The fixed price contract purchased 34 units at a total cost of $4,382.50, or $128.89 per unit. That created something of a controversy at the time, as many people believed it was a frivolous expense. NASA backtracked immediately and equipped the astronauts with less costly items.
Originally, NASA astronauts, like the Soviet cosmonauts, used pencils, according to NASA historians. In fact, NASA ordered 34 mechanical pencils from Houston's Tycam Engineering Manufacturing, Inc., in 1965. And pencils are flammable--a quality NASA wanted to avoid in onboard objects after the Apollo 1 fire.
And pencils are flammable--a quality NASA wanted to avoid in onboard objects after the Apollo 1 fire. Paul C. Fisher and his company, the Fisher Pen Company, reportedly invested $1 million to create what is now commonly known as the space pen.
During the height of the space race in the 1960s, legend has it, NASA scientists realized that pens could not function in zero gravity. They therefore spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars developing a ballpoint pen that could put ink to paper without needing gravitational force to pull on the fluid.
The secret to the space pen is in the cartridge. It is a hermetically sealed tube containing thixotropic ink, pressurized nitrogen gas, and a tungsten carbide ballpoint tip. He developed a thixotropic ink that is a gel at rest, but turns into a liquid under pressure. Sort of like toothpaste.
In space, rockets zoom around with no air to push against. Rockets and engines in space behave according to Isaac Newton's third law of motion: Every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. When a rocket shoots fuel out one end, this propels the rocket forward — no air is required.
The world was introduced to this modern-day ballpoint pen in 1931 at the Budapest International Fair, and the Bíró brothers filed for patents in France and Britain seven years later on June 15th, 1938.
Well-known products that NASA claims as spinoffs include memory foam (originally named temper foam), freeze-dried food, firefighting equipment, emergency "space blankets", DustBusters, cochlear implants, LZR Racer swimsuits, and CMOS image sensors. Contrary to common belief, NASA did not invent Tang, Velcro or Teflon.
Tang was first used by NASA during John Glenn's Project Mercury flight in 1962 and on later Gemini flights beginning in 1965. Velcro also is widely thought to have been developed for the space program. Generically known as a hook-and-loop fastener, Velcro was invented in 1941 by Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral.
The Mars 2020 rover mission has major new technologies that improve entry, descent, and landing: Range Trigger, Terrain-Relative Navigation, MEDLI2, and its EDL cameras and microphone.
After initial experiments using light-emitting diodes in NASA space shuttle plant growth experiments, NASA issued a small business innovation grant that led to the development of a hand-held, high-intensity, LED unit developed by Quantum Devices Inc.
The list of technology from the space race goes on. Consumer products like wireless headsets, LED lighting, portable cordless vacuums, freeze-dried foods, memory foam, scratch-resistant eyeglass lenses and many other familiar products have all benefited from space technology research and development.
Since the release of a single catalog, requests for Agency software have multiplied, leading to many thousands of transfers to the public each year. Meanwhile, there are about 450 active licenses for NASA-patented technologies, with roughly 100 new licenses being executed each year.
1. Artificial limbs. Innovations originally designed for space vehicles, including artificial muscle systems, robotic sensors, diamond-joint coatings, and temper foam, make artificial human limbs more functional, durable, comfortable and life-like.
What Did Hubble See on Your Birthday? Hubble explores the universe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That means it has observed some fascinating cosmic wonder every day of the year, including on your birthday.
Since its creation in 1958, NASA has contributed to the advancement of space-related industries that have a broad impact on our daily lives. NASA has made major contributions to world- changing industries like satellite telecommunications, GPS, remote sensing, and space access.
The Fisher Space Pen
The secret behind the unique capabilities of our pens lies in the ink cartridge itself. No longer relying on gravity to write, our pens are able to function at any angle, even upside down!Inventing a Zero Gravity Pen
The nitrogen in the pen pressurized the ink cartridge, enabling writing in any direction. It seemed like a perfect fit for astronauts who needed to write notes on flight logs while weightless in space, so Fisher offered to supply these pens to NASA in 1965.One of their research tools is a computer program originally developed by NASA to distinguish among Earth surface features in Landsat image processing. The making of artificial limbs is known in the medical world as prosthetics. Harshberger wanted to improve the way it makes artificial limbs.
New developments improve air travel and other aspects of flight. NASA is also beginning a new program to send humans to explore the Moon and Mars. In addition to those major missions, NASA does many other things. The agency shares what it learns so that its information can make life better for people worldwide.
Space technology touches and enhances practically every aspect of life on Earth. Much of what our lives – think healthcare, communications, travel, recreation, entertainment – benefits directly from technology originally developed for, or improved for, space exploration.
The formula being fed to the baby contains an algae-based additive highly enriched in nutrients believed to be beneficial to infant mental and visual development; called Formulaid, the additive is an offshoot of space research. The ingredient is an algae-based, vegetable-like oil known as Formulaid®.
Well-known products that NASA claims as spinoffs include memory foam (originally named temper foam), freeze-dried food, firefighting equipment, emergency "space blankets", DustBusters, cochlear implants, LZR Racer swimsuits, and CMOS image sensors.
Memory foam, also known as temper foam, was developed under a NASA contract in the 1970s that set out to improve seat cushioning and crash protection for airline pilots and passengers. Memory foam has widespread commercial applications, in addition to the popular mattresses and pillows.
NASA is uniquely positioned to combine lower Earth orbit measurements (like aircraft) and upper earth measurements (like satellites) to advance our understanding of the Earth processes. NASA operates its own aircraft and can provide the cost-savings leverages available to a large program.
