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Have you used your cellphone camera to take a photograph today? If so, you have used NASA technology. Yes, the digital image sensor used in your cellphone camera and in video devices was developed for NASA and eventually commercialized. This type of technology transfer is known as a spinoff and is defined by NASA as “a commercialized product incorporating NASA technology or expertise that benefits the public.” Since 1976, NASA has documented more than 2,000 technology transfers in its annual publication titled “Spinoff.”
A few of the 50 new spinoffs documented in “Spinoff 2018” include:
A sterilizing fogger that cleans ambulances making it safer for paramedics and patients. This was developed from a special coating used on the International Space Station’s solar array blankets.
Controlled-release plant food which replaces liquid fertilizer and the need for multiple applications. This was developed for hydroponic growing systems in space.
Special insulation known as radiant barrier technology which is being used to keep beer kegs cold all day. This was developed to keep spacesuits insulated against the extreme temperatures in space.
Gold coatings used to keep the Oscar trophies used in the Academy Awards shiny and bright. This was developed for coating space telescope mirrors.
NASA spinoffs benefit the health and medicine, information technology, transportation, public safety, consumer goods, energy and environmental, and industrial productivity areas, so they have impact in many facets of our lives.
Visit spinoff.nasa.gov to learn more NASA spinoffs and to receive a free copy of “Spinoff 2018.”
August Skies
Brilliant Venus is the unmistakable beacon low in the western sky after sunset. See it near the moon during evenings of the 13th-14th.
Bright Jupiter is southwestern sky after sunset as well. The moon will glide by Jupiter during the evenings of the 16th-17th.
Saturn and Mars appear in the southern sky a few hours after sunset this month. The moon will glide by Saturn during the evenings of the 20th-21st and by Mars on the 22nd-23rd.
The Perseid meteor shower peaks during the night of the 12th and the early morning of the 13th. Go out after midnight and look up. No binoculars or telescope are needed to see this amazing sky show.
David Abbou of Stafford County is a volunteer for the NASA/JPL Solar SystemAmbassadors Program and is a member of the Rappahannock Astronomy Club.Contact him at davidastronomy@comcast.net
David Abbou of Stafford County is a volunteer for the NASA/JPL Solar System
Ambassadors Program and is a member of the Rappahannock Astronomy Club.
Contact him at davidastronomy@comcast.net
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