
and saved costs—real returns on our Nation’s investment in some of the
Agency’s most daring missions.
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