The Most Interesting Inventions of NASA, Seemingly Distant Yet Commonly Used by Everyone

You don’t have to be an astronaut to enjoy the exciting innovations developed by NASA.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is often recognized for its ambitious projects, such as creating telescopes that can observe the universe’s beginnings or sending humans to the Moon and back. However, few people realize that it is also responsible for everyday products like swimsuits, eye surgery technology, and the way you take selfies.

The everyday products listed below are just 15 out of over 2,000 consumer items that have emerged from NASA’s space programs. All of them are based on technologies and discoveries directly developed by NASA, collaborated with NASA, or funded by NASA.

Memory Foam

If your mattress, pillows, couches, or any other item contains memory foam, you can thank NASA. This material was developed by aerospace engineer Charles Yost with NASA’s funding and was initially used to create aircraft seats that could better absorb impact for pilots during various tests.

Classic Computer Mouse

The computer mouse was invented at Stanford University in the early 1960s by Doug Engelbart, based on a study of interactive computer input funded by NASA. This research was conducted by NASA computer science expert Bob Taylor.

Infrared Thermometer

If you have ever checked your temperature with an infrared thermometer, remember that you could not do that without NASA. The U.S. space agency developed infrared thermometers to measure the temperature of distant space objects, and this technology eventually found its way into homes as a vital component of household thermometers.

High-Performance Swimwear

Most of us don’t often wear high-performance swimwear, but swimmers like Michael Phelps use them regularly. The LZR Racer swimsuit from Speedo—chosen by elite swimmers—was launched in 2008 and features unique underwater hydrodynamic properties that were developed through testing in wind tunnels at NASA’s Langley Research Center.

Mobile Phone Camera

The image sensors used in most modern digital cameras originate directly from NASA. Eric Fossum, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was the first to utilize CMOS technology in cameras. The initial goal was to create a better, cheaper, and more efficient camera system for spacecraft, but this technology quickly became widespread around the world.

Self-Driving Cars

We may see this technology used more commonly in the near future, thanks to the Quantum Technology and Science group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with projects beginning in the 1980s. Among their inventions is an enticingly named device called the “whisper mode optical resonator in the library.” This is a spherical resonator for light waves. Only recently has this technology been practically applied, as it was integrated into LiDAR systems for self-driving cars.

LASIK Surgery

In an effort to determine how microgravity affects eye movement, NASA conducted a series of experiments on the International Space Station in the mid-2000s. The results were not particularly useful, but the eye-tracking technology developed from it greatly aided subsequent experiments, making LASIK vision correction surgeries possible.

Scratch-Resistant Lenses

While many types of scratch-resistant lenses have emerged, nothing compares to the technology found in Ray-Ban’s Survivor line of sunglasses, as it is licensed from NASA. NASA pioneered the coating of sensitive instrument screens with a diamond-like carbon to make them ten times more scratch-resistant than other methods. This may be a bit excessive for sunglasses, but it’s still quite impressive.

Air Traffic Control Systems

The Federal Aviation Administration and NASA have recently completed the development of an improved system to manage flights on the ground. Known as IADS (Integrated Arrival, Departure, and Surface), it is now established at 27 of the busiest airports in the U.S.

Grooved Pavements

Even if you don’t notice it, the world has become less slippery thanks to NASA. In particular, NASA researchers demonstrated that cutting thin grooves in concrete runways to create channels for excess water to drain reduces the risk of slippery accidents at airports. As a result, hundreds of commercial airports around the world have been equipped with safety grooves, which later extended even to highways. The safe grooving process has also been applied to curves and overpasses, then to pedestrian walkways, ramps, and steps, and eventually to food processing plants and livestock pens.

This technology has also been shown to restore wet friction performance to smooth or worn road surfaces and extend their lifespan by 5 to 10 years, significantly saving maintenance costs.

Emergency Rescue Blankets

Those thin emergency rescue blankets packed in first aid kits, often handed out at the end of marathons, were developed by NASA in 1964. The material is created by vaporizing aluminum onto a thin plastic surface and is now used in camping, sun shielding, space telescopes, etc. As a shield, it reflects heat back to anyone or anything wrapped in it.

Nike Air Shoes

These athletic shoes contain two innovations from NASA. The hard rubber molding process for the shoes is done through a “blow molding” technology, a pioneering process at NASA for producing helmets. The shock-absorbing material used in Nike Air comes from NASA engineer Frank Rudy.

Infant Formula

While researching nutritional strategies for future missions to Mars, NASA scientists discovered a natural source of an omega-3 fatty acid previously found only in breast milk. This component is now used in most infant formulas available on the market.

Cordless Vacuum Cleaners

Black and Decker closely collaborated with NASA in the 1960s to produce cordless drills, hammers, and other tools designed to work in low-gravity (or zero-gravity) environments. Today, you can see this technology in a range of cordless vacuum cleaners available on the market.

Water Filters

While basic water filters have existed since the mid-1950s, modern filtration systems began to emerge after NASA invested resources into its research for the Apollo program in 1963. NASA led the research in this area because they needed to store large amounts of clean water for extended periods in harsh conditions of outer space.

To achieve this goal, NASA developed a system that operates by using the ability to absorb contaminants and particulate matter present in water when specially processed with charcoal. This treatment method essentially involves an oxidation process that opens millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms in the charcoal, enhancing its absorption capacity. The porous surface area creates many sites for contaminants to chemically bond through attractive forces, resulting in purified water.

Microprocessors

Technically, NASA did not invent the integrated circuit; this invention emerged in 1958 by electrical engineer Jack Kilby. However, NASA developed newer and more advanced variations of integrated circuits.

The Apollo program initiated a microchip revolution, with the U.S. government purchasing over 60% of domestic integrated circuits during the 1960s.

One of the first high-end applications of microchip technology was in the Apollo guidance computers with the DSKY interface, used to provide computational and control capabilities onboard for navigation, as well as for controlling the command module and lunar module.

Today, integrated circuits can be found in almost every aspect of life, from mobile phones and personal computers to microwaves—thanks largely to the cost-effective processing and manufacturing of microchips from NASA’s Apollo program.

Helmets

In the 1970s, NASA invented foam padding, a shock-absorbing material designed to improve the safety of aircraft cushions. This type of foam was later incorporated into the helmets and seats of the Apollo spacecraft, acting as a liner to minimize some of the extreme forces that astronauts would endure.

The foam padding is a type of polyurethane treated with additional chemicals that have both high viscosity and density, properties ideal for absorbing significant impacts and resisting energy flow. The foam is viscoelastic and temperature-sensitive, meaning when compressed against a heat source, it can mold to shape.

The original foam padding was customized into insulating foam and was launched into the market in the early 1980s. It quickly found applications in medical equipment like insulating foam mattresses and sports equipment such as American football helmets and motorcycle helmets.

Satellite Television

It may come as no surprise that NASA also played a significant role in the invention of satellite television. The first satellite capable of relaying TV signals was Telstar 1, launched by the agency in 1962.

It began as a collaborative project between Bell Labs to develop an experimental satellite communication system over the Atlantic Ocean. NASA then continued to advance this technology to create more sophisticated systems that reduced noise and errors in transmitted signals, leading to the capability of transmitting high-definition video and audio.

• 50 Tweezers Reveal the Strange Obsession of Ancient Romans
• Not Just Using 10% of the Brain, How Much Capacity Are Humans Really Using?
• ‘The Health’ of Earth is in Danger