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---------------- 1980 - NASA mission innovations.
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- We spend a lot of money on NASA. What do we get in return from the National Aeronautical and Space Administration? President Trump wants to cut it by 1%. But, it is still costing $19 billion.
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- Of course,, the President only recommends; Congress sets the budget.
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- You really need to add up the costs mission by mission. Then, decide which missions you do want to fund. And , this has to compete with funding “climate change”. Where do we get the most bang for the buck?
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- Mission by mission overlooks a lot of return on investment the is not just the mission accomplishments but the innovations needed to create those accomplishments. You may be surprised what came from these efforts we have funded.
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- Take your cell phone camera for example. NASA created today’s version in 1995 for some of their missions. The design used a CMOS image sensor. CMOS is new technology using Complementary Metal Oxide Semi-conductors. Jet Propulsion Lab engineers made the sensor smaller, lighter, able to produce a clearer image. The whole idea for the digital camera started in JPL in the 1960’s. See what it is today.
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- And there is the dust buster vacuum cleaner and the cordless drill. Both came from a low-powered, battery operated Moon motor. The design originated in 1981 to drill core samples from the lunar surface.
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- Did you get a good night’s sleep due to the help of a compfy pillow? That came from the development of slow spring - back foam. In 1966 it was designed to improve the comfort of rocket seats.
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- In 1991 the ear thermometer was designed. It was first used in satellites to measure the temperature of stars by reading their infrared radiation.
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- How do you feed astronauts on long duration deep space flights? Well, it is easy.
You first cultivate nutrient- enriched algae with the addition of docosaesaenpic acid and arachidonic acid and polyunsaturated acids.
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- Just the recipe I would have thought of.
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- Actually these are the same nutrients found in breast milk. Much easier to take on long trips in baby formula rather than breasts.
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- In 1995 NASA needed to reduce hydroplaning when landing the space shuttle on long runways. They invented the use of thin grooves in the pavement. The water would run off. Now we find these groves in highways because they have been proven to decrease highway accidents.
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- 1989 a superpower translucent polycrystalline alumina used as a tooth straightener It was developed by NASA for heat seeking missile technology.-
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- 1983 NASA researched in water purification. That became a thin, plastic film to protect space suit visors. Today it is being used to make the lenses in your glasses scratch resistant.
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- 1976 NASA developed wingtips. Vertical folds at the ends of aircraft wings. They reduce drag and save fuel. They alone reduced the cost of flying by billions of dollars.
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- 1996 NASA simulation for fluid flow in rocket engines became transferred to flowing blood through the human body. This technology keeps heart patients alive while they are receiving a donor heart.
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- That’s a good note to end on. Maybe we should be funding NASA just for the fallout innovations.
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