Page 16 - Aerotech News and Review, Oct 5 2018 - NASA Anniversary Special

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As a result, SunPower Corporation created advanced silicon-based cells for terrestrial or airborne applications.
Pollution remediation: NASA’s microencapsulating technology enabled the creation of a “Petroleum Remediation Product,” which safely cleans petroleum-based pollutants from water. The PRP uses thousands of microcapsules—tiny balls of beeswax with hollow centers. Water cannot penetrate the microcapsule’s cell, but oil is absorbed into the beeswax spheres as they float on the water’s surface. Contaminating chemical compounds that originally come from crude oil (such as fuels, motor oils, or petroleum hydrocarbons) are caught before they settle, limiting damage to ocean beds.
Correcting for GPS signal errors: In the 1990s, NASA scientists at JPL developed software capable of correcting for GPS signal er- rors, enabling accuracy within inches; it is called Real-Time GIPSY (RTG). John Deere licensed the software and used it to develop self- driving farm equipment. As of 2016, as nearly 70 percent of North American farmland is cultivated by self-driving tractors, which rely on RTG that was developed at NASA.
Water location: Dr. Alain Gachet founded Radar Technologies International in 1999 to use satellite generated data to identify prob- able locations of precious metals and during its use found it could also detect water. The system developed with this data, WATEX, uses about 80 percent of its data inputs from publicly available NASA information. This free information allowed RTI to develop the WA- TEX system to successfully locate water sources, such as in 2004 at refugee camps during the War in Darfur.
Computer technology
Structural analysis software: NASA software engineers have cre- ated thousands of computer programs over the decades equipped to design, test, and analyze stress, vibration, and acoustical properties of a broad assortment of aerospace parts and structures. The NASA Structural Analysis Program, or NASTRAN, is considered one of the most successful and widely used NASA software programs. It has been used to design everything from Cadillacs to roller coaster rides. Originally created for spacecraft design, it has been employed in a host of non-aerospace applications and is available to industry through NASA’s Computer Software Management and Information Center (COSMIC). COSMIC maintains a library of computer pro-
grams from NASA and other government agencies and sells them at a fraction of the cost of developing a new program. NASA Structural Analysis Computer Software was inducted into the Space Foundation Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1988.
Remotely controlled ovens: Embedded Web Technology (EWT) software—originally developed by NASA for use by astronauts op- erating experiments on the International Space Station—lets a user monitor and/or control a device remotely over the Internet. NASA supplied this technology and guidance to TMIO LLC, which devel- oped remote control and monitoring of a new intelligent oven product named “Connect Io.” With combined cooling and heating capabilities, Connect Io refrigerates food until a customized pre-programmable cooking cycle begins. The menu allows the user to simply enter the dinner time, and the oven automatically switches from refrigeration to the cooking cycle, so that the meal will be ready as the family ar- rives home for dinner.
NASA Visualization Explorer: On July 26, 2011, NASA released the NASA Visualization Explorer app for the iPad. The application delivers real-time satellite data, including movies and stills, of Earth, that enable users to learn about subjects such as climate change, Earth’s dynamic systems and plant life on land and in the oceans. The content is accompanied by short descriptions about the Data and
In the 1980s, NASA developed sunlight-filtering lenses to provide eye protection and enhance colors, and these lenses have found their way into sunglasses, ski goggles and safety masks for welders.
Image courtesy of iStock.com/Ersler
why it is important.
OpenStack: NASA developed a cloud compute platform to give
additional compute and storage resources for its engineers, called Nebula. In July 2010, the Nebula code was released as open source and NASA partnered with Rackspace, to form the OpenStack project. OpenStack is used in the cloud-based products from many companies in the cloud market.
Industrial productivity
Powdered lubricants: NASA developed a solid lubricant coating, PS300, which is deposited by thermal spraying to protect foil air bearings. PS300 lowers friction, reduces emissions, and has been used by NASA in advanced aeropropulsion engines, refrigeration compressors, turbochargers, and hybrid electrical turbogenerators. ADMA Products has found widespread industrial applications for the material.
Improved mine safety: An ultrasonic bolt elongation monitor de- veloped by a NASA scientist for testing tension and high-pressure loads on bolts and fasteners has continued to evolve over the past three decades. Today, the same scientist and Luna Innovations are using a digital adaptation of this same device for destructive evalua- tion of railroad ties, groundwater analysis, radiation, and as a medical testing device to assess levels of internal swelling and pressure for patients suffering from intracranial pressure and compartment syn- drome, a painful condition that results when pressure within muscles builds to dangerous levels.
Food safety: Faced with the problem of how and what to feed an astronaut in a sealed capsule under weightless conditions while plan- ning for human spaceflight, NASA enlisted the aid of The Pillsbury Company to address two principal concerns: eliminating crumbs of food that might contaminate the spacecraft’s atmosphere and sensi- tive instruments, and assuring absolute absence of disease-producing bacteria and toxins. Pillsbury developed the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept to address NASA’s second concern. HACCP is designed to prevent food safety problems rather than to catch them after they have occurred. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has applied HACCP guidelines for the handling of seafood, juice, and dairy products.
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October 5, 2018
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