NASA inventions, from quartz clocks to boomerangs (Space.com)

Seattle PI: NASA inventions, from quartz clocks to boomerangs (Space.com)


Many of the everyday items often attributed to the space program didn’t start with NASA. But the agency does claim credit for hundreds of other things that have become commonplace, Space.com noted Thursday.

While space exploration is NASA’s primary mission, the agency created its Technology Utilization Program in 1962, after a congressional mandate, started putting out an annual report on the program in 1973 and launched the full-color annual “Spinoff” magazine in 1976. “Spinoff” has since published more than 1,700 stories.

Let’s start with the debunking. NASA used Tang, Velcro and Teflon, but each of these was invented by an outside company before the first astronauts blasted off.

Among the things NASA does claim a hand in are:

Fogless ski goggles;
Composite golf clubs;
Quartz crystal clocks;
Hang gliders;
Trash compactors;
Memory foam (used for seat cushions, athletic equipment, artificial limb socket lining and finger splints);
Space pens, which have a cartridge pressurized with nitrogen, operate from minus 50 to plus 45 degrees Fahrenheit and withstand atmospheric extremes;
Better bowling balls, boomerangs and ski boots;
Heart rate monitors;
Tankless water heaters;
Cell-phone cameras;
Magnetic horse hoof protectors;
Record-breaking swimsuits;
Sunglasses that block ultra violet light.