Space Spin-Offs Alter Life on Earth

Dec. 10, 2006 — -- Cars can't fly and Scotty won't be beaming anyone up soon, but from food to footwear, space exploration has generated many earthly benefits.

Since the 1950s, space technology has been applied to more than 30,000 commercial products. Sunglasses, quartz watches, and cordless tools are all products with roots in outer space.

Add to that list global communications systems, personal computers and satellite technology, and it's fair to say that most Americans don't make it through a day without using a space spin-off.

NASA works with small business to apply its technologies to space and to license NASA's technologies for private applications.

According to a NASA fact sheet, "Partnerships and licenses of NASA-developed technologies help increase the number of scientific discoveries and their benefit to the general public, while decreasing the cost of the space program for taxpayers."

Waking Up with Space

Dan Barry sees the world through a spaceman's eyes. He is a retired astronaut with more than 700 hours in space and four space walks, but today he keeps his feet on the ground, running a robotics company. To him, just getting up and going to work is an adventure in space technology.

Waking up and listening to the weather report on the radio depends upon weather satellites, communications satellite technology and integrated circuitry in the radio, all byproducts of space exploration, Barry explained.

"You go downstairs and the coffee is already made in the pot," he said. "That goes down to early automation work NASA did."

Even food safety can trace its roots to space. The FDA regulations in place today stem from the first quality assurance food regulations regarding safety and minimum cooking temperatures developed for the astronauts.

And the drive to work -- involving cell phones, GPS systems and even the structure of the car -- is a tribute to research initiated by NASA.

"In the first half hour of your day, every day, you use all kinds of NASA technology without even thinking about it," Barry said.

Space Helps Health

One of the greatest beneficiaries of space-science developments is the medical field. When Alan Shepard became the first American in space in 1961, he took with him technology that would remotely monitor his blood pressure. Now, a quick digital check of the blood pressure can be procured at the drug store.

The ability to experiment in space and the development of means to track astronaut's health has resulted in countless biomedical advances.

"Anybody who's had any health problems, MRIs, medial imaging of various types … a lot of that technology had its antecedents in NASA research," said Roger Launius, the chairman of the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

In preparation for future moon and Mars missions, astronauts have been experimenting with telerobotic surgery in NASA's Aquarius Underwater Laboratory. Launius sees potential for more telemedicine technology to emerge as NASA plans for human survival during long periods in the harsh space environment.

Though it's just speculation at this point, Launius can envision some sci-fi scenes in the future.

"There are lots of people who are thinking about the potential of how we can enhance a human's capabilities to survive in space through modifying them in certain ways with technology … so kind of the creation of cyborgs," he said. "It can get funky in a hurry."

Beyond Spin-Offs

For Barry, the space spin-offs are the "icing on the cake." Being able to credit NASA's research with bulletproof vests that save police officers' lives or firefighters' lighter oxygen tanks is sweet, but not the whole picture. For Barry, space exploration is about humanity, rather than sunglasses or Teflon.

"These things are nice and important … but not worth risking lives for," Barry said. "So why do we risk astronaut's lives? If we don't go out into space and continue to expand and explore, then as a species, we're going to eventually stagnate. And species that don't adapt and expand become extinct."

Barry sees the future missions to the moon and Mars as great opportunities for this expansion, and the "icing" that comes with it will also be sweet, especially for robotics and medicine.

"Ninety percent of the things scientists pursue don't end up anywhere," Launius said. "But it's the 10 percent that do that change the world."