You might not believe that commonplace products such as infant formula, cordless headphones, and memory foam mattresses are related to space travel.
However, these are only a few of the numerous ideas that sprang from the ambition to send astronauts into orbit or from studies conducted on the International Space Station.
In addition to superior water filtration systems and scratch-resistant lenses, the origins of camera phones, computer mice, and even some ski boots may be traced to the cosmos.
Currently, everyone has one. And they keep getting bigger, bolder, and more advanced.
It has been more than two decades since the first camera phone was sold commercially in Japan, but you must go back even earlier to understand what enabled engineers to create them.
Even before Eastman Kodak created the first digital camera in 1975, photography existed.
Eugene Lally, an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), was the first to conceive the notion of the digital camera.
In the 1960s, he detailed the digitization of light signals and the production of still images using mosaic photosensors.
However, the JPL was not finished there. In the 1990s, a team led by Eric Fossum studied techniques to dramatically reduce the size of cameras aboard interplanetary spacecraft while maintaining their scientific image quality.
Fossum pioneered the CMOS active-pixel sensor (CMOS-APS), which offered enhanced image quality and enabled the development of small imaging systems that run efficiently with minimal power requirements.
Then, realizing that the CMOS-APS technology might be beneficial for imaging on Earth as well as in space, he and his colleagues launched Photobit in 1995.
One million sensors used in webcams, dental radiography, and automotive applications had been supplied by the year 2000.
This technology was adopted by IT businesses and has since become standard for smartphone cameras.
Memory foam bed frames
We have all seen advertisements. NASA technology was used to develop mattresses.
But what exactly gives them that lovely, velvety sensation when we go to bed?
Back in the late 1960s, NASA scientists and engineers were charged with developing new material for use in spacecraft seats.
They had to design something that would absorb the strong G-force pressure astronauts experienced during lift-off and re-entry, as well as keep them comfortable for the lengthy durations they spent on the spacecraft.
What is the solution? To develop a new sort of material, they dubbed it “slow spring back foam.”
NASA’s goal was to develop a material with both high-energy absorption and soft, pressure-relieving qualities. This substance, later dubbed memory foam, met both requirements.
The open-cell, polyurethane-silicon plastic material equally distributes weight and pressure for shock absorption and returns to its original shape after being compressed by 10%.
In the 1970s, this innovative new material became widely known and was utilized to create supportive and comfy cushions for the healthcare sector.
In addition to being utilized by NASA during the Space Shuttle era, it was afterward included in modern mattresses.
Bluetooth headphones
This one is somewhat simpler to visualize. After all, if you’re an astronaut in a spaceship with little space to move around, the last thing you need is a tangled mess of wires as you attempt to communicate with mission control.
Nevertheless, it did not begin with the US space agency.
In 1961, United Airlines requested anyone interested to propose a better design for the headsets its pilots wore. Courtney Graham, a corporate pilot, agreed that there must be a better method.
Together with his buddy Keith Larkin, who had been working for Plane-Aids, a small Californian company, he developed a commercially viable lightweight headset.
They designed a headset with a headband component that utilized an acoustic tube coupled to small transducers often found in hearing aids for both the microphone and the receiver.
NASA was searching for a lightweight, self-contained communication device at the same time, and astronaut Wally Schirra assisted in contacting Graham and Larkin’s newly founded business Pacific Plantronics.
Together, the two organizations devised a means to implant the company’s MS-50 headset into an astronaut’s helmet, before enhancing the headset and microphone so that it could be used during the Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab missions.
After Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon in 1969 and spoke through his special headphones, the idea gained prominence.
Infant formula
Guess one of the most prevalent substances in baby formula.
NASA scientists developed this nutrient-rich vegetable oil derived from algae.
In the 1990s, researchers sought to use algae to manufacture oxygen in deep space but instead discovered a way to improve the nutritional value of the baby formula.
They determined that certain algae contain fatty acids found in human breast milk, notably docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid.
The scientists later joined Martek Biosciences Corporation, which created and commercialized Formulated, an ingredient resembling vegetable oil.
NASA reports that this ingredient is currently present in 90% of all infant formulae.
The computer’s pointer
NASA did not invent the mouse, but it is reasonable to argue that it assisted the inventor significantly.
Doug Engelbart was at the Stanford Research Institute in the early 1960s examining various alternatives for manipulating data on computer screens.
He had been “dreaming and pushing about employing computer interactivity for over a decade” before receiving NASA funding to examine various gadgets.
In the end, the primitive mouse prevailed, marking the beginning of the technology that many of us now cannot live without.
filtering systems for water
NASA needed a mechanism to give astronauts potable water to ensure their survival in space was obvious.
Therefore, in the 1960s, engineers at the U.S. space agency created an electrolytic silver ion generator to purify water on Apollo missions.
While the original version of the innovation was never launched into space, it contributed to the development of filtration systems in homes, schools, and hospitals worldwide.
A great deal has changed since then, and astronauts on the International Space Station now have water-purification instruments that turn human sweat, urine, and other liquids into potable water.
Approximately 80% of the water aboard the orbiting observatory is now recycled.
Ski boots
You can probably predict the outcome of this situation.
Astronauts must be able to move freely. Therefore, NASA was required to create a spacesuit that incorporated electrical and temperature control technologies.
However, to prevent these from being entangled or knotted, the US space agency had to develop articulating joint parts.
Who else requires mobility? Yes, you guessed it.
Thus, NASA technology contributed significantly to the development of current ski boots.
The initial concept, which included space boots, was created by Al Gross and Dixie Rinehart before Gross was hired by Comfort Technologies Inc.
The rest is history once he used this articulating joint technology to ski boots.
Since the 1990s, the molds have been marketed as Full Tilt Boots, however, the brand will cease to exist after this ski season.
