![]() The date was chosen because it is the 52 nd anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.īezos has said he will step down as Amazon’s chief 15 days before the launch. The spacecraft is named after NASA astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go into space. (Blue Origin via AP)īlue Origin said it has carried out 15 successful test flights of New Shepard, but none of those carried humans. Manufacturer Black & Decker was tapped to develop the device and later used the technology to produce cordless power drills and a small hand-held vacuum commonly known as the “ Dustbuster.In this image from video made available by Blue Origin, the New Shepard capsule uses parachutes to land during a test in West Texas on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. They also needed to be able to use the tool without being tethered to a power source. This technology is used to power homes, businesses and communities, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.ĭustbuster: When Apollo astronauts collected samples of moon rocks and lunar soil, they wanted a lightweight drill, strong enough to break up the moon’s surface. ![]() Today, researchers continue to improve solar cells, developing them to be as inconspicuous as rooftop shingles and skylights. ![]() A Massachusetts-based contractor took this innovation and made the technology cheaper and more efficient. Solar panels: NASA and the Department of Energy together developed solar cells that used silicon crystals to convert sunlight into electricity. To protect aerospace systems, researchers generated ions from hydrocarbon gas and coated surfaces with diamond-like carbon, or DLC, mimicking the effects of the planet’s hardest known substance, but at a fraction of the cost. Scratch-resistant lenses: If you wear glasses, there is a good chance that you benefit from NASA’s development of scratch-resistant lenses. NASA’s space program led to the innovation of scratch-resistant lenses for eyeglasses. Satellite technology paved the way for wireless communication between physicians and patients, allowing pacemakers to be reprogrammed when needed and eliminating additional surgery. Researchers developed space equipment that was as compact as possible, leading to pulse generators small enough that they could be implanted in the human body. Programmable pacemaker: People who have received cardiac pacemakers benefit from NASA innovation, including the similar technology used to power electrical systems for spacecraft. Implantable heart monitors: Spinning off of NASA’s space circuitry system, researchers developed an implantable heart aid a device that has saved lives by delivering an electric shock to correct irregularly beating hearts, regulating blood flow and preventing brain damage and death. NASA initially developed this body contour-molding foam to protect commercial aircraft passengers during a crash. Memory foam: Cushy bed mattresses, airplane seat padding and athletic body pads all can be traced to one of NASA’s most pervasive technological spinoffs – memory foam. Here are a handful of technologies many of us use in our daily lives that began as innovations in the space program. In fact, NASA maintains a searchable database of technologies first used in space that the private sector has since spun off into commercial products and services. The race for commercial spaceflight has launched a new era of innovation in the aerospace industry.īut going back decades, space exploration spurred inventions and innovation and produced technology that many people today consider ubiquitous, such as batteries or cancer treatment. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Together, they will send commercial crews into space to conduct science experiments “nearly doubling today’s scientific research potential,” according to NASA’s commercial crew program manager Kathy Lueders who spoke during a press conference at the John F. The space agency awarded contracts to aerospace companies, Boeing and SpaceX. NASA announced this week that the agency would partner with the private sector to send astronauts to the International Space Station.
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